Kenji simply met Jess' glare with a wide smile. It was as if he completely forgot about all the threats that he made before.
"Explaining myself? But what do I have to explain?"
He tilted his head to the side, pretending to be oblivious. Mia was just calming down when she saw that Jess wasn't in immediate danger, but flared up in anger once more.
"Explain? Are you reall-"
"How you really feel, right?"
Jack, who was silent for so long, suddenly decided to interrupt. He looked quite innocent with his beady eyes and a curious finger on his chin.
"You're scared, and want to be reassured."
He let out a small giggle as a proud smile formed on his face. Kenji looked at him with a blank stare, almost like he couldn't even believe those were the words coming from his mouth.
"What?"
Mia puffed up her cheeks. She was quite frustrated that Jack was thinking of a stranger with such good will considering the previous threats.
"Stop trying to make excuses for him, Jack! He's clearly not someone with any good intentions, just take a look at him!"
She wasn't exactly wrong, as Kenji was definitely dressed up like some sort of delinquent, and had no intentions of acting like he was anything else. And to top it off, his last words were the kind that came from someone picking a fight.
Still, Jack wore the same curious expression. Although he was easy to believe other people normally, he didn't even consider the possibility that Mia was correct.
"But isn't that how it is?"
After glancing at Mia, he turned to look at Kenji quite seriously. In turn, Kenji simply narrowed his eyes a bit as the frown on his face gradually returned.
"Hah? And how did you come to that conclusion?"
He crossed his arms with a cold look. Though Jack didn't seem to mind it much, as he raised a finger in the air happily.
"It's because my Dad taught me all about people! I was never really able to see people until recently. But my Dad would always pretend to be different kinds of people and got me to figure out what type of person they were. He quizzed me many times and taught me many different methods! That's how I knew all of you were also good people."
Jessica blinked a few times. She couldn't help but smile awkwardly, recalling how trusting Jack always was, and how he always appeared to see people as better than what they actually were. After all, there was even a time when some jock came over just to make trouble, but Jack thought that he was just playing around.
"Jack... I'm sure your father told you a beautiful story of a troubling person coming to redemption. However, sometimes people are shallower than you may think."
But Jack didn't turn around to look at Jessica. Instead, he continued looking at Kenji with an innocent smile.
"I'm not really used to seeing how different people look. Maybe there is something that I'm missing from that. But..."
He became quite despondent, pouting a little bit as his eyes glazed over. Jack began thinking of the memories he had of his father, and the bitterness that came with him leaving.
"I know if he wanted to teach me now, Dad would put one hand on my shoulder and start to explain it all to me."
A small smile formed on his face as he closed his eyes.
"He would tell me that the man was one that found it hard to trust people. Probably because many people have betrayed his trust in the past, or come to a disagreement. It's someone that doesn't really talk to other people, even if they want to."
Jack raised a finger.
"This leads to them being misunderstood a lot. But instead of trying to clear up the misunderstandings, they will lean into it instead. Just so that people leave them alone. But they are really just trying to go on without too much trouble. To go with the flow and find something that way."
For a while, pretty much everyone was speechless. Though Mia was the first to overcome her shock at Jack's sudden shift of character.
"Jack, don't say ridiculous things. He was trying to hurt Jessica just now! Didn't you hear? It came from his own mouth."
Jack puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms.
"Really? But I only heard him say things that he could've done. And more importantly, he didn't even do those things!"
Jessica furrowed her brows while lightly pressing a finger against her lip.
"The only reason he continued in the first place was because he was threatened by the doll. Why are you making up these stories?"
Jack tilted his head to the side.
"I don't think I'm making anything up though? He could've pushed you out onto the fifth step and made you lose, but he didn't. All he had to do was use a playing card. Besides, it's just a game to have fun! Even if you do lose, just part of it."
Before anyone could retort, Stanley let out grating laughter, clearly enjoying how he spoke.
"As expected of a Joker! Your words truly do deviate from the norm, while your perception is like I've never seen."
Mia bit her lip and mumbled. She thought that Stanley meant 'Joker' in a negative sense, rather than any sort of title.
"Even the host is making fun of you..."
As for Kenji, he rubbed his chin for a decent while. At first, he didn't really care about what Jack was saying but got rather interested in it later on. The way he showed interest was almost like it was someone else's assessment rather than his own.
"So, that's how you see me?"
Jack nodded rather vigorously, showing his enthusiasm. Though Kenji only leaned back in his chair and smirked after hearing that.
"Haha, you really do have an unnaturally high opinion of me."
Though Jack raised an eyebrow when he looked back.
"What? How would I have a high opinion of you?"
For the first time, Kenji got a bit flustered. His eyelid twitched before he cleared his throat.
"Didn't you say all of those things earlier? At least by my standards that would be a high opinion."
Jack clicked his tongue and pointed at him angrily.
"How were those good things? I said that you don't trust people because you've had problems before. But how does that make any sense? Maybe if you saw those same people from before, how could you just assume that a completely new person would be just like the others? That's stupid. They're not the same!"
He shook around in his chair as he tried to stand up. Though his anger was still clear to see.
"And why won't you talk more? If you want to talk, or there are misunderstandings you could at least try to clarify them! You should just say what you're thinking in a way that's easy to understand! It's not like that's so hard, is it?"
Kenji couldn't help but lower his head in shame, almost like he was actually the child being scolded by the adult. Jack huffed and puffed for a little while. Though even when he calmed down, he still wasn't done speaking.
"But the stupidest thing of all, is if you're trying to find something, why do you just wait for it to come to you? Finding something like that is way harder, especially if it matters!"
He puffed up his cheeks in irritation.
"I really don't get other people. Why do they do stupid things even when it just makes things worse, or do something bad when they didn't want to? Is it really so hard to make the choice you know is right?"
Kenji was stunned. His mouth hung open ever so slightly for quite a while, and gradually began to dry. Though in the end, he let out a bitter laugh.
"Ah, my mistake. So you don't actually think that highly of me. After all, I'm a pretty bad person."
"Eh? I didn't say you were a bad person."
Jack looked at him with confusion. As for Kenji, he seemed to be getting a tad bit frustrated, pinching the bridge of his nose to keep his composure.
"You are sending so many damn mixed signals. Do you think I'm stupid or not?"
Jack let out a giggle while holding up his chin with his palm.
"Very stupid!"
"Then-"
"But that doesn't make you a bad person."
Jack blinked a few times with an endearing smile.
"I used to think that stupid people were bad. After all, stupid people will do a lot of bad things, right? But my Dad said that was wrong. He reminded me that before I understood basic things, I also would've made the same mistakes as all the stupid people would. But he still thought I was a good person. Being stupid can't make you good or bad."
He tilted his head to the side.
"My Dad said that some good people just had to be taught the right things, then they would do more good things instead!"
Kenji took a deep breath before facepalming for a while. He entered deep thought for a little while. After five or so minutes, he looked up with a small smile on his face.
"Fine then. I'll listen to you and your teachings."