"Tears are just sad thoughts leaving the body. Cry if you must, we all deserve to be happy."
Dialogue Color – #029729
Thought Color – #002BD9
Name
Alfred Komatsu
Nicknames/Aliases
Alfie, Allie, Koma
Age
16
Gender
Male
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Academy Year
10th
Birth Date
January 11th
Alfred Komatsu
Nicknames/Aliases
Alfie, Allie, Koma
Age
16
Gender
Male
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Academy Year
10th
Birth Date
January 11th
Hair
Red
Eyes
Auburn
Height
5’9
Weight
150 lbs
Body Build
Fit, toned, muscular.
Physical Mutations
N/A
Notable Scars
-A single round burn on his right thigh about the size of a fist
-A large cut scar just above his achilles on his right leg.
Piercings and Tattoos
-Both of Alfred’s ears are pierced although he hasn’t worn earings in years.
-On both forearms, there is a wrapping realistic tattoo of a chain starting from his wrist to his elbow.
Casual Wear
Typically Alfred isn’t too worried about his outward appearance. On a good day, he likes to wear a clean t-shirt and jeans maybe potentially overlapped with a hoodie or some kind of light open jacket. On his bad days, he wears ragged shorts that look like they’ve been through the blender and his shirts are usually oversized and dirty. He’s a fan of scarves and will wear them in any weather save for heat waves.
Face Claim
Emiya Shirou - Fate: Stay/Night
Red
Eyes
Auburn
Height
5’9
Weight
150 lbs
Body Build
Fit, toned, muscular.
Physical Mutations
N/A
Notable Scars
-A single round burn on his right thigh about the size of a fist
-A large cut scar just above his achilles on his right leg.
Piercings and Tattoos
-Both of Alfred’s ears are pierced although he hasn’t worn earings in years.
-On both forearms, there is a wrapping realistic tattoo of a chain starting from his wrist to his elbow.
Casual Wear
Typically Alfred isn’t too worried about his outward appearance. On a good day, he likes to wear a clean t-shirt and jeans maybe potentially overlapped with a hoodie or some kind of light open jacket. On his bad days, he wears ragged shorts that look like they’ve been through the blender and his shirts are usually oversized and dirty. He’s a fan of scarves and will wear them in any weather save for heat waves.
Face Claim
Emiya Shirou - Fate: Stay/Night
Personality
Alfred, despite being born an American, has taken to the Japanese lifestyle quite easily. Al is one of those people who seems to be many years older than he actually is, often spouting wisdom or words of confidence at just the right time to matter. His sense of humor at most times is light, but he has been known to get witty to a nearly brutal degree when dealing with people that are, in his eyes, not worth the time of day. He’s quick with a smile and only ever seen with a frown when he’s deep in thought over something.
Easy to confide in, he’s one of those people who simply likes to help others. He doesn’t necessarily want anything out of the deal when he does so, but if he feels like someone is taking advantage of him, he simply stops helping that person. He rarely if ever gets angry, irritated, or even annoyed. Everything seems to slide off of him even when people directly assault him through either physical or verbal violence. That being said, while he’s not quick to resort to violence he is more than capable of it and has been in his fair share of scraps. He’s been burned before, both physically and emotionally, but as he likes to say: Wounds heal, scars remind us that they do.
Al’s inherent intelligence is something that he often tries to downplay unless it suits the situation. He’ll play the fool and laugh at dumb jokes, allowing himself to come off not so much an idiot but not necessarily smart. He’s aiming for average, so that when he does decide to ‘show off’ for lack of a better term, it’s a surprise to everyone involved. One of his guilty pleasures one could call it. There’s no real wicked side to Al, as he just tries to allow everyone to do what they want. He doesn’t hate pranks or tricks, but doesn’t perform them himself. He doesn’t tell dirty jokes or leer at women, but laughs and appreciates them all the same.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Fears
Alfred, despite being born an American, has taken to the Japanese lifestyle quite easily. Al is one of those people who seems to be many years older than he actually is, often spouting wisdom or words of confidence at just the right time to matter. His sense of humor at most times is light, but he has been known to get witty to a nearly brutal degree when dealing with people that are, in his eyes, not worth the time of day. He’s quick with a smile and only ever seen with a frown when he’s deep in thought over something.
