Dania Kashin/DK (kashenkovki)

Kazan, 2009. Early December. Winter. At that time, all sorts of styles were just emerging, like emo and punk. Dania Kashin was a thug. He wore red Adidas and battered Vans. Under his tracksuit, he wore a white T-shirt with a cross around his neck. His red hair was slicked to the side. He had blue eyes and freckles all over his face. He was aggressive and liked to fight. On the back of his hand, he had a skull tattoo. He chased "faggots" (that's what Dania calls the emo subculture) around the neighborhood with his gang of guys. Ruslan was a kid who had just moved to Kazan with his mother. Tushentsov was into the emo subculture. He had dark blue, voluminous hair and long, side-swept bangs. The hair on the sides of his cheeks also framed his face, making him look good. A black long-sleeved T-shirt with some kind of print (it was winter, after all, under the thick black jacket). Ripped jeans: small rips at the knees and thighs. Converse on his feet. Tushentsov always wore a thin black beanie, but his voluminous blue hair always peeked out from underneath. His left wing was pierced with a silver ring. His large, puppy-dog eyes made Russ look cute. On the back of his right hand, Tushentsov had a rose tattoo. On his left palm, a bold cross. On his neck, a bat tattoo and a thin black choker. Basically, in the old town of Achinsk, all his former friends liked his style. Ruslan was only occasionally teased about his style, but never beaten. Danila, as soon as he learned about the new kid coming to their class, took an interest in it. After Tushentsov was introduced to the entire class at the blackboard, Kashin was naturally shocked by Ruslan's appearance. Danila never liked it when boys dressed like girls. At the beginning of the school year, Kashin bullied Ruslan: sometimes he'd beat him up behind the school with his friends, sometimes he'd just trip him up. But something clicked in Danila's head: his irritation with Ruslan gave way to a strange sympathy. And like a dog on a chain, he separated Tushentsov from all the groups that might bully Ruslan. Ruslan wasn't opposed to being sold to the inventory.