Standing before the imposing walls, Karkat felt intimidated again. After all, it had been six weeks since he had last been here. Fortunately, Kanaya had brought him her notes and extra copies of classwork. He was all caught up, but he was nervous about going back in there. I know nobody here except for Kanaya. Even the teachers don't really know me. Kanaya must have sensed his trepidation because she took his hand and whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry, Karkat. It's going to be just fine, you'll see."

He looked at her with a new confidence in his face. "Let's go then." He stepped forward through the gates. Kanaya had to walk with him or be dragged. She chose the former. Although he exuded a sense of confidence, she could tell that he was still afraid. He gripped her hand like a lifeline. Karkat stopped just short of the courtyard, his eyes scanning the area.

Kanaya took the lead, pulling him forward. He stumbled behind her for a few steps before catching up to her. "At least warn me before doing that," he complained.

She turned to look at him, a smirk on her face, "You did that to me a minute ago."

He glanced away and his head dropped, "Sorry," he muttered, "I didn't think there…" His voice trailed off into indistinct mumblings that were lost in the clamor.

Kanaya ignored his inarticulate self-berating. Instead, she increased her pace, half-dragging Karkat behind her. They wove through the crowd, Kanaya trying to find a good quiet place to talk. She did not lead him to the grassy area, as it was too far away. Instead, the two went into one of the smaller courtyards off of the main one. There were a few people there, evidently getting their procrastinated homework assignments completed before first hour.

"Look Kanaya, I can't go through the whole day with you literally holding my hand and dragging me around."

Kanaya looked down at their clasped hands. She was gripping Karkat's hand so hard that it was crooked and had turned white. "Sorry," she apologized, loosening her grip, "I guess I thought you'd get separated from me. I'm just worried about you."

"You know, you don't need to worry. I know my way to my classes. Even if we did get separated, it's not like it's the end of the world, right?" He gave a half laugh and a half smile before falling silent once more.

"I guess you're right… I just can't shake the feeling that if you go and wander off without me that something bad will happen to you. You've had more than a lifetime's worth of hardship. I couldn't bear to see anything happen to you."

"Kanaya, you need to realize that I'll be alright. You have to stop worrying about me, alright?"

She hugged him, pulling him tight. She noticed that his chin rested on her shoulder. He must have grown a lot in the hospital. "Okay, Karkat. I'll stop fretting over you, just so long as you promise to try and stay out of trouble."

"Sounds fair." He stepped back and looked her in the eye. As always, they both got a thrill out of seeing the others' eyes. "I think it's time for the bell to ring, we should get to class."

As predicted, right as he finished saying it, the deep tolling of the bells began: five long, heavy strokes. The two waved goodbye and ran to their respective classes.

Karkat got in to Ms. Crocker's class and talked with her briefly. She knew that he had been out in the hospital, and was happy to see that he had finally returned. Since he had been keeping up with his classwork, he was right on par with what the rest of the class knew. Actually, he knew most of the material better than the class, because of Kanaya's notes. Thank God for Kanaya's notes.

In study hall, he repeatedly thanked Kanaya for her notes. She responded by saying that it was anything a decent human being would do. They spent the rest of the hour talking. Leaving the class together, Karkat remembered his first day, how he had tried to drive Kanaya away. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I should have just told someone. Bu, then dad still would have found out somehow and then… ouch.

Strider insisted on welcoming Karkat back in front of the whole class. He could have punched that insufferable prick in the face, but he decided against it. Best not to get sent to the office the first day back. As the class got underway, Karkat was surprised that Strider actually knew how to teach, and very well too. It was rare that he was so interested in class, but Strider actually made Social Studies seem like a real subject. Right then, they were going over the effects of slave revolts in the Roman Empire.

"… and so when the Roman legion finally arrived at the quarry where the slaves were hiding, they didn't try to go in there and kill them. Instead, the clever bastards put guards at each entrance and starved them out. By the time it was over, there were only a handful of slaves left, and they were quickly used as entertainment."

A girl in the middle of the class raised her hand, "Uh, what exactly do you mean by 'entertainment'?"

