It had been two weeks since he was shot and Kyle was given the all-clear to go back to school. Thankfully Tweek was kind enough to bring over his missed homework, while he was stuck on Eric Cartman's couch he was glad that both him and Butters came over to visit so he wasn't always close to wringing the don's neck. Which wasn't unusual considering their past with each other, most dangerous man or not Kyle wasn't afraid to call him out on his bullshit. Though throughout the time spent together Kyle found their relationship changing from frenemies to maybe something friend-ish.

Kyle took a deep sigh and closed the locker after digging out the books needed for his next class. It was strange being in the walls of the school again, even though he had only been gone two weeks it was almost like he'd been gone a month. As he walked through the hallways he made notes of the posters on the walls. Namely, a few clubs that he always found was a waste of time. One notable was the poster for prom night, a sappy romantic theme was chosen and he couldn't help but snort.

His life as a normal high school student was over, he wasn't going to find a date and have a romantic evening. Though it would be nice, it was the key moment of senior year, next to graduation. Graduation seemed so far out of his mind now, he had plans for after he walked the stage but now they've been ripped to shreds and he only had Cartman to blame.

Kyle wasn't stupid he had heard the whispers through the hallway as he passed and it irritated him. His grasp on his books tightened so hard that his knuckles turned white and he set his jaw as he headed towards his class.

Kyle glanced forward unamused as he entered his classroom and took his assigned seat. He ungracefully flopped into his seat and slammed his books on the desk. This caused a yelp from a girl in the seat next to him. He glanced over at her to see her looking fearfully at him. Oh for fucks sake.

"Damn Kyle, you don't have to scare poor Vanessa."

Kyle rolled his eyes at the boy who spoke up. It was a new student who seemed to be an outspoken protector of his classmates, his name was Dave. He and Kyle didn't interact with each other that much but he was generally friendly towards the other, until today. He sent a harsh glare at the boy who looked taken aback.

"I didn't, it's not my fault she's so jumpy. You guys act like I'm going to hit you." Kyle looked between David and Vanessa. The both of them looked wary before Dave spoke again much to Kyle's displeasure.

"Well everyone says you've gone and joined the Mafia, you know two weeks ago you-"

So that's what this is about.

That's when the teacher came in and cut him off.

"Get to your seats, class is starting."

Kyle managed to make it through the first five blocks in one piece, he didn't even talk to anyone. He was absolutely livid throughout the entire day and it probably wasn't helping his case. The only solace he had was lunch but even that was taken from him and he decided to eat outside. He was eventually joined by Tweek and Butters and they ate in partial silence.

"They act like I'm going to kill them," Kyle said absentmindedly and bit down into an apple.

"I mean your face screams murder, Kyle," Butters said pointedly.

"H-He's right, you should try looking a bit less angry." Tweek offered.

Kyle found himself sighing and rubbing his face. "Sure, okay."

He stared balefully down at his half-eaten lunch, he found his appetite slowly depleting, and he bit down on the apple once more, finishing it off completely. Placing the core down on the plastic tray he stood up and caused Butters to glance up.

"Is that all you're gonna eat Kyle?" he said.

"I'm not feeling all that hungry anymore," he said.

Butters didn't say anything else after that but sent a concerned glance at his back as the boy turned to head back inside to return his tray. Only he stopped halfway towards the tray return. Bebe Stevens and a few other classmates were blocking the way.

"So is it true, did you join them? We just want to know," Bebe said.

Not here, not now, was he even going to entertain this. He rolled his eyes at Bebe and tried to find a way around the gathering crowd. It was clear that the whole cafeteria had their eyes on this conversation, it was clear they were all here to find out the truth of the hot topic of the day. He scowled when he realized there was no way around.

"Leave me the fuck alone, Bebe." Kyle spat, "I don't have to entertain this shit."

"We just want to know if we are in the same school as a murderer." the harsh reply from Dave came and Kyle almost snapped a part of his tray off.

His expression grew dark, he wasn't going to deny that he was a murderer. Though he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of him admitting that.

"You guys are acting so stupid, do you realize everywhere you go they are there. So what, even if I was in the mafia, would that make any difference whatsoever?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

A low whistle came from the crowd, "Nice diversion tactic, Broflovski."

He ran his hand down his face in frustration and looked up at the ceiling, watching the fans spin around and around. It wasn't worth avoiding the topic anymore, so what if they knew? Tweek and Butters were out as members and god knows how many other of Cartman's men.

"Alright." he started with an icy tone, he could feel the mood change in the cafe.

