cut 'em up

The doctor already appeared to be uncomfortable, a fact that didn’t register in the boy’s tear-clouded mind,) yet Seto held on, his eyes shut tight with the tears pouring out. He also didn’t see the people walking by, all shooting him distasteful looks. After all, St. Orwell was an exclusive school, and the fact that the gardener was sobbing while clinging to the school doctor probably wasn’t a common sight on the school grounds.

The bird behind them chirped once, in a shrill and piercing squeak. At the “words” of the creature, Seto seemed to calm down slightly, however, still clinging onto the doctor.

"I-I’m okay now, I think…" He sniffled once more, before staring back up at Shuu. "Birdy says it’s okay to talk to animals! Is it okay, doctor?"

An exasperated expression befell Iwamine's face, his limp at his sides, as the boy only cried harder, clinging to him even harder. Alright, maybe that had been the wrong set of words to use- "dying" seemed to have triggered something in the boy. By this point, he'd stopped caring about the odd looks people were giving the school doctor and the gardener and was just focused on resolving the problem. 

Salvation seemingly came in the form of the tiny bird chirping, effectively capturing the youth's attention. He knew he could trust birds. The young gardener was still firmly clutching at him, though. 

After a couple of minutes, they arrived at Eden Tower. She was somewhat impressed with the fact that he lived here but didn’t comment on it, only allowing a small sigh to leave her lips before entering the building after him. It was also somewhat suspicious that he had to show his ID to the guard; if he lived there, wouldn’t the man recognize him immediatly? Oh well. They then went into the elevator.

"……" A small pause before she managed reply; "…It’s fine. Really." A bad mood, huh? It seemed like the complete opposite to her actually. She wouldn’t want to deal with this man when he truly was in a bad mood. “My name is Lacie.” No last name of course, who knows who he really is anyway. She didn’t want to say no to him at this point so she simply handed him two of the bags, keeping the heaviest one herself. “Thank you.”

A smile appeared on his lips at the comment made on his residence.  She herself looked relatively well-off; her pastel-colored clothes looked like they could be branded. He didn't really know- he never was one to pay attention to fashion. "I wouldn't say it's perfect. It certainly isn't a penthouse view." Finally, a loud bell dinged, signaling their arrival on his floor.

"This way." Shuu stepped out and led the seamstress to his apartment. Fishing out his keys from his coat pocket with one hand, he glanced at her over his shoulder. "Would you like to come in? Looking for my spare pair of scissors might take some time, and I'd hate to leave you out here all alone. My neighbor isn't in her best mental state- she can be rather unpredictable."

That wasn't a lie- he lived next to a model, and even he  knew something was wrong with her. 

"Well yes..I-I suppose it is my job to help you…sir.." she mumbled, giving him an forced,unsure smile. The albino reached over to the male, frantically trying to wipe the stain off his shirt. Her efforts however, were in vain, seeing as his shirt was already seeped dried with the substance.

"Um…uh…would you like me to provide you a new shirt, after m-my shift? W-with money f-from my o-own pocket o-of course!"

The poor girl was stuttering with almost every word, and for a moment he took pity on her. But it was just for a moment. Playing with her was still his top priority- more than anything it was because of her odd traits.

He was well aware somebody like her probably didn't earn as much as he did. She looked like she was still in high school, and if she was from some sort of wealthy family, she wouldn't be working as a waitress in a cafe. Still, she did spill the milk tea on him.

The frog-looking boy began crying softly as Shuu turned his attention to the passerby’s, escalating to weeping as the doctor turned back to him moments later. Seto stayed silent for the beginning of Shuu’s response, staring up at him with wide yellow eyes brimming with tears, sniffling quietly as he did so.

At the next part of his reply, he finally, through a throat ridden with tears, managed to exclaim in response. “W-WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME?! WHAT DOES ‘MENTAL INSTABILITY’ MEAN?! AM I GOING TO DIE?!”

Oh god, now the boy was full-on weeping. And the tears looked like they wouldn't be stopping any time soon. What was worse, he was holding onto him like he was his lifeline. Shuu raised his hands up, unsure of what to do- for one, he disliked touching people as long as they were still alive and kicking. People were more agreeable that way.

