Ai Thao's eyes widen at the volume of his voice, at the sudden rage, the sheer anger behind his accusation. And not only the accusation, it was the way he spat it out as if he actually believed...
... No. He believed it. He really believed that she was pretending. He believed that she was only pure, only kind, only ever being helpful to be liked, only expecting kindness in return, only thinking that she would be coddled in return.
(They never coddled her when she was young, she remembers being thrown around, having to fight back, being tested to her very limits, hearing voices, the voices that they had to shut out or else she would die, and a dim memory of someone putting her to sleep and waking up to the faint burning sensation on her chest. And then growing up, people always expecting something of her, always failing to live up to expectations, always failing others when they needed her most, wasn't she supposed to grow past this, wasn't she supposed to endure, wasn't she supposed to...?)
She's a simpleton.
She was so happy when Athena and Ryuko became her friends, no questions asked. She was so happy when she also fought with Archer and even when he made her cry Ai had felt more strengthened with him as her fighting partner. She was so happy when Adolf Reinhardt kept on being reassuring, steadfast, like a rock, even when she wondered how broken he was in comparison to her. She was so happy when most people looked at her here in Cerealia and accepted her for who she was; her foolish kindness, her monstrous power, no expectation about her existence as the perfect esper because of course it wouldn't matter here.
1/3
[Why was this happening?
Ai Thao's eyes widen at the volume of his voice, at the sudden rage, the sheer anger behind his accusation. And not only the accusation, it was the way he spat it out as if he actually believed...
... No. He believed it. He really believed that she was pretending. He believed that she was only pure, only kind, only ever being helpful to be liked, only expecting kindness in return, only thinking that she would be coddled in return.
(They never coddled her when she was young, she remembers being thrown around, having to fight back, being tested to her very limits, hearing voices, the voices that they had to shut out or else she would die, and a dim memory of someone putting her to sleep and waking up to the faint burning sensation on her chest. And then growing up, people always expecting something of her, always failing to live up to expectations, always failing others when they needed her most, wasn't she supposed to grow past this, wasn't she supposed to endure, wasn't she supposed to...?)
She's a simpleton.
She was so happy when Athena and Ryuko became her friends, no questions asked. She was so happy when she also fought with Archer and even when he made her cry Ai had felt more strengthened with him as her fighting partner. She was so happy when Adolf Reinhardt kept on being reassuring, steadfast, like a rock, even when she wondered how broken he was in comparison to her. She was so happy when most people looked at her here in Cerealia and accepted her for who she was; her foolish kindness, her monstrous power, no expectation about her existence as the perfect esper because of course it wouldn't matter here.
She was so happy when she met Hiro Kageyama. ]