Cleaned away the blood, Trying to push through the fear

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His injuries were healed, he was out and about, back to school, back to normal. So he walked through the halls, a calm expression on his face, hiding the torrent of conflicting emotions he had, the Shadow oddly enough was asleep.

The young man's sharp gray eyes sorta zipped from side to side, he was shaken up, not paranoid, but troubled. He was in the hospital long enough for his powers to come back, he'd healed, but not without scars, including one across his chin.

As he rounded a corner, he saw her, Naoko, the girl who helped him. His eyes zipped to the ground, he hated how she had gotten pulled into the situation, but he was grateful, so he looked up, giving her a small, sad slightly shy smile. @Romi
 
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Romi

Romi

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Naoko was, to say the least, pretty shaken. She wasn't used to seeing that sort of violence. She wasn't used to considering the very real possibility that someone she knew--even if only distantly--could die.

Naoko wasn't really sure how she felt about things. Nervous? Anxious? Uncomfortable, without a doubt, and a part of her sort of wished that James hadn't acknowledged her at all. Then she could have avoided it entirely, dodged the issue.

No such luck now.

"Hi," Naoko said. "You just get out?" He'd definitely spent time in the hospital--no question about that--and the scars on his face meant it probably hadn't been long.

 
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"Uh yea....," he brushed his fingers over the scar in his cheek, one of many he had. "I got out yesterday," sadness flashed in his eyes, he was normally really good at hiding his emotions, but the whole thing had left him very shaken.

He looked down for a second, "I...I'm sorry," he said stammering just a bit, "I'm sorry you got pulled into what happened." Looking back to her, he took a shaky breath, "but thank you."

His left hand trembled just a bit, he opened and closed it a few times getting it to mostly stop, he'd suffered from the hands of others all his life, always beaten down.
@Romi
 
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James was pretty obviously upset, but Naoko was having a hard time figuring out what was upsetting to him about the situation. The fact that he'd been jumped? The fact that he'd been sent to the hospital? The fact that she'd seen it all, when he was weak and vulnerable?

Guys seemed to hate that, and Naoko really didn't get it. Maybe it was because she'd been raised by her father--vulnerable at the best of times--but Naoko really didn't see the issue with letting people see you when you were upset.

"Did they catch them?" Naoko asked abruptly, looking just as scowly as ever despite the swirl of emotions going on inside her. "I figure there's probably a ton of stuff around the area. Cameras and magic and security and all that. There's no way they could get away with it, right?"

 
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"Yea, they got them," they'd possibly get time on the islets, or at least a restraining order. "I don't...I hope they won't bother anyone else...," he shifted his feet a bit, he was still sore from it all.

He had trouble reading Naoko, ironically people have said the same about him at times, but she'd helped him. It was strange, people in the past hadn't cared about him, so he was surprised when people here did.

"Started a while ago....," he finally said, he wasn't sure why, talking because maybe he needed to. "They were.... bothering some kid....I got them to leave her alone...," he was used to being a shield, "so...they started focusing on me," back in the thieves group, he'd take the abuse so others would be left alone.
 
Romi

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"They probably will," Naoko said, not helpful in the slightest. "People like that... people who are willing to do things like what they did to you... they're not going to get better on their own."

Naoko had a fairly cynical view of things. She'd grown up knowing about the worst of humanity, and she knew that people like that didn't get better unless someone made them better.

Naoko folded her arms over her chest, frowning at James despite the fact that she should have been showing sympathy.

"You should take care of yourself. You can't help others if you get yourself hurt..."

 
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James tried not to be cynical, he'd experienced the worst of man firsthand, but he'd always tried to hold onto hope. "Yeah...," he was used to pain really, used to taking it for others. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

"Is it normal here?" he finally asked, "you helped me...you cared." I'm Ashton city, no one cared, no one helped, so despite what people said, he hadn't expected people here to either. "Back home....people..would've just kept walking," James had never been shown kindness before the island, before then, he was only person who really cared.

He took a shaky breath, he was still shaken up, he tried to smile a little. The smile was pained one, both because he was emotionally troubled and because of the steal healing facial injuries.
 
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Naoko really didn't get what he meant. What was 'normal'? And more importantly, what was 'it'? Naoko frowned, staring at James and fully expecting him to explain, which he... sort of did.

"The bystander effect," Naoko said. "Is what you're talking about. That everyone else assumes someone else is going to help. It's still a thing here. It's a part of human nature. I just learned very hard to ignore it and stick my nose in."

 
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