You're a little young... [Trizen]

[Trizen Takano]

After Demetra had taken the canteen back, he joked about him speaking at the graduation ceremony. The boy laughed a little as she said that. He was a sophomore and she was senior. The thought of some of the seniors leaving after this year saddened him a bit. He didn't know a lot of people -- well, a lot of good people -- and he knew he would spend the majority of his time not doing much but studying and getting ahead in his classes. Then the young woman had said some more things. Things that were very true if he hadn't thought about it that much. She really was passionate about changing the state of the world, though he didn't feel she put a lot of responsibility on herself to do it. He did feel that she inspire a lot of people if she had the right platform. And when that time came, Trizen would support her.

"Anyway, changing the subject, how the hell did you get so messed up? Did you really tick off a bunch of giants?"

The memories flashed through his mind for a moment. It was like watching something like Saw III at the age of 5 and never letting go of those gruesome images.

"I umm..." The boy shuddered at the thought. He hadn't talked about it with anyone since he was out of the hospital. "Two representatives from the school board came to 42 to assess the school's progress. They didn't like us very much. So one of them, a man named Mister Orange, began tearing down the school's English hallway... when I arrived, he had already destroyed a good portion of the second floor. Students were there to fight him, and some were there to defend him. Thankfully, they managed to contain him to a classroom. By the time I arrived, the demolished the classroom floor and forcing the majority of combatants to fall onto the main floor."

He was beginning to breathe heavier bit by bit. The pressure of remembering and having his body resurface the memories were...

"Thirteen and Matrim. They had a plan. They needed someone to get a couple of loads of flour. They were going to use the dust along with some form of ignition to cause an explosion. Mr. Orange's Qi repelled any physical momentum. The explosions were not only suppose to burn him, but cause him to fly about like a ragdoll. Miss Tash and I arrived back safely with the bags of flour, but when we did, we saw Mister Orange rip the arm off a student... clean off... it.. I..."

The boy was feeling worse about everything as he kept the story going. He was beginning to shake and his muscles were tensing. "From the second floor, tossed the bags down and around Mister Orange. To keep him from hurting anyone else, I leaped down, launched the final bag behind him and clung onto his back. Even if I couldn't hold him back from moving, the surprise and distraction of me for those few seconds were... were... worth..."

From here, Demetra would have to guess that the explosion happened with Trizen being in the middle of it with Mister Orange. By this time, Trizen looked as though he was going to break down. He was trembling and having a hard time staying on his feet. The boy was sweating profusely, though tried to keep telling the story for Demetra.

"But... he-he was... up.. he was ... he got up after that... I didn't stop him... and I couldn't stop him from..."

Trizen was guilt-ridden. Surely Demetra would have heard that Mister Orange was responsible for 1/6th of the school being destroyed. Even worse was that Trizen was right beside Mister Orange when the attack came down, meaning Trizen received something awful. Both floors were demolished at the hands of the hulk of a man simply by slamming down his fists.

"I'm sorry... I.. I couldn't... I don't mean t-to--" The boy slipped and fell onto the ground. He felt nauseous and he felt like an even bigger idiot for being so vulnerable in front of Demetra. "I-I'm sorry.. I .. I don't mean to be like this... I just-I just.." He told himself he wasn't going to cry. He heard the reports from his father and stepmother who made sure to make him feel even more responsible. Students were either critically injured or died. There were a lot of both.

[Demetra Katsaros]

Aw, shit. I asked a question I really shouldn't have. I could see that the boy was traumatized by the whole ordeal, which I probably should have foreseen. I naturally assumed that he got into a fight with some kid at Moral Crest (not exactly the wrong thing to guess, since hardcore battles break out at the school all the time; half the kids at the nearby hospital are probably there because of injuries due to some stupid campus argument). I never bothered to think about the Mr. Orange dealio, probably because I wasn't very involved with the fiasco. It was impossibly not to see the results though.

Now, I wasn't a therapist, so I wasn't sure where to go from here. What could I say to make things better? What could I do that would help more than harm? I could just be quiet and do nothing, then I wouldn't do any more damage, but perhaps doing nothing would actually be worse. It might seem as if I don't care, or I don't consider his problems significant.

So, uh, I hugged him. You know, pulled him close and stroked his head a little (and hopefully didn't make any of his injuries sting). At first, I wasn't certain if this was work appropriate. After all, his mom hired me, and I wanted to be fairly professional about the situation. But I didn't picture Trizen suing me for sexual harassment. "It's okay," I whispered. "It's not your fault. Everything is going to get better soon. You're going to get better soon."

[Trizen Takano]

The room was quiet, but all Trizen heard was noise. The room began to cave in as he heard and felt the vivid memories of 42's traumatizing event. He heard the screams, cries for help and the laughing of a big. burly hulk of a man whose orange color stained his mind and cause him to gain a sort of phobia from the colour altogether. Though with him being blind, his current fear of the dark would grip hold of him; fear of such bold colour would not come until that one day. That day the miracle happened.

'God... please make it go away...' He thought in murmur as everything was getting louder. Faster. Much more intense with every second passing.

Then something happened.

The voices were gone. The sounds went away. The images in memory and imagination soon died down to the still black Trizen saw in vision. There was nothing but the humming sound of the studio and the warm feeling wrapped around his torso. It took a little bit for Trizen to realize what was happening. In fact, even when he did realize what was happening, he couldn't believe it.

"It's okay," he heard in whisper, "It's not your fault. Everything is going to get better soon. You're going to get better soon."

