Academy After Hours [Henrex/Arisa]

It was long after hours at the academy and most left the school's grounds. Even those students who took the time to train after classes ended had gone off. Most teachers had left as well. However, in one of the training rooms, Arisa Sohma sat quite unflatteringly on the wooden floors, a paper gripped in hand. It detailed a warning for disciplinary action if her behavior continued like it had been recently. She snapped at some girl with a stupid face and a bigger mouth. Anyone who thought that laughing in her face when she was having one of her bad days was okay deserved to get their face smashed into the classroom wall. Did anyone care about that part? Did anyone even think to punish the one repeatedly insulting her? No. Bullying was allowed here, almost welcomed, as if it was some status symbol.

Arisa clenched her hand tighter around the paper, ripping it under her fingernails. "I warned you," A cocky, high-pitched harpy giggled in the back of her mind. She heard it before, but it never sounded like her, like that voice everyone supposedly had in their had when they thought. No, it was something more, something malicious. She could tell each time the voice sounded. The venom in its, no, her, tone always felt like a snake slithering throughout the crevices of her mind. And each time, she tried shutting it up, yelling back at it or not acknowledging it at all. In truth, it was that voice that often brought her to a breaking point, like when Big Mouth's face ended up bruised. That wasn't Arisa's desire, but this no-named devil lurking in her mind.

"Go away," Arisa muttered under her breath, holding each side of her head.

"And why would I do that? It felt good, didn't it?"

"Why? Just stop." Arisa said.

"Next time, we'll kill them, right? Isn't that what you want?"

"Just stop!" Arisa screamed, her voice echoing out.

"Uh'oh... someone's coming. Do you want to take them out too?"

Before his was appointed as Captain again in the Gotei, he would usually just return to his home in the Living World. But, some nights lately, he had found himself walking through the grounds of the academy. He wasn't bothering anyone, and it wasn't as if he was making any noise. His spiritual power was firmly suppressed, his footsteps deafened, there was none who could hear him -- but, he could hear someone else.

It didn't sound like one of the groundskeepers. So, quietly making his way to the origin of the sound, he saw a small, barely visible light coming from one of the training rooms -- as well as one of the groundskeepers coming from the opposite direction. Quickly stepping forward, he greeted them with a friendly wave, keeping his voice down as he struck up a brief conversation, casually walking with them past the doorway.

Giving them a quick goodnight as they walked away, he peeked into the room, stepping in to see who was there. He recognized her -- Arisa Sohma, someone who had been into a string of trouble lately. She was excelling with Kido, remaining average with her other classes. Something had felt...off about the reports that he had heard. He sat down a small distance away from her, a level, gentle timber to his voice as he spoke.

"Miss Sohma? Is everything okay? I thought I had heard someone yell, but I wouldn't have guessed it to be you."

Shit, no...

Someone was coming? Who? Arisa froze in place, her heart racing, fearful of snapping at whoever dared to come near her while she was having one of these stupid fits. She hoped they wouldn't approach, but they did. They were here. They were talking to her. Their voice, it sounded kind. She didn't recognize it.

"Turn around, Arissaaa."

"I can't..." she said, out loud, but to the voice in her head.

Why? Just. Turn. Around. You STUPID GIRL."

Arisa raised her head and turned to face the one who spoke to her. She was tense, sweaty. Her eyes were wide, but whether or not that was fear or anger in them, who was to tell? Her eyes fell upon one of the professors, Instructor and Captain Astillon. She was in one of his classes the year before. He was probably here to lecture or scold her, maybe punish her for hurting other students.

"What. Do you. Want. Mr. Astillon?" Arisa said, her voice coming through grit teeth. It was like she was holding back, maybe forcing herself to be respectful?

As he sat down near her, he took note of the oddities from her. The grit teeth, talking to herself, the strange, confusing mixture of emotions that he could sense and see from her. He kept a respectable distance away from her as he set his hands in his lap, canting his head to the side in confusion. Despite him being able to sense those emotions, there was too much chaos for him to get a proper understanding of what the problem might be.

"After you yelled out like that, I wanted to come and make sure you were okay. Why are you still here? It's rather late, is everything okay?"

He inched a little bit closer, a concerned expression occupying the half-demon's features. He had heard that there were some problems when it came to her disciplinary record, but, he wasn't someone to judge someone immediately. It wasn't his place to do that as neither a person nor a teacher. Regardless of whether they were current students of his or not, he still wanted to make sure that everyone did their best.

Arisa's stiff posture worsened as he began talking. Her wide eyes shot to a random spot on the floor and stared at it. She was repeatedly bending and straightening one leg, making it look like she was bouncing and clarifying even more instability about her. He could probably hear her rapid breathing as air pushed in and out of her nose. Arisa tightly shut her eyes and cleared her throat, a finger tapping her right thigh. Each tap mirrored the bouncing movements she was making.

"Just being nice, just being nice. Nothing wrong with that," Arisa said at a whisper.

"Yeah, he's being nice. What form of manipulation is he gonna try next?"

