Merry Christmas! Here's something to read.
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
3:29 PM
"Are you sure this is the right place? It basically looks like a dump - why would Railgun be living here?"
The only male in the car shook his head. "It's hardly a dump, unless you compare it to either of the Tokiwadai dorms. And remember what we have and haven't seen since we found ourselves in North America."
The only dark-haired person in the car nodded. "They're hiding, just like we are," she said weakly.
"They?"
"There's at least six espers in the building right now. Five of them feel like Railgun, but not as strong."
"Some of her clones, maybe?" the car's driver asked, loading a book on his tablet and showing it to the others.
"Clones? Oh, that's basically creepy!" The blonde girl looked at the tablet that the brunette girl had taken from the driver. "Hey... this says we knew about those clones. Nobody told me!"
"You have been something of a security risk lately."
She pouted. "I guess that's why I was going to be the first to die. I don't like your books, basically."
Inside the building that they were watching, three people were returning the favour.
"They've been sitting there for nearly five minutes," Maika pointed out while making sure the sheer curtain on the window remained in place, hiding their own identities as much as possible.
"They aren't hurting anyone," Rob replied.
"Yet. I recognize one of them. Maybe all three of them."
Rob turned to Accelerator - it was unusual for him to offer a comment without being asked. "Are they people we need to be worried about?"
"The one I know I recognize tried to murder Railgun's mother. The other two - well, does the name 'ITEM' mean anything to you?" Rob and Maika both grimaced. "Looks like it does. Think I'll go say hi to them."
"Hang on," Rob said before Accelerator could reach the door. "They probably know who you are - if you go out there, they could either run or fight."
"Whatever. You going, then?"
Maika grabbed Rob's sleeve. "They could kill you!"
Rob smiled kindly as he extracted himself from Maika's grasp. "Only if they can attack me. I can control water, remember? And there's a lot of snow - frozen water - out there for me to defend myself with."
"Your funeral, if you're wrong," Accelerator pointed out.
Rob nodded as he headed for the front door. "I know. I'm under a geas, remember? Sometimes I just gotta be a hero." After putting on his coat and boots, he grabbed an empty shopping bag, put a book in it, and headed out.
His leaving the building did not go unnoticed inside the car.
"Is that one of the espers?"
The brunette stared at him for a moment. "No."
"So, basically a civilian. Looks like he's going shopping."
"No, he's not," the car's driver said after a moment. "He's heading our way."
The brunette put her hand on his arm before he could do anything, and quietly said, "We have to trust somebody. That's why we came here."
He hesitated for a moment... which was long enough for Rob to reach the car and knock on the driver's window. "Hi there! Got a minute?"
The driver opened the window. "We're not doing anything wrong."
Rob shook his head in bemusement. "Why does everybody who's doing something they know is wrong start their conversations by saying that? No, don't answer that; I don't care. I've got something for you to look at." He offered the bag to the driver... who eventually took it.
He looked inside the bag, then handed it back, saying, "I've got a copy of that book on my tablet, thanks."
"So you already know the important part of what I'm hoping I can talk with you about," Rob answered. "Want to come in? You can park your car in the lot behind the first building."
"We'd better not," the blonde girl replied. "Basically, it's stolen."
Rob raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's a decent-size shopping mall ten minutes' walk away. Ditch it in the lot there and come back. I can wait; I've got all day. See you in a bit?"
"We came here looking for somebody like you," the brunette answered, causing the other two to sigh. "We'll be here."
Rob nodded as he walked back to the building. Once inside, he explained things to the others... and set the Good Neighbour System to Defcon 4.
Elsewhere
Same time
Text alerts popped up on nearly a dozen telephones in Ottawa alone.
Kuroko looked at hers and decided she wouldn't take the bus home that day - it would take too long. But she did text Mikoto to let her know she'd be teleporting as soon as classes let out.
In another classroom, Usagi decided that it was a perfect day to suggest to Ruiko and Kazari that they get to know Naru better - at Naru's home. Then she remembered how busy OSA-P was this close to Valentine's Day, and resolved to protect her noncombatant friends as best she could.
