Broken (Mae, Charles)

((This takes place between the thread with Lost and the Featherman thread))

Break time.

There was an unusually high amount of buzz going on in class 3-A that day. Students all formed groups of up to 5 people each once the teacher left and the break officially began in order to discuss the most interesting topics, most of which revolved around a certain event rumoured to have taken place at the school the day before.

"Have you heard, guys?" A curious boy asked, getting the attention of a group of girls sitting around the middle of the classroom.

"You mean, about that freshman?"

"Yes, yes! Is it true that it happened and that the culprit is the guy from our class?"

"That's what I heard, at least."

"Me too! Hahahaha."

"So it was him, huh? Dang, I knew something wasn't right with the dude..."

"I know, right? From what I heard, it was because that freshman took that picture of him. You know, the one she posted on her blog?"

"Oh yeah... she was also the one who hired that freshman to do it, wasn't she?"

"Damn, she's also kinda freaky..."

"Shhh! She'll hear us! You know the rumor that she's got a whole network of snitches around the academy?"

"Hehe, maybe I'm one of them, hihi!"

"C-come on, it i-isn't funny... I-I heard the boy got beat up pretty badly..."

They all turned towards a lone student, wrapped from toe to neck in what appeared to be a winter attire, all coupled with a scarf and a hat, sitting in the back of the middle row of the room, apparently scribbling something in the notebook on his table. They glared at him with disgusted looks on their faces, but he didn't seem to bother with them.

Just what could be going on?

((Characters in this post: Curious Guy, Girl With Buns, Obnoxious Girl, Introverted Girl, Hey Look At Me I Exist Girl))

"Hey! What's with that look?!"

Mae stood up, furious at the despicable treatment these girls gave her classmate.

"Don't you have anything better to do than talking shit about a fellow classmate! Especially when he's sitting RIGHT THERE!" She pointed at her fellow classmate. Her reaction to this might have been blown alittle bit out of proportion, but she just couldn't stand listening to them anymore.

"If you wanna talk trash about someone, at least do it where they can't hear you! Geez, you guys are so immature!" Mae took a deep breath, and calmed down. // Geez... // She grabbed a chair, walked over to the boy they were talking about, and sat down. "Ehh... Sorry about that. I have no patience when it comes to people like those. Anyway, I'm Mae Iharu, your new classmate. Nice to meet ya!" She smiled gently towards him. "And you are?"

"Sheesh, what's up her butt?"

"Leave her be if she wants to have it her way."

"Just don't run back to us if anything happens, hihi. Only an idiot would go hang around that guy. Hahaha."

"U-uhm, yes..."

"..."

----------------------

Charles was immersed in his sketching business, so much so that he hadn't noticed the girl which approached him immediately, but only once she began talking to him. He raised his head up to face her, dropping the pencil down to his desk with a silent thud, next to a paper which showed the scene of their own classroom with the point of view being from the very spot he was sitting on now. A class was in session on the picture, as the students were all sitting down and leaning over their desks, while a teacher was patrolling through the rows. Mae would've been able to see herself on the picture as well. The sketch was the only item on the whole table, save for the pencil Charles drew with.

He watched the smiling girl's face for a while before replying. "They weren't a nuisance." He said, almost completely out of context, almost as if he wasn't completely aware of the question she posed to him.

"Just mind your own buisness!" Mae shouted back at the obnoxious girl. //How can he stand being talked about like that? // Mae had a very short fuse in situations like those. "How can they not bother you? Man, I could really use some of your tolerance for this kinda stuff." She looked back at her classmate, scratching the back of her head, with a sheepish smile on her face, before continuing. "Anyway, what's your name?" Maybe he didn't hear her the first time?

Mae looked at the sketch, and her eyes widened. "Wow... You're really good at this." She had never really been good at drawing herself, so seeing something like this made her feel a bit jealous. "You drew this with just one pencil? That's incredible!" She picked up the sketch, examining it closer. She could even see the back of her own head drawn on the white sheet of paper. The amount of detail present was astonishing. It's like she was looking through a window to the past... Except... you know, the whole black and white thing.

"So, do you have any idea why they were talking about you like that?" Mae gave her classmate a worried look. What if he's gotten into some sort of trouble? Not that it would stop Mae from helping him out, in fact she wanted to help. It's a part of her nature.

"You haven't heard?" The guy from the group stood up and walked over to where Mae and Charles were sitting. He stood next to them with his hands buried deeply in his pockets and with a semi-annoyed look on his face. His appearance was followed by various comments coming from the four girls, but he ignored them. He sighed and continued. "You're new, so I guess it is understandable... Anyways, this guy..." He rolled his eyes over in Charles's direction, pointing at his with his right thumb as well. "He beat up a freshman yesterday after school, (Charles's eyes glinted fiercly for a moment) because the guy took a picture of him for an online blog. You did that, didn't you?" He glared daggers at Charles, who jst glanced at him with an indifferent look on his face, which was much more infuriating than if he had said something. "You...! See, that's what I'm telling you about! Thi-"

"I did not do it." Charles's voice was calm and collected.

