Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[Yoki]

Upon hearing a voice Adrian had tried to make himself even quieter, he'd heard the hello and attempted to hold his breath, but he just burst out crying again. The most he could do was muffle the noise with his hands and his knees, but that still didn't silence it. He didn't want to cry, he just wanted to be able to go back into class, but he couldn't help it, he had to leave otherwise they'd all just watching him cry and that would be even worse. He was going to get into trouble, he knew he was... 


It seemed his attempt at hiding and staying quiet had done no good, as a few seconds later he heard his name being called, he didn't realise who it was at first and so just shook his head, curling himself up into a smaller ball than before. He desperately started wiping his eyes so that the other person at least didn't see him crying, but there were always more tears to replace the ones he'd wiped away. 


'A-Adrian, wh... What's wrong? You're s-supposed to be in class, aren't you?' 


He knew that voice, at that point it dawned on Adrian that he wasn't just dealing with someone random...it was Jackson who had found him. 


"Jackson?" The boy rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and sniffed, taking his hand away from his mouth as he looked up. His dulled, grey eyes betrayed the hurt and dejection he felt, but still attempted a smile. He couldn't be looking so down when someone he knew was around, that'd bring them down too... The only person he really bothered when he was upset was Leo...but...Leo was gone... 


Adrian bit the inside of his cheek too hard, causing himself to flinch and bring a hand to his face, immediately unclenching his teeth. "I-I..." He dropped his hand again, wrapping his arm around his stomach and looking down, "Yeah...I..." It was easy to tell that he had no idea what to say, he was grabbing at his shirt and pulling it in odd directions as he talked with Jackson, as well as generally shifting out of discomfort. 


"S-Sorry...I..." He sunk further towards the floor, "I just..." Both of his hands remained balled up in fists as he searched for an excuse, his breathing was a little heavy, and his cheeks were stained with the remnants of tears, which he seemed to be trying to hide from the older male. "A-Are...they gonna be...mad at me?" 

 

[yaint]

Jackson's forehead puckered in a worried frown. He could only meet the younger boy's gaze for a second before those grey eyes were torn away again to stare at the ground again, but even without seeing his face Jackson had no trouble in guessing what was on the child's mind. He knew all too well what it meant when Adrian curled up and isolated himself like this, and for once the older of the two did not have the heart to tell him not to cry. He had reason enough.


"No..." Jackson pulled back on the arm of his chair so that he could lean over and touch at Adrian's shoulder with a hand. He was supposed to be in lessons, of course he was... And if somebody saw the kid out here on his own then it was less than likely they would be happy. They could try to tell Adrian off all they wanted, but as long as Jackson was still free to stay by his side then nobody could force the boy to go back inside. They can't make him, Jackson thought, feeling a tiny prickle of anger for events that had not even happened yet. They can try, but if he doesn't want to then he's not going back.


It took a few deep breaths for Jackson to let his blood cool again. No, there was no point in getting worked up now. Nobody had even shown up to come and fetch them yet. He had to focus on the matter at hand, try to comfort the child and dry his tears before anything got worse. "No," he repeated softly at Adrian, gentle eyes still watching the shaking form, "N- Adrian, it's fine. Nobody's mad at you, okay? I promise."


Out of habit Jackson found himself glancing back down at his watch again. Two more minutes had passed. Great, he thought. Only quarter of an hour left until all hell broke loose during the morning break. He had to somehow get Adrian to a better place before the minute hand struck twenty, but... Focus on the little things first, he reminded himself. 


Carefully, the man slid his hands up to his collar and fiddled with his striped tie until it came loose. "Here," he said to Adrian in a forcefully soft tone, handing the tie down to the younger student. "D-dry your eyes, it's okay. Nobody's mad. It's - it's okay. Can you stand up - or, uh, can you look at me?"

 

[Yoki]

"Okay." Adrian sniffed again, trying to hold himself together whilst Jackson talked, he said he promised...so the boy was inclined to believe him. It did seemed to help a little bit, of course it didn't make Adrian okay, but it helped calm him down a little bit. It took away the worry of being yelled at or punished for being out here during lesson times. 


He'd moved to bury his head back in his legs when he heard Jackson say something and saw his hand move, the boy looked up slightly. He blinked as few times, before reaching out for the tie, bringing it to his eyes once he'd grabbed it. Adrian sat there for around a minutes just drying his eyes before even thinking about answering Jackson. 


"Mmn..." If he wanted to he could stand up, but he really didn't feel like it, so instead he just looked up at the older male, retaining that same sorrowful look. "My head hurts..." He mumbled, now playing with the other's tie, it didn't even look like he realised he was doing it, but his hands wove the tie in and out of his fingers whilst his large eyes continued to look at Jackson. 


"Jackson...I-I wanna go home..." He whispered, his gaze breaking away from Jackson's for a minute, the other knew what that meant. Adrian didn't really have that much of a home anymore, not since Leo was dead, and the only place he'd consider home was the apartment that he'd lived with Leo in, or his home back before either of the brothers met Jackson. But he couldn't go to either of them... Adrian seemed to be in just as much denial about the situation as Jackson, he didn't even want to remember it happening, yet he knew it had... 


The boy pulled his legs closer to his chest, "I don't..." He swallowed, "I don't wanna stay..." Of course he wouldn't be allowed to leave school in the middle of the day, the teachers wouldn't allow it, and neither would his carers, not for no reason. "I-I want-..." Adrian cut himself off as tears sprung to his eyes again and he was forced to hold his hands over them to stop himself from crying. "I-I... don't...wanna...- wanna be here..." 

 

[yaint]

"No... No, no, Adrian, you c- you have to -" Jackson put a hand to his forehead and then slid a pair of fingers down to the corners of his eyes, huffing out a quick breath as he rubbed at the skin at the top of his nose. Oh no, he heard himself say in his head, feeling a sudden twist of regret. He should have expected this... But what was he supposed to do? What home did Adrian have to go back to?


I... Could take him to my place, Jackson thought suddenly, but then scolded himself and pushed that option aside. No, that was out of the question. They both needed to stay at school - they could end up in all kinds of trouble if Jackson took Adrian home early, and whilst that was just another inconvenience to Jackson, there was no way the child curled up next to him would be unfazed after that.


Eventually Jackson managed a tiny cough to clear his throat. "Adrian," he started, attempting to sound somewhat firmer now despite the worried tremor that hung from the word, "Shh, it's okay. Look at me, it's okay. Y-you hear me? We can leave... At the end of the day. I - I'll c-call the carers, and you can come home with me again if you want. It's f- it's fine. It's okay, don't cry. At the end of the day, okay?"

 

[Yoki]

"B-But..." Adrian shook his head and pulled his legs closer to his chest, "I-I...Jackson I-...c-can't...I...I r-really can't...I don't w-wanna..." He started to get a little distressed, "I can't...I-I really... I-..." The boy tried to keep explaining why he didn't want to be in school, but it just wasn't working, he could hardly get his words out and in the end was just reduced to crying and whimpering in response to Jackson saying he couldn't go home. 


He buried his head in his legs, trying to take breaths to calm himself down once more, but he just couldn't at this point. "I d-don't wanna g-go to classes Jackson... Please...I don't wanna..." The boy was literally begging Jackson not to make him stay the whole day, he couldn't even raise his head, finding it impossible to contain his sobs.


"I-I want Leo back!" Adrian's voice cracked as he raised it slightly, although his voice raised was probably the volume of most other children's whilst speaking normally, "I-I...I want h-him back..." He started shaking a little more violently after mentioning his brother, "He p-promised me... H-He said... He...He..." Small hands gripped at his trouser legs, "W- Why d-did...he...lie t-to me?!" 

