“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine.”

  “Yeah, isn’t that right, Ren?” I stood firm as they all looked at the boy behind me.

  “Uh… yeah… everything’s fine…” He smiled at me, but it was easy to see through.

  “Really? I’ve been watching you guys for a few minutes, and I don’t think that’s the truth.” It was imperative that I maintained a friendly persona, softly challenging them rather than being assertive.

  “We already told you it’s fine, this isn’t any of your business.” I expected this response, but I continued analysing. This guy was obviously their leader, and I knew he’d respond aggressively. We’re the same age and I’m outnumbered, so I knew he’d try to intimidate me.

  “If you want to intimidate me, you’ll need to try much harder.” They both gasped, while the others watched. “You’re just an insecure bully taking it out on this guy. Why would I be scared of you?” There’s several reasons that people bully one another. I need to find out what his reason is, since once I figure it out, I’ll be able to handle this easily. He took a few steps towards me until we were two or three steps away from each other.

  “What did you just say to me?” His firm voice pierced the atmosphere, making it clear he wasn’t trying to mask his aggression anymore. His lip twitched when I spoke, and his inflections made it obvious that I was getting to him. His question was designed to corner me, or to make me run away.

  “What didn’t you understand? I said you’d have to try harder to intimidate me.” I started off as polite and kind to let him think I’d be another kid he could intimidate. I let him try intimidating me so I could shut him down, showing him how pointless it was. I then challenged him. A victim standing up to a bully. He reacted specifically to being called insecure, and he reacted when I asked why I’d be scared of him. He had no reaction to being called a bully. He already knows he is one, but that doesn’t bother him.

  “No, no, you also said why would I be scared of you.” He paused, taking another step towards me. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you should drop the tough guy act.”

  I quickly took a step backwards, maintaining enough distance to react to any of his moves.

  “You running away? That’s what I thought.” The group started laughing and cheering him on as Ren stayed tucked behind me. I need to avoid an all out brawl at any costs. I can defend myself against an average person, but the truth is I’m still outnumbered. I wouldn’t stand a chance if they all tried to jump me.

  That meant I’d have to do what I do best. After all, my words are much sharper than my fists.

  “No. Not at all.” I took a deep breath and stared at him. “To be honest, I just feel sorry for you.” His face twitched but there was no confident trash talk. What I said resonated with him. Is he a victim of something else? Something that made him feel powerless?

  “I can’t imagine how miserable my life would be if I was so weak and powerless that I had to take it out on a vulnerable kid.” This was a calculated risk. I already knew how things would play out. I couldn’t avoid a fight, but I could avoid dirtying my hands.

  At first, he stood still. He had no reaction. There were some shocked and apprehensive looks from his group, and after a few seconds, some murmurs started breaking out.

  “Are you just gonna let him talk to you like that?” His second in command spoke up. I intentionally picked on his insecurity as I made sure to insult him personally. Even if it was just for a brief moment, I knew he’d hesitate when I told him he was weak and powerless. The second in command would see that, and he would want to step in and help. However, because I insulted the leader personally, the second in command wouldn’t be able to get involved. If he did, that’d just undermine the leader even further. His only choice would be to speak up and create a one on one fight between us.

  The leader raised his right arm and approached me. Left foot forward, left arm doing nothing. It’s obvious he has no idea what he’s doing. He wasn’t close enough to me to land a hook. It had to be a cross, going for power. He paid no attention to his feet, so I knew I could get him off balance. Normally, I’d step backwards, dodging the punch. I’d try to diffuse the situation. That wasn’t an option. Ren was still behind me, blocking off my defensive movement options.

  His footwork was terrible so I knew I was safe from being kicked. He stepped through with his right leg as he tried to throw a haymaker, but it was a careless mistake. He’d put all his weight on his front foot, so he wouldn’t be able to quickly move away as I countered.

  I instantly slipped to my left as I stepped forward to close the distance and set up my counter, making sure to bend my knees as I pushed off the ground with my back leg. As I stood up, I grabbed his wrist tightly with my right hand and started twisting hard. He let out a yell of pain, so I let go and quickly backed up as the group started murmuring. Now that I’d completed my immediate goal, his enforcer approached me. I wasn’t worried since I expected this and had a plan to cut him off.

  “This area’s had an increase in shoplifting over the last few months. They’ve been installing a lot of cameras recently to catch the criminals.” I pointed at one of the stores across the road. “You sure you wanna do this on camera?” He looked at the group, and then at his leader.

  “We should get out of here.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” The leader started running, with the rest of the group following him.

