Noana Belevere trips over herself as Ash menacingly approaches her. He grabs her by the arm before she could dirty herself on the floor. Poor girl, those two punks go and offend whoever they please, run and leave her to face the consequences. She's not blameless in all this either, at no point did this girl try to stop what was happening to Ash. Though, she's not wholly to blame, she's not blameless either. Ash pulls her up, and she pulls away, frightened, tripping over herself again. This time Ash let her fall. The muddy water and trash stain her blue skirt, and white shirt. What a poor choice of clothes to take to the sewer. Why did she even come here? What's the point of even panicking at this stage? This girl has poor judgement. If Ash wanted to hurt her he would have five times over by this point, the fact that he's not planning to harm her should be obvious based on that alone. She dirtied herself panicking over nothing.
"That was pretty convincing. I got goosebumps" Baro said, looking over his skin. He can't be serious.
"You actually thought I ate my dad, didn't you?" Ash said to Baro, to the dismay of Noana.
"Maybe? I don't think you're the type to, but I literally met you today," Baro said.
"It was the easiest way to deal with those idiots. Maybe I oversold it. Look at this girl, she's practically pissing herself." Ash said. Baro laughs as Noana stares slackjawed. No one has ever talked to her this way before. This boy may have the right to be cross given everything that's happened, but does he have to be so rude? If her mom heard this she'd turn over the moon itself to get revenge. She has to say something, to stand up for the Belevere honor, and make Daddy proud.
"You-you,"
"Shut up," Ash said over her mutters. Tears well in Noana's eyes as she debates whether to scream or comply. If she screams, could anyone come help before they hurt her.
"I'm getting sick of you looking at me like that," Ash said, "I'm not going to hurt you so get up already."
Baro reaches out and helps her to her feet. The Sar brothers said everyone laughs at Baro for being lazy and skipping classes, though he doesn't seem to care much about his reputation it's still strange. Why is he so involved with this new kid, why subject himself to more ridicule by choosing to hang out with him?
"I know you think you don't have power over things." Ash said, shocking her. How does he know about her deep rooted feelings of weakness and inadequacy? Ever since she could walk her parents have forced training regime after training regime, always disappointed when nothing really stuck. It's just they sucked the joy out of all the things she liked doing by hiring teachers and suffocating her with their expectations. If she danced to a song, the next day there was a muscular ballerina guiding her through the prerequisites of Grand Pirouette tutu-fu. Just because they have money doesn't mean they need to spend it so eagerly, they'd always hire strict teachers too, the kind who even more eagerly drain the fun out of her curiosities. She just wanted to playfully move to some music, not unravel the ancient arts which pit high speed and flexibility as a counter against unwavering strength. Why does she need to be some peak expert or genius? Her parents just don't understand or care about her feelings, instead they get frustrated when she'd cry about not wanting any more lessons. That was her mistake, should have just closed her mouth and accepted the situation. Saying no is what led to her parents screaming in anger about the money they waste, about how she's good for nothing, and committed to nothing. Not even six years old and they worry about her growing up into an unprincipled whore, flip flopping from one interest to the next without ever stopping to develop any real talents. What a shame, her dad would often say. My daughter, so beautiful and amazing, will dedicate it all to being nothing more than a flower in a trash heap, a miracle, waiting for the day it wilts until it's unrecognizable from the surrounding filth. They thought she couldn't hear their venomous words, their curseful tones. She could hear it all, and she is sorry. So she swore to never disappoint her parents again, they know better after all, she'll be a good girl and only listen.
"Make sure you stay friendly with that Lou Sar, marrying him will be great for our family," her mom said after realizing Ash wasn't nobility. Noana didn't want to disappoint her mother again, but that Lou sar is just so mean. He spent the entire tour just insulting other students for being poor, laughing at how hard they need to work to get a fraction of the progress his parents can buy him with special potions and supplements. His only saving grace being the fact he trains. If only it wasn't ruined by the fact he's so arrogant he thinks all the commoners with all their hard work could never amount to his talent, genius, and wealth. An unpleasant attitude, Noana wished to separate from him and his goons from the start, maybe even apologize to this poor fat kid they were picking on. It seems this kid is worse than the rest of the nobles combined. She'd take a hundred people like Lou Sar over this fat drooling cannibal.
