Marie sits, silently debating whether to tell Rise who she'd been spending her days with. And who – according to Rise – she has started to fall for. As if!

"Rise?" Marie mumbles at first. Smiling perkily, Rise looks to Marie and nods. "If I tell you something, can you try not to be mad?" She twirls her fingers around the rubberized metal hoops in the table nervously. When her eyes look up to face Rise, she sees a warm smile settled there.

"Of course." Rise responds then cocks her head sideways. "What is it?"

"The guy I've been hanging out with..." Marie takes a deep breath. She remembers his goofy smile and all of those dumb puns and a small grin comes to her face. If she could make Rise see this, maybe she wouldn't be so mad. "It's Sho."

"Like...Sho who tried to kill us all? That Sho?" Rise is taken aback. She said she wouldn't be angry, and really, she wasn't as angry as she thought she would have been. Yu senpai had said Sho was just angry because he didn't know how else to bond besides fighting and had always been abandoned...over and over. Senpai had said he just needed friends to prove to him that things weren't all bad, but all of them had just been too afraid to befriend him.

"Yeah." Marie nods then slams her hand down. "But he's not all bad anymore!" She spits quickly and finds herself stumbling over the following words. "Like, I was mad at him when I first saw him and I wanted to beat him up, but he was kinda funny. So, I kept talking to him then...I...said something mean." As she remembers those harsh words, Marie sighs and makes a tight fist. "Then we hung out for a while longer. A few days later we ran into each other again and we spent pretty much the whole day together. He...paid for me to play at the arcade, bought me food and carried my stuff." Marie's face becomes warm as she remembers that day. Across the table, Rise can see this and is surprised to hear how Sho is acting. More than that, she was surprised Sho got out of the TV world and stayed in Inaba, but he did say he had nowhere else to go. And what was the mean thing Marie had said. Ooo, she was so curious! But Marie kept talking, "then we went to the beach, he made a ton of puns but then we talked seriously for a while. It was really nice."

"Sounds like he's turned himself around pretty well, huh?" Rise questions cheerfully. "What did you say to him that was so mean, huh?"

Not too far away, Sho sits at Aiya, eating his food slowly. Marie wasn't coming. Damnit, had he screwed this up too? He angrily shoves another bite into his mouth, still glancing to the door every time he heard it open, just in case. How was he suppose to know how to act? He tried watching a couple of movies and stuff, but most of the time, they were already friends in movies. And he wasn't exactly saving earth or anything so it wasn't like people were rushing to be his friend.

But how was he suppose to know how people act? Sho looks over to a table of friends and nonchalantly spies on them. They all laugh, tell jokes and playfully punch one another. When one talks, the others listen and continue to respond to them. It was so natural for them. From one topic to another, these guys just chat away happily, not a care in the world. How was Sho suppose to act like that. He didn't have things to talk about, besides fighting and a couple of movies. His life wasn't something to merrily chatter about. Hell, he wasn't all that interesting if you didn't like fighting, death and generalized despair and depravity. Marie seemed like she should go for someone more like Yu. That guy was so irritatingly nice Sho had wanted to punch him in his perfect little face. He could probably make friends so easily. Stupid.

Even Minazuki could have made friends better than I can I bet. He sighs then finishes his food but can't find the will to get up. Minazuki knew how to do everything better than me. Maybe I should have paid more attention to him, huh? Well, that's what I get for being a shitty asshole huh? Heh. Shitty...

For just a second, he smirks. Then the door opens again. It still wasn't Marie. He pulls out his phone, no new messages. Damnit, he really had ruined it huh?

Marie however, was still lost in conversation with Rise. She hadn't even felt her phone buzz with Sho's newest message. For a long couple of minutes, Marie had bit her lower lip and sighed before finally looking back up to Rise.

"I told him he should just leave Inaba because no one would miss him." She admits at last. Rise's eyes grow wide. Marie said that?! Man, she must have been really angry. "But as soon as I said it, Sho looked so...sad. But, he didn't want to show it. I kinda felt bad as soon as I said it. Then I saw him look so sad and..."

"Yeah, he's had it pretty hard. Mitsuru and them had the whole file uploaded into Labrys. She told us as much as she could, but he was confined to one space his whole life and continually left in solitude. He never got a chance to learn anything but fighting. Then Ikutsuki just tossed him out because he fucked the poor kid up. Sure, he paid for his hospital stay forever and gave him a big inheritance with his passing, but that doesn't make up for anything."

"Yeah and then-" Marie covers her mouth. She'd almost told Rise about the night at the dojo! Her cheeks flare up and she shakes her head.

