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"ouch." izumi hissed in pain, the boy glancing up at her in worry, mumbling a quiet apology as blowed on the wound to ease the sting. "it's fine." she breathed out, sending him a reassuring smile. the boy nodded, returning to attending her hand as he was extra careful in applying antiseptic on her wounds.
silence enveloped the two as izumi stared at the boy, watching as he was concentrated on taking care of her injuries, blowing on it gently so she would barely feel the sting of the alcohol. she wondered what was going through his mind at that moment ― did he regret what he was about to do? or did he hate izumi for interrupting him? "we've met before, haven't we?" he questioned, bringing her out of her thoughts, processing his words before answering.
"hm? we have?" she questioned, acting dumb. she didn't want to involve herself further with him, if something went wrong then she only had herself to blame. however, she couldn't help but be surprised at the fact that he was able to recognise her considering how short their encounter was.
"at the convenience store." he reminded, hoping she could recall the event. izumi simply shrugged, avoiding his eyes, hoping that he wasn't able to read through her act. he sighed, nodding his head in defeat, realising that their encounter wasn't enough to leave an impression on her. "okay, forget that," he began, fiddling with the bottle of antiseptic in his hand as he hesitated to finish his sentence. "what about saving me? why'd you do it?"
he just wanted to hear the words that he had been unintentionally craving for. something to convince him that the girl before him acknowledged him and cared for him. even if she was a complete stranger, at this point he didn't care about who it was, just as long as there was someone. someone to tell him that it was in fact good for him to live a little longer. that he was wanted in this world.
"because you needed time." he looked up at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. "everyone has a purpose to find, you're just someone who lost their way." he nodded, although he didn't understand what she meant by a purpose. instead he glanced back down at her wound and grabbed a plaster from the bag of medicine he had bought from the pharmacy, peeling the back off before placing it on her hand.
the girl cursed herself for getting involved, but she could see it. the way his eyes yearned for her to ask him to stay, to give him a reason to continue living because he feared death. he wanted to escape, but not in such a helpless way. he had hope and izumi couldn't just bring herself to ignore that.
