Part of the Greater Picture

A/N:  I'm working hard on finishing up my NaNoWriMo story!  But, it's becoming super huge.  Oh, no!  So I'll post this thing that's been sitting on my iPad for, like, a year now, just to make sure nobody forgets me.  ;P  (spoiler) And it's semi-related! (/spoiler)

----------

 

Pick Your Battles

It was rather rare for Luka Varick-Tannhauser to get angry.  He was a happy kid, and generally didn't let things get to him easily.  And he tried to be kind and friendly to everyone, so usually people didn't want to hurt or upset him.  But even Luka had his things that could set him off.



His number one thing - the thing that could make him really angry really fast - was people treating Kiku poorly.



Luka didn't know if those kids thought his being blind also meant he was deaf, but he wasn't.  He could hear perfectly fine.  In fact, he could probably hear better than any of them, as compensation for his lack of sight.  And he knew they were talking about him, because on that day, just before he turned the corner to head to his fifth period class, he heard one of the boys say "Sometimes I just want to leave my bag in front of his desk to watch him trip.  Or run into him and be like 'oops, I didn't see you there'."



"That's mean," a girl replied, though she was laughing.  "You shouldn't pick on blind people."



"The little shit deserves it, always acting like he's better than everyone else just because his faggot-ass daddies are rich."



"I think he's sweet," a different girl's voice said.



"Ugh, that just makes me want to knock him down even more," the boy growled.    "Think if I ran up and punched him in the head he'd ever see it coming?  Oh, wait-  No, he wouldn't."  That made the whole group laugh.



Around the corner, Luka was hurt.  He didn't recognize the voices, but they didn't sound like close friends or anything.  At least he wasn't being betrayed, but he'd always made it a point to be nice to everyone, so he didn't think he deserved to have anyone talk that way about him.  Though it was true his family had money, he never acted like a spoiled brat.  Not too much, anyway.



Luka told himself it was a case of jealousy.  Jealous that he came from money or that most of the girls in school liked him.



"Ooh, you better be careful or his boyfriend will beat your ass," another boy's voice said.



Luka tensed.  They were talking about Kiku.



"Is that that guy who's always waiting for him after school?" another boy asked.



"Yeah," the first boy answered.  "The dude looks like a creeper."



"He's got fangs."



"He has Jap teeth!"



The whole group laughed, but then stopped abruptly when Luka finally stepped from around the corner.  His small hands balled into fists as he faced them.



"Oh, Luka, umm..." one of the girls said, and he could hear the discomfort in her voice.  They all must have felt it; he could sense their shame at being caught in their gossip.



"You can say what you want about me," he growled out, wishing his voice didn't sound so young.  "But never talk about Kiku!"



"Ok, we're sorry," a boy said.  "Calm down."



And Luka did calm down, lowering his fists.  "You don't even know him, so you have no right to say anything."



"You're right.  We're sorry."



Luka didn't say anything further, just stood silently for a moment, and then moved to walk past them.  But as he went by, he heard the first boy sneer the word "Faggot" under his breath.



Luka whirled on the boy, turning quickly to where the voice came from.  Even if he couldn't see, he'd been trained to fight, and that included pinpointing where someone was by voice alone.  It was an important trait to have for the blind heir to a criminal empire.



The other students didn't know what kind of family Luka came from.  They didn't know his real last name.  If they knew, they probably would never have dared to talk about him.  And they didn't know that he had been trained to fight and kill from the time he could walk.  They were lucky that Luka was a friendly kid; he wouldn't kill them, at least.



He launched himself at the boy who had spoken against him and Kiku, and caught the kid by the throat.  He knew he had the right person from the strangled gasp the boy let out as he was slammed to the floor.  Luka was small, inheriting his Papa's slight frame, but he'd been taught ways to fight men even bigger than this kid was.



When the boy was down, Luka quickly straddled his chest, pinning his arms and trapping him.  Even as the boy bucked up, trying to throw him off, Luka just rode it out until he had a chance to reach down and punch the kid in the face.  There was no grace in the way he continued to hit the boy.  He wasn't going for style points or trying to impress anyone; all Luka wanted was to make sure the boy and everyone else knew that he wouldn't stand for anyone talking down about Kiku.  He would protect Kiku, even if it was supposed to be the other way around.  So his small fists continued to rain blow after blow, and his sensitive ears listened for the telltale swish of air so he knew when to dodge or block.



He could hear many voices now, chanting "Fight!  Fight!  Fight!"  But when he heard heavier footsteps approaching, Luka let up, and only seconds after he felt the large hand of an adult - a teacher - take him by the arm and pull him up, off the other boy.



"I'm surprised at you, Luka."  It was the voice of Mr. Simms, his science teacher.   "I never thought I'd have to take you to the principal's office."



