Chapter Text
January 6, year 201M2020 BC.
On a slightly foggy morning, a bald human with a green shirt and blue jeans received a lot of stares from the various dinosaur students. Stares that made him feel like he was in a line of fire waiting to be shot. One white Pterodactyl in particular, looked at him up and down, she glared at him as if she had never seen a human before, some sort of mixture of contempt and judgment. A look that the human hated with every fiber of his body.
He wanted to tell her to go back with her friends. She did exactly that, it was not something that he expected but he was still relieved she did, she was just like everyone else.
Now the human was being welcomed by a couple consisting of a pink Parasaurolophus and a Pterodactyl of black as well as orange scales.
“Uh... how do you guys know my name?” The human looked between the two, confused and without knowing what was happening now.
"We are your welcome committee," The Pterodactyl stood awkwardly. It seemed the conversation was going as slow as a turtle that needed to get to the other side of the road.
So much so that the bald human hoped it would end already or, at the very least, something would break into it.
“WAIT UP!!”
A loud as a horn voice echoed in the distance, making the three young adults turn their heads toward the direction of the yell. They could see a figure running frantically like a speeding train. Much to the bald male’s surprise, it was another human. One with tan skin, black spiky and wild hair. He also had bright wide orange eyes. He was wearing black jeans, a white long-sleeve shirt and black boots.
“Sheesh, he looks like he broke straight out of an anime,” the bald human mumbled to himself; a habit he had but that had not been pointed out to him yet. Quickly enough, the wild-haired human landed on his boots right in front of them, smiling at them widely. A smile that exerted an energetic spirit. Looking at Ikara, she noticed that the back of his hair was long enough to be tied into a ponytail.
“Sorry for being late! I kinda overslept last night!” he said with a tone as loud and energetic as before, making the three of them blink for a moment. “O…oh! I almost forgot we had two new students today!” The pink girl exclaimed, her attention turning back to the two humans. “That means you must be Ikara right?” she added.
“Yep! Ikara Hikari! Nice to meet you all!” he exclaimed with a broad smile.
“I’m Naomi! I’m the student council president. I’ll be your guide today,” She smiled, repeating her words from a few seconds ago. She nudged her boyfriend, who had gone catatonic at the alien who stood before him. He startled awake and blinked a few times.
“My name is Naser, nice to meet you.”
“Uh… hi, my name is Anon… I also just arrived here,” the bald human half-heartedly joined the introductory ritual.
Ikara listened to the not-so-enthusiastic response from Anon. He turned his head to the bald human and tilted his head to the side. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Still, something put him off about how Anon responded, especially with how nice Naomi seemed to be treating them.
‘And I thought the pink Dino was overbearing’ came from another mumble. The only other human and Anon already wanted to ignore him. Hearing his exaggeratedly happy tone was all he needed to be annoyed by him. It was like talking to a hyperactive child. He didn't show this, wanting to stick to his plan to fly under the radar for the rest of the year.
“Oh well, now that you are here, you can have one of these too!” Naomi handed Ikara another brochure like the one Anon was already holding. It had the same cheesy stuff, the same trivialities.
“Huh…. Neat!” Ikara responded simplistically.
Naser perked up and checked behind him, then turned to Naomi and lowered his voice to speak in her ear. “Babe, I gotta take care of something,” a couple of people were trying to push a speaker through the stairs.
Naomi showed a small, dejected frown, “Oh…” she spoke. “I’ll see you at lunch, right?” she asked.
To which Naser chuckled a bit. "Of course." he hugged her and pressed his snout against hers, causing almost opposite thoughts from the two humans.
‘Is that a Dino kiss?’ Anon pondered.
‘That’s cute’ was the only thing that went through Ikara’s brain.
“Hey do you need help with that? I can go with you if you want!” Ikara offered with a smile. The gesture made the Pterodactyl blink a little in surprise.
“Ah, thank you, but it’s your first day. I don’t wanna ruin the tour Naomi has for you and Anon!” he responded with a small smile.
“Oh, okay! See ya later then! If you ever need help with anything after that you can tell me!” Ikara waved his hand frantically above his head as Naser left.
“Ahem,” Naomi cleared her throat to catch the attention of both humans. “So… why did you two transfer here?” The question caught Anon off guard, instantly making him panic internally. He desperately tried to come up with a response that wouldn’t reveal whatever secret he was hiding.
