MH - Avery/Daiki - Anger and Sorrow

How long has it been since Beatrice had disappeared? After the battle the other day, that big gaping wound in his chest left Avery with a ton of pain and he even had to resort to using a grief seed in order to heal it up by himself. It was that stupid blonde's job to do this and she was nowhere to be seen. That worthless girl had done this to him before. Just ignored him completely and disappeared because of something he did, just to come crawling back, but where was she now? Remembering the friends she'd mentioned, he went around searching for a particular blonde he'd looked up real quick in the yearbook. Daiki Masaru. Some Asian chick with blonde pigtails. Considering how big the school was, it was a little hard, but after some time of searching during lunch, he finally caught sight of that particular person. Walking up to her with a slightly worried expression on his face, he immediately started to ask about Beatrice rather than nicely introduce himself “Hey, you. You know Beatrice? Beal?”

She decided to eat lunch alone today. Too many things had been going on and she simply didn't feel like talking with a few regular people around school she knew and she couldn't find Lastien anywhere, either. It was kind of a gloomy day for her, although she wasn't as depressed as before that didn't mean she was sunshine and rainbows again. Daiki was happy that she had an ally now named Aaron and seemed smart enough to know how to stay alive, but some clues she had given her, along with other things that had been happening around town were weighing down on her badly. The girl couldn't bring herself to have regular chats with other students in her class.
Daiki was already eating the last few bites of her lunch when she heard an unfamiliar voice next to her and looked up at him. Who was this? It was a boy with darker hair, glasses and was... Pretty tall, too. Was he an upperclassman?
Oh... He knew BB.
"Oh... Uh, yeah I do." she said, her gloomy mood still visible on her face. He looked a little worried... Maybe he was wondering where she was? This boy actually looked a little familiar, she could've sworn she saw him hanging around the mentioned blonde girl a few times before.

Staring her down a bit, but doing his best now to make it look creepy, he gave a sigh as he remembered seeing the girl before at the Halloween dance. With Lastien. She seemed so happy then, but not so much now... Avery wondered what happened, but that thought was quickly out of his mind as the topic of BB took priority right now. “Well, do you know where she is? You're her friend or something, right? Have you talked to her recently?” He didn't want to sound worried at all. Hell, he wanted to appear as though he didn't give a rat's ass about her, but that obviously wasn't working and the boy was doing that nervous leg shaking of his as he glanced around the area. This would've been easier if he could just call that damned pink haired one named Kae, but even she wasn't answering her phone. Did these two get together to shun him or something?

Was he at the dance? Daiki hadn't seen him if he was, but really, the dance was one of the few times where she smiled a lot, but maybe that was just because she always felt happier when she hung out with the redhead. The blonde noticed that looked slightly creepy, but she was thinking about other things too much to take notice of it and be intimidated, though other times she might've scooted away a tad bit...
Daiki could also notice his shaking leg, but didn't really notice that either. Unfortuantely for both of them, the blonde didn't know where BB was at the moment. Lastien told her to simply assume she's dead since the blonde was a magi like them. The girl shook her head, "I am but... She disappeared. I don't know where she went, sorry. Are you her friend, too?" She didn't know where Kae went, either.
In fact, Daiki was there when Kae despaired, but she didn't know she turned into a witch, all she knew was that the pink-haired girl was there one minute and then... Wasn't. It was kinda creepy.

It was a good thing Daiki didn't recognize him. That was the great thing about masks. Giving another angry sigh once Daiki said she didn't know either, he tiredly touched his hands to his forehead while thinking of what could've happened. She was either SUPER mad and having some hissy fit or she really was dead and gone. Avery had really been hoping it was the former, but even he knew that was incredibly unlikely. Looking down to the girl, he just narrowed his eyes for a moment. This girl apparently knew nothing, so she was of no use to him. When she asked if he was BB's friend, he actually paused and had to think about that for a moment. He himself never knew how to describe their odd little relationship and after hesitating for a bit, he finally shrugged and muttered out a  “Yeah, I guess... Did she say anything before she disappeared? Anything weird? Alarming?”

Even more unfortunately for the both of them, there had been a lack of conversation between the two girls before BB had died, so Daiki hadn't heard anything from her directly, however she had heard some things from Kae.
Her soul gem was really dark, and Kae mentioned that she 'broke her'. That wasn't good, the blonde could only assume that BB's gem turned completely black and something bad happened to her. The chances of the girl still being alive were very unlikely, and this boy and his questions had brought back her worry and grief over a close friend's supposed death.
She knew he probably wasn't trying to, but still. Daiki was sad. Said girl sighed and looked down. "I hadn't talked to her that much before she suddenly disappeared, unfortunately. I'm not very useful if you want to know anything she said directly. But, I heard from one of her friends that she had been really... Upset lately, and she found out about a few things that she didn't want to know about." She couldn't say exactly what those things were, since they were magi-related and she didn't know if he was a magi or not.

