"Hi Kankri!" Aranea called, waving. Kankri waved and got out of his car. Karkat followed him to the school entrance. "This is your brother?"
"Yes, this is Karkat." Kankri said, patting Karkat's shoulder. Karkat shrugged his hand off and glared at him.
"Nice to meet you. Meulin said you're friends with her little sister."
"Yeah, Nepeta. She's in my classes." Karkat said.
"Karkitty!" Well speak of the devil. Nepeta pounced on Karkat, knocking him to the floor. Meulin came up behind her, laughing. Her laugh was bubbly and a bit odd.
"Ow! Nepeta, get off me!" Karkat yelled, squirming. Nepeta quickly got off and Karkat stood up. Equius and Horrus came up to them laughing.
"Looks like Nepeta's got a new favourite." Horrus said. Nepeta blushed and started talking quickly and shaking her head.
"Th-that's not…" Equius patted her on the head.
"Don't worry Nepeta, I know Karkat Vantas can't replace me." he said. Nepeta looked relieved and nodded quickly. Meulin tapped her on the shoulder and signed something. Nepeta signed back and Meulin looked surprised. She started signing quickly to Kankri and Karkat, who both had no idea what she was telling them.
"Um, she's asking if you two know the Makaras." Nepeta said. Kankri saw Karkat tense and he reached over and tapped his arm.
"Knew. Past-tense." Kankri said quickly. Meulin nodded enthusiastically and kept signing.
"She dated Kurloz Makara and still keeps in touch with him. Uh, he mentioned your name." Nepeta translated.
"Who cares?!" Karkat snapped.
"Karkat!" Kankri hissed. Karkat glared at him, but stayed quiet.
The bell rang before anyone could say something else. Kankri and Karkat went to homeroom and eventually went to their classes. Kankri had science class first that day. He sat at a table with Aranea and Mheena. Horrus, Mituna and Meulin weren't in the class. But Cronus was. He sat by himself at an empty table in the corner. Kankri saw him look at him then scowl and look away.
"Hi class!" the teacher said. "Uh, we've got the new student in our class, right? Ah, yep!" He grinned at Kankri. "Okay, so today—wait. Cronus, you're supposed to sit in a group!"
"I don't wvant to sit wvith idiots." he said. That's quite triggering.
"Then just sit with some smart kids. Look, go sit with the new kid and his friends." Cronus groaned but got up and sat with them. Mheena and Aranea inched away from him. "Okay, you all need groups of two for this project. I'll pass it out and you can start working on it."
"Sorry Kankri, you're with Ampora." Mheena said.
"I don't mind." Kankri said. The teacher put some paper in front of them and some vials of different coloured liquids. Kankri picked up the papers and looked over them.
"I'm not doing anything." Cronus said, crossing his arms. "This class is stupid." Kankri sighed.
"I understand that many students find classes like this boring and triggering and as such don't enjoy the projects in them, but they are necessary if you want to get a good mark. And even if you don't care about that you should since it will affect your life as an adult. And since this is high school, that future isn't very far off so if you don't care about such things you should start caring now for your sake. And I apologize if what I've just said triggers you, I was only speaking my mind." Cronus, Mheena and Aranea were staring at him in surprise. "What?"
"How do you talk that much?" Mheena asked. "It's almost like listening to Doc Scratch or Aranea tell a story."
"Oh." Kankri was surprised too. He had been rather quiet since his father's death, and he hadn't expected himself to suddenly talk like that again. "It's just how I talk."
"You weren't like that yesterday." Mheena pointed out. Kankri just shrugged.
"Let's just work on the project." he said. Mheena and Aranea worked on theirs but Cronus refused to participate. "Cronus, this is extremely triggering. As a student you are supposed to at least put forth your minimum effort in class. I understand you find this class and this project triggering, but you can't get through life sulking away from what you don't like and trying to take the easy way out every time. You do have to make an effort for something, no matter how small it is. At least pass me the red liquid." Cronus sighed but handed him the vial. "Thank you. And I apologize if I'm triggering you, I am simply telling you common knowledge that may or may not have eluded you. And I apologize if what I just said triggered you. I will attempt to refrain from saying such triggering things in the future from now on."
"Fine. Wvhatevwer." Cronus mumbled.
"Hey Karkat, lemme copy your answers." Vriska said, holding out her hand.
"No! Do your own god damn work!" Karkat snapped, pulling his worksheet away from her. Vriska scowled and glanced at the others. Aradia, Equius and Sollux just looked at her and she sighed. Nepeta was staring out the window.
"Nepeta, you should do your work." Equius said. Nepeta jumped slightly and nodded. She looked back at her work and started writing. Vriska stared at her, a grin spreading across her face. She pulled Nepeta towards her and whispered something in her ear.
"What—no! I—that's just…that's mean!" she squealed. Vriska laughed.
"What did you do?" Equius asked, putting a protective arm around Nepeta.
