The moment that Zack saw Rose walk into the room, he wanted to rush over to her, to both check and see how she was doing and to show her that he was back to his normal self. Still, everything from the look on her face to her posture made it clear that she wasn't in the mood to talk. Not to mention the fact that she was soon joined by... hey, that guy from the recreational field, right?

He didn't know if they were friends or if Damon was just taking a risk by talking to a stranger who was already in a bad mood, but Zack would just have to try and catch her later on.

Especially since he'd just been joined by someone himself, the scrawny kid who he'd talked to when he'd been forced to stand and watch everyone clean. That hadn't been his most shining moment -- and they hadn't gotten off on the best foot because Neku had been in a mood for other reasons entirely. Totally understandable after what he'd been through, of course, but...

Hopefully things would go better today.

"That's me," he responded with a properly genuine smile. It felt good to not be weighed under feelings of inadequacy. "I hope things have improved a little since the last time we talked." The boy didn't look scuffed up or anything, at least.