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
3:47 PM
Rob set a tray down on the table that everyone was gathered around. "Coffee, anyone? I know I want some." As he poured himself a cup, he continued, "And does everybody know everybody else? I'm Rob Donaldson, and I run this apartment building - sorry, this apartment complex. To my left... well, does anyone here not know who Accelerator is?" That question got a brief chuckle from Accelerator and nervous shaking of heads from the newcomers. "The young lady in the maid uniform is Maika Tsuchimikado."
The male in the visiting group raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Tsuchimikado?"
Maika sighed and nodded. "He's my brother." Then she quickly added, "But not by blood."
Accelerator snorted. "I don't know what she sees in him."
"Be that as it may," Rob commented, "it's neither here nor there right now. Who do we have the pleasure of inviting into our home for a chat?"
Accelerator rolled his eyes at Rob's use of the word "pleasure"... which did not go unnoticed by the newcomers.
"My name's Shiage Hamazura," answered the young man as he poured a cup of coffee for himself.
"Rikou Takitsubo," said the brunette, in almost as deadpan tones as the Misaka clones routinely used.
The blonde grinned. "Call me Frenda!"
Maika raised an eyebrow. "Is that your name?"
Shiage nodded. "Amazingly enough, it is."
"Oh, fine. I'm Frenda Seivelun." She pouted, cutely.
Rob nodded. "Thank you." Maika and Accelerator noticed that he didn't smile. "Accelerator tells me you're with a team called ITEM."
"Yeah, I'm driving for them. Or maybe I should say I was driving for them, until we read ahead in the stories you have here and discovered what Meltdowner - she's the leader of ITEM - was going to do to Frenda."
"Yeah. So basically we cut and run," Frenda added.
Accelerator looked straight at Shiage. "You do that a lot. Skill Out to ITEM, and now to here."
"Think what you will of me, but I'm not going to let Academy City's Board of Directors or Meltdowner come down hard on people I like. If that means I have to run, then I run."
Rob nodded. "So you're doing that for other people, not for yourself. I can understand that. So... Skill Out. Does that mean you're not an esper?"
"Nobody in Skill Out is an esper," answered Shiage. "Except for that one Judgment bitch who was in Skill Out when Kurozuma was in charge."
Rob glared at him. "I asked because that ... 'one Judgment bitch', as you call her, happens to live here."
"Way to put your foot in it," Frenda said to Shiage.
"Yeah, you're just winnin' friends everywhere, Hamazura," commented Accelerator with a sneer.
As Shiage suddenly developed an interest in the coffee cup in front of him so he didn't have to look at anyone else, Rikou all-but-whispered, "I'm an esper."
Rob nodded. "Thank you, Ms. ... Takitsubo?" She nodded in return.
"We're all in those books, right? So basically you already know who we are. Why the questions?" Frenda asked.
"Because I'm not in those books," replied Rob. "And neither are a few of the other residents of this complex. It's just polite to let you volunteer the information that you want us to know."
"And I never read those books," Accelerator added. "Thought it was a waste of time, since we're not in Academy City now."
"Do you still think that?" Maika asked flatly.
He thought for a moment. "Nah, not if losers like Hamazura are gonna show up."
"I'll show you who's a loser!" Shiage shouted as he jumped to his feet.
"Enough!" Everybody stopped and looked at Rob. "If you absolutely must fight, do it outside." Nobody moved for a long moment. "Good. Accelerator does raise a good point - we haven't read all of the books yet. We don't necessarily know who you are."
"I know who she is!" came a cry from somebody who hadn't been in the room a moment ago. "That bitch tried to blow me up! Literally! What are you doing here?"
Everybody looked toward the door, to see Kuroko and Mikoto - the latter holding a coin in an outstretched hand pointed straight at Frenda.
Rob sighed. "Girls, I just said to take it outside if you're going to fight."
After a tense moment, Railgun lowered her arm... but she kept the coin in her hand.
Not for the first time, Rob silently thanked Rin and Usagi for blessing the building, what seemed so long ago. That there prevail here a spirit of camaraderie, goodness, compassion, friendship, and love, indeed. "I didn't expect you home for a little while, yet."
Kuroko smiled tightly. "I teleported Oneesama here. You did send an alert."
"Did I?" Rob looked puzzled, then nodded, "Yeah, I did, didn't I? I'll have to thank Kazari for adding text alerts to the Good Neighbour System."
