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razorblade180 · 4 years ago

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Twin snowflakes part 24: Date Night.

Part 23 here! <-

Still exhausted, Veronica flopped back onto her bed with the help of Nick. The girl let the mattress steal all tension from her body, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. “Aaahhhh! That’s the stuff. Appreciate the help.”

“Don’t mention it. Especially after what you just did. Frankly I had no plan to get Summer to cooperate.”

Veronica chuckled the best she could. “Hehe, not often Nicholas Schnee doesn’t have a plan. I guess you owe me then? Lucky for you I take words of affirmation as payment all the time.”

Nick smiled. It was nice to see Veronica joking. Encountering Shiva always put a dread over him, but she seemed to not care much. That’s Veronica alright, refusing to take crap from anybody. “I could praise you, or how about I praise you over a nice dinner?” Nick quickly responded.

All the neurons in Veronica’s brain suddenly came to a screeching halt. Her body immediately came flinging forward to sit upright to stare at the smiling boy. “What…?” She asked, still processing the question.

“Let me take you dinner.” He said again, “I have a reservation at this place in Atlas tonight. I was gonna cancel but we could just have a night out together. You still haven’t tried much food from here right? Plus I know you still have to be hungry. This works out.”

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Nick just ask her out on a dinner date? That didn’t sound right, even if it was a thank you gift. As quickly as her eyes lit up, they began to squint at him with skepticism. “What happened with Valerie?”

Now his eyes got big. He wasn’t expecting that response. “Uhhhh what?” His voice gave away his nervousness and Veronica could clearly tell.

“Don’t play dumb with me Nick. I’m not gonna call you a liar or anything, but I know you, and you know me; as well as my feelings.” She said that last part sheepishly. “You aren’t the kind of person to play with my emotions or offer a dinner date when you’re crushing on Val, so what’s up? Be straight with me”

It was becoming clear to Nick that he apparently could be read like a book. This is the third person within twenty four hours to look at him and automatically knew to ask about Valerie. This was ridiculous! His life had many things that made him bummed out. How are people guessing right on the first try!?”

“Uhhhhh” he scratched the back of his head and sighed. No point tip toeing around it. Not like it was a secret or anything, yet his stomach felt queasy all the same. “I ran into her yesterday. She was pretty upset that I didn’t tell her I got sick. I apologized and tried to smooth our recent bickering over with dinner. It was going okay, but then…Val immediately started to brush me off. I got upset, she started deflecting, people started staring, then she really started saying some things that really got me upset; kinda made a little scene out of it before walking off. Nor really princely, huh?” He tried smiling at the self jab, but failed. “Anyways, next time we meet per her request more a less will be at the tournament. We currently aren’t on speaking terms. Something she should be fine with since distance was what she wanted in the first place.”

Veronica could hear a little venom in those words. Val really did have Nick upset. He’s never this openly bitter. Though maybe it was being behind closed doors that allowed him to drop the facade of being consistently pleasant. Frankly, that made Veronica a little happy for him, in an odd way. However… “I see. So I assume that this dinner reservation was for you and her?” An answer wasn’t needed. Nick’s moment of sulking was replaced with a guilt ridden look on his face the moment she asked. “You know, kinda shitty you’re asking me to a dinner meant for another girl that turned you down. Not a fan of being someone’s second choice.”

Nick closed his eyes and let in a sharp breath like he had just been hit. “Oooo yeah, yeah that was pretty messed up for me.”

“Mhmm, big time. No girl wants to hear that you know?”

“I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying to...sorry. That was tasteless and selfish of me.” He looked down, shamefully and with genuine guilt. It was only when Veronica’s hand lifted his head by his chin did he see the girl stare at him with an observing gaze and lips pouting to the side. She then crossed her arms and looked away from him, ears tucked and a tinge of red visible on her.

“You’re lucky you’re a good person and I am hungry. I…guess you could apologize with a good dinner?” Veronica knew he wasn’t trying to be insensitive. Still, she was more than a little ticked off at herself for letting him off easy. Darn his good qualities! Being mad towards him for long was never gonna happen. Not to mention having a calm outing together is a golden opportunity. No way she wasn’t gonna capitalize off of Valerie’s mistakes. Her eyes shifted towards Nick to see a relieved smile that only made staying upset harder.

“This place better be good! Also I’m gonna order every expensive thing possible!” Veronica declared, attempting to save face.

“Hehe, thank you, and go right ahead and order anything you want. It’s not until around nine so please, get some rest.”

“I should be saying that to you. Isn’t going out at night in the cold while moody only gonna give you more sniffles?”

“Pfft, I’m sick anymore. Just focus on healing and rest. Not that I have to tell you this, but you gotta dress nice for where we’re eating.”

Veronica smirked, pointing at a closet of designed outfits. “Careful. I may not be worth billions but I’ll make you look like a pocket change if you don’t wear you best.”

The boy let out a cocky chuckle before walking to the door. “For your information, I’m two billion.” He said puffing out his chest playfully, leaving on that note. He could hear her gentle laughter behind the door. At least he could lift one girl’s spirit. As for the other, Nick looked at his sister’s locked door. He couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t going to knock, but he had to at least walk to it. Come to think of it, Nick had a hard time remembering when this door remained open. Most days it kept either the warmth in, while shutting others out. Slowly he rested his hand against it. The wood, cool to the touch.

“Tell me what you need.” He thought, “I’m not a mind reader…” Nick could only sigh. He removed his hand and stepped back. As he began to walk, the door moved. As if something was pressed against it from the other side.

“I know you’re there.” Summer said from the other side. Nick quickly walked back to it. Somehow he could imagine how she was on the other side. One leg extended while the other was bent as she pressed her back to the door. Nick took a seat himself, mimicking the pose he envisioned.

“You okay?”

“Far from it, but that’s par for course…” Summer looked over her shoulder as if she was actually resting against her brother’s back. “Honestly I feel so fucked up some days that therapy feels like a joke. I think I need a break.”

“What kind of break?”

“The usual…” Summer let her words draw out lazily. The back of her head rhythmically tapped the door. “Care to join me?”

Nick tugged at the carpet fibers, mulling it over. “Mmmm sorry, I’m not in the mood for that kind of relief. Besides, I already have plans. I’ll cover for you though. I think venting could do some real good for ya. Just don’t stay out too long. Leave around… half past nine.”

“Will do, thanks Nick.” Even though a door separated them, Summer could feel the care from the other side. Veronica’s words back in the forest about Nick and how Summer treats their relationship struck an all too sensitive cord. “I promise not to worry you. Have fun with whatever you’re doing tonight. I’ll keep you updated and everything.”

“Don’t stress about it. I believe in you. Anyways, I gotta get going. I think I’ll do a bit of distressing in my own way.” Nick stands up. “Better go while there’s daylight.”

“Gonna pay respects?”

“Yep. Enjoy your outing. I’ll see ya tomorrow if I don’t see ya tonight before I leave. Love ya.” He walked away after that, not expecting a response. Didn’t need one. After all, Summer coming to the door said enough.

All in all, things felt okay. Life felt okay. By no means was it perfect, but Nick was thankful he had blessings to count. He’d feel better after the tournament. What should’ve been an exciting time was getting more troublesome. Training, performing, fighting Darren in the duos, and now a not so friendly rematch with Valerie. At least Eliza still had a sportsmanship attitude. He still needed to ask her favor as well. By the end of this she would certainly be sick of him. Nick was surprised she didn't block his number yet. That would royally suck.

His slow walk took down the stairs and back to the front of the manor. He heard dishes clanking from the door to the far left while he grabbed his dark blue winter coat off the rack. “That you dad?” The kitchen door swung open to show Jaune drying a cup and Yang waving in the background as she held a slice in her mouth while talking to Blake. How they managed to swipe pizza out of Veronica’s room was beyond Nick.

“What’s up?” Jaune said, noticing his son put his jacket on. “Heading out? Your mom and aunts should be back soon. Pretty sure they’d want-”

“Veronica and I are going on a dinner date later.” Nick interjected. As planned, his father was derailed. Stammering footsteps came plopping out of the kitchen in the form of a very wide eyed blonde, and a shocked ninja. Blake’s ears even did the little twitch Nick as seen Veronica do whenever she’s caught off guard. “Yeah I thought you all should now. I’d say don’t bug her about it and let her rest, but considering Yang’s feet are already pointed towards the stairs…”

Yang looked down. “Huh...how about that?” She said, walking up the stairs with Blake trying to stop her.”

“Let her rest Yang!”

“But I wanna say stuff~” she whined, “I guarantee you she’s listening to us right now.”

Yang was right on the money. Veronica was currently judging how much strength it would take to lock the door. Her odds were bad. “Okay I don’t care how cute he is. This was cruel!” Veronica thought loudly to herself.

Jaune watched Blake slowly get dragged up the stairs by trying to stop Yang. Without looking, he leaned forward and reached out to grab Nick’s shoulder, who was trying to slowly back up to the door. He faced forward and smiled. “Good attempt, but you’d need a better distraction than that.”

“Eh it was worth a shot…” Nick sighed. He was pulled forward and fell into a surprise hug. He stood silently for a minute before wrapping his arms around his dad. “You needed a hug?”

“Not really, but you looked like you did.” Jaune said, squeezing tired. “You know you’re growing up into a fine young man. Better than me by a long shot at your age. I hope you know your entire family is proud of you.”

“I know dad…” Nick said, his voice getting stuck in his throat a little.

