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BRRRRRING!!!

Ah, yes, the first bell of the first day of his final year of high school. Isaac hefted his heavy backpack over his shoulders, heading to his locker before going to homeroom. The slender fox was shorter than most of his peers, but his thin frame under thick fur made him mostly reminiscent of a particularly twiggy orange topiary. He kept his eyes to the ground, trying to shrink into himself and be as unnoticeable as possible. So far so good... he thought to himself. Just gotta make it to class without running into-

BUMP.

"What the...! It's the nerd!"

Isaac flinched. In trying to avoid his tormentors, he'd managed to run directly into one of them instead. Crap... I should've been looking where I was going...! Slowly, he turned his eyes upward to apologize, stuttering. "I-I-I... Sorry!" Getting a good look at which one he'd bumped into, his heart dropped. Oh, hell, not Axel...

Glaring down at him was a massive puma, wearing a football letterman jacket and sporting a fresh buzz cut. His lips curled back in a snarl. Axel had at least a good six inches on him, and was beefy, solid muscle under a healthy layer of fat. "Th'HELL is your problem, pipsqueak?! You lookin' for punishment already?!"

"N-no!" yipped the fox. "I swear, I was... I was... trying to stay away from you guys, I'm sorry, I'll go, I-"

"Aw, HELL no! You wanna apologize? Here!" Axel unslung his backpack and chucked it at Isaac. It nearly bowled him over with how heavy it was, a testament to the puma's superior strength. "You're carryin' that now. I ain't got time for it. Don't fuckin' drop it, either. C'mon, twerp, move!" He began to pass through the sea of students, parting as he walked by. Isaac staggered after him, panting. What.. the hell.. is in.. this thing...?

After several minutes, they arrived at a slightly dented locker. Axel entered a combination, but it seemed stuck. He snarled, and pounded on the door a couple of times. "Stupid piece o'...!" The door finally popped free, and he moved to snatch his bag from the fox's arms. "Guess you're not totally worthless, pipsqueak. I'll let you off the hook, this t-"

As Axel swiped the bag from Isaac, the fox recoiled and hissed, a sharp pain running down his forearm. Isaac clutched his arm to his chest. "Sh-sh... Ahh!"

Axel stiffened up. He's never reacted like this before... "Wha... d-dude? What gives? C'mon, man, it's just a prank..."

"Y-you... hurt me..."

The color drained from Axel's face. He'd been bullying the fox ever since Freshman year, but it was always hands off. He was fine with forcing him to carry his backpack, harassing him into writing papers for him, knocking his lunch out of his hands. But, he'd never... Axel's stomach twisted in knots, nausea creeping up his throat. He looked at his paw, and saw his first two claws were daubed with blood... "O-oh... Oh, FUCK! Fuck, fuck, I am _so_sorry, are you okay?! Let me look at it, please, I'm sorry, I-"

"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!" Isaac shouted, his voice shrill. Everyone in the hallway turned to look at the two of them. Axel could see that Isaac was crying now, and the puma suddenly couldn't breathe anymore. Fuck... he's never cried... I... never made him cry before, I... didn't want him to cry...? The fox turned to run, dashing through the hallway towards the nurses station. Axel reached out and tried to call him back, but it was too late; Isaac was gone.

One of Axel's football teammates, a stocky badger, walked up to him. "Dude, what did you do to the runt? It must've been awesome, I've never seen him actually cry before..."

The puma just stared in the direction the fox went, frozen in place, still choking on his words. "No, I... I dunno, man. I think I... no, I know_I fucked up, Colt. Dude, I fucked up _big..."

"No cursing in my hallways, Axel!" screeched an elderly owl. The pair flinched; she'd snuck up on them. "Get to class, you two, immediately! And if I hear one more cuss it's detention!"

"Yes, Principal Benson..." the pair said in unison. They trudged slowly to their separate classes.

Axel opened the door to his homeroom class, five minutes past the starting bell. "Ah, good of you to join us, Axel." The teacher was a tall, rather muscular sheepdog. "I'm Mr. Lopez. We haven't gotten started yet, so I'll let it slide this time, but please be on time in the future. Do you understand?"

The puma still wasn't all there, staring vacantly into space. He nodded absently, then turned. There was only one desk left, in the back row, at the far corner of the room. He mechanically walked over, sat down, and opened up his backpack. 'Kay... planner, notebook, highlighter, pencil... pencil... pencil? He sighed, realizing he didn't have any. He turned to the desk on his right and whispered, "Hey, sorry, can I borrow a...!"