For the first time, Trizen forgot his fears and guilt to respond to something positive. Demetra might not have certain about whether or not she was truly helping, but simply said, the hug was something Trizen needed. Be it platonic or not. At this point, Trizen was willing to believe that she cared if it meant he could find some kind of peace with himself. And unknown to the two of them, this would Trizen's only moment of peace. The moment where Trizen put his arms around here and let his tears go.

As the time slowed in recession, the boy and the young woman looked like an odd pair, especially since Trizen was taller than Demetra -- though his cheek was in her shoulder blade. Her hand in his wild, rebellious hair reminded him of when he was smaller and had nothing serious on his mind. Trizen felt stupid being reduced to nothing than a pile of weakness, but he hoped this kind of honesty would begin his path to heal. Demetra was wiser than she let on. He knew that. The hold he had on her tightened slightly as he simply muttered, "Thank you, Demetra... Thank you."

While there was silence in the air, there was a bit of a cold draft. Was the door open?

"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING? I LEAVE YOU HERE TO---"

The Witch had returned and she was furious.

"Therapy. Physical therapy. IS THIS HOW YOU RUN YOUR SERVICE? BY SLUMMING YOURSELF? DAMNIT!" The cameras were outside, most of them filming her reaction. She had to compose herself, which meant the guard that stood by the door closed it and left the media behind.

Now, if Demetra felt Trizen shaking, it wasn't about Mr. Orange anymore. He was petrified. He knew his step-mother. The kind of harm she brought to people who rubbed her the wrong way. Trizen broke away from Demetra almost instantly and turned towards the voice. He was frantic. He was searching for his cane on the studio floor and trying to wipe away his tears.

"You pathetic... pitiful... trifle of shit." The woman in full furs said in a smug tone to the frantic young boy, as he slipped and fell looking for the cane she now possessed in her hands. "You disgust me the way you're fooling around like an ass. What the fuck do you think this is?"

Trizen began to murmur. Clearly at a loss for words and still looking for his cane. He bumped into the south wall of the studio as he was crawling around. His glasses fell off his face only known to him when his left knee crushed it. The standing woman chuckled in her glamour.

"Look at you. Poor. Contemptible. Stupid. How in the hell are you still alive?"

The boy tucked in his lips and fought the tears. He would choose to savour the peace he had with Demetra only moments ago. He chose strength and endurance. In silence, that was his answer.

"Stand up." She ordered and Trizen did almost instantly. The woman turned to the big shouldered man in the grey suit, "Take him to the car. I'll deal with him there."

The same man standing by the door took his steps, grabbed Trizen by the collar and dragged him to the door. Not without the severe and brutal slash his step-mother gave him in his back. Takano knew the protocol. The guard stood him up on his feet and fixed up the boy's appearance. Trizen had to force some kind of energy and as his mother silently told him, no slouching. The door opened and the media soaked in the approaching boy and guard who were soon in the limo.

The mother closed the door behind them and watched Demetra. She waited for her to say something. She wanted to thrash her. That was her burning desire. But, she was a professional. The woman knew how to look like a snake and be its charmer. Her appearance showed experience and it flaunted boldness. She wasn't afraid of the young woman and proved if anything that she was everything Demetra thought she was. Hiyami Takano, one of the world's celebrities, watched Demetra intensely. Waiting for her.

[Demetra Katsaros]

I had already given a long speech about how I didn't like the media, how it was run by conglomerateurs whose prime interest was making money and sustaining their empire, but only Trizen had heard that. He could probably guess that I would be weary of the damn cameras behind her, and a bit curious. What the hell were they doing here? I suppose his mom/caregiver/whoever she was looked like some kind of pompous celebrity, one who somehow had not been attacked by PETA yet with all those damn furs, yet what was the film for? Was it just like paparazzi attention, something to sell to star focused TV shows or simply put up on YouTube to see how many hits it would get? Or was it for a reality series? If it was the latter, I could interpret her behavior a bit. People tended to act overly dramatic when cameras were rolling for the purpose of ratings; you can't get viewers without excitement, right? Blondes were dumber and bitches were bitchier when the lens was pointing and them.

However, I couldn't take the risk and just assume this woman was being so cruel just for show. "Ma'am, let me assure you that I take my position very professionally, and I would not do anything to breech the seriousness of my practice." I took a few steps closer, keeping my gaze hard and strong within hers. "I'd also like to point out that Trizen's therapy should include both physical and emotional aspects, and what you witnessed was my reaction to the trauma he was displaying. However, you by no means need to feel that you should rely on me, an amateur, to deal with this task. I'm sure you can find a sufficient psychotherapist who can handle the situation properly."

You didn't think I would stop at just explaining myself, did you? Oh, no. I get pretty fiery when I'm annoyed. This snotty woman would have competition when it came to anger with me around. "As for the manner in which you are directly treating your son, or your nephew, or whatever relation Trizen might be to you, I should forewarn you that you are displaying traits of a verbally, mentally, and emotionally abusive authority figure. If you do not seek help for yourself and your own behavior soon, you can very well have him taken away by social services for his own safety, as cycles like these have a tendency to get violent, and no social worker would risk an already battered fifteen-year-old's health like that." Just because I was mad didn't mean I couldn't make valid arguments. "They don't just take away kids from drug addict parents, you know."

I began to gather my belongings. It seemed that I would be done for the day. "Trizen will call me if he has any issues. I'm pretty sure he trusts me after our session today. If I suspect anything, expect a social worker to show up at your doorstep."

[Exit Demetra.]