"OH, you didn't, huh?! Then why don't you tell us please what happened, will ya?"

Charles obsered him for a while before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "No. Your gestures indicate high levels of stress and frustration. You would not listen even if I told you."

"..." The guy stod there for a few moment, frozen as his jaw dropped and his brow twitched. "Tch!" He grinded his teeth as he turned the other way, returning to the group of girls, who welcomed him with an aray of laughs and a new set of comments. "He did it, now I'm sure."

Charles, on the other hand, stayed unusually calm. Once everything was over, he turned over to Mae, observing her reactions. "My name is Charles." He said as if nothing had happened, offering his right hand for a handshake before picking up a notebook from his backpack and pulling out a paper from it, putting it onto his desk. "You can keep it." He reffered to the sketch Mae was holding.

"Way to be judgmental. Do you always believe in every freaking rumor you hear?" Mae sighed, looking annoyed. "Just buzz off, 'kay? People like you make me sick.". She turned her back to him, and focused on her classmate. She gave him a concerned and worried look. "You didn't do it, did you?" she asked in a hushed voice.

She grabbed Charles right hand and shook it. "Nice to meetcha' Charles!" She gave Charles a warm smile. He was a bit rough around the edges, yes, but Mae had some serious doubts he would actually hurt somebody over something as silly as a picture. If he truly had anger management issues of that level, he wouldn't have been so calm about all this.

"Huh? I can keep it? Really?!" Mae was both a bit shocked, and very happy about this. "Aww! That's really sweet of you! Thanks." Mae couldn't help but blush slightly as she opened up her backpack, where she placed the sketch carefully inside her English text book, to prevent the paper from becoming damaged.

"You are welcome." He had already began sketching out a new picture. The pencil in his hand flew from one side of the paper to another with almost unnatural precision and speed, followed by the rough sound of the graphite scrapping on the surface of the paper.

After a few strokes, however, his work was disturbed by someone calling out to him.

"You are Charles, aren't you?" It was a man in his forties, the one Charles recognized as one of the teachers, holding a large batch of papers in one hand and leaning on the table with the other. He was standing right in front of Charles's desk, but Charles hadn't noticed the man approach as he was busy with the sketch. The teacher glanced at Mae before returning his gaze to Charles.

"Yes." He replied.

The man sighed and continued. "They've told me to inform you that you are needed at the faculty office. It seemed pretty important." The girls began to giggle as they noticed what was going on, shouting something about him getting what he deserved and whatnot. The teacher shushed them, though, so there was no need for Mae to interfere.

"Now?"

"Yes. You have permission to leave class."

"I understand." Charles obediently stood up and turned to Mae. She was still there, huh. Oh well. The teacher had already gone to his desk by then and the class was about to begin, yet he needed to go to the faculty office. It was probably something about the whole incident thing...

"I'm sorry, but what's this about?" She asked Charles, looking at Charles with a worried expression. "I'm sure you did nothing wrong. Don't worry!" After that, Mae glared at the other students. Sure, the teacher had already reprimanded them, so she didn't need to do anything, but still, it was aggravating. Mae turned back to Charles, taking her notepad and books out of her bag. "Alright, if you're leaving now, I'll take notes for you, so you don't miss anything, Charles!" She gave him a reassuring smile.

// What could he have done if he's needed at the faculty office? // Mae thought, as she scribbled notes down onto her notepad as the lecture continued. // He didn't seriously beat up somebody, did he? // Mae felt anxious. With thoughts like those swirling around her head, it was a tad bit difficult to concentrate, but she forced herself through, for Charles sake. After all, Mae did promise that she would be taking notes for Charles. It was just a promise she had to keep, no matter what!

Charles didn't really mind about the notes, but he stil thanked the girl before leaving the classroom.

--------------------
40 minutes later
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The class was about to end...

Charles spent the last 40 minutes sitting in the faculty office, getting lectured by the teacher and the student council alike. They even brought the kid they said he beat up and, guess what, the kid blamed him as well. His mother also came, some overweight lonely widow who just complained all the time about her misery and how what he did was unforgivable. In the end they proclaimed him guilty as charged and decided to suspend him until further notice. The one who made the final decision was his homeroom teacher.