 

[yaint]

Adrian's words hit Jackson like a truck; unexpected when he should have seen them coming, overpowering, completely destroying. He waved his arms as the boy began to weep for his late brother, unable to speak or say anything until the storm quietened down to a whistling breeze.


It took the blond boy a moment to compose himself before he could even think again, but when the daze dissipated he could only ponder what he saw. It hurt his heart to watch this happen; this boy was not his brother by blood, but at this point he was as good as. Young, vulnerable and afraid, he had lived his worst fears and now people were expecting him to carry on like normal along with all of the other happy, bubbly children. It wasn't fair, it never was for Adrian. But he had to understand... He needed to try, running away would never make it any better, Jackson had to somehow teach him that.


"Shh, Adrian, Adrian, w-we..." Jackson had to swallow and brush his hair out of his face. He took a moment to push up his glasses again. What did he do now? This was bad, this was awful... The only way to help would be to wave a magic wand and make Leo appear in front of them, but no matter how wonderful that fantasy was, Jackson and Adrian knew just as well as each other that it wasn't going to happen. There was no bringing back the dead. His voice began to splinter as he tried desperately to somehow convey that idea. "Adrian... Look, look at me - I - I m-miss him too, okay? I know. I know, b-believe me, I know... Come on, look at me, it's okay. It's okay. Just one day, yeah? You - you just have to be brave for one day, and then we can go back and... Um..." He paused for a moment to think. "...W- hey, I tell you what... He - Leo isn't here anymore, but if you promise to stay at school for the rest of the day, we - we can go and write him a letter together, okay?"


He could not stop himself from frowning. It was weak, it was such a weak idea, but surely... A letter to Leo must surely count for something, it had to work. Anything to keep Adrian in school. Jackson could even write a letter back from Leo. 'Hey, Adrian,' he imagined himself scribbling down on a sheet of yellowed parchment, 'I miss you too, but you don't have to worry. You can't see me, but I'm still here, even if we can't talk.' 


It... It wouldn't last forever, Jackson knew that. But if he could keep it going for a while, surely it would do something to appease the man's younger brother until the worst of the grief wore off. 


"Hey... Adrian," Jackson began, speaking aloud this time. He extended both of his arms downwards and was patting at the boy's shoulders. "Come here. Give - give me a hug, yeah? It's okay. I promise. I-it's okay, it's one day."

 

[Yoki]

"Uh." Adrian managed to look up after hearing Jackson speak, he wiped a hand across his eyes, looking up at him with a strange sort of hope. Sure, most people would know that writing a letter to a dead person wasn't going to do anything, it wasn't even worth it for most people... If Adrian was anyone else he probably would have shaken his head and told Jackson he was being silly because they couldn't write a letter to someone who wasn't there anymore, that it wouldn't do anything, but...Jackson knew who he was talking to... Adrian would hold onto any idea that made Leo seem like he was alive, in fact he'd probably just try to forget the other was even dead... Just pretend he was away or something. As long as no one mentioned it then he'd be fine in the end. 


But...the whole day... 


Once again Adrian wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded, he could get through a day... It wasn't so bad... It...wasn't so bad... The boy swallowed, drawing patterns with his feet on the ground, his grey eyes darted backwards and forwards, following the pattern his feet drew. "I don't...wanna..." He mumbled, "But okay..." Although he seemed displeased with having to stay at school all day, the thought of any sort of contact with his brother outweighed that significantly. Knowing Adrian, he would have done anything to see him again. 


And Leo wouldn't have left him unless he had to... 


He looked up when he felt Jackson's hands on his shoulder, standing slowly and then practically falling against the other, wrapping his arms around Jackson's neck. "I'm sorry..." He whispered, he felt bad for causing Jackson to have to deal with him crying, he didn't really like inconveniencing anyone. To him, this had wasted Jackson's time... He had wasted Jackson's time. 


"I'm really sorry." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson chewed on the inside of his cheek as he waited for the landslide his words would cause. It was the best he could manage, this childish idea of sending a letter to a dead man, it was the only thing that had come to mind, and now that he too felt the pain of grief it was as though his brain no longer wanted to work. Adrian, he thought as his eyes briefly slid closed in a moment of prayer. Please... Please buy it...


Here it came. Adrian had opened his mouth, there were words coming out. This was the response that could either make or break the older boy's best efforts, and...


"Huh?" Jackson inhaled a sharp breath. 'Okay,' Adrian had said. 'Okay.' Was that agreement? It... Worked... "Adri- ack-" He was cut off mid-word by a hug far more enthusiastic than he could have ever anticipated, and whilst he was certainly surprised by the pair of arms that found their way around his neck, he could not lie that he was unhappy. Whatever this was, it gave the boy a fluttering sense of relief so overwhelming that he could feel tears welling up in his own eyes. 


It worked, Jackson thought again. He blinked furiously to rid himself of those tears, thinking that perhaps Adrian did not to see his one lifeline cry now when he needed someone strong. "It's okay," he insisted quietly, reaching up past the child's weight to rest a hand once more on his shoulder. "Don't... Don't be sorry. Adrian. I-it's okay, you're not wrong to be sad, it's okay. You're brave."


"Jackson?" Jackson almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the sound of a voice he knew all too well. It was difficult to see when Adrian had practically thrown himself onto the older boy's lap, so he had to crane his neck to see the girl's face.


"Oh." Barely a second after making eye contact, Jackson's face flushed a deep tomato red. "Alice... Uh, I-"


"The hell are you doing? I've been all over the main building looking for you, Sandford's gonna throw a pink fit next time you go missing, God knows what he'd do if he found you out here virtually mating with some year seven kid - err, actually, who is he?"


Jackson was struggling to compose himself now. He patted Adrian's back a couple of times and then nudged the boy gently as if to say, 'Come on, you have to get off now.' After a second he flashed Alice an awkward, very forced grin. "Um, this is Adrian."


All of a sudden the girl's eyes turned very round, her gaze drifting to land on the boy with his arms around Jackson's neck. "Oh," she said quietly, all of the urgency suddenly forgotten. Jackson nudged Adrian again.

 

[Yoki]

"I...-" Adrian was about to to say something when he heard another voice chime in. He seemed to jump at the sound of another person saying Jackson's name, his head immediately turned to look at the girl who had appeared only meters away from the two. Where did she come from? Why was she there? Adrian started to get a little more nervous as he realised that other people were going to start coming out...and he'd promised to stay all day... 


Jackson started speaking and the boy felt his friend nudge him, which eventually made him let go and instead stand behind the male. He looked to the side, noticing he'd dropped his hoodie when standing up, so he bent down and picked it up, holding it in his hands. His right foot had moved to rub the back of his ankle as he stood there, awkwardly listening to the two speak. 


"Hi..." As he looked up to the girl Jackson had called Alice he tried to smile, but just ended up looking away again, focusing on anyone but her. His voice was unbelievably quiet. He just felt a little awkward now that she was there, he was probably thinking about whether she'd heard them talking or not. It wasn't like Adrian got along with that many people in his own year at school, he didn't expect to be able to get along with anyone who wasn't Jackson in the older years. 


Unsure of what else to do, Adrian grabbed the hood of the jacket he had and swung it behind himself, placing in on his head to let the rest drape over his shoulders. Once his arms had returned to their positions beside him again he entwined his fingers in with each other and just stood with his head turned to the side, grey eyes turned down.

 

[yaint]

There was a space of several seconds spent in dense, static silence with both Jackson and Alice staring first at each other and then at Adrian. Jackson's face was still a glowing tomato red. "Alice-" he began, but was quickly cut off by words not meant for himself.


