The Serenity of Niko Shinjumaya[Icicle//RiniPinja]

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After entering the building, Niko could only manage to stare at Serenity, her words gripping him with a vice. "You're rather brave" Niko frowned as the girl left, unable to hear her next few words over the sound of his own thoughts. "I'm definitely not brave......I've been doing nothing but running....hiding...lying..................she's wrong." But, no matter how differently he phrased the thought in his head, he could not convince himself. The boy stared at the girl as she hastily walked past the line for food gathering and went to the eating room itself. "...I just can't understand..."

After Niko went through the food-collection room and got his lunch, he made his way over to the table, nearly losing one of his cups of sugary, bubbly liquid to the wicked forces of gravity. He managed to balance it out just in time, and quickly set the tray on the table, steadying the two cups by hand. After sitting down, his face somewhat satisfied, but also rather solemn, he calmly began to eat, thinking about Serenity's words and evaluating their deeper meaning from within the depths of his mind.

After a few seconds of eating peacefully, he heard the determined girl start to speak and looked up just in time to see her mouth the word, "Officer" Immediately, Niko shot up from his seat, a look of terror on his face. "Wait, what did you..." He looked over to the door and saw a boy rushing out, then his terror disappeared, replaced with intense anger and determination. He grabbed the fork and the spoon off of his tray, then immediately started to sprint towards the door without another word.

Once the students say Niko sprinting, they shouted taunts like, "Go ahead and break the window again, twerp!" and, "Oh no! Don't step on Sharla again!" Niko paid these people no heed, and was out of the Cafeteria in no time flat, pulling his headset on and activating it's noise cancelling feature. He was nowhere near as fast as he was on previous days, and the pain in his expression was highly apparent, even as he opened the door.

Once he left the cafeteria, he immediately sprinted in the direction which the boy went - towards Monticute. Niko knew exactly were the boy was going, and decided to take a short cut. Instead of entering the building, Niko swerved over to the side of the building, then held the back-ends of his metal utensile to stab into the cement between the bricks. He used this strategy to climb up to the third floor, occasionally slipping, but immediately continuing his quick escalation. Once he reached the corner window, he flung it open, rolled inside, opened the drawer, pulled out the piece of paper, and shoved it into his pocket. Niko then picked up a metal object on his desk and crouched by the window. He then shut and locked the door and pointed the device at the door.

Niko remained silent as he heard the lock of the door open, then, as soon as the door swerved open, he clicked a button on the top of the metal object. The object released an incredibly violent flash of light, coupled with a high-pitched, somewhat loud noise noise, quite similar to a thunderclap of a higher frequency. The light was so bright that Niko had to look away to avoid being blinded. Immediately after, Niko sprinted over to the figure in the doorway and planted the palm of his hand on the boy's forehead, and pushed him backwards. The boy screamed in intense agony upon being touched and fell over, unconscious by the time he hit the floor. Niko quickly bent over and felt the boy's neck, and, after ensuring that he had a pulse, Niko walked back into his room and placed the metal device back on the desk behind a textbook, then walked back out the door.

The boy was still on the floor when Niko walked over, but he was starting to regain consciousness. Niko turned off the noise-cancelling feature of his headset and pulled it off of his ears, then gently slapped the boy's cheek a few times. "Hey! Hey! Are you awake? Can you hear me?" The boy opened his eyes, but looked up at Niko in confusion.

"What the heck? How'd I get here?" the boy asked, quickly getting up as Niko backed away a few steps. "You were eating lunch, then you got up and sprinted over to my room. Can you remember anything unusual happening before you blacked out?"

This seemed to jog the boy's memories, so he thought for a few seconds and then responded, "There were a few people around me who kept mentioning a piece of paper. That was a bit weird. Besides that, no, I don't even remember when I blacked out, but I do remember being in the cafeteria..." The boy looked up at Niko suspiciously, then asked, "Is this some sort of prank?"

Niko shook his head, then helped the boy up and led him out of the dorm building, asking him a few questions to which the boy was unable to answer. After they left, Niko bid the boy farewell and made his way back to the cafeteria. He had no issues getting back into the building, but before he returned to his table to start eating, he deposited his two pieces of silverware on the carousel, thoroughly bent and covered in cement dust.

