<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: palatino;">Oh no. Midori was pretty much positive she shouldn't have said anything the moment she had finished speaking, but that fear was completely confirmed when the boy who was bullying the Hyuga girl turned to glare at her. That was the worst thing that could have happened, since that indicated that she was about to become his target. She was still sitting at the desk, but every instinct in her told her to stand and run, her entire body tensed and if he got too close, she was going to do it. If it was one thing Midori was pretty sure she could do better than this boy, it was run. She liked running, but more than that, when she had figured out, when she was younger, that she was pretty fast at it, she thought it was a good idea to be fast if she got into a bad situation. Like other kids being mean to her. Or like this one, where she thought he might possibly try to do more than just be verbally mean.<br/><br/>"Oh, um... no thank you," the stupid response came right out of her mouth when he began demanding that she be his...underling? Or lackey, that was the other one he'd used. She knew that one, and it was not the sort of thing she liked: usually bullies had lackeys, and she did not want to be associated with a bully.<br/><br/>Before the boy had a chance to respond, or even finish trying to come over to her, when the Hyuga girl did something and somehow had his hand, or finger? She was so fast! And then the boy was on his knees in front of her, and she was behind him pushing on his back. It looked like that would hurt, actually. And if her eyes weren't already wide with shock, they would have widened further when the Hyuga girl spoke to her, instead of to the boy. Like it wasn't even the boy she was annoyed at. Quickly, Midori nodded her understanding that she'd upset the girl she had been trying to help.<br/><br/>So, maybe she had actually been mad? Mostly the little girl had been spouting off whatever she could think of to try to get that boy to back off, and though she got a.. not-calm feeling from the girl, she did not know that she was mad until she had spoken. Clearly, she had not had any idea how true her words had been, and was incredibly startled at the discovery.<br/><br/>And now the girl was glaring at her! So, now both she and the boy were people to avoid, or...?<br/><br/>When the girl told the boy to go, Midori almost jumped out of her chair, thinking maybe she was still talking to her. But then he was freed and did his best to get away as fast as he could. The girl, rather than advancing at Midori, just sat back down and went back to not looking calm or angry.<br/><br/>Nervously, Midori fiddled with her lunch box, trying to figure out what she could do now to fix her mistake. The girl had said <em>'I owe you nothing,'</em> and Midori knew a lot about trading because of Father, and that sounded sort of like a trade thing, or, rather, that she did not want to have to owe a debt to Midori, which was okay, she didn't want to be owed anything anyway. But... since she hadn't done anything but make it worse, and then the Hyuga girl had helped her, whether on purpose or not, maybe she felt like Midori owed her, then?<br/><br/>And, anyway, she should apologize for having upset her anyway, because there was no reason to have two people dislike her right away, and that boy was more than enough to make her want to not make more enemies. She wasn't foolish enough to think that this girl would want to be friends, but maybe she wouldn't dislike her so much if she apologized. Maybe.<br/><br/>Standing, Midori moved the few desks over so that she was sort of hovering near the Hyuga girl, but not <em>quite</em> within grabbing distance. Swallowing thickly and taking a deep breath, Midori started speaking nervously, "Um... I wanted to apologize for.. for interrupting and implying that you needed help when you did not. I.. Mostly I sort of thought that if I were in your place, that I would have wanted someone to help me, so I thought that it was what I should do. Except that you and I are not the same person, so that wasn't quite the right line of thought I-I think." She was doing it again, her words kept tumbling out a lot. "Oh! Also, I thought maybe I should thank you for making that boy leave, I know that he was bothering you, and then it was my fault for drawing his attention to me, and.. and I know that you did not mean to help me but you sort of did, so... so I owe you a debt," yes, that sounded right. Like trading, wasn't it? "So... I.. I have part of my lunch left, if you want it? My Uncle's wife made the food look cute, I don't understand why it matters if the rice balls look like panda bears or dogs or.. whatever it is that they're supposed to look like, but I think that Miss Jinmi likes to do that or something, because it happens a lot..."<br/><br/>Fiddling again with the lunch box, she held it out. "If not, I promise I will leave you alone, if that would be a repayment you would like better. My name is Yuhara Midori, I probably should have said that part first..."<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>Noboru kept an eye on the scene that was unfolding in front of him. This lunch break was turning out more interesting than he had thought, though it was still just kids being kids. It was allowing him some interesting observations on the students, though. Itou Sadao was proving to be quite foolish: besides his conduct during the test, he was proving quite prideful and not observant enough to realize that the Hyuga was the worst child he could choose to pick on. That other one, Yuhara Midori, even gave him the relevant information and he ignored it, only to be bested by Hyuga Misaki, though that outcome was to be expected.<br/><br/>The interesting part of all of it was the civilian girl. She was showing quite a bit of promise, even if she had looked to him for help first, she had decided to try to diffuse the situation. It hadn't really been successful, and she was far too meek right now to be a great candidate, but some of her other qualities would probably allow her entry into the academy. She was showing to be analytical, to know her limits, and to be willing to attempt to make allies. Incidentally, the Hyuga was showing loyalty, depending on her reasons for defending the Yuhara girl from Itou Sadao. Both girls were showing quite a bit of patience, both with their ability to sit quietly for over an hour and a half of the test, and for waiting in their seats for the lunch break as well.<br/><br/>He moved to make notes on his observations on their tests, even if the Hyuga girl was naturally a shoe in...<br/></span>