Raising a brow at the solemn look on Daiki's face, he wondered just how close the two could've been for her to look so upset over her disappearance. Avery always just assumed he was her only friend. The boy had no idea if Lastien had told her anything about him being a magi, but he highly doubted that and wasn't planning on revealing himself to this girl at all. Still standing with his leg still shaking nervously, he just gave a slight nod to what she said. “Upset? Upset about what? What'd she find out?” His voice was going faster and louder as he tried to pry as much information from Daiki as possible. If Beatrice was dead, he at least wanted to know how. He needed to know she didn't turn into some monster for someone else to kill.

Well, turns out Avery wasn't her only friend, Daiki felt rather close to her. Lastien had told her a few things, though, in fact he was the reason she found out about her soul being inside her gem. The rest was simply from watching so many die. The boy's tone had gotten louder and quicker and it was easy to tell he was eager to know what happened to BB. But, could she tell him? What if he was a normal boy? Yeah, there was a lot of magi around town, but that just meant she shouldn't be surprised if he was, not a definite 'yes he's a magi'. There were plenty of normal human beings, too.
She really kind of envied them. But, how can Daiki let him know what happened? There was no possible way of doing so without giving clues about witches and magi, assuming he was human. If the blonde could somehow find out if he was a magi or not...
"I don't know if you'd understand or not if I told you." she said simply, no trace of depression or anger, or any emotion, but a simple, straightforward answer. This could be a clue to him that it was magi-related at least, though, if he was one.
There was also the chance that he was human but still knew about magi and witches, though. She looked at him.

“I'd understand.” Was all he replied with as he stared into her eyes with a very intense expression on his face. “You NEED to tell me what happened to her.” His tone was getting almost angry again and after clenching his teeth and taking long breaths through them, he did his best to calm down and speak again. “PLEASE.” With a soft sigh, his expression began to melt back into worried with a hint of frightened “Please. I just need an answer.” By that, Avery meant any answer would do. She could give him a beautiful lie and he'd be just fine with that. Anything to help relieve the guilt. Anything that would give him reason to say 'It wasn't my fault.'.

Daiki stared at him for a few moments with a frown. It was both sad and... Frustrated. More sad, that frustration wasn't toward him but more toward everything else going on mixed in with this particular situation. Why did he have to come over and ask about BB, why couldn't she just each her lunch in peace? Daiki couldn't blame him, though. Obviously he saw her hang around BB sometimes or something which is why he came up to her in the first place.
'I'd understand'.
"If you say so." She said. He really did seem like a close friend of hers that needed to find out about their friend. Hell, if he really was that close to her then he might know about magi and witches anyway. How should she respond, hmmm...
She should... Tell the truth. "According to what this friend told me, she's probably missing right now. I don't know what was going on or what was troubling her, but she was depressed, and something that she owned got too dark."
Daiki meant her soul gem, of course. There, Avery, you should be able to piece that one together. But why... Was she being so serious? Her expression softened and her eyes even brimmed with tears and looked away. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. That's all I know." It was the truth, she was sad and her gem was getting dark. 'I broke her' was the last thing she ever heard about BB from Kae. Her friend was probably dead and it hurt a lot. God, don't cry now. That'd be awkward.

Taking a deep long breath in, he held it for a moment as his hands ran through his hair in that incredibly frustrated manner. Actually taking a seat now, he just sat there with his elbows leaning against his knees. Still practically ripping his hair back, he closed his eyes tight and finally let out a long, wavering sigh. 'Something that she owned got too dark.' That was her soul gem. Avery just knew it and that meant it really was his fault, wasn't it?
'she was depressed' ...If he had just been a LITTLE kinder. A LITTLE more understanding. If he hadn't just pushed her away like the annoying yipping dog he always viewed her as, she might still be here, forcing all those smiles and positive reinforcement his way. Did this mean he had to go fight every witch and check to see if it was her? Was she still even out there or did another magi kill her and rob her of her grief seed? Hands now covering his face and lifting up his glasses, he took deep, heavy breaths to try and calm himself down. To try and convince himself that the loss of Beatrice meant nothing to him, but then why was he getting this terrible burning sensation in the back of his throat? “I think I know what was troubling her.”
He couldn't look at Daiki either, because his own eyes were beginning to sting and gloss over a bit. “...That's fine. That's... All I needed to know.” He wished he could just get angry right now, but all he could feel was this terrible guilt tearing him up inside. “...Thank you.” He wanted to get up and leave, but just couldn't bring himself to do that right now so he sat there with his face still buried in his hands.

