Eradicate

Chapter 1

Keith hated his appearance.

He was different.

He was rarer than the rarest.

People always stared at him.

But he hated the attention.

So he hid it.

He hid himself a lot of the time.

Eventually, he hid more than his appearance.

~~~

Whispers followed him wherever he went; it didn't help that he was the new kid again. It also didn't help that he was the new kid in the middle of a term.

But Shiro forced him to go, and, as much as he hated school, Keith knew that he had to enrol in another after being excluded from his last school.

And the one before that.

And the one before that as well.

He was only in his second year of it and the seventeen year old had been kicked out of three schools, five if you count his middle school years. Why did he get kicked out of all those schools, you may be thinking? Well. Keith was often bullied yet was not one to be quiet about it... he wouldn't exactly tell anyone either. Instead, what he found himself doing was beating the bullies up themselves.

Serves them right.

That thought is what got him in even more trouble as he showed absolutely no regret for his actions; the only time he would really show any emotion other than anger and blankness was at night, most likely when he was in bed where he would cry himself to sleep.

Keith hated himself.

~~~

This time, Shiro had gotten a new job and even, after sighing, told Keith that he supposed it was fine timing as they would have to move states anyway which meant a different school regardless of his rather aggressive habits. Shiro never really got angry anymore - he had at first and merely scared Keith - but instead he would always fix Keith with an extremely disappointed gaze and that was really the only thing keeping Keith down. It did, unlike anything else, make him feel some regret; not for beating up the bullies, but for being unable to control himself. Again. Over and over.

Keith promised himself that he would never see that look again on Shiro's face and so set out to this new school with a slightly more hopeful outlook on life, certainly with more determination than before.

Over the time between coming to this school and being kicked out of the last, he'd managed work out how to use his powers to hide his tail but couldn't for the life of him manage to hide his ears; it didn't help that they were fucking massive. He hated being a fox sometimes, what he hated constantly was that his colouring was completely unheard of; Keith was a Black Fox, only heard of in tales, never been seen in real life as of the last few centuries.

As Keith walked, he spotted such a variety of human-animal hybrids that he started to feel even more hopeful; dogs, cats, monkeys, wolves, bears, squirrels, cows, rabbits, lemurs, wild cats, hyenas, pigs... but no foxes. Maybe he'd find some inside the school?

With that mindset, he continued walking and looking around eagerly to find no one of his breed. It was discouraging to say the least.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on the shoulder and swung round with wide eyes only to be met by a chest covered by a purple tweed jacket and underneath, a pale pink shirt. When he looked up, Keith found himself looking into warm, hazel eyes and took a step back to get a better view of the person. He had bright orange hair and had a surprisingly even speckle of freckles on each cheek and across his slightly pointed nose.