Academy After Hours [Henrex/Arisa]

"You're a night owl?" Arisa curiously asked and then threw her arms to the side, similar to someone celebrating something. "Me too! I barely sleep these days. I sometimes go read in the library if the librarian forgets to lock the door or I practice shunpo in the training grounds! Not sleeping actually helped me pass my classes. Sounds weird, huh? But it did. I practice something new out here, all alooone."

"You don't?" Arisa asked, clearly surprised. She looked to the ground, tightly gripping the front of her shirt. "Everyone else calls me crazy or insane. It's not my fault. She pushes my buttons and expects me to just turn the other cheek. Yukino Kusinagi. I hate her. She's in my zanjutsu, hoho, and hakuda class. I wish she was in kido, but then I'd probably blast her with a shakkaho, so maybe that's for the best."

He hadn't expected her to seemingly celebrate their kinship of the matter. To him, it wasn't something to celebrate, certainly not when it involved others. Nevertheless, he smiled, chuckling softly as she mentioned not sleeping somehow helping her pass her classes. That...didn't seem right -- or even possible by any sense of logic. But, he'd give her the benefit of the doubt at least. After all, what reason would she have to lie about that right now?

"If it helps, I'm glad, but don't forget to get your rest. Sleep is still important. That being said, if you'd ever like some extra practice or anything, you can always come to me, especially with Zanjutsu and Hoho."

The warm smile faltered as Arisa brought up the person she mentioned. At first, he thought she was going to talk about something related to the strange shift she had and what seemed to be -- rather, someone was bullying her, a real person, Yukino Kusinagi. Surprisingly, it was a name he had heard before, someone who had been in his classes. He remembered she was rather...difficult at times, and it seemed like it was a trait that hardly stopped with her studies.

"Quite. Please, don't assault your fellow classmates, Arisa. If you'd like, however, I can speak with her about this. And if you don't mind me asking, why do they call you that? I won't judge you, I just want to get to the bottom of this."

What Arisa had meant about passing her classes was... the less she slept, the more time she had to practice her skills. No, it was not the healthiest way of dealing with things, but if she couldn't sleep, she might as well be productive, right?

"You'd really help me?" Arisa asked, but then giggled, waving the question off like it was dumb to ask. "You're a teacher, that was dumb. Ignore me. My brain doesn't work the way it should. I'd sure appreciate an extra lesson or two! I wanna change my asauchi to a zanpakuto sooner rather than later. I don't wanna wait!"

When the conversation came to Yukino, Arisa couldn't keep eye contact with Captain Astillon. She felt foolish, sad, regretful, and angry all at once. She knew she shouldn't attack her fellow classmates, but Yukino wouldn't stop and she kept getting away with it by making sure the teachers weren't looking first...

Arisa chose not to comment on Yukino any further, and instead focused on Captain Astillon's question about her "nicknames." She wasn't excited to talk about it... "Oh, well, um..." Arisa looked to the floor, saddened. "Because... I talk to myself, at least that's what they think... But they don't even know me or what goes on in my head."

He had met no shortage of students that were eager to find out what their Zanpakuto's name was, to find out the powers that they would be able to access when discovering it. So, it was hardly a surprise for another to be so excited toward the prospect. So, gently patting her on the shoulder, he chuckled lightly.

"I can understand the sentiment. Countless students are excited to find out their Zanpakuto's name. It can be a long process, but it will, of course, be worth it in the end. It's not unusual for an introduction and communication between the spirit and user to happen while you're asleep. There's an added incentive to get some rest."

Hm. That sounded more generic than he intended -- but, that didn't make his words any less true. Nevertheless, as the conversation shifted, he noticed her change in demeanor. He could see the wave of emotions in her eyes, and he gave her a warm smile as he heard her explain.

"Talk to yourself? That isn't anything too out of the ordinary, plenty of people do that. Talk to me about what goes on in your head. I might be able to help."

He had a potential theory as to why, but, right now, he wanted to see if she was willing to talk about it more. Even if she wasn't, he already knew he had to keep an eye on Arisa and Yukino. It was obvious that this was more than just some case of bullying, especially not when it became as violent as this. Nevertheless, he had full intention to help her as best he could.

When his hand met her shoulder, she twitched, moving away from his hand. She chose not to speak about that and moved on, refusing to acknowledge that piece of her fears. Instead, they ended up on a conversation about Yukino and her being bullied. No one understood what went on inside Arisa's head, not even Arisa. She looked back up to Captain Astillon and stared, not breathing for a few seconds as she tried organization her thoughts. Arisa let out a heavy breath, having held her breath a little longer than she should have, and shook her head.

"Mm-mm," Arisa said, continuing to shake her head no. "No, no. I don't want to talk about that. Mm-mm." Arisa took a step back away from him and looked toward the exit. "I-I should go to my dorm. Staying here too late, I might get in trouble. Just because you won't, doesn't mean I won't. I'm not a teacher or Captain or anything important like that, so I should go... Yeah, I should do that. Uh," Arisa froze for a moment and waved. "Bye." Turning on her heel, Arisa hurried off...

He could tell that something was wrong. She was afraid -- what was going on with her that made her so afraid? As she retreated from his touch, he let his hand fall back to his side, his expression turning worried and concerned. She continued to move away, and as he slowly stood up, he raised his hands in front of him.

"Arisa, please, calm down."

As she went to turn, in the blink of an eye, he was on his feet and in front of her. Though, his expression nor gestures held any annoyance or malice to them. His voice, while influenced by his will, still held that same air of gentleness and kindness. He didn't touch her, he simply tried to reassure her.

"I won't hurt you nor judge you, Arisa. I just want to help you. If you're adamant on not talking about it, I won't force you. But, at the very least, I want you to know that you can always find me and talk if you want. I'm never far away."

Even if he didn't understand exactly what was going on inside her head, the idea of it was something he was familiar with. Beyond everything else, he wanted to help his students, to aid them in overcoming their demons, and for them to blossom into better, more complete people.

Appearing in front of her so suddenly made things worse. She felt trapped, like she wasn't allowed to leave. She glanced to the exit again and was ready to make a break for it. It didn't matter what kind and calm words he said. The fear behind her eyes made it clear she was not going to talk about it. She wanted to leave.

"Okay, I get it," Arisa said, slowly stepping around him until she was on the side of the exit. "You've done your teacher job. Now I'm going home."

Arisa kept stepping toward the exit, watching him. She was tense, eyes wide and rabidly wild. Once she felt safe enough to get away, she turned and darted out of the room. Soon, the only evidence of her presence was the sound of her boots smacking against the walkway, fading the farther she got until it was gone.