Ikara noticed this too, and while he was also hesitant to answer the question since he didn’t want to bring attention to his family situation, he didn’t like seeing someone distressed on their first day, so he quickly interrupted: “My coach thought that it would be a nice change of pace to meet new people!”.
“Your… coach?” Naomi moved her head in confusion, causing Ikara to mentally trip. He had let slip a detail he absolutely wanted to avoid talking about.
“Ah! I mean my dad! Sorry, I’m still a bit shaken from running here,” he quickly corrected himself, obviously lying, but gaining enough time for Anon to check something on the brochure so he could change the subject.
“Uh… is there a soup kitchen around here?” Anon searched through the brochure page after page, his expression of discomfort a lot more visible due to his realization of the limited options he had for lunch.
This spawned a conversation about Anon having financial problems. It ended with Naomi pulling him into the school and to the principal’s office, accidentally leaving the wild-haired male. “Ah… see you guys I guess,” Ikara watched them leave. “Guess I should get going to class, wherever that is.”
Ikara sighed before directing to his first class of the day: Gym class. It took him a couple of minutes. But, he managed to get there, and he was thrilled to finally make some friends in his first class.
Ikara stepped in front of the doors and pushed them open so he could get inside the gym, bringing the attention of his new classmates to him. He noticed they adopted looks of skepticism. He felt he needed to break the tension, so he introduced himself. "Hey! My name is Ikara! Nice to meet you all!"
“Shut up monkey.”
“Don’t talk to us.”
“How did he even get accepted here?”
“Mind your own business, spike head.”
One by one, his attempts at making friends failed. Each hurtful comment hit his mood like a rock being thrown against a window.
Yet still, things only got worse when they started running laps around the gym. A Parasaurolophus trips him, making him fall and wince at the impact with the floor. The pain of a fall at running speed was already an agonizing feeling. As if that was not enough, he could hear the laughter of the other students coming from every direction. Ridiculing him, enjoying seeing him in pain. No one, not even a single one tried to help him. “Hey! What gives!” Ikara stood up with his face fully turned into a frown. Now the rocks were not merely hitting the window. They were beginning to make cracks.
“Aw what’s wrong skinnie? Can’t take a prank?” the dino responded with a grin. That word— Skinnie—. It echoed in his ears endlessly like an alarm that was starting to pick up in volume within his brain. A switch was dangerously close to being flipped.
"First off, that was not a PRANK. You tripped me for no reason. Second, I have a name. It's Ikara, so I ask you not to call me THAT again," he stared up at him sternly.
“Oh? What are you gonna do if I don’t, huh, Skinnie? You don’t have any spears around you,” the Parasaurolophus provoked him further as he looked down at him, shoving him back onto the floor. At that moment Ikara felt his blood boiling, completely ignoring any reason, he punched straight toward the dino’s face. Everything moved slowly the second his knuckles made contact with the Parasaurolophus' face. The hard sensation of his fist impacting the scales and the force caused the dino to fall back on the floor. The gym went completely quiet for a second.
The dino felt blood dripping from his nose into one of his hands, staring at it in shock for a couple of seconds. “YOU’RE DEAD NOW SKINNIE!” the Parasaurolophus shouted, enraged, before punching Ikara. It was like a wrecking ball packed up in the size of a tennis ball hitting him right in the head. Ikara fell back with blood on his face. He stood up quickly, filled with rage-induced adrenaline. He tackled the Dino to the ground and continued to punch him. Over and over like a wild animal assaulting its prey, punch after punch, Ikara felt his face and knuckles getting redder. The face of the Dino became more broken and bloodied, the cracking sounds increasing— the blood spilling onto the floor, but Ikara didn’t care. After the window was broken, his eyes could only see red.
“ENOUGH!” the coach finally spoke up, noticing how bad things were getting. He pushed Ikara off and held him to the ground. He could feel the crack of his bones as someone several times his size and weight restrained him. “To Principal Spears’ office now!” the gym class teacher added as he stood up, holding him to prevent him from rushing at the Parasaurolophus again, who was currently being helped up by other students. He looked at Ikara with fear as if he was a monster out of control.
After this Ikara was dragged out of the gym. Being taken almost forcefully by the coach to the principal’s office, through that small walk, Ikara’s mind started to clear, and he was now fully aware of what happened, of what he did. All his protests died down. He stared at the ground, simply following the teacher, and he processed how big of a mistake he had committed. How he tackled a classmate into the ground. How his face got worse after each fist landed.How the impacts sent vibrations through his hands and whole body. The sickening scent of blood. It was surreal, like a nightmare in real life.
