[center][h3][i][u]Mik & Ty[/u][/i][/h3][/center] [center]A collab with [@The Jest][/center] [center][i]Wednesday Morning, 2 days ago.[/i][/center] Another morning, another nightmare waking him up in a cold sweat, all relatively clockwork at this point. As he did his business and got dressed, Tyler looked out the window once more to notice nothing peculiar this time around. It seems after that tree stunt from Hat, the rest of yesterday was essentially back to normal; nothing more interesting happened the whole day and today seems like it will be just as promising of nothing. That is, of course, right until he got himself out the door, and promptly decked in the face by a fist that looked to be the size of his head. It almost looked like one of those prank videos you see online, where someone is walking out the door only to by something slammed in their face, be it pie, a boot to the head, or in this case, a fist to the face. As Tyler was knocked to the ground by this, feeling the left side of his gums bleeding a little, and left cheek absorbing most of the hit and was rubbed by his hand, he couldn’t help but wonder what they would have done if he didn’t walk out this particular door, would they have hit someone else in the face in his stead? God help them if it was ever Alex. Ah yes, [i]“they”...[/i] particularly it was a group of three boys around Tyler’s own age, looking at the downed Tyler with a shit-eating grin on their faces, two of the spectators laughing that their “prank” worked as well as it did. These two in particular didn’t really have anything to differentiate them with others, or even each other for that matter, they were both quite scrawny, they both had brown hair, though one’s about shoulder-length and the other looked short-enough to be buzzed, the shoulder-lengthed one having green eyes, the buzzed one having hazel eyes, both had a relatively samey choice of clothes, barely making it into the school uniform with an unbuttoned dress overshirt and a white shirt, not quite a dress shirt, and black jeans masquerading as black dress pants with brown shoes. Clearly neither of them seemed to belong here, likely borrowing their clothes from their parents since they seemed to big for it themselves. It seemed more likely that either their parents somehow got them here through their influence alone, or they don’t actually belong in Evergreen and just came to this campus to fuck with Tyler. Based on their appearance, most likely the latter. The leading one, however, this one was clearly the leader of the trio, with his greased up short blonde hair and those glossy sky blue eyes, bright enough that Tyler swore he could see them glow in the dark. He was all dressed up in a yellow, a fucking tacky as hell [i]yellow[/i] set of dress clothes and a black tie, a white dress shirt, and a pair of black leather shoes - one of which were now pressed against Tyler’s chest - looking like a millionnaire bee. While the other two looked like they didn’t belong there, this one looked like he either got here through money or because he’s smarter than he looks and clearly wants to be a fucking peacock about it. “Howdy, ‘Private’...” The leading boy simply said to him with a sickeningly snarky smile. While the other two had grins like they thought they could get away with this, this guy had a small but confident smile; he [i]knows[/i] he can get away with this. “[b][color=silver]Oh… He- [i]-cough-[/i] Hey William...[/color][/b]” Tyler said, somewhat wheezing due to the blonde-haired boy’s - William’s - foot pressed against his lungs, attempting to give a soft smile to him as he rubbed his cheek, which surprisingly has yet to swollen or bruise. “We missed you yesterday, ‘sir’, we couldn’t find you anywhere. We were really feeling down too.” “[b][color=silver]Is that so? Tha-that’s strange, I didn’t change my route through the school any… Oh, right, that was the day Hat-san [i]wasstandingonatree...[/i][/color][/b]” As soon as Tyler mentioned Hat, the boy compressed his lungs further with his foot as he leaned on his knee, causing Tyler to go high-pitched and raspy with his voice at the end, before William relieved some of the pressure. “Ah-ah, no excuses soldier, you should know better than to make excuses like that, didn’t they teach you that in boot camp? All that matters is that you weren’t there when we needed you, so now, we’re gonna need to let off more steam than we usually do, especially with fucking mid-terms coming up. School life’s such a bitch, isn’t it Private? Well, no need to worry...it’ll be done before you KNOW IT!” William said, finally letting his foot off Tyler’s chest only to then kick it to his abdomen, the other two simply watched with delight like they were watching some sort of brutal sport. --- Suddenly, William and his gang would be interrupted by a loud shout. “HEY! WHAT ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS DOING?!” The shout came from a small-ish young man who, despite his thin build, radiated anger and malice and threats of cruelty. Walking towards William, the young man in question, Mikhail Chekhov, reared up and said, “Didn’t I tell you to keep away from Tyler, you asshole?! Or are you just deaf?!” His eyes glinted blue as he glared at William and his crew. “Stay. Away. From. Tyler. Shoo!” Mikhail might be small, but he was willing to take on much bigger kids than he was. He was smart, he was agile, and he knew how to take the best advantage of both. If Tyler was at stake, he’d gladly take the risk of getting beaten up himself - It’s not like the chance to get a good hit in was easy to pass up, after all. William was just that much of an asshole. --- Immediately William looked over to the boy, and just as