"What? You can't start and then finish! I swear I won't tell! I'm not even in Inaba for long!" Rise squeals and wiggles in her seat anxiously. Even if she couldn't share it good gossip was always great to have.

"He told me not to tell."

"I won't tell! I swear!" Rise folds her hands then crosses a finger over her heart.

"Fine!" Marie sighs and shakes her head. Remembering that night was more painful than she had realized. "Well, one of the nights we hung out, I kinda brought up Ikutsuki and stuff. At first he didn't tell me much, but he mentioned the other half of himself..." Marie's eyes become glossy as she remembers Sho trying to walk as if nothing bothered him. "But then, he tried to fight like...Minazuki?...and he couldn't so then he broke down. He told me you guys killed the other him." Marie feels her eyes watering a little watching as this overgrown boy broken down again in her memories. He had been so vulnerable, so unlike himself. Across the table, Rise watches as Marie's cheeks turn pink despite her eyes beginning to be watery. It must have been a really emotional night for Marie to act out this much. "And he said he was trying to deny it, since that guy was the only other person he'd ever known..." At last, Marie can't say anymore for that last line stabbed her in the heart again. Just let me say goodbye...

At Aiya, Sho droops his head at the bar. His demeanor was so different that the chef finally walks up and clears his throat.

"Something...uh...bothering you?" He asks. But when Sho shoots him and angry look, the man waves his hands and walks away.

Man, he couldn't even react to people trying to be nice right. How was he suppose to make a friend? It's no wonder Marie gave up. Sure, he'd tried to be nice enough, but his attitude was pretty different from most. And even Sho had to admit that his attitude was anything but easy to deal with. With a growl, Sho stands up and shoves his hands into his pockets. With one swift motion, Sho kicks open Aiya's door and walks down the street with his eyes facing the ground.

Maybe he should try to go find her? It's harder to ignore someone if they're in your face, right? And then he could...I dunno...offer to take her to the arcade? Try to be calm enough to sit by the river with her? Whatever. But, what if she just told him to go away?

With a sigh, Sho looked up to the partially cloudy sky. Well, he gave it a valiant effort, but obviously his temper got the best of him. He hadn't even tried to be angry and his temper had flared up. Stupid adrenaline. Stupid bad temper. Stupid stupid.

It just means he likes you.

I mean, I guess I do like her...don't I? Otherwise it wouldn't bother me that she was gone. Not being called scarface every couple of minutes is kind of nice, but I'm sure she's glad to not be called a lame Inaba Goddess too. Could my feelings not be anger?

"So you bonded pretty quick huh?" Rise's voice has become a bit quieter. "Then he got angry?" She questions while putting a finger to her lips. A thoughtful expression comes to her face. "Would he even know what it feels like to like someone?" The question comes out innocently enough, but it makes Marie gasp. Sure, that makes sense! How would someone whose never had anyone care about him know what that felt like?!

"You really think that's what it is?" Marie questions as she feels her own pulse racing. Ohmygosh, do I really feel the same way?

"Of course." Rise smiles. "He's like a little kid. That's how kids react right? Because they've never felt those kinds of feelings before." She points to the sky and nods. "It just makes sense. I mean, think about it, even you have to think that makes sense!" She smiles then stands up to stretch. Her hand shields her eyes as she looks toward the sky. "Is it getting that late already?!" Rise snatches up her phone. "Oh man! I have to get back to the shop!" She grabs up her apron and bandana then waves to Marie. "Sorry to take off so fast, talk to you later!" Then she is gone before Marie has time to respond.

Marie stands up and stretches. They really had been talking for quite some time. She grabs her phone to check the time and sees she has a missed message from Sho. A look of irritation comes to her face but then she reads it. He...used her real name...

Suddenly, Marie's breaths become short. Her grip on her phone becomes horribly tight. Rise was right, he was really trying but he just didn't know how. He said himself, fighting is what he knows. How was it his fault that no one had taken the effort to show him anything else?

But, oh man, could that really be Marie's job? Her heart races and she feels a little flush. Sure, he was fun when he wasn't trying to kill everyone. And yeah, he had a really cute smile when he allowed himself to do so. And, heck, some of his puns were even pretty funny. But, teaching Sho how to be a true friend and...maybe more...Marie gripped her purse tight. She honestly wasn't sure she was ready to try that.

Swallowing a tight lump in her throat, Marie remembers the text message said he'd be at Aiya. Maybe he's still there somehow. She was freaking out, like really freaking out, but she couldn't think about that now. He probably thought she had given up on him and she made a promise! While they hadn't known each other long, Marie knew better than to break a promise! If things didn't work out, she would at least let him say goodbye. She refused to be another person to just abandon him again!

Then, without her realizing it, Marie's feet take off down the road, heading for Aiya.