Easy to confide in, he’s one of those people who simply likes to help others. He doesn’t necessarily want anything out of the deal when he does so, but if he feels like someone is taking advantage of him, he simply stops helping that person. He rarely if ever gets angry, irritated, or even annoyed. Everything seems to slide off of him even when people directly assault him through either physical or verbal violence. That being said, while he’s not quick to resort to violence he is more than capable of it and has been in his fair share of scraps. He’s been burned before, both physically and emotionally, but as he likes to say: Wounds heal, scars remind us that they do.
Al’s inherent intelligence is something that he often tries to downplay unless it suits the situation. He’ll play the fool and laugh at dumb jokes, allowing himself to come off not so much an idiot but not necessarily smart. He’s aiming for average, so that when he does decide to ‘show off’ for lack of a better term, it’s a surprise to everyone involved. One of his guilty pleasures one could call it. There’s no real wicked side to Al, as he just tries to allow everyone to do what they want. He doesn’t hate pranks or tricks, but doesn’t perform them himself. He doesn’t tell dirty jokes or leer at women, but laughs and appreciates them all the same.
Strengths
- Patience: Alfred is probably one of the most easy going guys you could ever meet. No one can remember a time when he lost his temper or even appeared to be irritated. This patience manifests itself in many ways, including tutelage when required. He’s the first one to pause and take a step back when necessary in order to find not just the easiest solution, but the best one.
- Decent Fighter: Alfred may not appear to be a fighter on the outside, and his demeanor does nothing to showcase his combat ability, but Alfred is actually quite able to defend himself when the time comes for it. While he has no formal training to speak of, he has practised himself in many different ways to come up with his own style of fighting that he simply calls ‘Alfie Style’. A slice of narcissism thrown into the mix and you have someone who can take a punch as well as throw one.
- Intelligent: Alfred seems to have a natural talent when it comes to problem solving. While he may not know advanced mathematics or complex scientific theories, he is more than capable of figuring things out quickly and putting them into practice. A better way to put this would be that he’s street smart with the capability of being book smart.
Weaknesses
- Hesitation: A direct result of his patient nature. More than once has his tendency to sit back and evaluate a situation cost him. He never just simply acts, even when his instincts typically tell him to. He’s simply not a guy who instantly resorts to the first action that comes to mind, and that is actually how he got his two scars on his leg. When he does decide on his course of action, he then commits to it but it’s the process of getting to that thought that holds him back.
- Independent Ability Thought: Al’s power is unique in that it doesn’t require his conscious thought in order to necessarily activate or be used. What that means however, is that his ability can also react based off of his own emotions and immediate reactions to a situation before he realizes what’s going on. This can have different outcomes, not all of them beneficial. For example, if Al is frightened or suddenly becomes anxious, his ability will sometimes lash out at the supposed threat.
- Expression: Despite Al’s nature to help people and comfort them, he tends to have a hard time expressing himself fully. He’ll say what the people want to hear, what they need to hear, but at the end of the day Al could be dying inside and the only one to know it would be him. Even to his own family, he’s often referred to as ‘a picture book missing a few pages, easy to read but you’re not getting the full story’.
Fears
- Fire: While not crippling, it does cause Al to stop and stare often far longer than necessary. Small flames such as a campfire or a torch don’t bother him, but raging infernos do. His fear reaction is directly related to the size of the fire before him.
- Being Forgotten: Al wants the best for the people around him, but subconsciously he almost does it selfishly. He has a near crippling anxiety of people around him suddenly forgetting he exists, and so he goes out of his way to make sure people remember his name and face. What someone says ‘I’m sorry, I don’t remember you’ to Al, it’s the equivalent of punching him in the stomach...with a rocket fist.
- Hurting people...by accident: Al has done his fair share of pain dealing in his short life. Whether it’s defending himself or others, he’s no stranger to the fact that he has indeed hurt people. What he fears though, is that his powers may act out on their own and inflict serious injury or death on people around him...people he cares about and loves. He doesn’t always have 100% control of it, and so it’s a constant nagging at the back of his mind.