"Hi, Adrian," the girl said quite softly. She had bent her knees to match the young boy's height, and there was a warm smile on her face. Jackson glanced quickly behind him. He had half a mind to tell Adrian to take off that hoodie before a passing teacher could, but for now he stayed silent to let the girl talk.


Alice slowly blinked her ocean-blue eyes, but other than carefully extending an arm to wave she made no further attempt to communicate with Adrian. That smile still on her face, she straightened her legs and rose back to full height. "Aw, he's adorable," she said quite loudly.


Jackson choked on his own words. "Oh - y-yeah," he agreed stupidly, beginning to wring his hands together over his lap. Alice caught this gesture with a sharp eye and arched one brow at the blond male.


"Adorable," Alice repeated, "Small. Thought he was a year younger and all. Actually, he reminds me a little of that one kid called Sammy, he's a seven."


"Sammy... Abigail's brother?"


"Tha-at's the one!" she called out, snapping her fingers together. Jackson frowned, then looked back at Adrian. Other than being short for his age, he couldn't say there was any resemblance between the two children mentioned. "Knew that, it was on the tip of my tongue."


Jackson continued to squirm uncomfortably in his seat. Normally he would be pleased to see Alice, and whilst she was being gentle and kind with Adrian as was ideal, there was something about this interaction that just didn't seem to fit. Adrian might not take this so well... "Uh, Alice," Jackson began nervously, "It's - hold on - look, it's still two minutes 'til bell, how exactly did you get out?"


"Sandford, remember? Oh, how do you say it...." She tapped on her own forehead for a moment as she thought. "Told everyone he was going out to have a word with you, had a heart attack when you weren't there and then sent me out to look."


"Oh..."


"Not much point going back now, though. You'll just have to write him a really polite email later. Hey, Adrian?" Jackson could not help but look for a third time. Alice was crouching again, her voice suddenly turned soft and hushed. "Do you like science? That's what Mister Sandford teaches. I dunno what you'd be learning about... Cells?"


"The human heart," Jackson corrected her, guessing from Leo's most recent story about his brother's school experience would still be close to accurate.


"Oo-ooh. I bet that's interesting. Who teaches you that, then?"

 

[Yoki]

Adrian seemed to react to being called adorable by retracting into himself a little more, if he was a tortoise he would have more than likely hidden inside his shell the minute the girl mentioned him being small. He was still deciding to stay out of their conversation, they were talking about him like he wasn't there anyway, so he had no need to say anything, he just stood awkwardly... Waiting for it to be over. 


Still, Alice went on to compare him to a seven year old, which made Adrian wince, although probably not noticeably since he had his head down. Luckily she was off of the topic quickly, as Jackson asked how she was out of class early. The youngest of the three seemed interested in that, so...Jackson had been sent out of his classroom. He looked to the older male for a moment, obviously thinking about something or other to do with him, but he didn't speak or join in with their conversation until he was addressed by Alice. 


"Ah." The boy's head turned to face the female who had crouched down to match his height, although seeing her crouch like that seemed to bug him a little. He didn't mention it, he just started to fiddle with the sleeves of his hoodie instead, waiting for her to finish speaking before he answered. 


He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Jackson got in first, correcting her when she asked what they were learning about. Adrian's gaze moved to the blond and then to the ground, he didn't really know what to say to her... Jackson would know Adrian was rather bad with names, he was lucky to remember one teacher's name, never mind all of them. Since he didn't have to use them all of the time he just...forgot. 


"I...um...I..." He let go of the sleeves of his hoodie and grabbed his left arm with his right hand, "I...forgot...her name..." His voice was quiet, and he never raised his eyes to meet Alice's, instead looking everywhere but her, mostly the ground though. He couldn't deal with multiple questions and so her questions beforehand had pretty much fizzled out of his brain at that point. 


"I'm...not so good at it anyway...so..." Adrian mumbled, shrugging slightly, he couldn't sit and listen for an hour, it just didn't work for him, and then he forgot what he had even learned...he didn't remember much of their last lesson, the only asset he had was his book... But he was always getting in trouble for presentation and his handwriting. 

 

[yaint]

At first Adrian's hesitance to answer had intrigued Alice; she ducked forwards a little and cocked her head to the side to listen to what the boy had to say. That smile returned again after she had a chance to process his mumbled response.


"Yeah, me neither," she chuckled, her knees still bent down a little way. "Never understood anything myself, but that's cool - you're - sportier, right?"


"He's quick," Jackson chimed in over Alice's question. He kept casting nervous looks between his two friends, unsure as to whether or not he should let this conversation carry on. It was apparent by this point that the interaction was making the younger male uncomfortable, that could end badly, but... Now that Adrian no longer had a brother to hide behind, he would need as much practice talking as he could get. Is that what Alice is trying to do? he wondered suddenly, giving the girl a sharp glance. She still kept that soft, sunny smile on for as long as she spoke. Maybe she was just a step ahead. I should join in.


"Quick," Alice echoed, briefly tilting her head back to acknowledge Jackson's input.


"Y-yeah - you can run, can't you, Adrian? He can, he's really fast."


There was a twitch of Alice's arms, as though she were about to make a sudden movement, but quickly she stilled herself again before bringing her hands together more gently. She clapped in Adrian's direction. "Well! You're sportier than you look," she decided. "What do you play, then? Football? Cricket? You look like a cricket person, moreso than this lazy sod-"


"Hey!" Jackson raised an arm to smack Alice's hand away, for she had reached over to tug at the side of the boy's collar. On any other day he would have played along with the girl's tasteless jokes, but having to take her teasing on top of caring for little Adrian had made him more irritable. He was even about to grab her wrist when the sound of footsteps fast approaching distracted him from the act.


Alice had to side-step out of the way as a rather tall man with dusty brown hair strode past the brick pillar and rested a hand against one wall. He gave Alice a quick smile and she mumbled a single word under her breath before backing off a little way. Jackson had begun to massage his own forehead with one hand. Even the sight of this man was enough to give him a headache.


"Jackson," he started, tugging on his own exceptionally long striped tie as he stared down at the boy with an upturned chin.


The teen boy in question did not bother to raise his head. He bit his lip, released a long sigh and then spoke through gritted teeth, "Yes, Sir?"


"Thought you'd like to know: Mister Sandford's marked you absent after a little disappearing act, you've got a room one at the start of break for it." The man's statement was ended with a two-tone siren to mark the twentieth minute past eleven. Only seconds later the earliest escapees started pushing their ways out through the student entrances.


Jackson shifted and finally forced himself to look up at the man. "What - now?"


"Yes, now," the man confirmed, then gave the boy a once-over almost without moving his head. He frowned when Jackson swore under his breath. "What have you done with your tie?"


"Lost it," came the grumbled reply. A hand went to grip at the bare white cotton of the shirt where Jackson's tie had been before he gave it to Adrian. He didn't look at the younger boy, only the man ahead, who straightened up again.


"Well, go and get one from Mrs Peck. If you're quick you shouldn't be too late for room one."


Alice shuffled her feet uncomfortably and skipped around behind this rather intrusive teacher. She whispered something in Jackson's ear after leaning in and readily curled her hands around the handles on the back of his chair.


"Go on, then!" the man urged. Jackson quickly made the 'okay' sign and waved hurriedly at Adrian as Alice began to pull him backwards out of the shelter. The dark-haired girl mouthed something back at the youngest of the three students, something that looked like the words 'see you' before she and Jackson went out of sight.


