Watching the other student, whom he realized only had one arm, Isamu noticed what he assumed to be anger and frustration disappear from his face. He could only see tension being relieved, but given the circumstances, the anger monkeys seemed to have a pretty good hold on him. Anything to be of assistance, Isamu reassured himself as he looked at his new cleaning companion. He was glad the guy had decided to help. He could do it, it just might take a bit longer. Besides, two heads were better than one, right? 

[b]"True enough. Alright, sounds like a deal to me."[/b] Handing the one-armed student the dustpan and taking the small brush, Isamu moved some of the mess into the dustpan. [b]"I feel bad, though. Guy was cutting onions, cried a bit, I told him he could chew gum to stop it from happening. Normal stuff, right? Would have been, if his tears hadn't wiped the make-up off his freaking face. Guy had a prosthesis. I felt like an ass. I just hope he's doing alright. He messed his hands up a bit grabbing the pot."[/b] He offered a screwed-up frown before shaking his head and replacing it with a look that said 'well, what can you do?' [b]"Not the end of the world though, guy'll be alright. Seen it plenty. Folks feel embarrassed or resentful of their conditions, but I haven't met somebody who didn't come around and at least learn to live with it in time. The most messed up part? The ones who have those diseases that kill you are the best about accepting it. They usually knew since they were kids, so they just have as much of a life as they can. One chick I knew had this catch-phrase: 'Every day is a gift. Every hour is golden. Every minute is a diamond.'"[/b]

He laughed for a second before gathering more mess and sweeping it into the dustpan. [b]"I like to consider myself an optimist, but...eh, even that's a bit much for me. Everybody has dark times. Those hours are hardly golden. I've been around for a few of those. Honestly..."[/b] He looked down at his hands for a moment. [b]"I consider myself lucky. I never had what people would call a normal life. I was home-schooled, I always had only two fingers, but it usually doesn't have any effect on my life. I do origami in my spare time. Origami! Think about that: the lobster kid making cranes out of paper."[/b] Another laugh as Isamu collected more trash. [b]"I don't believe in that thousand cranes myth, but...who knows, maybe I'll do it just to give the world the...[i]finger.[/i]"[/b] It was all Isamu could do to contain his laughter, and he closed his eyes as he held it in.