Chapter Text
The alarm blared at the trio. Forced to wake up, Doi stretched and hadn't sat up yet whilst the other two stumbled a bit getting out of their beds. Robin fussed harshly as he stomped towards the clock and slammed the alarm off. "Shut it! Stupid clock."
Harry would have snickered, but they were too tired to react to much. It didn't take long for Robin to fully wake up. It never did. Today wasn't going to be any different.
"Alright, let's get up and get ready for another great day!" Robin announced cheerfully.
"Almost all days are the same, but whatever." Harry mumbled to himself so Robin wouldn't hear him as he stretched his arms. His shoulders cracked in response. "Well uh, Doi, you heard him. We should get up and do the usual morning routine."
The youngest one yawned. "Ahh, okay." Doi spoke softly as he got up and almost fell on the floor with how tired he was. If Harry wasn't there, the boy would've faceplanted.
"Be careful, Doi." Harry whispered harshly as he held onto one of the yellow one's arms.
"Sorry..." Doi became mentally distracted.
"We'll wait for you downstairs, okay?"
"Yup."
Harry nodded awkwardly, then flipped around and left the bedroom.
Doi showered, brushed his teeth, and when finished, he proceeded down to the kitchen table. He sat across from Robin who was reading the newspaper; one of his favorite pasttimes. Harry was preparing bacon and pancakes. Oven bacon was always the best and the easiest to prepare, so the red one always resorted to that decision. The whole kitchen smelled absolutely delicious. Doi's mouth watering and even Robin was becoming a little impatient about breakfast for a change.
"Well? Is it done yet?" Robin huffed.
"Almost." Harry answered in his typical monotone voice. "The bacon needs to cook for 5 more minutes. The pancakes are ready, though."
"I'll just take the pancakes, then."
Robin stood up and went over to the finished pancakes on a dish with Doi soon following his step. Now the bacon was done too. The green duck was always very persistent on choosing the perfect pancake, use real maple syrup, a small square of fresh butter, and three perfectly crispened bacon slices on the side. He had to be precise about the way he prepared everything for himself, especially when it came to his meals. He loved breakfast as much as mornings, so he was the pickiest about this dish in particular. Doi's meal was haphazardly strewn across his dish. The boy had little to no care for his food as long as it tasted delicious. Harry's was in the middle. Still neat, but not perfected like his mate's. The three of them sat at the table simultaneously. There was silence for a whole minute. Soon, Robin was the first to dig into his food, then Doi, then lastly Harry.
"How do you cook so good!? Is there some hidden recipe or whatever?" Robin snapped. It was his odd way of being thankful towards Harry's service.
"Nope. It's as simple as knowing how to cook." Harry shrugged as he dug into the pancakes.
"Hmph!" The duck sighed. "If only it were that simple for me to do. Last time I tried to cook, everything was charred!"
"That's because you have no patience for cooking anything."
"I would if it would be quicker."
"I-I think you would make a good cook! A very good one if you tried." Doi added.
"What is that supposed to mean? I will be the best cook there ever was!" Robin argued.
"I'm sure you will." Harry muttered flatly.
"I'll make an effort, at least."
They remained silent for another minute or so. Robin's whole dish was empty. Doi had a little bit of pancake left and some bacon were on Harry's dish.
"If you both are stuffed, I'm more than willing to take your last bit of remains."
"No!" Doi snapped as he slid his plate away from the greedy bird. Harry simply shook his head no.
"Excuse you, little rascal." Robin glared. "You do not take that tone with me."
"Let him be, Rob." Harry warned in a subtle fashion. "He really cherishes his pancakes. Let the young one enjoy it."
"You both eat as fast as the speed of a snail." Robin snorted. "At the very least I would help you both finish your meals quicker."
Harry rolled his eyes and swiftly wolfed down the rest of his food, Doi surprisingly even faster than him. Robin snickered a teensy bit as Harry stood up and took their plates to the sink. The duck resumed to reading his newspaper.
Later in the day, things were still going normal(well, as normal as their strange situation could be). Robin moved on to a crossword puzzle, Harry watched TV, and Doi just stared at his stretched out hands.
"Come on, brat! Do you ever do more than dope about? You could play with some of your toys for Pete's sake. What reason or use do you have for staring at your hands?" Robin had to let loose his frustration somehow. He probably couldn't figure out a puzzle.
"Robin..." Harry groaned.
"I... I don't know, actually. I just... stare at things sometimes for no reason." Doi mumbled as his eyes now averted to his feet.