Eventually, Ikara entered the office, a place way more organized than someone expected for a caveman principal. He could feel a tense atmosphere as he laid eyes on the figure in front of him, a large caveman with a suit and black hair and glasses covering his eyes.
Ikara simply sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, not looking up. As soon as he did, Principal Spears slammed his fist into the desk, making it shake and knocking various items off their place. “CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY YOU ASSAULTED ANOTHER STUDENT ON YOUR FIRST DAY HERE?” It was an ear-shattering yell. Ikara flinched in reaction, his sight turning to the caveman for a second, but quickly looked down again. More than scaring him, the shout injected more shame into his mind.
“He… tripped me… then called me a Skinnie… I just snapped,” Ikara answered before letting out a sigh. Principal Spear’s look changed. He could understand that experience. It was one he had gone through before. It caused his previous rage to be replaced by sympathy for the young adult in front of him. Slowly, he calmed himself down. He lifted his fist off the table and adjusted his glasses.
“That is no excuse for resorting to violence. I am sure you are aware of that,” Spears responded while grabbing some papers from his desk. “I was made aware of your anger issues after reading your documents, but I did not know it was this severe,” he told him as he placed the papers down.
Ikara didn’t respond— he looked down with his hands clenched into fists. He couldn’t muster any words, much less defend his actions.
Spears let out a sigh. “Look son, I know that some of my students can be less than kind to humans, but you can’t attack someone over being insulted. You need to be better than that. Prove that you’re not what they think of humans.” He picked up another paper and wrote something on it, perhaps a note about their talk so far.
“You’ll have to go to detention for a couple of days,” Spears placed the note on the center of his desk. “Now go to the infirmary. I don’t want to see anything like this happen again”. He sat back down on his desk. Ikara only stood up after nodding and then walked outside the office. The steps were slow, getting shakier as the seconds passed. Making him feel heavy not just because of the physical beating but also for the emotional and mental stress it was giving him. He didn't walk far, resting his arm on the lockers as his eyes continued staring at the ground.
His mind was completely static, a devastating feeling crashing onto his back: Regret. He could still see the blood on his hands. He could feel it. His own thoughts relieved the moment over and over. Voices on his head tormenting him, chanting;
“Monkey.”
“Psycho.”
“Wild animal.”
“MONSTER.”
His eyes started to get wet with tears as his other hand covered his mouth to prevent him from letting out any audible cries. The only good thing about being alone right now was that nobody could see him like this.
Or so he thought.
“Ikara?” a familiar female voice resounded in his ears. Ikara tensed up instantly, looking from the corner of his eyes only to spot Naomi behind him.
“H… hello Naomi,” he responded, stammering to keep a convincing, happy tone, but his voice betrayed him. It was clear that he was not okay.
“I… uh, are you alright?” she tilted her head— she had not heard what happened yet.
“…”
It was too much; he couldn’t even pretend to have a happy face. He was breaking down. His tears were now falling. Dropping down onto the floor one after the other. His hand had now moved from his mouth to his face, uncovering his mouth and letting out the sobs and unintelligible cries.
This was strange for her; he acted so happy in the morning, but now he seemed completely different. Not only odd, but it was a terrible sight. Especially when Naomi went to take a closer look, noticing his face red from heating up. She heard his breathing hitching, with each exhale coming out as a sob. Not only that, she could also see the blood on his face and the mess that his clothes were after he had been tackled by the coach. She didn’t know what happened, but something in her told her she couldn’t leave him there. Something beyond just her duty as the student council president. “I…. I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
Ikara didn’t respond. His mind was too preoccupied with his grief to be able to listen to anything. His cries and sobs continued. He felt lost. He felt alone. Hopeless.
Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled through the halls. He looked back at Naomi to see that she was guiding him while holding his hand on his own. It was a warm feeling. For a moment, Ikara stared at their hands. He didn’t know how to react now or even how to feel. Too many thoughts roamed in his brain like he was carrying a bag full of rocks. It was heavy. But for some reason, having Naomi’s hand on his put those thoughts on pause. It pushed them away.
Naomi didn’t speak a word either, even if normally she’d be a chatterbox. For some reason, she felt like now was not the time. Soon they made it to the infirmary door. “We’re here.” She let go of his hand.
Ikara glanced at the door and then back at the ground, staying silent for a few seconds. He turned his head up enough to look at Naomi, and he managed to show a small smile. It was not nearly as big as the one he had in the morning. It had a bit of a gloomy feeling, but it was genuine. "Thank you, Naomi."
