The boy smiled a little as with her comment as he tried to get himself into a sitting position. With the pair of glasses on his nose, Minoru began to feed himself slowly but surely. The taste of chicken the spices used by the cafeteria in their soup was good and well mixed but he was too sad to really be able to notice. A part of him wished to be home and not at the same time, fearful of displeasing his adoptive father. Never had he ever slipped up - school or work. This was certainly a very interesting turn of events...

When Daphne touched his forehead, he shrank away and then shook his head, "No...I am not well. But allow me to rest and get some sleep. I will be..."

Minoru managed a weak smile for her after saying so.

"Okay, then." Daphne ate her own soup, not talking so that he could go to sleep when he wanted to. His little smiles didn't reassure her much. She had faked smiles enough to know when someone else was.

She decided to herself, as the lunch period ended and she trundled to class, to visit again at the end of the day, and help him get home if he needed it. Worst case scenario, she'd call Dane for a ride.

Minoru waved goodbye in a soft voice when the girl turned to leave for class. Once again he was alone with his thoughts. The assassin reached for his phone, dialing his foster father's number and when it began to rang, dropped the call and the unit itself like it was burning metal. He still could not bring himself to tell Valdez... But if the Spaniard were to find out for himself, wouldn't it be worse?

He groaned, hugging his knees as he put away the faux glasses. Somehow having someone around felt better. Even if that someone should have been dead to begin with.

When Daphne came back, the boy's spirits lit up a little as he unconsciously greeted her in Japanese. "Okaeri nasai..."
___

Welcome back.

((Speaking of a welcome back, I'm leaving town on Wednesday morning, and don't plan on having access to a computer until probably Tuesday. Just warning you, but I am still alive and still loving this. Remind me to tell you some time about the Starbucks cup.))

Daphne tilted her head to the side. She didn't know what language he was speaking, but it sounded asian to her. Then, with a small grin, she shrugged. "Und wie geht es dir?" She had taken some German, and asking how he was came easily. Then, she repeated her greeting in English. "You doing any better?"

"I'm good," he replied with more color to his cheeks as he took off his glasses to wipe the lens. "I feel a lot better now. Thank you for the soup."

Minoru was no longer in the denial stage and had managed to accept the uneasy fact that he had failed. It was a wake up call for him.

First: He wasn't perfect and still has flaws with his technique. He would have to review and become a better assassin with such an event.

Second: There must be a reason why she survived. Not to mention that they had to meet.

Third: The girl was just an indirect target to the real subject of the case. Despite her un-death, the effect still came to play. Daphne's mother was shaken.

The brunet then placed the pair on the side table and in a way showed the empty bowl of soup. "Why did you come back for me? You could have gone home. We barely know each other...Miss."

"Daphne. And I came back because I wasn't sure if you could make it home without help. My brother's coming to give me a ride home; he can drop you off, too." She had called Dane to beg for a ride. He had agreed, after some slight cajoling. It had been a rough morning at work for him, with several machines breaking noisily and messily.

"Oh, I don't think I caught your name," Daphne realized aloud.

"Minoru. Minoru Castillo."

There was a sense of pride and bearing as he said his new name, having taken in the surname of his foster father's when the adoption had become legal. Besides, all his life, the boy had admired the Spaniard and now that they were leading a strange and surreal life together was more than anything he could hope for. He missed his family yes. But the assassin could not bear to bury himself in that pain and stay in a rut.
At least now, he had the chance to live all over.

"I'll be fine on my own getting home. I can contact our chauffeur given he's not busy doing errands or pull over a taxi. My fever's not that bad anymore."

He extended his hand to Daphne, "Nice to meet you."

"Are you sure? My brother's already on his way." Daphne shook his hand gently, still just a bit concerned. She sort of liked the guy, felt like she ought to take care of him. Of course she shouldn't have been surprised he didn't want anything to do with her. Between her gawkish appearance and her mother, who would want to be around her.

No one, of course.