"He started it," Luka said, then added under his breath "... kind of."



"You're both going to the principal's office," the teacher replied.  "Come on, Wesley."



They started walking, with Mr. Simms keeping a hand on Luka's shoulder as if to guide him, even though he knew the way.  The other boy must have been following, as Luka heard him complaining "That little freak is the one who attacked me."



"It takes two to tango, and you have a history of provoking people."



"Man, this sucks!  My mom's gonna ground me forever."



Luka didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but think that perhaps Wesley should have thought about that before he opened his mouth and said anything about Kiku.



They sat outside Principal Jackson's office while Mr. Simms spoke with him privately.  Even though it was a long wait, taking up most of their final period, neither boy bothered saying anything to the other.  When Mr. Simms came back to them, Principal Jackson was with him, and he said "I hear you boys were fighting."



"He attacked me first!" Wesley snapped before anyone else could get a word out.



"You were both fighting," the principal replied in a voice that would not be trifled with.  "And you will both be punished.  Wesley, you have a one day suspension.  Luka, two days.  I called both your parents, and they're coming to pick you up and have a chat."



Luka heard Wesley smirk, obviously pleased to have a lighter punishment.  Truthfully, Luka agreed that was fair - he did hit first, after all.  The more pressing matter, though, was who was coming to pick him up.  What happened at home would be very different depending on which parent Principal Jackson spoke with.  "Who did you call?" Luka asked in his most polite voice.



"We called your father.  Ah-"  It was common knowledge that Luka had two fathers.  Everyone knew, since subtlety was not one of Papa's strong points.  "We called Mr. Varick."



Luka slumped in his seat, simply saying "Oh."  Vati was coming.



If it were Papa, he'd be safe.  Papa would take his side, possibly even tell the school off for suspending him.  Papa would tell him he did good sticking up for himself, and buy him a new outfit or a pony or something.



Vati would take the school's side.  He thought rules and administration were of utmost importance, and would be disappointed that Luka was in trouble.  And Vati abhorred violence, despite who he was married to.  If Vati was coming, Luka was going to get grounded for sure.



The adults left them alone again, Mr. Simms back to his classroom after a warning for the boys to "Be good," and Principal Jackson returning to his office while waiting for the parents to arrive.



For a while, neither boy said anything, simply sitting and thinking of their impending punishments.  But then Wesley muttered "This is all your fault."



"You have part of the blame too," Luka replied evenly.  "Don't act like you don't."



"You hit first!"



"You should have kept your mouth shut."



The weight on the bench shifted and the air around them swirled, telling Luka that Wesley had stood up.  "You need to stop being a perfect, spoiled brat!"



Luka turned his head to face Wesley directly.  Though he couldn't 'gaze' at people in the usual sense, he knew how to hold his head for the right effect.  He'd been told his eyes could frighten people - he'd been born without pupils, and it was terrifying to sighted people.  When he heard Wesley take in a short gasp of air, he asked "How can you call me that when you don't even know me?"



"Of course I know you," Wesley said, more subdued now.  "We're in the same art class."



Oh.  Art was one of the only non-advanced placement classes Luka was in, and the one elective everyone was shocked he took.  Of course he couldn't paint or draw, but he had fun trying, and it was nice to have one class that wasn't so brain-intensive.  But it wasn't like Luka knew everyone in school, and even if everyone knew him, for most other students it was only as 'the blind kid'.



"You've never talked to me," Luka asserted.  "So you can't really say you know me."



"I know you constantly flirt with all the girls, making them feel sorry for you.  I know Jenny Mavis likes you."  The jealousy in his voice was more than evident.



Luka sighed.  "I don't flirt; I'm just friendly.  And I can't help it if they like me.  I'm not going to be rude to people just to make you look better.  I'm sorry if you're jealous that the girl you like likes me, but if it's any consolation, I'm already involved with someone, so it's not like I'm taking her from you.  It's between you and her."



Something like a growl came from Wesley's direction, and he said "Well, now we've talked, and I think you're a condescending asshole."



"For saying the truth?"



"Yes!"



"Hm."  Luka tried to be kind and friendly to everyone; sometimes it was very difficult.  "Well, now we've talked," he said.  "And I think I know why Jenny likes me better."



He heard Wesley growl again, and felt the air move.  He knew a punch was coming, and braced himself to dodge at the right moment, but before the closing blow came a shrill woman's voice yelled out "Wesley!  What do you think you're doing to that poor blind boy!?"



"Nothing," Wesley muttered, defeated.



The woman's voice was quickly getting louder as she approached.  "Oh, nothing, I'm sure."  There was a rustle of fabric as she went by; she must have grabbed Wesley to drag him into the principal's office, saying "You are in so much trouble, young man" as they went.  Not a second later, Luka heard her apologizing profusely to Principal Jackson.



