Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 29: Lunch

Chapter 29: Lunch

"For how long had this been going on?"

Lily wiggled, trying to dodge the question.

"I’m not going to be mad, but I need to know how many enemies we need to defeat today," I reassured her.

And I’m not even kidding. It’s important to know how many of these kids are in on this and for how long have they been doing this. That way I’d know if the situation is still salvageable.

She pushed back to look, wanting to verify if my expression matched my words.

She’s red all over. Is she overheating?

She’s been gripping her fists since earlier. Imagine wanting to punch the bully but containing it in because it would alert the adults.

"A few days ago. They suddenly became like that because they thought I was lying about my family."

Angry, despondent, and finally exasperated. That’s not something a young child should be experiencing in school.

"Someone tried to pick me up from the school by pretending to be a relative. But I could instantly tell that the person only tried to look well-off. The woman wore knock-off clothes and used a regular car."

How come we’re only hearing about this now?!

"That was clearly a trap so I ignored the person and waited for our real chauffeur. But the woman pretending to be an aunt made a scene that alerted the other kids and some parents. Then I was accused of pretending to be a Sinclair—some poor girl who happened to have a similar surname. They insisted that I was just impersonating."

She clutched her rabbit sling bag, looking for comfort.

I’m guessing none of these kids even tried verifying. And with Lily’s face kept as private as possible, they wouldn’t be able to easily identify her.

"They even accused me of lying to the teachers."

Kids these days are something else. Back in the day, we’d have screaming matches and people being pushed into random places, but these kids are already using social classes to sort people.

"But have you managed to make a friend?" I was hoping she at least managed to make one.

"They all started out as nice friends, but after that time, they turned mean. And those that remained quiet were bullied until they stayed away."

I tapped on Lily’s nose, effectively breaking her concentration.

"Hey little hero, what happened to your desire to save me from bullies?" I asked, reminding her of her convictions against bullies.

She was visibly silent at that, so I told her, "What about making a promise with me?"

"A promise?"

"Yeah." I smiled as she waited for an explanation.

"You’ll protect me from bullies and bad people, and I’ll do the same for you. We’ll be teammates, just like today."

Shocked, it took a while for the child to think about my offer. She even asked how we’d do that.

"Like today, we’ll beat them in today’s competitions to show them who’s boss. Then they’ll see what it means to be a genuine Sinclair."

"But how do we win?" Life returned to her eyes just before she realized that it may be easier said than done.

I laughed at this and then lowered my voice as if sharing an important secret. "I wasn’t kidding when I told them to look at the Hall of Fame."

"In fact, you’ll even find records of your Big Brother."

Because it was true.

If there was something to be won in school, and even outside of school, we’d be taking those.

Lucian and I had been so heated in competing that the schools decided not to allow us into the same competition lest we keep on taking the top spots for everything we joined.

So it became a battle of who gets to write their name on the sign-up sheet faster.

I wiped the corner of Lily’s eyes while imparting some old-people knowledge.

"My mom always told me to avoid fighting, but she made it clear that if I had to fight, I better make sure to win."

Okay, maybe that’s not too kid-friendly.

But fuck that, this is already a war zone.

"So for today, I’ll show you the fruits of all the training we’ve undergone. This will be our little secret." I held out my pink finger, which she grasped for a pinky swear.

__

I meant it when I said we were going to compete. By competing, I meant competing in all aspects.

The games weren’t everything. Even lunch was a social competition, especially for someone being purposely ostracized.

Thankfully, no one is allowed to bring attendants into the school for today’s events. So it was a matter of knowing how to do things yourself.

Laying out an extravagant lunchbox, tailored for kids, I showed Lily what a bento should be like.

Now, let’s not kid ourselves into saying that I made the darned thing because then we’ll need to call the paramedics.

Lucian cooked anything that had to be cooked. But the arrangement, decorations, and all non-cooked items were courtesy of my hands.

"Your Big Brother cooked these for you, while I made the decorations and prepared the other items." I compensated with snacks alright.

I took out the big guns.

Lily kept on verifying the truth about Lucian’s involvement. The thought of having her brother cook food for her was too exciting for the young girl.

"You can even verify with him! After all, I can only do very little cooking so all I can do is to design what he prepared."

The rice balls were shaped into rabbits, then there were star-shaped eggs, bunny apples, animal-shaped sandwiches, and even heart-shaped mini burgers.

Adults would not want to be caught dead with these but I’ve cast out adulthood today. So sue me.

There was that and several layers more of other items. I even brought out a mini blender to make her fresh fruit shakes to combat the sun and the heat.

I’m aware that people were looking. And frankly, when I decided on this last night, I didn’t think about using this to compete. I just prepared based on my past experiences. But now I’m thankful for being a glutton.

"Eat as much as you want. We still have a lot of snacks."

We sat on our picnic mat, eating and drinking while being cooled down by the portable fan I took out.

If the food didn’t do it earlier, the fan sure did. It wasn’t like the weather was hot, but considering the time and place, people who have been used to the controlled temperatures would start feeling discomfort by now.

And our mini fan kept on reminding the others of the heat.

Bleeh.

Some kids even murmured about how comfortable we were while they felt hot everywhere.

Today, I was clearly being petty. But I hoped that Lily would remember her first event here in a positive light.

I hope she’ll have fun like a regular child.

Just as I thought about my goals for today’s event, I felt Lily inching closer.

Then with her hands covering her mouth while trying to whisper into my ear, she says, "Thank you, Big Sister."

Then the shy little girl scuttled back with a large grin on her face.

I went after her, tickling her sides.

"We should take photos and videos to show everyone else what we did today."

We spent the remaining part of lunch taking wacky photos, food shots, and even photos of the random insects that Lily managed to find near our mat.

"Everyone! We hope that you enjoyed your lunch. For the next part of today’s event, we’ll start with the class competitions. While these are ongoing, you are free to browse the exhibit of the children’s past class works." Announced the staff.

I wonder how those kids planned on sabotaging Lily today.