Naomi blinked momentarily; she wasn’t expecting him to tell her that. Or, more accurately, she wasn’t expecting to hear him say it that way. Usually, people would give her half-hearted thanks or straight-up ignore her. It gave her an odd feeling for a few seconds before she responded, “O…of course! Be sure to tell me or Naser if you need help after you get out of the infirmary,” She offered a small wave as she returned to her class.
Ikara spent the next hour or so in the infirmary, staying quiet as he let the nurse patch up his face and hands. He had more time to contemplate how badly this morning had gone— it made him wonder how his mistake would affect the rest of his day, more the rest of his year. It was not a pleasant reflection, but at least he could organize his thoughts.
Eventually, he was let out of the infirmary. He stepped out carrying his backpack and made his way along the hall, but it wasn’t empty. Almost every student who saw him would give him a heavy look. A look that felt like a rock on his back, each one making him feel more weight as he gripped his fist, trying his best to suppress the anger and grief the judgmental stares brought upon him.
But he didn’t want to snap again, much less cry. It would only sink any chances he had left to make friends. He gripped the shoulder straps and kept his look at the ground. He remembered that he had art class and went to the classroom.
When he arrived, it was no different. Looks of disgust and judgment fill the atmosphere of the room, each one making a heavy feeling all the harder to bear. He quietly introduced himself and searched the classroom for a free seat. The one chair available seemed to be beside a raptor with a red tank top, ripped black jeans, and a red tail.
He didn’t seem to be all there, but next to him was the only seat available, so Ikara had no other options. With a small sigh, he walked to the chair, placed his backpack on the side, and sat down. He tried to not look bothered by his current situation and stay focused on the class. Unluckily for him, it was transparent that he was still upset and that he was unintentionally glaring daggers at all his classmates.
“Heeeeey man,” he heard a voice talking to him. Ikara glanced at it and saw the raptor looking at him. He didn’t look hostile at him so the human stopped himself from glaring at him or responding harshly, at least for now.
“Uh… hello,” Ikara responded, not fully turning to him. He was surprised that someone decided to talk to him after the whole gym class disaster. And he wasn’t sure if the raptor would mention it to bother him or if he genuinely wanted to talk with him. So he still had a bit of uncertainty and a judgmental look.
“You seem tense dude, everything alright in your world?” the raptor laid back on his seat. Ikara looked slightly confused, not because he didn't know he looked upset but because he was not expecting someone to care enough to ask.
“I… .” Ikara let out a sigh. He might as well tell the truth now. “I had a rough start today… I’m sure you heard there was a fight in first-period gym class,” he told him, to which the raptor nodded. “It was me. I got into a fight, and all because of some stupid schoolyard name,” Ikara looked down, cursing the memory.
“Oh man that sucks, what did they say that got you so riled up?” the Raptor rubbed the back of his head with one of his eyes closed, but still paying attention.Ikara felt himself tensing at the question. The remainder of that name made his blood boil. He gritted his teeth once more, attempting to hide his anger. Maybe if he explained this situation to someone, it could help get his point of view across.
“It was Skinnie, he called me Skinnie… I snapped at him,'' Ikara added before taking a deep breath. He needed to calm himself down after repeating that word. “I… I have anger problems, and that got the best of me. Now I feel like everyone is going to hate me because of my stupid mistake” he turned back to the raptor to see what reaction he’d have.
“Aw that’s messed up dude, even if starting a fight might have been going too far. Using names like that is not okay, but listen man, just because you had a rough start doesn’t mean you have to stay down, right?”.
“I… I guess so…” Ikara played a bit with his pencil, as he was now only paying half attention to the lesson. “I … I don’t know if anyone will want to talk to me now, and that frustrates me so much. Because it was all over something that wasn’t even my fault”.
But was it not? Was he wrong to snap like that? He didn’t know anymore.
“Nah man, I’m sure things will clear up if you work on it.” The raptor drank a bit from his thermos. “My name is Reed, by the way,”he introduced himself.
“I’m Ikara.” He stared at the ground for a moment. “And thank you, Reed,” he didn’t smile. He still could feel all the looks from the other students on him. However, there was also a feeling as if one of the many weights had been lifted from his back. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
The rest of the class went through more calmly. Ikara continued to talk with Reed, sharing some of their interests and whatnot. At this point, he was completely ignoring the lesson at hand.
“So, man, what are your thoughts on music?” Reed questioned, before taking another sip from his thermos.