Power Name
Guardian Angel
Power Class
Miscellaneous
Power Description
Alfred’s powers manifested in a very unique and somewhat dangerous way. Floating near him at all times of the day are three orbs usually silver in color and the size of a basketball. They seem to float and otherwise fly without any natural way to do so, and despite appearing to be solid are actually quite malleable and capable of forming into different shapes and hardening themselves to become as firm as steel.
These orbs, his ‘angels’ (or ‘Angel’ depending on the amount of objects currently formed) as he likes to call them, are actually semi-sentient psychic matter from Al’s body forced into a physical form. This is not to say Al is psychic in any other way aside from this, as he’s not. However, these orbs are powered by Al’s current energy levels and his emotional state can often times influence their behaviour. It should be noted that Al doesn’t have direct control over them...he compares them to well trained dogs. They follow orders, are deathly loyal and will protect their master, but sometimes he can lose command of them. It usually happens when there’s a sudden shift in his emotional state, such as he suddenly becomes frightened or anxious. The orbs react to his emotions accordingly, more often than not moving to remove the threat entirely.
Now, as mentioned before, these orbs appear to be completely solid, but they are not. The best description would most likely be that they look like Mercury, the liquid metal. Their form can shift into anything that Al can think of in order to attack or defend. This can range from a simple spike, to a shield, to covering his arm in a giant metal fist to even forming an outline of a human being. They can converge into a single mass to do this, but in their ‘resting’ phase, they revert back to the balls. These orbs are also capable of granting Alfred limited flight abilities by basically carrying him as they float around. He can have them attach to him in any variety of ways and he can piggy back his way into the sky.
There’s no extra gear or equipment that is needed in order for Al to communicate to these orbs, but it should be noted that without the orbs, Al is essentially just a human being. His powers come from the abilities of the orbs tethered to his soul.
Power Limitations and Weaknesses
Guardian Angel
Power Class
Miscellaneous
Power Description
Alfred’s powers manifested in a very unique and somewhat dangerous way. Floating near him at all times of the day are three orbs usually silver in color and the size of a basketball. They seem to float and otherwise fly without any natural way to do so, and despite appearing to be solid are actually quite malleable and capable of forming into different shapes and hardening themselves to become as firm as steel.
These orbs, his ‘angels’ (or ‘Angel’ depending on the amount of objects currently formed) as he likes to call them, are actually semi-sentient psychic matter from Al’s body forced into a physical form. This is not to say Al is psychic in any other way aside from this, as he’s not. However, these orbs are powered by Al’s current energy levels and his emotional state can often times influence their behaviour. It should be noted that Al doesn’t have direct control over them...he compares them to well trained dogs. They follow orders, are deathly loyal and will protect their master, but sometimes he can lose command of them. It usually happens when there’s a sudden shift in his emotional state, such as he suddenly becomes frightened or anxious. The orbs react to his emotions accordingly, more often than not moving to remove the threat entirely.
Now, as mentioned before, these orbs appear to be completely solid, but they are not. The best description would most likely be that they look like Mercury, the liquid metal. Their form can shift into anything that Al can think of in order to attack or defend. This can range from a simple spike, to a shield, to covering his arm in a giant metal fist to even forming an outline of a human being. They can converge into a single mass to do this, but in their ‘resting’ phase, they revert back to the balls. These orbs are also capable of granting Alfred limited flight abilities by basically carrying him as they float around. He can have them attach to him in any variety of ways and he can piggy back his way into the sky.
There’s no extra gear or equipment that is needed in order for Al to communicate to these orbs, but it should be noted that without the orbs, Al is essentially just a human being. His powers come from the abilities of the orbs tethered to his soul.
Power Limitations and Weaknesses
- Semi-sentient: As stated above, Alfred doesn’t directly control the orbs so much as give orders which are then carried out nearly instantaneously. In periods of high stress or sudden emotional swings, the orbs will act on their own accord to the best of their ability to ensure that Alfred is alright. Even if the act is as simple as a friend saying ‘boo’ around the corner, the orbs will see it as a threat and act accordingly.