"What's that?" Shiage asked suspiciously.
Rob smiled - finally. "Now's as good a time as any to explain the Metacontinuity to you. Mikoto, would you go ask your sisters if they want to take part in the discussion, please?"
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
4:18 PM
The newcomers looked around at all of the people who had finally arrived back home after school. "So, basically, we're surrounded by fictional characters."
"And there's groups of them - us - pretty much everywhere," added Shiage.
Usagi smiled. "Yeah! Isn't it cool?"
Shiage sighed. "I don't know if 'cool' is the word I'd use to describe it, Tsukino-san. Got any more of that coffee? I could use the stimulant."
"If you're going into shock, maybe we should get Ami here. Or Washuu-chan."
Rob shook his head. "I think our guests have enough strength of will that they won't go into medical shock that quickly just from hearing what we have to say, Usagi."
"I'm not sure of that, Misaka Niiko opines while pouring herself the last cup of coffee from this carafe. One of our guests looks to be so thin that she might be a drug addict, Misaka points out with some lack of tact, and that would impair her resiliency, Misaka adds."
"I'm not addicted to Body Crystal," Rikou answered quietly. "I just use it to boost my esper ability."
Something about that statement didn't sound right to Rob. Taking the empty carafe from Niiko, he said, "I'll go make some more coffee. Kazari, could you give me a hand, please?"
Both Kazari and Ruiko stood up and headed to the common room's kitchen with Rob.
Almost as soon as the kitchen door was closed behind them, Ruiko sighed deeply. "That blonde girl... she's pretty," she said with a bit of jealousy showing in her voice.
Rob grimaced as he remembered how Frenda acted in the anime. "She ain't pretty, she just looks that way." Then he sighed. "I don't trust her - but I know what Usagi would say if I suggested turning her away."
"She's already making friends with them, isn't she?" Kazari smiled. "But that's what we all love about her."
Ruiko smiled at Kazari's comment, then turned to Rob. "It doesn't take two people to make a pot of coffee. What's up?"
Rob continued to measure the coffee grounds into the coffeemaker's filter. "Something about that drug that Takitsubo-san is taking - Body Crystal. I think I remember hearing about it somewhere. Not in one of the books about all of you, but maybe on a website discussing those books."
Kazari pulled her palmtop out of her pocket. "And you need somebody to do a web search while you're being the perfect host." She flopped it open and began to type. "This might take a while."
"I'll help," offered Ruiko.
"Thanks."
"Thank you both," added Rob as he rinsed the carafe with hot water. "Now, if they're staying, where are we going to put them?"
"We have plenty of spare bedrooms now, Rob-oji."
"True enough, Rui-chan, but most of them are in that dimensional pocket that Washuu-chan created for us. Are they going to think we're keeping them locked up?"
"Nah," Ruiko grinned as she typed a search string into her cellphone's browser. "We're keeping them out of Meltdowner's sight."
Rob thought for a moment, then nodded. Then he realized that he was doing a lot of nodding that afternoon, and stopped. "Right. That's probably the safest place for them to hide."
By the time the coffee was ready, Usagi had been to her apartment and back, bringing back a photo album to show their guests. Rob brought the coffee in to discover everybody looking at photos from the Halloween party.
"Nice dress - and nice duplication of the scene from the movie." Frenda commented on seeing one of the shots from the entry parade.
"Why, thank you!" Minako replied. "I did my best to make the scene just right."
"I'd say you succeeded." Shiage turned the page in the photo album... and stopped dead, staring at one photo while his nose began to bleed. "Who is that gorgeous woman in the Bunny outfit?" he finally managed to ask.
Maika grinned. "Oh, that's the girl who you called, and I quote, 'that one Judgment bitch'."
Kuroko looked shocked. "He called Mii-sempai a... How dare you!" Sure, Mii wasn't Oneesama, but she was a co-worker - Kuroko felt she had a right to be insulted in Mii's place.
Shiage's expression went from bliss to despair in record time. "I guess I'm not going to be allowed to ask for a copy of that photo, then."
Takitsubo grabbed him by the arm, tightly enough to cause discomfort. "No. You won't."
Once more, To be continued...