Though Henrex couldn't hear the voice in her head, Arisa looked at him like he might have. A bit of fear showed in her eyes and she brought both hands to her chest, one hand cupping a closed fist. She didn't want to get in more trouble.

"I didn't say that, okay? I promise. It wasn't me," Arisa said, shaking her head.

He only grew more concerned as she refused to meet his gaze, finding the floor to be of far more interest. The fidgeting, constant movement, mumbling to herself. Then, she looked at him -- even without his senses being attuned to feeling the emotions of others, he could see the fear in her eyes.

His expression of concern only deepened as he carefully eased closer to her. She was lying -- it wasn't hard to tell. Why would she lie about that? Why did she look so scared? Who was she talking to, if anyone at all?

"Please, don't lie to me, Miss Sohma. You're the only one here aside from the groundskeepers, and I could hear the scream. What's going on? Talk to me. I'm not here to hurt you or punish you, I just want to know what's going on."

Yet again, gentle timber, words that only sought out answers. Despite Arisa's brief stay in his classes, he hoped that she would at least have experienced enough about him to know that he meant no harm.

If you don't calm down. What do you think he will do?

"He'll lock me away, right?"

It's possible. Calm down, Arisaaa.

This conversation going on in her head was not helping Arisa understand what was going on. What was she lying about? She didn't lie. She didn't! Did she? She brought her hands to her face and held them hard against each cheek.

"I didn't lie, did I?"

He thinks you're lying about the scream. You are, You did. You screamed, right? I remember. Do you? You did scream, so what did you scream about?

"You won't stop..." Arisa finally said something out loud, and this time to Captain Astillon, "She won't stop. It wasn't me. She's always messing with my head and then gets mean when I don't listen. She makes me do it."

Now you're lying?

"I'm not lying!" Arisa yelled like before when Captain Astillon heard her and came to help. It was like a panicked retort. Thinking that was going to get her in trouble, she covered her mouth and looked away again. "Stop making me yell. Go away..."

When no voice came back and the heaviness that came when that voice was talking to her vanished, Arisa was able to calm down. She physically relaxed, and she took a few deep breaths before looking at Captain Astillon, heavy amounts of relief in her eyes. "O-Okay, she's gone. Finally... She's finally gone."

A hand started to reach out to her as Arisa held her hands to her face. He could see that she was internally panicking even more, though he couldn't really grasp why. What was going on? Why was she talking to herself? The concern rooted in his face intensified as she suddenly yelled out again, with the Captain turning his head to make sure he didn't hear anyone coming their way.

He turned his head back to her, seeing her starting to calm down. He inched a little bit closer, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what was going on, but, he was certainly not just going to leave without warning.

"Who is 'she'? And...what was that original scream about, Arisa? You can talk to me, I won't judge you. Again, I'm not here to hurt you. Take as much time as you need, I want to help you."

The moment the voice settled, Arisa felt different. There was no longer there buzzing in her head and she could relax. She even smiled like a normal girl when Captain Astillon set a hand on her shoulder. However, the smile vanished when she realized what he just asked. Stepping back, she slid her shoulder out from under his hand. Part of her seemed to sink in again, like she was shielding herself from him.

"I'm not crazy..." Arisa said, sad eyes focusing on the floor away from Captain Astillon. For a moment, it looked like she was about to say something, but she closed her mouth. She showed this same hesitation three times before taking a deep breath. "I'm a-okay! I had a little bit of a mental breakdown because the mean girl in class that keeps getting me in trouble, but that's old news! Promises!"

Before Captain Astillon was given a chance to reply, Arisa began trying to spark up normal conversation, clearly to force a subject change. "So, so, so... what's a Captain Astillon doin' here still this late? Don't the teachers go home and not be with dumb ol' students at this time? Or was you gettin' some extra trainings in?"

There was a childish and energetic nature coming from Arisa now. It came off much more natural than she had been before. Nothing was affecting her now.

Seeing her shrink away, frowning and looking at him sadly, as if a switch had been flipped in her head. What had happened? He had seen a lot of things when it came to fledgling Shinigami, but this was...unusual. However, he didn't make any comment to her movements, merely resting in place, trying to offer a friendly smile.

'She doesn't seem to remember what she was yelling about. Multiple personalities? Like the disorder that some in the Living World can suffer from? It could be even rarer amongst souls, if that were the case.'

While he didn't cherish the thought of a student going through something that unfortunate, were it the case, it was something to keep in mind. His attention shifted briefly as she asked what he was doing there, and he gave a bit of an awkward look.

"I can be a bit of a night owl at times. I had some work that carried into the night, and I figured that taking a walk would help me destress a bit, and I ended up here. But, that aside..."

As he trailed off, he took a moment to pause, breathe, and shift his position briefly, moving to set his hands folded neatly in his lap.

"I don't think you're crazy, Arisa. Tell me about this girl. Is she bullying you? Even if its old news, if it really was a mental breakdown, that's nothing to just brush aside."