immediately gave out an “Ugh” in annoyance as he rolled his eyes. “And in comes Comrad Freakshow to ruin the fun like clockwork...” William said with a venomous disdain for Mikhail, a look of irritation on his face where Mikhail would have likely wanted fear as he walked over to him. William’s two goons, however, did step back away from the little Russian. They’ve had enough black eyes to know not to fuck with the little punk if they don’t absolutely have to or be ordered to. William on the other hand… “You know, I [i]did[/i] hear you say something like that, but I just figured you actually meant it in reverse like the little red menace you are. ...Lost in Translation I guess...” God, that superior smirk on his face as he said this...It was like he was outright daring the little Russian boy to take a swing at him, course his goons knew from experience that he’d be inclined to do just that. Either William somehow didn’t get that message, or he just didn’t care that much. --- In response, Mikhail fought dirty. And by fought dirty, he gave William a full kick on the balls, the tip of his shoe directed at such a point that even if Will wore a codpiece, he’d feel the impact. Then when the bully was distracted, whether by Mikhail’s attempt or said attempt [i]succeeding[/i], Mikhail would rain punches at him, each individually weak but collectively enough to wear down even the strongest defense a schoolyard bully can make. And yes, Mikhail would target William’s face, too. --- Whether it was because he’s seen him pull this kind of shit before, or was the unfortunate victim of Mikhail’s little ball buster before, William quickly reacted by grabbing the foot with his hands. He was going to say something snarky, such as “Gonna have to try better than that”, but was immediately interrupted by Mikhail’s second move. See, since both his hands grabbing at Mikhail’s shoe, nothing was there to keep his face from protection, and so William was now the one decked in the face...and repeatedly so. While William tried his best to protect his face from Mikhail’s weak but constant barrage - not too hard to do, but it was more a matter of endurance than anything - the other two, Ed and Moe, nodded to each other and tried to grab at Mikhail, knowing full well they’ll likely be victims of his punches yet again. But they weren’t anything, if not loyal to William. While this was happening, Tyler was catching his breath, wanting to stop this fight, but needing to essentially recover himself for a few minutes. He wasn’t a stranger to beat-downs and his trained up body kept the damage at a minimum compared to what it could be… but it still hurt like a bitch and pain was something he couldn’t rush naturally to relieve. Still, slowly but surely, he was beginning to get back up. --- “Heh!” Mikhail said as he drew back… Only to take off his backpack and [i]swing[/i] it at all three bullies in one single sweep, hoping to smack William, Ed, and Moe in the face. Should he succeed, Mikhail then prepared to say, “Learned your lesson yet, assholes?! Now either get out or we can keep this going forever!” If he somehow failed, well, the backpack can be used as an improvised weapon a second time… --- Well, needless to say it worked...well, ⅔ worked, anyways. While William was still on the ground, unwittingly ducking over the backpack, Ed and Moe, unfortunately, were not so lucky, and were probably thrown to the ground as a result. The three got up from the ground, Ed and Moe signalled William to come with them as they consequently bolted. William, rubbing the blood off his mouth, gave a quick smirk looking at Mikhail, before giving an annoyed look as he stared at his suit, now with a small splotch of red from his blood, not enough by a long shot to warrant concern for his well-being, but enough to be noticeable and warrant attention. “...Got guts as always, you little Soviet shit, I’d say I like that, but thanks to it, I got a little of your red on me now. You know how hard it is to dry-clean this fucking thing? ...We’ll pick this up some other time, ‘Private’. Consider yourself dismissed for now. As for you, [i]‘Comrad’[/i], this ain’t over by a long shot...oh but it will be. You never belonged in this place and now, mark my words, your days here are numbered, we’ll see what the Vice-Principal has to say about this. ...I’ll drink some vodka in memory.” He said. Although he had a tone that was calm, the words spewed from his mouth oozed with a subtle hatred for them both, immediately dusting himself off and following the other two. “[color=silver][b]Umm… I’m sorry about this, Mik… I didn’t mean for you to get involved again.[/b][/color]” Tyler said immediately afterwards, looking at the ground, as if in shame. --- Mikhail, in response, was tempted to shout at Tyler, even though he knew it’d be ineffective. So he said, “Tyler. You can stand up for yourself.” He wanted to shout and scream at his friend to regrow his spine, but he’d done it enough times to know it won’t work. “Why don’t you stand up for yourself? You are capable of doing so.” Then, in a flash of inspired sadism, Mikhail continued, “What happened to Nate and Kate wasn’t your fault - Not completely. And quite frankly, they’d be less proud of you than they were before now that you’re no longer defending yourself, much less others. In fact,” he said bitterly, “They probably think it’s their fault you’re such a wuss now.” --- Tyler made a jolt at first when he heard Mik yell at him, as if stricken by a jumpscare, but eventually his demeanor returned to its usual depressed self. He couldn’t say much of anything to Mik; deep down, he knew Mik was right. There was a time long ago - or at least it feels so long ago now - that Tyler took