Turn back the pendulum: I know what you did last week [Tento / Hana]

Some people liked to say that the eyes were a window to one's soul.... It was a good thing that that was only some people, because that was completely different with Hanako. Hanako's eyes reflected what she wanted you to see, a coldness, a toughness, a hardness. The real tools to glimpse into her, in Tento's opinion, where Hanako's face and more importantly her voice. Try as she might, the upper class woman had at times a lack of control of her voice, unable to hide the emotions deep deep inside her resulting them to come up in flashes of what she was really thinking in her heart and soul.

And she was thinking a looooot of things right now given her face.

“Friends? …huh.”

That made it clear even more, the....surprise and lack of being able to believe. Just how alone had Hanako had to be so far in her years at Shino Academy? How much of a tough isolated outside look did she have to hold to hold back and in whatever problem she was dealing with? He wondered. And it also looked like Hanako was wondering herself, as if she was trying to grasp the concept in her hands like a child being told something beyond her reach by someone older.

Tento choice to say no words at her statement. He felt that it really was not meant for him, but for her. This belief was reinforced as Hanako then lowered her gaze down to the table. Tento could only assume she was in thought. But with how complex she was, what could she be thinking about now? Or rather, what could she not be thinking about right now? There were numerous things she could be, but at the same time; it was more likely that she was falling into her fears. Whatever they may be, they could be blocking her at this moment. Treating the possibility of Tento's extended hand as an illusion, a joke, a prank. Heck that had been shown to him many times so far that that was how her brain worked. That she could not have a genuine connection with the students here because they would cruel and mistreat her. To poke at her with mockery and break her down in pieces.

This was all an assumption on his part. He had no idea how bad things were if at all, but they were clearly having an actual impact on Hanako so they had to have some merit.

“I don’t know about friends…” .

"Is that so...?".

It was slow and dragged out, as if maybe the words were unsure coming from her. But was that about the idea of friendship between them or a hesitation of saying no to friendship? Oh people were complex. But either way Tento would have to make do. A relationship in anyway was two way after all. One person couldn't want or request it and have it...just happen. It required work and the mindset from both or all parts involved. But the question was, what was Hanako's thoughts about this that she was not displaying?

Her voice still sounded as if her gaze was turned mostly inward and there was no telling how Tento would interpret it. How Hanako meant those words was exactly that: she didn’t know about friends. She had no base of comparison, no experience. It was a completely honest, albeit not fully intentional, description of her experience in these things.

It would be a lie if this reaction from Hanako did not put Tento more on guard, but at the same time made him slightly more intrigued. He was wondering what exactly to do here with what was given to him when Hanako finally looked up at him again. It felt like she was staring down for an hour when it was really only a minute at most.

Then she spoke and spoke words that made a happy smile come upon Tento's face. She declared that she did not know about friends, but she would be happy to continue training together as sparring partners. That was a positive step, it was towards Tento's goal of making more reliable coworkers and possible comrades in the future after all. He supposed with that and doing their duty, people did not need to be friends, it would be nice though.

"Hey I am not done growing yet, I can probably get taller than you", he said this with a smirk. Trying to give a humerous splash to this heavy hearted atmosphere. He had no idea if this was a possibility though. He was dead....but had a body. Did it grow still? It felt pain, he could feel happy and cry. He could cut his hair. So reasonably....everything could still grow right??? And he was not down growing physically, from the trait in his family he had some more years before his height finished. He would probably be done by the time he graduated if he had to guess.

Her voice was firmer now, more confident, more her. Hm...I need to steer conversations into these. Combat, hand to hand and sword specifically. Training. Exercises.. "Thanks, I pride myself on how I have...had? been able to take care of my body. As I'm sure you can get given how athletic and in shape you are. It's the same thing for me though, I like a challenge, to test myself, but not many are willing to do as tough exercises as me, or rather not able to. Can't match my stamina I suppose?".

Tento then stood up and did a stretch. A release for his body as well as his mind. "Eh, no biggie. We can meet up after today if you are up for it. When do you get out of class? I can meet you by your classroom since my last class gets out pretty early".