Those Who Fight!

3. Hajime

"I'm sorry!"

"I know. I heard you the first ten times you said it," he replied.

There was no insult, no hint o' contempt in his voice, only a quiet "Rest now" as he handed her a blanket. Letta didn't get it at all. Why was this guy being so... nice? She'd just destroyed property n' traumatized the inhabitants o' the compound in one fell swoop, so why wasn't she dead yet? She hadn't technically harmed Allysiana, so maybe it would've been different otherwise. Allysiana— now she was the one to be worried about. Maybe she shoulda been a lil' more grateful, 'cos as soon as this one took his eyes off o' her, she would appear. Fact.

"Ya counting or something?" she asked.

"Of course I am. Always take note if someone repeats themselves more than twice," he said. "They could very well be lying. " Point taken. 

"I'll keep my mouth shut, then," she said. She noticed his cheeks pull up into a grin she couldn't understand.

As she sat there in a large, comfy armchair, she considered (for what felt like the hundredth time in the past twelve hours) whether or not she should make a break for it. Third time's a charm, right? It was debatable. But she couldn't run yet, not 'till she caught her breath.

"We never intended to hurt you," he said softly after a while. "We only wanted to help."

"Hyeah," she scoffed. "Tell that to Allysiana." She coulda sworn she heard him chuckle to himself.

"She's talented, but a little... overzealous."

"I should say. Tried to kill me— twice!" she said.

"Twice, really? Hm, that's bad even for her," he said jokingly. Letta thought briefly that maybe he was toying with her, but maybe he was just someone that was constantly joking. Couldn't tell just yet.

"What is this place, anyway?" she asked. The room was magnificent, stacked floor-to-ceiling with books. It felt like a grander version o' something familiar, though she didn't understand exactly why.

"My library," he replied.

"Your library?" She couldn't recall ever being in a library, but somehow she knew exactly what that was like. Like a memory o' something that may've been a dream anyway.

"I take that back— it really isn't mine, per se. It belongs to our benefactress," he said.

Benefactress? She'd never heard that one before. She would've asked him what he meant, but she felt he'd just confuse her even more so all she said was, "Oh."

He was smiling. Why? She hadn't said anything funny, or at least she hadn't thought she had.

"Tea?"

"Um..."

She didn't think people actually offered tea to guests, but apparently it was true. Civilized society was unreal.

"Yes, please," she said finally. Her eyebrows twitched at her own politeness— where'd that come from? She'd almost forgotten phrases like that were in her vocabulary.

The man (Hajime? Is that what he'd called himself?) nodded. "One moment, please. Make yourself at home."

She could barely hold in her snort till he left the room. Her hazel eyes drifted 'round the room; under any other circumstances she would've gotten up n' explored, but her lethargy seemed to glue her to the chair.

A few moments later, Hajime returned with a cup o' tea in each hand. He handed one off to her n' sat down in the chair opposite her own. "I hope you are more comfortable now. You are welcome to the books, by the way.

She swallowed the first remark that leapt into her throat. Dropping that minor bomb on him wasn't exactly the best idea, or at least not at the moment. "Thank you."

"I wanted to speak to you myself when Ella Rin told me that someone showed up on our doorstep last night," he said. Showed up?

"That's putting it lightly," she said. Hajime chuckled n' she couldn't hold back even the shyest o' smiles.

"I heard. Or better yet, I saw."

What lil' remained o' that smile faded. "N' that's what this is all about, isn't it?" she murmured after a pause.

His forehead wrinkled with concern. "No, of course not. You needed help,  so I am giving it to you. Violetta," — it was terrifying to hear someone other than her internal monologue call her by her name. Most people so rarely did; it was usually "bitch" or "street rat" or something equally awful. "— there's no reason to be ashamed. I'm impressed, really. What you did... Violetta, I've never seen anything like it. You absorbed Allysiana's magic and took it as your own; where in the world did you learn to do something like that?" She groped through the metaphorical file cabinets o' her brain for an answer, but she found nothing too compelling.

"It's just something I've always been able to do," she said. It was the truth, too. Hajime leaned forward in his chair.

"And fighting? No one taught you that either?"

She shook her head. His eyebrows knitted together n' he just stared at his feet for a lil' bit. Had she said something wrong?

"The world is a remarkable place," he commented. "So, the truth. Where's your family?"

She gave him a short laugh, but it came out more like a sigh. There was the question they always asked but never really cared to hear the answer to.

"Dunno," she said, giving the answer they never bothered to act upon. It was easier to nod uncomfortably n' pretend it never happened. Hajime's grey, slanted eyes studied her intently.

"Don't know? How long have you not known?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Long as I can remember." It appeared to bother him a lot more than it bothered her. It shouldn't've come as that big a surprise to him 'cos she thought it fairly obvious that someone like her could only be forged from a complete lack o' parental guidance.

She could see the gears in his head turning— could he see hers? She couldn't figure him out, n' honestly, that was what scared her. What did he want? There was no way he was being all nice to her like this 'cos that's just who he was. Kindness wasn't for people like her. Kindness was for people much smarter n' prettier; they were the ones who'd earned it, anyway.

"Violetta," he said. "You should stay here awhile."

Her throat tightened n' she felt like she could cough again. "No, I should go."

"You need to rest and heal."

"No, I don't," she protested.

"Trust me."

She hated that he wasn't having it, n', defiantly, she threw off the blanket n' leapt to her feet.

"I'm fine, see?" But the coughing that wracked her chest said otherwise. She sat back down.

"No, you're not, and that's alright," said Hajime, picking up the discarded blanket n' handing it back to her. "By 'awhile', I meant 'a few days', or at least until you feel a little better."

No way it was that easy. But what if was? Letta weighed out the pros and cons. Pros: food, bed, new clothes. Cons: Allysiana, n'...? She could beat Allysiana again if she had to, n' besides, she could always run if she wanted.

"Please, let me help you."

Nobody'd ever said that to her before. He was unbelievably trusting, but she wasn't in a position to question it. That quality worked only in her favor, so she couldn't care less.

"Okay," she said.

Regretting it wasn't something her mind had gotten 'round to yet.