[ Owlish eyes blink, slowly, at Chihiro's reaction. Not in any way because her words are unpleasant, but because they're delivered with a gravitas that he wasn't expecting.

In a way, he surrounds himself with people for whom hurting is an unfortunate norm. He found his mentor drowning himself in a river, found a little girl who he vowed to protect with bombs strapped to her small chest; pain is the big constant, and it's all he can do to minimize others' misfortunes by sitting and sharing them. His grand philosophy is 'you are not alone, I feel this too.'

So... how best to contribute when he's not bleeding, protecting? For a second he looks lost, before he edges into a light laugh. ]

Aha, don't worry. It's not that I look to get hurt, after all... if I can avoid a fight, that's the best way to solve things.

[ Because he's reckless, yes, but he's not exactly looking for trouble. It just finds him... somehow... ]

But if something does go wrong, I'm not exactly a trained fighter. So that's why I'm bound to get a few hits. I promise I'm not looking to get myself killed...!

[ SO HE SAYS. ]

It's really kind of you to say so, though. Don't worry— w, we can always try to talk things over first, right?!