Anyhow, just as the class was ending, Charles walked through the door, politely greeting the teacher and returning to his station (his appearance was followed by snarky smirks on the faces of the girls from earlier). He was supposed to pack his things and leave the academy grounds asap. Not that it mattered. He already found what he was loking for in the academy; other Persona-Users, so his work there was done. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit down about what happened for some reason... He didn't want to leave, but he had to. Maybe he should just wait until the class was over, yeah, that was gonna do. He sat down on his desk.

The bell rang.

Mae had been waiting for Charles to return. She sat down at her desk, reading one of her textbooks, when the door to the classroom opened up. She looked up from her book, and saw Charles walk in. Mae had a feeling that something was wrong.  
// Oh no... Don't tell me they...? //
A sudden chill went down her spine. // No! Perish the thought! He's a nice guy! He would never-! // But before she could even finish that train of thought, the bell rang. Mae glared viciously at the other students. // I've almost had it with these people! // She bit herself in the lip. // No... Getting mad at them now won't solve anything. I should at least hear it from Charles himself before I do anything rash... //

Mae walked up to Charles. She was worried, but just to make things a little easier for Charles, she forced a smile. "Hey, it's lunchtime. You wanna go grab some lunch?". Sure it was a little weird asking about grabbing lunch right now, but She couldn't stand talking about the meeting with all these other students listening in. She wanted an exuse to get away from them. "Oh, and before I forget...". She opened up her bag, and handed Charles the notes. "Here. You missed the entire class, so I got you the notes. There's no need to thank me, I was just doing my job as a friend! Mae gave Charles a warm smile.

Charles accepted the notebook from Mae, despite not really caring about the notes she took for him. "Thank you." He told her before realizing she invited him to go grab some lunch. Heh, if only she knew he had no need for such supplements. But it was understandable. She just meant the best; he could discern that much from her expression at that time.

"... I understand." He got up and took his backpack off the floor, putting it over a shoulder.

"You're still at it? Pfft! Haha!"

"U-uhm... yes..."

The two girls passed them by on their way out. The obnoxious one grinned so that her brilliantly white teeth showed themselves.

"I've heard what that was all about, ha! You got what you deserved!"

The two girls left. The obnoxious one would've just laughed and ran off, with the introverted one following, in case Mae tried or said anything.

Charles, on the other hand, remained completely flegmatic as usual, following the two girls with his eyes. He looked back at Mae when he saw they were gone. "So...?" He invited her to move out.

"No problem!" Mae answered cheerfully. She was still a bit worried about what transpired inside the Faculty Office, but asking that could wait until they sat down at a table. There were too many students around that could very well listen in on what they were talking about, and Mae didn't like that at all.

"Just Ignore them, Mae..." She said to herself through gritted teeth. She just felt the urge to slap one of them right across the face... But Mae knew it wasn't worth it. She took a deep breath, and forced a smile. "Alright, then let's go!" She swung the bag over her shoulder and left the classroom with Charles.

"So, you got your own lunchbox with you or something?" Mae tilted her head, looking at Charles.

They both sat down at a table, far from eavesdropping range. "So... How did it go?" Mae asked, fearing the worst.

"I eat at home." Charles said, sitting at the table with Mae. They sat far enough from the others, so there was no danger of anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.

When Mae asked the question, he rose his head to look her straight in the eyes. "I have been suspended." He told her as bluntly as only he could've. "I am supposed to leave the Academy as soon as possible."

Mae had braced herself for it... She very well knew this was a very likely scenario, but still, she was quite shocked. "What?! You're SUSPENDED?!" Mae just sat there, struck dumb for a few moments. She needed to gather her thoughts a bit before she could say anything else. "Why not fight it? I know you didn't beat up anyone! There's gotta be something you can do right? If it was me, I would fight for my place in this school to the bitter end! Is there anything I can do? Because this is just unfair!"

Mae had spoke her mind, plain and simple. She barely knew Charles, and she was already willing to go out of her way to get him out of this sticky situation. That was just the way she was as a person. "Can't you at least tell me what happened...?" She looked at Charles with a sad expression.

"Yes, but it is, most likely, only temporary." He watched as Mae continued. Fight them, huh? Wasn't fighting what got him in- oh, she meant something along the lines of protesting. He shrugged the thought.

"Fighting would only bring more trouble. Humans have designed a system in which they must abide by the rules. Breaking the rules is prohibited and punishment is necessary if anyone does break them. Innocnt people get arrested and hunted on a daily basis, therefore, my situation is not out of ordinary." He blinked twice quickly, staring right into Mae's eyes, as if trying to pierce into them. This girl was worried for him and she barely knew him. It just seemed odd and irrational to him and he wanted to know why she felt that way. "Since I have been given this command, I will follow it." She was really making too much of a fuss out of this whole situation in his opinion. Besides, it wasn't like he was annoyed by the suspension or anything. It was merely something he had to do.

"I will tell you what happened if that is what you wish." Charles waited for Mae's response.