Chapter Text
Ascot had no idea how he was supposed to get home now.
He’d probably care later. There were too many things he was aggressively trying not to care about right now. Like how he lashed out at Hikaru Shidou. She was being friendly. She meant no harm. She didn’t know he’d wanted a dog since he could walk, but his parents insisted time after time that it was too expensive, even as they somehow found it in their budget to keep having kids. She didn’t know that just last week, some of his younger siblings had not only knocked over his betta fish bowl, the only pet his parents had ever condescended to let him own, but then left the mess and the dead fish there for him to find and clean up when he got home. She didn’t know about Vigor, either.
Ascot honestly deserved that slap from the girl’s blue-haired friend (Umi, was it?) though he was glad she got in trouble for it all the same. Those nails of hers hurt. At least she sort of apologized for it, when he’d found her waiting outside the nurse’s office.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit you that hard. Nurse clean it out all right?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t think this means I forgive you for upsetting Hikaru. She’s never been anything but nice to you.” She’d scoffed, “It’s no wonder you don’t have any friends.”
“I have friends.” Ascot had answered automatically. Though they weren’t human, he’d never considered the dogs and cats and other animals he’d met as anything less than friends. Well, they were good friends to him. Now he was seriously questioning whether he’d actually been a good friend to them. He couldn’t even keep a betta fish safe from his family. And Vigor… He knew what was going on in that household, he knew those dogs weren’t being treated right. Yet he stayed silent. The owners paid well when they went on vacation, which was pretty often. He really needed the money. And he did his best to treat them better while he was there-
But those were just excuses; he was just a coward. A coward who didn’t deserve the only friends he was capable of making. That was why his fish was dead and Vigor was suffering.
He’d crumbled. Broken down into a complete mess of frustrated tears, choking sobs, and snot. It must’ve been quite an ugly sight, and Ascot had to give the other girl credit for staying as long as she did before he had the sense to get away. The distraught boy had grabbed his backpack and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, out of the high school and across the street. He’d made as far as the nearest city bus stop before collapsing on a bench. The bus had arrived about fifteen minutes later, and Ascot had used his lunch money to get a fare. The bus driver looked reluctant at first to let the kid on by himself, but then presumably figured it was none of their business, making no further acknowledgement after the fee was paid except to hand him a pocket-sized pack of tissues.