[ As she watches him flop over, somehow a little smaller and sadder for having let the tension and anxious energy drain out of him, she feels a knot of her own tension heavy in her chest come just a little looser and she allows her breath to come puffing out in a sigh. She's not afraid of Brook - at least, she doesn't think she is - but one of the things she's learned since getting here is how quickly someone can turn from a person she's not afraid of to an active threat with the right provocation. And if what's been going on this week isn't provocation, then what is?

But she doesn't think Brook has it in him to hurt her. At least not right now. As standoffish as his face makes him look, with that cute ribbon he's surprisingly easy to read. Even for someone like Ai.

She turns away as well, leaning back against the table and keeping her gaze steadily on a pile of books toppled over at the bottom of the bookshelf. ]

That makes two of us. It's always kind of hard but it's gotten ten times harder since getting here. Ordinary people I can usually figure out eventually, but nobody here is really all that ordinary to me.

[ A pause - and then a slightly bitter laugh huffs out of her. ]

Or if they were when they got here, they sure aren't now.