Chapter Text
Jean didn’t expect Klee to come home one day with a drawing in hand and talking about a new friend she had made. Klee had lots of friends already, where was she getting new ones out of school? She held up the drawing and she cheerfully said, “look! Look!”
In the drawing, there was her of course, and two boys. One was who Jean knew, a boy named Bennett who was a student at the school she worked at with her wife Lisa. The new person in the drawing however had long, gray hair, it looked like he was wearing a hoodie with a symbol on it.
“What’s the symbol supposed to be, Klee?”
“It’s a wolf!”
“A wolf? And who’s the new person?”
“He said his name is Razor! He’s friends with Benny,” she smiled, “they walk me out of school and they leave when I cross the street to get home! Razor never goes home though when he sees me and Benny off. He stays on the corner.”
“The corner?”
Wait, she did see a boy around Bennett’s age stand on the corner sometimes before he crossed the street and vanished into an alleyway. His hair was usually hidden by his hood and he seemed to be watching out for Klee whenever she came home from school. Who was that boy? Was he Razor? Klee looked at her with bright eyes.
“He’s nice! He lets me touch his hair!”
“That’s nice, sweetie. You have some homework, don’t you? Go ahead and do it while I ask your brother something.”
Klee unpacked her things at the kitchen table and Jean went up the stairs, “Albedo? Albedo - are you doing an experiment?” she knocked on his door. His voice was heard, “you can come in!” and the door was opened. He was sitting at his desk, spinning a pen as a list of mathematical equations were on the paper before him.
“When you pick up Klee by the corner, is there another boy there?”
“Huh? Besides Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“..I do see him a bit, yes. Must be Razor.”
“You know him?”
“Bennett usually tells me about him if he isn't there. He’s absent a lot, but he always shows up to watch Klee with him or Fischl. I think he’s protecting her.”
Jean blinked, “protecting her?”
“The kids Klee’s friends with follow her to and back from her school, they’re all watching for her. You know, with the news and all of..” his voice lowered and his gaze hardened, “the dangers about children being kidnapped. I’m glad they do that, I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Of course. I’m just surprised there was another one she knew. I only knew Fischl and Bennett. I didn’t know Razor was apart of them.”
“I think according to Fischl, he’s absent due to family reasons. Is he not in any of your classes?”
“He’s not, I’ve never had a Razor in the classes. I’ll ask Lisa. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The door closed. Jean went into her wife’s study, knocking on the door and being let in. Lisa was watering a rose on her desk, its petals slightly drooping with water. She looked at Jean and smiled, “what’s wrong? Do you need something?”
Jean told her what was going on and Lisa nodded, “I see. Razor..yes, he’s in my class, but he’s gone constantly that I have to tutor him sometimes. His family situation is so heartbreaking, I had to fight Principal Varka to keep him in school.”
“His..family situation?”
“..I’m afraid I must tell you then. His family all but abandoned him in the city and he’s been hiding out in numerous places. He took a part time job at the animal shelter, but that’s it. I offered him places where he could stay and to help himself, but he said no, he wanted to be independent.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not. It’s already a struggle keeping him in school, I hope he doesn’t drop out..”
In a show of sadness, Lisa stopped watering her rose and sat in her desk chair. She looked at the family picture sitting there in a golden frame and she said, “I wish I can do more for him, I really do, but what can I do when he refuses help? He’s strong, but he needs assistance.”
Jean went to her wife and gently tucked some of her hair behind her ear, “you won’t do this alone. I’ll help you too. We’ll help him.”
“..thank you, Jean.”
They smiled at each other.
The next day, Jean was taking attendance in her class and showing her class some videos from the school. The classroom door swung open and Bennett came in, flustered and trying to hold tight his backpack full of papers, “I’m sorry for being late, Ms. Gunnhildr! I almost got hit by a car on my way here again..”
Fischl’s laugh was heard in the back of the room, “oh, clumsy Bennett. Surely you must be running out of bad luck and eventually, the storm will fade, and you will be freed from such devilish chains.”
Bennett rubbed the back of his neck, “haha, yeah..”
“It’s okay, Bennett. I also want to talk to you for a minute,” Jean pressed some papers down onto her desk and got out, gesturing for him to come out into the hall. He set his things down by his desk and joined her and he said, “what’s wrong? Is it my grades? Or..or..”
“No, no, it’s not about that. It’s about Razor, your friend. Can you tell me a bit more about him?”
“H..huh? Why?”
“He’s not in trouble, I just want to know more since he isn't in my class.”
“Okay. Well, he doesn’t talk a lot, he says talking hurts and makes him tired. He always waits for me at the school gate and if Fischl isn't busy, we all go to pick up Klee and drop her off to Albedo. He usually stands on the corner after that and leaves on his own.”
“He still stands there even when you go home?”
“Yeah. Sometimes he follows me to make sure I’m okay. After that, he leaves. I don’t know where he goes, but..but it’s probably to the shelter he works at.”
