>>5253274You wave at Kazeko, while winking at Tsukuya as you walk past, the latter girl rolling her eyes and turning away. You hear whispers from some of the groups if nobles in the class as you comfortably sit next to Shin, notably being the only person to do so so far. “Mornin’, Shin! How’d ya find the dorms?”
Despite his obvious want for you - or rather, anyone that wasn’t going to mock him simply down to who he was - to sit next to him, Shin seemed taken aback that you actually had, like it had seemed too good to be true to him. After a moment, he smiled, the first time you’d seen him do so. “Yeah, well…” He started, scratching the back of his head. “It’s a bit different from back home, yanno…”
You gave him a seemingly genuine smile, rather than a smirk or a grin like you normally would. Sabitsura Shin was a seemingly straightforward, simple guy, so acting similarly would probably be the most effective in getting into his good books. “Same here. It’s prob’ly a bit different for everyone.”
“I guess… Maybe we all ain’t so different after all.”
“That’s what I’m sayin’, man.” The two of you fell into a pleasant silence for a while, leaning back into your chairs, before you turned to look up at him again. “Oh, yeah. If ya don’t mind me askin’… where’d ya get that cool scar?”
He blinked in surprise, before reaching up and rubbing said scar over the bridge of his nose, seeming ashamed. “What, this? Naw, this ain’t cool. It’s from back when… when I hadta steal food ta live. Got caught by some guys, had to fight my way out. Ended up with no food and this scar.”
“Ah, right. Sorry for bringing that up.” If he ended up with no food, then he lost the fight? You wouldn’t have expected that, not with how big he is, but… Well, you don’t judge a book by its cover for a reason. “Did ya fight a lot back in the Rukongai?”
He shifted slightly, seemingly a bit uncomfortable. “Only when I had to. But people… they always tried startin’ shit with me, just cause I’m meant to be ‘big and tough’, or some bullshit like that.”
“You think I’m one of those people?”
“No way! I mean, uh, naw, you’re alright. You ain’t like them. You actually… you’re actually talkin’ to me before ya assume anything, so…” He mumbled, beginning to flounder, before he was cut off by you laughing.
“You’re a good guy, Shin. Don’t let anyone else tell ya different, alright?” He blinked again, before nodding and smiling. He looked like he was going to say something else, but you quickly cut him off. “Listen, you wanna spar or something after class? I’ve had a little training from my dad, I could probably show you a thing or two.”
“Uh… yeah, why not?”
>(1/2) 