I'm sorry for the dumb title (I think it's dumb anyway), I couldn't think of a better one. Please enjoy this.
"Karkat, it's time to go to school." Kankri said, knocking on his brother's bedroom door.
"I know! Wait a second while I put my fucking shirt on!" Karkat yelled. Kankri sighed and leaned against the wall. After a few seconds Karkat emerged, running his hand through his hair in an attempt to brush it. Kankri nodded to him and they walked outside to the car. Kankri got in the driver's seat while Karkat sat in the back. Karkat leaned over and turned the radio on but Kankri switched it off. Karkat scowled at him and sat back down.
"Put your seatbelt on." Kankri said. Karkat rolled his eyes but did as he was told. Kankri started the car and drove them to school. "First day, are you excited?" Karkat didn't respond and Kankri sighed. They'd been raised by their father all their lives. With him suddenly gone they'd had to move to be able to afford living. Kankri knew he could never replace their father, but he would do his best to care for Karkat.
When they got to school Kankri parked the car and walked with Karkat inside. They went to the office and asked for their homeroom number. The secretary gave them a whole list of their classes as well and what room they were in. They went upstairs to homeroom and sat down. Kankri did his best to ignore the stares from others. Karkat just pulled his hood over his face and went on his phone.
"Good morning class." the teacher said, walking in. "I heard we have two new students here. I assume that would be you two?" He looked at Kankri and Karkat and Kankri gave a short nod. "Well class, this is Karkat Vantas and his older brother Kankri Vantas. You two, I am Dr. Scratch, but please just call me Doc Scratch." Scratch? Kankri saw Karkat tense when the teacher said his name. Kankri tapped his brother's shoulder and leaned forward.
"It's probably just a coincidence." he whispered. Karkat bit his lip and nodded before turning back to face the teacher, who was still talking.
"-so if you two have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask someone. I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful school year and make plenty of friends." Then the bell rang and Karkat and Kankri left for class. Kankri had Gym first period. He didn't have any gym clothes with him, so he would just have to explain to the instructor. At the gym Kankri sat down where there wasn't anyone else and waited for the teacher to get there.
"Hey you guys." the teacher said, walking in. "Everyone got gym clothes? Hey, you don't—wait, who are you?"
"Kankri Vantas. I'm a new student."
"Oh, okay. You get a free pass just for today. But have you're gym clothes next class!" Kankri nodded politely. "Okay everyone, after attendance you all have to help me take the wrestling mat out, 'cause guess what we're doing?!" Some kids groaned while a few laughed. Kankri didn't react. He wasn't that good at wrestling, he would just have to hope he didn't get paired with someone too aggressive. When the teacher finished taking attendance he got everyone to stand up and help him pull a large folded up mat out of the storage room.
"Why should we have to do this?" one kid grumbled. A few others were grumbling too. Normally Kankri would agree with them and start a long conversation with them about how triggering it was, but for awhile he really hadn't felt like talking. So he stayed quiet and did as the teacher asked them.
"Okay, now that that's done everyone's getting a sparring partner for the whole time we're doing this. I'll call you out, so stand with your partner when I do." He began to list off some names and Kankri waited patiently until he said his name. "Kankri Vantas and Cronus Ampora." Kankri stood where the teacher pointed and waited for his partner. When he did walk up Kankri wasn't sure how to judge him.
Cronus was taller than Kankri by almost a foot. His hair was slicked back with hair gel and looked incredibly greasy. He had two small scars on the corner of his forehead and when he opened his mouth Kankri saw his teeth were yellowed like he'd been smoking. He was wearing a white shirt and dark pants and he scowled when he saw Kankri.
"Wvhat are you looking at?!" he snapped.
"I—nothing." Kankri said. He didn't say anything else and Cronus just rolled his eyes.
"Okay, you all get a square on the mat, which are done in tape already. So go pick one and wait until I tell you what to do." Kankri looked at Cronus, who just walked to the nearest square and stood in it. Kankri followed him and stood in front of him. "Okay, today you're trying to get you're opponent out of the square. That's all! Don't knock someone to the ground, don't break any bones or bloody any noses. Just shove them into the space between the squares. Ready? Go!"