“I know I can’t relate to some of the pressures you feel. Honestly being a part of a household with this much attention and expectation still gets me anxious from time to time. So don’t hesitate to vent to me. You’re a young adult yeah, but I’m still my son and sixteen. Weiss and I would much rather see you yell at an annoying cameraman or get scrappy with a bully than see you try to hold it in for the sake of family image. Remember that.”

How did he do it? It was unfair, downright cheating almost in Nick’s eyes. How could so many people easily call him out? “What’s the point of enduring if everyone I wanna reassure sees right through the act? So much for a brave face.” He muttered. Jaune finally let go of him. The compassionate father poked Nick right where his heart was.

“Enduring an ordeal for the sake of others is pretty brave in my book, but who said you couldn’t endure hardships and still be open to those who matter? Have you meant your friends and family? Besides your sister I don’t think there’s a soul close to you who isn’t an expert of seeing past masks. Val and Vee live with bleeding hearts and the rest have had to put up with me!” He chuckled, “Just like I’m sure you know when someone is upset.”

Nick had his doubts. “Mmmmm, starting to think I might not know them as well as I think. Val is...ugh, I don’t know she is. Learned about Vee’s traits recently for the first time, and Summer-”

“Okay, I see your point. But! Learning new things about them and knowing there’s things you don’t know, doesn’t erase what you did. Y’all are teens. There’s a bunch of things to sort through. At the end of the day though, you know them where it counts. Does that make sense?”

“....Yeah, I think I do.” Nick nodded, thanks dad. Seriously. It’s kinda scary how good at talking you are.”

“Comes with practice, specifically learning to listen and just watch closely. You may not realize it but you do this plenty. It’s a big reason people gravitate towards you. Well… people who are just money hungry anyways, but that’s more of a rich person policy than a Nick-ism. I digress! You better get going before your mother comes back and give you her own talk.” Jaune said. He opened up the door for Nick to leave. “From the way you’ve been acting I assume you’re heading to pay your respects?”

Nick nodded, “I’ll try not to be terribly long. Don’t tell mom unless she asks. You know how she gets?” Nick walked through the door, fist bumping his dad on the way out.

Jaune closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Somewhere above him he could hear giggles and a few squealing. “Hopefully nothing catches on fire up there.”

“You are starting a fire!” Blake yelled, trying to contain Yang’s excitement so the blonde’s hair would stop flaring up. “Use your words.” Blake laughed.

“Please…” Veronica groaned. This level of energy was higher than usual. “You’re more excited than me. It’s just a dinner date. Barely even that. More like a thank you gift I suppose.” That being said the blush coming to her face clearly sung a different tune. “Can we please talk about anything else? I mean mom, you’re here!”

Blake crossed her arms. “So I heard you got into a fight? Let’s talk about that.”

“Ummm, so this date, any suggestions on what to wear?” Veronica poorly deflected. Blake didn’t even respond and Yang was smart enough not to. There was no choice but to talk about it unfortunately. “Sigh….I know okay? Ma told me I should’ve eaten and I didn’t listen. I should’ve, or learn to walk away from-”

“I’ll stop you right there. Don’t think for a second I wasn’t okay with a person getting hit when they were clearing harassing you.” Blake took a seat on the bed. “Expecting you to balance instinct, emotions, and logic here in Atlas was never in the cards, because frankly we don’t know what that balance is. Not to say I assumed you’d fight here. All I wanted was for you to try and...take a break from the norm.”

“If that’s the case then school should’ve been removed right off the back. It doesn’t matter the location, people act the same. Different faces, same insufferability. Only difference is these bozos are rich and human.”

“You make it sound like you aren’t crushing on a rich human whose parents are allowing you to stay in their manor.” Yang deadpanned. “Not making you go to school would only leave you bored and gods know what you’ll do with too much time on your hands. Then again you managed to stir things up already by stealing a spot on the cheer team.”

Blake did a double take. That wasn’t mentioned earlier. “Cheer team? How did that happen?”

“A girl got cocky with me so I out performed her. Honestly I was more than a little surprised by it all. Holding pom-poms, doing flips on mats, and even the couch blowing the whistle, kinda forgot what those things were like until I was in the moment.”

“See? That’s a change from norm.”

“Pretty sure that counts as a return to form.” Veronica countered. “It’s whatever though. Just a temporary thing. Although I’ll admit that Eliza chick, Marigold’s kid, she’s pretty decent.”

Blake wasn’t expecting that easier. “Oh? Well that’s nice. Sounds like that could be not so temporary?”

“Eh, whatever happens, happens.” It was a nice thought. Veronica couldn’t deny that. “Any other thing you wanted to discuss with me? I’d like to lay down for a bit longer.”

“How’s it feel to discuss all this genetic stuff with Nick and Summer? Call it what you want, but telling them was no different from a therapy session if it made you feel better.” Blake stated.

Veronica frowned. “Not how I see it. I’m pretty indifferent for the most part I’d say. Haven’t thought deeply about it. Veronica plopped her head on the pillows and turned away.

Blake and Yang took their scrappy daughter’s hint to leave. Blake got off the bed and was more than fine revisiting the discussion later. Yang briefly bent over Veronica’s covered face and kissed her head.

“Muah! By the way, I’m pretty sure Nick would love to see you in his colors. No heels though. He’s a little touchy about his height.” Yang left after that, closing the door gently. Veronica could only lay there pondering the advice.

“Hmmmm that could work.”

xxxx

While the youth finally got some rest, Adults were hard at work trying to piece together all that’s happened. Ruby and Weiss scoped out the undisturbed frozen lake along with Winter, Nora, and Penny most importantly. Though there wasn’t much to go on. Just crushed rocks, claw marks from ferocious grimm, and a mix of blue and red blood that made Weiss particularly uncomfortable. Ruby sensed that uneasiness and quickly began rubbing her partner’s back.

“Your daughter’s fine.” Ruby reassured. “If what she said is accurate then she never actually lost control.”

“Yeah but the blue dyed snow before us means she just barely held on. That’s too close for comfort.” Weiss held her hands together gently. “It feels like things are getting worse.”

“Because you’re in the thick of it.” Nora spoke, projecting her voice to get their attention. The strong and prideful woman made her way over to them. “Every day you’re worried for her and wake up knowing your daughter is a few rooms away upset. A parent is only as happy as their saddest child, and seeing Summer so distant makes it difficult to see the good stuff. This situation is trying, yes, but Summer still fought back. Your daughter fought Shiva off and killed grimm to protect someone. Determination like that is a sign Summer isn’t done fighting by a long shot, so that means you shouldn’t mope. I mean she gets all that strength to defy assholes from you.”

Ruby gave a big smile. She couldn’t have said it better herself. “Yeah! Nora’s right. We’ll turn this around.”

“....Geez, you two ever stop being helpful?” Weiss said, smiling gently. She was happy to have them here. “Thank you, especially you Nora.”

“Considerate my way of apologizing if Valerie really upset Nick. I told her she needed to call him, especially after him having the decency to call me so I could keep her in the loop about this. Apparently she wasn’t very pleased that he was ill and didn’t mention it. She’s….a lot sometimes.”

“Hey, so were we. I’m sure she means well and I’m not oblivious to the fact Nick can be...a lot as well. I’m partly to blame. I enable some of his actions towards her from time to time. I think I’m projecting a bit. Maybe I should tell him to move on?” Weiss sighed. Perhaps she played matchmaker too much and misread things.

Nora could only chuckle. “Hehe, I wouldn’t. Believe me when I tell you Valerie doesn’t hate having Nick look her way. A little forwardness is the only way she’ll acknowledge problems she doesn’t want to deal with. I can’t say for certainty what those problems are but I don’t pin any of it Nick. Val has a way of wanting her cake and eating it too. She’s gotta learn hard ways that’s not how life goes. I just hope Nick finds it in himself to not hate her because of this.”

“Pfft, I don’t think hate truly exists in his vocabulary.” Weiss laughed. She could count on her hand how many times Nick truly despised a person. “He’ll be petty about it I’m sure, but that’ll go away. Space between them might be good. At the end of the day I at least want them to still be close. Val has a way of motivating him that I like. He actually has fun.”

“Yeah, my Little Thunderhead excels at moving people, that’s for sure. Her semblance would be pretty mediocre otherwise if she wasn’t.”

The three continued talking lightly until Penny eventually walked up with Winter. “Okay, so I’ve finished running some tests of the area and the deposit of Diamond Dust. I have….unique results.” Penny said, a bit baffled.

Ruby wasn’t a fan of that statement. “Ummm that doesn’t sound great coming from a person who reads books written in binary. What did you find?”

“This dust is less volatile than the samples in my lab, even though it’s been untouched for longer. By all means it should be more refined.”

“Well isn’t it a good thing that it isn’t?” Weiss asked. “We barely handle what we have.”

“True, but it’s strange. There’s a couple possibilities that may explain this. Summer may have used up some unintentionally, or maybe Shiva herself was syphoning it.”

Winter folded her arms, “Not a fan of that second option. Based on the story though, what if it wasn’t touched at all?”

“Panic attack.” Penny said immediately. “She hasn’t been here since the accident, right? It’s entirely plausible that Summer’s mind and body remembered the trauma. Repressed memories or outright fear and anxiety could be the basis for this entire event. I tried contacting Oscar if he’s noticed anything different in Summer’s behavior, but I can’t get in contact with him. The seas have been rather violent lately due to weather changes.”

“So what you're basically saying is we're as lost as usual?” Weiss said, falling backwards into the snow. “Juuuuuust great. I’m going to assume the pain attack option then. That’s something I can work on with her. If Shiva is by any chance stronger now then the only thing we can do is what we always do. Brace ourselves.”

