summary: in a universe where nacha was a new transfer student in the same high school as poor francis, she shows him a rare moment of kindness that left him actually feeling hopeful for the rest of the day afterwards.
word count: 1681 words
warnings: use of slurs in a bigoted era, mentioned violence, and an extremely unhappy francis
a/n: this francis is specifically an sk! francis by my friend, onyx, who wanted a milkbread au where him and nacha ended up meeting in high school. their prompt was so sweet and i genuinely enjoyed making their interaction so bittersweetly diabetic
credits: @notmyy4 for the lovely milkbread thumbnail art & @/strangergraphics for the ao3 dividers
The cafeteria was loud and bustling with energy, just what you'd expect from American high schools. Nacha had seen it in movies and even some of the cartoons when she was a kid, but she didn't think it was actually accurate until now.
And just her luck, as the newest transfer student, many of her classmates have naturally gravitated to her. One of the more popular girls in her class even offered her a seat at their table, and Nacha, during her bewilderment, almost stuttered while saying yes.
Now, Nacha sat among them at the far end of the table, where she watched them laugh at each other's inside jokes and talk about things like their boyfriends or the new shopping mall being constructed down at Flatbush Avenue. She mostly stayed in the background and occasionally echoed a sentiment from the other girls when it was needed.
Then, finally something that wasn't about boyfriends or new hangouts (that Nacha was sure she wasn't even going to be invited to) was brought up among them and it made Nacha's ears perk up and get herself out of her head for once during the entire exchange.
"Oh yeah, I heard that boy- what's his name again? Fagcis?" Some of the girls giggled at the cruel nickname and Nacha could only giggle with them. "So yeah, that guy. He got into another fight with some of the boys at our school."
"Well, I wouldn't say it was a fight, he barely even got to return a hit," the blonde one said, swirling her peas around with her fork. "Honestly, it's a miracle the boy's still not dead."
"What was he even thinking when he tried swinging his fist at my lovely Edmond?" The girl with wavy brown hair rolled her eyes. "He deserves it just for trying to damage his beautiful face."
"Ugh, Fagcis this, Fagcis that," the bossy-looking one of the bunch with the red hair crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm so tired of him. Can he just die already?"
"Heard he was bleeding badly from some really bad cuts and the boys, including your precious Edmond, were guarding the nurse's office, so he might not survive after all."
Nacha's face contorted with each and every exchange that the girls threw at each other. Frankly, she didn't know why this boy didn't just hang his head low and avoided the bullying, but if he was bleeding, that must mean he needed help, right?
Compelled, she finally decided to speak, albeit, it was quiet at first, "Um, if I may, where did they last see him?"
"Nobody knows," the blonde shrugged. "He ran off like a dog with his tail between his legs to god knows where. Didn't even attend his classes, I heard. Since none of the boys have seen him at school so far, I doubt he's in the building either."
That must mean he's outside the school, Nacha thought to herself and jotted it down in the back of her mind.
"Why? You wanna ask him out, Sasha?" Half the table laughed at that.
Nacha wanted to correct her on her name but figured she had other priorities. "Haha… right, as if I would ever…" She decided to play along with it for now and got some approving looks from the others. "Well, hah, do you guys know where the bathroom is here? I really need to go."
"Second building to the left of the old building. If you see Denver, run."
Nacha perked her brow at that, but made sure to nod anyway.
"Do you need me to go with you, Nacha?" The meek-looking one from across her seat asked quietly.
"No no, it's fine," Nacha smiled gently. "I won't be long, anyway." Then, she stood up and headed out of the cafeteria. To her relief, the girls paid her no more heed as she finally reached the exit and began gossiping amongst each other again. For once, she was actually grateful for the fact that these kind of girls usually just forgot about her.
And Nacha reckoned that going against her words this time wouldn't matter at all.
With the first aid kit she grabbed from her backpack, she rushed outside the school gates. The guard at the gate barely even spared her a glance as she quite literally just walked past him. She started walking around the corner, keeping her eyes wide and senses sharp for any pitiful kid her age who might be bleeding out in the open.
