The closest Hiru had gotten to seeing his mother for the next several days was catching a news briefing on the holoscreen in the hovercar on the way to school, which immediately transitioned to the environmentalists’ response. Verro turned off the holoscreen as soon as he noticed the switch, but not before Hiru caught their brutal assessment of his mother. He had seen unflattering portrayals of his mother before, but it was still upsetting. Verro had done his best to keep Hiru away from the unfavorable media coverage, both on screen and in print, but it was inevitable for some to slip past, especially when everyone at school knew whose son he was.

It was hard to make friends, never knowing which ones were interested in him versus his mother. His school boasted many wealthy and famous clientele, but none was more infamous than Veridia. She was the backbone of the city, according to some, her uranium mines providing power for almost every facet of the city’s energy needs, but according to others she was a power hungry scourge on the environment. There was even speculation that her birth of Hiru was a ploy to rebrand her image to be less aggressive, more relatable. That one had hurt, especially because he wasn’t sure it was untrue. Veridia of course had seen a response as beneath her.

The rest of the ride was in silence, Verro looking distressed at Hiru’s morose expression. ‘Have a good day at school, Hiru,’ Verro said, dropping him off at the car pool, the slight hum of their hovercraft a contrast to some of the other less top of the line, louder models.

‘Hey, hey Hiru!’ Sivni was one of the more outspoken children at school, the child of a minor politician frequently and publicly at odds with Veridia. He also had the annoying propensity to mindlessly repeat anything his parents said in his presence, and while Hiru knew that, it was hard to keep a cool head in the moment. ‘I heard your mom is sleeping with her personal assistant, are you excited to have a new gold digging step dad?’ he taunted. Hiru did his best to tune him out, concentrating on his worksheet. It was during their free period and most of the other students were at the play space, but Hiru had opted to keep studying, he needed to do better on his language arts, it was his worst subject and he dreaded having to show his mother less than perfect marks.

‘Bet that’s why your mom has kept him around for so long, he’s the prettiest one yet. Bet she likes looking at his face while she…’ he wasn’t able to continue his vile speculation any further because Hiru’s fist was currently punching his mouth. Over and over. He couldn’t stop, it felt like as soon as he did Sivni would continue to spew bile. He didn’t even realize when someone pulled him off, his fists just kept going, swinging in the air wildly, tears of rage down his cheeks.

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‘He’s just as crazy as his bitch mother!’ Sivni managed to say between swollen bloody lips, prompting Hiru to lunge at him once more, determined to shut him up once and for all.

They sat in the headmaster’s office, Sivni with an ice pack to his mouth, eyes downcast. Hiru flexed his hands. He hadn’t really felt anything while he had been hitting Sivni, but now they were throbbing, blood from Sivni and his own from his cracked skin trickled down his fingers.

The headmaster was berating them both while waiting for their parents to arrive. ‘We won’t tolerate fighting between students, you’ve made a disgrace of yourselves. I expect better from both of you.’ Sivni interrupted combatively, ‘Hiru is the one that hit me!’ The headmaster peered at him, eyes flickering to a quiet Hiru before settling back on Sivni, ‘I heard he had good reason, did you think you could besmirch the name of our biggest school patron with no repercussions?’ Sivni ground his teeth in impotent rage, his eyes burning before looking down once more.

‘Headmaster, Sivni’s mother is here, should I let her in?’ The headmaster waved a hand at his secretary and Sivni’s mother rushed into the room, bending down to look at her son’s bruised face. She shot a venomous glance at Hiru before fussing over her son. ‘I suppose I should have expected such barbarous behavior from the son of Veridia,’ she said, just as Verro entered the room. ‘Headmaster, if this the way you’ve been letting the other students treat Hiru, perhaps we should find another school for him to attend,’ Verro said breezily. The headmaster paled. ‘Of course we were just working out the appropriate punishments,’ he stuttered. Sivni’s mother gasped, the color rising in her cheeks, but then lowered her eyes, saying nothing, her lips pursed.

Hiru was sent home for the day, accompanied by Verro. ‘Is Mother not coming,’ he asked Verro, once they had gotten in the car. Verro bit his lip, shaking his head. He really was pretty, Hiru noticed for the first time, disconcerted. It couldn’t be true, right?

But then, would it be so bad having Verro as a step father, he was really nice. Distracted briefly from his missing mother, Hiru thought about what it might be like having a father, one who was there when he got in trouble at school, one who stood up from him, one like Verro. He peeked at Verro again, a small smile creeping across his face. ‘Thanks for coming to get me, Verro.’ He said, probably the most words he had ever spoken to him. Verro smiled back at him, a true smile, not like Veridia’s practiced ones, ‘anytime.’