Ruby looked down at Weiss. “And option one actually means we have less dust to deal with. That’s a plus!” She knew it was a small amount of positivity but every bit helped. Weiss smiled at her and sat up.

“Here’s hoping for option one as well I suppose. We should probably head back. This place creeps me out a bit.”

Ruby helped Weiss up and everyone began leaving. Penny kept staring at the data she collected and trying to call Oscar. Unfortunately the man wasn’t answering. Her displeased sigh was heard by Winter, who rubbed the girl’s back.

“Not to be insensitive, but your son and Qrow wouldn’t do anything too crazy out a sea would they?”

Winter laughed nervously. “Hehehe….I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t inspire confidence!” Penny yelped. Now she was only going to think about them being stranded by the gods or in a storm. Hopefully she would hear from him soon. “I guess a deeper study will have to wait. Ruby, can I stay at your place with Whitley for a bit? I don’t wanna go home yet. Too lonely.

“Sure thing! Door is always open. Though I bet you’ll have a livelier time at the manor these days.”

Penny tried her best to act like that would be a good idea. “Tempting, but a certain blonde teenage girl wouldn’t like that much, considering her parents so desperately want my husband to be her therapist. Summer also sees me enough as is. Nick would be happy I was there.” She said in a happier tune.

“He’s not home if I know him well enough.” Weiss frowned. “Times like these, I’m sure he’ll visit the graveyards.”

Truly, her son was easy to read.

xxxx

Right now the boy in question walked through an alley of tombstones and snow, his and covered in pollen. Atlas’s central graveyard had become a place for Nick over the years. The wide space and solitude became a welcoming barrier that blocked out most strangers from approaching him. Even the paparazzi had enough tact to not disturb a person here. His feet carried him down multiple lanes towards an old tree barren of any leaves looming over a grave with no actual tombstone. Standing before it was Eliza, wearing a dark blue winter coat and deep in thought. He wasn’t expecting to see her today.

Nick kept approaching until he stood beside her silently. A cool breeze went by them as the air itself felt still. Eliza eventually shifted her gaze to him, completely aware he was there. She looked down at his dusty yellow hands before speaking. “Talking to your grandma again?”

“Yeah. She says I should eat more sandwiches. Afraid I’m a little too then.”

“Heh, always witty. Visited your gramps yet?”

Nick shook his head, “No that’s halfway across Atlas from here and further from my home. It’s the next stop. What about you? Didn’t expect you to be here today.”

“Haven’t been in awhile.” Eliza waved her hand to cause a brief gust that blew away the snow from the grave and several others. “It needed cleaning and I was in the area. So what brings you here specifically? You only visit here on anniversaries, holidays, and when you’re moody. Last time I checked this is a random day, soooo”

“Eh don’t worry about it. Everything is alright now. Just decompressing.”

“Fair enough.” Eliza put her hands in her pocket and went back to thinking, until she realized Nick was looking at her again. “Uhh can I help you?” She said a little confrontational.

Nick got a little defensive and spoke quickly. “No, just surprised you’re not pressing me to open up.”

“Why? Your business is your business unless you make it my business. Something you’ll do if your attitude negatively affects the preparation for the tournament.”

“Ouch...well if that’s the case then the favor I’m about to ask you shouldn’t refuse.”

That peaked her interest. Eliza actually turned around fully. “You’ve been asking a lot of favors of me lately.”

“I’ve asked like two favors, and you’re the one telling me to directly involve you if-”

Eliza covered his mouth, irritated by him being right. “I know what I said! Sigh… what’s up?”

Nick looked down at the hand on his mouth, getting Eliza to remove it. “You’re lucky I didn’t lick it.”

“You’re lucky I don’t beat you up on hollow ground.”

Nick smirked. “Oh, so you think you can finally take me?”

Eliza squinted at him as her face got a little red. Why the hell did he have to be like this sometimes!? “The next words you speak better be your favor, or I’m walking away.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly call it a favor but if you’re training by the harbor tonight, I’d appreciate it if you swooped by the seventh dock. The one with the huge building they rarely put cargo in. Summer is going to be there blowing off some steam. I don’t think anything will go wrong but you know, if you got the time…?”

“Hmmm I guess that’s not unreasonable. Wait, how do you know I train by the harbor!?”

“Did you forget my cousin literally owns a ship? If I’m correct, one time he said his sail caught on fire when a random bolt of lightning came down one day.”

“......” Eliza put her hand back in her pocket and began walking. “You’re really annoying Nick.”

“I’ve done nothing! Also I’m not done talking! I actually do have a real favor I’ve been mulling over for about a day!” Eliza kept walking away from him. “Hey! Don’t just- Can you train me!?” He shouted, hoping to gain her interest again.

It worked wonderfully. Eliza stopped mid-step and pivoted around. “Excuse me?”

“Training, yeah uh there’s this thing Schnee’s do called the candle test. Helps with our glyphs. Long story short, I’m ass at it hehe. Summer has stuff going on and it’s not really clicking with my mom or aunt. Since your magic is sorta like what I have to do, I thought maybe-”

“We are in a contest against each other, Nicholas.” She said firmly. “You are my opponent! One of two people currently in my way from reaching the top. Why on Remnant would I help you?”

Nick’s eyes avoided contact with hers. He began to scratch the back of his head as if he’d been caught red handed in a lie. “Because… you value sportsmanship?” He looked at her to receive an unamused blank stare that was colder than the snow. “Uh, and also you helping me in any capacity will let you in on a proposition that you’d find very intriguing. But I’ll only tell you when we’re training.”

“Tsk, I would think a Schnee would know better how to do business negotiations. Why would I make a deal when I don’t know if I even care about it? You tell me now or not at all.”

“I can’t say it now! I gotta smooth out details.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

“Fine, then I guess you don’t want a shot at gold with a sure fire way of at least getting silver!” He boasted, catching Eliza off guard. Nick slicked his hair back and crossed his arms to intimate his uncle’s calm yet assertive demeanor. “Yeah that’s right. I’m saying I have an idea crazy enough to benefit you and I. Everyone wants gold of course. However, you got a little more riding on this, don’t you?”

Eliza remained silent. Nick began walking a little closer to refrain from speaking too loud. “Last year was your real debut to the public eye and it was pretty good one at that. Third place is nothing to snuff at in the singles bracket. However...trust me when I say I know third is the worst seat in the house. That’s where the pressure and stress is. One mistake and you're off the podium and that feels terrible when people finally start looking your way.”

Eliza began tapping her foot. He wasn’t wrong. Not by a long shot. Confident as she was, Eliza was aware of her only two options. Do better, or hit the same bar. Winning was the goal but no one was gonna give her shit for losing to the top two contests. Nick and Valerie have been dominating for about three years now, and here he was saying he can get her to second. “Get to the point.”

Nick unfolded his arms. Time to be gentle again. “I cannot get into specifics at this time, but if you wanna show up at the manor anytime this week to help me, we can talk. I can get you second at minimum in King of the Hill.

His eyes burned with eagerness. Eliza had so many questions but obviously he wouldn’t answer them. This plan clearly had to be in his favor to get first, which neither of them had earned before. However, Valerie was first. How did she fit into this? What was going through his head!? Eliza had to know what regardless if she’d actually be okay with it. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Tsk, I take back what I said. Guess you are a Schnee. I will see when I can come over and help. Now, any other obnoxious request before I get driven away from this conversation?”

“Well……” Nick could feel just how dangerous this situation was. “It’s quite a walk to the other cemetery from here….hehe.” Laughing was hard when someone’s nostrils were flaring at you in frustration. Getting closer might’ve been a terrible decision.

Eliza closed her eyes briefly, then turned around to walk away. She went a few steps before briefly stopping. “Knock the snow off your shoes before you step in.”

Nick lit up like a Christmas tree. “You’re the best!!!”

“Why did he get more votes than me!?” Eliza internally screamed.

xxxxx

The day seemed to drag on. It had taken some time for Weiss to return home with the company of her sister and Ruby. Nora had departed earlier to check in on her family. Penny had opted to head towards Ruby’s home before her. They would’ve gone together but Ruby did want to see her niece and Blake. Penny had yet to properly see her friends. Though she wanted to, she thought it best to hold off for now.

The trio walked into the house and were assaulted by the strong scent of what had to be Jaune’s amazing cooking. They could practically see the aroma of spices dance in the air. One spice in particular hit Ruby. It was subtle but sharp at the same time. The kind of spice that sent a zing through your nose and hit your tastebuds. A mouth watering smile spread on her face and her stomach growled.

“Mmmmmm” Ruby hummed, “Somebody brought spices with them from Menagerie.” She sang. Ruby and Weiss wasted no time heading to the kitchen. Inside was an apron-wearing knight stirring a pot of stew, and their favorite faunus in the whole wide world in an apron cutting vegetables.

Blake didn’t even need to turn around to know what giggling pair just entered the kitchen. She put the knife down all the same and turned around with her arms wide open. “Well-” she couldn’t even say her boastful introduction before her two cheecky smile teammates dove in for a hug. All three of them just became a choir of happy laughter as they embraced one another.

Weiss finally let her friend go to get a good look at her. “Look at you! Traveled all this way and you’re helping make dinner!? I don’t deserve you!”

“Well I saw Jaune breakout a pot and I figured he’d enjoy some help without fear of something burning.” Blake jabbed. Ruby immediately tucked her lips to stop herself from snickering at the diss.

Weiss’s jaw dropped. She still smiled however, crossing her arms. “Oh ha ha, I’ll have you know my cooking is leagues better than what you remember since last time you had it. I can cook amazing meals all by myself!”

