New Beginnings

Keith hated his appearance.

He was different.

He was rarer than the rarest.

People always stared at him.

But he hated the attention.

So he hid it.

He hid himself a lot of the time.

Eventually, he hid more than his appearance.

~~~

Whispers followed him wherever he went; it didn't help that he was the new kid again. It also didn't help that he was the new kid in the middle of a term.

But Shiro forced him to go, and, as much as he hated school, Keith knew that he had to enrol in another after being excluded from his last school.

And the one before that.

And the one before that as well.

He was only in his second year of it and the seventeen year old had been kicked out of three schools, five if you count his middle school years. Why did he get kicked out of all those schools, you may be thinking? Well. Keith was often bullied yet was not one to be quiet about it... he wouldn't exactly tell anyone either. Instead, what he found himself doing was beating the bullies up themselves.

Serves them right.

That thought is what got him in even more trouble as he showed absolutely no regret for his actions; the only time he would really show any emotion other than anger and blankness was at night, most likely when he was in bed where he would cry himself to sleep.

Keith hated himself.

~~~

This time, Shiro had gotten a new job and even, after sighing, told Keith that he supposed it was fine timing as they would have to move states anyway which meant a different school regardless of his rather aggressive habits. Shiro never really got angry anymore - he had at first and merely scared Keith - but instead he would always fix Keith with an extremely disappointed gaze and that was really the only thing keeping Keith down. It did, unlike anything else, make him feel some regret; not for beating up the bullies, but for being unable to control himself. Again. Over and over.

Keith promised himself that he would never see that look again on Shiro's face and so set out to this new school with a slightly more hopeful outlook on life, certainly with more determination than before.

Over the time between coming to this school and being kicked out of the last, he'd managed work out how to use his powers to hide his tail but couldn't for the life of him manage to hide his ears; it didn't help that they were fucking massive. He hated being a fox sometimes, what he hated constantly was that his colouring was completely unheard of; Keith was a Black Fox, only heard of in tales, never been seen in real life as of the last few centuries.

As Keith walked, he spotted such a variety of human-animal hybrids that he started to feel even more hopeful; dogs, cats, monkeys, wolves, bears, squirrels, cows, rabbits, lemurs, wild cats, hyenas, pigs... but no foxes. Maybe he'd find some inside the school?

With that mindset, he continued walking and looking around eagerly to find no one of his breed. It was discouraging to say the least.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on the shoulder and swung round with wide eyes only to be met by a chest covered by a purple tweed jacket and underneath, a pale pink shirt. When he looked up, Keith found himself looking into warm, hazel eyes and took a step back to get a better view of the person. He had bright orange hair and had a surprisingly even speckle of freckles on each cheek and across his slightly pointed nose.

"Are you the new student?" Keith nodded. The man's voice was bright, like his hair, and cheerful, further calming Keith's nerves.

"W-who are you?" He silently cursed himself for stuttering and subconsciously fiddled with a loose piece of string he found in his pocket just moments before.

"I am Coran Smythe, but to you my friend, I am Mr Smythe." He replied, his voice taking an ever so faintly serious tone at the last part of the sentence.

"I am to take you to the reception desk in order to sign in and then you will come with me to my home room session - I am your home room teacher."

Again, Keith found himself nodding along to the man's words and following when he walked away swiftly but with a bounce in his step.

~~~

Once they reached the reception desk, Keith was already tired of people staring at him and actually said so to Mr Smythe.

"It might help, my dear boy, if you take down your hood. Forgive me for sounding crude but, as the kids would say, you look a bit 'emo' with the hood up on your black jacket."

This time, Keith shook his head no and he concentrated on the receptionist who was sorting things out on her desk, completely oblivious to the two people that had just arrived at her post. Mr Smythe had to clear his throat to get her attention and when he did, she let out a surprised little screech that made Keith's hands twitch to cover his ears.

"Can you get the file for the new student as well as the sig-in sheet please, Marge?"

The woman nodded her rather large head, making her dog ears wiggle about before turning around and beginning o search the draw full of what Keith would guess was thousands of pieces of paper.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for her to locate them as she abruptly held them above her head triumphantly. "Hmm, okay... Keith Akira Kogane, seventeen, Korean-American... Species: Black Fox?!" She looked up at him expectantly and, after checking no one else was around - which they weren't - he took down his hood and released the hold his magic had over his tail.

His ears flicked irritably and his tail swayed, facing downwards in acute agitation.

Both adults sucked in a breath unanimously.

Quickly, he hid his tail again and pulled his hood over his ears, slightly muffling his hearing once again. The boy looked at the receptionist expectantly, waiting for her to read out the rest of the information.

"Parent/s: deceased. Guardian: Older adoptive brother, Takashi Shirogane. Previous high schools: three. Suspension count: nine. Expulsion count: three. Reason/s for expulsion: fighting, skipping school numerous times for long periods of time. Number of grades skipped: one. Chosen subjects: Astronomy, Technology, Psychology and Art as well as the mandatory subjects: Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths and English." She turned to the third and final page of the file and began reading once more,

"Homeroom number: 23, home room teacher: Mr Coran Smythe... Ah, and here's your schedule." She handed over a piece of paper that he inspected closely. On it, it had the classes, their times and the rooms in which they were held.

A large hand was gently placed on his shoulder and he looked up just in time for Mr Smythe to say,

"Well, we better get to home room; I'd hate to imagine what my class must being doing now."

"Causing havoc I don't doubt." The receptionist chuckled at her own comment as they started walking away. Their footsteps and the faint sound of other people talking filled the silence between them, finally filled by Keith's new teacher.

"Are you going to keep the hood on, I can't imagine how isolated you will have felt so far and will accept you doing so. Though I must warn you, other teachers aren't as kind as I am, some may force you to take it off." A curt nod was his only reply and yet the man appeared satisfied with just that as he faced forwards again with a faint smile tugging on the corners of his lips.

~~~

"I'm going to go in and tell them to be quiet then I'll ask you to come in. It would be lovely if you could stand at the front and tell them a bit about yourself but if not then I'll assign you a seat. I think we have a few spares, where would you prefer to sit?"

It took Keith a short while to answer, "At the back near the window if possible."

"Ah, the classic anime protagonist I see."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'll go in then. Good luck, my boy."

~~~

When Mr Smythe left and Keith was left to his own devices he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. This never gets any easier.

He closed his eyes and breathed in... blew out... breathed in... blew out... and then repeated this process for a bit until he heard Mr Smythe call his name.

It's time.