"I just bet Nepeta twenty bucks she can't ask out her crush in a month." Vriska said, smirking. Nepeta was blushing and Equius looked surprised.
"What? Nepeta, you have a crush on someone?"
"No I don't!" Nepeta protested, covering her face with her eyes. "I-I don't have a crush on him! Cut it out!" Vriska laughed.
"You totally do." she said. Nepeta moaned and rested her head on her desk. Equius glared at Vriska.
"Then who do you not have a crush on?" Aradia asked. Nepeta just shook her head.
"Stop teasing Nepeta." Equius said.
"I bet I know who you like." Vriska said. Equius sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Only Nepeta knows, and despite being quite sly Vriska, you don't know and you just want to get a reaction out of me." Vriska leaned forward and whispered in Equius's ear. Equius's jaw dropped and he stared at Vriska in shock, who started laughing.
"Told you I knew!" she said.
"What? Who do you like?" Aradia asked. Equius just shook his head and didn't answer. Vriska just laughed harder.
"Stop horsing around and do your work!" the teacher yelled at them. Vriska rolled her eyes and went back to her work. Karkat had finished during the whole discussion she'd started so he just relaxed. At some point he notice Nepeta was looking at him. He looked back and she immediately looked back at her work. What's with her?
At lunch Kankri once again sat with Meulin, Horrus, Mheena, Mituna and Aranea. Mheena was talking about science class.
"Kankri for some reason suddenly spoke a whole lot in one breath." Meulin and Horrus looked surprised. Kankri just shrugged.
"It's not that unusual." he said.
"It kind of ith." Mituna said. "You're not talking like that now."
"Well, no." Kankri admitted. "But there isn't a reason to, or…"
"I think we've just got another Aranea." Mheena said.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Aranea said. Mheena grinned.
"Ooh! Someone's cranky!" she said. Aranea rolled her eyes and ignored her.
"By the way, Meulin wants to teach you sign-language." Horrus said to Kankri. "Otherwise you'll never understand what she says."
"Alright." Kankri said.
Karkat was sitting with his new friend group at lunch. They were all talking amongst themselves while Karkat just focused on his food.
"At least it's finally a group of six again." Aradia said.
"What do you mean?" Karkat asked.
"Feferi uthed to hang out with uth." Sollux said. "Until she thtarted dating Eridan."
"Oh and speak of the devil." Vriska said, pointing. Karkat looked and saw who he assumed was Feferi walk over to them.
"Hi FF." Sollux said. Feferi smiled and nodded to him.
"Hi. Nepeta, can I talk to you please?"
"Yeah." Nepeta quickly finished off her food and stood up. She and Feferi walked out of the cafeteria.
"Wonder what that's about." Aradia said.
After school Kankri drove Karkat home. Karkat didn't have detention that time so they went home right away. Karkat sat down and watched TV while Kankri went to his room and worked on the homework they'd gotten. After looking at the paper with a blank mind for half an hour he gave up. Maybe some fresh air will clear my head. So Kankri grabbed his pullover sweater and put his shoes on.
"Karkat, I'm going for a walk." Kankri said. Karkat just nodded, still watching the TV. "There's leftovers in the fridge if I'm not back by supper time."
"I know." Karkat said. Kankri nodded and walked out, locking the door behind him.
It was almost winter so the air was rather cold. Kankri was glad he was wearing his sweater. He picked a random direction and started walking. He had a GPS on his phone, so he would be fine if he got lost. As he walked his thoughts drifted back to what had happened almost a week ago. Karkat seemed to be recovering fine, though that was just from judging what he looked like on the outside. On the inside he could still be getting over it all. Kankri sighed. I've got to do my best with Karkat.
Kankri suddenly realized he didn't know where he was. That was fine, he had a GPS. He was about to get his phone out when he heard someone scream. He froze and looked around. It came from down the street he was on. He ran ahead quickly, listening for other sounds. He could hear talking up ahead so he slowed his pace. He turned a corner into an even darker street than the one he'd been on and kept walking. He could hear people up ahead.
Someone grabbed him and pulled him down an alley he was standing next to. Kankri's first reaction was to grab the person's arms and try to make them let go. But they were strong and he couldn't do anything. He was shoved against a wall and a hand was clamped over his mouth.
"Wvhat the hell are you doing here?!" Kankri stopped and stared at the face a few inches away from his. Cronus?! "I said wvhat the hell are you doing here?!"
"Cronus! Come on!" someone yelled. "You're supposed to be our lookout!"
"I'll be right there!" Cronus yelled. He glared at Kankri. He picked him up, still covering his mouth, and shoved him inside a garbage can. "Set your phone on vwibrate this time!" he hissed. Kankri did that and Cronus pulled the lid down. Kankri squirmed into a sitting position and pulled out his pocket knife. The garbage can he was in was old and rusty. So Kankri poked some air holes in it. Then he waited and listened.
"This isn't all your money!" someone yelled. "I know you've got more than that! Give it up or your little friend gets a bullet between the eyes!"