Strider gave an evil-sounding laugh, "Well, what did the Romans like the most?" he paused, waiting for an answer. When none came, he continued, "Blood sport. They'd throw criminals and slaves in the Coliseum and have them fight each other, or wild animals." Most of the class nodded, as if they already knew this, but Strider pressed on, a feral grin on his face, "Some of the time, if the gladiators won the favor of the people, the emperor would free them. But, more often than not, they kept fighting until the lions tore them to so many tiny, bloody scraps."

The girl who had asked was disgusted, but intrigued all the same, "So… that kinda sounds like The Hunger Games, doesn't it?"

"Exactly!" Strider was positively frothing at the mouth now, rabid with excitement of, apparently, imagining the gladiatorial contests. Karkat made a mental note never to get in a fight with this guy. He could seriously fuck me up. He glanced back at Kanaya, and saw that she was slightly disgusted. Well, she is rather sensitive to that kind of stuff.

The rest of the class passed without much more incident, except for when Strider went off on a short anecdote about Roman execution. A large amount of the class looked rather sick at this, and Kanaya was positively ill. She'll not want to talk about this later. Although, this really is interesting. They could execute someone over seventeen days by having flies eat the bodies of the condemned? Cool! Gross, but still…

English was his hardest class. Ms. Lalonde was obviously a no-nonsense teacher, but she didn't have to have a quiz every single day, did she? She was a good teacher and kept the class focused rather easily. Although, she has had six weeks to get them in line. He was never any good at writing or analyzing literature.

Lunch came, and Karkat sighed with relief when he realized that he didn't have to mooch off of Kanaya anymore. He bought lunch and then went to their usual spot, the grassy strip. She was already there, though she had no food with her.

"Hey, Kanaya. What's up?" Karakt sat down across from her, unwrapping the cellophane from his sandwich.

She gave a weak smile, "In Social Studies, when Strider was talking about the Roman's methods of torture, it reminded me of… well…"

"What happened to me?" Karkat finished. Kanaya nodded, her face going pale. "Well, I survived and am fine now."

"Still, it rather killed my appetite."

"That's too bad. You should be fine missing a meal though. Lunch is usually the best meal to skip, if you actually have to skip one." He patted her on the shoulder, "You'll be alright by dinner." He then proceeded to wipe the sandwich from existence in a few bites.

As he ate, Kanaya spoke, "Well, I do suppose you're the expert. That last method he mentioned… what was it? Scaphism? That is just disgusting!"

Karkat responded through his sandwich before swallowing and repeating himself, "Yeah, that's rather gross, but it's still pretty cool, right? I wish I could do that to my dad."

Kanaya looked sharply at him, face going completely white, "No way, that's just too cruel. Getting eaten alive by flies is far too cruel for a human being!"

"I'm not sure that he is a human being. Anyways, I wasn't serious. No, I'd just shoot him in the head and be done with it." He started on his apple.

"How can you eat when we're talking about this? I might be sick."

"Practice, mostly. When you're trying to eat when your chest is carved up, some pretty gruesome images come into your head. I've been immunized to that particular reaction."

The rest of lunch was spent mostly in silence, except for the sounds Karkat's various foods made as he ate. Kanaya just sat in the grass, trying not to throw up.

Eventually, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch hour. Karkat stood, helped Kanaya up, and picked up his trash. They walked to the Science building in silence, Karakt throwing his trash in a bin along the way. Once inside Mr. Egbert's room, Kanaya's spell of silence was broken.

"Make sure to go and talk to him before the beginning of class, Karkat," she instructed, "Otherwise he'll notice you right in the middle class and get distracted. He's not a bad teacher though!" She added, seeing Karkat roll his eyes. "He's just… excitable, that's all."

"Alright." He got up and went over to Mr. Egbert's desk. Mr. Egbert looked up at Karkat and his face split in a slightly cross-eyed grin.

"Hey, Karkat! I was just reading the e-mail that Snowman sent out. It's good to know that you're back, but if you need to talk to anyone… there's Snowman in the office and all of your teachers… well, in their rooms." He said this all very fast, not pausing for breath at all. As Karkat had noticed the first day, he spoke as if he was always slightly distracted.

