She hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through the wrists she had flung out in front of her at the last second.  Lilly could feel the cold, slimy mud that now coated her bare legs beneath her skirt, and felt more of the same between her fingers and under her nails.  The mess in her hands made a squelching sound as her small fingers curled into fists, ready to lash out at anybody and anything close enough.
 
No sooner had she thought about this than she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps, muffled by the grass underneath, growing fainter as they moved away from her.  The occasional burst of laughter carried back to her before being quickly stifled, the fear of being recognised cutting through the bravado.  Last time somebody pushed Lilly over they had stood next to her, gloating and teasing her.  And when Lilly had told her big sister Akira about the incident, and about the voice she recognised as belonging to somebody in a class a few years above her who taunted her regularly, well.  Akira was scary.  And that boy was known by various nicknames, each revolving around messy underwear, for several years after.
 
But no, there was nothing she recognised today, nothing she could use to tell these people apart.  Feeling the tears welling up in her useless eyes, she wiped a hand absent mindedly across her face to shoo them away.  Only after she had done this did she feel the mess now smeared across her face, and this time the waterworks came freely, and were still pouring when her big sister came to pick her up.
 
Taking off her own school jumper, Akira had wiped down Lilly’s face and legs and assured her the mud was barely visible, and she could have a proper wash when they got home.  Walking home with one hand clenched on her big sisters (which clenched back harder, if anything) and the other hiding her face in shame, it was an uneventful journey.  It always was with Akira around.
 
Once through the door Lilly let Akira guide her straight to the bathroom, standing motionless as her big sister undressed her, normally gentle fingers shaking in anger as they fumbled with the buttons on her shirt.
 
‘Who did it, Lilly?’
 
‘I don’t know.’
 
‘Well didn’t you hear them?’  The question was asked through gritted teeth, the splashes of water hitting the surface of the tub in the background doing little to drown the emotion from the voice of Akira.
 
Her sister.  Her calm, funny, loving sister.  Her angry sister.  Her sister who thought she still needed help getting dressed and undressed.  Her sister who read her bedtime stories, making up the sound effects, ‘ROAR!’ for the big scary dragons and ‘swish swish’ for the sound of the brave knight’s sword.  Her sister who only wanted the best for her, yet at the same time mothered her and cushioned her from the world.
 
Lilly’s thoughts were broken by a sudden ‘Fuck!’, followed by the sounds of rapidly turning taps.  ‘Phew, nearly overflowed.  Let me get rid of some of it and we can get you cleaned up.’  The anger was gone from her voice just like that, replaced by a more gentle tone.
 
Her sister who taught her bad words.
 
After being scrubbed until her skin felt raw, Lilly was dried and dressed in her pyjamas – it was still early, but there was no point getting dressed now.  She followed Akira into their modest shared bedroom in the house they lived in with some distant relatives, pulling the door shut as she moved past it.
 
Settling down onto her comfortable bed while Akira turned the TV on and found a cartoon show for her to listen to, Lilly’s mind was cast back to the events after school.  There was usually somebody waiting for her, to trip her up or outright push her, to call her names, to snatch her bag and hide it somewhere.  Lilly didn’t understand why.  She was always nice and polite to everyone in her class, always helpful…was it just because she was different to them?
 
A scratching sound at the door drew her attention, her glum face rearranging, her mouth forming a wide smile and her eyes opening wide in excitement.
 
‘Niji!’  Lilly said, getting off her bed and making her way to the door, the number of times she had made this journey told in the precision of her footsteps and the hand reaching out and touching the handle first time.
 
‘You know he’s not meant to come in our bedroom.’  Akira said, with little to no heart behind her words.  Akira loved Niji too.
 
‘It’s aaaaaaaaaages until anyone else will be home, isn’t it?’ Lilly asked, running her hands through her dog’s fur, burying her face into his back and smelling his husky scent.  Niji was almost her favourite smell and feel.  Almost.
 
‘Yeah I guess we’ve got a while, just don’t let him on your b-‘  Akira’s instruction tapers off to a sigh as Lilly jumps onto her bed, patting her hands on her knees, inviting Niji to join her.  He does.  Niji likes beds.  He used to sleep in bed with Lilly, but when she got bigger there wasn’t really enough room, and her uncle and aunty, or whoever they were, didn’t like ‘The Dog’ going upstairs.
 
The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully, the sound of Akira’s pen scratching across paper as she did her homework, the sounds of something not very interesting on TV, Niji’s warmth as he cuddled up next to her.
 
Lilly heard the door downstairs open and close, a sound which Akira had completely missed.
 
‘They’re home.’ She told her sister, twirling some soft fur around her finger.
 
Another naughty word, one that Lilly hadn’t heard before, followed by the door to their room being slowly opened.
 
‘Off you go Niji, go!’  Akira whispered into the dog’s ear, giving it a light pat on the backside to get it up and moving.  Giving out a miserable whine and rubbing his head against Lilly’s outstretched palm, Niji got up and made for the door, feet padding across the floor as he went.
 
 
 
She was prepared for the push this time, having heard footsteps coming up behind her.  Instead of falling forward she extended her leg, the momentum pushing her forward for a couple of steps before coming to a standstill.  She knew they would just keep pushing her and she was only prolonging the inevitable, but she didn’t care anymore.  She was tired of it.  A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders from behind, accompanied by the sound of laughter.  She felt the arms tense up for another shove, but then there was a dull thud sound, and the arms were off her shoulders.
 
Unaware of what was happening at the time, it wasn’t until later that she found out Akira had ditched her after school club so she could come and meet her earlier.  Upon finding the scene of her younger sister surrounded by a group of four older boys, Akira had gone almost crazy.  By the time the boy who had his hands on Lilly was on the floor, hands clutching at the front of his trousers, the other boys were gone, scattered.
 
As they walked off Lilly thought she heard the sound of a muted impact, the kind of sound that could be made by a shoe connecting with soft flesh.  She wasn’t sure.
 
She wondered if she could sneak Niji into her room again tonight?