"Hmph! He certainly inherited that trait from you-know-who. Am I right, Harry?"
"We don't talk about you-know-who in this household." Harry had a slight no-nonsense sound to his monotone voice.
"Can't talk about anything with you around..." Robin complained under his breath, but returned to his word puzzle book.
"Who were you talking about?" Doi asked.
"Nobody. It's none of your concern." Harry answered firmly.
"Oh, okay." Doi drawled as he finally decided to get up and collect a couple of his most favorite, beloved toys to play with. Robin jeered at himself for failing a simple puzzle, shaking his head with disgust. Even with how annoying or strange these two were, Harry still felt as comfortable as he ever could be. His eyelids were almost closing because he felt so relaxed realizing how he truly feels about them.
Lots of care and love for his family.
Until things go bad, of course. At that point he kind of hates them.
Doi was beginning to act too energized to the point that he was throwing some of his toys across the living room. He ran in circles as well. Harry would've laughed if it weren't for Robin's dangerously creeping anger steaming out of his ears. It was all a steady process of eventual destruction, namely for Harry's hearing or Doi's feelings. Robin kept his eyes as focused on his book as he physically could. Good things never last long. Doi tripped over Robin's webbed foot and he fell flat on his face.
"What the hell are you doing, Doi!?" Robin screeched. "What's got you all crazy like this? Did Harry sneak in some sugar in your drink or-?"
"Probably the maple syrup." Harry interrupted in an uninterested tone. Usually Robin would despise anyone interrupting his talking, but he always had some form of a soft spot for the tall guy.
"Shoot, you're right." Robin seized Doi by the wrist. "No more candies for the rest of your life, young man."
"Hey, no fair!" The yellow one snapped as he attempted to free himself.
"It's one way to stop your unnecessary buffoonery." Robin crossed his arms over his chest.
He felt as if his chest was pierced after what the duck said to him. "H-Hey! I ain't no buffoon!"
"You are and there's no denying it. It's the way you'll always be which is why Harry and I take care of you in the first place."
"Hey." Harry grunted. "We take care of him because he's a child; not because he's mentally unequipped. Besides, we all are born smart and dumb in our own ways."
"For some odd reason, what you said there sounds kind of cliché. I've never heard you say it before, but the feeling is there." Robin scratched his beak with thought.
"Whatever. Just stop trying to create a conflict with Doi. He's having fun, is all."
"Yeah, yeah." Robin grumbled as he stuffed his face further into his book.
The child's day was mostly ruined from that point onwards. He sniffed a little as he calmly played with the toys he threw. Harry's heart sunk a little with sympathy. All Doi wanted to do was have a little more fun with the limited resources they've got. It seems that Robin has become too old to resonate with such a usually relatable concept. Harry focused on his favorite TV show once Doi stopped sniffing.
It was late afternoon. That's when things really escalated for the worst between the trio. A brand new teacher popped out of nowhere and started singing to them about being active and always making sure to do physical exercise besides simply sitting around. This new teacher had quite a temper. He was actually even worse than Robin could be.
"Ugh, I already hate this guy. Who hired him?" Robin sneered with disgust.
"Shhh. We should focus. I don't think he'll take too kindly to you expressing your "opinions" about him." Harry whispered his warning to his mate.
"I hear you both muttering and mumbling over there!" Doi felt his stomach sank even though he knew that this teacher wasn't directing his frustration/disappointment towards him.
"Yes, we certainly are!" Robin barked. "You're much too aggressive to be teaching any student, let alone anyone." Harry facepalmed.
The teacher slowly inched closer to Robin in a creepy way. He whispered in the duck's ear and fear flashed through the old bird's eyes. Robin nodded fast and their teacher backed away from him and resumed on teaching like nothing went on.
"Now, where were we?"
"Y-You were teaching about, uh, exercise." Doi reminded him.
"That's right." The man smiled in an unpleasant fashion. Harry decided he did not like him either. The gym-like teacher noogied Doi on the head. Doi laughed. "Ha ha! Stop! It tickles!"
"Alright! Back to the lesson at hand. No more distractions unless I ask questions."
"Yep." Harry mumbled.
"Fine." Robin huffed.
For a little while, things were fine. Unfortunately, Doi's overuse of excitement brought this lesson downhill.
"I wanna run for miles!" Doi exclaimed.