Red as a beet, trembling at his desk, was a tiny, orange fox with bandages on his arm. Axel flinched away from him. Oh my god, could this day get any worse?!

Isaac's arm still stung from the disinfectant. He'd put up with the harassment from Axel for years, but he'd never hurt him before, and that thought absolutely terrified him. If the puma started to actually hurt_him, that... might be the end of him. _But maybe... Isaac thought, Maybe I can still turn this around... Like mom always says, kill 'em with kindness... Yeah, sure...

Isaac sighed. Fur standing on end, voice quavering, he leaned to his left and stuttered, "Wh-what d-do you want, Axel?"

Axel looked at him, his jaw hanging open. He didn't think Isaac would ever speak to him again. "Um... just... just a pencil. Uh... p-please?"

Isaac's eyes widened. He... never says please. Huh... "Ah... s-sure..." The fox dug into his bag, fishing out a mechanical pencil. He delicately handed it to the Axel, who grabbed at it swiftly. Isaac flinched when the puma's paw approached his own, and Axel jumped.

"Sorry... I'm, really, really sorry..." Axel mumbled as he started taking notes. "Ah... can we-"

"Axel, Isaac, no talking in class! Please don't make me give a detention on the first day..." Mr. Lopez announced.

Axel and Isaac turned red, looking down at their notebooks. "Yes, sir..." they said in unison.

The rest of the class was spent in silence. After that, Axel and Isaac didn't have any other classes together, which meant that they didn't see each other again until homeroom that afternoon. Axel tried to track the fox down in the hallways between classes. He'd occasionally catch a glimpse of him at the end of a hallway, or see his tail disappearing around a corner, but he could never quite manage to catch up with him. Their last class of the day was spent in silence under Mr. Lopez's watchful gaze, but as the bell rang, he came up to the two of them.

"Axel, Isaac, please go to the Principal's office after class today... she needs to discuss something important with you both."

Their hearts both dropped. Axel, because he knew he'd done something unforgivably cruel: Isaac, because he thought he was a model student, and couldn't imagine how he'd gotten in trouble. The two packed up their belongings. Axel tried to hand the fox his pencil back. "Uh, thanks, for, um... y'know..."

"K-keep it..." Isaac stammered. "L-lets just see what Principal Benson wants. I... I just wanna go home..."

They began walking down deserted halls of the campus. Axel's tail thrashed behind him anxiously. Shakily, he stopped to talk to Isaac. "Look, dude, um... shit... I'm, ah, really sorry about earlier, it was an accident... you have to tell them it was an accident, please... please... I _can't..._I..."

Isaac turned to the puma, stunned. He's... hyperventilating? He's totally panicking... What the hell is this... no, he's just worried he's gonna get in trouble. Still, he's so worked up...

Isaac sighed. "Breathe, big guy. Breathe. Whatever Principal Benson wants, it's not about that. I... I didn't tell anyone what happened. Yet. You just... you hurt me, and it really scared me. Look, I'm little, all right? I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. I'm a god-damn bully magnet. Freakin' nobody_likes me. But... you never actually hurt me. Except today... but usually, you're nicer than my other bullies. It's why I... put up with it. Just..." _Doesn't hurt to ask... "Just... leave me alone, okay? If you actually want to make it up to me... just leave me the hell alone. Forever."

Axel's face flushed, and he felt a fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why... why am I feeling like this? I... don't want... I don't want to leave him alone? I don't want... him.... to be alone? He took a deep breath. "No... I don't-"

"We're here. Let's see what we're in trouble for."

Isaac opened the door to the Principal's office. "Ms. Benson? It's Isaac and Axel... we're here."

The principal was sitting in a large high-backed chair. The office was tidy and organized, spotless, with a neat row of file cabinets along the wall and rows of bookshelves behind the owl. "Ah, come in. Have a seat, both of you. This will only take a few minutes."

The two of them sat down next to each other in front of Ms. Benson. She cleared her throat. "All right. Axel, my dear, it has come to the attention of the school board that your GPA has dropped below the threshold you need to maintain to meet your scholarship requirements."

Axel started to sweat. "No, wait... hold on, I've been studying my ass-"

"Language, Axel!"

