Defying Gravity

Chapter 16

Ethelia's pov

"Oh my God, Ethelia, are you alright?!" It was Rin who's slammed the door open so loudly. I winced at her loud voice, and Mark sent me an amused look. "I'll live." I said vaguely, looking out the window to avoid eye contact because, um, no. I'm getting better at socializing, but that doesn't mean I particularly enjoy socializing in general. If nothing else, this whole experience is teaching me life skills. Which I'll need if I wanna be a teacher after the war is over and done with.

"Kakashi, you were supposed to watch her!" Obito said loudly, his eyes wide with anger. I blinked in surprise. "Calm down, Obito." Minato put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Obito looked away angrily, teeth clenched. It actually startled me a little. Why was he so upset about something that happened to me? He doesn't know me, or at least he hasn't for very long. Not nearly long enough to care as much as he does right now. I'm pretty sure he's just upset about Kakashi screwing up, or something like that.

Rin lightly lifted the blanket, and her eyes widened. I watched as her hand gained a green glow, and she seemed to scan the injury over. It felt weird and tingly, but I shrugged it off, looking towards Minato instead. He was staring at me with concerned eyes. "First day of... my school project was a win." I said in a sarcastic tone, nearly forgetting Mark was sitting a few feet away. The blonde smiled a little. "I can see that... are you okay?" He asked. "I have a broken foot and I've been stuck with Mr. Tongue Clicker over here all day." I said dryly. Minato chuckled at me, and Rin giggled.

Obito grabbed my hand in his all of a sudden, causing me to become startled and mildly disgusted at the same time. I stared at him with wide, bewildered eyes. "I'm so sorry this happened to you." He said, his eyes wide and shiny with what seemed to be tears. "Er... thank... you?" I tried slowly, unsure of what I was supposed to reply with. I looked at our hands with a scrunched up nose. 

"They'll have to re-break it. The chakra you have is already starting to fix it." I knew she was censoring herself for my sake, since Mark was there. My immense chakra was causing repairs, I guess. That sucks. "That will be fun." I muttered, wondering if I'd shoot myself into a wall on accident. I think my powers react more to emotion, not to pain. So if I keep calm, things should be okay. "Oh no!" Obito wailed, turning to face Kakashi with a nasty glare that made me flinch. This guy may seem like an idiot, but damn can he get scary.

"What? It's not my fault they didn't admit her right away." He scoffed the boy. "Kakashi, it was your job to look out for her. That meant getting her medical care if she needed it to. The nurse told me that she collapsed in the waiting room. I'm sure that was on purpose." Minato eyed me questionably. "Yep. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." I gave a two finger salute, pulling lightly at my hand to see if Obito would let go. He didn't. "That's so smart!" Obito awed. "That was clever, Ethelia. I'm glad you got yourself in before it could get too bad." Rin smiled at me. "Me too." I admitted, looking down.

I'm talking so... normally with these people. They're treating me like I'm a normal person, and it's odd. Anytime I talked to anyone from my school, they were sorta distracted, and irritable. They'd been clearly annoyed. They definitely saw me as lower class due to my financial situation at home. So this... this was actually nice. I didn't know how to deal with it, or what to do, but I liked that I could just let the words spill out. It felt nice to have people my age concerned about me when hurt, and it felt nice to know that they were there, even if it was their mission to be. I didn't want to admit it, but this is a nice change.

"Kakashi, you've failed your mission." My head snapped at Minato's words, my eyes wide. Kakashi flinched back as though he'd been struck, looking horrified. Minato looked disappointed, shaking his head at the boy. Obito and Rin looked at each other and then looked away awkwardly, clearly not knowing what to say. "Damn. Harsh." Mark whistled. "Stay out of it." I called to him. I still feel bad for the guy. Who knew he was being abused like that... thrown through a wall? I would have blown up Earth by now if my dad was like that.