"I'm Clay. From Manchester. You've, uh. You've been hanging out with Tommy recently, right?"

"Ayako, from Kyoto. We've been studying together, we're in the same Shakespeare class." 

(If she's paying attention, she'll notice that Clay's got a bit of a maleficer's aura. Not a strong one, but it's there.)

"Alright." Pause. "I don't know that--I don't know that that's a good idea. Tommy's been acting... He's been strange recently? I just wanted to... warn you, I guess. That I'm not, I won't take responsibility for him. If I were you I'd probably stop hanging out with him, he's--kind of attached himself to me, there was some politics stuff that happened, long story, you know how it is. But it's not really, I thought I'd warn you."

The thinly veiled threat, combined with the maleficer's aura, screams GET AWAY RIGHT NOW.

But she cannot actually do that, if she runs that causes its own set of problems, and besides if she has seniors with maleficer auras coming up to her and giving her thinly veiled threats she needs to know what the hell is going on.

Which leaves the question of how exactly she-- doesn't call him on it never calls him on it that's how you die, but tries to get more information out of that extremely vague and information-free statement, without making it sound like her own upperclassmen didn't tell her anything, and without picking a fight.

"Sorry, I... am not actually sure what you're warning me of? --and I wouldn't expect you to take responsibility for him, you're not his clavemate or anything."

"Sure, he's just--been hanging out with me a lot, that's all." Shrug. "And maybe it'll be fine! But he's been--like I said, he's been weird. Kind of... violent? He, he hasn't hurt me or anything, but I'm, um, I'm a lot stronger than you, no offense. So I thought I'd warn you."

"No offense taken," she says, only partly to stall for time while she thinks of what to say. "And, um, we've been having study sessions in the reading room, and I kind of doubt he'd win a fight with Rin or Hitomi much less both of them? But thank you for the warning anyway."

"You're welcome. And that's, that's good to know. --That was all, I can, um, I can go now."

"Or I can, I found my book." She didn't but that one looks not terrible, she'll take it. "I'll see you around, I guess?" 

"Sure. See you around." Wave.

"Bye."

She leaves, at a perfectly calm and unhurried pace that is not even a little freaked out. She goes back to the Kyoto reading room and sits down next to Hitomi and tells her, in quiet but not quite whispered Japanese, everything that just happened in that conversation, and then she's not alone even in public spaces for the rest of the day.

That's fine.

Can he perhaps talk to Rin or Hitomi in the next couple days?

Sure, he can do that. In between alchemy lab shifts, tutoring her underclassmen, and graduation prep, she can be found in the reading room or in her own room, which doubles as an office.

Reading room works. "Hello. Are you Hitomi? I'm Clay. Manchester."

She sees what Ayako means about the aura.

"Yes, I am. Hello." 

"Well, it's good to meet you. I'm, uh, I'm sorry if it's a bad time, but Ayako mentioned you and I thought I'd, y'know, stop by, see if you wanted to talk."

"It's a fine time. Come in?"

He comes in!

The reading room is well-cared-for; there's a Shinto-style shrine in one corner, kept in meticulously good condition, with its doors closed. Hitomi sits down. "What did you want to talk about?" 

"Tommy, mostly."

Nod.

"He seems like he's doing... as well as can be expected, considering the situation with his friend a few months ago." 

This is not true precisely but it's as true as she feels like saying.

"Hm, maybe. He stole from George--George is also Manchester, he's my friend--just a couple weeks ago, I don't know if you heard. I've been keeping an eye on him some, but he's--" Clay hums. "Well. You've met him. He's not the best at, at thinking before he acts."

She hadn't. This is not, she notes but doesn't say, the thing he'd warned Ayako about.

"Indeed I have," she says. "He hasn't been in the reading room without an upperclassman here, same as any other freshman who wanted to study with one of ours, for what it's worth, and there hasn't been any trouble." 

"That's probably for the best. He's been acting strange recently, I warned Ayako, but she got freaked out--which is fair, I totally get it, y'know, I'm a random senior pushing her about her study partners--but I thought you might want to know a bit more of, of his history causing problems. I'm--honestly, I'm worried for if he turns violent, but it sounds like you have that much handled. Um. Probably best if you keep an eye out so he doesn't steal anything, now you know. As long as someone's watching him, right, as long as there are people making sure he doesn't get up to trouble, that's fine. Just, he's not great to have around, I thought I'd give you all a warning."

"Yes, we'll continue to keep an eye on him." And they're going to be keeping a closer eye on Manchester, now; Hitomi does not personally have enough time in the day to do that but at least one of the juniors will. "Ayako says she's getting good teaching experience and since there haven't been problems I'm inclined to let them continue with that, since it seems to be helping them both," and since you cannot actually bully us into dropping people on your say-so and I want to make sure you know it, "but I do appreciate your warning us." 

"Alright. It's good to know there hasn't been any problems with him. Who knows, maybe this will be good for him! I don't have anything else, really, just the heads-up. I hope this has been, um, mutually beneficial."