He left her there.
People stared at the two as one of them kept walking further away.
She bit back a sob threatening to spill.
This was the one thing about that goddamn Essential that she hated.
Her eyes blurred as the anger mingled with helplessness.
[ "You're afraid of Akira, Yui." ]
"Screw you..."
Her voice wobbled as she whispered, wiping aggressively at the tears that disobeyed her restraint.
Ren probably heard her.
But he didn't stop walking away.
He snapped his fingers inside his pocket, blue particles materializing around his ears as he let out an almost shaky breath.
Almost.
...
He ignored the thoughts swirling around his head.
In his eyes, he was being reasonable.
Yui was the one being unreasonable.
"Tch."
He kicked a pebble on the sidewalk, headphones blasting some nuanced background jazz music or something of the sort.
[ "I just wanna make things right." ]
A soft huff escaped him.
[ "I keep...making too many mistakes..." ]
"Gimme a break."
His posture stiffened, brows digging into his face as he tensed his jaw.
Her voice...
[ "...and every time I do...I don't know how to fix them—" ]
"You're a goddamn hybrid!" He snapped, hand dismantling the brick pillar beside him. "So why the hell should I feel sorry for you!?"
A mother pulled her child close.
Some avoided eye contact as they passed him by.
His back hunched over as his teeth ground against each other.
"All you guys do is kill."
.
[ "Ren, your mother..." ]
.
Lower.
"That's all you're good at doing."
.
[ "I'm sorry, Ren..." ]
[ "...she's...been charged with 12 counts of 1st degree murder." ]
.
His eyes began to bleed a blue mist.
The air around him warped in on itself as he crushed the brick dust beneath his palms into fine powder.
Hybrids kill.
Hybrids murder.
They ruin lives and don't show remorse.
Buzz.
...
His eyes flickered down to his pocket.
His phone.
James.
...
"What?"
"Have you seen the news? Word's spreading fast."
"I have, and?"
The man on the other line buffered for a moment before—
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'AND'!? THAT'S OUR FRIEND ON THE HEADLINES!"
Loudspeaker with him wasn't a good idea.
He noticed a few chuckles directed at him.
Annoying.
"'Our' friend?"
James chuckled over the line. "Yes, 'our' friend. Seriously dude, you need to relax, you sound like you're a professional buzzkill."
That earned a small smirk from the blue-haired man.
"I am."
"Well, Buzzkill, we still need to do something about it otherwise Yui's gonna get a lot of stressful comments and trust me, we DO NOT wanna have that on our hands."
His eyes narrowed.
He hated how he lumped them all together as friends.
"What do you expect a couple of campus students to do against social media?"
The lad over the phone scratched his head as he glanced over his shoulder at two particular professors heading up to the rooftops.
"I dunno. But I do have someone in mind."
Ren finally straightened as he looked back.
The amusement park.
Yui.
His eyes flickered.
[ "She's a hybrid...but...I trust her..." ]
Why.
Why did she say that despite being afraid?
A breif pause settled between them as he collected his thoughts.
"...still there?"
Ren huffed as he looked at the broken wall and scoffed.
"Yeah, I'm still here."
Part of him hated that he still was.
"Good. Alright, so while I try to get some help, you and Yui try and get over here quickly. We should be able to meet up just before campus is over."
"I never agreed to help."
"And I never asked. Later."
"Dammit, James—"
Beep.
A sigh.
A breath.
A reluctant 180 turn.
And an Essential going back to a certain black-haired human who needed help with her friend.