He got new pieces of silverware from the lunch-collection area, and then quickly made his way back to the table, tensing up all of his muscles to distract himself from his pain. "Serenity...Kamoku..." he started, hiding his frustration and agony beneath a solemn sigh, "I think we need to find places to talk which are more.....secure......" he then immediately continued to eat his food, using his new silverware. His hands were shaking slightly as he ate, but it was only noticeable when he was trying to stab food with his fork or transport his cup to his mouth. Most noticeable was a small spot of wetness which began to form on the sleeve of his hoodie. Niko noticed this as he was bringing food to his mouth, so he took a bite, playing it off, and then quickly reached for his cup of water.

Niko took a drink of the liquid, but, as he was bringing it back to the tray, the side closest to his wrist was hit by the corner of the tray and the cup's small amount of remaining contents spilled onto his arm. "Oops, uhh.....excuse me..." Niko commented, hastily rising from his chair and making his way over to the family restroom. Once he was inside, he locked the door behind him and quickly limped over to the sink. He then checked his dressings to ensure that nothing required urgent attention.

Upon leaving the restroom, Niko was still tensing his muscles to counter-act the possibility of limping, but his face was slightly more pale than it had been that morning. His sleeve was still moist as he sat back down, but he did not appear to care as he immediately began to dig into his food, attempting to shovel as much into his mouth as he could before having to rush off to his next class.
 
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Serenity blinked a bit as Niko expressed fear, but before she could ask him, he suddenly ran off. "Niko!!!" She shouted loudly, standing up to chase after him. Despite his wounds though, Serenity had no hopes in catching Niko. She panted as she stood in the middle of the field, looking around, but she couldn't find him. She also couldn't find another person running – Niko had to be chasing someone else right?

She sat down a bit, to help catch her breath, and Kamoku came up behind her. "Did you see where he went?" She shook her head in response. "I don't even know who he was chasing…" Kamoku helped Serenity back up, who finally felt her body calming down from the rush of adrenaline. "Let's just go back inside and wait, he might come back. If not, let's check his dorm." Serenity nodded.

Both girls went back inside the cafeteria to wait for Niko. After some time, though, Kamoku stood up. "I have to go catch up on some reading." She muttered, showing a bit of guilt. Serenity quickly nodded, "That's fine, I'll still wait here for him." Kamoku then walked out, leaving Serenity leaning against her arm on the cafeteria table. She still had a bowl of grapes in front of her, so ever so often she would pop one into her mouth, trying to calm her mind. Was Niko going to be okay? What was he doing...? She continued to stare at the door, but she longed for an answer on her phone. I need to give Niko my phone number… If he has a phone.

When she finally notice Niko coming back in, she jumped up from her seat. "Niko!" She exclaimed loudly, but paused in her walk towards him when she saw him go towards the conveyor belt. She saw him drop some stuff off, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. Silverware? He must have accidentally grabbed some when he ran out... Speaking of movements - he was walking rather strangely, as if his entire body was really sore. She frowned, hoping he didn't get himself hurt again.

When Niko returned to the table, he mentioned something about secure places. Her eyes widen, slightly in fear, "Did someone hear us?" She said in a hush whisper. He continued to eat, though, and she saw him making minor mistakes: his hand was shaking. She didn't want to press him though, knowing full well that he was probably just sore. It didn't look as though he had sustained more injuries, after all.

But then the saw it. Something wet and strange on his sleeve. And when he hit his wrist against the tray and nearly spilled all of his water on herself, she grabbed his arm lightly. Her concern for him was unbearable at this point, and she quickly, but gently, pulled back his sleeve. "What's wrong...?"
 
Before Niko managed to escape towards the restroom, his sleeve soaking wet, he felt Serenity grip onto his arm. He winced hard, then immediately panicked as she started pulling back his sleeve, revealing a thick weave of gauze wraps, covered in a mixture of blood and water. The boy immediately swatted both of her hands away, almost violently, and pulled his sleeve back down over the dressings. As he did so, he roughly pulled his arm towards himself to free it from her grip, and started running away so that she couldn't restore it once again. "Damnit....I should have just left..." he thought, throwing the door to the family restroom, rushing in, and locking the door behind himself.

He quickly made his way over to the sink and pulled his jacket off to inspect his injuries. "There's no way I could let them see me like this....but I definitely can't..." Niko pulled fresh gauze out of a med-kit hanging against the side of the sink, then unwrapped the bloodied dressings on his arms, revealing thick gashes of partially-healed wounds, some of which were scabbed closed, some of which were open as a result of the movement of the gauze. Niko gritted his teeth and cleaned his skin and the wounds where he saw it fit, then re-wrapped his arm with gauze, ensuring that he went back over each area at least twice to ensure that the gauze wouldn't slip again. "She knows me well enough to know that I'll run away once I leave here..." he assumed, planning out his escape.