“Huh? I like it well enough, I guess,” Ikara leaned his head on his hand as he played with his pencil in boredom.
“Nice, me and my friends have a band. We were planning to have a concert today in the auditorium. Maybe you can come to watch us play, it might help you get your mind off the bad start this morning,” Reed offered.
“I don’t know Reed; a concert feels like a too crowded place. I don’t feel like I can deal with that right now.” He already had to endure it through the school day, so he certainly didn’t want to deal with it after school too.
"I totally understand, but think about it, okay? I'm sure that it can help you ease your mind," Reed said relaxedly. After that, the bell rang, reminding everyone to pack their stuff.
"I'll consider it, but if I feel like there are too many people, I might have to get out of there." Ikara placed his notebook and pencil in his backpack. He waved at Reed, who returned the gesture, and the human walked out of the classroom.
----------------------------
It was lunchtime, and Ikara got on in the carnivore line. Getting way more food than someone would expect for a human, especially for someone who didn’t look taller than average. This, of course, made more people look at him oddly, some even mocking or whispering about it.
Now, he couldn’t even enjoy his lunch at peace. Going to the roof wasn’t an option with how much he carried. So, it was either dropping everything or putting up with the mean-spirited glances and whispers.
Not content with one of them throwing an apple at him. The hit wasn’t that painful, but it caught him off guard, causing him to stumble back and drop his food. Some of it spilled on the floor, and some of it onto his clothes. He didn’t fall back, but now he had lost all the food he waited in line for. “What the hell!?” Ikara looked around to see who was to blame for him losing his lunch. He saw a table of 5 dinos laughing at him. He gripped his hand into a fist and was about to walk towards them.
“Uh… Ikara?” he heard a familiar voice call out to him, and he stopped in his tracks. He turned his head back to see Naser and Naomi.
“Oh, hi guys,” Ikara cleaned himself a bit from the food spilled into him.
“Are you okay? I heard about what happened in your first class,” Naser pointed out.
“I’m sure everyone in the school knows at this point,” Ikara responded in a still annoyed tone, however, it wasn’t towards Naser or Naomi.
Not knowing what else to add that wouldn’t make the conversation more tense, Naser looked down at all the food slipped on the floor. “Were you going to eat all that? It seemed like a little too much.”
“Yeah… plus it can’t be good for you to eat that much grease,” Naomi added with a hint of concern in her voice, which was rare for her. Or, more accurately. It was rare to hear it as genuinely as she said it now.
“Normally, yeah, but I’m on a special diet. I need to eat a lot of that stuff because I do a lot of heavy work out at home,” Ikara explained. He was leaving some details out but hopefully adding enough to make them not question it further.
“Oh, uh… what kind of diet are you on man?” Naser moved his hands awkwardly, as he tends to do when he tries to keep a conversation going.
Much to the human’s luck, Naomi dragged Naser away as soon as she saw Anon in the distance. Ikara gave the food one last look before he made his way out of the cafeteria. He was too upset to make the line all over again or even deal with the assholes who made him drop it in the first place. “I guess I can skip a day,” he decided, feeling defeated.
------After school------
The rest of the classes were fairly standard for Ikara or as standard as one could expect with the new reputation he had made for himself. It was a day full of feeling the weight of his wrongdoings and how everyone loved to remind him of it by looking at him.
Now with all that over, he had a choice. Either go home to forget about this terrible day or go to the concert and try Reed's advice.
“Ugh…. Might as well give it a shot,” he made his way to the auditorium. He was one of the first students to arrive, and in front of the doors, he found a slightly confused Naser with his phone in hand.
“Ikara?... what are you doing here?” He moved his phone down.
“Oh… hey Naser, I came to see Reed’s band play,” the human male answered.
“You know about the band?” the pterodactyl blinked in surprise.
“Yeah?... After I got out of the infirmary, I met Reed in art class. We talked a bit, he mentioned his band and asked me to come to see them. Said it could help me clear my mind. He helped me feel a little better, so I figured I could at least return the favor and support him.”
“That’s… very nice of you Ikara, thanks,” he said. Ikara tilts his head in confusion. Why would he thank him for that? That made him realize that Ikara didn’t know why Naser was there.
“O... oh right, you’re probably wondering why I’m here huh...?” he rubbed the back of his head as watched the human’s puzzled face.
“…to watch the concert?” It was his first guess.
“Uhm… not exactly, you see my siste- er I mean sibling is in the band and I wanted to support her-them,” he placed his hand on his head, evidently confused by his own words.
