The walk to school was tense since they weren't talking to each other. To be honest, Rex was relieved. Weevil was acting like he always did after they'd had an argument, even though their fight that morning was different than usual. Less petty.
Rex's siblings had already left by the time he got down for breakfast, so they were alone. It was pretty unusual for Rex to even be going to school, especially after his mom got another job, but he wanted to keep an eye on Weevil. Besides, his grandma could handle it until he got back. Probably.
They didn't exactly live in a big city, so the school wasn't too far from Rex's house. Weevil lived on the other side of town, a mere bus journey away, but when he first started coming over to Rex's house all the time, he claimed it was so he wouldn't have such a trip to school.
Their high school took students from all over town and it could be argued that they weren't the weirdest kids there, for a change. It was a big building, easy to overlook someone if they weren't in your classes – or even in your year, as was the case with Rex and Weevil.
When they got there, Weevil immediately took off. Rex stood at the gates and debated whether or not to follow him. On the one hand, he wanted to tail him to try to catch whoever was hurting his friend in the act. On the other hand, if Rex started following him right away, he'd definitely notice.
So he wandered around for a little while until he ran into the guys he'd hung around with before he became friends with Weevil. They weren't popular guys but they all enjoyed history, like Rex, so they got along. Hanging out with them again reminded Rex of before he got into Duel Monsters, before he met Weevil.
He couldn't deny that things had been simpler and easier back then. It made him uncomfortable to think about. But it also reminded him of back when he was just another teenager, before his mum had three jobs, before he stopped going to school, before he stowed away to America with Weevil.
His teacher must have noticed he really wasn't listening, so she cut her lecture about how he was never in class short and sent him to his seat. It was English class, so he didn't bother paying attention, as usual. Instead, he sat and worried about Weevil - and played through their entire relationship so far in his head, too.
He didn't see Weevil again until lunch and even then it was only briefly in the cafeteria. Weevil had never eaten in there, instead choosing to go and sit at the farthest edge of school property he could (Weevil said it was so he could be with the bugs in peace, but Rex thought it was probably just to avoid everyone).
He decided it was time to start tailing the bug Duellist. Rex knew from experience that all the likely candidates for that bruise would strike at lunch, simply because it was the only time Weevil could reliably be found in the same place and most of the bullies in their school were lazy. Rex decided not to think about what it would mean if it wasn't one of the usual candidates.
It was windy and cloudy outside. Rex hunched into his jacket and wondered what it said about Weevil that he'd rather be out here than in the school cafeteria.
He was in his usual spot, sitting against a tree at the edge of the sparse forest. There was no one else in sight. Rex took a seat on one of the benches on the empty concrete surrounding the building. Lunch came and went and nobody showed up.
That doesn't mean anything, Rex thought, still unnoticed, as he watched Weevil go back into school. But that didn't stop the dread curling in his stomach.