Talk to a sad doctor, will ya?(Private, Jack)

Ishi had went to this bar because no one would question why a teacher from the academy, looking sad and distraught, wanted to come drink. It wasn't a low-end grubby place, but it was a place everyone knew that you had a reason for being there. You could come in covered in blood, and one wouldn't question it. That's why he was willing to sit at the bar, and drinking Everclear, shot after shot. He was already mildly drunk, but that didn't matter in this case. He knew how to get someone to sit and listen, and that was to promise them a drink. Promise them to pay their tab, even. He had the money. He could buy this bar two times over, at least. He didn't go to Creaks, as that was both under controversy, and it was too public. This was a place, stuck in the wall, that sold good liquor and didn't ask any questions.

The seat next to him had a sign on it.

'Free drinks for the night, but you gotta listen to a drunk guy.'

Unsurprisingly, no one had taken it, as they wanted to be alone here.

Ishi wanted to both be alone and talk to someone. This wasn't how he normally felt, it's no matter though.

He, even then, wore a lab coat and jeans, with flip-flops. He didn't care what he wore.

Every once in a while, when his work was already completed and he wasn't injured, Jack would end up wide awake, despite any physical exertion he may have subjected himself to earlier. Maybe it was the adrenaline? The excitement, maybe? Regardless of why, Jack found himself entering a bar wearing his usual jacket and carrying his favorite bat with him, the only thing different about his attire being his mask. It had been a couple months since he wore it, but now he wore "Tony," a rubber tiger mask over is face. Of course, he was soaked in the crimson liquid that reminded him of a job well done, but for now he figured that worrying about looking like a mess in a bar might not be too big of a deal.

Looking around the bar, Jack noticed a pretty strange sight, but a mildly understandable one nonetheless. A man in a lab coat was sitting at the bar, a sign next to him offering free drinks in exchange for someone to listen to him. Jack checked his wallet, asking himself if he was about to do this because he had to, or because he felt like being nice. His wallet was filled decently, so it was most likely the latter. Besides, ignoring anything free felt like a sin. The masked man walked over to the seat, picked up the sign, and tapped the man next to him with it. "Alright, man. Tell me what ails you. You want me to respond, or do you just need to vent? I'm game for either if you're not joking about this offer."

Ishi looked over at the man, who was both covered in blood and wore a tiger mask. Odd fellow. None-the-less, he was offering to listen.

"Offer is sincere. You can respond if you want to."

With the way the other guy carried himself, he knew the type. That wasn't blood gotten from an accident, although he didn't know where from. However, it wasn't from an accident, that was for sure. Better him than anyone else.

"You ever realized, after years, that you had a problem? Just, seemingly out of nowhere, you notice it?"

He signaled to the bartender to pour this man the best liquor they had in the house. That's what you got out of this deal.

"I was a for-hire killer for years, and that led to me constantly being an angry prick."

This was just the truth and it's something he always knew. He never considered it a problem. He considered it a perk. A personality trait that could never be removed. That's why he always thought it odd that someone he used to know, was always so respectful. He could never be it, and used to always be confused when someone could be.

"Here comes this female student. She decides to be respectable, and have skills and stuff like that. Ack."

Jack sat quietly, content with the deal they had made, and listened to what this stranger had to say.  He knew how it felt, having something to say but nobody to say it to.  At first, he didn't completely get what he was talking about.  Most of Jack's problems were easy to spot on his own, but thinking it over in his head, he actually dealt with a problem like this guy's before.  Jack smiled under his mask as the man ordered him one of the pricier drinks, pulling his mask up just enough to expose his mouth.  This man was probably drunk, so even if he did see part of his face, he might not remember later.  Jack took his drink and kept listening.  If Ishi took a look at his face, he'd see a few scars on whatever side of his face he was looking at, with a few new injuries to match.  Jack grinned and took his drink.

He chuckled for a moment after hearing the stranger's previous occupation.  "I used to do something similar a couple years ago, too.  Wasn't paid in the traditional state, but I understand what it can do to you."  Then there was the mention of a female student.  This guy, a man in a lab coat at a bar, was a teacher?  Also, just by listening to how he's talking made Jack assume something about his thoughts toward the student. "So I'm guessing that's one of the only students you're not angry with all the time?"

Angry with all the time? No. No, that was left at the door when he became a teacher. Disgruntled? Perhaps, but not angry. Yes, Ishi was one angry fellow. Ishi was a man who became displeased at the most simple things, as the most drastic were often what he did to himself. He was able to know this. He was able to keep this into his frame of mind, and when it was something he buggered up, it was what he buggered up. Not someone else.

While these thoughts were going through his head.