“As long as it doesn’t involve a fryer.” Jaune added, walking over to kiss his wife’s cheek really quick.

Weiss’s face got a little flushed. “Grease is bothersome.” She mumbled. Blake could only chuckle at the remark while walking to the pot and dumping the vegetables inside. The smell of the stew intensified and reminded Weiss she is still very much the weakest in her friend group when cooking was involved. “How are you going to outdo me in my own home? Why’d you bring spices in the first place!?”

“Don’t question it!” Ruby shouted. Her body went on autopilot to grab the plates and cups for the dinner.

“Ruby, aren’t gonna make dinner at home?” The room said, thinking about Whitley.

Ruby then proceeded to grab one of Jaune’s tupperware containers. Apparently they were now feeding Whitley as well. Ruby knew they wouldn’t mind, so she felt no remorse when filling it. Her boldness knew no bonds.

“Ruby, how do you know they aren’t making enough food for the people in this house?”

“Because this household would crumble anytime Jaune did a mission and didn’t make enough food for weeks.”

“I can cook!!!!” Weiss yelled.

Jaune playfully rolled his eyes and patted Weiss’s back. “Ruby isn’t completely wrong. Anyways she can take as much as she wants. Nick and Veronica have a dinner date tonight so they won’t be joining us for dinner. Then I don’t if Summer-”

“Nick and Veronica have a date!?” Weiss and Ruby shouted.

“Oh yeah… that happened while you left.” Jaune tried to reach for the ladle for the stew but Weiss swatted his hand before turning his head back to her. Fortunately Blake swooped in to continue stirring. “Yeah so they’re going on a date tonight. I don’t know details.”

Weiss turned to Blake who shrugged. “I didn’t press Veronica too much about it. Yang should be upstairs with her trying on dresses.

“Behold! A beautiful sunflower in the snow!” Yang cried out from outside the kitchen unexpectedly.

“Or I guess she’s downstairs now.” Blake turned off the burner on the stove and moved the pot before following her friends out to the main hall. Outside was Yang standing proudly with her hands on her hips and staring up the stairs proudly. Jaune and Weiss’s eyes went wide while Winter seemed….impressed? As much as she could be. Her feelings towards Veronica in general were mixed. The girl was definitely beautiful though. That was just a fact.

Blake looked up to see her daughter all dressed up at the top of the steps. She wore a white, thin strapped dress that had a light blue sash around her waist. The skirt portion went down to about knee level and the flats she wore were also white. The bottom of the skirt brought more color in by being an intense light blue that faded to white half way up; lace snowflakes were intricately etched on to that portion to break the color up. Gloves that went just passed her elbows followed a similar scheme but started white at the hands before transitioning to blue. To top it all off, a pretty little light blue ribbon formed a bow on top of her head. It was that accessory that made Blake notice that not only wet her ears gone from sight, but so was her tail.

Veronica’s face was stricken with a decent shade of red. Her feet shuffling in place a little as she rubbed her left arm. “So….ummm thoughts?” She said anxiously. “This is just one of several ideas so no need to hold back.”

“Several? What, did you make these in a couple hours?” Winter asked.

“No. I’ve been working on a Fire and Ice collection recently. This dress in particular was already put together for the most part. Although the snowflakes at the bottom was a last minute decision I made half an hour ago.” Veronica swayed to make the skirt flow side to side. “Normally I’d say adding flames or snowflakes is a bit heavy handed since the colors of the outfit already speak fire and ice, but I don’t know. Felt appropriate. Especially since the white lace is on the blue. I even have them on the upper rim of the gloves. Made sleeve versions too.” Veronica inspected the stitching to make sure it was okay. “Hmm not my best work, but I kinda like it.”

“I kinda love it!” Yang proudly said. “Oh it takes me back to the Beacon dance a little. Back then another Schnee was outdone by a Xiao Long wearing white.”

“Ha, no! Your dress didn’t even look done!” Weiss shot back, refusing to take such slander. “This dress is ten times better than what you wore.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah sis, your dress was pretty plain. Didn’t even have a bow.”

“I couldn’t find one!” Yang defended.

Judging by the banter, Veronica was getting positive vibes from the dress. She looked at Winter since the woman was there. Surprisingly, a thumbs up was given. “Well that was more positive than I expected from her.” Veronica thought. The only person who remained silent was Blake. Veronica turned to see her mother assessing what her daughter had on. The silence she gave made Veronica a little concerned. “What’s up mom? Not a fan of how thin the straps are? It’s not a low cut anywhere.”

“No, all that is fine. I just have to ask, why-” before Blake finished, the front door opened once again with Nick coming through it this time. Everyone froze in place by his sudden entrance. Including him!

“Uhhh why is everyone just standing in the front of the house?” Nick questioned. It was only when he looked up the left staircase did he get his answer. “Oh, that’s why. You look...wow.” He said, rather clumsily. “I didn’t think you’d get ready three hours ahead of schedule. I still gotta wash up from the grav- I mean my walk. Yeah, walk, around town. With no real location stopped at.” He had no idea why he kept saying things. The deadpanned look on Winter and Weiss’s face clearly showed they knew where he was.

Weiss gave a reassuring smile and poked his forehead. “No need to lie, especially so poorly. If talking to them brought you some form of clarity then by all means have at it.”

“Yeah it’s not my business either.” Winter added, ruffling his hair.

Veronica wasn’t exactly sure what they were discussing, but it looked like things were going well. Nick even looked like he was in a better mood then when he left. His eyes went back to Veronica and made her fidget a little. The gaze he gave her was focused, deliberate even.She didn’t know how to feel about it until Nick began to look a tad displeased. “I-Is something wrong?” Veronica asked hesitantly.

“Not wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cover your ears. Tail yeah, since it can get in the way a bit, but why the bow?” He asked, pointing at it from afar. Everyone looked towards her for an answer, especially Blake. Nick had beaten her to the question.

Veronica looked down at her feet for a moment before looking at her family, crush, others. She never really knew what to call Weiss or her siblings. “Well normally I wouldn’t cover them, but while you were gone I kept thinking about this date…and how I wanted it to be a simple night out.” Heat began to rush to her cheeks. “So you know, people will stare and judge less if I’m like this. Not that their opinions matter, but I’d like to keep things peaceful as much as possible tonight. That’s all.” She looked at Blake who was looking right back at her. The answer didn’t seem to upset or surprise the mother. Veronica played with her a bit. “Is...that okay?”

“Hmm? You’re asking permission? It caught me off guard seeing it. Whether it be for aesthetic or personal reasons, I won’t dictate how you wanna design your clothes as long as it’s appropriate. After all, ribbons and I have a history. Couldn’t judge you if I wanted.”

That was a relief to hear. Veronica had completely forgotten her mother wasn’t a stranger to trying to blend in. “Well if that’s settled-”

“Hold on.” Nick softly said, his calm footsteps walking up the stairs to meet her. Everyone fell speechless as they watched him. Veronica for some reason felt as if the mood had changed. The room was quieter, air completely still. The face of the boy in front of her began to look more earnest than it has ever been as it got closer, stifling her breath. Nick extended his hand out slowly till his fingers clasped a corner of the bow, then unraveled it.

The ribbon flowed slowly into his palm and then was brought down towards Veronica’s. “If a calm night means you have to hide, then is it really a calm worth having? Like you said, those people don’t matter. Besides, I like your ears.”

Burst, Veronica felt like her heart could’ve burst. The blush on her cheeks deepened greatly and her eyes went wide from the shocking words. She had barely remembered to breathe. If she paid attention to the audience below then she would’ve been embarrassed by the grins that went ear to ear but no. Veronica only noticed Nick and his gentle smile that matched his words. Her mind finally caught up with itself and Veronica grasped the ribbon ever so slowly.

“O-Okay…” she said without thinking. Anybody else may have gotten more of a debate on it. Not him though. Not after words like those. “I’ll...make a few adjustments then.” She said, flattered and flustered as she walked back to her room without any more words.

“Take your time. You still have about three hours like I said, plus I gotta wash up.” He reminded her, not realizing just how sweet his words were. He turned back around to see smug faces and contained laughter. “What?”

“Nick…” Winter said, smiling with her hands on her hips. “And you wonder why girls flock to you obsessively. You’re too much.”

“I’ll say.” Blake said, admiring the boy. “But you know what? There’s something perfect about that. Nicholas, thank you.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what he did but he got embarrassed all the same, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. At least things finally felt relaxed in this house. “Umm you’re welcome?”

With teasing done and the mood lightened, everyone went back to doing their respective things. Jaune and Blake went back to prepping food. Weiss went with Ruby to set tables and properly catch up, while Yang decided to keep Winter company since both her son and Qrow were off adventuring. The chatter filled the hallways and even reached upstairs to not only Veronica, but Summer, who finally managed to fall asleep peacefully. Even Nick found a bit of proper rest in the bath. The soothing warm water filled with epsom salt was more than enough to make him doze off. Time steadily went forward and the adults began winding down. However, the kids were just getting ready for the night.

xxxxx

Dusk finally came. Winter leaned up against the main door waiting until she saw Nick coming walking down the stairs looking dashing. His crisp white suit, ice blue tie and handkerchief were perfectly in place along with his slick back hair.

“Hey Whitley jr.”

He groaned, “Please don’t. This is why I do nothing with my hair. One minute I look like dad, then the next I’m uncle.”

“Grow it out more then.” Winter suggested.

He shook his head. “That’s a slippery slope. Too long and I’ll be compared to you, mom, and sis. I guess my face is just too great.”

“Pfft, you just know you can’t compete with all this.” Winter sassed, turning her head to sway her hair. Nick would have objected if she wasn’t right.