"I'm going to just admit it once, that way you can leave me the fuck alone!" he started.

"N-Now Kyle, just calm down bein' angry isn't going to get you anywhere," Butters said from behind him.

"I'm not… angry that is," he stared around the cafeteria, so this was what it came down to.

Maybe he was a little angry and the next statement made his blood set aflame like a gas fire.

"Look at his mob buddies defending him, that's enough for me." came a voice from the back of the crowd.

That was enough for Kyle, he slammed his tray down on the ground with a loud crack. Causing murmurs to ripple through the crowd.

"You know what, fuck you guys. Either everyone here is rather stupid or just have balls of steel, but why, even if I was part of the mob or not would you do something that would piss a dangerous organization off?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"As for your question, yes, I did join. So what? They're my friends, and I was given an offer I had no choice but to accept." his voice was slowly becoming livid.

Bebe started to say something and Kyle cut her off with a middle finger, it was her fault after all if she had just kept her fucking nose out of where it didn't belong he wouldn't have to have gone through this.

He stared around at them with a frown, fuck them all honestly. He spun on his heel and walked out of the cafeteria leaving it in silence.

"W-Wait Kyle!" Butters called out and followed after him leaving the cafe with the other blonde on his trail.

Kyle just slowed down to a walk so the two could catch up.

"At least it's in the open now," He sighed.

He was met with silence and he just shook his head and walked off this next class. The rest of the day he was mostly avoided, thankfully, except for the two blondes who said they wouldn't tell Eric anything, though it was probably the fact that his boss already knew.

As the final bell rang he nearly ran out of his class and to his locker, he was fucking grateful to get out of school. As he was placing his books back in his locker he felt a tap on his shoulder and with a shaky sigh, he turned around to see who was bothering him.

"Ike?"

"You really are an idiot, Kyle." came the pointed reply.

"So I've been told." he sighed.

"When mom told me that you were hanging out with mobsters, I didn't actually think you were one of them," he started, "though it makes sense, the amount of money you brought in wasn't typical of a fast-food worker."

"How do you even know that?"

"I looked over your shoulder while you were on your banking app once." Ike shrugged.

"It wasn't supposed to end up like this, I wasn't even supposed to be a part of it. I didn't want to, I wanted a normal life." he felt his pocket vibrate and pulled it out and his face paled once he saw who it was from. Yeah, he was in trouble.

"Kyle, I'm your brother and I support you, but I can't fix your problems for you. Mom's distraught, just work it out I'm not liking seeing her like this. Please."

Kyle sighed and nodded, "I'll visit her later and we'll sit down and talk about it if she even opens the door." he said.

"I'll make sure she does, I'll be off then, don't wait too long Ky." with that Ike disappeared into the crowd.

Kyle bit the inside of his cheek as he looked down at the message on the screen.

Cartman: Little birdy says you've been a dumbass, when you get home we need to talk.

Just fucking lovely.

When Kyle stepped into the house he looked around. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad? He wasn't exactly scared, as he was one-hundred percent not wanting to deal with the outcome of his actions. He did something stupid now he was facing said consequences. He sighed as soon as he heard his name being called from down the hall.

He walked off into the direction of Eric's office and set his jaw in annoyance as he knocked at the door.

"Come in."

Kyle sighed and walked inside and saw Cartman sitting at his desk with a none too amused expression on his face.

"I can explain?"

"Can you?" came the reply with a quirked brow.

Kyle blinked for a moment and looked to the side, choosing his words. "They already had suspicions and I only confirmed them. Why does it matter? They already know about your presence in the school, I was just so damn tired of them looking at me like I was going to kill them."

Kyle ran his fingers through his strands of hair sticking out from underneath his green beanie and tugged.

"They probably think that I will now."

A snort came from Cartman and he looked up at the man who was just grinning.

"I don't really care about what you did. I just wanted to see the expression on your face when you thought you were in trouble. Your anger really doesn't reflect me in a good light, you need to be a good little monster."

Kyle could strangle this man, he really could, his hands were twitching just to jump at his neck and snap it. Then it wouldn't look good on him, he'd just have to push down the anger that was boiling to the surface at that insufferable smirk.

God damn that smirk.

"I don't think being a mob boss reflects anyone in a good light, Cartman."

"Neither is being a murderer, Kahlll."

He had him there, neither of them had good light on them anymore. He crossed his arms and stared right at Cartman with a frown.

"No comeback? Does this mean I win this argument? Start representing me a little bit better, Jewboy." Eric's voice was dripping with amusement.