shit from no one, and was indeed the one that was the first to solve matters with violence. He kept his own against guys his own size, and some guys even bigger than himself at times, and while he stopped the training he did, he still has the strength he used to, and probably didn’t have to take the bullying like he did. But that time passed him by, his days of violence were over, and he wanted it to stay that way. ...But Mik, he just [i]had[/i] to say the last thing. At the mere mention of Nate and Kate, his body made another jolt, this one stronger as he gasped. His eyes widened as he looked at towards the ground, and his hands clenched into fists, his entire body twitched, making a small, barely noticeable vibration across the whole of his being. He could feel his heart as it started to beat irregularly, and it was taking every fiber of his being to keep calm and repress the echoes...His mind was returning to the dream, his body could feel the wind like the shockwave of an imaginary blast...and that was the last thing he wanted right now. Mikhail intended to hit him hard.... Well, Mission Accomplished. Those words he said, the mere reminder of that day, ...it hurt far worse than any of the punches or kicks he experienced today. Grabbing at his right arm and squeezing tight, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. “[color=silver][b]...Yeah, they probably would be, huh? Even when they’re finally cleared for visitors, I’ll be too embarrassed to go to them... [/b][/color]” He had a nervous smile on his face, trying to look alright with what was said, but the look in his eyes told a different story, and the nervous smile devolved into a small one, filled with sorrow, as he looked to the ground. “[color=silver][b]I...I know they’d be sad to see me like this, and I know I can’t keep living as a punching bag for others forever. But… I have to believe there’s another answer besides violence to solve those problems, I don’t want to cause any more conflicts and hurt people again...Is there anything else you wanted? I don’t think you came this way by coincidence.[/b][/color]” He asked Mik, seemingly wanting to change the subject desperately. --- “I came to see if you’re safe,” Mikhail blurted out. “Someone needs to protect you.” A sigh, “But that said, there [i]is[/i] something else I want to talk to you about — I need someone who can help me access laboratory equipment and laboratory mice in order to try and make an attempt at… You know.” It was unspoken, what Mikhail wanted a laboratory for. Both of them knew. “Do you know anyone who can help?” the boy said in a surprisingly mild voice. --- ...Oh dear. Mik was vague about what he wanted, but Tyler already knows all too well what he’s talking about. It’s been a certain something he’s been ever since he reunited with him. He can’t say he was too surprised that Mik would ask for someone to help him with his “laboratory project”, but it’s still something that made Tyler feel uneasy. It’s hard to say he can’t understand how Mik feels, he lost his father after all, and in a horrible way no less from what he heard. He also understands Mik’s… “hesitation” to seeing adult experts about something like this, and so his willingness to gun for really intelligent students as opposed to the masterfully intelligent scientists. ...That being said, he’s been going about this since school started, the fact he now has to ask Tyler, who isn’t in any scientific classes, speaks volumes about Mik’s luck so far... On the one hand, he had reservations about calling someone out to essentially be Mik’s “lab partner”, knowing what it would mean. He knows how this usually plays out, and he’d rather not let it happen again for both Mik and his potential partner’s sake. On the other hand: He may yell at him more if he refused, and he’d go right back into enlisting someone else to help him with his lab anyways, with the same song-and-dance routine Mik has effectively nailed down at this point. Needless to say, the choice was clear enough. But who comes to mind? He’s never been in any of the science classes that could help him… But he [i]did[/i] know who might, but… “[b][color=silver]...Well, ...umm, there’s a girl in my class who might be able to help find access to other lab students. I think her name was, umm, Merja. She has a study group for her biology class she seems to be with most of the time, there might be people she knows who could help you out.[/color][/b]” Tyler responded. He does feel bad just calling out the finnish girl like this to Mik, but maybe things won’t be so bad if she gives him directions to who he could talk to. She seems like a kind but reasonable woman, thus from what he’s seen of her, she might be willing to cooperate with Mik on that front. Tyler can only hope it doesn’t go too deep. “[color=silver][b]I, umm, hope that helps. ...The first bell’s about to ring; we should probably get to classes soon. ...Thanks for helping me again, Mik. ...Stay safe.[/b][/color]” He said with a small awkward smile, as he then walks off towards Evergreen, waving to his friend. --- Mikhail smiled and gave a genuine wave, saying, “You too. You deserve it.” He then turned to go as well. [center][i]Present Day[/i][/center] The wait for Ashcroft to [i]do anything[/i] was long, long enough for Mikhail to remember that Hakuro/Hatto-san wasn’t his only friend. Tyler was there too, and while he was less at risk than Hatto-san, and would probably be less bullied by Ashcroft due to being a model student, Mikhail still had to ask, in a milder voice than usual,[b] “Tyler. You won’t hurt him, right? He’s done nothing except impress you without trying - Be your model student. So you won't hurt him, even if you hurt me?”[/b]