As the years went by the children grew, and the ones who raised them agreed to have no contact with one another for the safety of the young children. Their only source of communication is the clown Mephisto. As the years passed the woman began to notice how the child's appearance began to become more defining. Her striking white hair made her stand out, and that alone made the other children fear her. And she would soon learn how much she was feared.

5 years later

When the girl turned 5 she entered kindergarten, being excited for the first day she begged her mother to do her hair, Saki smiled gently while she brushed her curly white hair. Tying it into twin pigtails she fluffed them up before standing up and straightening the child's shirt.

"Are you excited?"

Misaki gazed up at her mother, "yeah!" A small blush adorned her pale cheeks.

Saki took a hold of her small hand, leading her out of the shrine door. She couldn't help but glance at the girl, smiling softly after seeing how excited she was to begin her new journey.

"Remember to be kind, okay?"

"I know, mama!" Misaki showed off her pearly white smile.

Upon reaching the school Saki stopped in front of the gate. Misaki eyed the many children entering the school with curious eyes. Saki then bent down and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Behave and have fun, okay?"

"Don't worry, mama! I'm gonna make so many new friends!"

And with that, the young girl took off, but before entering the building she turned to her mother and waved, "bye bye!" With that, she disappeared with the other children.

Saki sighed and stood in place for a moment, "it's gonna be okay, Saki...she's going to be okay..."  The woman then began her journey home. When returning to the shrine she had kicked off her sandals and fixed her yukata while she sat down, pulling out papers.

"Time to get to work..."

•

The woman held a look of fatigue, growling she slammed her hands on the table, causing the papers to fly out everywhere.

"Sometimes I hate being an exorcist...too much paperwork!~" She whined like a child. Breathing out in relief knowing that her children were not there to see her act like them, "what time is it anyways?' Pulling out her phone she turned it on, seeing the time flash across the screen 10:30 am, "it's only 10:30?! I thought it was at least 1:00?!" She had slammed her head onto the table, not thinking about the consequences, "ow!!!" Now rolling on the floor while grasping her head.

Ring

She perked up as her phone went off, reaching her hand up she picked it off the table and brought it up to her face to see who was calling.

Eton House International Preschool

"The school?" She slid her thumb across the screen, "hello?"

"Yes, is this Ms. Sayoko?"

"Yes..." Saki answered.

"We're calling in regard to your daughter, Misaki."

Saki quickly stood up, "what happened?" She asked, panic sinking in.

"Yes, well you see there seems to have been an incident, your daughter has just harmed one of our students."

She paused, her eyes widened in disbelief, Misaki was a sweet and gentle child, there was no way that such a sweet girl like her could cause harm to another unless it was in self-defense, "what do you mean? Misaki would never hurt anyone unless provoked to do so."

"I understand, but she broke the child's hand, Ms. Sayoko. We can not just let this slide."

"I'm coming," Saki answered coldly. She slipped on her sandals and rushed to the school, her mind only thinking of one thing...Misaki.

•

10 minutes earlier

Misaki sat silently like the other children. She was having a great time at school, she loved that her teacher was kind to her and she enjoyed the crafts that they did together. Only one thing had bothered the child and it was the fact that none of the children had talked to her yet. But she was determined, as soon as it was snack time she was going to make it her mission to make a friend.

"Alright children, we are going to take a break now, grab your snacks and go ahead a relax, class will resume shortly."

"Okay Tsubaki-Sensei!" The class chorused.

Misaki smiled as she pulled out her snack that her mother had packed her. With confidence, she had strutted up to the group of young girls who had sat together. But as the girl entered their line of vision their chatter had died down, turning their attention to the young girl who had just casually walked up to them.

"I-I was just wondering if I could sit with you guys...?" Silence was her answer, "m-my name is Misaki Sayoko..." Again she was met with silence. This only caused her to blush in embarrassment while she looked down at her black shoes.

"Is she bothering you girls?"

Misaki looked up to see a young boy pointing at her, he had soft brown hair but held mischief in his brown eyes.

"Yeah, can you make her go away, Yu?" One of the young girls stood up, speaking to the boy known as Yu.

Misaki looked between the two, her eyes now filled with grief. She had known that her hair color was unusual, it wasn't every day you saw someone with white hair that was natural. But she didn't think that that would be an issue, after all, it was just hair. But then again children find a way to bully anyone over the smallest things.

"I only wanted to be your friend." She whispered.

"Shouldn't their silence be enough of an answer for you?" Yu scoffed, but Misaki only stayed silent.

