How do you have a job here? [Alexander]

Alexander was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. No. His name was Root. No one was allowed to call him Alexander without his permission. It was a dishonor to the name he had been given by his mom, because they would use the name incorrectly. It could only be used as a term of endearment by those closest to him who wouldn't use it sarcastically or just to be rude. Except those few who learn of his first name sometimes were rude about it. And he hated it. With a passion. His name was Root. Not Alexander. That's what he was to everyone else. Only those he cared about and was close with could call him by his true first name. It would be like calling him 'dude' or 'honey' or whatever else was what friends or couples called each other.

N-Not that he was going to be with anyone. He didn't have a crush on any green haired girl who was the sister of the twins who happened to teach at Hope's Peak… not at all. Yeah. Well at least that he would let anyone know about of course.

To start out the day, he had to go to class which was a waste of time, honestly. He didn't need school. He always was farther ahead than everyone else in his class, ever since he was little. It was due to wanting to give him a 'normal childhood' he stayed along with everyone else at the same boring pace. However, after class was all over, he was making his way down stairs to make his way to his off-campus laboratory, when he had lost track of everything and had been writing in his notebook. However, he was still on the second floor and well… he wasn't fast enough to catch himself.

He fell down the stairs, less than gracefully, yelling out in pain, though no one was really around and if they were, they just continued on their merry way, paying no attention to the poor in pain scientist. Fuck. He tried to stand up, and he managed to, but his arm was in so much pain. He tried to move it and felt a sharp pain in the middle of his upper arm. Fuck. He knew about biology and things such as that, so he believed that he had sprained a muscle in his arm at the very least. And he was probably going to have a few other bruises, namely on his knee and possibly one on his side. Root's body wasn't ever in the best of shape, and well, after an event in his life, it just got worse and more… fragile, one could say. He didn't normally actually injure himself like this, though it usually hurt a lot because of that same event. However, he was pretty sure he had injured himself and needed someone to take care of it, and make it so he could work again.

Shit.

That meant he had to go to the nurse's office. There was one of two people there to treat hurt students: Mikan, the worst person in the world, or Noriko, the sister to Mariko Nakazawa, aka the biology teacher from last year, but also a very annoying green-haired girl he wished he could just get away from. And he thought he did last year, but then he found out last year they returned to teach. And it just destroyed school even further.

Nevertheless, he had to go or he wouldn't heal properly. Fine. He slowly made his way, after picking up his journal and pencil, to the nurse's office.

"Don't say anything," Root said immediately as he entered the office, practically feeling Noriko on the other side (maybe that was hope it wasn't Mikan), "I hurt my arm when I -" He paused for a moment. He didn't need to give her any ammo to tease him. "Well, I hurt myself. Either way, I figured it was smart to see what you could do. Hopefully I didn't waste my time putting my faith in a washed up poor excuse for a nurse."

Tch. He didn't need Noriko to baby him. Just because he'd injured himself because he had been a fool and didn't pay attention like he should have didn't mean he was just a little kid. She'd always been older than him, but that didn't mean he wasn't more of an adult than she was in his mind. He always felt like he was simply more mature than she ever was, which was different seeing as women tended to mature faster than males… either that or his view was flawed, but Root didn't even think about that option as he believed that in this case at least he couldn't be wrong.

However, failure to comply meant his arm wouldn't get any better. And if that were to happen, well he'd be in more pain and his arm wouldn't ever be the same again. He rather liked his arm. And so, for the sake of keeping his arm as functioning as it could, he swallowed his pride for one of the first times in a long time and did as he was told by this teacher. Of course, Root wouldn't be Root if he didn't bite back a response. And of course his sour mood wouldn't help at all.

"First of all, you're not my 'big sis' y-" He stopped himself in his tracks. What the hell was he going to say? It wasn't like - Continuing on. "I only have one sister, and you are certainly not her. Secondly, I just need you to bind my arm so I don't hurt it any more than it already is. I think I sprained something. Perhaps a strain. I don't know that's why I'm here." Root took the seat and thrust his arm towards her, only to pull it back in pain, with a loud whisper of a less than pleasant curse word. "Thirdly, stop calling me Alexander. It may be my given name, but I prefer Root. Going along with that, I'm not a honey bear. If anything, I'm far more evolved than you are, with above average intelligence, even perhaps a precursor to the next evolution of man, so refrain from calling me that." Root grumbled a little bit to himself, mostly gibberish as he thought.

Of course, he had his journal on him, but he couldn't look at it. He had forgotten if there was homework he had to do, and if so what the problems were so he could at least think on it while the incompetent excuse for nurse and biology teacher tried her best to help his arm heal from his blunder.