Left on his own, Luka's thoughts roamed.  He was glad he had defended Kiku.  Even if he got in trouble for it, he was proud that he'd stood his ground.  He truly believed those kids had no right talking about Kiku when they'd never met him.  He was satisfied that he'd done the right thing.



Though honestly, he did feel the smallest bit sorry for Wesley, now that he'd seen why he was how he was and said what he'd said.



Then suddenly, the darkness of Luka's world flashed with light.  It was only for a moment, but he knew it meant a vision was coming.  He gritted his teeth, waiting for the impressions to come, hoping it wasn't anything too bad.



A name came to him.  Jenny.  And blood, but not too much.  A scrape.  The park nearby.  Tomorrow afternoon.  Since he didn't know what the world looked like, there weren't any actual images to his visions; only words coming to mind, or feelings.  Sometimes he could smell or taste things associated with the glimpses he got.  This time he heard the feint echo and cry of a girl falling.



When the impressions ended, he sat back.  That wasn't so bad.  Sometimes he saw the most random things, and couldn't understand why his ability thought they were important.



From beside him, a voice said "Another vision?" and Luka jumped in surprise.  Vati must have arrived during his spell; otherwise Luka would have heard him.



"Yeah," Luka replied.  "But nothing major.  A classmate will fall and scrape her knee tomorrow."



"Ah.  Well, perhaps you can warn her so she can be careful."



"That's a fabulous idea," Luka said, then stood up.  "I'll go talk to her right now."



He hadn't taken two steps before Vati's stern voice demanded "Sit down."



With a nervous "Eh heh..." Luka returned to his seat.



"Luka, I'm shocked.  Suspended?  For fighting?  It's not like you."



"But Vati, he said bad things about Kiku."



"Sometimes people say bad things about other people; you need to ignore them.  Violence is never the answer."



"Papa says sometimes it is."



Luka actually heard his father bristle.  "Only if it's in self defense."



That was the condition - the promise made that kept someone as straight-laced as Vati with someone whose whole life was plagued with violence and death, like Papa.  Luka had heard the story, and thought it was rather romantic.



But all he said was "Am I in trouble?"



"Yes, you are," Vati replied.  "You're not allowed to see Kiku for the duration of your suspension."



"But!"  That was harsh.  That was far too harsh.  He loved Kiku, needed to be with Kiku.  Two whole days away from Kiku was too much.  "That's not fair!  It's not fair to Kiku!"



"Perhaps you'll think about that next time you want to hit someone."



Luka slumped in the bench, muttering "It's not fair" again.



"You must learn that your actions have consequences."



"But..."  It came out more like a whimper.



Before either of them could say more, the principal's office door opened again, and Wesley and his mother emerged.  The mother was thanking Principal Jackson for his time, and giving a last apology.  Luka felt Vati stand up, and heard him say "Madam, I deeply apologize for the trouble my son has caused."



"Oh, no.  It's alright."  The woman was quite obviously very flustered all of a sudden.  Vati had that effect on women.  "This boy has a habit of opening his mouth when he shouldn't."



"Luka has much of the blame.  He's becoming entirely too much like his father."



"Oh," Wesley's mother made a surprised sound.  "I thought you were his father."



"He is, Mom.  Luka has two fathers," Wesley explained, sounding as though he thought his mother was entirely too lame for not picking up on that.



"Oh," the woman said yet again, and then huffed.  "Then I guess we know why he has behavioral problems."



Though he both heard and felt Vati's disapproval, Luka couldn't help but chuckle at that.  He was used to people's comments about a child needing a father and a mother to be raised properly, but he knew firsthand that it wasn't true.  He himself was an example - two fathers, not a mother-figure in sight, yet he was fifteen years old and this was the first time Luka had ever gotten into any kind of trouble.  He wasn't the one here with "behavioral problems."



"I beg your pardon, Madam, but-"  Then Vati cut himself off.  While he could have given her the berating only a lawyer was capable of, he chose to let it go.  Instead he simply said, "Have a good day."



Luka heard his footsteps retreating towards Principal Jackson's office, and moved to follow without having to be told to.  But then Luka paused, and turned back to the other student.  "Hey, Wesley," he said.  Then he gave a deep grin.  "If you're not busy tomorrow afternoon, you should stop by the park.  Bring something to clean up blood with."  Of course, Wesley would take it as some kind of challenge, expecting to find Luka there, ready to continue the fight.  Instead, he'd find Jenny, bruised and bleeding.  Wesley would be a hero to her.



Then he turned, and as he headed off to follow Vati into the principal's office, he thought about how he might very well need a hero of his own.

 

-END-