Daiki hadn't expected lunch to turn out like this. At all. She hadn't expected a boy who clearly knew her dead friend to ask about her, and then get frustrated, and then plead for an answer... And then take a seat next to her, looking like he was gonna rip his hair out and sob right there.
In fact, although Avery was asking her about BB's disappearance, in the end he knew more than she did. The blonde didn't know anything about witches, and one particular thing he said made her eyes widen a bit.
'I think I know what was troubling her.'
Oh god, if Daiki could find out what all had happened... She would be angry at Avery, but at the same time, she would tell him it's okay. Daiki couldn't bring herself to blame him for it all if she knew. It was obvious he felt so bad that it was ripping him apart on the inside, at least at the moment. Well, he was able to understand the last part, so... He was probably a magi.
'I think I know what was troubling her.'
....
Should she ask...?
"...You're welcome..." Daiki responded, looking down and letting a few tears loose, but she wasn't going to start sobbing. Not /yet/ at least. She looked back at him and couldn't help but feel bad for saying all that so straightforwardly. Maybe, she should've let him know in a different way...
Daiki wanted to hug him, but something made her feel that would be awkward too, so instead, she gave him a reassuring pat instead, before quickly taking her hand away in case he was the type who didn't like physical contact.
"...I really do wish I could be more useful..." If only she had talked to her more. "Do you think... You can tell me what might've been making her upset?"

He wasn't crying, but god, did his throat burn and his eyes sting, warning him of the oncoming tears. He needed to leave, but he just couldn't find the energy to move right now. He always knew something terrible probably happened to Beatrice, but it didn't really hit him until now that it was HIS fault.
With deep, heavy breaths, he just shook his head to Daiki's 'you're welcome' and when she actually reached out to pat him, he immediately straightened up and glared a bit towards her with his glossy eyes. No, he couldn't look like this. He couldn't be some weak, simpering little boy anymore. He had things to do. People to take care of.
Looking a bit angry when she said she wished to be more useful, he wanted to just take out all of his anger, frustration, and sorrow on her. Like he did with Beatrice. He just didn't have that anymore. Angry expression dropping into that very tired, almost sad one, he just shook his head “I guess you two weren't very close then.” If this girl had known just a little more about the Beatrice, Avery probably would've gone ahead to explain, but it seemed as though Beatrice did a good job keeping their personal lives more of a secret. “She liked someone who didn't like her back. That's it.” Standing to his feet, he took a few more deep breaths to calm himself before staring down at Daiki. “Thanks again for... Telling me.”

When Avery glared at her, she looked away a bit and mumbled an apology for the physical contact. He obviously wasn't in the mood for that, she understood. Daiki also didn't necessarily like how she looked right now in front of him, red bloodshot eyes and everything, it really wasn't part of her plan. Daiki couldn't help it though, and she just couldn't help but feel bad for him, even if he may not like it. She was just that kind of person in the end.
When he finally started talking again, she lowered her head. Maybe she and BB really weren't that close after all, they really didn't talk that much at one point and BB hadn't even mentioned this boy she apparently liked. If anything, BB's true best friend was Kae, not her. It made her feel... Even worse, to be honest.
Daiki sighed. "I guess not."
She stared up at him when he got to his feet and, again, thanked her for telling him. She blinked and gave a small nod. "Of course..."
The girl looked at her lunch that she still had in lap and realized that her hunger was long gone. She was to skip school and cry in bed... Again.
She still did hope he wouldn't be depressed for too long after this whole thing, although he was obviously annoyed by it, Daiki really did feel useless at the moment.
So, so useless. That's why she had to do something heroic or at least worthwhile soon as intended from the beginning, or it might get to her too much. She too had things to do and people to protect.

Seeing the girl look so depressed and practically on the verge of tears herself, he just couldn't help but feel a mix of anger, sorrow, and a need to comfort her in some way. Maybe it was her blonde hair or the way she talked, or maybe it was even just the fact that they had a connection, but this girl started to remind Avery of Beatrice. He wanted to hit her, tell her he was sorry, and hug her all at the same time. Shaking his head, he turned to walk away, but stopped for a moment to look back at the girl “Don't take it personally. She wasn't close to most people.” And with that, he left Daiki there to go find a spot for himself to really think about all of this.

Right when she about to have a small breakdown right there, Daiki stopped at what he said.
'She wasn't close to most people.'
What exactly did he mean by that? Did that mean BB was lonely or something? Well, that made her feel worse for the girl, and although she didn't want to dwell on it so much, she really couldn't help it. The blonde looked toward where the boy had begun walking off to. "Ah... Wait--" but, he was already gone.
Maybe she was more similar to BB than she realized.