Root's face flushed slightly for a moment when she made that, ahem, frankly inappropriate comment. Was she really a teacher? Was Hope's Peak really that desperate for teachers? Wow, maybe their funding was down and so they had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to pick up Noriko. They must really be going downhill. That was sad, though Root didn't give a fuck as long as he got his funding and he was able to do what he wanted. Of course, that also meant he had to be in good health, and with probably a pulled muscle, he couldn't perform well. He should complain to the headmaster that their choice in nurses really does suck. First Mikan. Now Noriko. Fuck this shit. They both sucked as hard as Emiko sucks dick on a Saturday night - meaning a lot.

"My sexual habits are none of your concern, you fucking moron. Some people don't value getting laid as much as you obviously do. I'm surprised you haven't contracted a fucking STD yet with how many johns you fuck." Needless to say, he didn't take kindly to her comment. Then again, he never took kindly to people's comments if they were insulting him. Of course he knew he started it by insulting her when he entered, but he didn't care. He just would rather her leave him alone and stop picking on him. He'd known her since he was a first year, and he thought he was finally free last year, but no, here she came with her twin and became teachers. For his years too. Like, what the fuck was up with that? Did they really hate him that much? He wasn't the one who started it when he was a first year, he just wanted to be left alone, and yet he still did.

"Thank you. Now, get on with it. I have important things to do." Well, not only his work, but he thought he might try to find Mariko to hang out with. She might cheer up his sour mood. Even if her sister wasn't helping at all.

Root's eyes widened as Noriko spun towards the phone and he heard the word 'Tsumiki-san'. Oh god, what had he done? Of course he wasn't the nicest guy out there, but he didn't think she would truly get that offended by his comment which in his mind was completely and totally true. Was she really that cruel of a person? Either way, he had to figure out a way to have Noriko abort this line before it was too late. Root thought for a short time before nearly leaping towards Noriko and stopping when he was next to her, hitting the wall with a thump and a 'fucking hell', before he took a breath and spoke.

"Please, don't do that," Root said with a panicked look on his face. He hated Mikan with a passion. Why? Well, he didn't really have to explain that right? She was just so annoying and liked sticking him with needles. At least with Noriko she didn't stick him unless it was necessary. And needles sucked, even though he wasn't afraid of them. He just disliked that. And Mikan loved them. Thus, he hated Mikan as his nurse. There were times he was hurt and he literally just turned around because she was on duty. "I'm sorry, alright?" Not really, but he was sure that was what she wanted to hear. There was more he knew she would want, and it really was killing him just thinking about it, but his desperation to not have the needle girl here and sticking him with who the fuck knows what was winning against his pride… and that was saying something.

"Noriko-sensei," Root began with a pain expression on his face, "Please, I'll be good. Just don't send her here. I… apologize for my earlier comment and…" God he was gonna get sick from this. "Please forgive me, I was in a sour mood and my tongue slipped with an -" Root paused. This was so painful, he just hated that these words were coming from his mouth. He was saying things he didn't actually mean with the hopes of avoiding an encounter with a nurse he disliked with a passion… Ah, the things he would do for himself. "An untruth. I truly, truly am sorry for what I said." Please, please, please, please let this work.

This seemed to be the one instance in which God was not an asshole. He spared him this one time from having to face such a person he really did not want to see. Even if he had to say things that made him gag and probably need to vent his frustrations on a wall later probably by either shouting while he was alone or punching it. Then again, he looked down at his arm, punching a wall probably wasn't the best of plans. He'll just stick to cursing really loudly in the dorm he never uses anyways. Well he used the dorm a couple times, when he really was exhausted and not at his lab. But those times were so rare these last years he was at Hope's Peak…

Either way, he managed to convince the teacher who shouldn't be a teacher, who he wouldn't be surprised if he heard about her sleeping with a student, to call off the attack Mikan. He just would have to be careful. And of course Noriko was right, Mikan could show up any second now, seeing as she did place the call. Oh god, he needed to leave here as fast as possible.

Wait. Did she call him cute? Root blinked several times in rapid succession as he tried to comprehend such a thing. How could she think of him as cute? It was probably a lie to try to later crush him down. That was what it had to be. After all, no one could think he was cute, especially not this nurse. That was cruel, he thought to himself, insanely cruel he didn't think that Noriko would stoop to that level. Once he made this conclusion his face turned to one of annoyance.

"Don't get used to it. You're just lucky Mikan is a bigger - " whore than you he was about to say but then he stopped himself. After all, he just did get done apologizing, next time she wouldn't call off the attack. "You're just lucky I dislike Mikan, otherwise you'd have no leverage over me."