“Whatever hehe. Anyways, everybody still here?”

“No, Ruby eventually headed home, but everyone else is strung about. I’m heading out myself but I figured I could drop you and Veronica off for your date.”

Nick gave her aunt a huge smile. “Awww, auntie!”

“Oh hush, don’t make it a big deal. It’s convenient, that’s all.”

“Well I appreciate it nonetheless. Veronica will too.”

Winter mumbled,“She better show it by not getting you or sister into trouble.”

“I heard that.” Veronica called from up the staircase. Winter and Nick looked in that direction to see her walking down. Nick wasn’t prepared.

Veronica had switched the gloves out for detachable sleeves that still exposed her shoulders. They also followed the same white to blue pattern. What really changed was she used the ribbon to make a high ponytail and now dawning jewelry. A pearl white necklace rested around her neck and complemented the pearl earrings she wore. Slowly she approached Nick with her hands holding each other in front of her. Veronica’s face was still a healthy shade of red. This close, Nick couldn’t help but smell of peach nectar. An interesting and oddly refreshing choice for perfume.

“Well...ummm...you weren’t kidding when you said you would out dress me.” Nick said, captivated. “I’d say you’re one billion, easily.”

Veronica chuckled nervously. “Hehe,th...thanks. I wouldn’t go that far, but I appreciate it.” Looking at him was harder than usual. Men’s dress shoes had a bit of heel, so Nick actually was a bit taller then her now since she chose flats. It could only be by an inch or two but it made a hell of a difference to her. “I had a little help near the end. These are actually your sister’s pearls.”

“Really? Oh, that’s right! I think the only reason she got them was so this other rude girl couldn’t. I don’t remember the specifics.”

“Wow. You two are….extremely petty at times.” Veronica said. Yeah pettiness was nothing new to her, but she’d never bought something to spite someone else. That’s the lifestyle in Atlas she supposed. “Anyways, if you’re ready to go then I am too. I’d really like to avoid-”

Click! The sound of a camera cut her off. The two teens looked back to see their parents all taking photos. Trying to stop them would be impossible. The only thing they could do is quietly wait for the clicking to stop, which was thankfully over in seconds.

“Gee I didn’t realize I lived with paparazzi.” Nick quipped. Another flash came from up above the second floor. Summer and her bed head leaned against the railing. “Summer!? You too!?”

“I came down to eat and saw we were embarrassing you. How could I not?” She took one more photo and then made her way down to the kitchen. “Have fun. I’m gonna eat and go right back to bed.”

Nick knew she was lying of course. That was the real reason she came down now, to announce she’d be sleeping in her room so nobody would disturb her. Summer, never missing an opening, also collected everything she needed from upstairs without anyone noticing. It was scary how far she’d plan ahead sometimes.

Winter finally decided to open the front door and head out. “Let’s move people. Rich or not, it’s rude to be late for reservations.”

“So strict. Almost think that you’re about to go drill instructor on me.” Veronica jokes, walking out the door.

“Don’t think I won’t make you drop and give me twenty just because you’re in a dress.” Winter shot back, closing the door as Nick walked out.

“The sad thing is she isn’t kidding…” Weiss nervously said. “That’s gonna be a long car ride.”

Summer came out of the kitchen with a bowl of stew and an evil look in her eye. “Why are there less left overs than usual? Who had seconds?”

“Ruby took some for Whitley. As well as had seconds…”

Summer squinted as if Ruby was there to actually receive the grumpy look before putts spoonful in her mouth and walking back upstairs.

“Ma’am, the table. Not your room.” Weiss said, using her mom voice.

Summer did a heel turn to the dining room. “Who made this stew!?” She said annoyed. Jaune and Blake both raised their hands. “It’s fantastic!” Was all she said as she continued walking.

Blake and Yang looked at each other confused before looking at their friends.

“Hangry.” Was all Jaune said.

“Ah…” the couple said together.

The moment Summer was out of sight from everyone she put the bowl down and searched around the living room quickly until she found her guitar case. Quickly, she grabbed it and opened a window towards the side of the estate and tossed it on a set of glyphs that hopefully propelled it right into her open room window. She then ran back to the dining room to sit down and eat comfortably.

“Phew! That was the last thing. And now I wait.” She took another bite of the stew happily. Nothing tastes better than an escape plan coming together.

#rwby #rwby au #rwby twin snowflakes #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #nora valkyrie #nicholas schnee #summer schnee #val valkyrie #winter schnee #penny polendina #veronica belladonna #rwby whiteknight

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capegabe-blog · 5 years ago

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you won’t believe who i just saw walking down main street! TOMMY MARTINEZ! what do you mean that’s just GABRIEL “GABE” SANCHEZ? who is HE? a 28-year-old BARTENDER & ART TEACHER…interesting. and the CISMALE is + CHARMING & + LOYAL, but i should watch out for when they are - HOT-HEADED & - IMPULSIVE? will do.

hi everyone! i’m rae (21 almost 22!!, est, she/her or they/them), and this is my bb gabe :D here’s a fun lil bio ~

CHARACTERISTICS !!

full name: gabriel miguel sanchez

nickname: gabe, g

birthplace: el paso, tx

current location: cape hazel, maine

age: twenty-eight

zodiac sign: aquarius

sexuality: bisexual (and panromantic)

height: 6′2′

build: muscular

piercings: none

tattoos: lots!! he’s an artist so a lot of his work is also tattoo’d on his body.

scars: one long scar on the left side of his abdomen from stupid teenager antics (what….he definitely didn’t go cliff diving when he was 16…) (hehe what an adrenaline junkie)

PERSONALITY !!

positive: charming, loyal, compassionate, flirty, open-minded, artistic

negative: hot-headed, devious, impulsive, can be pessimistic

character label: the artist

hobbies: painting, sculpting, graffiti, drawing (his preferred medium is charcoal), rock climbing, hiking, swimming, surfing

hogwarts house: slytherin

primary vice: lust

primary virtue: temperance

element: air

FAMILY !!

father: unknown

mother: camila sanchez

sibling(s): younger sister

children: n/a

pet(s): a tabby cat named picasso

family’s financial status: lower-middle

BIO !!

*tw: drinking, drugs*

bartender on the weekends, art teacher during the week. usually, he’s teaching middle schoolers, but over the summer, he teaches workshops around the Cape for all ages. his favorite age group other than middle schoolers is elderly

fluent in spanish (aka google-translate-spanish bc i’m #trash for a good bilingual muse even tho i only speak english rip #plsteachmespanish #ifyouknowhowtospeakspanish)

he used to be a graffiti artist when he was younger, but now in his free time, he mostly works as a sculptor

went to online college for his bachelor’s in graphic design; moved to ny soon after and was working as a graphic designer for a while before deciding to take some time off to bartend and focus on his art. (19-22 years old)

after spending a year in new york, at age 23, he’d decided it was time for a change of scenery. he was tired of working as a graphic designer at a big tech company. he felt like his art wasn’t being used in the most meaningful way. so, he packed up his car and drove to cape hazel. he wanted to be closer to the ocean. the salty sea air was definitely a nice change from the polluted NYC air.

as soon as he arrived at cape hazel, he moved into a small two-bedroom apartment (roommate connection wanted!) and bartended at a bar (sullivan’s pub) down the street from him. money was okay, but he wanted something more. so, he enrolled in college -- he’d always wanted to be an art teacher, so what better time than now?

he took the full 4 years to complete his degree in art education. now, at 28 years old, he’s working full-time at the cape hazel middle school, as well as cape hazel art studio over the summer. he also runs a side business (non-profit) where he teaches art workshops over the summer at libraries and elderly/retirement homes.

v much based on gael from good trouble heheh

gabe brings a lil lightness and fun into the lives of people he meets bc people can be so Serious and he is basically a big puppy dog who wants his loved ones to be happy

he def presents as an optimist, however he’s super critical of himself, especially regarding his art

has a slight drinking problem, which i’ll prob explore !! also he sometimes takes adderall to help him finish art projects (and i’m like 70% sure he doesn’t have adhd)

is very comfortable and open with his sexuality

quite afraid of commitments

slytherin but could easily be a ravenclaw (think luna kinda ravenclaw)

enfp (we’re twins !!!!!)

chaotic good

has the curliest mop of brown hair u ever did see

#bio #about #chintro

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jayascorner · 6 years ago

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you can’t take my place

tyler joseph x reader

(the title isn’t a joke lol)

•

piper thompson. the basketball legend. well, at least up to the third quarter of the year.

she had been known school wide for the best basketball player on the varsity team, for a girl. she’s even better than some of the guys. the spotlight was always on her. and sometimes....people were jealous. whenever she got the ball everyone would cheer for her, knowing her name.

this was all until tyler joseph came along. then the saltiness came upon piper. ever since he came, she’s hated tyler’s guts. not just because he’s a basketball player, but also because he took her place being wickedly talented at it. that just made her so infuriated. she didn’t even bother to talk to him about it or even become basketball buddies with him. they could have been, but she judged the book by its cover.

and oh was she wrong about him

“hey piper! you playin’ basketball tonight?” a guy asks. piper is currently at her locker, finally closing it for the day.

“wow! somebody remembers i play basketball.” she scoffs.

“so...are you?” he asks once more.

“yeah. how’d you know?”

he gives her a look like she was stupid or something. “uhh because you’re wearing a jersey.”

she looks down at her feet. “oh. that.”

you see what i mean? it’s like she doesn’t exist in the world of basketball anymore. all because of that dumb tyler guy.