Kyle sighed and hung his head, "Yeah fine. I'll just keep my mouth shut from now on." he lifted his head up and glared at Cartman.

"Good boy."

"Go fuck yourself, Cartman! I'm not a dog!"

A knock on the door and it cut off whatever Cartman was going to say in reply. Kenny and Stan came in once Cartman gave the word and Kyle silently stared at them.

He was sure they knew by the way they were eyeing the situation.

"You guys finished arguing like a married couple or can we do business?" Kenny's amused voice spoke up.

Kyle bristled but calmed down considerably, ignoring the glances at him.

"We were just finishing." Cartman eyed Kyle who just rolled his eyes.

Cartman leaned back in his chair as the three of them sat down around the room. "Now, we have a job. I got a lead on someone who might know a little bit about the Agency." he pointedly looked to Kyle to see if the redhead had any objections or any sort of comments.

Kyle's brow furrowed, he didn't actually think Cartman would follow through, it was shocking, to say the least. Maybe the fatass did have some honor in him. It actually touched him a little. When Kyle didn't exactly say anything and did nothing but stare at him Cartman continued on.

"He usually frequents The Rouge at nights, seems to be quite the regular." Cartman pulled out a photo from his file organizer and slid it forward. "Boys, let's go make him squeal," he said a grin spreading upon his face.

Kyle nodded and took a good look at the picture, it wasn't a familiar face, perhaps it was one of the many people he never had contact with. He wasn't going to overthink this, they would just make the guy talk and then he'd never see the guy again. It was that simple.

Kyle looked up at Cartman who was looking at him scrutinizingly. This caused Kyle to squirm a little bit, why was he looking that way at him?

"What?" Kyle asked.

"You can't go looking like that, you look like a common person, the club we're going to is a bit formal."

"And how do you suppose I do that? I'm sure every clothing store is closed at -" he looked down at his watch, "eight at night." he deadpanned.

The grin that spread upon Cartman's face unsettled Kyle. It meant trouble, that was for sure. "Don't worry, I got you covered," he said and picked up a bag from underneath his desk and shoved it in Kyle's arms.

"You bought...clothes for me?"

"God Kahl, don't make it gay."

Kyle stared at the bag for a moment before a smile spread on his face, "Thanks, boss." he said. Kyle wasn't going to ask how Cartman even knew what size he was, he wasn't sure he really wanted to know, it probably involved something like raiding his closet somehow. He, however, was genuinely surprised and he wasn't going to complain.

Kyle looked up and saw Stan and Kenny, he had almost forgotten they were in the room. Kenny was giving Cartman a pointed stare with a smirk, Kyle wondered what that was about. He had a feeling even if he asked, he wouldn't get the straight truth. Kyle was about to walk out to get dressed so they could leave as soon as possible when a throat cleared behind him.

"And Kahl, lose the beanie tonight."

Kyle frowned and tensed his shoulders. He hated his hair and he was positive that everyone in this room knew that fact. He didn't say anything and just slowly reached up and pulled the beanie off of his head and let the curls fly out.

"Happy?" he looked over his shoulder and looked back at Cartman.

"Yess.~" Cartman drawled out.

"Great." He said sarcastically.

Kyle stepped out of the room and headed up to his own room. He placed the bag down on the bed and pulled out the clothing within. It was a rather soft white dress shirt, it had a pocket in the front. He placed it down on the bed and pulled out the black slacks, leather belt, and green tie. It all looked rather expensive, Kyle had to admit that Cartman had good taste in fashion.

He quickly got dressed and stepped in front of the mirror on the back of the closet door. He stared at himself for a moment. He didn't exactly like the feeling of not having his hat on. His ginger curls were puffy as per-usual, untamed, and in Kyle's frank opinion, a mess. Freckles splashed upon the bridge of his nose and Kyle crinkled his nose at his appearance. Letting out a long breath he straightened his tie and headed back down to the living room.

There he was met with Cartman, Stan, and Kenny who were waiting for him. They cast their attention to him once he hit the last step and then the floor.

"You clean up nicely, man." Kenny whistled.

"Yeah, I don't remember the last time I saw you without a hat," Stan added.

"Since we were kids, and there's a reason for that," Kyle said his brows creasing.

Cartman looked at his watch and cleared his throat.

"No time for small talk, if we want to get this guy we have to get going." he was meaning business now. It was time to do their jobs.

"Also, don't be afraid to rough him up just a little bit," Cartman said pinching two fingers an inch apart and laughing.

Kyle was ready, once he did this job he'd be in it for real.

No turning back now.

The three murmured agreements and they all headed out the front door.