Before Kankri could react Cronus grabbed him and threw him. Kankri immediately grabbed his arms to avoid being thrown out of the circle. He pushed out of Cronus's grasp by bracing himself against him with his feet on his stomach and shoving. But Cronus grabbed his shirt and slammed him out of the circle. Kankri gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and Cronus sat down on his stomach.
"C-can't…breathe." he choked. Cronus just rolled his eyes.
"Hey! Ampora! Get off him!" the instructor yelled, blowing his whistle. Cronus sighed and stood up and Kankri gasped for air. After a few seconds he sat up and got to his feet. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Kankri said. The instructor nodded and walked off. Kankri glanced at Cronus and saw that he was staring at him. "What?"
"Nothing!" Cronus snapped, glaring at him. He turned away and seemed to stare at the wall. Kankri just sighed quietly and looked away from his partner. What's with him?
"Hey newbie!" Karkat looked up and saw a girl sitting with her group of friends waving at him. "Don't sulk in the corner like a douche! Come sit with the cool kids!" Karkat rolled his eyes but walked over and sat down with the group. "Great! I'm Vriska by the way."
"Karkat."
"We know, thtupid." a boy with 3D glasses said. "We heard when the teacher introduthed you."
"Whatever." Karkat mumbled.
"Y'know, you guys should introduce yourselves." Vriska said.
"Oh, right. I'm Thollux."
"I'm Aradia." a girl with long brown hair said. She was holding hands with Sollux so Karkat assumed they were dating.
"I am Equius." a rather muscular guy said. He was sitting next to Aradia. He turned to the small girl sitting on his other side and tapped her shoulder. "Aren't you introducing yourself?"
"O-oh! Yeah! I-I'm Nepeta!" The girl seemed really shy or something. She had short brown hair and big green eyes. She was wearing an olive-green coat that was way too big for her and trailed on the ground. And she also had a blue hat with cat ears and Karkat could see a matching-blue cloth tail hanging off her chair. Three guesses at what her favourite animal is.
"Class, this is silent reading time. Silent!" the teacher snapped. Karkat didn't have a book of course and his (apparently) new friends didn't pull any out to read either. So instead they kept talking, but this time they whispered.
By lunch time Kankri had found out he probably had every class with Cronus in it. It wasn't that he hated Cronus, he just kept being reminded of how he slammed him to the ground and sat on his stomach. Though it would be very triggering if I judged him simply by that. He could very well be a respectable person.
Someone tugged on his sleeve and he turned around. It was a girl he'd seen in his gym class. She had wavy brown hair and wore a green shirt and black skirt. She had a headband with cat ears on. She signed something quickly with her hands. Kankri just blinked.I don't know sign-language!
"Uh, what?" he asked. The girl tugged at his sleeve and pointed at a table where some other kids their age were sitting. "You want me to come sit with you and your friends?" The girl nodded eagerly. "Well, alright." She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the table, where he sat down.
"Hey Meulin, who's this?" one of the boys asked. The girl Meulin signed something to him and he nodded. "Oh, a new student. Hi, I'm Horrus."
"I'm Kankri." He shook Horrus's hand and sat down.
"Nice to meet you. This is Mituna" he pointed at the boy next to him "this is Mheena" he pointed at a girl on Kankri's left "and that's Aranea" he pointed at the girl next to Mheena.
"Nice to meet you all." Kankri said. Meulin signed something to him again.
"She asked what you think of this school so far." Horrus said.
"Oh, it's nice." Kankri said.
"Glad you like it." Aranea said. "Who's your homeroom teacher?"
"Doc Scratch." Kankri answered.
"Oh, him." Mheena said, rolling her eyes. "He likes the sound of his own voice too much."
"And to top it off, he teaches history." Horrus said.
"Oh, I have that next period." Kankri said.
"Good luck." Mheena said.
"I like his stories." Aranea said. "He always makes sure to include the important details, that's why they're so long."
"No, he just drones on about one fact and makes it sound like he's supposed to." Mheena said. Aranea glared at her and rolled her eyes.
"That's not true." she said.
"Yes it is. No wonder you're stories are so long if you enjoy listening to his."
By the end of the day Kankri still had pieces of Doc Scatch's long lecture about the English Civil War floating around in his head. He sighed and walked to his locker. His phone went off and he checked and saw that it was Karkat.