"Thanks…" Karkat turned and walked back to his desk, only to find it already occupied by… "Hey, who the FUCK are you?"

The person sitting in his desk turned and looked at him with surprise, "Karkat?"

"Oh, wow… never thought I'd see you again 'Thollucth'."

Sollux's eyes widened behind his tinted glasses, "I didn't think you'd remember me. I gueth it'th been tho long thinth I've theen you that I thought you'd forget me."

"I nearly did. The lisp's still as bad as ever, huh?"

"Yeah, it ith. Theems that thpreech therapy doeth'nt work with thith… condition. I wath jutht chatting with Kanaya over here about clath. Biology… kinda thucth for me."

"So life doesn't work like computers do. Big deal."

"It'th more than that. With computerth you can tell it ecthatly what to do, and it'll do it perfectly, every time. With people… they're… methy."

"Sollux Captor, computer programmer extraordinaire since age 5," Karkat announced in his talkshow host voice, "And yet the autisms are as strong as ever."

Sollux made some sort of 'pfft' noise and left. Karkat slid into his seat and glanced at Kanaya. "Well," he asked, "Just talking about class, huh?"

"Yes, of course!" Her response came a half second too quickly though, and Karkat glared at her. "Karkat, I'm not… interested in him. We're friends."

Karkat studied her face, and then let his glare slide off. "Okay." They were spared further bouts of conversation by Mr. Egbert getting up to the front of the class.

"Alright, alright, settle down everyone." The class quieted, listening expectantly. "Okay, so continuing off of Friday's lecture…"

"Well, that was…"

"An interesting analogy he used there, I know." Kanaya finished for him. "Hey, I'm sorry but I need to go. The Arts building is across campus and…"

"Sure, go on. I need to talk to Mrs. Noir to get my elective." He waved goodbye to Kanaya and set out for the office.

The crowd was thick, and he was still a few inches shorter than most people. He didn't see Equius until he literally ran face-first into the jock.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the unmistakable growl filtered through the crowd. Suddenly, there was nobody around except for him and Equius. A shiver went down Karkat's spine. Equius looked at him, fists clenching and unclenching. He erupted in a flurry of movement, and Karkat found himself pinned to a wall. Where did that wall come from? Equius' hands were wrapped around his neck, holding him to be at his eye level.

"You again. We just keep running into each other." Karkat tried to respond, but no air could get through his constricted windpipe. Instead, he jerked his knee up to Equius' face. He roared in pain and dropped Karkat, clutching at his face. Karkat stood up and rushed forward, kneeing Equius in the groin. He let out a pathetic whimper and slid to the ground, blood dripping from between his fingers.

Karkat dusted himself off and walked past Equius. As he walked by, Equius' hand shot out and grabbed his ankle. Before he knew it, Karkat was lying on his back as Equius stood over him. He spat on Karkat, the phlegm tinted red with blood. As Karkat lied there dazed, Equius kicked him in the side. Karkat curled up into a ball while he rained blows onto Karkat's back.

"HEY, YOU THERE! STOP!" a loud voice shouted from across the courtyard. Equius stood up and turned. A burly security guard was charging at him. Seeing this, Equius turned and ran, his footsteps shaking the ground. The guard charged past Karkat, chasing after Equius. You'll never catch him. Even in grade school, Equius had been able to outrun anyone, and time had only improved his speed.

Karkat groaned and stood up. The guard walked back towards him sheepishly. "I lost him. Do you know his name, by any chance?"

Karkat coughed through his swollen throat, before wheezing out a response. "Yeah, I know the guy. *cough cough* His name is *cough* Equius Zahhak."

"Equius Zahhak," the guard repeated, writing the name down in a notepad. "Come with me, we'll get you to the nurse's office. Karkat shook his head in protest.

"It's fine. My throat is a bit swollen, but I'm fine otherwise."

"Well, if you're sure…" the guard trailed off. "Is there a class you need to get to?"

"I need to get an elective still."

"Still? It's been, like, six weeks."

"I was… out." The two walked into the office and parted.