The man turned his attention to Adrian now that the older students had taken their leave. He crouched down slightly, though with more stiffness and rigidity than Alice had done when she was trying to be friendly. "Hoodie off, lad. If you're cold then you've got a blazer."

 

[Yoki]

In response to Alice asking him if he was sportier, Adrian nodded, rubbing his arm. He couldn't help but look up when Jackson said that he was quick, almost like it was a surprise to the boy that someone would think he was actually good at anything. Again it made him feel a little awkward, he wasn't used to people pointing out things that were good about him, so it was a new experience for the boy. 


"I...um...I guess..." He might as well have been whispering from how quiet he was, but it was true, despite being small he was extremely fast. It was hard for others to beat him when it came to running, and his stamina seemed to last forever. Alice went on to ask him what he played, it was mainly football, basketball, or athletics in general, mostly track. He enjoyed it, Leo had been fast too, though he did a lot more training for that kind of stuff that his little brother did.


He might have answered her if Jackson's name hadn't been called yet again, Adrian was expecting another of his friends, but instead it was a teacher. The boy bit the inside of his cheek and took a step back behind Jackson, looking at the ground once again and just letting the others talk. He wasn't very good at talking to teachers, even worse so than he was with kids in the school. It wasn't so bad with other people his own age, but he got particularly nervous when around people older than himself that he didn't know very well. 


Jackson had detention, which meant he had to leave, the teacher was also asking about the other's tie, which Adrian had in his hands... Shouldn't he have just said that the younger boy had it and taken it back... He'd...He'd have to find Jackson and give it back to him. 


He heard the school bell, signalling that it was now time for break, and...time for Jackson to make his leave. Which he did, along with Alice... That left Adrian alone. 


"Uh." Upon being addressed he looked up, eyes meeting the man's in front of his unintentionally. He grabbed hold of his hoodie and nodded, pulling it off of his head and looking down again. "Sorry, sir." With that he went to make his way around the teacher, just trying to get out of the space and move somewhere else. If Jackson wasn't going to be with him then he'd rather just be alone. 


It seemed that he was going to be allowed solitude, as he wasn't followed when he walked off, he even checked behind himself once, seeing the teacher had walked off in the other direction. Though...maybe he should have been looking at where he was going. 


"Ah!" Adrian tripped over something or other, he didn't see what exactly, falling face first onto the ground below. He tried to put his arms out to stop himself landing flat on his face, it worked, but he found that the hard concrete below grazed both of his arms as he landed, causing him to wince. 


"So...are you blind as well as stupid now?" 


Adrian blinked upon hearing a voice, pushing himself into a sitting and looking up. There was a blond boy stood next to him, along with a group of about three other people, two other boys, one girl. He knew them, but he chose to stand up and try to ignore it...that's what Leo told him to do...if punching them in the face didn't work, but he didn't want to do that. 


"But...you bumped into me..." He mumbled, muttering a 'sorry' and continuing his walk away from the group of kids. There was silence from the group for a moment, and Adrian really thought they were just going to leave him alone this once, but...he was wrong. 


"Hey, I'm uncultured. You forgot something." The blond's voice called to him again, but before Adrian could react something was thrown over his head, obscuring his vision. Of course, this immediately threw the boy into panic, his eyes widened and his hands went up to pull on the fabric over his head before he was pulled backwards by it. However, he couldn't get himself free until after he was pulled back to the ground, landing on his back with a thud. "What? Are you just gonna leave and go cry about it? That's what you always do anyway." Brown eyes locked onto Adrian's grey irises, except the other's look was a lot more malicious than his own. 


"Where were you in class Adrian?" A girl with shoulder length curly hair and dark eyes looked down at him from behind the three boys. 


"What? Did you not see him leave?" The boy in front of her furrowed his eyebrows, turning to face her. 


"No? Did he leave?" 


"Yeah, Miss was talking to him and he just bolted outta the class room." 


"Probably went to cry." The boy at the front of the group chimed in again, "Were you gonna run home again huh? And cry to you mom and dad too, they probably don't care." 


"He doesn't even live with them." The fourth member of their group, a boy with chocolate brown hair, spoke up, stepping forwards. "I heard Jake talking about it, they don't even live near here... He lives with like his brother or something." 


"Did they kick you out?" 


"No.." Adrian pulled his legs to his chest, turning his head away. He didn't want to get upset in front of them, but they were talking about his family...and it really was getting to him... "They...didn't..."


"So what? You just decided you wanted to get on your brother's nerves? If he's like an adult wouldn't it be annoying having a little kid like you around?"


"..."


"He's probably just as stupid as you anyway, that's probably why he agreed to take you here." The boy shrugged, grinning down at Adrian in an attempt to get to him. 


"Leo's...not stupid..." Adrian mumbled, holding onto the material on his trousers rather tightly and biting the inside of his cheek. He wasn't going to cry... He wasn't... 


"Tyler, you're gonna make him cry again." The male that had told the blond Adrian lived with his brother nudged his friend, causing him to turn his head and shrug. 


"So what? He's a massive crybaby anyway, he's cries at everything. Don't you Adrian? Hey, what're you doing?" Seeing the smaller male on the ground hide his head in between his legs, the other kicked at him, attempting to move him slightly, "Stop hiding, stop being a baby. How old are you, five?" 

 

[yaint]

The tall, dusty-haired man with a tie longer than his shirt remained quite still and tense as Adrian rushed to pull the hoodie off. There was not so much as a flicker of a smile on his stony face, but when the article of clothing had finally found its way into a ball of fabric wrapped inside the boy's arms, he allowed himself a stiff nod. "Good lad," he said quietly in an oddly far-projected voice that seemed to follow the younger student as he skirted around and away.


It must have been ill luck that the black-haired boy had chosen to flee at that moment in that direction; seconds after his departure the tall, cold-voiced teacher had vanished into the building and the other staff members had all seemed to have roamed towards the field in a group. The only eyes on Adrian now were those of the children who had appeared to taunt and tease him... As well as an inky, dark pair belonging to a rather plump and stout boy with flyaway tufts of downy brown hair.


This new boy appeared to be alone. He stood solitary at the edge of the playground and peered at the unfolding scene through gaps between passing streams of uniformed teenagers, his broad nose wrinkling and twitching as he sniffed away the remnants of an early spring cold. For the longest time he did not move, and it did not appear as though he had any intentions of ever doing so - but then his thin, sharp-edged eyes caught sight of a rough-looking kick aimed directly at the boy on the ground.


The movements were sluggish and awkward, but using feeling alone the newcomer slid one strap of his backpack up over his shoulder and then began to plod through the lingering crowds. 


"Hey! Hey, guys!" came the call from the newcomer as he stumbled into the spot between harasser and victim, almost tripping over the curled-up form of the skinny young boy in the process. A pudgy arm was raised to greet everyone with a wave, but only a second after this new child had passed a beaming grin at those still standing did he seem to remember that he was not their friend. Arm held still and forgotten up in the air, the newcomer took a moment to look down at Adrian. "Oh, hey Adrian, I didn't know you were friends with Jake," he sniffed with raised eyebrows. "Uh, what're you doin' down there? You okay?"

 

[Yoki]

"Huh?" The blond boy looked up, groaning when he saw the individual that was coming over to join them, "Oh great..." He sighed, turning to his group of friends who also seemed to be a little annoyed by the boy shouting over in his overenthusiastic way. 


"Hey...Daniel..." The girl at the back's eyes widened a little as she looked away from the boy who had now got in their way, she leaned over to the boy next to her and whispered something in his ear to which he nodded in response, both of them still looking towards the newcomer. They really just seemed to want him to go away again, he hadn't been there for more than a few moments and they were already sick of him. 


