cont. i need your help, stranger

[xeene]

when anything was about to go worse, the boy finally gave a final shout of pain, making enough noise for the real nurses to come rushing in. it was sort of becoming an emergency that the women in white uniform accidentally pushed her away, cutting the connection the students had a little while ago. the nurses who were now busy giving first aid and necessary medications blocked the woman's view of the boy who'd been giving her a sudden scare a while ago. moments after, due to the circumstances that need certain procedure privacy, the blonde was asked to leave the room.

-----

there was a knock on the lady's dorm room one ordinary morning. it was hel outside the door, his face bored as ever.

i knew her room would be here. he told himself, waiting for the dorm owner to acknowledge his presence after a few knocks on the furniture. he had used his alice more than once despite the serious remark of the medics to not use it for now, or worsen the drawbacks. he had also been commanded to acquire a restrictor as soon as possible, but he didn't have one yet so he thought of using his alice again this one time.

now, standing with his neck almost in level with the door knob due to his shortness, the boy waited for her to open the door. sure thing, he had a lot to say after the pain he'd caused a stranger.

forgive me for hurting your wrist -_-

[Luna Katanashi]

After all that whimsical Infirmary incident, she nearly didn't blink an eye. Against the crisp white of her own room walls, Luna was almost camouflaged. No -- that's an exaggeration. But, it was true, you could see her very well. But she was, admittedly, rather hard to see, rather faded into the background. Her pallid skin was as smooth and light as stone. She was beautiful. You could call her pretty if you felt kind, but generally people don't admit that. Nor was it helped by the clothes that hung on her thin frame. They were sometimes pale sky blue or some whiteness that just served to accentuate her paleness.

That would all be made up for if she had a bold personality, but she didn't have that. Timid and retiring, most of the Alice Academy students didn't even know she existed. And that was the way she liked it. Currently, she was sitting on her bed, near the window, fresh morning sunlight pouring through the glass. It was an hour when most would be taking a nap or drowsily preparing for lessons. Only then was the school deserted. She checked her wrist, it was still badly swollen -- thanks to that boy. She sighed. In nocturnal, she will do something and there is no way she will miss it.

She wanted to emend her attitude or personality like right now, so she won't be identified as a naive individual. A knock was heard on the door. She floundered for the door with a miserable look deeply plastered onto her face. She took a deep breath and opened it. No one was there, she searched around until she chanced herself to glance down. It was the boy again.

"Yes?"

[xeene]

it was always a routine whenever hel had to stand before a door, be it any room, that he was to look down upon. not that he was insulted, because it was his genes to blame. but really, how he wondered briefly why everyone seemed to look down on him frowning.

firstly, it was ryuu, whom he had offended unintentionally. and now this nice lady who seemed to be good with the world around her, and hel had caused her unreasonable pain.

maybe he was bound to hurt everyone he was to meet?

exactly the moment the blonde had opened the door and found him below, hel had resulted to his childish antics again in attempt to cheer her up. he suddenly darted a finger to her face, stopping an inch from her flawless skin as if he had found her finally.

"you are frowning." hel more of declared than said, looking as blankly innocently as a child.

when no reaction came up immediately, he retreated his hand down and smiled up at her. "what are you sad about? the world's a fun place to be earning money."

the pale blonde reached into his pocket to take out something he showed to the taller one. "you're my second friend here. so i'd like you to take some."

candies. candies on his palms he was willing to give as a compensation to what he did. clearly, he wasn't yet admitting what he did neither opening up what happened back at the infirmary. kids... always denying their mistakes.

[Luna Katanashi]

As if by cue, the short male pointed a finger at her. Was he about to blame her about something? Right, she's all ready for the blame now. She has a fat borderline about him. Thus, he seems a little idiosyncratic -- as idiosyncratic as she is. In the meantime, she was in an insatiable mood today. Her smile was obviously inconspicuous. What kind of mask is she currently wearing?

'you are frowning.'

"Am I? I am restricted to smile as of now."

She sighed, still trying to retain her patience. If she won't, she might spill constant, boiling gibberishes. She was squirting a smile upon her face when he smiled at her. A smell of glycerine was itching her nose as he was beginning to say something again. She wants to slump, but she knew that she doesn't have to -- not with him here.

'what are you sad about? the world's a fun place to be earning money.'

"I'm currently not in a desolate climate."

She told him, but it was a lie. She was always in a sad climate. Her eyes tagged in each and every moment he makes in a flurry. She tried not to reveal her face that is in a sullen composition only a hint to the squirming heap of emotions raging beneath the surface. To keep living everyday. To stutter that fractured muscle of hers into some sort of rhythm enough to keep blood flowing.

To her, living is pointless.

'you're my second friend here. so i'd like you to take some.'

"No, thank you. Instead..."

She intentionally unfinished her statement as she went to her drawer and pulled some chocolate bars out. She was supposed to have these as her desserts for dinner the night before -- in the Canteen, but she didn't even have the guts to eat them already. Nothing of emotion dared to surface her mind. Blocked were romantic thoughts. Blocked were any thoughts involving her heart. It itself incapable of love.

Especially her past.

Anyway, back to business.

"... I'll give these to you."

She offered as she revealed the three chocolate bars at him.

[xeene]

instead of him giving something to the lady, the lady was now turning the situation the other way around. it was as if to hel, this woman didn't really mind the short unpleasant introduction he had made in the infirmary. was she out of her mind? she didn't look as if she's paying full attention either. something was bothering her.

but anyways, hel's smile faded into a small gape as he stared down at the sweet stuff offered to him. no 'adult' has ever offered him one, because nearly all of them treated him like them, a savage gambler. being pulled into such a world of money, little hel did know he was already being drawn into the same vanity. but this small token of friendship as he sees it, or forgiveness should he say, really brought him back to his childhood.

ashamed to express his gratitude, the pale blonde took one without daring to make some eye contact. he turned around quickly and wanted to run away like some elementary boy confessing his feelings without the guts, but stopped in his steps a few feet from her.

he turned around, now smiling like a kid. a true genuine smile of happiness indeed.

"lady," hel gestured as if he pointed a gun at her using his hand, "my specialty is guessing correctly. my alice tells me you're going to smile one day."

with those last few seconds of silence, he ran away with the sweet clutched in his hand