"What is it?" Kankri asked.
"Don't comment, but I've got detention, so you have to wait for me to drive me home." Karkat said. Kankri suppressed the urge to sigh.
"Alright, how long do I wait?"
"About an hour. I'm in room 116."
"Okay." Kankri hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. Since he didn't have to pack up yet he just put his books in his locker and left his bag in there. I might as well walk around a bit to pass the time. So Kankri walked down the hallway and kept going. The school was rather big so he hadn't had a chance to explore all of it.
He turned a corner and kept walking. He noticed Cronus leaning against a row of lockers. Kankri ignored him and quickened his pace. But when he walked in front of him Cronus grabbed him in a choke-hold and shoved him in a locker. He covered Kankri's mouth with his hand.
"Quiet!" he snapped. He slammed the door and Kankri heard a lock shut. He was about to yell at him when he heard multiple footsteps. He banged on the locker doors instead.
"Hey Cronus!" a boy said. "What's in your locker?"
"Just my latest catch." Cronus said. Catch? What?!
"Really? Hey, why don't you share?" Kankri heard someone grab the lock, then get smacked.
"Finder keepers! Hands off!" Cronus snapped. Kankri peered through the slits in the locker. There were six other boys, all wearing white shirts and black pants and coats, just like Cronus. Are they a gang?
"Hey, we've got a thing for tonight if you're interested." one of the guys said. "It'll be worth your while."
"Sorry, I'm busy. I'vwe got my catch to take care of." Cronus pointed at the locker and the other guys nodded.
"You'll be missing out, but it's your loss." They kept talking for quite awhile, and Kankri stayed still and quiet the whole time. Then his phone went off. The guys stopped talking and stared at the locker for a few seconds. Kankri tried to grab his phone but there wasn't enough room to move around in the locker.
"Ha! Maybe it's her boyfriend, calling her for a date." one of the guys sneered. Her?
"Well he isn't seeing her tonight." Cronus said. The guys laughed loudly and Kankri frowned. What? What are they talking about? What have I gotten dragged into?
Eventually the group of boys left and after about ten minutes Cronus opened the locker door and dragged Kankri out.
"Nowv get out of here." he said.
"What?" Kankri asked. He was confused. From what he'd said to those guys, Cronus had seemed to be implying he wasn't going to let him go for awhile.
"I said get out!" Cronus hissed. Kankri nodded and jogged back to his locker. He looked at a clock and realized Karkat's detention had been over for fifteen minutes. Oh shit. Kankri ran downstairs to the school entrance. Karkat was waiting for him with another girl and Meulin.
"What the fuck took you so long?!" Karkat snapped when he saw Kankri. "I called you but you didn't answer."
"I'm sorry. I was in the bathroom." Kankri lied. He wasn't sure why he lied, he just did. Karkat just rolled his eyes.
"That shouldn't take so long." he said. Kankri just sighed.
"Who's your friend?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I'm Nepeta." the girl said. "Um, my older sister said she knows you." She pointed at Meulin, who signed something.
"Oh, yes." Kankri said.
"Okay, let's go now." Karkat said. Kankri nodded.
"Alright. See you tomorrow Meulin." Meulin nodded and signed something. Kankri just nodded and followed Karkat to the car. He looked back and saw Meulin whisper something to Nepeta, who covered her face and shook her head. Kankri turned the car on and drove off. "Why were Nepeta and Meulin there?"
"Nepeta had detention too and then insisted on waiting with me until you showed up." Karkat said. "Meulin drives her home, so she had to wait too."
"I see." Kankri wondered why Nepeta had detention, but didn't say anything.
When they got home Kankri put his bag in his room and got supper started. Karkat sat down in the living room and turned on the TV. The news was on at that moment, with a blond woman talking.
"Just ten minutes ago, an old couple was attacked and robbed by a gang of teenagers on Beforus Street. People are urged to take caution going down dark streets such as that one at night. There have been many accounts like this over the last few months, but police have not been able to catch the gang. If you have any information, please share it."
Could Cronus be in that gang? Kankri shook his head.I shouldn't assume, just because he obviously hangs out with the wrong sort. That would be very triggering.