"No. She pisses me off the most. She can't keep her mouth shut, and thinks she knows everything. She couldn't sit down and be fine."

He had less nice words to say, but he'd stay quiet. There was no point in saying all he had to say yet, not to mention he wanted to see how the guy would react.

Jack paused momentarily, not expecting the response that he just received from the man in the lab coat.  For a second there, he expected that he was going to hear something about having a student that he appreciated more than the others, or maybe about something happening to said student, but definitely not a hatred of her.  A wicked grin could be visible on Jack's face, as he didn't pull his mask over his mouth again, and he laughed almost inaudibly for just a second.  He understood the teacher's feelings though.  Sometimes it could be hard to deal with somebody like this.

"So what did she do?  Ask too many questions?  The kind that might get somebody hurt?  I mean, you did say that you used to be a paid killer, there are plenty of questions you shouldn't ask someone like you."  Come to think of it, why wasn't he attacking this teacher right here and now?  Being in a profession is what usually gets people Jack's bat to the teeth, not unlike the people he dealt with around ten minutes ago.  Unsure of where this was going, Jack took a look at his bat which was resting against his seat, just to make sure he knew where it was if things got out of hand.  Sure, this guy was drunk, but any professional killer worth his salt would be able to fight well under most conditions.

"She pisses me off, because she thinks she understands what death is. As stated before, I used to be a hired killer by job. That meant I did murder a good few people. Mostly through poison, because it paid well and rarely was it traceable. However, when it comes down to it, it wasn't really worth it."

Realistically, this rant wasn't about the girl. Sure, she was being used as an object, but deep down Ishi knew he had to face it. He had to face who he actually was. What he actually was. He wasn't a kind teacher, despite all his effort to be so.

He was a cold assassin. Deep down, that was his state. Sure, he was terrified that he'd actually revert back. The problem lied in, was it really a revert? Was it just something that he managed hide for the longest time? Was it something that he just was?

His drunk face hid nothing. It was quite obvious thoughts of this magnitude was rough on him. Mainly because he normally didn't do this whole drunk thing in an area with a whole bunch of people. Typically, it was alone.

Jack's grin shrank down into a slight smile while this killer - turned - teacher went on about how the student he mentioned thought she understood what death is.  However, his smile disappeared when he mentioned his previous profession again, the way he went about what he did and how he was paid.  He had to ask something of this man, just to figure out if he was going to be a problem later.  "You know, this is the second time you've mentioned your earlier job.  Most people will only mention it once when they're content with how things are now."

Jack turned his entire body on his seat, facing directly towards the man in the lab coat and pulling his mask over the rest of his face again.  "I have to ask.  Do you miss it?  Right now, you don't seem very... satisfied."  Jack rested his elbow on the bar, doing his best to show that he wasn't very concerned about what the answer would be.  Of course, this wasn't the case, but it'd be very hard for a trained person to figure out how he felt from under that mask, not to mention a drunk person.  "I'm not judging, of course.  I know I wouldn't want to give my uh... 'job' up."

"Honestly? I'm scared sh*tless."

Ishi took a deep breath as he would continue.

"I faked my death to get out of the whole fiasco. Murder was getting boring because I had done it so many times. I don't have the strength or speed to just out-right murder people like a lot of people do. I can't walk up, punch their head off, and leave. My punches might cause you injury, but they won't kill. Maybe, just maybe in my prime."

He had to think it'd be easier but murdering wasn't who he was these days. It was just the fellow hwo taught your kids how to not die when stabbed. That was his entire job. He didn't know what this stranger did for a job, but consdiering that he was covered in blood, probably meant that he did something violent. Could be a murderer himself, maybe a butcher.

A long sigh could be heard from Jack, as he was pretty disappointed in the answer he received from... this guy.  What was his name?  Did he mention it?  He felt like it was pretty strange that he didn't even get this man's name, but at the same time, the stranger was telling him a bunch of sensitive information right now.  It would make sense if he was trying to hide his identity.  At the same time, he wasn't hiding his face, and wearing a lab coat made one a bit more memorable to others when in public.  Jack decided to bury his question underneath another one, so it didn't seem like he was asking just because this guy's killed people.  

"Oh come on, man.  And here I thought we would have something to bond over!"  Jack made a quick joke before turning back to the serious tone that the drunk man seemed to be aiming for.  "Jokes aside, you know it's just fine to be scared, right?  Killing people isn't the best thing to do to a guy.  But at the same time, that attitude won't help you out in the long run.  If I was terrified for my life every day, I would be in several pieces by now instead of talking to you... guy.  Did you tell me your name yet?"

"Call me Ishi."