After wrapping all the way up to his shoulder and under his relatively blood-free T-shirt, he inspected the back of his arm in the mirror. He was happy to see that the gauze had no red-spots, a testament to the thickness of the gauze. He left his inner arm more thinly wrapped around the crook so that he could move it, albeit with some issue, then started to wrap his other arm, being careful to do exactly the same. He ran slightly short on gauze, but still managed to cover his entire left arm enough for only a few red spots to appear on the gauze.

After the two minute procedure, Niko quickly threw all of the used dressings into a trash bin and threw a few dry paper towels over the top so that inattentive students wouldn't find the bloodied mess within. After cleaning his hoodie a bit and wringing it out, the boy covered himself once again and walked over to the door. He listened for a few seconds, then opened the door and quickly walked back to his seat to continue eating. "I can't skip this meal....but how should I deal with her?" he frowned before shoveling some food into his mouth, trying to figure out what he would say to Serenity when she asked him the question which was almost unavoidable at that point.

When she asked[a question related to his bandages], he instantly responded, "I got into an accident a few days ago and my arm got a bit scratched up." He said this without looking at her, focusing intensely on eating as much food as he could manage without damaging himself internally.
 
Serenity's eyes widen and was about to exclaim her concern when he swatted her away. She winced a bit, not expecting the pain, but she quickly recovered. He ran off again, though, and she silently cursed her lack of athletic abilities. "NIKO!"she called loudly, but knew it either fell on deaf ears or given the cold shoulder. "He's completely in pain." She tried to run after him, but she couldn't see where he went. Once he pulled a corner, he disappeared, and she was left behind in the dust, contemplating her next moves. "I have to convince him to go see the doctor's again… He can't be well enough to be going to school…!"

She walked around the hallway a bit, finally stopping in front of the restroom. It was the most probable place for him to go retreat into, especially if he had some open wounds to be dealing with. The entire time, she stood there, unable to conjure a practical plan. He's going to train to run, she knows it, and there was no way she would be able to catch him. What would she do then? "He'll have to return to his dorm sooner or later… I could wait for him there…?

Then she sighed to herself. She did not even know if this was the right restroom. After a few more minutes, she decided to give up. Her shoulders slumped and she dragged her feet back to the cafeteria, she had to clean up the mess that they had left there, otherwise they would get in trouble.
When she got into the cafeteria, she sat down at the table. There was no immediate need to clean up the table, so she decided to rest her head on the table. The noise of the students was so loud… so deafening… She reached up to her ears… And she heard some shuffling next to her.
She perked up immediately and looked, and the relief washed over her when she saw the familiar black clothes and white hair. "Niko! Those bandages, are you okay?" Almost as if he knew she was there, and as if he knew exactly what she was about to ask, he instantly answered. He played down his injuries, she knew, and the frown on her face clearly show it. "A bit? Niko, have you seen the doctor's…? Anybody? It could get infected."

She watched as he devoured his food, and she was just a tiny bit amused by the thought. Despite everything that was going on around him, the boy seemed to eat as if there was no tomorrow. She then discarded the thought, chalking it all up to the conclusion that Niko had to eat a lot to practice exercising – how else could he reach the speeds that he reached?

"And you shouldn't run anymore…" She added, wanting to touch or comfort him in any way, but couldn't find a physical mean to do so, "It'll just worsen your wounds!" Speaking off, she was itching to ask him about questions of... the recent chase he just gave, but held her tongue. She already asked several questions, she didn't want him to be overwhelmed by her, like he usually is.
 
Niko kept eating his food, almost oblivious to the girl who was speaking next to him. "Explaining it to her is pointless...but how could I calm her down?" After finishing a good half of the food on his plate, doing so only a few seconds after she commented on his injuries, he quickly wiped his mouth off with a napkin and retorted, "As I said, I'm just a bit scratched up.....I understand the situation I am in.....and.....I'm working towards the most efficient outcome..." Niko then continued to eat his food quickly, noticing that many people were leaving the cafeteria around himself. It was apparent that lunch time was coming to a close, and Niko did not want to risk breaking the rules by staying in the lunchroom.