Hearing someone else coming towards the ground, Adrian looked up, rubbing his eyes. Daniel? He tilted his head to the side, still chewing on the inside of his cheek as he looked towards the group. His fearful eyes darted from Daniel to the four other children standing in front of him, then back to the chubby boy, and then down again. 


"I...um..." He shifted his legs as if to stand up, but didn't really end up moving from his spot. "Y-Yeah..." His voice was still quiet, if he made it any louder he was scared that it would crack or give away how he really felt at that moment. 


"Look." The blond boy sighed yet again, "What the hell do you want Daniel? Can you get outta my way already." His arms were crossed and he was tapping his forearm with his fingers, obviously irritated by the other's presence, "Can't you see I'm having a conversation here? Like, move your fat ass." 

 

[yaint]

It was the sharp words aimed directly at the child named Daniel that made his round face crease in the middle. "Why?" he asked quite honestly, his oddly small feet kicking absently at the tarmac below. An empty drink bottle skittered past behind the group. "I... Jus' thought I'd say hi an' stuff is all. Y'know."


He stared pointedly at the blond boy for a number of seconds as though in wait for some kind of answer, explanation or any other response. A couple of times Daniel even touched at his own neck, prodding in at the soft flesh and then turning ever so slightly pink as though embarrassed by the feel of it. 


"Well... I s'pose I can jus' go," he finally mumbled quite glumly. He kept looking back towards the corner of the playground where he had been stood before, but then almost without realising it his gaze tracked back to Adrian. Daniel jumped at the sight of the boy like he had forgotten that he was even there, but after a moment of just opening and closing his mouth he tried to change the topic. "Um, Tyler, was you kickin' Adrian a minute ago? Or, uh, was that Jake? If a teacher comes over an' sees you doin' that then you're gonna get in trouble for it, I won't tell, but if they see then you might, y'know."

 

[Yoki]

"Yeah...please do." Tyler muttered, looking to the brunet behind him and rolling his eyes. He must have been convinced for at least a moment that Daniel would actually leave, but he didn't, instead just commenting more on the situation. The blond turned and raised an eyebrow, grinning, "Yeah? Think so?" He asked, taking a step forwards. 


"Dunno why you bothered comin' over here Danny." The boy standing with the girl at the back of the group crossed his arms and turned his attention to the male standing near Adrian, "Just get lost already, nobody cares." 


"If the teachers are gonna do some much," Again the boy nearest Daniel started to speak, "Then why ain't they already over here huh? What're they gonna do?" He rather violently barged into Daniel's shoulder in an attempt to push him out of the way, before looking down at Adrian, "What're they gonna do Danny if I kick him again, huh?" With that he turned his attention to Adrian and slammed his leg into the boy's side, "Huh?!"

 

[yaint]

"Well, like, if they saw you then you might get a ro-" Daniel had started to piece together an answer to his classmate's taunting question, but just as he had found his way to the bone of the statement the breath had been knocked clean out of his lungs.


There was a low grunt and a few voiceless huffs as the brown-haired boy swung one arm about to regain his footing. The way that his eyebrows had floated up in two stiff arches told that the attack had been anything but anticipated. "Ow," he said after toppling back into balance. His backpack had been dropped to the floor in the chaos, but instead of bending down to retrieve it he simply made a point of holding a hand over his shoulder, cupping it against the spot where the strike had left a throbbing ache. "Hey, I was jus' talkin'... That was a little bit mean an' all."


Daniel continued to rub at his shoulder, but it looked as though the other children stood opposite him had taught him a lesson of sorts with their verbal and physical roughness. He made no attempt to intervene again, simply watching the assault continue from afar and occasionally prodding at the flesh on his neck to feel it like he had done before. He might have wanted to say something about the way they were attacking Adrian, but he did not.


Somebody else did.


"Hey!" Suddenly the chattering crowds were silenced by a jarringly loud roar. It was a voice that Adrian would know very well. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"


A hissed whisper followed the outburst, "Jackson, calm down." It was Alice, the round-faced girl with dark shoulder-length hair and circular blue eyes, the one who had been trying to make small talk with Adrian just a few minutes ago. She was nervously tugging on the handles of a blond boy's wheelchair, glancing between her own hands and the back of her friend's head as if trying to decide the safest thing to do. It certainly looked as though getting under Jackson's skin now would be a mistake. His face was bright red, jaws clenched, the whites of his widened eyes visible as he glared daggers at the younger student who had dared to terrorise Adrian with violence.


"Little shits," Jackson spat on the ground. It was like he had not even heard Alice's plea for peace, because suddenly, with all the force of a monsoon, he had pulled himself far out of her weak grip. Alice could only totter after him, blinking in bewilderment, as the bespectacled boy raced off with his eyes locked on the child named Tyler. His new tie flapped to the side as he skidded to a halt just inches from his target.


Alice seemed to sprout up from the ground by Jackson's side. Almost as if she could predict his exact movements, she reached forwards from behind and grabbed at her friend's forearms just as he had raised them to clamp around Tyler's middle. "Wait, wait a minute," she begged quietly, but once more to no avail. The stronger pair of arms threw hers aside with as much ease as if she had not been there at all, and immediately reached up for the child's neck.


"The hell is your problem?" he snarled into Tyler's ear as he squeezed tighter around his throat and began to pull the boy's small body down to his own height. I'll kill you, he thought furiously. This complete jackass disguised as a child had crossed the line before he had even seen it. Kick Adrian. Kick Adrian, you fucking die. "Do you even know what you're doing to him? Huh?" He continued to squeeze harder around the boy's neck, shaking him violently back and forth as he did so.


"Jackson!" Alice was back now, and she kept on trying to get a grip on her friend's arms without being shaken away. It didn't seem to be working. "Stop, stop, you're strangling him!"

 

[Yoki]

Everyone jumped at the sound of someone shouting to them, they turned their heads to look in Jackson's direction, catching the older male's angered eyes. All of them seemed to realise that this wasn't good news at once since they started to look between one another, casting glances at their friends before turning towards Jackson again.


Tyler couldn't have reacted to the older student if he'd wanted to, he heard the guy shouting at him as he approached and was about to answer with some snide comment when hands were around his throat. His eyes widened and his own hands immediately went to his neck to try and pry the male off of him as he thrashed and gasped for breath. 


Everyone's eyes had gone wide, they were all frozen in horror as Jackson continued to strangle their friend. The boy and girl at the back started to push one another, backing up from the scene knowing they needed to grab someone quickly, but their eyes never left the sight of their friend being choked by an older student in a wheelchair... They were honestly stunned, completely lost for words and unsure how to react, they just knew the situation was dire and that someone needed to intervene. 


The only thing that alerted Adrian to Jackson's presence was the sound of his voice, for a moment he had started to feel as if everything would be alright after that, that they'd just leave because Jackson was there and everything would work out okay... That wasn't how it went...


Jackson started yelling at the other students, causing Adrian to whimper and place his hands over his ears, shaking his head. He didn't like it, he didn't like all of this. He knew that something bad was going on by the ruckus of voices that laced over each other from above. He could heard Alice, Jackson, and some other kid yelling, but he couldn't hear Tyler... That's how he knew Jackson was doing something to him...and it just scared Adrian. He didn't know what was going to happen, he didn't want Jackson to get into trouble. This was bad, this was really bad.


The boy was taking deep panicked breaths that were really starting to hurt his side, where Tyler had kicked him multiple times, he made himself as small as possible, rocking back and forth rapidly and attempting to block everything out. Nothing was happening, it was fine, everything was fine, he needed to calm down. 