- Energy consumption: On a day to day basis, the orbs do not draw enough energy from Alfred for it to be noticeable. He can typically go about his day as normal. Even when he’s actively using them to attack or defend, the draw is relatively low. Instead, they seem to rely more on Alfred’s stamina and instead of losing power, become unresponsive. Like a lazy dog and you’re yelling at it to ‘come over’ but it simply refuses.
- Constant: Whether Alfred likes it or not, the orbs are there to stay. He has tried to ‘banish’ them or otherwise make them disappear to no avail. There’s no way for him to make them invisible or even leave them at home. They have a fairly large radius around Alfred that they can fly around in, allowing for decent ranged attacks if necessary, but they are still tethered to him. One way or another, they’ll always be around.
- Limited Flight: While Alfie is capable of making the orbs carry him into the sky, there's only so much the orbs can do. At most, Alfie can remain in the air for about five minutes, give or take a couple depending on how hard he is pushing himself. Doing this 'flight' business seems to pull from a different pool of energy, as Alfie can physically feel when the orbs are starting to give out under his weight. Like a rope is tied around his heart and someone is yanking on it lightly at first until it eventually feels like his heart will be pulled from his chest.
- Working machinery: Theoretically, Alfred's orbs could form items such as machine guns, pistons, small vehicles, etc. In order to do this though, the orbs rely on an internal blueprint provided from Alfred's mind. While he may be able to fudge some details in order to get something to 'simply work', if he doesn't at least have a general idea how something works, the orbs can't replicate it.
History
Born in New York, United States to a well meaning but ultimately poor lower class family, Alfred Hyke was not a planned child in any sense of the word. His father was a low ranking corporate flunky, and his mother was a waitress at a struggling restaurant. Most of his initial early life was filled with a flurry of activity as his parents worked around the clock to keep a small apartment, barely enough food on the table, and essentially keep themselves off the streets. Without a child, their budget was tight enough to strangle a horse, with a child, they soon learned that it simply wasn’t manageable. Despite trying everything, including almost attempting a robbery, his parents simply weren’t able to provide for all of them. Luckily Alfred’s mother was of direct asian descent, with her parents currently living out of Japan. She hadn’t talked to them in quite awhile, mainly because they had practically disowned her for marrying Alfred’s father and moving to the states. Despite this, she was their only child and her parents were very concerned with family lineage. With more than a fair amount of hesitation, she reached out to them and received an answer. They would take Alfred, but his last name would be changed to the proper name of Komatsu, and she would release all privileges associated with the child...including visitation rights. They would be his parents from that point on, and she would see him only if they willed it.
Alfred’s mother and father struggled with the decision for nearly a week before a sudden expense meaning they could barely afford food for the month made their choice for them. By the time Alfred was 3 years old, he was put on a plane and shipped off to Japan like a piece of human cargo.
Life in Japan was better, in a way, for Alfred. He was never wanting for food or a place to sleep. He was warm in the winters and cool in the summers, and lived in a decent neighborhood with his grandparents. It was those people who were the problem however. His grandmother was constantly trying to groom Alfred to be a proper gentleman and bring honor to the family, even if that meant punishing him for simple things as having the first bite of a meal before his grandfather. His grandfather, while not abusive, was surely not the caring sort. He demanded that Alfred be strong, proactive and ambitious. If his grandparents had their way, Alfred would have grown up to be a ruthless and cold businessman, but unfortunately for them it never seemed to take. Alfred learned to be respectful and careful, but everything else seemed to slide off of him as something he never wanted attributed to himself.
Despite only having been in America for 3 years of his life, he still managed to retain a small accent that marked him as a foreigner, not to mention his physical attributes. Regardless of this fact, Alfred never seemed to have trouble making friends and was often surrounded by people. When he was old enough to participate in sports he did so with vigor and gusto, promoting a healthy lifestyle and setting a precedent for his body to grow into. Ultimately, he started becoming the kid that many other parents would have been happy to have. Sure, he got into trouble sometimes but it was all minor offenses that could be chalked up to kids being kids. His Grandparents never saw it that way however. They found every single flaw, every single thing they wanted to change and they pounded on it like a hammer to a nail. Alfred was never good enough, never strong enough, never smart enough, never ambitious enough. It got to the point where Alfred started shutting them out of his life completely, much like they forced his actual parents out of it. They would talk and talk and talk and Alfred would simply smile and nod. His outside life looked ideal, behind closed doors was an environment meant to crush the soul of someone.