"I spent all my money shopping today!" a man cried. Kankri felt a chill run down his spine. Oh no. It's the gang that was on the news.
"We've been following you all day! You didn't go shopping!" Kankri wanted to get out of the garbage can and go help the poor couple, but he knew he'd be killed if he tried and the couple might be as well. So all he could do was sit quietly and try not to hear.
"I-I lent some money to my brother-"
"You don't have a brother! Now you have three seconds to cough the rest up!"
"Wait! Please!"
"One!"
"I really don't have any more!"
"Two!"
"I don't!"
CRASH! Kankri had leaned so that the garbage can he was in had fallen, and the sound had echoed nicely. The man who had been counting had gone silent.
"Cronus, go see what that was! Eridan, you take over for him!" Kankri heard footsteps approach and Cronus lifted the lid off the garbage can.
"Wvhat the hell are you doing?!" he whispered. Kankri glared at him.
"I cannot simply sit here and not do anything. Your friends are going to quite possibly kill that person and that is far too triggering. While I admit what I did was not the most rational thing to do, there was no time for rational thinking. I apologize for triggering you with my behaviour, but I simply had to act! I cannot just sit here-"
"Shut up!" Cronus hissed, smacking his hand over Kankri's mouth. "If you're so keen on helping, wvhy not just call the police?!" Kankri blink in surprise. He hadn't thought of that! Cronus must have realized what he just said because he slammed Kankri's head in the ground. "Don't you dare!" Kankri bit his hand and Cronus jerked it away.
"Why shouldn't I?! I can't let your friends rob and hurt those people! It's against the law and-"
"Just be quiet! I'vwe done you a big enough favwour already, hiding you before they sawv you. Twvice nowv!"
"Why?! Why are you-" Cronus smacked his hand back over his mouth.
"Just be quiet and stay hidden." he hissed. He reached into Kankri's pants pocked and pulled out his phone. Kankri tried to reach for it but Cronus pinned him down. "And stay out of trouble." He shoved him back in the garbage can and walked off, putting his phone in his pant's pocket. Kankri wanted to yell at him, but then the gang would hear him and he'd be dead. Probably literally.
"All done Cronus?"
"Yeah, I took care of it." Some of the guys laughed.
"Well, this guy finally coughed up the rest of his money."
"So wve're all done here?"
"Not yet. We can't let them blab to the police like the last two."
BLAM! BLAM! Kankri froze and felt himself go cold. Did they just shoot them? They wouldn't…would they?
"Alright boys, we're done here. Let's go." Kankri heard footsteps recede until it was quiet. He crawled out of the garbage can and slowly walked around the corner.
A man and woman were lying down on the ground, blood running from their heads. Kankri didn't have to check to know there wasn't a pulse. He groaned and collapsed to his knees. Oh god, I couldn't do anything. They died and I just sat there!
"Leavwe!" Kankri jumped and turned around. Cronus was standing over him, glaring. "Before someone finds them and thinks you did this."
"They killed them!" Cronus sighed.
"Yeah, I knowv. Nowv get home and don't breathe a wvord of this to anyone."
"They killed them! They-" Cronus grabbed Kankri and clamped his hand over his mouth.
"I knowv! There's nothing you could havwe done, so just go home and don't breathe a wvord of this to the police!" Kankri bit Cronus's hand again and Cronus yanked it away.
"Not tell anyone?! Two people are dead. Dead! Innocent bystanders who were just shot! And you want me to just stay quiet?! I am very triggered! Why should you expect me to stay quiet about this?!"
"Because I'vwe savwed your life just nowv by hiding you. They wvould havwe killed you too if you'd been spotted. And if wvord of this gets out then I'll get the blame because I'm supposed to be the lookout, and I'm unpopular enough as it is, so just STAY QUIET!" Kankri wanted to say something but found himself at loss for words. He could see a look of panic in the back of Cronus's eyes.
"…Fine." he said. Cronus relaxed and let him go.
"Nowv get out of here."
"What about my phone?"
"I'll return it tomorrow. Just get going!" Kankri hesitated briefly and Cronus glared at him. Kankri stood up and ran off. He kept running until he found a street he recognized. He sighed with relief and went home.
"I called you but you didn't answer." Karkat said when he got home.
"Oh, sorry. I'd put it on vibrate and must have not noticed it." Karkat rolled his eyes.
"I already ate all the leftovers, so you'll have to make yourself something." Kankri glared at him and opened the fridge. He really did! Kankri sighed and grabbed a pack of instant ramen. He boiled some water and poured it in. He sat down in his room to eat it and instinctively reached into his pocket for his phone. I hope he does return it. He sighed and stared at the ceiling. And I can't say anything just because he saved my life?! Am I too soft?
That night Kankri couldn't stop thinking of the two dead people bleeding on the concrete, and how he didn't do anything. Nothing at all. He eventually fell into a fitful sleep.