The scene had now attracted quite a few onlookers, many other students choosing to stand further away and watch, stunned, as panic and horror unfolded before them. Then came more yelling. 


"JACKSON!" A tall man with dark hair and blue eyes ran from the direction of the field towards the group of children, behind him was a smaller female with blond hair and glasses, she looked to be in her late thirties at most. 


"Jackson Lambert what are you doing?!" The woman screamed, the two approaching the scene at a rapid rate, once they got close enough, the man grabbed at Jackson's arms, pulling them apart in order to try and free Tyler from his grasp, whilst the woman started to wheel the chair backwards to keep him away from the boy. It took a bit, but eventually the two were successful, Tyler fell to the ground, coughing and spluttering backing away from Jackson. 


"He tried to kill me!" He yelled in a panicked tone, "Sir! Miss! He- He tried to kill me!" The boy's friends had quickly come to help him stand up again, the whole group standing in horror as they watched their teachers barrel down on Jackson. 


"What were you thinking?! You could have killed him!" The first to shout was the woman, she'd moved around Jackson now that the panic was over and had immediately started to yell. "That is not acceptable, are you seriously trying to kill other students? What for? What happened here?!" 


The male stood there shaking his head, he would have butted in as well, but it seemed he wanted to wait for Jackson to answer his colleague's question before he asked any more. Both of them looked extremely angry and upset with Jackson. 


With all the shouting and the sudden scare of death, Adrian had all but been forgotten, which could be seen as a good or bad thing. He wasn't getting hurt, but he was completely freaking out. Everyone was yelling and making so much noise, every time someone opened their mouth he jumped, curling himself into a tighter defensive ball. His breathing was uneven and panicked,  all the sounds he could manage were whimpers and sobs as he continued to try and calm down, but it just wasn't working yet again. He felt like he couldn't breath anymore, like every breath he took wasn't actually doing anything for him, his head was pounding, his heart was going twice the speed it should have been, and he was crying his eyes out. Adrian really didn't know what to do with himself.

 

[yaint]

One. One kick was all it took for him to snap, to in a flash lose every trace of logic and reason he ever possessed. He could not see or hear Alice's panicked cries for controls, nor could he even feel her hold on his shoulders. Choking the life out of his friend's attacker was all that mattered.


"Petty rat," he continued to hiss and spit into Tyler's ear. The boy's face was beginning to lose its colour now. It wouldn't be long, it wouldn't take so long now before he saw justice. "Just-"


'-Jackson!' Before he could even look, blink or even process this new voice that had called out his name, there were hands grasped around his own, pulling him away from Tyler's throat. Naturally, so consumed by his own seething rage that he could not think for himself, the boy's first reaction was to resist. He was too close to let some faceless interferers undo his work. "No!" he had screamed out of instinct. "No! Don't!"


These last outbursts sent a few members of a gathering audience skipping back to a safer distance. People were whispering, gaping at the scene or busily nudging each other. A couple of times someone tried to start a fighting chant, but their words quickly died out when they saw quite how real the danger was. 


The only student not involved who had dared to stray close to her berserk, screeching classmate was Alice. She stumbled backwards to make way for the pair of teachers who had finally pried Jackson apart from his victim, her round blue eyes restless and wet with the tears of raw panic, and froze after feeling the heel of her foot bump into something on the ground. A quick look down at the ground showed her exactly what that something was: a small black-haired boy with his head down, his entire body tightened and closed to the outside world and shaking with every breath like there was no air left for his lungs.


"Adrian," she murmured, voice drowned out by another earsplitting outburst from Jackson. It seemed as though he had not yet realised the weight of his actions, or at least that was what it sounded like judging by the way he spat curses and threats in an endless stream. The sheer volume of it all made Alice wince, but she tried not to look back. Instead she dropped to her knees in front of the smallest child and leaned forwards in an attempt to find his face. "Adrian, Adrian, it's okay," she promised. A gentle hand slid up onto the child's shoulders. She sat closer and pulled him into her side, wrapping her other arm around his back in a protective embrace. Whether or not it would help or even affect Adrian at all was a mystery to her; all she knew about him was what Jackson had told her. But Jackson was not suddenly going to drop his pursuit to help. Alice had no choice. "It's okay, shh, it's okay, don't worry, it's okay."


Meanwhile, Jackson had barely stopped thrashing his arms at the woman behind him when he was faced with an accusation and demand for explanation. For a moment he simply ground his teeth, unable to tear his gaze from the blond boy squirming in the balance of his friends' arms, but eventually his mouth opened for him to speak. "Get off! He - that - that piece of shit was hurting Adrian, he was kicking him, I swear."


Alice's head had turned up to hear who Jackson would choose as his scapegoat. Her forehead creased in the middle as the boy spoke, but instead of standing to add to the argument, she simply hugged Adrian closer to her. This little black-haired boy her friend had told her of so many times was in a bad state, worse than he had been when bullies were his only problem, and she did not know what to do other than to keep him close in something close to a motherly embrace. "Shh, shh, it's okay," she kept saying to him in a tiny voice that feigned some sort of calmness, "It's alright, it's okay, shh, it's okay..."

 

[Yoki]

"Jackson! Jackson, you can't do that!" The woman turned to look at the group of four children standing not too far again, then down to Alice, who now had her arms around a smaller individual. "Even if he was being attacked, that doesn't give you the right to do something so...dangerous! I thought you knew better than this! Why didn't you get someone? Any one of you could have come and got us! And I will not have you use that sort of language, you understand how serious this is don't you?" Saying that the kid was attacking Adrian definitely wasn't working with this woman, she was set on making sure that Jackson knew his actions wouldn't be tolerated. 


The male teacher had turned around and started to address the group behind him, it was hard to make out what they were saying, but there was some nodding as eyes flitted from Jackson, to Adrian, and then back up at the teacher in front of them again. A few more words were exchanged before the man turned around, obviously he'd told them to wait there as they weren't moving. 


He looked in the direction of his female companion, who was dealing with Jackson, and then to Alice on the floor, arms wrapped around a smaller individual. It wasn't hard to tell that the boy was panicking, as he was visibly shaking and Alice's words to him make it obvious that the situation was causing him a lot of distress. He didn't knew just how seriously Adrian was freaking out, but he could tell that it was bad enough that he felt he had had to hide himself. 


"Adrian." He walked over, kneeling down in front of the two,  "Adrian, can you raise your head for me." His voice was quiet and calm, yet had an odd firmness to it. For a few moments he just waited, but there was no response from the boy enveloped in Alice's arms, all he could hear were quiet whimpers coming from him, but the man was pretty sure that wasn't any time of response to him. "Okay. Alright." He looked towards Alice, "We need to move him, do you think he'll move?" He asked, turning his attention back to Adrian.


 The situation around them was too stressful for him to even think of trying to calm Adrian down too much, it just wasn't going to work, he knew that. However, just from looking at the boy it was obvious that he wasn't about to be able to move anywhere else, but being around people yelling and screaming, as well as all of the children that were now crowded around the area was only going to make things worse. "Right. Alice." The man turned to the girl once more, standing up, "Just keep talking to him, try and calm his breathing down slightly. If you count to ten slowly with him whilst breathing it might help, but make sure he knows what you're doing." Again he looked around, "Two seconds." With that he made his way over to his colleague. 


 "This is a disgrace, I can't believe someone like you would do such a thing. I have to tell the head, your parents are going to be called, and probably more after we've sorted that out." The woman pushed up her glasses, sighing, "This is ridiculous." 


 "Mariah." A hand landed on the female's shoulder and she looked up to the man to her side, "We've got a problem." 