When Alfred was 13, something happened that he couldn’t fully explain. He woke up from his futon, staring up at the ceiling to collect his thoughts for the day ahead, like he normally would do, when three silver orbs floated into view. He thought he was still dreaming at first, and slapped himself hard to make sure he wasn’t. When he did so, the orbs moved in closer, seeming to hover around the affected area. He couldn’t explain it, but he could tell that these orbs were...concerned? He couldn’t make out words or thoughts, but he could feel what appeared to be raw emotion coming from the orbs in front of him. He slowly stood up and made to touch one. It didn’t move and allowed it, and he could tell it was warm to the touch. The orb morphed around his hand as he did so, and the other two orbs hovered closer to him. He couldn’t explain it, didn’t know how to reason with them, and only started becoming aware that he still had to go to school that day.
He went about his morning routine in his room, taking more time than usual as the orbs seemed to get in the way every chance they had. He would have to look into this more when he got back home. He said his goodbyes to his grandparents that morning, and took his typical route to school. It was only a couple blocks later that he felt something nudge him in the back. He turned around and saw that the three orbs were following him. He started to panic a little bit, with something like this out in the open. He had learned about the awakened and while he wasn’t entirely sure this was the case, how else was he going to explain it. When he heard several people approaching, classmates of his that he normally walked to school with, his panic increased. The orbs became agitated and started literally bristling. One of the orbs started drifting towards the sounds of the classmates, spikes starting to form on the outer shell. It was going to hurt his friends!
“Stop!” He yelled at it, and it immediately complied. He took a breath, looked at the orb and started to wonder if it was really following his orders. As the kids started to get closer, he yelled another word. “Hide!” All three of the orbs seemed to zoom out of his vision. He looked around for them but couldn’t find them anywhere, and that’s when his classmates finally came into view. It was an awkward explanation as to why he was yelling at seemingly nothing, but they quickly forgot about it and started to move on. Alfred told them he would catch up, and once they were round the next corner, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Beneath him, in the sewer grate, the silver liquid-like substance flew upwards through the holes. It reformed into 3 orbs and hovered in front of him once more. So they did obey his commands...If that was the case. “Go home!” He watched as the orbs flew off in a direction for a couple of blocks but stop. From his viewpoint, it looked like they were trying to head home but something was holding them back. Alfred walked a couple steps towards them, and watched as they also were able to move a few feet more in that direction. That was it...these orbs were connected to him somehow. He was an awakened? He didn’t feel different? Shouldn’t he feel different? Either way, they were stuck to him and he couldn’t go to school with three floating orbs around him all day. He opened his backpack and dumped out everything that he could stand to lose, ordering them to get in.
His first day was stressful to say the least, worried that his orbs would jump out of the backpack and frighten everyone around him, but it never happened. The days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and eventually 3 years passed without any major incident. When he was 16, Alfred and several of his friends were out playing soccer in the park. Naturally there were other children and people in the park, but Alfred had learned about his power as best he could. His orbs were currently stowed away in his backpack, waiting and doing nothing to reveal Alfred’s true nature.
Suddenly the weather took a turn for the worse. The clouds immediately became dark and scary, rain started to fall and lightning arced across the sky. It was a freak phenomenon as the forecast for the day was supposed to be sunny. Naturally everyone started running for cover from the rain, but unfortunately there were several kids playing up in the cherry blossom trees when this entire thing started. Lightning started hitting the ground, and people started panicking and screaming. One lightning bolt managed to hit a tree, splitting it and sending it crashing to the ground. Several kids had been up in the branches, and while a few managed to jump free with minor injury, a few were still stuck underneath the trunk. Alfred, along with several others ran to the tree to try and free the kids who were now trapped underneath and unconscious. As they tried though, several bolts of lightning struck so close to them that some people got burned as a result. People scattered and only a few including Alfred remained to try and save the kids.