"Perhaps you will. Make sure to take breaks." The male teacher was neutral about the boy interrupting him. That didn't last long. He was singing about how children have a harder time keeping endurance when running. Doi had to chip in.
"I can run much longer than most kids, actually!"
"Well... you are the exception to the rule." The man was a bit rough with his reply that time. "Most children are too weak to run for miles all at once, let alone jog through it."
"Knowing the little bugger, he'd probably get distracted by a fly or whatever." Robin snorted.
"N-No! I wouldn't!"
"Oooh yes you would!"
"Be quiet." Teacher snapped. "You're interrupting an important lesson."
"We already know to exercise!" Robin had enough of this stubborn teacher. Only he was allowed to be the stubborn one. "Why are you teaching us this junk?"
"You three do absolutely nothing worthy in your lives. You simply sit around."
"That is what I prefer, um, personally." Harry added awkwardly.
"And this is why you all need to learn a lesson about exercising. You clearly don't understand how important it all really is. For your body, mind, and overall health." The teacher sighed.
"Hey teacher man! Can I run around for a bit?" Doi asked.
"NO! We're in the middle of a lesson-!"
"It seems that our attention span is running away from you." Robin smirked. "We don't care about your lessons. Leave already."
"I guess I'll just watch TV." Harry shrugged as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
"What in the hell is wrong with you three!? You usually listen to lessons being taught to you!" The teacher was flabbergasted.
"We don't feel like it today. It also doesn't help that you suck at your job. Can't even sing a catchy enough song to keep even Doi's attention onto you." Robin mocked.
Doi started running around through certain rooms in a circle, taking laps. The teacher was seething. He was done with their bullshit. Once the boy ran near him, he slapped Doi hard across the face. He fell onto his back, cradling the side of his face with both hands. Excruciating pain shot through his bones and muscles within that area. Some tears were forming in his eyes. Harry for once was too distracted by the TV show to care, but Robin's eyes were wide with shock. Never had Doi ever felt so hurt or betrayed. Robin didn't look like he cared too much, only startled at the most. Harry was avoiding them all. Doi never once got truly hurt deep in his heart whenever Harry had to take him over his knee a couple rare times or when Robin slapped his hands away from food or dangerous items. But what this teacher did to him... it didn't only open his floodgates, but his complete vulnerable, abused little boy side. Something that he thought only his dad was capable of doing to him.
Doi cried out gut-wrenching sobs as he scrambled to his room and slammed the door shut. He flopped onto his bed and buried his face into his favorite fluffy pillow. He didn't want anyone to talk to him and neither did he want to do the same to them. Doi could've sworn he heard Robin's angered voice tearing the teacher a new one, but he was too tired to notice nor care. He already felt a huge bruise growing onto the side of his face. For once, Doi was so tired and cried so much that he felt emotionally numb to everything around him and in his head. He soon fell asleep, making sure not to lay on the bruised side of his face.
*****
Doi woke up in the middle of the night. He remembered that he went to bed very early because of what that rude teacher did to him. He shivered with fear as his surroundings were almost pitch black. He heard Harry's light snores nearby, but he didn't see Robin anywhere in their bedroom. He's most likely still up reading another newspaper. Doi didn't care. He realized he wanted to get out of here immediately. Neither of them comforted him when he needed it. They didn't even wake him up to ask if he was okay. He carefully touched his face. That bruise was still as big as it was many hours ago.
Doi stood up from the bed, making sure to not make too much noise. He didn't want to wake Harry up, after all. Well, it was also because he had a plan in mind that Harry nor Robin would agree with. The boy still didn't care. He wanted to run away as fast as possible. He couldn't handle these lessons, the teachers, his friends... no more.
Doi tiptoed down the stairs. He held his breath and only took in light inhales every now and again. The child peeked into the living room and saw Robin was on his signature rocking chair reading yet again a newspaper. He guessed that Robin didn't need as much sleep as him or Harry because- no! He couldn't get distracted now. He had to run away. There was no other choice. This was his chance.
So, he quickly scampered out the front door, somehow dodging from Robin's peripheral vision.
He breathed in the fresh night air once the door quietly clicked closed behind him. He looked up at the beautiful sky of stars. Even though it was midnight at this point, Doi began to run for many miles away from home. He didn't care where he went, he just wanted out of there as soon as possible. Everything that had happened all in one day was too excessive for him to handle. Deep in his mind he knew this was beyond foolish, but his emotional reaction was much louder than the logical part of his brain, which wasn't much but it was good enough. He ran and ran. And ran.
And ran.