 "What is it?" 


 "The year seven student, Adrian, he's gone into shock or...something, I was going to try and move him but I don't think that's going to work. I suggest we dispel the situation quickly, take Jackson to the head, move everyone along, and then maybe we might be able to get him up, but right now he's practically catatonic." 


 "Okay, let's deal with that then. You move the other students, I'll deal with Jackson." 

 

[yaint]

"It's okay, come on, it's okay, it's alright." Her arms still cocooned protectively around the coiled-up body of the child at the centre of the affair, Alice continued to whisper her hushed, calming words of encouragement. It was impossible to tell whether or not Adrian could even hear her. She could only hope that something, anything she could think to say would work, but... There was just no way of telling, the boy was so unresponsive.


Never taking her hands away from the one curled up in her arms, Alice took a moment to glance up and check on what was happening around her. People were still here, standing in a wide arced line to watch without getting involved. Those two teachers were shouting, she realised, and after a moment she also noticed that Jackson's voice had suddenly dwindled down to a stuttering whine.


"I... I - he - I j-just thought..." Eyes wide and unblinking, Jackson could not stop staring at his own stiff and trembling hands with such a heavy uncertainty hanging on his face that it was like he had never seen them before. They weren't his hands... They didn't belong to him, they had tried to kill another person, to end the life of another human being - and a child, no less. He would never do that, he wouldn't, but... Did... Did I really..?


The older boy jumped when there were suddenly voices in his ear again. It was difficult to grasp on to the words spoken, his mind was being so chaotic and loud, but there was a moment when he thought he could hear Adrian's name.


'The year seven student, Adrian, he's gone into shock or... Something.'


Suddenly all of the clashing voices inside Jackson's head that had been fighting for power seemed to switch off in the space of a second. "What?" he croaked almost noiselessly. Shock. That was the word the man had used. What does he mean!? the boy thought frantically. Those thoughts were coming back now, and not only were they barking and bellowing about trying to strangle a child, but there were also whispers of genuine fear passing between his ears.


Like a whirlwind Jackson whipped his head around in the direction of the spot where Adrian had been sat on the ground. Initially he panicked when he could only see Alice, but then he caught sight of a tuft of black hair. He saw the boy's wiry frame curled up beneath his friend's arms, and then he felt something worse than panic. A lump formed in Jackson's throat, and for a moment he could not breathe.


That was Adrian, little Adrian who had been terrorised and picked on, and he was breaking down when he was supposed to be picking himself back up. Alice pulled him closer to her side and was murmuring something into the boy's ear. "It's okay, Adrian," she whispered, the tension apparent on her face as she attempted not to break into her own frightened grimace, "It's okay, look at me, it's okay. I'm going to count to ten, okay? Can you do it with me? Come on, it's okay. One... Two - shh, it's alright - three..."


"Oh, God," Jackson heard himself say aloud. He looked at Adrian, then at the boy named Tyler, then at his own trembling hands before moving his gaze up to Adrian again. He did do this. But I only wanted to help, he thought as he continued to watch Alice count with Adrian. He had only wanted to make things better, to stop Adrian from getting hurt. The poor kid didn't have anybody left but his older friend now that Leo was gone, and now the one person he came close to trusting like a brother had gone and tried to kill somebody right in front of his eyes. That would be traumatic enough on its own for anyone like Adrian, but what must he have thought? Tyler might have had a little brother, too. Tyler might have had a family that would miss him in the same way. Did Adrian know? Is that why he was so shaken?


It doesn't matter why, Jackson ended up closing the matter on, feeling another twist of guilt lock the air out of his lungs for a second. The truth was plain: he had screwed up. He had let his stupid anger take control again, he had been such an idiot, Adrian was suffering worse damage than he would be if he had just been left alone. And it's all my fault.


There was a shift in Alice's position that blocked the younger individual from Jackson's view. He took the opportunity to tear his eyes away and look elsewhere, finding some kind of anchor to focus on that would stop him from crumbling away in front of everyone watching. The woman named Mariah was the first thing he saw, and he didn't want to have to look at a teacher right at that moment, but it was something to take his mind away from what lay ahead.


 "I... M-Miss, y- I..." In hope of expelling that horrible guilt, Jackson tried to word some kind of justification for his actions, but he knew that there wasn't one. He was in trouble... Seeing the head, a call to his parents... Mum's going to cry, he thought with a twitch of his lower lip. He could say what he wanted, but in the end it would make no difference - so in the end the boy could only hand his head in shame and whimper a feeble, "I'm sorry."

 

[Yoki]

Thud. Thud. Splash. Thud. Thud. 


Most of the back alleys were abandoned, no one was around, no sounds could be heard par the thudding of small feet as someone hastily made their way over the dark, concrete paths. The sun was starting to set in the early March sky, summer was on its way, the days were getting longer, the nights were getting shorter. You might have been able to call the empty streets peaceful, the sunset low in the sky, light it up all different shades of orange and red, that was...if there wasn't the sound of humming coming from one of the alleyways. 


Adrian walked with his head down, bare feet kicking up pebbles and treading in puddles as he walked, or...rather skipped almost. The boy was humming a tune that had become all too familiar to him in the last few months, he'd needed something to do, and after she'd reminded him of it he just picked up the habit of repeating it to himself every now and again. He didn't seem to be nervous or afraid, it wasn't like he was trying to hide from anything, he was just leisurely skipping without a real care in the world. 


Whilst to any onlooker it could have seemed like the boy was walking in random directions, that wasn't the case at all, he was looking for something, or...someone rather, and he thought he knew where he could find someone who might know. He'd been gone for so long after all, it would be nice to say hi again. They were probably all confused about where he'd been. There was no need to be confused anymore. He was close, he didn't really remember the directions perfectly, but he felt like he was going the right way... Just a few more turns.


"How much is that doggy in the window? I do hope that doggy's for..." Adrian's attention was immediately caught as he came out of one of the back alleys and into a more open space. He stopped, taking a moment to look around, where to go.... 


To the left? The boy turned his head sharply, looking down into another dark, open street. No. Nothing there. 


Right? He turned his head again. Nope. Couldn't smell anything either, just another street. 


Maybe... He looked across the road that he'd come out on, staring straight into a smaller alleyway which seemed to be sheltered enough. Well...it was worth a shot... He could definitely smell...something.


After taking another second to check no one was looking, Adrian dashed across the road at light speed, it would have been hard for another to catch what he looked like when going so fast. There was a slight clink noise as the loose chain around his neck hit the metal collar it was attached to above, but he was quick to silence it by grabbing hold of the loose end of the chain and pulling it down again so that it swung in front of him.


His head shot up once more. He heard mumbling. Smelt a mixture of ghoul and...something... Was that just damp? Who knew, who cared? There was something down there, and Adrian usually elected to follow his nose into the dark abyss beyond. 


"Heey.." He whined as he blindly walked forwards, still as unphased as ever, "Who's down here huh?" 


----


"Yeah...two minutes Caleb." Dane looked up to the boy standing on the stairs, his eyes were tired and he looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was probably true. Ever since Caleb had gone to speak Mari he'd been pretty down, the girl had told him that she wouldn't tell anyone, that she promised, but it didn't stop him worrying about it. She'd been freaked out, but luckily she was reasonable enough to accept that no one else could know that information, however, she really did believe that it was just Caleb that was a ghoul... He'd made sure of that, just in case anything went wrong.


 She had said that they were better off spending time apart from each other, and Caleb had blamed himself for fucking up. He'd clung to Dane ever since then, hardly ever leaving the other's side, well...apart from the times he'd tried to run off, and refused to eat, and sat on the roof crying. Apart from those times... 