After another two minutes, Niko had finished his food, and had once more wiped his mouth clean of the traces of food which had missed their mark. He looked over at Serenity as he rose with his lunch tray and the few remaining food scraps and commented, "I appreciate your concern, but it would have been better had you not....done that..." He then made his way back towards the exit of the cafeteria, stiffening his legs slightly to prevent himself from limping.
 
Serenity blinked lightly, her face flushing in embarrassed as she realized she was probably being a bit overbearing. She stood up and followed Niko, reviewing over his words in her mind.

He did mention something about talking in a more private area...

She pulled up her phone and motioned to it. "Do you have a cell phone, Niko?" She asked curiously, with intentions to put his number in. She also proceeded to type, in the [Name] part of the contact list It will also help keep things private?. She looked hopeful, trying to fix the mistakes she made.
 
Niko held the door open for Serenity as she spoke, then, after she asked him for something, he looked at her in confusion, then quickly wiped the expression off of his face as he noticed the device in her hand. "A device for reception and transmission of electromagnetic waves....." He stared at it for a few seconds as she typed in a few words, then walked along side her, starting to make his way over to his dorm, and cautiously responded, "I do not have one of those devices yet, however I was planning on getting one eventually...." He paused for a few seconds, staring at the device, then, with a sheepish expression, he averted his gaze from her and reluctantly asked, "...do...you have any...suggestions?"

He continued looking straight ahead for another few moments, before taking a quick peek at her, as if hoping for a certain reaction. "I might as well take her mind off of it..."
 
At first, Niko looked confused, as if the device was some sort of exotic item. But as quickly as it came, it quickly disappeared, and Serenity just chalked it up as him mishearing something. At his question, she smiled and nodded, glad to be of some sort of help. "I personally like my phone, but I know a lot of other people would prefer something different." She explained, not wanting to push him into anything. "We can go into town, if you want. I know a few shops that sell cells for low prices, and you get to play with them for a few minutes to truly get what you want!"

Serenity was at first hesitant to suggest it, wondering if he could walk such distances. But there was no where else to get phones around here, unless you count the students themselves, but Serenity didn't trust the majority of them. When Niko took a glance at her, she tilted her head, wondering if she suggested something strange, so she quickly said, "Only if you want to. If not... There might be some online you can buy...?"
 
Niko nodded at various points as Serenity spoke, hoping that the gestures would make her stop, then immediately feeling embarrassed and wanting to take back the action as she continued to speak about something he didn't expect, then repeating the process as she mentioned something else seemingly obvious. Once she mentioned buying an item online, he immediately butted in, "No, I can't order it online. I have to get it from a store..." he paused for a few seconds after speaking and contemplated various thoughts which popped into his head randomly, sending him deep into thought momentarily.

Soon, he broke out of his trance and looked over at Serenity with wide eyes and a curious face, then asked in a cautious tone, "Would you like to go now? Or, later today? Or maybe after school some time this week..." The boy still thought that school would continue over the next few days as winter break rolled in, and it was clear from his tone of voice that he did not want to impose on the girl. He quickly looked back forwards after speaking, then, without realizing it, his hand shifted up to his headset and felt around the inside of one of the two thin buds. He did not bother to look back at Serenity as she responded. Instead, he curtly commented, "O-okay then, thank you..." unable to determine weather her answer was a blessing or a curse to his wellbeing in his new environment.
 
Serenity watched patiently as Niko seemed to daze off into space. It was getting a little annoying, but she knew it was probably because she talked a little too much again. Still... Perhaps she should just stop talking too much. When he asked for a time period to go, she instantly answered without giving it much thought, "Now is fine! I don't have much studying too do right now." Even if she does have some history homework to do... Nah, that could be done later.

He then reached up to his headset, seeming to mess around with something. Serenity watched curiously, wondering what he does with the headset. Does he like music a lot? She held back her question though and began to walk in the direction of the bus stop. "We can take a bus to go part of the distance there." She explained, unsure how much of the campus life he knows. "Also, we don't have school this week, it's winter break!"
 
Niko followed Serenity closely as she walked in a direction which he wasn't expecting. Once she explained what she was doing, Niko nodded silently, deciding that his immediate question about a "bus" would be answered soon enough. As they walked over to the bus, Niko remained silent, thinking deeply about something, but hiding his expression so that the girl could not see through his eyes.