"Hey, kid, I'll see you around. If you see anyone else like that, don't hesitate to tell me. I'm Officer Nitram, by the way. You are…?"

"Karkat Vantas. I'll keep you informed." He turned away with a wave, walking down the long hallway to Mrs. Noir's office. He checked to see that the collar of his shirt hid the finger marks and drank from the water fountain to reduce the swelling in his throat. Immediately after knocking on the door, he was invited in.

"Ah, Mr. Vantas. It's good to see you back in full health."

"It's good to be back, Mrs. Noir." He winced at the scratchiness of his voice.

Mrs. Noir noticed this and honed in on it. "Sore throat?"

"Yeah. Nothing to worry about though." He dismissed the line of conversation with a casual wave. "So, I'm here to get an elective… finally."

"Yes. However, before we do that, is there… anything you want to talk about, perchance?"

"Not that I want to talk about, but you probably want to hear about."

"It's alright if you don't want to dredge up those… unpleasant memories, you don't have to."

"No, no, it's fine. Just… don't interrupt me." Mrs. Noir nodded as if to say fair enough. "Okay, so really the worst part of the whole… ordeal was being locked in the trunk." From her gasp, Karkat guessed that she hadn't heard about that. "I was in complete darkness and it was hot. Very hot. My head hurt like hell, my rib hurt, and my arm wasn't feeling so good either. I just… laid there… for hours. Not knowing if I was dead or alive… wanting to be dead… I was so thirsty I had to drink my own sweat. Towards the end, I began to hallucinate. I saw… well… that's unimportant. That trunk was hell, Mrs. Noir. Every time I go to bed, I leave a light on so that I know I can get out. I… still can see the darkness. Every time I close my eyes… it's there… waiting for me.

"You can't even imagine the relief I felt when the trunk opened. Even though it was my dad there, the rush of air was heaven. After that, I… I'm not going to bring that up." He looked up at Mrs. Noir, face pale.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Karkat. Truly. You're right though, I can't imagine what that would be like." She straightened in her seat, "So do you mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Fire away."

"Do you know how long you were in there?"

"From what I figured out, a little under four days. It felt like a lifetime."

"Four days…" she shuddered, "When the police went in there, the report said that the walls were absolutely covered in blood. Why?"

"What? I thought that I cleaned it all off…"

"Blood is fluorescent under UV light."

"Ah. The blood is from various different things. A lot of it came from him flinging knives after finishing with them. Sometimes he'd collect some blood and throw it on the walls, and make me clean it off."

"So he was sober when he did this?"

"Oh yes. I didn't lie to you when you asked me if he drank. He was always sober. He hated me."

"If you don't mind me asking… why did he hate you?"

Karkat's face went black for a moment, and when he spoke, it was in a quiet voice. "When-when I was born… I killed my mother."

"What?" Mrs. Noir responded numbly.

"She died in childbirth. Her heart gave out. He blamed me, fourteen years later… here I am." He looked down at his lap, a tear dripping from one eye.

"I'm so sorry. But don't say that you killed her. It's rare, but some women still do die in childbirth."

"Sorry, it takes a while to get used to not living in fear all the time."

"It's alright, Karkat. I wouldn't expect you to recover overnight. Things like that leave deep, deep scars." She paused for a while, waiting for Karkat to compose himself. When he was finished, she moved on to the less important topic: getting Karkat's elective chosen.

Karkat calmed himself using the techniques his therapist had taught him. When he was done, he looked up and started on the reason why he came: choosing an elective.

/

The bell rang just as Snowman finished entering his elective choice into the system. "Your elective is computer science with… a former DHS student, surprisingly enough. Mituna Captor. I think-"

"Yeah, his brother Sollux goes here. He's in my fifth hour."

"Well, that's good. It's time for you to leave I think."

"Thanks Snowman!"

"Remember, any time you need to talk… I'm right here."

"I'll remember that. See you around!" He left the office feeling lighter than he had in weeks, having finally wrapped up with Snowman. Looking toward the gate, he saw Kanaya waving at him. Waving back, he sped up his pace and caught up to her. The two began their walk home, discussing their sixth period.