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¤ A person in need of help, that was all she saw at first. Steps losing speed little by little, the irresistible force that led her to show kindness to complete strangers putting her towards him before anything could be done about it. That profusion of red living fluid was a warning sign, things could actually be under control right now, but you never know. For better or for worse, his peculiar appearance stayed in the background â evidences that maybe that was not a good idea picked up too late. There are some good reasons behind a bleeding nose, but it didnât seem to be caused by the dry air or anything like this. â Thatâs a lot of blood⌠â A poor, even lame way to justify her mere presence somehow. His crooked smile was an attempt to make things lighter, a very appreciated one by the way, too bad the result was just the opposite. Reimi did not feel comfortable in the slightest, even with his obvious effort not to look as frightening as the weird circumstances implied.
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¤ Truth be told, she thought she would be quickly dismissed. This man could be a bad thing as far as it was possible to know, her sudden willingness to help being interpreted in the most disastrous way possible. One unsuspecting but attentive witness â even if he swore her to secrecy, nothing prevented him from taking measures to draw a veil of silence over the matter. And then those words, a threatening tone so natural for him that it might even have gone unnoticed. â I shouldnât. â Her voice slow and thoughtful, true meaning still sinking into her heart. Pink-colored gaze searched the entrance to the alley, making sure that no classmates of hers was passing by at the time. He was absolutely right, problems could arise because of that. âSugimoto hangs out with delinquents, she is getting into bad company!!â, her mother would freak out if something like that reached her ears by any chance. â But I canât pretend I didnât see this and go away, can I? â Without waiting for an answer she took her schoolbag and opened it, looking for something in silence.
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¤ The alley was part of her way home, never a dangerous place to the point that Reimi would actively avoided it. Of course only during the day, going to and from school, taking a shortcut to the home of some of the children she babysat. This man was not part of the scenario â it could have been just an unfortunate incident and wrong assumptions were already being made. â Here, take my issue. Tilt your head forward, with any luck it will stop bleeding soon. â A hand offered the soft, perfectly white square of fabric to him. Only a palliative measure, maybe what hit him (a punch? something thrown at his face? who knows) damaged a delicate blood vessel, which meant more blood on the way. â Thereâs a convenience store at the entrance, see? I can get some water to wash your face, if you want. â Her attention turned in that direction once again, checking passersby on the sidewalk. A new concern appeared, what if he was being chased? Or did someone call the police? Better get rid of that bloody mess, the metallic smell was starting to bother her.
formaggio expected that she mightâve found his bleeding nose a frightful look. heâs had much worse back working as a soldato -- truthfully, heâs desensitised to much of the pain and it was only the warm trickling sensation running out of his nose and the coppery taste on his tongue that was troublesome. her question, however, briefly stupefied him. that was absolutely an option. in fact, back in italy, it was preferred.
god knows how many hits and underhanded dealings he saw at her age and the âproperâ response to all that was to look the other way. it was safer. but he wasnât in italy, was he? he was a stranger, injured, and she was just a kind, considerate young lady.
what was a rarity for him was probably nothing more than common decency. not that he came to expect decency; he understood he was a foreigner and really hadnât lived in the town long enough for his face to be well known, unless one wanted their car repaired on a regular.
â i wouldnât hold it against you if you did. â he finally settled on an answer, more mumbled under his breath as she moved to hand him the tissue. he almost wanted to laugh because heâd tensed up thinking she might pull a knife or something. damn. he really needed to chill out.
formaggioâs hand hesitantly reached out as he gingerly picked up the tissue, taking great care to make sure not even the tips of his fingers brushed any part of her. he followed her instructions almost wordlessly, he wiped up what he could to look a little less like a bloody mess, but only really served to smear the crimson around a little.Â
â ah.. â he cleared his throat. â i donât want t'be too much of a bother, miss. i ainât got any cash on me. left mâwallet at work. but iâd be grateful being able to clean tâis up a little.. â
maybe his pride was more wounded than his nose right now, but beggars canât be choosers when she was being so generous with her time and help. he just hoped this sort of thing would never happen again.