 Everything was going as smoothly as it possibly could, for the past few months they'd been alright, normal incidents, Jackson had learned that Daryl was out a lot more than he'd probably have expected him to be, and when he did come back he usually had something to complain about. As it was getting dark, he was about to leave again.


 Daryl pulled his hood over his head, nodding to Dane after mumbling a few words to him and heading out of the door, into the night again. Dane immediately turned around, looking up to Caleb and raising an eyebrow, 


 "What? You just gonna stand there and watch me?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets. 


 "W-Well...I..." Caleb's voice was quiet, he brought a sleeve to his mouth, which muffled his words even more. 


 "Come on." The older of the two motioned with his head, "Bella's in the living room, dunno about the others, you gonna join or what?" 


"Okay." Caleb swallowed, quickly descending the stairs to stand by Dane's side, he'd pulled his hood up, which was completely unnecessary, but it made him feel better. 


"Kedin!" Dane called up the stairs, startling Caleb as he did so, "Come down will you!" 


"Already here, fucktard." His sister shouted from the living room, "So you come here! I'm not coming out for you!" 


"God she's rude." He muttered, nudging Caleb in the back lightly and then starting to walk, "And c'mon man, take your hood down, you know you don't need it." The man barged into the door with his shoulder, knocking it open, "God Kedin, you know having some respect for your elders would be nice for once." 

 

[yaint]

His chains might have been jangling as they hung from the steel collar clamped around his neck, his sense of smell dampened by the lingering heaviness of a cold March shower, but Adrian was not mistaken when he thought that he had found the presence of another being akin to himself.


As the boy approached the source of the scent, those muffled mumbles seemed to explode into the sounds of a heated back-and-forth discussion between the owners of two different voices, the first of which was deep, masculine, gruff and strained: "-No! Don't you remember? It was the umbrellas first, then the gun, the food, even your own goddamn shoes."


"But I can't help it! I jus' forget!" whined a higher, more childish voice with a sing-song Irish accent.


"Well, try to remember," the man insisted, drawing his words out and speaking rather loudly like the person on the receiving end were deaf.


"I can't! I can't, I told ya, it's not like I can control what stays in my head an' what doesn't or nothing, if I could I would but it doesn't work, I try but nothin' happens, I swear it."


A low groan rumbled beneath the last of the Irish girl's words and then elevated into deep-throated warble of frustration. It was not obvious from this angle what the man was doing or trying to achieve, but judging by the sound of something heavy clapping against concrete, he was taking out the stress of speaking to this difficult child on his surroundings.


"Ow!" There was a sudden yelp from the girl, followed by a second of silence and then yet more griping. "Lee, that was my foot, that was!"


"God's sake. Well, maybe next time you'll remember to take your goddamn shoes with you instead of leaving them ou-"


"-Hey! I remembered the gun, at least, an' you didn't even notice!"


The man named Lee grunted back at the girl in that same gruff tone. There was a heaved sigh, "Well, where the hell did you put it?"


"Gave it to Tay," the Irish girl said quite smugly, but her words were met only with silence for what must have been several seconds. "Hey! Lee, you list-"


"Shh!" Once more there was a clapping noise and a moment of shuffling.


"What-"


"Shut up! I heard something," Lee said again, his voice lowered to barely more than a whisper. That shuffling made a comeback just a moment later, a very quiet, restrained noise that sounded a lot like the rustling of waterproof fabric. 


Step. Step. Step. The noise continued to come closer to the spot where Adrian had paused just around the corner. Once more there was silence, and then almost without warning a face slid into view. The man had pointed features, brown eyes and only polished skin on top of his head instead of hair. His thin eyes stretched wide at the sight of Adrian, and his mouth fell open as a thick-fingered hand went up to touch against the wall to his side.


"What the hell?" he muttered to himself. There was another round of quick footsteps, signifying the approach of another less stealthy individual, but Lee's arm flew out to block the other person from coming into Adrian's field of view.


***


One hand rested over the bump of his chin and the other draped down by his side, Jackson could not help but feel as though he should not be in this room at all. He had been sat there for several minutes now, silently watching a game between Rachael and Kedin, when the sensation had started to bother him. It was no new feeling; ever since he had first come in of his own accord, he always felt out of place, in the way, too large and awkward as he took up space with his bulky arms and huge wheels whilst everyone else seemed to slip comfortably into nooks designed to fit their shape. He was, in many ways, the odd one out.


Still, whatever sense of discomfort there was that still remained must have been an improvement to what it was before. How long ago had it been..? Jackson had heard several members of the household discussing dates, and the word 'March' had been mentioned several times. If it really was March, he had been here... Three months. 


Three months, his mind echoed. Three months with no Adrian, no contact with anyone on the outside. His parents must have had to spend Christmas alone, knowing that their son and the boy they had effectively adopted had vanished from the world without a trace. No, Jackson thought. He would not think about something like that, he could not allow it. Everything was fine.


Just as he went to push those painful thoughts aside, the man reached up to his forehead out of habit to push aside a long lock of golden hair - only to remember for the umpteenth time that day that there was none. Just a couple of days ago Bella had cut away almost all of his long, shining gold hair and helped him dye it brown to match the colour of his beard. Now it simply curled back in a short coiff atop his scalp, which felt very odd and exposing, but it would still function as a sort of identity protection - should he ever work up the courage to leave the house, which he had not done once throughout his entire stay. 


Bella... She was here, too. For a while Jackson had considered trying to talk to her, but conversation was difficult to find when the only news the man had to tell was what had been fed to him. No, there was no point in trying to speak to anyone. Simply watching from afar... That was enough for him. It was a new type of entertainment. 3D TV, he thought to himself as something of a joke, then allowed himself a moment to smile at his own weak humour.

 

[Yoki]

"Hah?" The talking had gotten louder, so loud that it had completely drawn Adrian's attention, he was focused on nothing more than the voices at that moment. They were voices he knew. He knew who they were. He'd heard them before. It was a while back, but he'd heard them. They were out here? Oh. 


The boy had stopped to listen, a hand going up to his neck as he messed around with the metal chain hand down onto his chest, his grey eyes continued to stare forwards, almost devoid of any sort of emotion at all as he listened. They had a gun? Now...why would they need a gun? What were they gonna use that of all things for out here? Shoes would have been more useful to have than a gun. 


Footsteps brought Adrian back to reality, along with an exclamation from a deep voiced individual in front of him. His head snapped back around and he blinked, tilting his head to the side, a curious look on his features. 


"Hi." The straight line of his lips upturned into a grin, his eyes gained a strange brightness to them and he broke eye contact with the male in front of him, instead moving to look at his arm. "Hey Lee...is that Claire?" Adrian addressed the man like he hadn't been away for more than a day, he put his pinkie finger in his mouth, biting down on it slightly as he continued to stare. 


He chewed the pinkie finger on the same hand he held the chains to his collar in, causing them to clank against one another again as he moved his hand. Unlike the Adrian that Lee and Claire had seen before, this boy had no shoes on, and his clothes were pretty torn and dirty. The way he stood was even a little different, one of his legs was straight whilst the other was bent inwards, and his heel pointed outwards at an angle, only the ball of his foot touched the floor. His hair was longer too, and much messier and uneven. 


"Hey, Lee...what the hell're ya doing?" Taylor's voice could be heard calling from further back in the alley, then there was scuffling and the teenager stood up, moving towards his two companions. "Why're you holdin' Claire back like that?" He furrowed his eyebrows, peaking around the corner after Lee just to notice the boy standing in front of the group. 


"Well holy fucking shit."