Why was this guy so affected by such a statement? Sure, he
was one of said housemates Ichimatsu had professed to not care about just
moments ago, but they didn’t even know
each other that well. Startled by the sudden appearance of tears, the
fourth-born’s eyes widened slightly as he tensed.
It was easier to reject than be rejected, so Ichimatsu’s
intention had been to keep his distance for the sake of his own well being – not make someone cry.
“W-Wait, what’s with that reaction?”
Ah, looks like that cold facade had melted away a bit in his
confusion.
“N-nothing, it’s a normal reaction to, to unwarranted… unwarranted whatever! Indifference! Unconcern!”
And with this Kyouhei scrubbed furiously at his face with his robes, grimacing at the rough texture where it touched the now tender skin where the salt tears had fallen.
Once he was sure his voice wouldn’t crumble under the weight of his voice, he turned to look at the other Hufflepuff, smiling sadly.
“No one is making you hang out with me, Ichimatsu. If you… if you want to hang out with someone from another house I’m sure you’d have no trouble. You’re easy to be around. M’sorry for taking up your time.”
“I don’t really care for my housemates.” Hogwarts AU@ichinyatsv
Oh boy, that was… quite the statement. Kyouhei drew back into himself, hands clenched under his Hufflepuff robes and heart throbbing with unmistakable hurt.
“Is… is that so?” Mentally, he went over the statement again, trying to figure out if it was an okay thing to be upset over… yeah, it sounded like it included him, and… ah, there were the tears.
“I-I can’t… tell you who to like and who not to… but you don’t have to hang out with me if you don’t care for my company…!”
If Kyouhei is nervous in front of someone he’ll try to laugh it off - for his own peace of mind as well, but if he’s nervous all on his lonesome he’ll hug his knees to his chest and take on a thousand yard stare - especially if it’s a situation or a future event that’s making him nervous.
“Didn’t mean to cut myself,” Kyouhei muttered, examining the edge of his thumb where the serrated knife had dug in and where a bit of red was beginning to well up.
He was fairly indifferent to bodily injury but it was nice to take care of it right away. The boy turned to Ichimatsu and smile softly before accepting the bandage.
Kyouhei grinned, trying to hide his own nervousness subtly, and gestured at the death trap they were in line to get into.
“It’s just a rollercoaster - and not even a really crazy one! I’ve been on one where you’re only strapped in by your shoulders, with your legs hanging free - it was re-e-e-e-eally scary at first.”
What? Did he really look that bad? Kyouhei smiled sheepishly before checking that the mentioned bucket was actually there, then waving weakly to make sure he still had the speaker’s attention.
“Thanks for showing me, but it’s not really that bad… promise.” Shortly after speaking, what he saw caught up to him and he looked back at the old-looking bucket, in shock. “Why is that even here…?”