Once they reached the bus stop, Niko looked around, observing the structure. It was clearly just a miniature sanctuary for rain, but Niko supposed that it was there specifically for waiting for busses. He sat on the bench after a few moments of contemplation, then, after getting comfortable, he asked Serenity, "This....school............Do you trust your friends here?-" He cleared his throat suddenly after saying this, then hastily continued, "I mean, the ones beside Kamoku,...you know,...the other people...."

Upon hearing her answer, he remained silent, continuing to think until a large vehicle arrived. The "bus." Niko stared at the vehicle in surprise, having expected something more like the vehicle he was driven part-way to the school in. After Serenity arose, Niko followed her onto the bus, and paid the bus driver his fare after being instructed to do so. He sat next to Serenity and looked around at the interrior of the near-empty bus like a kid in a candy store, his curiosity only outweighed by his surprise. "It smells like....ice..." he commented, looking around for the source of the smell.

Once the bus arrived at the destination and Niko learned that they had, in fact, reached their destination, he hastily made his way over to the exit and walked off the bus, followed closely by Serenity. He offered his hand as she stepped down from the bus, hoping to be gentlemanly. He then looked around and asked no one in particular, "Where is the cell phone shop?..." He followed Serenity, assuming that she knew exactly where to go, and looked around at the city, becoming more and more paranoid at each new person and thing heading towards him. His expression lost any curiosity, and he gradually shifted closer and closer to Serenity as they continued walking through the town.

Once they finally arrived at the cell-phone store, Niko rushed in and immediately started looking around at the different phones on display. After a few minutes, one of the employees walked over and asked him if he was looking for something in particular. "Uhm....I need a phone with loud speakers and a really bright screen..." he commented, smiling at the man.

The employee talked about potential options for a few minutes, but his words all flew by Niko, who didn't care at all about the pitch. Once the man offered to show him a few models, Niko nodded and said, "uhh, yeah! Sure!" then followed the man as he led him off to the new phones. Niko looked at a bunch of different phones, but finally settled on a smart phone with a high-quality screen and a powerful camera. "Would you like to sign on to a contract? We could give you this phone for free if you sign for a ten year contract..." Niko shook his head, then commented, "No, I need to buy this with cash. Also, do you have any battery extensions for this headset?"

After a seeming wild goose chase in the supply room in the back, the employee returned with a box. "Here ya go! Is that it?" Niko nodded, then the man pointed over to the register and Niko walked over to it. After hastily pulling a wad of bills out of his pocket, Niko handed a large sum over to the cashier, who was rather shocked to see it, then the man gave Niko a receipt and bagged his goods. "Fantastic," Niko commented, looking at the items in his bag with glee.
 
Serenity kept her mouth shut as they walked silently towards the bus stop. So many times she wanted to speak up to talk to him, but she decided against it. He didn't seem like the type to like to idly talk, after all… But still, the silence sort of ate up at Serenity, and she soon found herself itching to say something. To say anything!

Finally, as they reached the bus stop, Niko spoke up. At first, Serenity was excited that he wanted to start a conversation with her, but then she was quite taken back by the topic he raised. It definitely was not something she was expecting to hear. Trust? Her friends…? Of course she does… Although she's the closest to Kamoku, the others were trustable and kind. "Yeah… Of course I trust them, Niko… And I'm sure you can trust them too…!"

He didn't answer her back, though, and just remained silent. Serenity bit her lip, was that enough of an explanation? She wanted to defend her dear friends, but… For some reason, she couldn't find it in herself to do so, so she also remained quiet.

Once the bus arrived, she climbed onto the bus. She deposited money, greeting the bus driver gleefully, but she only received a grunt in response. She didn't take heed of the rudeness though, he was always like that. When they sat down, she was quite amused by Niko's child-like actions. Did this boy hardly ever go out when he was younger? She thought, but then she wondered if it was because of his amnesia that he couldn't remember what the modern 'contraptions' were. "Ice?" She looked around as well, unable to find the source of the smell. "I don't know what you're talking about, Niko, I don't smell anything…?" She even sniffed the air a few more times, to catch a whiff, but her nose met with nothing.

Serenity almost tripped following Niko as he rushed out of the bus. "What's the hurry?!" She called out, expecting him to run off without her. Would he just abandon her here on the bus?! But, right as he stepped down, he turned back and held out his hand, without a single word. At first, she blinked, blankly, "this boy is so confusing… How am I suppose to keep up?!" She took his hand, "Thanks…?" She questioned and then he asked for the direction. She pointed straight ahead, "Over there," And then began to walk in said direction.