The tree was too heavy to move though, and with the lightning strikes increasing in density it was incredibly dangerous to stay here. Alfred had a choice, and he made it without hesitation. He looked towards his backpack, mentally calling for his orbs. They shot out of the bag, destroying it in the process and rushed over to Alfred with incredible speed. Once the orbs were above him, the people left helping him stepped back in stunned awe as Alfred looked at the tree and started issuing mental orders to them. The orbs turned liquid, moved underneath the tree, and reformed into a ‘jack’ of sorts. They started lifting the tree off the kids, and the others were able to pull them free. Once that was done, Alfred had them form a shield over them as they attempted to flee the park. The shield blocked a few of the lightning bolts, and while Alfred didn’t register it as pain, he could feel the impacts that his orbs were deflecting for them.
The following days were of news stories from the freak storm, how an awakened was responsible for the near death of several people, while another awakened was apparently responsible for saving several lives. Alfred’s life as he knew it was done, people knew about him now and nothing would ever be the same. The night that he had come home with the orbs following him, his grandfather drank himself to a blackout and his grandmother cried so hard she could have filled a bucket with her tears. They were pro-human to the core. Awakened were nothing more than a genetic mistake in their eyes. The relationship dynamic between them changed drastically. No longer were they worried about Alfred not being smart enough, or strong enough...in fact they were no longer worried at all. They barely registered his presence anymore, seemingly ignoring the fact that he existed. It was only about a week after the incident that his residence received a letter of invitation to an academy meant to house and teach the awakened. His grandfather had taken the letter, and literally slapped Alfred in the face with it. His claim was that if Alfred didn’t go to the school and leave this house at once, that no matter his powers, he was no longer a Komatsu. Not like Alfred needed much motivation to go there anyways. Even in the short time afterwards, everyone treated him differently. A few who were at the park that day defended him and treated him like a hero, but mostly people distrusted and feared him. His grandparents were no exception. There was no choice, it was the Academy or the streets, and so Alfred chose the path of least resistance.
He packed up what things he had, and made to leave but his grandfather couldn’t help but yell insults and derogatory terms at him, denouncing him as ‘no blood of mine’. Alfred stopped at the door only long enough to look back at him and smile while his ‘angels’ floated around his head. His life with these people who claimed to be his family was done, hopefully he would find a family that was worth clinging to.
Relationships
║ Neutral – ◉ ║ Friends – ♪ ║ Enemies – ✗║ Romantic – ♡ ║
"He’s scared, like so many others. Nothing wrong with that, just have to help him provide the strength to move past it."
Alfred is one to quickly make friends and move to help others, so with Kosei it seems like it will be an almost double win in his mind. While they are the same age, you could say that Alfred almost instantly views him as a little brother of sorts, with his hesitance and lack of confidence. Alfred can see that this isn’t who Kosei is supposed to be, and is willing and able to help him find his ‘spark’ again, so to speak, to returning to the kid he once was.
Alfie can see that Kosei just needs a friend, someone who can understand the things that he's been through and Alfred can do that easily enough. Sometimes all it takes is someone who's willing to listen, play a few video games with, and generally be around. Hopefully Alfred can help him, and if they happen to short out a few fuse boxes or set fire to a tree...well accidents happen.
"He may not seem like the warmest of people, but I don’t get the feeling that he’s a bad person...maybe colder than an icicle, but not a bad person."
Lucian is one of those people that even Alfred has a hard time getting close to, not by lack of trying though. Alfie simply has a hard time reading Lucian, and while he doesn’t necessarily feel that Lucian is a horrible person, sometimes feels like he’s the one being read instead. The way he surveys a room and seems to inspect everything while at the same time being confused at what he finds disorients Alfie. He doesn’t know how to react to that kind of reaction, nor does he know if Lucian is doing it on purpose or is honestly clueless.
Regardless, Lucian is an awakened just like him and deserves no scorn from someone with three balls of metal constantly floating around his head. Smile, be courteous, include Lucian where possible and generally be a nice guy. Hopefully Lucian will come out of his shell a bit more after that.