"Oh, you remember me, too?" Now an unhealthy habit, the ravenette veered from the main topic of the conversation to discuss the very squirrel that had caused their meeting.

"You still remember the squirrel, right? I keep in touch with him now! He’s doing good; thanks for checking up on him!" Seto’s voice overflowed with a childish bubbliness, yellow eyes shining as he fixated his gaze on the other.

Much to his surprise, the young boy started to panic before the doctor could answer his question: yes, it is kinda bad especially if you do it in public.  At this point, Shuu was totally confused and kind of caught off guard. "W-what? Why on earth are you panicking?"

Iwamine hurriedly glanced around him- passing students, faculty and gardeners were throwing the pair weird looks, a few of the faculty giving Shuu more disapproving ones. They must have thought he was bullying the child! He returned their looks with his own withering one, one that was enough to peel paint and make babies cry. He turned his attention back to the panicking young boy, attempting to control the situation.

"Touchy. But I will hold you to that offer. Not now, but eventually." Iwamine replied, slowly letting the boy descend back to the ground and waiting until he regained his footing. While he was doing so, Iwamine considered his options- there was no shortage of bodies in Prava, and certainly none in a world as expansive as Nova. He was sure a few people wouldn't miss certain virtual body parts- maybe that would be a good way of testing how detailed the graphics were. 

The basketball game between the two groups had started out fairly well, and by the time someone called for a break, there was only a couple of points between them. The thick browed male had been retreating to a nearby bench to fetch the bottle of water that was stashed away in his bag when he was stopped by someone - a person who he was playing against in the game that he hadn’t met before. Not expecting the sudden hand on his shoulder, Mitobe was easily turned around to face the other male, wincing slightly as he was met with harsh words.

Thankfully, the student he'd sent off finally arrived back from his errand- living up to its name, there had been a convenience store nearby. Iwamine quickly took the package from him and turned back to face the athlete on the ground. Lowering his sock, he realized the swelling and discoloration extended beyond the ball of his ankle and spread to the area concealed by his shoe. With their position down on the floor, treating him wouldn't be easy.

Sighing, he stood back up and addressed the rest of the players, most particularly the one who had caused the injury in the first place. "Move him to the benches. Afterwards, you may leave us and return to your game, or whatever."

His cold tone sent them hastily doing as he said, the player who caused the injury quaking in his shoes. They lifted their teammate, wrapping his arms around their shoulders then carefully maneuvering him so that he sat down at one of the benches. Right after, they scurried away, talking about practicing while waiting for Mitobe to be attended to. Iwamine reclaimed his place, kneeling down in front of the taller young man.

☺ Happy

☹ Sad

✂ Angry

➳ Scared

☤ Disgusted

♯ Annoyed

♬ Excited

☂ Embarrassed

★ Awed/Impressed

☢ Worried

☯ Calm

♟ Jealous

♛ Confident

As she made her way to the table, she, tripping over a chair, lost her footing, spilling all the contents of the mug onto the shirt of what seemed to be a grown man.

"ACK! G-gomen ne!!!" Mary yelped, sheepishly try to clean up the large spill staining his clothing. ‘H-here…let me h-help…I-I’m s-so sorry!!

Mary mentally slapped herself for being so clumsy. It was considered unprofessional for a waitress/waiter to spill anything on a customer, which only made the situation more dire.

"S-orry..sorry…sorry…" Now she was just muttering quietly, nervously trying to help this man to the best of her abilities. He had an intimidating, serious look to him making the albino even more scared than she already was. 

'Why am I such a failure…?'

He stood still as the small girl fretted over her mistake, squeaking out apologies in a manner both timid and panicky. Like him, she appeared to be Japanese given her usage of certain words, but she also seemed to host albino traits. A peculiarity- the first he's ever seen in real life. True he's treated albino patients, but never an Asian one. 

Interesting.

When she mentioned getting her manager, Iwamine shook his head. He gave her a sideways glance- normally, a withering look would be on his face, but a more...'approachable' one was used in its stead. Didn't want to scare her away just yet. He only hoped she took the bait.

"There is no need for such hasty actions- I'd rather you attend to me personally, hm? Is that not what your job entails?"