“I see. Does he talk about his family?”
“No. He says that he can’t remember who they are.”
Now, that was interesting! Jean raised an eyebrow. Seeing her reaction, Bennett quickly said, “that’s all I know though! He never talks about them much other than that and when we try to ask more, he shuts us down. I’m sorry if I’m not much help,” he began fidgeting.
She said, “no, it’s okay, you’ve given me a lot to work with. Do you know his next class?”
“We share P.E together.”
“Okay, I got it. Thank you, Bennett. Go back in class now, I have to ask a teacher something,” she let Bennett back into the classroom and walked down the hallway to Lisa’s classroom. Lisa waved to her and came outside of the room, “what’s wrong?”
“I’m going to find Razor during his next class. Is he in here now?”
“No, he’s in the bathroom right now.”
“Mm. Got it. Thank you, Lisa.”
“Of course.”
They shared a quick kiss. A student yelled from Lisa’s classroom, “look!” and the class began to gather to see them. Lisa giggled and turned to her students crowding at the door, “everyone back inside! Sit, sit, I know you’re eager, but let’s not get hasty, okay?”
Jean went back to her class.
P.E came next. Jean came into the gym and waved to Amber, who was instructing the kids to play nice and fair with their game of dodgeball. Jean said, “they look excited. How are the sport club registrations going?”
“They’re going amazingly! We have so many people signing up this year!” Amber smiled, “all the clubs are gonna be filled by the end of this month.”
She looked towards the kids and shouted, “Noelle! Don’t throw the balls so hard you break someone’s nose! Oh, jeez..”
“Is Noelle’s strength kicking in again?”
“It always happens,” Amber complained, “she’s so strong that she accidentally injures people! How?! Anyways, what are you here for?”
“For Razor. Mind pointing out which one he is?”
Amber pointed to the boy with gray hair messily tied up, he had some light scars on his arms and legs, he had eye bags under his eyes. Compared to his tired appearance, he was fast as lightning, easily throwing the balls and dodging them if need be.
She then pulled out her whistle tied to a string around her neck and blew. The students lined up again for another round. Bennett high-fived Razor and Jean could hear him say, “you’re amazing, Razor! Teach me how to be as fast as you!”
“They’re a good pair, Benny and Razor,” Amber said as she made a gesture and the game started again, “did something happen with Razor that you wanted to see him?”
“I was just curious. How well does he do here?”
“Pretty well, surprisingly. He’s not very talkative in team-building activities and he tells me he’d rather work alone, but he does well if Bennett’s with him. I think Bennett’s super awesome energy is so infectious that Razor wants to get in on the fun too!”
Jean crossed her arms and watched him again amongst the students. She then said, “when the bell rings and he’s going to his next class, send him to me instead. I’ll write a pass that excuses him from being late or absent in his next period.”
“Got it!”
She left the gym. Jean went back to her classroom. She had the next period free too, so it was going to be just her and Razor alone in the room. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got. What if he refused to talk to her about anything? What if he said no to her too? That was the most probable answer.
The door opened.
Barbara came in, “Jean..”
“Hm? Yes?” she looked up from her papers and Barbara said, “Bennett sprained his ankle in the gym again. He’s in the nurse’s office.”
“Really? Goodness,” Jean shook her head. Bennett had such bad luck with everything, this was the third time this week. Barbara twirled some hair around her finger, “I had to tell you since I’m the nurse’s intern after all. Do you want to write him a pass for his next few classes since he’s going home early?”
“I will. Give me a few minutes.”
She grabbed some paper and began writing down Bennett’s name and the reason why he was being excused early. She signed her name under Bennett’s name. Jean handed it to Barbara and she said, “give it to the office so they know. The nurse will give hers too.”
“Mhm! Thank you, Jean!”
“No problem.”
Barbara gleefully went on her way. She was always a happy soul, even in times of sadness. Jean liked that about her sister. The bell rang. Students walked in the halls and talked amongst themselves, laughing at jokes or sharing homework. This school was Jean’s life.
If anything, she loved working here.
Noelle came in and talked to Jean about her grades for this week to see if they changed (she was very studious and on top of her work, Jean didn’t know why she checked routinely like this, but she didn’t mind hardworking students) and left after that.
Other students came and went into the classroom to say hello, to say goodbye, to talk before moving on to their next period. It was a busy day, that was for sure.
Jean was hunched over her laptop now and was typing an email to the principal when her door opened again and Razor came in, “..you wanted to see me?”
The way he spoke was choppy, as if he wasn’t used to speech. That was probably what Bennett meant when he said that Razor didn’t like to talk because it made him tired. Jean gestured to the seat in front of her desk and said, “yes, please, sit here. You’re not in trouble.”
“Okay.”
Deep breaths, Jean reminded herself, you got this. She closed her laptop and began to have a conversation with Razor.