"I'll admit, I don't know what to do here."
Alfred likes to take pride in his ability to be able to sense how to approach someone. Whether to be overly outgoing, or to deliberately hold himself back in order to allow the other person to express himself. In Nova's case, being all over the map in terms of an extrovert and introvert, Alfred is at a total loss as to how to interact with him. Something about the way Nova switches between pronouns on a seeming whim, changing his/her dress to suit these desires has Alfred scrambling for some sort of handhold when it comes to becoming Nova's friend. Make no mistake, Alfred can see through the charade and has already determined that something is potentially catastrophically wrong with Nova, but at the moment he can't even begin to hope for an answer as to how to help him. All he knows is that he has to keep his angels on a tighter leash when his anxiety of having his personal bubble burst by Nova send them into a semi-frenzy.
”Whether you’re the product of your environment or simply an asshole I don’t care...If you try to hurt anyone, I will stop you."
Alfred tries to befriend pretty much anyone who will allow him to do so, and it is a rare case where even Alfred looks at someone and deems them unworthy of his friendship.
Tai is one of those people.
His blatant disregard for Awakened life, despite his status as one of them is confusing and infuriating to Alfred. He constantly berates even the most innocent of students at the Academy with seemingly no prodding required. He lashes out, both physically and verbally without a care as to what it could do to the party on the other side. Alfie can’t stand this behaviour. Tai is a bully, pure and simple. Sure, he may have power that rivals anything Alfred can think of, but it’s nothing without the right mind guiding it. Tai might be a lost cause, but Alfred will fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s the only casualty of his self-inflicted war.
”He tried to sell me these shoes for 40 yen, but I bartered him down to 20...these are my shoes, aren't they?"
Does Alfred have some misgivings about Abel's conman-like mentality? Sure, there's something to said and guarded about someone who would try to sell you the very air you're breathing, but ultimately he likes Abel. Sure, he has a way about him that screams 'THIEF' or 'PICKPOCKET' to Alfred, but he's more than aware enough to prep himself against that. Abel doesn't hurt anyone when he does his thing, and even if Alfred doesn't agree, he has to admit that sometimes it is a hilarious moment in an otherwise drab day when someone has realized Abel has had their way with them.
He seems to be the real ladies man around Campus too, and Alfred has no problems with that. All the more power to him if he makes them feel special and wanted, something Alfred himself strives for in his own way. At the end of the day, even as Alfred double checks his pockets and words around the guy, he enjoys his presence. He believes they get along just splendidly.
"Hey! Stop undressing them with your mind and powers you dolt!"
Keiji is a perverse little creature, there's no denying it, but like so many others there is more to him than initially meets the eye. Alfred sees through what could be considered a fatal character flaw, being drawn to the female form like a moth to a flame and witnessing someone who might be the complete opposite of how he acts. Even when he's running around feeling up girls, earning a very hardened smack on the back of the head from Alfred, there's a sense that he doesn't mean any harm to come of it. He's constantly smiling and either directly or indirectly making people laugh and enjoy life. That fact allows Alfred to smile when he sees him, even if he has to reign him in some days to avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit.
"Taking knight in shining armor to a whole 'nother level huh?"
Elias is a good kid in Alfred's books. Sure, he has his own way of expressing himself, but nearly every time Alfred has seen him he's treated everyone with an almost stupid amount of respect. From the way he views people and helps them, to his weird manner of talking. Alfred couldn't begin to explain why Elias feels the need to verbalize his thoughts like he does, and frankly he doesn't care. Its not hurting anyone, and it tends to lead to interesting interactions at times. Still, there's something there. Like a beacon in the dark, Alfred can feel it. With Elias, there is that slight twinge of pain as the tell tale signs of someone in pain come across as evident in their own way through his personality and mannerisms. Alfred couldn't begin to fathom what could cause someone to essentially become this, only that something did. Alfred's ability to sense the dark and painful areas of people is often times both a gift and a curse, because there is nothing more he wants than to simply let Elias be who he is. Alfred will keep an eye on him, provide help where necessary, and hopefully assist him in moving past whatever hurt him in his past.