During their walk, she glanced back at him, but noticed that all of his child-like curiosity had completely gone away. Instead, he was acting more like a paranoid creature, scared and worried about everyone around them. She was going to question him, but when a particular person was about to crash into Niko, she realized that he was quickly drawing him closer and closer to her. "He doesn't want to be questioned…" Serenity reminded herself… So she did the next best thing, she reached out and hook her arm with his, although gently to not hurt him. It was a simple friendly action, one she hoped he didn't take the wrong way, and so she smiled a bit at him. "Kamoku and I walk like this all the time! It's to make sure we don't get lost or something like that." She explained, hoping he didn't try to shove her away out of fear.

Finally, they reached the cell phone shop, and he rushed in. This time, she expected as much, and so she just let out a small laugh. At first, she walked around with him, trying to help him choose a phone, but she didn't quite know the models herself. One of the workers came up to them and asked them what phone they wanted, and Niko answered.

As the man droned on and on, Serenity tapped her hear gently. She figured it was about time to get her own technology update, her dad has been pestering her about it constantly since she had the same one for years now. But then the thought quickly flew out the window when she noticed that Niko was paying. Her eyes widened at the amount of cash he produced, and she felt her shock was mirrored by the employee. "Niko, you carry that much around normally?" She whispered, after he paid. "You should probably put a lot of that in a bank account…"

As they walk out the door, instead of going towards the bus station again, she instead walk the other way. "If you don't mind, I'll like to visit one more store!"
 
Niko stared at Serenity after she mentioned a "bank account" looking thoroughly confused as he held the bag of technology at his side. As he stared, he asked, "a...bank account? Why?..." he continued looking over at her as they walked out the door, but stopped and looked around after they got outside. The people and noises around him weren't nearly as nerve-wrecking with Serenity beside him....but he knew that they were just as dangerous. "That jerk," he thought, glaring over at a person on the other street who looked over at them as he walked by, just for a brief moment, "...he's just,...no, he's smart, using them..."

Niko followed Serenity as she started walking a different way, staying close by her, but not quite at her side - so as to avoid contact with her. "What store?" he asked, half his nervousness morphing into a somewhat believable curiosity as he hastily made his way up next to her. He looked at her for a split second every now and then, but most of his attention was given to searching through the crowds ahead, briefly looking down alleyways they passed by, and the people who stood out of the crowd by rushing past. "Not a good situation..."
 
Serenity noticed that Niko didn't walk as close, and he didn't seem to initiate any of the arm-grabbing like she did earlier. So she just kept her distance and hummed lightly. "I just need to stop by Walgreens!"

She looked around briefly, trying to see what Niko was being so nervous at, but all she could really notice was that there was a lot of people around her. She tried to hasten her walk, "You really don't like crowds... Perhaps you're not originally from the city." It was the only explanation she could come up with to explain his paranoia at big groups, "Or... Maybe you have some sort of trauma?" She speculated further. Serenity looked over at him, a little worried about him, although she tried her best to hide it.

Right as they were about to turn the corner, a rather hefty woman bumped into Serenity very harshly - it was a full head-on collision. Serenity fell back, and some sort of small item fell from the side of her head. She winced in pain, feeling the scrapes that formed on her hands and legs. "Watch where you're going, brat!!!" The woman screamed, struggling down to pick up her fallen shopping bags. Clothes were scattered about, and the woman just groaned in agony, "Can't even walk down the sidewalks in PEACE anymore. Stupid kids..." She muttered, and she even looked up at Niko, her eyes narrowing to a glare. "Well. What are you standing there for, aren't you going to help me?! Children these days! I can't believe them!!!"

Serenity was scrabbling, trying to find something that must have fell to the floor. But her search was futile, as the many feet around her mercilessly stomped around. She finally gave up and helped the lady with her clothing. "I'm sorry." Serenity tried to say after they were done, but the woman let out a cold remark instead, "It was your fault in the first place." Serenity didn't show any visible reaction in her face.

She sighed after the woman huffed and brushed by coldly beside them. Serenity once again looked around on the floor, trying her best to pinpoint the lost items. She finally turned to Niko, her voice speaking rather loudly, perhaps to overcome the crowd around them, "Do you see anything that look like headphones on the ground? Nod or shake your head."
 