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
3:29 PM
"Are you sure this is the right place? It basically looks like a dump - why would Railgun be living here?"
The only male in the car shook his head. "It's hardly a dump, unless you compare it to either of the Tokiwadai dorms. And remember what we have and haven't seen since we found ourselves in North America."
The only dark-haired person in the car nodded. "They're hiding, just like we are," she said weakly.
"They?"
"There's at least six espers in the building right now. Five of them feel like Railgun, but not as strong."
"Some of her clones, maybe?" the car's driver asked, loading a book on his tablet and showing it to the others.
"Clones? Oh, that's basically creepy!" The blonde girl looked at the tablet that the brunette girl had taken from the driver. "Hey... this says we knew about those clones. Nobody told me!"
"You have been something of a security risk lately."
She pouted. "I guess that's why I was going to be the first to die. I don't like your books, basically."
Inside the building that they were watching, three people were returning the favour.
"They've been sitting there for nearly five minutes," Maika pointed out while making sure the sheer curtain on the window remained in place, hiding their own identities as much as possible.
"They aren't hurting anyone," Rob replied.
"Yet. I recognize one of them. Maybe all three of them."
Rob turned to Accelerator - it was unusual for him to offer a comment without being asked. "Are they people we need to be worried about?"
"The one I know I recognize tried to murder Railgun's mother. The other two - well, does the name 'ITEM' mean anything to you?" Rob and Maika both grimaced. "Looks like it does. Think I'll go say hi to them."
"Hang on," Rob said before Accelerator could reach the door. "They probably know who you are - if you go out there, they could either run or fight."
"Whatever. You going, then?"
Maika grabbed Rob's sleeve. "They could kill you!"
Rob smiled kindly as he extracted himself from Maika's grasp. "Only if they can attack me. I can control water, remember? And there's a lot of snow - frozen water - out there for me to defend myself with."
"Your funeral, if you're wrong," Accelerator pointed out.
Rob nodded as he headed for the front door. "I know. I'm under a geas, remember? Sometimes I just gotta be a hero." After putting on his coat and boots, he grabbed an empty shopping bag, put a book in it, and headed out.
His leaving the building did not go unnoticed inside the car.
"Is that one of the espers?"
The brunette stared at him for a moment. "No."
"So, basically a civilian. Looks like he's going shopping."
"No, he's not," the car's driver said after a moment. "He's heading our way."
The brunette put her hand on his arm before he could do anything, and quietly said, "We have to trust somebody. That's why we came here."
He hesitated for a moment... which was long enough for Rob to reach the car and knock on the driver's window. "Hi there! Got a minute?"
The driver opened the window. "We're not doing anything wrong."
Rob shook his head in bemusement. "Why does everybody who's doing something they know is wrong start their conversations by saying that? No, don't answer that; I don't care. I've got something for you to look at." He offered the bag to the driver... who eventually took it.
He looked inside the bag, then handed it back, saying, "I've got a copy of that book on my tablet, thanks."
"So you already know the important part of what I'm hoping I can talk with you about," Rob answered. "Want to come in? You can park your car in the lot behind the first building."
"We'd better not," the blonde girl replied. "Basically, it's stolen."
Rob raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's a decent-size shopping mall ten minutes' walk away. Ditch it in the lot there and come back. I can wait; I've got all day. See you in a bit?"
"We came here looking for somebody like you," the brunette answered, causing the other two to sigh. "We'll be here."
Rob nodded as he walked back to the building. Once inside, he explained things to the others... and set the Good Neighbour System to Defcon 4.
Elsewhere
Same time
Text alerts popped up on nearly a dozen telephones in Ottawa alone.
Kuroko looked at hers and decided she wouldn't take the bus home that day - it would take too long. But she did text Mikoto to let her know she'd be teleporting as soon as classes let out.
In another classroom, Usagi decided that it was a perfect day to suggest to Ruiko and Kazari that they get to know Naru better - at Naru's home. Then she remembered how busy OSA-P was this close to Valentine's Day, and resolved to protect her noncombatant friends as best she could.