"S-sorry... studying... really hard, I thought I was doing fine!"

"Not fine enough... Your C- grade in English, while technically passing, has put you at a 3.25 GPA. At this rate, you will not reach the 3.8 GPA you need to get into Grenville Polytechnic. But don't fret! This is where our dear friend Isaac comes in!"

Axel turned to look at the fox. He looked visibly unwell, and his hands were gripping the armrests of the chair so hard his knuckles were popping.

Ms. Benson seemed oblivious to all this. "You see, Isaac is our best student peer tutor in the English department! Normally, you'd have to sign up for tutoring, but I've pulled some strings and assigned him directly to you. The two of you will meet three times a week, plus extra if you're working on a particularly hard assignment. Isaac, I'm clearing all your other tutoring for this. Frankly, we need him to keep up with his studies so he can keep playing football; Heaven knows our school needs the all the funding it can get... Now, know that this is not a request for either of you. It is an assignment, and I expect you to treat it as such. And so with that in mind..." She paused to clear her throat. "You may go. Before you leave school, set up a schedule for regular sessions."

The pair exited, dazed, into the hallway. After walking a bit in silence Axel turned to face Isaac, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. Isaac, meanwhile, had balled up his fists, and was trembling again. Axel finally managed to begin to speak.

"I'm sor-"

"Sh... SHUT UP!" the fox yelled, still looking at the floor. Axel gulped down a lump in his throat, fidgeting, looking down, tail twitching behind him. He... he's never yelled before... Having finally found his nerve, Isaac glared up at the puma. Pointing an accusatory finger at him, Isaac unleashed a tirade that Axel never imagined he had in him. "I have had it with you! I've had it with sorry! Sorry isn't good enough! You push me around, treat me like crap for years, and I put up with it because at least this guy doesn't beat me up like the others... What the hell kind of victim mindset is that? At least this one doesn't hurt me? And then you went and did it anyway! Well screw that, and screw you! I don't give a damn if you lose your scholarship! You can rot for all I care! Why the _hell_should I help you, huh?! Come on, give me one, ONE good reason...! Well?!"

Axel worked his mouth, but couldn't manage to speak. He looked down, hugging one arm, and took a deep breath. Then, he did something that caused the fox to blink in surprise; he got on one knee, and looked him in the eye. For the first time since they'd met, Alex was treating Isaac as an equal. The puma finally managed to find his voice, but when he spoke, it was hesitant, and husky with emotion. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't..." His voice got extremely small, and he looked away, unable to meet Isaac's eyes anymore. "Are... are people _really_beating you?"

Isaac blinked. Is he serious? "Um... yeah, like all the time... not today... I mean, aside from you, I guess, I just got stuffed into my locker. But, it's mostly you guys on the football team, they're the worst ones, but Barry from swim team can be pretty mean too... And there's a couple other guys that just like to rough me up, shove me around, you know how it is..."

"No, no I don't..." said Axel. "Somebody actually stuffed you in a locker...?" Axel's voice trailed off as he looked into Isaac's eyes again. "I... had no clue. Fuck, man, I was just... I was just teasing, but they're... They're hurting you?"

"You call that teasing? It's just as bad, Axel. I just wanted to be left alone... and I mean, yeah? It happens, I'm used to it, at least from the other guys, you just... surprised me. It's... I guess it's not a big dea-"

"Fuck that!" The puma growled, causing Isaac to jump. "Look, man, I... I'm sorry. I thought... I thought I was just giving you a hard time, I didn't realize it was that bad... And, like, this morning was seriously_an accident, I didn't mean to hurt you, and doing it intentionally..." Axel turned a little green. "...it's just... _wrong..."

"Dude, you're our star defensive tackle. You literally hurt people for fun." Isaac sneered.

"I mean, it's different when I'm on the field, they signed up for it... wait, you know football?"

"Yeah, my dad was a running back here way back in the day, never shuts up about it. He still drags us to all the home games... Don't get distracted."

"Right... look, I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry...." Axel swallowed, a hard lump forming in his throat. "But, I think maybe... we can_help each other." Axel stood up, and put a large paw and Isaac's shoulder. "I can try to protect you. No... I'll make _sure you make it through senior year okay. You can teach me English... and anyone who wants to touch you's gotta go through me. And there ain't nobody bigger or scarier in this school than me." Axel noticed the fox had stiffened up under his touch. Shit, he's... he's not gonna say yes, is he...? "Uhm... p-please? I... I don't know what else I could do... and I need this scholarship, man, please, I'll do anything..."

