SHSL Alligator Tamer

Eh? Manipulating people into killing each other… In her books, villains and sometimes heroes did that kind of thing all the time, but.. Someone actually being manipulated into murder? Did people do that in real life? Then again, those carnies didn’t look as if they belonged in real life, anyway, “So the carnies are using our items as part of that… And will probably use other means?” she was as curious as she was scared and disturbed, but the fear in her voice was disguised by false cheeriness.

He looked at Haruna as his memories came flooding to him again. He looked at her and said bluntly “No, they were not worried whatsoever.” This struck a nerve in him. He crossed his arms. It wasn’t Haruna’s fault. She didn’t know about his past, but it still bothered him about his parents. “Actually my parents were uncaring, abusive drunks who didn’t ever acknowledge my presence only until they beat me at night. So I usually escaped home and wrestled the alligators by myself and slept on the streets and begged for food as a young child.” He grunted and sighed.

"I-I...wo-n't die....?" Nanaho blinked. Matthew was being too kind to her. Maybe too much. The kiss on her forehead caused a small blush to creep on her face. Stuttering and stammering. He really did care about her after all. All the little gestures made her begin to develop something within her. But she couldn't tell what.

He giggled when he saw the blush on her face. He held her and said confidently and sternly to her "No, you will not die, not on my watch. If anyone tries to hurt you, they will have to go through me. If anyone scares your or tries to hurt you let me know Nanaho." His heart clenched when she kept repeating his name. He gently separated her from him. He then cupped her face into his hands as he moved in an gently planted a soft kiss on her lips to calm her. After a few seconds he moved away and smiled happily. He brushed away a few strands of hair from her face with his fingers.

Mary shrugged, already having lost interest. “Break ye’ or not, it’ll likely be entertainin’ in some way or other.” Not really caring how he took the words.

Suddenly, things made sense to him as he explained his history with his parents. It shocked him how he managed to stay so strong after going through so much. His parents were like his: abusive, neglectful, people he shouldn’t have as parental figures. Slowly, a smile appeared on his face. It wasn’t happy, but it was understanding. He knew how he felt.

Matthew had not realized that the mask that he wore covered up burn marks. He thought “Wow, I didn’t even realize. We are more similar than I first thought.” With a concerned face Matthew examined the boys face with his eyes when he revealed what was under the mask. He nodded his head in silent agreement when the boy said they were very similar indeed. He said softly to him “My parents just didn’t care for anyone but themselves. So I was once about your weight. They never fed me, I had to feed myself ever since I was 7, I often went hungry. Honestly I don’t understand how I got so big…I often went to churches, and scrounging for food from people who would feed me. There were days in which I couldn’t sleep at home because I just didn’t want to be abused by them so I slept in boxes in alleyways which was quite dangerous for a youngster. I can agree with you, my parents really didn’t know I existed until they were drunk and abused me. But I learned to move on or die trying to live.”

Oh, the both of them were just precious! A big ol’ dixie boy and a sweet little kitten. Stephanie couldn’t help but to coo over the little duo.

Looking at Stephanie Matthew said curiously "Ive actually been to Vegas before!" He chuckled. "The bright city lights and the big city know how to draw you into it. You can almost get lost in it. Anyways..." They continued walking almost reaching Stephanie's room first. He said softly, bringing up old memories "I wrestle alligators and ended up being in a wrestling competition in Vegas. Ive only been once, but its tough city ill say that much." He watched her admire herself. He was trying not to be swayed by her natural charm that surrounded her.

Nanaho gave a slight glance focused on the taller, growling lowly. It sounded a bit like a large cat rumbling, but it was rather quiet, Hopefully loud enough to reach Matthew’s ears. She could tell that he was flustered by Stephanie’s prescence. Sure, she was a really beautiful woman. How could Nanaho compete to that? But she still felt a bit possessive. He had a girl on his arm and another holding his hand gently. Quite an odd sight. She couldn’t tell why she was thinking such things though. Was she jealous? …probably not. The accent slip made her squirm slightly though.

Ama frowned, he knew that Matthew’s intelligence and understanding wasn’t quite his strong suit, but to think he was this easily lost was upsetting. Ama gave Matthew a concerned, almost motherly look and continued to speak, “Oh Matthew, you’re not hopeless…”

Matthew felt that Ama was patronizing him because he didn’t catch on very well to Ama’s sense of logic. It had indeed been lost on him. But Matthew still felt that Ama had a twisted sense of logic in thinking that bringing us to our breaking points to kill makes us stronger, to him, that was not true. He thought ever since he lived on his own that you didn’t need to kill to be stronger, but what does Ama know that he doesn’t. Matthew began to question that. Obviously still slightly confused at Ama’s statements, he felt like he couldn’t understand him. He was confused at Ama’s motherly expression. He reacted by grunting loudly and scratching his head vigorously in confusion as he backed away from Ama. Matthew was disturbed at Ama’s concerned expression as he then transitioned to a smile.

"Well, I should certainly hope I am logical! I should be a fairly poor SHSL Librarian if I was not, is that not correct? Though, I do not know what Ritsuka-sama’s talent is just yet, I am certain that Ritsuka-sama holds a talent even more studious and capable of great thinking than mine. But I digress. I know there must be some way out. We just need time to observe the situation and figure out what that way out is, no?"

Matthew curiously asks Shizuka “Would you mind if we walked a bit to sit down alone?” Shizuka agreed and they walked to a bench and sat down. He looked at Shizuka softly, placing his hand on his shoulder he said “Thank you Shizuka for your advice. I just…I don’t want to end up doing something I could regret” Matthew gazed sideways away from the librarian. “Your logic doesn’t ceases to amaze me still, I trust your word. From my interaction with him Shizuka-san, he says he wants to be a motivational speaker. He feels that these deaths bring us closer to reaching our full potential, and that he wants to coach us so we can be ready. But I feel he is a little off of his rocker when he says these types of things. I suppose you are right…though we don’t know him truly, but I still wont ever trust him. I still feel he is not all here.”

Were they being provoked to kill? Would people really kill to get their precious possessions back? Lives were more important than anything! Or maybe Mattew was talking about the weapons! But people wouldn’t kill just because they had been given weapons, would they? “Ah… You mean our stolen items and the weapons?" asked Haruna as she scratched her head in confusion, "Would only that lead to killing?" mutual killing games and evil circuses were the type of things that  supposed to remain in the realm of fiction.

He pondered for a moment, and he said calmly to her "I mean it could Haruna, but, only as a catalyst. I feel peoples emotions turned negative can cause us to kill one another. As if someone could manipulate someones emotions to cause them to want to kill. OR just manipulation in general .." his voice trailed off.

Mary grinned and nodded, finally satisfied…for now. Reaching up she patted Matthew on the head, almost like she would a dog. “There ye’ go lad, wasn’t so hard now was it?" As she reached up and slipped the eye patch around his head. It was skewed and didn’t actually cover anything, but she didn’t particularly care.

Matthew breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Mary gave him his patch back. He readjusted it back and looked relieved. He didnt know what to say to her. She had been right about everything. He thought "What is with her...jeez" he said to her straightforwardly "Oh well then, I guess it will have to break me then..." he rolled his eyes, was he too prideful, he didnt know, he just acted on impulse. He shrugged her statement off.

It was only instinct for him to flinch when Matthew raised his voice, immediately tensing up and hiding his face as if he were to be hit by the yelling male immediately afterwards. It was only a habit he’d developed over time. However, he hesitantly looked back up as he seemed to be back to normal. The smile enough was good enough praise for him, and his smile seemed to find its way back onto his face.

Matthew gleefully smiled at the young male when he thanked him for whatever he managed to get through to him. He then patted the boys head like an older brother would, and ruffled his hair playfully afterwards. He said happily "Your welcome! And with that attitude, you will go far kid!" He smiled. There was something about this boy that made him happy. There was like this happy aura around the boy. No wonder everyone liked him. He placed one of his hands on the boy's shoulders for reassurance.

Just as Steph was about to thank Nanaho (bless the sweet little thing,) her attention was drawn to all 7 feet of Mister Matthew. Oh… my. Unabashedly, she raked her eyes over every bulging muscle Dundee had to offer (and there were plenty, she’d assure you.) 

"Ahem…" Clearing his throat nervously, it had been quite a while since the last time he noticed a female obviously staring him down. He became flustered a little bit, he wasnt used to this “kind" of attention. He scratched the back of his head “Its not a problem m’am, safety first.” He gave a quaint smile to the attractive young lady. To him, she was pretty attractive. Her type reminded him of all the women he had a taste for in his past, and it was hard for him to think of anything else except her advances towards him.

Mary shrugged. If he wasn’t going to show her a little respect first then why should she? At least as captain, that’s how it worked in her mind. “Matters little if ye be me crew BOY, I still do be a Cap’n an’ ye should be showin’ the proper respect. I got nothin’ to be hidin’ anyway." Grinning she yelled out in a voice surprisingly loud for her smaller frame “I DO BE CAP’N MARY, FEARED PIRATE AND FREEBOOTER, AN’ I DO BE PROUD OF IT!" letting out a hearty, if slightly forced laugh.

Matthew thought "This little person really is a force to be reckoned with." He shrugged his shoulders, and sighed loudly. He knew what he must do, even though he didn't want to, someone was going to have to budge first. He stepped back away from the little one a few steps when she yelled at him, cautious of what she could do.

Mary grinned and winked “Sure thing big boy. You keep callin’ me Mary like ye be knowin’ me though and we won’t be gettin’ off to smooth sailin’ though ye hear?"

He lifted his eyebrow unimpressed, crossed his arms, and slightly annoyed he said "You keep calling me that name and we will both continue to have a problem. And if you are a pirate as you say you are, I am not part of your crew, therefore, I am not required to call you captain!" He scowled his eyes at her and scoffed. "Ya know, I did read a book or two in my days about pirates...so...thats how I guessed that you were one. Its not that hard to figure out with the way your acting and speaking. You look so out of your element..."