“yo tyler! good luck at the game! OH RIGHT!! YOU DON’T NEED LUCK!” another guy shouts from across the hall, as tyler just smirks triumphantly.

piper hears that from her locker and totally just gapes at him. he glances at her, but thinks nothing of it and walks away.

it’s kinda rare for both varsity girls and boys to play on the same day. that usually doesn’t happen.

but you know what that means? she can watch him and see if he really is that good. and you never know, he might see her.

but anyways, this is a total nightmare for piper.

her spotlight.

going to another guy.

not.

cool.

>:(

but maybe....

she can confront him!!!

...

...nah.

“hey mom!” she calls out as she comes in her house. it’s common for her to walk home, rather than taking the bus or driving. she is an athlete, after all, and it’s best for her to do the most beneficial things for her body.

she comes in the kitchen to see her mom making dinner. “hi honey. how was school today?”

piper sighs. “just as usual.” she says while putting her backpack down. “i just wish that stupid guy would leave the school.” she mutters

her mom looks up in shock. “WHO’S STUPID?”

“oh just this dude named tyler. he’s new to the school, but totally just took my spot. like nobody pays attention to me anymore. it’s like i don’t exist.” she complains, leaning against the counter.

“okay now we don’t call people stupid. and how did he take your spot?”

“apparently he’s really good at basketball. once everybody saw his talent, they left me back in the dust. i feel like they all forgot i even play basketball.”

“aww i’m sorry sweetie. sometimes life can be hard. just try to tough it out. or maybe you can talk to him. you never know, y’all could become friends.”

piper scoffs. “i doubt it. he’s playing tonight anyways.”

“then talk to him! i’m sure you have a lot in common!” she claps her hands once.

“but mommmmm. i don’t want to.” she whines.

“what? is he good looking or something?”

piper stops to think about that. she never pays attention to his looks. but she could say, he’s definitely not bad looking.

“i mean, kind of. i don’t know. but i’m not very fond of him so don’t get any ideas.” she walks over to the table to do homework at.

“how do you not like him? you haven’t even met him yet.”

she just frowns in response.

“oh. you’re salty.”

piper nods in response.

her mom sighs. “you know, you don’t need to be mad at him for any reason. he didn’t do anything. the best way to change your mind is to actually get to know him. anyways, dinners ready. if you want some.”

“i probably shouldn’t. i have a game in 30 minutes, i’ll eat after.” she says.

“alright.” her mom says.

after a few minutes, she is ready to go. but she still has some time to do homework, so that happens. and of course, she doesn’t finish all of it.

“you really need to wear those slides?” her mom asks.

piper looks down at her new f/c slides and frowns innocently. “yes. they keep my basketball shoes from getting dirty. you know we can’t walk on anything other than a court with those.”

“you could just bring another pair of shoes.”

“but with slides it’s easier because you can just slip them on. why are you so against me wearing these?”

“i’m not against them. i just don’t like them.” she says while putting her own shoes on.

“well i like them. so i’m gonna wear them.” piper smiles joyously. her mom mutters a ‘whatever’ and they leave.

~time skip~brought to you by jish and ty kissing each other’s shoulders (ik ik you could’ve read that wrong)

it’s far into the varsity girls game, aka piper’s game. she notices tyler on one of the top benches of the bleachers, but sadly tyler doesn’t notice her.

wait a sec...SADLY??

...what just happened?

there comes a time where they get a foul and piper has to shoot a free throw. of course she’s gonna make at least one of them. she always does. mostly she makes both. everyone is murmuring her name since they can’t distract the player. at least they remembers she’s a good player.

and of course ya gotta hear those dumb cheerleaders chanting. “hey you! at the free throw line. miss it, miss it!” AS LOUD AS THEY FREAKING CAN!

it’s totally rude to say that but i mean, it’s the other school.

and all piper can hear was her own voice in her head telling her how to shoot the ball. because for some reason, she would always think of the steps to shoot the perfect basket. it’s like those cliché moments in movies if you know what i’m saying.

of course she makes the first one, to her luck, getting her team another point.

by the time she shoots the second one, everybody cheers in excitement. nobody is surprised though. piper looks over to where tyler is sitting. he is clapping and seems pretty impressed.

tyler’s pov

do y’all know what’s boring? waiting for a basketball game, when you don’t have much friends to talk to.

but ever since i saw that girl make more that one three pointers and make both free throws, i started paying attention. it wasn’t as boring.

i believe her name is...pipe? wait- no. why would someone name their kid pipe? maybe it’s pie... pier?? no.. none of those are actual names. maybe...piper? that’s an actual name.

if that’s her name, it’s really pretty. but dude! she is wickedly talented at basketball! i could never. i’m quaking.

sometimes i see her in school, but she doesn’t look to be very fond of me. it seems as if she doesn’t like me or something. all the people i meet like me, well i mean they like me as a person. they all think i’m the best at basketball, when honestly, i think this piper girl is better than me.

i’ve also noticed that she’s really supportive of her team. most team members are supportive, but not like her. i think that’s really nice.

okay now i just wanna talk to her.

maybe she’ll stay for my game.

...eh probably not.

but just maybe!

oh yeah that’s right....

i’m singing the national anthem....

yay...

i really don’t know if people actually think i’m a good singer. i just came to this school like 2 weeks ago, and a lot has happened since then. first, they just let me on the basketball team for some reason. and let me remind you, that was way after tryouts were held.

and then, they just ask me to sing the national anthem. i sang like ONCE, and they were like ‘dudeee! you gotta sing for everyone. forget the instrumental track, we want you!’

seriously, i don’t get how everyone loves me all the sudden. oh except pipe. oh- i mean piper. man, i’m really bad with names. i’m still not entirely sure if that’s her actual name. anyways, the only time i saw her acknowledge me was like today, and she seemed completely offended by me. what did i do wrong, you ask? i don’t know what the heck i did wrong. i haven’t even spoken to her. i want to though. she looks pretty sick.

“tyler! come on!” the new coach (which happens to be my dad) yells. i notice that the girls’ game is almost over. my team is warming up, and i’m still on the benches! what is wrong with me...

i run over to my teammates and start warming up with them.

“bro what were you doing?”

i shrug. “just watching the game.”

“dude why? the girls are wimps!” one of them chimes in.

“no, not if one of them is a frikin’ beast at the sport. besides, they have one of the best coaches. i mean, besides my dad.” i say

“true...”

“yeah.” i said.

“but she’s not as good as you.”

i shake my head. “have you seen how many three pointers she’s made today?”

they all laugh. “yeah right man! girls don’t make three pointers!”

“gosh y’all are so sexist! she made at least 5. and that’s really good for a girl.” i say, starting to grow a bit annoyed at my mostly sexist teammates.

“oh whatever.” one says, while all of them scoff.

“tyler you’re up! go!” my dad said, as i realized that our game was just about to start. and yes, i’m singing the national anthem. not that i’m scared of singing in front of people, i’m okay with it, but i’m not the best with attention per say.

as i make it to my designated spot where the microphone is, i meet up with another dude that’s singing with me. i know he has a much deeper voice than me, so he’ll sing the low harmony. wait a sec...i already know this, we rehearsed it already.

i scan the crowd in hopes to see if piper might still be here, and to my surprise, she is in fact, still here. she’s on the very right of the bleachers, in the middle section.

it’s like she’s standing out to me, i don’t know how.

i have a higher vocal range than the average man. it just comes naturally. when the time comes, i open my mouth and the words start flowing out of my mouth to the music.

piper’s POV

we end up winning our game (hehe thanks to me). i asked my mom if i can stay for the boys game. don’t ask why. she said yes, so here i am waiting on the bleachers.

tyler joseph runs up to the mic with another dude that’s taller than him. “now will you all rise as we sing the national anthem.” the announcer says. everybody stands up, including me, and the boys start singing.

now i didn’t know that tyler could be a basketball champ, and a singer. because dang, he has a voice. this really reminds me of high school musical. he is a literal troy bolton!

and maybe you can be gabriella...

what? no! for one, i can’t sing, and two, gabriella didn’t play basketball in the movies.

ugh fine. worth a shot though.

yeah, a bad shot.

now let’s see if this guy is any good.

time skip :D

okay so yes, i can see what everybody is talking about. this dude it good as heck. man, you should have seen how much three pointer shots he got. there were a lot. seriously i need to talk to him, my mind changed. this guy sparks my interest, if you know what i mean.

right as i’m leaving the brown haired boy comes to me.

“um...can i help you?” i ask.

“are you piper?” he asks.

oh wow, how does he already know about me? do people still know who i am? did i not get kicked out of the spotlight?

“yes, and i’m assuming you’re tyler?”

“yeah, i just wanted to say good job tonight, it was pretty impressive.” he complements you.

“thanks, but i’m not nearly as good as you.” i say, and of course it’s true.

he flashes a smile at me, which is actually very charming. “thanks. but really, you should see yourself. you killed it.”

“but really, i could say the same about you.” i state, mimicking him.

“nah. anyways, it was pretty sick seeing you tonight.”

“yeah, see you later.” i say as i awkwardly walk away.

he’s nice, isn’t he?

THE END

hey guys! here i am with another post! i hope you liked it :)

and also, pls like and comment what you think!! i’d love some feedback!

#tyler joseph x reader #tyler joseph #basketball #oc #twenty one pilots #twenty øne piløts #tøp #tøp fanfic #tyler joseph x origional character

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undeadwicchan · 6 years ago

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Rewatching RWBY: Volume 1, Episodes 6-10 [Live Blog]

The second half of Volume 1, and yes if you combine the parts. Volume 1 is actually only 10 episodes long.