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
3:47 PM
Rob set a tray down on the table that everyone was gathered around. "Coffee, anyone? I know I want some." As he poured himself a cup, he continued, "And does everybody know everybody else? I'm Rob Donaldson, and I run this apartment building - sorry, this apartment complex. To my left... well, does anyone here not know who Accelerator is?" That question got a brief chuckle from Accelerator and nervous shaking of heads from the newcomers. "The young lady in the maid uniform is Maika Tsuchimikado."
The male in the visiting group raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Tsuchimikado?"
Maika sighed and nodded. "He's my brother." Then she quickly added, "But not by blood."
Accelerator snorted. "I don't know what she sees in him."
"Be that as it may," Rob commented, "it's neither here nor there right now. Who do we have the pleasure of inviting into our home for a chat?"
Accelerator rolled his eyes at Rob's use of the word "pleasure"... which did not go unnoticed by the newcomers.
"My name's Shiage Hamazura," answered the young man as he poured a cup of coffee for himself.
"Rikou Takitsubo," said the brunette, in almost as deadpan tones as the Misaka clones routinely used.
The blonde grinned. "Call me Frenda!"
Maika raised an eyebrow. "Is that your name?"
Shiage nodded. "Amazingly enough, it is."
"Oh, fine. I'm Frenda Seivelun." She pouted, cutely.
Rob nodded. "Thank you." Maika and Accelerator noticed that he didn't smile. "Accelerator tells me you're with a team called ITEM."
"Yeah, I'm driving for them. Or maybe I should say I was driving for them, until we read ahead in the stories you have here and discovered what Meltdowner - she's the leader of ITEM - was going to do to Frenda."
"Yeah. So basically we cut and run," Frenda added.
Accelerator looked straight at Shiage. "You do that a lot. Skill Out to ITEM, and now to here."
"Think what you will of me, but I'm not going to let Academy City's Board of Directors or Meltdowner come down hard on people I like. If that means I have to run, then I run."
Rob nodded. "So you're doing that for other people, not for yourself. I can understand that. So... Skill Out. Does that mean you're not an esper?"
"Nobody in Skill Out is an esper," answered Shiage. "Except for that one Judgment bitch who was in Skill Out when Kurozuma was in charge."
Rob glared at him. "I asked because that ... 'one Judgment bitch', as you call her, happens to live here."
"Way to put your foot in it," Frenda said to Shiage.
"Yeah, you're just winnin' friends everywhere, Hamazura," commented Accelerator with a sneer.
As Shiage suddenly developed an interest in the coffee cup in front of him so he didn't have to look at anyone else, Rikou all-but-whispered, "I'm an esper."
Rob nodded. "Thank you, Ms. ... Takitsubo?" She nodded in return.
"We're all in those books, right? So basically you already know who we are. Why the questions?" Frenda asked.
"Because I'm not in those books," replied Rob. "And neither are a few of the other residents of this complex. It's just polite to let you volunteer the information that you want us to know."
"And I never read those books," Accelerator added. "Thought it was a waste of time, since we're not in Academy City now."
"Do you still think that?" Maika asked flatly.
He thought for a moment. "Nah, not if losers like Hamazura are gonna show up."
"I'll show you who's a loser!" Shiage shouted as he jumped to his feet.
"Enough!" Everybody stopped and looked at Rob. "If you absolutely must fight, do it outside." Nobody moved for a long moment. "Good. Accelerator does raise a good point - we haven't read all of the books yet. We don't necessarily know who you are."
"I know who she is!" came a cry from somebody who hadn't been in the room a moment ago. "That bitch tried to blow me up! Literally! What are you doing here?"
Everybody looked toward the door, to see Kuroko and Mikoto - the latter holding a coin in an outstretched hand pointed straight at Frenda.
Rob sighed. "Girls, I just said to take it outside if you're going to fight."
After a tense moment, Railgun lowered her arm... but she kept the coin in her hand.
Not for the first time, Rob silently thanked Rin and Usagi for blessing the building, what seemed so long ago. That there prevail here a spirit of camaraderie, goodness, compassion, friendship, and love, indeed. "I didn't expect you home for a little while, yet."
Kuroko smiled tightly. "I teleported Oneesama here. You did send an alert."
"Did I?" Rob looked puzzled, then nodded, "Yeah, I did, didn't I? I'll have to thank Kazari for adding text alerts to the Good Neighbour System."