Ishi spoke these words before digging deep and really wondering about what the other fellow was saying. He understood his work, and admittedly, he liked that the guy could just sorta do it at will. It wasn't no biggie for the guy, and Ishi could respect it. He could understand, in a manner, that it took a certain type of person that he didn't have the soul to do.

"I've got a stupid question. Do you think an assassin could be one that cares?"

Ishi, in his drunk moments and lack of thoughts, had to ask this question. He cared too much these days. He cared enough that he literally offed himself to get out of it, the job of murder. He couldn't just stand by and sit there, just killing people and not feeling anything. Sure, he was dead inside. The copious amounts of drink and drugs made that obvious. That didn't mean anything.

The man, himself, shot up on the seat, knowing he had to look the man in his mask eyes.

Under his mask, Jack smiled at Ishi's question.  For once in this conversation, it wasn't a smile of amusement or some kind of wicked fascination.  It was a pure smile, one that he usually only had when thinking of home or his parents.  "Well, Ishi.  Here's a question for your question."  Jack turned in his seat to face the man and look him in the face, pulling up his bloodied bat and setting it on his lap.  "Do you think I care?"  He would pause for a moment, not because he was expecting an answer, but because he wanted to let Ishi think about his question for a moment.  He would answer after some time.

"I kill because I care.  Sounds cliche or something, doesn't it?"  Jack held up one finger to signal Ishi to wait, the other hand reaching into his jacket and pulling out a paper folder.  He opened it up, sliding a few photos and other documents over, showing where Jack was just before he came to the bar.  In the written documents, he had written notes of who was there, the ones that he would have to take care of, what to do to each one, and which people to ignore.  "I know I'm not technically an assassin, but..." After letting Ishi view the papers for a while, he put them back in his folder and put said folder in his jacket again.  "I do this because I care about people.  All of 'em.  Except these ones, of course."

Killing because he cares? Pfft. What kind of foolish bit is that? He looked at the photos and documents for a short amount of time, all things considered, before Jack would take them back. It was still food for thought, and there was a mildly desperate look on Ishi's face. Ishi had to face the fact. He had to face the terrifying fact that he was a sort of person he didn't want to be. Sure. He wasn't the sort to be a pervert towards woman. Not anymore at least. He used to be it so much more, but being around all these young kids has softened him up in that aspect.

No. It was the side of him that murdered people, that he keeps repressed. He keeps it repressed because it's a terrifying thing that he's tried to hide. Yet time and again, he's killed because that was his first instinct. Despite being a doctor, he constantly has to fight against the idea that killing them would end it faster.

He's not a villain anymore. He's the hero.

"I get it. I can't say I identify with it. I can just say I get it. I killed, at least at the time, because I didn't care."

The look of desperation turned back to one of sadness, a softer visage than what Ishi would normally have on his face.

While he was waiting for a response from Ishi, Jack was startled by a sudden noise coming from below him. After realizing this was his scroll, a device he wasn't quite used to yet, he picked it up to look it over. While he did so, he was so focused on his scroll that he didn't even notice that Ishi was speaking again, the only thing on his mind was that he was going to be late meeting somebody if he stayed here too long. After a quiet sigh, he stood up from the bar and picked up his bat. He really didn't want to leave his new acquaintance hanging, but at the same time, the person he was going to meet up with offered him a place to stay, and he didn't want to leave them hanging either.

"Well, Ishi. I hate to leave ya like this, but I have to go. Feel free to give me a shout whenever you feel like coping with your problems by drinking and talking with a stranger like a sane human being." He added a slight chuckle to the end of his sentence, making sure that this came off as a joke and not something insensitive or anything like that. "You said that you're a teacher at the academy right? I hope to see you around there." After saying this, Jack's scroll made another noise, and he was off, bumping into a few people before leaving the bar.

[Exit]

While he was waiting for a response from Ishi, Jack was startled by a sudden noise coming from below him. After realizing this was his scroll, a device he wasn't quite used to yet, he picked it up to look it over. While he did so, he was so focused on his scroll that he didn't even notice that Ishi was speaking again, the only thing on his mind was that he was going to be late meeting somebody if he stayed here too long. After a quiet sigh, he stood up from the bar and picked up his bat. He really didn't want to leave his new acquaintance hanging, but at the same time, the person he was going to meet up with offered him a place to stay, and he didn't want to leave them hanging either.

"Well, Ishi. I hate to leave ya like this, but I have to go. Feel free to give me a shout whenever you feel like coping with your problems by drinking and talking with a stranger like a sane human being." He added a slight chuckle to the end of his sentence, making sure that this came off as a joke and not something insensitive or anything like that. "You said that you're a teacher at the academy right? I hope to see you around there." After saying this, Jack's scroll made another noise, and he was off, bumping into a few people before leaving the bar.

[Exit]