Isaac looked up at the puma, staring into his eyes. He seemed... sincere? There was something more that the fox wanted to know, though. But right now... "Um... you're still touching me..." Axel's paw was still on his shoulder, his face just inches away, breathing heavily. He's so... warm. Huh... "Um... this is a little... weird."

Axel jumped back, face flushing. "S-sorry, man."

"It's... it's fine." Isaac took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He was actually... talking... to Axel. Just having a conversation. Not taking orders or anything. It was... novel. "Look, tell me one thing, and I'll accept your little proposal." Even if he doesn't tell me, I'll do it... Ms. Benson isn't giving me a choice, but I'm curious...

Axel nodded emphatically. "Anything, man. What's up?"

"Why... is this particular scholarship so important to you? You could go play at any number of colleges with your GPA, why this one?"

Axel flinched. "Uhm... look, it's... it's kinda personal..."

"You've been harassing me for three years, you kinda owe me this. Tell me."

Axel looked around and sighed, seeing the empty hallways. He leaned in close to Isaac, causing the fox to flinch and shrink away slightly. "Please_relax, I'm not gonna hurt you, ever again, I promise. I just... I just don't want anyone to hear..." Then, Axel swallowed, looking down, and dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper. "My... my dad, he... ah, left... back at the beginning of high school, all right? And, um... he's not coming back... I need a _really good job to help take care of my mom and my younger brothers. Getting into Grenville Polytechnic is my one shot. If I fuck this up, they could lose everything..." The puma swallowed, looking down at the ground, eyes glistening. "I just... I don't have a choice, I... have to do this. So... that's why I need your help... p-please..." Axel kept his eyes down for a moment, then straightened up and cleared his throat. A paw went to the back of his neck and rubbed nervously. "Ah, so... that's... that's it. Uh... please don't tell anyone... you and Mrs. Benson are the only ones who know, and I... really need to keep it that way."

Isaac stood slack-jawed. He'd wasn't sure what he expected from the puma. But it wasn't... this... "N-no, uh... don't worry, I won't s-say anything..." The fox rubbed his arm for a minute, an awkward silence growing between them. Say something... "Ah, so, are you... is everything... okay?"

Alex blinked in surprise at the question, then chuckled nervously. "F-fuck no, not really, but... You'd be surprised what you c-can get used to, I guess..." He froze for a moment, then suddenly slumped down, and Isaac began to see the weight of a heavy responsibility resting on those broad shoulders. Axel's face dropped, darkening, and Isaac saw... his eyes... is he... crying? "I mean... yeah... it's hard, it's really fuckin' hard for us sometimes, but we... I..." The puma's shoulders started heaving, and he swiped the back of his paw across his eyes. In a shaky voice, he started to ramble. "F-fuck, why am I cryi-...? I've never... I mean..." His voice got very small and fragile, almost a squeak, and began to crack. "...nobody ever asks if I'm okay, I'm_always_ okay, I have to be okay..." Axel's other knee hit the floor, and he covered his face with his paws, shoulders heaving, breath coming in shallow gasps.

The fox panicked, looking around. Nobody was here... and... Shit, he's... having a panic attack, isn't he? He's not even a bad guy, he's just kinda... okay, he's extremely damaged... what should I do? He began to step towards the puma, hesitantly at first, but with growing certainty in every step. Yes... he needs this...

Then...

Isaac wrapped Axel in a warm, tight hug.

The puma choked, his entire body freezing, eyes growing wide. Then, Axel suddenly wrapped his arms around the fox's middle, and squeezed tightly. He started bawling. "I'm s-so... *hic!* ...sorry! I'm so, so s-s-sorry!" He kept repeating it, over and over again, Isaac patting his back and making soft shushing noises. Several minutes passed, until the tears eventually ran dry. Axel sniffled, cleared his throat again, and stood up. "Uh... s-sorry about that... C-can you also not tell anyone about..."

"About how you cried like a baby in the arms of Grenville High's punching bag? Yeah, I'll keep it to myself."

Axel's eyes went wide as his breath hitched. "Whuh... okay, not complaining, but who are you and what did you do with Isaac?"

The fox shrugged. "I dunno. After what you and I just did, I guess... you just don't scare me anymore."