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"Stop spacing out!" Ash said, pulling her mushroom cap up, staring deep into her eyes. His face is slim and defined, strange. How does a fatty like this have more defined features than the Sar brothers, with all their supplements and special potions? Noana could not think about it at all, the intensity of Ash's gaze was too frightening. Is he going to eat me? Noana wasn't sure whether to fight or flight, so she froze up instead.
"You let your mom dictate what you want to do, and it almost hurt me. You sat there and let those punks do and say whatever they want, so they drag you to this filthy place, and it almost hurt me. Now after offending me, they run like cowards and abandon you, leaving you defenseless and alone. Instead of running too, you stand there all frozen up. What is wrong with you? Are you a leaf? An inanimate object devoid of will, letting every little breeze decide what happens next for you? You're drowning in a sea of other people's intentions, stop being such a fucking wimp and swim." "
How can a five year old even speak this way? Noana couldn't understand over half the words he said, but she's getting the same feeling she gets when one of her mean teachers scold her. This boy is so disagreeable, she thought. What is he even talking about?
"You're losing her Ash," Baro said, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Let's just head back to the academy, I'll talk to her."
Baro pulls some extra clothes out of his back pocket. Noana's eyes widen, portable space, that Baro has an incredible expensive secret tool. Portable space is no cheap thing to buy, there must be more to Baro than he lets people initially realize. His arms and legs are incredibly muscular, and so are Ash's now that she thinks about it. Has she misunderstood the nature of these people?
"What Ash is trying to say is that you can't keep letting people drag you into situations you don't want to be in. If we were bad people, those two would have gotten you killed all because you couldn't tell them that you don't want to go along. You need to learn to say no."
Noana wants to cry, don't say no, don't say yes. It's so confusing, and it's like she always gets it wrong. These aren't bad people, and it's her fault they made so many enemies. The Sar brothers are bound to seek revenge after a humiliation like this, and it's all her fault for not telling them to drop it.
Ash leads the way, with Baro comforting Noana at the back. At first Ash felt bad, but after having his life threatened twice, Ash is more than nettled by her complacency in all of this than anything else. She had his sympathies at first, but now it's clear that this girl's inability to speak her mind can quite literally come at the cost of people's lives. If at that very first moment she put her foot down and told her mother that she doesn't want to talk to Ash, literally none of this would have happened. Though chances are that some other jerk with a chip on their shoulder would cause him problems eventually. Regardless, it's clear to him that she's just been reluctantly going with the flow this whole time, which means she's not a wholly bad person like those other nobles who were so ready to kill him over the pettiest reasons. This Noana does not have a trash heart, but her circumstances are dire.
Sect master Khan used to say that even a flower can bloom amidst heaps of trash. Such flowers are especially resilient, but they will eventually succumb to their environment. Khal sect disciples should do the most to move such treasures away from filth, because if no action is taken, the toxic environment will rot all around.
Ash knows this lesson well. A person who only associates with trash will become like the trash they associate with, especially if they're too weak willed to clean the trash out themselves. It's clear Noana lacks the willpower to clean the filthy attitudes around her. If she doesn't learn to speak for what she believes in now, when she gets older she'll completely internalize the beliefs of people like the Sars. Those punks were ready to kill over a truly petty reason, she may grow to accept that way of thinking as normal for people who share her status. Another decent person corrupted by an arrogant and foolish mentality. Though educating this girl is in no way shape or form something that Ash has any desire to do, how could he sit here and watch a flower in a junkyard rot away. He has the power, the knowledge, and the means. It's just such a serious time investment, Ash has things to do, people to see, and trash to clean. But... her changing from an innocent, reluctant bystander, into the type of person that'll push trash beliefs onto more innocent and reluctant bystanders would be his fault. He has the means to put an end to it, right here, right now. Though there is a bigger picture out there, there's no harm in slowing down and just helping one person out. Ash and Baro have a chance to push her onto a path she can feel proud walking, one which won't be led by people encouraging acts she's not on board with. Maybe then she'd stop trying to hide under that mushroom cap, and walk with her head up high.
They enter the tight cramped halls of the school once again.
Ash laughs, there's so much Ash could say to this girl, but he ended up calling her a fucking wimp instead. Curse my social ineptitude.