You don't know these people, really. You don't know how they met, you don't know why they're so uncomfortable around you, and you certainly don't know what their problem is. But you can make a pretty good guess, and you don't think this is something worth fighting over, no matter how much you almost expect it from these two, somehow.
"You know, given that you told me to go home..." Actually, it feels sort of like they've forgotten you're here, which is weird because it's been, at most, five minutes. Probably less. Your sense of time isn't that great.
"I don't see what that has to do with this," Sanada-san's friend says. "I don't have a home."
"Why not? It's pretty clear that Sanada-san cares about you."
"Well, Aki's an idiot."
"I'm right here, you know..."
I mean, he's not wrong.
"That's still more than I've got." You didn't mean to say that. But around these people, that apparently means absolutely nothing. "I- I don't really have anyone anymore. You're lucky."
"Doesn't feel like it..." Why is he staring at you like that when he says that? You sort of like him, and Sanada-san, but it's weird. And you're saying that with full knowledge that most people don't experience the green time or blow up monsters with cards.
"Come on, Shinji, even the kid says you should come home. Just... until I'm sure you won't freeze to death. Please."
"Not freezing to death seems like a pretty good idea to me," You pitch in. "I mean, unless you like being an ice cube for some reason. And I can't help but think there are better ways to do that."
"Yeah, like-" Sanada-san, again, cuts himself off, causing you to wonder just what he was muttering.
"Like you're still dealing with?" His friend finishes. "Look, I get you and ice don't really get along, but-"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that you're avoiding me."
"I'm not!"
"You didn't answer your phone. For three days."
"I'm not a living cell phone charger. I don't need you to worry about me."
"He's going to do it anyway," You point out. "Especially if he can't find you again. So, if you don't want him to worry, shouldn't you be someplace he'll always know where you are?"
"Shinji. Listen to the kid. I'll talk to Mitsuru, we'll figure something out, but it's just not safe out here."
"You think I care about that?" Sanada-san seems to actually be hurt by that. You don't blame him. If you had a friend, and they told you that... you wouldn't be happy, either.
"Shinji..."
Shinjiro-san...
"But you care about Sanada-san, right?" You ask.
"Why do you ask?"
"...If you really care about him, you should go home. He'll just keep doing this if you don't." You're not sure why he's listening to you, of all people, or why your opinion matters to him at all, but you don't really mind that, if it keeps him from throwing away something you can only wish you still had. Nobody should be willing to give up their home like that.
You decide to leave before you can see his reaction, because you don't really have a reason to be here anymore. And you sort of feel like you were intruding in something personal. But you'd like to think that you helped, just a bit.
You hope they can work out their problems. You like them.
By evening, you've come to the conclusion that there really is nothing good on TV, aside from maybe Phoenix Ranger Featherman R, and that's a kid's show. The other kids like it, anyway, but you haven't really spoken to them yet, and you're pretty sure they just think of you as 'that weird kid from the third room on the left'.
Besides, the couch is a bit too crowded as it is, they don't need you trying to squeeze in there somehow. So, with the television no longer a possibility, what will you do with your evening?
[ ] Study. You have to learn something eventually, right?
[ ] Try to repeat whatever you did to that monster last night.
[ ] Stay up late and see if the green time comes around- maybe it's a nightly thing? You'll be pretty tired tomorrow, though...
[ ] Start a journal of all the weird things that have happened in your life so far.