  I quickly pulled out my phone to check the time. It was 7:15. I’d still make it if I started walking, but I turned around to look at Ren. He didn’t seem too nervous or scared, but he was blankly staring in the direction they ran off to. I’d solved the immediate problem, but there was nothing stopping this from happening again.

  “Ren, are you ok?” I smiled and spoke as warmly as I could. I placed my hand on his shoulder again, and waited for him to speak.

  “Yeah, thanks for your help.” He immediately bowed.

  “There’s no need to bow. We’re both kids, that’s it.” I laughed as I showed him that we’re equals. This was the first step to empowering him. Once he realises he’s an equal with someone who can deal with those bullies, he’ll start realising that he can just leave them instead of putting up with those “jokes”.

  “But… you stood up for me? You even fought Hanzo for me?” Naturally, he was refusing to accept what I was saying. I decided to take a different approach.

  “Why did you keep letting those jerks bully you? Why didn’t you stand up for yourself?” His smile disappeared as he hesitated before speaking up.

  “I’m… really shy… you could probably already tell, right?” He laughed, unable to look me in the eyes. “They’re the only people I’ve been able to talk to, so they’re my only friends…” he struggled to get the words out of his mouth, but I needed to keep pressing him.

  “Can you really call them your friends?” I looked him in the eyes. I was warm, but clear and firm.

  “Yeah, I know you’re right. It’s not that simple though.” He passively looked away because he was too ashamed to confront the problem. I needed to be more direct.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “They made fun of you and tried to gaslight you into thinking that’s what friends do.” He looked away. “Even if you can look past that, you’re the one that said I stood up for you. Sure, friends joke and tease each other.” I waited for him to look me in the eyes before continuing. “Friends are people that care about you. Friends are people that you can rely on.” He nodded in agreement as he held eye contact, but he still hesitated.

  “I completely understand your point, but it’s not like I can leave them. I don’t have anyone else I can talk to.” I quickly realised that he has a fear of being alone, so I masked my cold analysis with my kind smile as I decided what to do next.

  “So? What’s stopping you from making other friends?” I knew what he’d say, but I needed to progress the conversation.

  “As I said, I’m pretty awkward. No one really wants to talk to me… even if I did make friends… it would probably take a while.” He paused and looked at me as if he thought of something. “What if I stayed friends with them, but started ignoring them once I made new friends?” It was progress, but it was far from ideal.

  “It’s good that you’re accepting the fact you should stop being friends with them, but your current plan isn’t enough.” He’s taking a big step by standing up for himself. I made sure to commend him for it so he’d be more receptive to me during the rest of this conversation. “Why are you scared of having no friends?” We stood in silence for a few seconds.

  “Why are you scared of being alone?”

  He didn’t reply. That’s fine, I was happy with waiting. People have a tendency to speak to fill the silence. I wasn’t going to give him a way out.

  “I’m not just scared of being alone. That’s fine - I like spending time by myself. My problem is that I’m scared that I don’t know how to make friends, so I’m worried about how I’ll make friends in the future when being by myself isn’t enough.”

  People are like puzzles. They all have their fears and insecurities. They can all be fixed if you understand the person well enough.

  “It’s very brave of you to admit that to a stranger. I don’t know if I’d have the strength to do that.” I paused, giving him time to accept the compliment. “Everyone has issues. I struggle trusting people.” I looked away and nervously smiled as I hesitated to feign being uncomfortable. “I respect you a lot for telling me all of this.” The root of his problem is that he sees his awkwardness and anxiety as a flaw which is a barrier to making friends. That’s why I wanted to show him that he had a massive strength, which was one of my biggest flaws. After that, he’ll listen to my words earnestly and I’ll be able to empower him.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over my trust issues.” I softened my voice to make my lie more believable. “You’re lucky. Your insecurity is an easy one to get over.” He laughed in shock as I said that, but I wasted no time before continuing. “Being scared of being alone is human. A lot of people feel it. But that doesn’t make it rational.” I knew I was getting through to him when I saw his facial expression loosen ever so slightly.

  “What do you mean?” He maintained eye contact while speaking.

  “Think about it. The reason you don’t have friends isn’t because you’re a bad person. I can tell that you’re kind and good hearted.” This compliment was enough to make him look away, but I kept going. “You said you don’t have friends because you’re shy and awkward. In other words, you haven’t made an effort to make friends.” He looked at me with curiosity as he wiped away a tear. “Sure, it’s difficult to get past that. But it’s something you can work on.” I just had to wrap this up.

