Your gateway to endless inspiration
"Arajin doesn't care about anyone"
The thing people don't get is that Arajin doesn't HAVE to care about others, about strangers. They're not his friends. They're nobody important to him. They're random men who want him in their gangs -- gangs that Arajin only got involved with because he wanted to impress a girl he liked and wanted to be her friend. Even then, Arajin doesn't show he doesn't care when others get physically hurt?? He gets freaked out, he doesn't like fights, he found Outa beat up and bloody and screamed for his life lol. He caught Matakara so he wouldn't fall and get hurt, then pressed a cold handkerchief to his forehead. He's trying and failing to distance himself from these men and their gangs.
The only person who he considers a friend (Mahoro) never got hurt, and yet just a simple threat of her being a trophy girl got him really defensive and angry. Which is why I believe that he's not the same as he was when he was a child... I don't think he realized yet that he's gotten less cowardly. He throws punches easier, because Senya was there in support, Senya kind of helped him become less of a coward. But he punched that dude without asking for Senya's help, in a pure rush of anger (then immediately got sick when he realized what happened lol), which is something he would've never done before. When Matakara got bullied, Arajin ran away. This time he stood his ground and punched first.
Also, he has no real friends, the only person who used to be his friend is getting rejected because Arajin is filled with guilt and avoids him. He doesn't want to be in gangs or fight, he wants to experience a highschool romance story with a cute girl lol
So of course he doesn't care about random gangs ?! Those aren't his friends, he never wanted to be involved in fighting, bloody stuff, anything like that. Its annoying to see people shade him for... being "self centered"? He's surrounded by strangers who just wanna fight and he doesn't wanna die lol. I think Arajin trying to avoid that life is the most normal thing anyone in that anime did lol