Chapter 1
A Small Kind Boy

Tap, tap, tap. Alex was typing his story. He has almost twenty stories in his backlog so Alex might as well get one of them out of the way. It was 3 in the morning. Alex yawned and stretched and decided to shut his laptop down. He got up to go to bed and rapidly fell asleep.
Alex awoke with a small gasp in a cold sweat. But, as soon as the fear from his nightmare came to him, it left. He layed in his bed and contemplated for a few minutes? Hours? He didn’t know. Alex’s alarm went off. He rolled over to turn it off and then rolled off his bed purposefully.

Alex ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. He wore his usual gothic type clothing. A black cropped sleeveless shirt, his purple binder, which was essential, as well as a purple skirt, fingerless opera gloves and his black acrylic nails, and to top it all off, he had thigh-highs with garters.
He took some pictures in the mirror, in different poses, and then posted them on social media. The caption for the collage read: Look at how cute I am today! <3. Alex wore a mask for those who followed him. He pretended to be normal.

Alex went outside to wait for the bus. The bus was his only reasonable form of transport to get him to his College. When the bus arrived he got on. “Good morning!” He said to the bus driver in a monotonous but sincere voice. No response.

The bus made its scheduled stop at the college campus. Usually two or three other people would get off. But today Alex was the only passenger who disembarked. It was two days before holiday break, so it’s expected for there to be a lot of absences. The main gate had arched letters that read, Ferrosgrad College. College of the small city, Ferrosgrad. The college didn’t have much to offer for those looking for the equivalent of Harvard, but it was decent nonetheless. It offered a lot in majors that were quite reasonably priced compared to Harvard or similar campuses across the nation.

Alex stood at his locker. He was slammed into it by someone, someone he knew, someone he resented, Rodrikov, “What’s shaking, Queer?” he snarled. He was a full, specifically he was a jaguarundi. Fulls, like Rodrikov, are essentially an anthropomorphic animal, except they’re people and not animals, they sometimes dealt with persecution, and stereotypes unfair to them, But being part of a marginalised group doesn’t give him an excuse to be a bad person or slam another marginalised group.

Alex turned to face Rodrikov, “What do you want?”
“Oh come on, can’t you at least pretend to be scared?” Rodrikov slammed on the locker beside Alex, yet he remained unfazed, “Stupid Ter,”
“Can you just leave me alone?”
“Oh, and why would I do that?” Rodrikov’s tone was malevolent, and mocking.
“You get no pleasure in bullying me,” Alex attempted to walk away but was pushed down by one of Rodrikov’s goons. Alex felt a rush of anger, but it was gone almost instantly. He got back up and walked away.
“Yeah you better run, you coward!” Rodrikov shouted.

On his way to class, Alex was stopped by a small boy named, Aoi. Aoi was also a Full, specifically a hare. He was however albino. Something he was made painfully aware of by his bullies, “Hey,” Aoi asked, “Are you free tonight?”
“No,” Alex replied.
“Why?”
“I’m writing,”
“You’re always writing,” Aoi stated, “You never have time for me,”
“Still, no,”
“Please?” Aoi attempted puppy dog eyes but failed. Alex took pity on him, “I’ll get you ice-cream,”
“Fine,” Alex responded, “But only so you’ll stop bugging me,”
“Yes!” Aoi whispered under his breath.

***

After school, Aoi violently waved his arms to get Alex’s attention. Alex peered over to Aoi with a deadpan stare. He walked over to him whilst Aoi ran to Alex. The two met up, “So,” Aoi said, “Where do you want to go?”
“I heard there’s a good ice-cream place by the lake,” Alex replied.
“Oh! I know where you’re talking about!” Aoi lit up, “Dorisnivik’s Ice-Cream and Pizza!”
Alex nodded.

Alex and Aoi began on their way to the bus stop. There they waited for a while. Aoi leaned against Alex and fell asleep. After another ten minutes, the bus arrived, “The bus is here,” Alex pointed. His monotone voice startling Aoi awake. The two boys got onto the bus and sat in the back most seat.
“Not many people here today, huh?” Aoi questioned.
“No,” Alex answered, “Everyone is travelling for the upcoming holiday break. The Spring Equinox is almost here, after all.”
“Right,” Aoi said, “And why is the Spring Equinox so important?” Aoi didn’t understand the celebration of the equinoxes, but he was a foreigner so it’s understandable.
“It’s a celebration of the reunification of the Sun and Moon deities,” Alex continued, “The spring equinox, or, Czuriznovic, is the holiday name, is when the deities reunited and they had a grand feast to celebrate, as well as dances. So that’s what we do.”
“You’ll have to teach me these traditions sometime!” Aoi stated. Alex nodded in reply.

Aoi fell asleep on Alex once more. Alex gently shook Aoi and woke him up, “We’re here,” He said. They both got off the bus and got into line for their ice-cream. Once it was their turn to order, Alex got a chocolate vanilla swirl and Aoi got a cotton candy sundae. The two sat down on a bench. Alex took a bite out of his ice-cream and Aoi looked at him in horror.

“So,” Aoi broke the silence, “How have you been?”
“The same,” Alex replied.
“I mean how have you been feeling?”
Alex thought for a moment, “Numb and cold, as usual,” He took another bite of his ice-cream.
Aoi looked at Alex with worry, “Well maybe I could change that,” He mumbled as he leaned into Alex’s arm.
“What was that?”
“N-Nothing!” Aoi quickly sat up. Alex’s cold, dead voice startling him out of his aphroditic state.
Aoi and Alex quickly finished up. They watched the sunset go down together. It most certainly was a great evening. No moment was ever dull, when this small kind boy was around.

***

Back at home, Alex changed into pyjamas and did his usual routine. Write till 3, then go to bed. He remembered what Aoi said, and he thought, What did he mean?