Finally, some peace and quiet. She shut up for two seconds, and really Root was starting to think something was wrong. He wouldn't admit it, but he did like Noriko and if he truly did offend her, well, he knew he wasn't the nicest guy, but he was really sorry. Not that he would say it honestly aloud, even if he… well, if he actually cared about her. He'd grown fond of their times together, even if he would never admit it to anyone, and rarely admit it in his head.

The thing was, he didn't know how to function in a social setting very well. It was difficult around Mariko because he stuttered a lot and had to really think about what he was doing. But when he was more relaxed, it was natural now for him to insult those around him. Even when around Daniel, he wasn't nice to the guy, and yet he stuck around. His mother had taught him how to be nice to others, but he had never really been treated with kindness outside of his mother and his sister, before coming to Hope's Peak. He always assumed when someone talked to him it was rudeness no matter the words coming out. He'd been working on that, but his progress was slow.

Honestly, he didn't know why he was angry all the time. He didn't know that it was due to the fact he was living in the past. That he wasn't angry at everyone around him, he was angry at himself, and to stop being so angry all the time, he had to forgive himself for what he had done to his mother. However, he was too blind to see this, he just didn't understand himself. Part of it was due to his father, and how helpful of a parent he was after his mother's death. And part of it was due to his high IQ, his EQ was sorely lacking and therefore he didn't understand emotions, he didn't understand even himself when it came to anything. He didn't understand why he loved Mariko as he did, and he barely understood that he really, really liked Mariko. He didn't know why he actually seemed to enjoy time around the twins, despite feeling what he thought was annoyance. Perhaps what he thought was annoyance was truly actually how fun felt like. Probably not, but it wasn't like Root would even think about that, because he just didn't know anything about that sort of thing.

"Stop worrying. I'm not worth your time." Root was watching a very interesting piece of wall while she talked and studied it harder while he replied. Ah, that was essentially what his father had said to him several times when his father was in a good mood. "I don't care how much time I have left. You don't quite understand. And frankly its none of your business, but I'll explain. I plan on leaving this world as soon as I can and creating a new world where I can actually be happy. As long as I stay in this world, I will always be angry."

She forced him to look at her, and he averted his eyes as much as he could. He felt like a little kid being lectured by his parents again. Then again, it'd been a long while since that happened. It was a little sad when a man of the age of eighteen actually missed this sort of treatment. In all reality, Root was a man who was stuck in the past, in the past maturity, he wasn't able to continue on after his mother died. He had no support and so he simply slowly eroded away instead of being built up until he had become the brooding young man he was today.

It was surprising hearing those words from Noriko. It was, touching, as it had been a long time since anyone that he looked up to (and yes, he wouldn't admit it but he looked up to Noriko and her sister Nariko) had really told him they cared about him. It was a little bit shocking at first, and he allowed his eyes to look to hers. He told himself she was lying to just make him feel better because it was her job to do so, but something about the way she was looking at him told him it wasn't a lie. That, to Root, was more profound than any other thing so far. Not only that, but she called him Root. And that wasn't something she ever did.

When she turned away from him, Root looked down at his lap and twiddled his thumbs like a kid, staring and thinking for several moments. He didn't know how to respond. Finding the right words was hard, but he also didn't know what he wanted to say. Did he want to say thank you? He surely would mean it, because it had been five years since someone really cared for him. Did he want to insult her? It sure sounded like something he would do. After all, such seriousness and… niceness he wasn't used to. It was something foreign to him. Of course, he had friends who were nice, but this was different. He and Daniel didn't have talks about this sort of thing. He and Mariko didn't usually talk about things like this either. Did he want to say he was sorry because he didn't realize that she really did care for him because he didn't believe anyone could ever truly think such a thing? Yeah. Sort of that too.

"… I'm sorry I make you worry," Root said quietly before finally looking back up, "I'll.. If I figure out how to be less angry in this world, I'll try it." Quite honestly, deep down Root didn’t want people to worry about him. He hated the feeling that he made people worry over him. He rather keep all of that sort of feelings self-contained so he could bear the burden of worrying about himself all by himself. Hold on. What was that feeling on his face? Root quickly rubbed his cheek, the moisture rubbing off onto his hand. Was he tearing up? Seriously? He sniffed and looked away wiping the already fallen tears from his face and not allowing any of the others to fall. No, he was in control. Fucking hell. It was the combination of the emotional state he was constantly in, and the lack of sleep he'd had for a long while causing his brain to run rampant like he was some emotional teenager… oh wait. He was some emotional teenager.