"You mean the incredibly attractive woman over there who I haven’t been able to stop looking at? No, I haven’t noticed her."
To say that Alfred knows his boyish levels of hormones are kicking in would be an understatement. She’s a beautiful girl his age who acts mature and wears...the best clothing, let’s put it that way. Alfie wouldn’t say he’s smitten, but it’s one of the few times he’s been at a loss for words in quite awhile. Regardless, she’s another awakened like him, and whether or not he can unwrap his tongue, it isn’t going to stop him from approaching her.
Despite his attraction to her, or maybe because of it, he gets the sense of something else. Maybe it has to do with her personality, maybe it has to do with her maturity, but something doesn’t quite add up for him. He’s dealt with people holding back important secrets before and knows that the best way to handle such things was to allow the person to come out with them in their own time, to simply be there for them. Alfie’s going to do his best to be that kind of person.
"There's no real insight I can offer here. You seem like a great person, that's all there is to it."
Natalia is one of those people that Alfred looks at and doesn't immediately feel the need to go and help them. One could not potentially understand how much of a relief that is. Natalia seems well adjusted, normal, and in control of her life for the most part and there's no glaring problem or personality quirk that Alfred feels like he has to step in and help them with. This also poses a certain problem when it comes to him approaching her, considering that nearly all of his prior relationships are based on a lot of giving from his side in order to help the other. He doesn't know how to deal with someone that doesn't need that help, or isn't asking for it. He would love to know her, he feels like they could get along famously, but for the moment, he finds himself speechless.
”Did you...did you paint your face red?”
Shizu is a prime example of someone that Alfred feels compelled to get close to. Sure, it helps that she’s pretty cute but ultimately Alfred often feels he has to help people more than satisfy his own innate curiosity. Shizu is, in some ways, damaged and Alfred wants to help with that in any way he can. Right from the first glance he got at her, he could tell she would need help. Maybe not from him, but it would have to be somebody or she would walk right down the road of self destruction.
Her power also concerns Alfred, considering the physical implications of her ability. He’s worried that one day she may stress herself too far and end up causing serious damage to herself or worse. Maybe if she ever learns to stop flooding her face with blood or spilling it on paper than Alfred might be able to back off slightly and simply become the friend that she seemingly needs.
”You can bark all you want, I know you're hurting on the inside.”
Kylie is a trouble case. On one hand, Alfred knows there's something beneath the surface that is causing some sort of pain, and no he's not referring to her transformations. On the other, he feels like she's more liable to cave his skull in than accept his help. It's as if she hates him because he helps people as much as he can, much like a certain other person that shall remain nameless. Yet, despite that, he doesn't feel in any sort of danger from her. Maybe it's a bit of naivety on his part, or maybe the confidence in his own abilities is increasing his ego. If it's the second one, he really hopes she doesn't put him in his place.
Regardless of Kylie's opinion on the matter, she's not the first person to threaten or otherwise dislike him enough to voice it, and she won't be the last. Their personalities clash at a fundamental level, but that won't stop Alfred from trying. Sometimes these people just need someone to push that little bit of extra distance to make it to the top of the hill.
”What do you mean I helped with your homework? I did no such thing.”
How do you help someone who so adamantly refuses help in all forms? Alfred ponders this question while looking at Amari, even though he can practically feel the hatred she feels for him at any given moment. She's independent to a fault right now, and Alfred can't understand why. Sure, there's wanting to forge your own path in the world, do things yourself, essentially become self reliant and worry only about yourself, but you risk pushing everything and everyone away forever. Underneath this all, Alfred's intuition hints at a deep seated issue within the depths of the girl's soul, much like many people around him. His desire to help her is like a moth being drawn into a bonfire, the only potential outcome is for him to be burnt. Yet he's still going to try, find a way to subtly aid her in her chosen path.
There's also the problem with how she tends to interact with everyone. Like a few other people, Alfred doesn't get the sense that she's necessarily a bad person but she definitely has bad manners. He doubts it will end up in violence, but while Alfred wants to help her and get her from point A to point B, if she thinks she can just trample over others on her quest for independence, she will find a very stern voice of reason in Alfred. [/font]
