Chapter Text
‘Ugh I wanna go home already…’
Akira looked out the window of the bus with a small sigh. He hated this already and he wasn't even at his destination yet. He was currently on his way to his new home for the next four years.
Miss Monarch’s Reform School For Troubled Boys.
As the name would suggest, it was some sort of school for reforming boys like him that were… problematic in some way. It wasn't well known apparently as his mom only found out about it through a friend of her, but apparently it was effective. Akira felt his imagination running away from him. He imagined some strict and boardline cruel boot camp masquerading as a school, drill sergeant and all. He imagined a headmaster that was more of a dictator to “reign in” the troublesome boys under her regime. He imagined a prison that tortures boys until they break and become compliant enough to be released back to their parents as “fixed”. It all made his skin crawl.
This was ridiculous in any case. He didn't even do anything to deserve this! He wasn't a disobedient or rebellious kid. He just liked staying inside playing video games and watching anime rather than going out and making friends. He didn't need people who pretended to like him to his face and then talked badly about him behind his back. He’d much rather lose himself in a fantasy world where he could control what happened. He didn't have to constantly worry about if someone in a video game secretly hated him or was just being his friend to later dump him when he was too bothersome for them.
Too bad his parents didn't seem to understand that. They always thought his hobbies were too childish for someone his age and that they were starting to take over his life. He argued that adults played video games and watched anime, but his parents would hear none of it. One day, after he came home from the store, his mom was the first one to greet him. She was so excited to tell him that she found that solution to his problems and told him that he’d be changing schools to attend some all-boys school half way across the country. He thought she was joking at first and he said he would never participate in something like that, but his dad told him straight out that it was in fact not a joke and that he was indeed going whether he liked it or not.
Now here he was, sitting on an oddly comfortable padded bench seat in a weird pink and white school bus with his suitcase beside him. At least there was air conditioning on the bus and he didn't have to feel like he was traveling straight through Satan’s ass crack on top of brooding over being sent so far away from home. His mom tried to assure him that he’d be okay, that they’d still be able to write him and that they love him oh so very much, but it didn't make Akira feel any better.
Akira ran his hand through his fluffy blonde hair and over the short white fur of his long rabbit ears to try to sooth himself. Anxiety burned low in his gut, but he did his best not to show it. He was glad the cushion under and behind him hid his little cotton ball tail for the most part. He didn't need curious hands fondling his tail right now. He was surprised people weren't grabbing at his ears. Rabbit hybrids were quite popular and known for loving to be handled. Akira personally hated it. He was a person, not a stuffed toy!
Looking around the bus, he surveyed the boys on the bus with him. Most of them were fidgeting in one way or another. The boy sitting across the isle from him with shaggy chocolate brown hair and teary green eyes looked like he was going to have a panic attack as he hugged his bag to his chest. A taller boy with an almost emo haircut and indigo eyes sat in the back of the bus glared outside like the countryside personally offended him with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Akira also spotted two scruffy haired ginger fox hybrids sitting side by side in front of him, whispering quietly to each other.
Akira tried to convince himself that they weren't talking about him.
The two were clearly twins, looking identical to each other with curly, bushy auburn hair that covered their eyes and matching green jumpsuits. Their fox ears were red with black tips and Akira swore he could see a bushy tail cloaked in red fur with a snowy white tip flicking out into the isle every so often. They weren't talking about some boy sat behind them. They were more than likely just chatting amongst each other to pass the time since nobody else seemed to want to have a conversation on this bus right now. He tore his eyes away, not wanting to be caught staring like a weirdo.
Instead, Akira just looked out the window again. They were driving next to a wheat field now. The long swaying golden rows seemed to stretch on for miles. Something about it was relaxing despite his nervousness. It reminded him of how his grandpa’s ranch looked during the summer. Towering wheat and corn everywhere you looked and it was one of his favorite hiding places when playing with his siblings and his cousins. He smiled, remembering that one time that he sprang out of the wheat and scared his older sister so badly she screamed out loud and had the neighbors across the way running to make sure everyone was okay. One of their cousins, Riley, said she sounded like a mountain lion and they all teased her about that for weeks.
Akira let his mind wander to better times for the rest of the ride.