[Episode 6]

I know it’s first volume and the budget isn’t as big as it is now, but Ruby’s arms in her uniform are unusually long.

Blake is actually somewhat OOC during the ‘Banzai’ then again, Blake is one of Miles’s hardest characters to write and it’s Volume 1 so…

Omg that Achievement Hunter poster

It’s always the quiet ones hehe.

I don’t understand why Ruby would cut the curtain to this very day unless it was an accident.

Weiss is womanlet compared to Yang omg.

Oh right, JNPR’s room is right across from RWBY’s!

“Remember when STRQ was late to class? Good times”

Okay so who is that guy with the black hair and green shirt?!

Also hello Port!

Yeah just yell at Ruby while Yang and Blake were cheering too lmao.

“Sheesh what’s with her,” tell me about it.

“Ozpin made a mistake” Oh hell no.

“My ‘Ruby is having a conflict with herself or with someone’ senses are tingling” - Ozpin, probably.

I love Ryan voicing Port omg.

“I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet” can we talk about how tired and sad Ozma sounds here? Yes, I strongly believe that this is Ozma in control talking to Ruby.

Boy I wonder how that opinion that Port has of Ozpin is going to change now…

You tell her Port.

Yeah, you see Weiss. Ruby is working very hard. Baby girl is doing her best and that’s all that matters. ;v;

HHHhhhhh Weiss is so sweet omg

And now it’s time for probably the most skipped on and criticized arc in the series. Jaundice.

[Episode 7]

Now isn’t that some alluding regarding the characters they’re based off of.

So it’s been a considerable amount of weeks and a few months before the Vytal Festival kinda sorta starts. Interesting.

Omg Ren’s and Nora’s story telling.

Ruby and Pyrrha are on the same wavelength regarding their concern for Jaune

I WILL 1v4 YOU TEAM CRDL IF YOU CONTINUE TO BULLY VELVET.

Oh my god, I know it’s for comedy relief but, that’s kinda messed up Cardin would send Jaune trapped in a locker flying.

Cardin. You. Me. 1v1 now. You dare hurt the Bun?! Speaking of, I know Velvet’s teammates designs aren’t completed, but they would kick Cardin and his team’s ass.

“It must be hard to be a faunus” Yeah… Looking at how shitty society treated Adam and Ilia, it is not much of a brainer.

OOBLECK!

Aw poor baby is so hesitant to speak out about the discrimination she faced as a faunus :c

C’mon Jaune….

Oh man, Adam would just… have a field day with the way Cardin would show his disgust over the faunus .

YES BLAKE. GO PYRRHA. TEAR THAT MAN APART AND DRAG HIM

I wish I had a teacher like Oobleck back during my days of High School.

“You know, I really will break his legs” please do Pyrrha.

...F...Forever Fall is that you I hear? ;v;

I’m sorry guys, but the lyric version of Forever Fall messed me up so much, that if I hear it I start to tear up a bit…

Pyrrha deserves the world god damn it.

This arc does give some perspective on Jaune’s character and how he can grow. I actually love the Jaunedice arc.

SCREW OFF CARDIN.

[Episode 8]

I can’t even blame Pyrrha for being mad and disappointed with Jaune here.

I love this moment between Ruby and Jaune, they’re very supportive of each other and I really like they let each other lean on the other’s shoulder if needed to be. Lancaster man…

C’mon Jaune…

Okay. So we got a tease of Forever Fall in Maya via Adam and Blake shorts but, I really hope we see the forest again!

Pfftttt Nora.

How did Glynda not notice that box of wasps?

You hurt Pyrrha. I hurt you.

Don’t do it….

Yeah Jaune!

Oh no Jaune!

LMAO

Oh because I’m watching on the blu-ray it contains the bonus scene of Nora stealing Pyrrha’s collected sap.

YEAH JAUNE!

Cardin deserved that one.

“Time to save the boyfriend.” - Pyrrha and Ruby, probably.

Go Jaune, go!

I’ll give Cardin this. He actually does keep Jaune’s secret a secret.

*cries internally* God damn Forever Fall…

Ah, there’s that smile from Pyrrha.

And so begins Jaune’s training arc.

[Episode 9]

Alright the Vytal Festival is coming!

Weiss being excited is so precious.

And so begins the Blake vs Weiss arc.

That’s racist, Weiss.

S U N. MY SUNNY BOI.

I miss him having gray eyes omg.

Okay so, Sun winked at Blake. An angelic choir suddenly starts playing and it makes it seem like Sun is introduced as Blake’s future love interest.

Blake looks like he took her breath away or just confused or both.

P E N N Y. MY BABY GIRL.

FRIEND.

Asdfghjkl I miss Penny omg. ;v;

“It’s a combat skirt” iconic.

Where did she find the time to draw that picture of Sun lmao

God damn it Weiss. That’s rude af.

I can feel the discomfort from here too…

“There’s no such thing as pure evil,” now if only a certain part of the FNDM can be aware of that….

Weiss’s anger is valid, but she shouldn’t be generalizing all faunus with the same mind set like that….

Damn, Adam managed to steal an entire train worth of dust even after Blake left all on his own?

Speaking of Adam, he indirectly caused Weiss to have a difficult childhood, I hope people remember that.

“Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!” How many do you want to bet Adam said the same thing…

I always wondered if there was a connection between the Faunus and the Grimm….

Awww Volume 1’s purple ears.

And so the S.S. Blacksun sails.

Jfc Weiss

In the manga it’s only been a like not even a full day, but here it’s been two days that Sun has been with Blake.

[Episode 10]

Sun’s disgust over the White Fang is interesting tbh like did he ever encounter them in Vacuo or Mistral?

The only time you see Blake with brown hair.

Okay so… the silhouette on the right…. That looks… an awfully a lot like Adam if you get rid of that tail…

Ffs Weiss….

That slow realization lmao.

What great teammates they are lmao

Sun is great here, he tries to help whenever he can.

Yang is still thinking about Weiss’s words, “Is she innocent?” “She’s our teammate we have to at least talk to her…”

Some nice insight….

Touche.

Yikes, Roman is pretty racist towards them too.

Battle time!!

Man Roman’s dialogue is so witty I love it.

GUN CHUCKS. GUN CHUCKS.

Sun has one of the best fighting styles, but I imagine it’s a pain in the ass to animate it though.

“You hurt my friend, now you’ll pay”

Get em’ Penny!!

Rip those members of the White Fang. Seriously how does Adam manage to bullshit his way into making them help Roman still after this.

“Kinda cute” Bless Ruby

Weiss get some off screen development

And Blake… finally is starting to get her wings… *cries*

How is Ozpin is getting that kind of live feed?

Wings plays and the credits roll for this volume…

But wait there’s more!

Volume 1 Mercury and Emerald look wack. I’m glad they look so much better in Volume 2!

And that’s Volume 1, and now onto Volume 2…. Where the bees start really buzzing since… I hardly could spot a thing for Yang and Blake except during their initiation in Volume 1 and Yang wanting to be understanding. In contrast to where Blake and Sun have established a friendship. But, Volume 2 hoo boy… Buzz buzz.

Buzz.

#RWBY #Yuuri rewatches RWBY

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catistakingabath · 2 years ago

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12/9/2022

First diary on tumblr hehe

Today is also the first day I skip class in uni because my phone died and sister didnt wake me up even though I told her to. Class started at 9:10 and if only I wasnt on my period, I would not have wake up so late TT, and if I miss one more session I will have to retake the course, so I have to be super careful. Promise myself that I will try to be 10 15 minutes early.

Yesterday I have a meeting with communication department in TEDxBachkhoa at a cf. To be honest, anh Quang said too much that I can hardly process all the information, but what I know is: we have to brainstorm ideas about the up coming pj, maybe a series of videos or sth, and I have to do the tool kit with chi Nhung, but I think that might be hard since it was similar to a booklet and it need a strong unity in the design. I hope that she is easy to work with and I will try my best not be bossy and len mat day doi dan chi cause she is 2k2.

At the end of the meeting, anh Quang did the tarot reading for us, and I found out a friend have the same name (both first and last) and the same birthday as my secondary Thao, which was so cool!! Like what are the odds of that coincidence?? And I also found out my than so hoc was number 1. Like when people found out, they were like surprised and impressed, and anh Quang told me that people with number 1 are born to be leader, either they will be very successful or they will be poor and bad as f. Yea this kinda fascinated me. At first I want to ask him the read about my love life, but since the than so hoc has sparked my curiosity, I decided to ask about my work. He said that there will be someone teach me lots of things and I will found my strength and gain my confidence. And I need to rest more and this is not the right time to begin a relationship. Idk if this is true but I will see in the near future (6 months).

Yesterday I also seen a post about this is a bad month for Sagittarius. It gave advice that whenever I am working in team, be aware of bad talking conversation about other. Try to stay out of drama and not to be involved emotionally. To be honest, it is true that I have struggle this kind of problem before. Like when you join a big group of friends, there will be some conflict between someone. I have come to a solution. Whenever they talk bad shit about others, I will only be listen and ừ and not say anything else. If they start to ask me to give thought about this stuff, I will start saying: thật ra quan điểm của em là em sẽ không đánh giá một người chỉ qua lời kể của người khác. Chỉ khi nào em thực sự tiếp xúc và trải nghiệm thì em mới đưa ra đánh giá của em để cho khách quan nhất. Bây giờ em chỉ có thể lắng nghe chuyện anh/ chị kể và tiếp thu thôi. Like, it will like i am in between. I am not totally in any side, even if it will be more convenient for me to just stand on their side, but i should seperate work and relationships and i think this is the right thing to said. The other day Han tell me that she started preparing her introduction in uni 1 month before, and i start to think thats a great idea :)) From now on, I will start imagine difficult situations like the one above, and I will think of the best thing to answer so that I will not end up troubling myself.