  “You don’t even have to become super confident or anything like that, all you need to do is become comfortable talking to people.” I took a deep breath. “Sure, you’ll talk to some people and you won’t like them, maybe they won’t like you.” I laughed as I added a sense of reality so he thought I wasn’t being biased or lying to him. “But the good thing about making friends is that it doesn’t matter how many times you fail.” I paused and smiled at him. “You can always try talking to someone new.”

  He was silent for a few minutes as he thought about my words, but I stayed by his side, just being there for him.

  “Thanks.” He smiled as he repeatedly shook his head, pumping himself up. I turned around and he realised I was looking at something so he followed my eyes and saw the camera I was staring at. “I’m so sorry you got involved in a fight on camera to protect me. Can I get your number? If you get in trouble I’d be happy to explain everything.” I started laughing for a second as Ren looked at me cluelessly.

  “Sorry, sorry, I appreciate the concern. That thing about the cameras was a bluff, that’s why I’m laughing so much.” He took a second to respond.

  “What do you mean? I can literally see the camera over there.” He pointed to the camera we were staring at.

  “This is a pretty safe area. I’d be shocked if crime rates were on the rise. That camera’s always been there. I walk down this road every now and again to get some fresh air.” He still looked concerned, so I kept explaining. “I just said that and pointed to a random camera so they’d get scared and back off.”

  “Why did you bluff though? Couldn’t you just point at this camera?” It was a valid question, so I kept going.

  “No, there’s no way it’d be able to identify our faces from there.” He paused and smiled, understanding that I was right. After a few seconds, he started to look a bit concerned.

  “That was a smart bluff, but what would you have done if they didn’t fall for it?” I looked him in the eyes as I spoke gently to calm him down.

  “I made sure that Hanzo would only fight me one on one. After I beat him, I knew the rest would be too scared to challenge me. Whenever Hanzo and the other guy tried to gaslight you, they just watched in silence. There’s no way they’d put themselves on the line after I defended myself against Hanzo and got that other guy to back off.” I took a deep breath out as I reflected on everything that happened.

  “That’s… pretty cool…” He still seemed concerned, so I pulled out my phone.

  “Here’s my number. Let them know that we’re friends and I’ll come back to fight them if they try messing with you.” We laughed as I joked to help him relax. “But seriously, I can tell you’re a good guy. I wanna hear about the new friends you make.” As I pulled out my phone, I saw the time was now 7:20. If I didn’t hurry, I’d be late. That wasn’t a big deal though, since making sure Ren’s ok was my top priority. He stared at my phone for a few seconds before speaking and I instantly felt on edge as I started worrying I’d said something careless by accident.

  “We’re… friends?”

  I took a moment to look him in the eyes.

  “Of course we are. If you ever need help with something, or just want someone to talk to, you can send me a text.” He blankly looked at me with a straight face.

  “But why…? Why go through all that effort for me? You don’t know anything about me.” He looked at me with a soft intensity and a very quiet distrust, as if my actions contradicted his world view.

  “I already told you. I can tell you’re a good guy. That’s enough for me to call you my friend.” I could tell he was still uneasy, so I held my arms out and hugged him softly. It took a few seconds, but he awkwardly hugged me back. “Oh yeah, my name’s Akira.” I changed the topic of conversation as I took a step back to avoid overwhelming him.

  “Thank you, Akira.” I didn’t want to leave him by himself. I saw a small but very noticeable change in the way he views friendships, and I wanted to show him that I was being genuine.

  “I have an idea, but let me know if it’d make you too uncomfortable.” I watched as he nodded his head, waiting for me to continue. “I’m meeting my friends at a karaoke place not too far from here.” His face instantly stiffened but I kept going. “They’re really nice people and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me bringing you.” He looked nervous, and he couldn’t look me in the eyes.

  “Uh… I appreciate the sentiment… but that’s actually where those other guys are heading and I don’t really want to run into them.” I nodded my head and immediately smiled to validate his concern.

  “Oh, that's unlucky but I understand. How about we just hang out for a bit? There’s a good ice cream place around here.” As much as I wanted to make sure he knew I was being genuine, I didn’t want to push too far. “Only if you’re up to it though. I know you’ve just been through a lot.”

  “Yeah, that’d be nice, but what time’s your karaoke?” I smiled as I realised I was correct about him being a nice guy. Even after everything he’s just been through, he’s still concerned about me.

  “It’s at eight, so we have plenty of time.” I smiled, answering with zero hesitation. “It’s on the way to karaoke, but I doubt we’d run into those guys.” I looked down the road. “They’d be far past it by now.” I looked at him as I waited for a reply.

  “Alright. Let’s go.” His voice was soft and quiet, but it wasn’t dejection. It sounded like he was taking a chance on a new friendship.