Niko was thoroughly confused as Serenity answered his question, trying to imagine what kind of store advertised having green walls, or plants on the walls, as a main selling point. "Is, she looking for one of those trees? With the ornaments?" he whispered to himself, being careful to speak softly enough for her to be unable to hear her. He secretly hoped that she would answer him anyways, but figured it was a stupid question as she started to talk.

Niko could only shake his head in response to Serenity's next comment, unable to speak. He moved slightly closer to her, but not close enough to link arms again. He was about to ask another question to change the subject when he heard loud footsteps from around the corner. Immediately, Niko shifted his weight to his right leg, which was behind him, and reached for his headset, but too late. The source of the noise rounded the corner and, staring right at Serenity, she slammed into the girl, sending the girl back a few feet, knocking an item off of her head, and throwing the items she carried everywhere. As this happened, Niko flipped his headset on, but before he managed to turn on the noise cancelling setting, the woman started to scream, surprising the boy. Immediately after this, as the woman was groaning, he turned the headset back off and placed it around his neck, hastily going over to Serenity to help her back up.

Niko ignored the lady as he offered to help Serenity back onto her feet, but the girl ignored him and started searching for something. Niko remembered the item which flew off of her head, and immediately looked over to see the woman demanding his assistance as she shoved a bunched up shirt into her shopping bag, reaching for another clothing item on which the recently injured girl's item was lying. Niko hastily lunged over and grabbed the item in one hand, bunching up the clothing around his hand as he did so, and commented, "Of course! Here, let me help, ma'am," as he did so, enticing the lady to briefly swear about his impertinence.

Immediately after shoving the ball of clothes into one of her partially filled-shopping bags, he placed serenity's item into his pocket and continued to help the lady pile up the rest of her belongings. Serenity eventually started to help, but the job was mostly done by that point in time. Once the lady was rudely responding to Serenity, Niko's expression changed. He stepped in her way and, with a deathly frown and an unamused tone, he commented, "next time you tackle an innocent girl in the street, leave your trash bags at home." He then grabbed Serenity's hand and roughly pulled her around the dumb-struck lady, who called out about some injustice, releasing her once they were out of the lady's reach.

As he let go of her hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the item, then offered it to Serenity passively, his expression still grim.
"She did that...on her own will..." Niko murmured, again being quiet as he started to walk alongside Serenity once again, "anyone...anyone here could be..." but he cut his mumbling short and hastily asked Serenity, "What exactly is that thing?" his expression gradually returning to curiosity.
 
Serenity was rather surprised as Niko grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. She looked back once more, though, as to scanned the sidewalk for her missing item.

When they halt to a stop, Serenity look up at Niko with wide eyes. She was about to open her mouth, but then looked down as Niko held out the item. It looked like a small ear bud and she quickly grabbed it. "Thank you!!!" She said, rather loudly. At Niko's question though, she just blinked at him, confusion rather evident on her face.

"Hold on." She slipped the ear bud into her ear, tapping it slightly. Then she smiled once again, the former anxiety disappearing from her face. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I... Couldn't exactly hear you..." She eyes drifted downwards, as if embarrassed, but then she quickly regained her happy composure. "It's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"I've always had really bad hearing since I was little," she explained, tapping her ears once more, "I need these so I can hear! It's rather useful for an aspiring musician." She laughed lightly, although it sounded a little forced. "I wanted to stop by Walgreens so I can buy some spare ones, since I lost one of them before..."She kept her eyes on Niko, trying to gauge his reaction. "Hopefully he won't find it too weird."
 
At the confused look Serenity gave him, Niko became confused as well. He remained silent as the girl did something with the object, then quickly realized what it was for. "Oh..." he mumbled, grinning at her shyly. After she began to explain what he already assumed to be the case, Niko nodded, then commented, "Huh..." He debated saying something else, reaching his hand up to his headset during his pause, but he shook his head, as if dissuading himself, and dropped his hand down as he continued, "....alright then, let's go. Lead the way."

----

Once they arrived at the store, Niko started to wander around, wandering around the store with fascination and curiosity. He mostly looked at different snacks and items, but, after a few minutes, he found himself going through medical item aisles, and chanced upon one particular item which led him to start thinking. He picked out three boxes of long, sanitized gauze rolls, a large bottle of isopropyl alcohol, 20% diluted hydrogen peroxide and a bottle of magnesium oxide pills, and walked up to the counter with the materials. After buying the materials, he walked over to see how Serenity was doing, now carrying three bags full of supplies.