"hic Uhn… sniff"
Nacha immediately snapped her head in the direction of the sudden sound and there, she saw it---a small boy wedged between a very tight space between two buildings, sobbing into his arms while badly injured and bruised all over.
Her instincts immediately drew her to him and she briskly walked towards him. When the boy heard the sounds of someone's footsteps, he looked up to find a taller girl who looked just about his age and flinched before trying to make himself look even smaller.
"Hey…" Nacha greeted softly, trying to be gentle with him. "You don't look so good. Do you need someone to patch you up?"
He slowly looked back up at her then at his arms and shook his head no. But while the extent of his injuries wasn't as dramatic or bloody as the popular girls had exaggerated, Nacha couldn't just leave him alone here, especially while he's still hurt.
"I've got a first aid kit!" She said cheerfully and presented the kit in his line of sight. He looked at it with a curious glint in his eyes, but still didn't seem to trust her. "It must be weird to you, right? Some kid just carrying a medicine kit everywhere… My mom had a bit of a history with these sorts of medical emergencies, and she's actually a nurse, well, was. So this is her way of looking out for me when I'm at school."
The boy tilted his head at her.
"I can show you the contents if that would make you trust me a little bit better!" At that, he nodded very slowly. Somewhat glowing and excited to prove herself, she opened the box with the type of energy she once reserved for show and tell back in Kindergarten.
"Tada! What do you think?"
The boy looked at it. The kit contained just about all the kinds of things you would expect from a first aid kit, and he finally concluded that this girl was telling the truth about it, but… still, what was she getting out of this exchange? Barely anyone did something for Francis unless it was to force him into doing them a favor or as a cruel dare.
"Oh my, forgive my manners," Nacha flushed. "My name is Nacha! Nacha Mikaelys. I'm a new student at that school over there. I actually come from Mexico and I can cook some really mean fish tacos."
He blinked at her and finally opened his mouth and said something as his lower lip quivered. "Fra-Francis…"
Nacha's eyes widened. So that's the real name of the 'Fagcis' they were making fun of earlier. It reminded her of France---such a romantic city that she had only seen in her teledramas, but still longed to visit one day. "That's such a lovely name, Francis, it reminds me of France."
"Yeah…" Francis was still averting his gaze and looking at the first aid kit instead of her. "Um…" He wanted to say something more than that, but failed at piecing the words together and pursed his lips together instead. "Mmm…"
"Well, Francis, would you do me the honor of being able to treat you?" She looked at him with wide, expectant eyes.
Francis grunted, which was probably his code for yes. "Okay, hold still…"
For a long fifteen minutes, she began treating his wounds and disinfecting some of the bruises before wrapping a gauze around the large ones and bandages on the smaller ones. Nacha hummed a happy tune as she busied herself with each and every open cut---while the whole time, Francis gripped his shirt tight so it wouldn't fly open and reveal more scars hiding there.
Finally, when she was all done, Nacha stood up and patted herself on the back for a job well done. "There we go! All patched up!"
Francis looked at them and really looked. He had never had such careful coverings for his scars done by someone other than the school nurse before.
"What do we think?"
"Um, uh…" Looking someone in the eyes was only the correct manners for thanking someone, right? That's what his mother has taught him after all. But when he finally looked up and into her savior's eyes, all words disappeared from his mind.
One eye the color of the calming sea that he had only seen once or twice on the television before his dad inevitably punched it out of service. The other was reminiscent of the kind leaves that swayed on a breezy day when he was a kid.
"Hmm…?" Nacha hummed interestingly at his response, but was practically oblivious.
Francis, a blushing mess and looking like he was about to implode, hung his head low and stole quick glances at her eyes every now and then before muttering quietly under his breath: "Thank you…"
Nacha smiled wider and was about to say more when the bell finally rang from the distance. "Oh no! I really shouldn't be late for classes. Can I meet you after school, Francis?"
"Yeah…" He said mindlessly, though he was going to be here the whole day anyway because his bullies were still tirelessly looking for him at school and his father would beat him up as soon as he got home earlier than school allowed. So was it really so bad to stay here by himself for hours? At least at the end of the day, he might actually get to see her sweet smile and those pretty eyes of hers.
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