Smiling, he retracted his hand after and thought a little. "I suppose it wouldn't be so bad. I don't think Valdez would mind much. And he is?" Minoru frowned a little, "I'm sorry to have been such a burden, Daphne."

He seemed rather awkward and didn't know what to do, filling the air with much tension than necessary and wondered why she cared so much for him.

Would she still feel the same way if he told her the truth or if the freckled teenager found out?

Looking at his calloused hands, calloused from handling guns and knives, he realized they looked like working hands. Even if she did know, it would be too fantastic an idea. Easily dismissable as most teenagers who handle throwing stars and knives saying they're ninja.

Wonderful, the assassin said to himself sarcastically.
___

x3; Look who's back!

"Great." Daphne led Minoru through the halls just as Dane pulled up in his battered '99 Ford Escort. "And you're not a burden. You're a nice guy, and I'm sure you'd do the same for me or anyone else."

She assumed that, at least. A guy like him couldn't be the sort who would avoid helping someone, right?

Dane waved wearily at the two of them, clearing some of the crud out of the back seat. His car always seemed to collect magazines, notebooks, and other oddities. He blamed it on the pewter dragon hanging from the rear-view mirror. Yes, Kierek was the packrat, not him.

Minoru forced a smile, nodding as he followed her.

Actually. He wasn't a nice guy. Many had called him an elitist. A snob. Sometimes even a bitch.

The brunet was never one to be with the crowd, preferring to stand back and simply watch. Thus hearing Daphne's words, felt a little strange for him. He didn't argue anymore with her, not wanting to make a scene.

He entered the car, shocked at the amount of things ---to put it nicely, that had been collected over time. There was dust on a few and some looked quite aged.

"Good afternoon," the assassin greeted as he eased himself inside the vehicle's available space, being courteous as possible. "I hope you don't mind. I live far from school."

Looking at Daphne, he wondered if the girl knew him enough to say such a nice thing about him.

"Nah," Dane waved off the comment about it being too far away, grinning. "Anything for Daphi. She's so asocial, it's just nice to see her with someone. Anyway, I'm Dane." He didn't offer a hand to shake, as he was busy with driving.

Daphne had meant the comment about him being nice. She couldn't imagine him being a snob. But then, she was working off an impression of him formed when he was sick. Anyway, she ignored Dane's comment about her asocial nature. It was true she was a bookish loner. So?

He smiled, making himself comfortable and nodded, "Thank you. This is...the first time I've made my way back home not on my own car or commuted back. Thank you."

But that didn't mean he had no soft side to him.

As a student, he was quite a strange creature.

Minoru was aloof and at the same there. It all simply depended on his mood at the moment, as well as the circumstance.

"Asocial?," he repeated with a curious tone, arms folded across his chest, tilting his head a little, "My...I didn't---This is actually my first time meeting Daphne. Embarrassing as it may sound, I fell into a faint and she helped me up."

...Not like they would believe him if he said he had met her even before that, gone inside her house and even knew rather interesting things about her.
Or that the circuitry in her house run in a certain way that if directed to a single source at a given time could kill.

Definitely not.

"What grade are you by the way?"

Change the topic. Something...casual. Like school. Unless the freckled miss had problems on school that got her upset talking about it. Minoru had often made a mistake of talking to some people that way; thinking a topic casual enough for conversation and ending up making them upset because of the stress factors they linked with it: work, family and even love life.

"I'm a sophomore. Just transferred. So the help was very much appreciated. I haven't fully adjusted yet though."

((Note to any mods who see this. Hi, I'm Mercy's other account, and whitebeast knows that. I'm picking up because Mercy's on break. Long story.))

"I'm a junior, ish," Daphne said. Her junior year had been interuptted by her hospital time, and she'd refused to do summer school, simply deciding to re-pick-up on her junior year after she had recovered. But she didn't want to bring that up right then.

Dane looked back at Daphne, then at Minoru. "Yeah, Daphi would do that." He shook his head at his dear little sister, a half-smile on his face.