"Need any help?" he asked, smiling at Serenity innocently as he stopped next to her.
 
Niko wandered off, not accompanying Serenity, although she didn't mind too much. She was more relieved that he didn't find her strange, although she wondered if it was because he didn't really have a definitive definition for 'strange' himself... Oh well, the reasons didn't matter.

She quickly headed toward the technology section and looked around, her eyes glancing over all the names and prices. Finally, she found a small black box that looked quite familiar to her. She bit her bottom lip, seeing the words HEARING AID on the front, and hoped that the brand was the same. This was the kind that her dad bought often right?

As soon as she finally made her choice, she went over to find Niko. He wasn't hard to find, to her, the boy stood out like a sore thumb. Not many people had that pale color for hair, after all. She glanced up at the aisle name, and was immediately confused. "Why does he need to be in the medicine aisle...?" But then her thoughts drifted towards the hints of wounds, and she rushed over to him. "Niko?" Her eyes were wide at the large load he gathered, "What...?" She remembered the warning he gave her before, so she glanced around them. At the sight of the few people in the store, she decided not to finish her question. "Just... Answer later." She muttered finally, although her eyes showed that she really wanted to know right then and there.

When they proceeded to the check out line, Serenity kept on glancing at Niko's own basket. Her thoughts scrambling for theories on why he would purchase such large amounts of medicinal items. Was he heart that bad? Or was this some sort of strange scientific safety thing?

After the pay, she just walked out of the store. "Time to go back to school, I guess...?" She glanced over at him curiously, once more, then proceeded to the bus stop. She didn't know what to think as she sat down waiting for the bus to come.

It wasn't until almost an hour later did she realize that there was nobody else around them waiting as well. "Niko...?" She said gravely, "... I don't think we have a way back..." When did the sun disappear from the sky?! Was it THAT late?!
 
Niko ignored Setenity's curiosity about his items flatly, pretending that he did not see her looking at the objects. "I suppose she doesn't know chemistry..." he thought, agreeing with her after she spoke to him. As they waited, Niko looked over the box with his new phone within it. The phone was not particularly special, but it had a built-in light for flash photography which was much more powerful than normal cameras, and it had a speaker setting which had higher quality sound, with a higher maximum volume. The phone itself was a smart phone, but it had low memory usage, average connection quality, and it had a set number of call minutes and texts. Niko continued reading the box for it, as well as the box for his extended battery, and, after around an hour, he looked over at Serenity as she called his name.

Niko looked around, and, not seeing a bus, he asked her, "so...the bus doesn't come at night?" This made him frown, but he took the girl's hand and asked, "well...we don't have to be back to school, because it's winter break, right?" as he helped her get up. After giving her a few seconds to respond, checking his watch to find that the time was "2023" he started to pull her along. After a moment, he commented, "Well...Serenity, there are a few places we could stay in this town for the night. I have enough money to pay for a room..." He then paused for a moment, and turned back to look at her with concern as he walked along, commenting, "I don't have enough to pay for a taxi..."
 
"No, the bus like to stop their routes when it gets dark." She muttered and was going to blabber on some more but then Niko took her hand. She looked up in surprise, "Yeah, I suppose you're right." He suddenly started to pull along, and she stumbled a bit at first but quickly followed in suit. Serenity looked around a bit as they walked down the dark streets. She tried to block out the noises she heard from the creepy empty streets.

She sighed a bit at the mention of money, she usually had a little bit of fare for the taxi, for whenever she came by late, but she didn't think of grabbing such money today. She didn't think she needed it. "I spent the last of what I had just now... I might be able to buy like a dollar meal." She frowned at the thought, wondering how Niko had enough to pay for a room but not for taxi... Then again, their school was relatively far from town.

At first, her mind was racing to find some sort of solution to their current predicament. She decided to send a text to Kamoku, but she knew the girl wouldn't be able to do anything until the next morning. "I guess we do have to stay," she finally answered and filled him briefly on her text to Kamoku.

As they approached the hotel that Niko was leading them to, though, Serenity suddenly had a random thought. She blinked at the thought and it brought a blush to her face. "We will have to... share a room?" Sharing a room with a guy?! Sure, they weren't dating, but still... She tried to keep from freaking out, "Niko's a good guy, he wouldn't do anything strange!" A deep frown showed on her face, and she almost looked rather determined, strangely enough.
 
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