Ikara was now trying to figure out why he corrected the word sister with sibling. He also didn’t think about his response because he was still trying to decipher what it meant, not wanting to say something wrong and starting to think about that single sentence way more than someone reasonably should. It was so confusing that he nearly forgot how disappointing the day had been for him so far.
“Hey… don’t think too hard about it man,” Naser snapped Ikara out of his trance.
“Wha...” the human looked back at him with a lost expression.
“… Thank you for coming to support them. Not many people do that, and it’s been getting to Fang’s mood...” Naser let out an exhale with his eyes closed. To this, Ikara assumed that Fang was the name of his sibling.
“Oh… sorry to hear that,” Ikara responded almost instinctively, he didn’t have any reason to care, but there was something in him that made him want to forget about his own issues. He didn’t want to deal with them. Maybe helping others with theirs could make his own be forgotten, as unhealthy as that sounded. “Is there anything I could do to help?”
“You came here. That already helps a lot,” Naser opened his eyes and looked back at him with a smile. “Hey, you can grab yourself a pizza if you want. You’re probably hungry after that whole mess in the cafeteria,” he added, pointing at the doors.
“Nah, I think I lost my appetite for now. I’ll eat when I get home,” Ikara made his way over to the door, giving Naser a small wave. “See you there”. He walked inside the door, passed the pizza boxes, and he went straight to one of the tables.
Bit by bit, more students started to filling room, which had the opposite effect as one would expect, because Fang seemed less than happy by the second, something that she left crystal clear to her brother, who appeared to be talking with Anon. In the end, Naser left, and Anon simply made his way to a random seat.
Soon enough, the band began playing… it wasn't exactly melodious. In fact, it was like there was too much going on simultaneously, so Ikara started to feel inclined to leave, especially with how many people there were now. As he was about to get up from his table, he heard laughter from every table.
The whole auditorium. Laughing at his friend and the band. He wasn’t doing anything. He couldn’t do anything. He was staring, his bothered expression changing into one of shock.
‘Do something!’
‘Do something!’
‘Help them!’
‘Move!’
Numerous voices in his head were telling him to move. His breathing was getting heavy, and his heart rate increased exponentially. Still he couldn’t do anything, and he hated that feeling. Suddenly, all the weight he had been feeling throughout the day was replaced by the sensation of a dagger piercing his chest that left him helpless to do anything.
He quickly got up from the table he was at, rushing outside of the auditorium. At the same time everyone was too busy laughing to notice him. He quickly pushed through the doors, leaning against the wall and holding his chest, panting rapidly, trying to control his breathing. It took him a couple of seconds, but he managed to calm himself down.
His panting died as he looked back at the fluorescent-lit ceiling, his teeth gritting. “I didn’t… I didn’t do anything… why… why I didn’t do anything…! “He cursed himself silently.
“Is everything okay, Ikara?” A firm yet calm voice caught his attention.
“H…huh?” he looked up at the principal, who helped him stand back up with one hand.
“You look, distressed boy, what happened in there?” he questioned.
“I… I … everyone starting laughing… insulting them… Reed helped me… but I didn’t do anything to stop it… I watched him and his friends getting mocked...” he looked down in shame.
“And that made you so upset that you had a panic attack?” the principal asked. Ikara simply nodded silently. “Kid… wanting to help others is good… but maybe try taking things one problem at a time.”
“…. I suppose…” Ikara responded quietly. He wasn’t fully convinced, but he didn’t want to argue with him.
This made Principal Spears sigh but he gave him a look of understanding. “If you ever feel ready for it, I am sure Reed will be happy to hear you out, and if you need more support, my door is always open,” he firmly placed a hand on his shoulder .
Ikara looked back up at him, responding with a small nod and a faint smile, like before. It wasn't nearly as bright or wide as before, but it was real. “Thank you, Principal Spears… I’ll try.”
The caveman smiled softly in response. “Now go. I have to deal with some less sensible students,“ he let go of his shoulder and turned towards the auditorium doors to make his way inside. The young male nodded while grabbing his backpack. He started walking away from the building, hearing an eardrum-shaking shout, “WHOSE SORRY ASS AM I GOING TO HAVE TO SUPLEX!”.
Eventually, Ikara made it to his neighborhood, not too far from Skin Row. No less shady than it, but it was his home. Looking at the sky, he thought about the words he was told throughout the day.
“Things will clear out if you work on it.”
“One problem at a time.”
“…. Maybe I can try.”