"What's that?" Shiage asked suspiciously.
Rob smiled - finally. "Now's as good a time as any to explain the Metacontinuity to you. Mikoto, would you go ask your sisters if they want to take part in the discussion, please?"
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 6, 2017
4:18 PM
The newcomers looked around at all of the people who had finally arrived back home after school. "So, basically, we're surrounded by fictional characters."
"And there's groups of them - us - pretty much everywhere," added Shiage.
Usagi smiled. "Yeah! Isn't it cool?"
Shiage sighed. "I don't know if 'cool' is the word I'd use to describe it, Tsukino-san. Got any more of that coffee? I could use the stimulant."
"If you're going into shock, maybe we should get Ami here. Or Washuu-chan."
Rob shook his head. "I think our guests have enough strength of will that they won't go into medical shock that quickly just from hearing what we have to say, Usagi."
"I'm not sure of that, Misaka Niiko opines while pouring herself the last cup of coffee from this carafe. One of our guests looks to be so thin that she might be a drug addict, Misaka points out with some lack of tact, and that would impair her resiliency, Misaka adds."
"I'm not addicted to Body Crystal," Rikou answered quietly. "I just use it to boost my esper ability."
Something about that statement didn't sound right to Rob. Taking the empty carafe from Niiko, he said, "I'll go make some more coffee. Kazari, could you give me a hand, please?"
Both Kazari and Ruiko stood up and headed to the common room's kitchen with Rob.
Almost as soon as the kitchen door was closed behind them, Ruiko sighed deeply. "That blonde girl... she's pretty," she said with a bit of jealousy showing in her voice.
Rob grimaced as he remembered how Frenda acted in the anime. "She ain't pretty, she just looks that way." Then he sighed. "I don't trust her - but I know what Usagi would say if I suggested turning her away."
"She's already making friends with them, isn't she?" Kazari smiled. "But that's what we all love about her."
Ruiko smiled at Kazari's comment, then turned to Rob. "It doesn't take two people to make a pot of coffee. What's up?"
Rob continued to measure the coffee grounds into the coffeemaker's filter. "Something about that drug that Takitsubo-san is taking - Body Crystal. I think I remember hearing about it somewhere. Not in one of the books about all of you, but maybe on a website discussing those books."
Kazari pulled her palmtop out of her pocket. "And you need somebody to do a web search while you're being the perfect host." She flopped it open and began to type. "This might take a while."
"I'll help," offered Ruiko.
"Thanks."
"Thank you both," added Rob as he rinsed the carafe with hot water. "Now, if they're staying, where are we going to put them?"
"We have plenty of spare bedrooms now, Rob-oji."
"True enough, Rui-chan, but most of them are in that dimensional pocket that Washuu-chan created for us. Are they going to think we're keeping them locked up?"
"Nah," Ruiko grinned as she typed a search string into her cellphone's browser. "We're keeping them out of Meltdowner's sight."
Rob thought for a moment, then nodded. Then he realized that he was doing a lot of nodding that afternoon, and stopped. "Right. That's probably the safest place for them to hide."
By the time the coffee was ready, Usagi had been to her apartment and back, bringing back a photo album to show their guests. Rob brought the coffee in to discover everybody looking at photos from the Halloween party.
"Nice dress - and nice duplication of the scene from the movie." Frenda commented on seeing one of the shots from the entry parade.
"Why, thank you!" Minako replied. "I did my best to make the scene just right."
"I'd say you succeeded." Shiage turned the page in the photo album... and stopped dead, staring at one photo while his nose began to bleed. "Who is that gorgeous woman in the Bunny outfit?" he finally managed to ask.
Maika grinned. "Oh, that's the girl who you called, and I quote, 'that one Judgment bitch'."
Kuroko looked shocked. "He called Mii-sempai a... How dare you!" Sure, Mii wasn't Oneesama, but she was a co-worker - Kuroko felt she had a right to be insulted in Mii's place.
Shiage's expression went from bliss to despair in record time. "I guess I'm not going to be allowed to ask for a copy of that photo, then."
Takitsubo grabbed him by the arm, tightly enough to cause discomfort. "No. You won't."
Once more, To be continued...
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown