Guardian Character's Guidance

While John stood there, his mind attempting to calculate what an appropriate answer to Sen would be, realisation hit Jet like Mike Tyson on steroids. First, a slightly surprised expression coated his face. Then, the inevitable smirk. He flitted up to Kura, and in a whisper only the two of them would find audible, he spoke.
"I think I see what you mean, now. What with Sen 'being taken by him' or something to that effect. Though, she probably could have done better than the emotional equivalent of a stone."
Jet laughed awkwardly, then began to trail off, eventually coming to a grinding halt. And then sighing immediately afterwards. While he may have laughed, John's - frankly incredible - oblivious attitude and all-round inability to recognise more then base feelings, were nothing to joke about. It had been a crippling social problem for him, and while it appeared that he wasn't afraid to break hearts during the time he was actually popular, in actual fact, he was just speaking his mind.

Meanwhile, John was speaking with Sen, and had failed to notice Jet had even left his side.
"It's fine, it's fine. I have a rather debilitating lack of ability to speak comfortably with practically anyone. Bar you, of course. I quite enjoy speaking with you.After all, you're practically the only person who speaks to me outside of business. Person, Jet, not Guardian Character."
The last part was said dismissively, as if he had pre-empted Jet bemoaning him. However, though this would probably have occurred had Jet been present, he was not. Not that John really minded - he was sure Jet was doing nothing of particular interest, and paid it no mind.
 
Kura-chan chuckled at Jet's words.
"Well then I guess it's a good thing that Sen is too shy to say anything. In fact, she's oblivious to her own feelings."
Kura-chan was walking on the book shelves and was out of earshot from Sen, so it was unlikely that she heard anything. Though Kura-chan's smile faded as she thought about a frightening possibility. There was always a chance that John's oblivious nature would more or less get Sen hurt.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I'm more worried than anything..." Kura-chan trailed off.

It wasn't as though Sen couldn't take rejection, in fact, she took it quite well... at least when she was in the presence of people. Sen's mind was a steel trap for the most part. Emotions rarely ever made their way to her face. Sadness was the one that Kura-chan couldn't even remember. Kura-chan had not seen Sen cry yet, though sometimes it was apparent she had done it at some point.

Sen was disregarding Kura-chan's lag as it was a common occurrence and not something she wanted to waste time pondering over.

"I doubt that I'm the only person..." Sen says smiling at him.

Suddenly, Sen thought of Holly... Perhaps her statement was a little more true than she wanted it to be.
 
"John might not get hurt, but he gets depressed.When I... When I told him he didn't have any duty to anyone any more, he didn't take it well. I started fading, Kura. If he believes he has hurt Sen, whether it be her feelings or physically, he will refuse any other opinion. When it comes to who is to blame, whenever irrefutable proof isn't present, he is as stubborn as a mule."
Jet sighed, and looked down. He and John were one and the same - technically speaking. He knew how the boy worked, and what made him tick. If John were to feel that he was to blame for hurting - who he thought was - the only person who felt comfortable speaking to him, he wouldn't be able to take it. He would either slip back into being an unfeeling, uncaring rock of a man, or he would slip into doubting himself. And, once he was in that pit, nothing short of a miracle would be needed to haul him out.

John's thoughts wandered to Holly - though, only in a loose sense. Thoughts of time spent with her were mixed with various others of the other guardians, some of whom now looked upon him with great disdain, the others looking upon him with disappointment. Only Holly still believed there was goodness in him - every other Guardian, including John himself, had lost faith that there was even an iota of a reason as to why he should be allowed to stray within fifteen feet of anyone. Regardless, his thoughts wandered to them, during the better times. When he was looked upon with respect and admiration, and when he had the school in the palm of his hand. He knew the betrayal occurred for his own good, but until he had gathered enough evidence to blame someone, only he was able to be blamed for leaving the Guardians.
Holly's - rather obvious to anyone else - feelings for John had faded over time, but her competitive nature had led to embers being re-ignited upon John befriending Sen. She had learnt to keep her cool somewhat, so this time around, nobody suspected anything. However, she still felt Sen would need to be removed from the equation, if John ever entered it in the first place.
"I speak with people on a professional basis, but never as friends. It's Holly's job to act friendly, and I have to keep people on my side as much as possible. It's all a jumbled-up mess of school politics and backstabbing, not at all something I'd like to dabble in again."
 
Sen simply nodded.
"I see..." She suddenly remembered something and it made her blush, almost instantaneously. John had not yet said anything about her words when she had yelled them to her earlier. It was more or less a moment she wished she could recall after John had left. Then she would ponder over whether or not he heard everything. It was possible that he had not heard her at all or he heard her and he chose not to say anything. It was still something she wished to ponder at a later time. Now, seemed to be the most inconvenient of times to think about it. Quickly she turned away, trying to hide the blush that was now creeping its way upon her face yet again.

Sen cursed her shyness and this feeling she couldn't seem to figure out. This was Sen's first romantic interest, though she herself did not see it that way. She thought it to be nothing more than her need of a friend. Sen was alone most of the time. She had not taken much of a notice to John when he was idolized. During that time, she figured he had overlooked her as nothing more than a spec to be wiped off a desk. Sen had not been a Guardian and it was safe to say, John was the only one who had seen her powers in action.

Sen thought Holly hated her to be honest, but Sen hadn't the slightest idea why. She hadn't done anything to the girl... had she? Sen didn't think Holly played the Cello, so it couldn't be the fact that Sen was first chair. Sen pondered over possibilities. However, befriending John was one she did not think of.

Kura-chan listened intently to Jet's words.
"That sounds serious, but from what you say about John... He could indirectly reject Sen's feelings. But moving on to the task at hand... What do you think will give John a sense of duty? I can only think of one and I don't think it will happen at all."
Kura-chan could only think of one duty for John, but she didn't think John nor Jet would like it, not to mention it would be quite the commitment. It would most certainly take a load off of Kura-chan's shoulders. Perhaps it would be possible that John keep a smile on Sen's face. Make her happy. But as friends. Kura-chan had assumed what with the glaring from Holly that there was something between John and Holly, that had not been said. Though Kura-chan would not make assumptions just yet.
 
This time around, John had noticed the blush - only a hint of it, but he knew a blush when he saw one. However, he only saw it as what Jet and he knew he would - a simple chemical reaction in the brain with a physical stimulus, to be regarded as nothing more than blood rushing to the face. If he were to know about how Sen felt about him, his mind would be thrown into mild turmoil. On one hand, he was a stalwart stone-heart. For him to have developed this far was something incredible. For him to love, however, would have been like asking the world of a pauper. Not only was he not the kind of person who loved, he had gone so long without any kind of love - be it from a family member or someone who genuinely had feelings for him - that he had forgotten how to give it. Now, it resided as nothing more than a word in his brain's dictionary, to be regarded as unwanted. However, he had befriended Sen, and though he would not be quick to say it, he liked her. He'd grown attached to her. If anyone hurt her, he supposed that he would be angry. When she smiled, he supposed that made him feel happy, because what it came down to, was him just wanting someone to let him be who he was. He hated being in a position where people idolised him - because he was a human too. He just wanted to be able to fail and succeed without anyone paying either results too much mind, and to just be his buddy through thick and thin.
"Your face seems to be red. Is this area too hot for you, by any chance?" he asked, out of fairly genuine - but not immediately evident - concern. One must understand that he was not able to differentiate between actions occurring from normal stimuli, and ones of a more personal nature.
As for the incident involving Sen appearing out of nowhere and shouting to him, he had heard her, and it played on his mind to great effect. However, he did not speak of it, mainly because there were more pressing matters on hand.

"I suppose... I suppose I could tell him that Sen still needs him as a friend. And that he must do all he can to keep her out of harm's way, and generally just be there as any friend would. He knows it, I know it... He's lonely. Do you know why I was born, Kura? Because he wanted to be someone who could make a friend. He hated being onhis own. He was rejected by everyone after his fall from grace. He did so much, but when he was framed... Well, I can safely say a lot of his school is quick to forget what a person's done for them, if it means that a scandal gets out."
Jet sounded bitter as he closed his little speech, lost in hateful recollection of what people did and said to John. It was a period in the school that no student would ever be able to miss. Even Sen would have at least caught wind of what had been happening. Even if she didn't know why, enough rumours were circulating to make sure he wasn't popular. He was pushed around, shunned, flat-out insulted, even a few teachers turned on him. Eventually, it turned John into the stony-faced, heartless fighter he was when Sen first met him.
 
Sen smiled.
"I'm quite fine thank you for asking. It's nothing to worry about."
Sen was well aware of the rumor that circulated about. She just didn't pay any mind to them. She did not believe the rumors for a second and now that she had met John personally, she was certain the rumors were not true. In fact, this was when Sen started to put the pieces together. Sure John had been idolized before, but then something happened she remembered. It was the same day she had earned first chair in the nationwide symphony. It was like walking into a completely different environment. No one talked to him or said anything to him. They hated him. And Sen thought it was strange. After all the things John had done... Everyone seemed to have completely bypassed it. And each day, Sen remembered the change... John didn't smile much after that, at least not when she saw him. And the first time she met him in person, he was alone by himself... It all made sense...

Sen snapped back to the present... and nearly cried from the shock of what John was suffering... all by himself.
"John... you aren't alone anymore okay..." Sen was choking on words and she hugged him.
This was unlike Sen, but then again maybe it was like her to feel so much for others. Sen herself was ignored, but not the way that John was.

Kura-chan opened her mouth to say something and then she saw it. Sen hugging John... Kura-chan braced herself.
"Jet, I think she figured it out..." Kura-chan was horrified.
There was so much at stake at this moment...
 
The character had been a troublesome thing to subdue. Time and time again, it escaped the Guardians, wreaking havoc wherever it ventured, leaving nothing but misery in its wake. It was the first of its kind - larger, more powerful, more durable... It was like nothing witnessed prior. Its weak spot had been found to be its back, but nobody could get behind it. In fact, it was only Holly and John who knew where to strike. He ran to distract it, not wanting Holly to endanger herself. He didn't love her, but he valued her most among the Guardians, even if he refused to show it. She struck it, and purified it - but she had been too slow. It had nearly destroyed John with a vicious blast of energy, and he was laying on the ground, his blood mixing with the mud and rain. To anyone, it looked as if he had been a coward and abandoned his post. The rumour was spread - nobody knew who by - and in what seemed like mere days, he was forced to resign. He had not tried to stop the rumours - when even Holly had said she was backing them, even though it was the only thing that would force him to quit and recover, he lost faith. John had lost himself, and Jet had been confined to his egg. The strange thing was, was that it returned to a normal, white, egg.
He was born again days later.

Jet was about to question what it was that Kura was about to say, but he stopped – he was seeing something, but he couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. John would not respond to it like anyone would think – not emotionlessly, not packed with a burst of realisation. Memories of the misery and torment he endured, the hatred he received, someone just telling him to die… Everything would come flooding back. The memories would obliterate his emotional defences, leaving nothing in its wake. John would be broken, by the person who was supposed to fix him.

The boy simply stood there, a vacant expression filling his face. It was as if he was staring into something - another time, another place, somewhere distant. Jet was right – his emotional floodgate was being pounded at, his façade incapable of holding back anything. Inside, he was at war with himself – though Jet would not be affected, he would feel it. He would feel John's inner conflict. He would feel him breaking, his mind snapping in two.
And all the boy did was return the hug, though his arms were dead – there was nothing in his embrace. It was cold, dead, nothing more than two arms around a person.
If it was not for the tear that fell down his cheek, one could have thought he had died inside, and this was but a hollow shell responding.
 
"John, I'm sorry I didn't realize it before, but it makes sense now..." Sen broke off.

She hadn't seen the tear, but probably for the best. The hug that was returned, was expected by Sen. Cold. She nearly broke becoming almost pale, sickly even. Sen looked at his eyes. Empty like the hug. Sen's own eyes were searching for something. Anything.

"John... John... Snap out of it..." Sen called to him.

Perhaps some part of him would hear. Would open. Would respond. Sen could almost feel it... hear it... the breaking. She would be with him through it all. Broken or put together, angry or emotionless, Sen would be a friend he could count on. Though the irony in all this, was that Sen was remembering her own past. Though it wasn't nearly as intense as she assumed John's to be.

Always, Sen studied. She never had time for anything else. To her father, she was nothing.

"You're an idiot just like your mother!" He would have said.

And she would answer "I know."

Often times, she would try to impress him. It was always, "Father I'm first chair!", "Father, I'm rank one!" And his cold response, "You're a failure as a child." or "Go play suck up somewhere else." The whole relationship with Sen and her father was fragile like glass. Everyday, she would suffer, being so distant from her father. Ever since mother left... Sen was yelled at. Taken down piece by piece. And often times, she would play the cello... and every time she played, her cello sounded sad... even if it was a happy song, she looked sad... broken. She studied harder and didn't play outside or make friends. So at school it was often...

"Who is that girl?", "What a freak, she can't even go outside!", "Look how pale she is." and "Can I cheat off you?"

Even now... there is one she can not escape... who torments her... who hits her...
"Give me your homework, freak!" And he would punch her... and one time she fell tumbling down the stairs... broken in the sunlight... literally burning...
 
Traitor.
Coward.
Scoundrel.
Just some of the words that were hurled at John, on a daily basis, following the release of the 'scandal.' Nobody had stood up for John – a miniscule amount stood by him, but nobody stuck their neck out to make it known that he was still a respectable person. Not even Holly – she had wanted to, but the rest of the Guardians had been forced to stay silent, to keep their reputation. Holly had threatened to quit, until John told her that she was needed there. And when he was told that she didn't care, John told her that he was no longer a person to be seen talking to.
And he left her, standing there, shouting at him. He left an angry, confused girl, shouting at a hateful, hope-deprived boy. And he simply.
Didn't.
Care.

John held Sen marginally closer, tears now dripping from his eyes in an offbeat, irregular manner. Sometimes they fell, sometimes not. He didn't know why he was crying – he never cried. He didn't know why he trusted Sen with himself so much. He didn't know why he felt compelled to show her that yes, he was indeed feeling something. In his eyes, in his heart, in his soul – he'd never say it in such a way, but it was plain to see. The big, powerful leader, who fell from grace, and lost everything in the process. The boy who became one of the most hated figures in the school. The lonely, empty child.
He was just alone.
All he wanted was someone to tell him it was going to be all right. Someone who would give him a warm hug, rub his head, and tell him that he wasn't alone in the big, dark world. He was just a little boy, looking for somebody to take his hand, and lead him along.
"I don't want to be alone…"
His voice was cracking. His eyes welled up, and it took all he had not to let the floodgates open. His usual expression let up, and je couldn't hold back. All the sorrow, all the anger, hatred and pent-up emotion, was channelled into something else. All the tears he had stored up, flowed onto the floor.
"I just don't want… To be alone…"
 
"John, I'm here okay... You aren't alone anymore..." Sen said to him.

Sen held him closer. This time she saw... she saw the pain from so long... burst through to the surface. It was unreal. And Sen herself sank. Into what was unclear. She could feel the pain from this person emanate like light from the sun. Sen pulled a tissue from her pocket... It was crinkled, but usable and she wiped away John's tears. Hoping to wipe away the pain. At least John trusted her. She meant what she said.

"You aren't alone... I promise... Broken or Put together... angry or emotionless... I will be there." Sen almost cracked herself, but she was strong for John.

It probably wouldn't help the situation if Sen cried like she wanted. She had never seen anyone so broken... so torn. It was the most painful things she had ever witnessed. And again she found herself sinking into an unknown abyss. A place she desperately wanted to escape. Choking... gasping for breath.

"It's going to be okay." Sen said to him.

She didn't want him to be so hurt... It wasn't right for someone to feel so hurt all by themselves.
 
And, like a toddler who had just grazed his knee, he hugged Sen. This time, he put feeling into it, all the feeling he had never had over the years - not just from when people started truly hating him. There was a certain weakness about him that had never been there before, something about how he had been so alone, and how he had never done anything but let who he was fester away in the recesses of his mind and body. There was a warmth in him that was surfacing, making his embrace more meaningful, making himself seem like someone Sen could come to in a time of need, someone whose arms would always welcome her - even if he himself was broken, and the pieces were in need of being picked up. Even if he himself was just a lonely little boy, stumbling about in the darkness, reaching out for a person who could see him for who he was, and could make sure he wouldn't have to keep up the façade of his being forever. and it was then that it struck him.
He didn't want Sen to be alone either.
He had seen Sen, and how people looked at her, and how they talked. He had seen and heard what people thought she had done, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. No matter what, his leader's instinct had shone though, as had thoughts of what he had experienced. He wanted her side of the story.
"It's no use telling me that... If I don't promise anything in return. So I do. I promise that you'll never be alone. I'm not going to leave you, Sen."
He'd had to force it out. Not because he didn't mean it, but because he could hardly speak."
 
With John's sudden warmth... Sen nearly shattered to pieces. And upstairs she heard what sounded like her glass statue of her mother breaking. A mistake no less. The sound resonated within her, shaking her like a violent storm.

And that was when Sen realized... She had the same look John had... And at the same time she remembered why she was broken...

"I wish you had died at birth..." Her father said to her.

And since then... Sen had not spoken to her father. But she learned to hide everything. And indirectly, so had Kura. Neither Sen nor Kura spoke of it... Kura had not said why she how she had come to be. Sen was a girl, so broken, so lost, she helped others, trying to fill that empty hole... gaping inside her... growing ever wider. But even now, it was possible that no one would ever see it. And she would remain a friend to John and at the same time... A liar... Hiding her own pains... saying she was okay, but she must do it so John wouldn't see... And of course... this realization... made the hole grow so wide she cried empty tears.


Kura had been watching from afar. And she sensed it. The lie Sen had... waiting to cover up the questions... And Kura would be apart of it... Kura knew that Sen had been suffering by herself. Always hiding at home... never having friends... never letting anyone realize... she was broken...

"Thank you." The words themselves were distorted. Like a picture looked at through a vase. She sounded lost... far away... incomplete...
 
"Don't... Don't you dare make me feel like I'm doing nothing for you. I just want you to be happy. I want you to be happy, for as long as possible, and as much as possible. I don't care about anything else! I just want you to be happy..."
John simply held his friend to him, now crying silently, his eyes beyond crying, his thoughts beyond the hard and logical. He hadn't felt such a strong hatred, not for another person's sake. He despised those who could just judge such an innocent, friendly person as they did, who could drive them into the ground and think nothing of it. He hated how they never considered that they were hurting somebody. When he was in the Guardians, rumours circulating around were never his business He had ordered people to look for evidence, if it was within the school, but matters similar to Sen's were out of the Guardians', let alone his, reach. But it was too late for that. All he could do was make sure that Sen was happy, and that he remained her friend, that she would always have someone by her when she needed someone. He may have been a lonely child, hoping that somebody would hold their hand out and reach out to him. But he now had something to strive for. And he knew, somewhere in his heart, that Sen would stick to her word, as long as she lived.
He didn't know what the feeling was, the one that was clawing its way into his heart, making him feel like holding Sen was the most natural thing in the world - like her happiness was the only thing that mattered. But he liked it.
 
The words John had uttered... seemed foreign. Unheard of. Unspoken. Want you to be happy... what words... what beautiful words... They touched her so and she repeated what she said earlier that day.

"John," Sen choked, "I need you..."

She gripped him tightly and she cringed when she heard the arrival of her father.

"Sen are you in here?" He asks, his voice resonating throughout the library walls.

Her father could see the two of them. Though he was not angry. Disappointed more so than anything. And if John's sight was keen he would see the fragile relationship that threatened to break. Sen's father smiled, a rather fake smile at that.

"Honestly my boy, you can do so much better." He says rather encouragingly, "She's nothing really that special. You look like a smart boy, go find yourself a winner! If you do, I'll tell Sen not to bother you. And I'd ask you to do the same."

He patted John on the shoulder, in a way ripping the two apart. Sen was unable to do anything as she watched her father guide John to the front from room. And with each step, Sen could feel the underlying insults of his every word. She could only wonder in horror what John must be thinking, but she smiled warmly at him, but soon the smile became distorted with each step her father took. Eventually, looking like she was frowning.
 
John had held onto Sen, his head being put close to hers, trying to make sure he could be close to her. Sen's words only cemented how he felt about her - he wasn't sure what that feeling was, but at that moment, he knew that it was concrete. But when Sen's father arrived on the scene, he cursed the man's timing. He hated parents who meddled in affairs that were not theirs to do so in - he understood that parents wanted what was best for their children, but when they were robbed of their freedom, he judged it a step too far. In fact, as he was being told not to bother Sen, it took all his self-restraint not to deck him - right then, right there. As it was, his teeth were gritting, his anger reaching boiling point. He was a wound spring - anything could set him off now, and it would not be pretty. As soon as he was able, he turned to match the man's fake smile, his own one slightly sinister. Like the Joker's 'smile,' only less natural.
"Sir, please. I appreciate your concern, but I really feel that my decisions should be my own. And I RRELLY feel that it'd be QUITE nice, if you allowed your daughter to make her own decisions. I am a smart boy, sir, and I find that my decision is quite adequate. Do you have a problem, perhaps?"
John had begun to move into a fighting stance. Only as a pre-emptive measure – it was a stance that would disguise that he was ready to fight, but allow him to get on the defensive at a moment's notice.

"I'm worried," Jet muttered to Kura, "For Sen's father. Seriously. It's bad enough that he took John away from Sen, but while he was hugging her, and letting himself out? He'll be lucky to get out with all of his limbs broken, at this rate."
 
Kura tried not let out the giggle. It was a serious matter, but the sight of her father's broken body wouldn't exactly be a sad one.

Sen's father tried his best not to let his smile waver, but it was quite obvious that it shrank a few centimeters. Sen could feel the tension and she was afraid to say anything. It'd be much worse if Sen was forcibly brought into this.

"There is no problem. My daughter made the decision to be this way. I'm sorry you ever got tangled up in her mess in the first place. She's nothing worth worrying about I assure you. However, you too will learn how insignificant her life is. And you will leave her, of your own accord of course." Her father said smiling still.

Sen said nothing, looking at the ground. She opened her mouth only to find that she could barely speak.

"Father, John was just telling me what it was like. To..." She started, but her father completed her words.
"Have a boyfriend. Right I see. Well good lesson, seems as though you got emotional Sen. Honestly, rejection is to be expected for you sweetheart. Don't cry about it. Now tell your 'boyfriend' good bye. Oh, I never thought I'd get to say that."
"Father, I will walk him out now."
"Yes, please do. After which, you and I have many things to discuss, hm?"

With that Sen's father stood by the door waiting for Sen to lead John out, which she did, head staring at the ground.
 
John was trying his very hardest not to let his fist sink into the man's face - his fists were clenched, turning his knuckles and alarmingly pale shade. Some veins were even beginning to make themselves more visible, the fake smile fading into a repressed frown the instant his face was out of view. Jet didn't dare touch John, for fear of being the thing that set him off - the tiny spark the blew the powder keg. The straw that broke the camel's back. Wordlessly, his steps deliberate and purposeful, John walked by Sen's side, unable to even breathe properly for fear of roaring in some form of primal rage, causing him to release his anger in the form of a violent barrage of blows to the father's being. He did, however, manage to mutter a sharp, quickly-delivered insult to the man he had already begun to despise, thoroughly.
"It must be so strange, to be so pig-ignorant of other people's feelings."
He didn't even look at Sen's father as he spoke. Jet simply looked to the man, and looked down, shaking his head.
 
The door was shut behind the two of them. And the pair was left alone.

"John, that is my father..." Sen said, not really wanting to admit to such a thing.

Her cello was outside by her father's car where she usually played for him when he arrived home. Sen could hear the familiar click as she was locked outside once again. Sen's father wasn't in a very good mood and neither was John. Sen very lightly touched John's shoulder. And she looked into his eyes. Perhaps the person Sen had been trying to hide had released itself.

"I will be okay." Sen said to him.

She would be outside for a little while and without her parasol, Sen perhaps would be sick. She would sit in the shade. Sen was albeit a little irritated in having her father ruin such a delicate moment. A feeling had rammed into her that she rather enjoyed before it ceased upon the sound of her father. It was like he took her heart and its wants... tearing them. Each chance Sen's father got, he broke her. He crushed her, brainwashed her into thinking that she had to impress him to be worth something. It was what she believed up until she was hugged by John. But how could she be something? When she was nothing.

Kura doesn't look at Jet. She was well aware of this problem and she still hadn't told Jet why she was created. Nor did she tell Jet that she was fading.
 
"People always said I was nothing. Before I became a Guardian, nobody said I could ever amount to anything. Essentially, I was left to die. I... I didn't see much point. But I clung on, because giving up meant that even I thought I was worthless. And I was. But you have a future. You have Kura. You have your grades. And the only thing stopping you is that swine in there. Don't give up. If not for yourself, then for me."
John pulled Sen into another embrace, but quickly released it, and pulled out a baseball cap. It was a cheap, rolled-up thing, that had somehow been stuffed into its pocket, but it was still intact, and very much usable. He gingerly placed the item upon Sen's head, making sure it was on snugly, but not too tightly. He needed to make sure it was comfortable on her, if at all possible. "There's a supermarket, just down the road from here. I know the hat isn't much, but if we can get out, I'll buy you something more substantial."
John had simply given her the hat out of consideration. He had no way of knowing that Sen could not go out in such a condition, but he did know that the hat would at least be of some use in the weather. He sat next to her, his arm around her shoulder, holding her to him - yet, his eyes were directed firmly at the ground. He had nothing to say, but he needed to be near her regardless.
 
Sen listened intently and nodded.
Having been pulled into yet another embrace, Sen blushed lightly. The rolled up baseball cap was rather befitting of Sen. It would protect her from the sun at the moment. Since Sen was to be outside for a while, going to a supermarket seemed to be a more pleasant thing to do. Very gingerly, Sen touched John's arm, feeling its presence and letting it be. She was thankful for the hat, but for John also. Kura was not fading anymore, thanks to John, though he probably didn't know it.

"I'll do it for the both of us then... let's go to the supermarket." Sen replied.

Sen found herself enjoying the closeness to John, but what ruined the moment, was returning home to her father. Always she must return. There was no escape and there was perhaps one other person. That same person who punched her down the stairs rather than pushed. It gave her the scar just slightly above her knee and the one on the palm of her hands. This person attended their school and like she assumed, this type of treatment was out of reach for most. If John discovered the person's identity and the story behind the scars... It was most likely end up turning into something rather horrid.
 
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