Tags: Highschool AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Bullying, Rumors, Misgendering, Transgender Rain, Slice of Life, Mentions/Talk of Past Grooming, more tba...
ISS was the least of Rain's worries. He had a job to do and it was simple: Make sure Ifrit was safe.
Despite all the bastard and his little friends have done, Rain was still empathetic. He couldn't just stand by and see someone go through that without saying something - no matter if he deemed them a dick or not. He would want someone to speak up for him if he was in that situation, it'd only make sense. Bystander effect and all that.
Rain sighed as he finished brushing his teeth, adjusting his hair, and pulling on his shirt some at the chest area to make it looser… He really needed a new binder, these ace bandages were only making his pain worse. But, alas, what can you do as a closeted teen with an unsupportive mother?
Regardless of such problems, Rain brought himself downstairs after grabbing an apple from his little fridge, exiting his house, and into his car. The drive was filled with anticipation and anxiety, ranging from the worry of Ifrit confirming his suspicions, to Ifrit being offended and another fight breaking out.
Well, he was about to find out as he pulled into the school parking lot, then turned off the ignition and waited . It felt… Odd not immediately going in, being early, and the obedient student he usually was. He tried to rationalize himself, this was important! This was someone's life on the line! Rain could think back to his home economics class from middle school, being shown videos of the importance of home safety and of speaking up. Even if he was never shown that, he knew it was important to.
With little time left, Rain got out of his car and began to walk inside, waiting by the entrance for that rattling truck to pull up again. It didn't take long until that noise came, Rain watching from the window as Ifrit hopped out and grabbed his bag from the floor board. He said something to the man inside before shutting the door, seeming to sulk to the door. When he entered and made eye contact with Rain a snarl appeared, only to turn into a disgusted look as Rain stood in front of him for a second.
“Ifrit… Can we talk?” He asked, voice as soft as possible to not show his own underlying distaste.
An eyebrow raised from the older teen, “No, I won't be going to prom with you.”
“What?- N-no, listen… This is serious!” Rain exclaimed, getting back in front of Ifrit as he tried going around him.
“What do you want? I'm trying to get breakfast before they close it.”
Rain held his hands up. “I promise I have no bad intentions, I just…Are you safe?”
girl who had it ingrained into her that letting other people help her was a moral failing for being a burden: "no yea i'm fine, just going through a rough patch but i'll pass eventually just like it always does ^_^"