"Oh... um, so, does that make us, like... friends, now?" The puma fidgeted his thumbs together, staring at the floor again.

The fox scoffed, causing the puma to flinch. "No. Absolutely not. You made me miserable for three years, remember? I definitely remember. But... look, Axel, I'll tutor you. I'll at least do that. And maybe... maybe..._if you can show me you've changed... I'll think about hanging out sometime..." Isaac sighed. _I actually... do want to get to know him better... huh. That's... odd.

Axel broke into a grin. "Fuck! Thank you, man! You're... shit, you're really cool, you know that? I'm so sorry I picked on you, I..." his grin faded. Why... why was I picking on him again? Why did I even start...?

The fox snapped his fingers in front of Axel's face. "Hellooo. Earth to puma? Come in, puma?"

Axel shook his head. "Shit, sorry, I... I got caught up in my head for a second. Let's talk schedules, I have work and football practice so..."

The two of them chatted for a while, deciding on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday tutoring schedule, then exchanged phone numbers. They walked out to the parking lot, where it had started to rain.

Axel cussed again. "Fuck, I'm gonna be soaked..."

The fox looked at him quizzically. "I thought seniors were allowed to bring their cars to..." his sentence trailed off as he realized what he was saying.

The puma didn't seem to care. "Yeah, ain't got a car. When I miss the bus I just have to walk. It's only like three miles, it's not bad. Unless it's raining." He cussed again. "Should've brought an umbrella. Damn..."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Come on. I'll give you a lift."

Axel's jaw dropped. "Y-you... you sure? I don't have any gas money, or nothin', I can't pay you back..."

"It's... fine? Seriously, don't worry about it. I'm not gonna let you walk three miles in the pouring rain... Just come on, man."

Axel felt his heart do a flip... Why is he...? The pair jogged to one of the only cars left in the lot, an old, beat-up red sedan. They hopped in, and Isaac started the car. He had Axel enter his address into the in-dash GPS, and they took off.

As they drove, the storm got progressively worse. When they pulled up in front of Axel's house, it was pouring rain. Isaac could barely see the house they were right next to. The puma was moving toward the door handle to open it when Isaac spoke up. "Hey, uh... that looks bad, Axel. I'm sure it'll pass soon. You should stay in the car for a bit..."

The puma breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, man, thanks..." He scratched the back of his neck nervously, then asked a question that had been bugging him since he offered to give him a ride. "Um... so, you're, like, being... really nice to me." Axel pressed his thumbs together, staring at his hands. "C-can I ask... why? Like, what are you getting out of it?"

Isaac looked at him quizzically. "Kindness isn't a transaction, you dope. I don't want anything. I'm being nice because it's the right thing to do."

"But I-"

"Yes, 'but you'. Yeah, you've done a lot of things to me. And I'm still mad about them. But I'm not gonna be mean to you just because I'm mad at you. You deserve to be treated decently, even if you haven't always... or, well, ever... done the same to me. And... I guess, you deserve a chance to make it up to me. That's the right thing to do. That's what I think, at least..." The fox trailed off, turning to watch the rain cascading down the windows.

Axel stared at Isaac, eyes wide and shining. Nobody ever... He's so... kind, and for no other reason than the sake of kindness. I hurt him so much, and he's still just... nice to me. How could I have...? The puma's eyes began to feel hot and misty. Then, his arm started to move on its own, his body mechanically leaning over to touch the petite fox...

"Looks like the rain's letting up."

Axel froze, snapping out of his daze. "O-oh... Uh, y-you're right. Guess I'd better head on in, then..." He showed no sign of moving.

The fox turned his head to face him, and... smiled. It was a simple, honest, genuine smile, the first one Isaac had ever shown Axel. The puma's heart skipped a beat. W-wha-? Isaac didn't seem to notice how Axel was transfixed. "Yeah, see you tomorrow. Keep me updated on your English homework, y'hear?"

Axel opened the door and fumbled his way out onto the sidewalk, not even noticing that he stepped right into a huge puddle. He paced back, and stared as Isaac drove away until he couldn't see the little red car anymore. Axel turned, and started walking slowly toward the house. All he could think about was that... that smile... The puma's stomach felt strangely twisted and heavy, and his heart was racing. "W-what the fuck..." he mumbled.

...

What the fuck is wrong with me...?