"I mean it's clear that Kyoka and the other girls want nothing to do with you, so just go away."

"But I..."

Yu's gaze darkened, and an annoyed look crossed his features, "don't ignore me!" And with that, she was shoved to the ground. The whole class was silent now, and conveniently enough their teacher had just walked away to use the restroom. Misaki trembled in fear on the floor as thoughts filled her head

'Why...? I only wanted to make friends...'

"Can't you see that we don't like you? Why would we be friends with a weirdo like you?!"

Tears filled her teal eyes, spilling onto her pale cheeks, "I didn't do anything wrong..." She whispered, this response only seemed to anger the young boy, and he proceeded to shove her back onto the ground, "you did!"

"No, I didn't!" Misaki looked up at him, her tears blinded her vision but she could see how all of the children stared at her.

"Yes, you did!" He shoved her again, and each time Misaki tried to stand up she was shoved back down, "no one wants to ever be your friend!" Yu went to shove her once more but was stunned as her small pale hand wrapped around his own. Bearing her teeth she squeezed his hand a little tighter, her eyes seemed to have a glow to them as she began to stand back up, the boy now being pushed to the floor slowly while she gripped his hand tighter and tighter.

"Don't. Push. Me. Again." Misaki growled lowly, still applying pressure to his hand.

"H-hey! Stop it!" Yu cried out in pain.

But she didn't stop, she proceeded to squeeze his hand with all of her might, until a sickening crack filled the room.

"Ahhhh!!!!!" Yu screamed.

Misaki let go, watching as his limp disfigured hand fell to the floor. She stood there, looking down at the screaming boy, drowning out the terrified screams of her fellow classmates.

'I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to.... '

•

When Saki entered the office she was met with a crying boy who was being comforted by his parents. Turning her head she was met with her daughter. Her white hair was no longer in pigtails and her eyes were red from the crying.

"You!" Her attention was turned towards the mother of the boy, "your demon of a child hurt my Yu!"

Saki stayed silent and turned away, walking towards the white-haired girl and kneeled in front of her, "are you okay?"

Misaki looked up at her mother, more tears filling her eyes while she shook her head no.

"Do not ignore me!"

But Saki didn't listen to the woman, "what happened?"

"He wouldn't stop saying mean things to me, and he kept pushing me," Misaki whispered.

With that Saki stood back up, straightening out her yukata while turning towards the principal.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to this, your daughter has broken this young man's hand, it has been shattered."

"What kind of child resorts to such a violent act?! She must be a monster with the way she broke my child's hand!" The mother shouted.

"Sounds more like a demon to me." The father sneered.

Saki glared at the two, quickly shutting them up, "did you even ask Misaki why she did it?"

"That shouldn't matter when the fact is that she broke this boy's hand. No child should resort to violence."

"She wouldn't have had to if this boy hadn't been pushing her around."

"I didn't!" Yu cried out, "she's lying!"

"My Yu would never do such a thing!"

"My daughter is raised in a shrine surrounded by nothing but good influences. She has been raised to treat others with kindness and has never hurt a soul, not even her own brothers. My daughter came to school happy with the thought of making new friends only to now be sitting here crying because you did not raise your child correctly. You did not teach him how to not lie. You did not teach him how to treat others with kindness. You did not teach him how bullying someone is wrong. How touching a girl is wrong. The one in the wrong was your son, my daughter only defended herself while your boy was repeatedly pushing her to the ground over and over again, your boy had gotten what he deserved. Perhaps he'll learn to keep his hands to himself now."

Seething the woman stood up, "how dare you accuse us and turn this on my son! Your brute of a child broke his hand with just her own, that is not normal! If anything you are the bad pare-"

"Shut up." Saki glared darkly, this shut the woman up, Saki walked over and grasped Misaki's hand in her own, walking towards the door.

"Ms. Sayoko! We still need to discuss the course of action-"

"No need. My daughter will no longer be attending your school."

And with that, the two had walked away. Misaki refused to utter a single word, ashamed of her actions. But she eventually caved in.

"I'm sorry, mama..."

"You did nothing wrong." Saki smiled softly, "I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself."

"You are?" The young girl was surprised.

"Yes. But we must have a talk when we return to the shrine, okay?"

Misaki nodded her head softly, not sure what her mother was referring to. But she would soon find out.

To be continued

(So Eton House International Preschool is an actual school that is located in Tokyo. I kinda just looked up preschools in Tokyo and went with the first one I saw)