Okay actually last week I went out to eat with the secondary class. Most of them are the boys, including Manh, and at first I didnt want to go. Tuan and Chip insisted me, but I did not changed my mind until Chip said this might be the last chance to meet Manh cause he is going the study aboard the next month. When we got there, I was so shy that I cant make myself to look and talk with Manh. Even though I wanted to know about his life, like is his old white cat doing fine, how is his girlfriend, is he excited about going study aboard, what major is he going to study, and so on. But I cannot bring myself to do that cause I such a coward and I still have feelings for him. It is embarrassing but he still appear in my dream occasionally, and how am I supposed to get rid all of my feeling if he keep doing that and there is no one cool enough in my love life?? And I hate that feeling when you are noticing someone in the corner of your eyes, and you feel that they are looking at you too but you cant know for sure cause its vague. I feel that when we at the hot pot he was looking at me, but I cant know for sure, and Chip didnt notice him for me. Anyways, the boys was nicer than I thought cause some of them were really mean in secondary school and I didnt like them at all, but somehow they are nice to me at the meeting and no one talk shit. Surprisingly, Giang who was sitting in front of me were kinda nice cause hes keep refilling the water for me even when I'm not asking him nor my cup was empty. When my chopsticks fell, Giao Linh gave me a new one without even asking. Looking back, even in secondary school, those guys were not the mean one, they just the shy-to-the-girls type of guys, be mean back when someone teased them (sr Giao Linh cause I once teased you for being short), and not rl care or help when I was in trouble, and play with the mean ones. Okay now I feel less appreciated them :) Okay but everyone have their phrases and they were still childish back then. Even though everyone said that the grown up are bad and everyone start to faking feelings to each other, and making friends is not as easy as when we were kids. However, the more I grow up, the more comfortable I feel with the surroundings. Bc my peers start to be more understanding, and they are not as mean as before, even if they did not change at all, the truth is that they still think bad of me, and they are just good at masking it, I still feel more comfortable because I am not aware of that, and I feel that I am being treated in the way I deserved. Anyways, back to Manh. After the meeting, I feel that hes not as pretty as in my memory, not as special compared to others since my peers start to be more mature. This is a great sign that I finally get to move on and stop being such a pathetic ass. Maybe meet him 1 or 2 more times will help me even more, to get rid of that pink and perfect version of him in my head, but I think it will be hard to have another chance. Lately, I also feel like I want to have a lover and shit, that I want to be loved and start listening to the kiribaku series on yt again. Now think of it, I start to notice that my phrase of desperating-to-be-loved occasionally was around september, november every years, because last year I started to addict to the kiribaku series around this time of the year. And I start wondering, if this has anything to do with the time I start liking Manh in 9th grade. Cause that is when my feeling start to blossom and have grow the strongest :/ idk

Lately, I also been thinking about being myself. Idk maybe it is somewhat about a existence question? Like I am aware and want to moving forward, to improve myself, not only to embrace my strength that I already have, but also looking at others and learn. But, would it be like, i am just a creature thats copying others? Like it is okay to learn things like skills, or knowledge, but one of my biggest weakness is soft skills, and I intended to copy their way of coping problems to others, their way of socializing and shit. I mean, almost everyone do that and I am also doing that from a long time ago unintentionally. But like now if I intent to do so, I will copy more and more, and does that harm my inner-self? Like I will adapts traits, personalities, from person A, person B, person C, and will that make me a totally different person? And will that kill my past me, my child me? I mean, I might be dramatic but, imagine if I can meet me when I was a child, when I have adopted all of this new personalities, my child me will think that she was such a loser, that she is nothing, that she need to change to be better, and my present me will be so guilty cause I never want to feel that way, and neither does my child-me. For example, I used to have this conversation with my sister. She said that she hate to interact to other, to be involved in social occasion, like when her uni friends invited her to their wedding, or when her uni friends ask she how shes doing and invite her to cf. And I have told her that she should turn them down, because she should do it to maintain her social relationship, which might help her in the future. Until then I realized I'm not doing all this thing because I like it at my heart, I'm just doing it because I think it as an "investment", that I need to do it so my life will be somehow easy, because it is how this society works. I'm not doing all of this because of my inner-child, but it is how this society expect from me. Maybe this is not the right way to healing my inner-child, not trying to perfect myself. But seriously, I dont really know what to do. What is the way to improve myself, which is also healing? That sound kinda impossible i guess

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cutegirlmayra · 7 years ago

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Hello:D I was wondering if you could do a prompt where Sonic and the gang are going to a Halloween party. Amy dresses in a costume to impress Sonic but ignores him the whole time. Then she starts getting unwanted attention from other guys and the blue blur has to come in save the day. Maybe in the boom!universe?

Sure thing!

(x) Please support the Artist: kitties-and-heavy-metal, thank you for your preview image!

*If you draw or have friends who draw, please let me know if it’s okay to use your art as preview images with crediting links to you. Thank you!

Prompt:

Amy was scouring the stores and looking in every nook and cranny. She desperately was trying to find something worth all the blood, sweat, and tears of laboriously working for enough money to pay the ultimate price.

The perfect costume.

She pulled out a fluffy looking bunnies attire, and swished it back behind her, “Not really ‘me’.” she mused, before pulling out an Egyptian outfit. “Ohh~ But kinda last century.” she flopped it behind her again.

She began to grow irritable.

She dug her head into the rack, flinging out costume after costume. “Dragon, warlord, fairy, mermaid-AH!” she leaned up and gripped her head, “No, no, no! I can’t wear something tacky that fades into the background! It has to be perfect! A stylish witch! An alluring enchantress! A Shakespearian elite could work if it looked different than every other Cinderella!” she looked and looked before finally wearing herself out. (pun intended.)

She landed hard to the ground, sliding against the stripped and spinning, circular clothes rack that looked dizzy from Amy’s assault on it.

She leaned against the cold metal beam, and banged her head back on it, letting her back drop further down its spine.

“It’s no use…” she sighed, “I wanted to impress him this year… but everything is old-hat. So… melodramatic… if I just had one perfect costume… something to really make him stop and stare. Then-..!”

She turned, seeing something sparkle from a store-working moving it with a clawed instrument up to hang on the wall.

She walked towards it, slowly rising up and having it glimmer in her glossy eyes.

It was just her… and that outfit.

“Oh-ho-ho…” she giggled, before swiping it away from the true object she was looking at,”Nuh-uh. That one!” an ugly looking fall-dress that seemed to be something to add to a scarecrow outfit.

She squee’d, her hands shaking in her excitement as she bent forward, still holding the ‘ideal’ dress in her hands that she had yanked away. “Perfect!”

Once home, Amy got straight to work.

The black dress with the fall-leaf design that was loose fabric over the shoulders, the side and down the dress, and elsewhere that she began to change and alter.

She bit down on her thread and went straight to work crafting jewels into the dress, making a patch and giving herself a stylish adventure pouch.

She was going to be unique this year! And Sonic wasn’t going to walk by without a double-take!

The party at Meh-Burger’s special Spooky deals started already, and the team waited with their make-shift costumes on Amy, wondering where she was.

Tails was stuck in a half-tin, half-cardboard box which was equipped with a phony twirling gun that glowed when he hit the trigger. He called it his cyborg death-ray.

Knuckles was a roman lancer, though everytime he struck the pose and threw his large prop of a spear, it would crash and he would flinch at some poor cat squealing in fright or pain.

“Eh-heh… opps.”

“Where’s Amy?” Tails waddled in his claustrophobic outfit over to Sonic, who was tapping his foot, wearing a metal-band outfit with face makeup.

“I don’t know. But it’s not like her to keep her ‘adoring public’ waiting.” Sonic fanned a hand out, a slight mock in good spirits. “You know Amy.. she always likes to take every and any opportunity to look good and show it off.” he grumbled a bit, looking annoyed at waiting before Tails saw his eyes droop down in impatience.

He chuckled a bit, “Yeah, I wonder why she always does that.” he gave a sly smile to his friend, shifting his eyes to him and then waddling to turn his back to him.

“And why you’re always around when she does…” he quickly wandered off, leaving Sonic confused at his words.

He huffed and pouted, folding his arms as Sticks crawled around, looking on guard and trying to attack a kid with an alien costume. “She’s not trying to be better than me!” he clearly didn’t get the implied subtext…

“I know the aliens are hiding out here…” Sticks jumped on a table, her boomerang held high, “Show yourselves, you cowards!” she hunched herself down and gripped the edge of the table, shouting out a battle-cry before Sonic zoomed over with a sigh and caught her in midair.

“Sticks. Who are you dressed as?” he looked bored saying this, not even looking down at the poor kid he just saved from Sticks’s wrath.

“I never put on a mask! Ek-ehhh!” Sticks swiped at the air towards the kid, trying to reach him. “Humm…” she gave up and Sonic let her down.

“You know? The scariest thing you can be is yourself.” She put her hands on her hips, and looked for a second almost wise with her head held high… then she saw a kid in an octopus costume and charged them, ramming them over. “AHHH!!! Show yourself you, alien scum!”

“Mommy!”

Sonic shook his head, “Knnucckklless..! Sticks is being weird again.” Sonic leaned over his shoulder and called.

“I can take it from here…”

A hand lightly grazed his backspines and lingered over his shoulder.

Sonic froze with a jolt and watched the odd, spider-design laced gloves trace his curve and then flick off to carry his gaze down to the woman’s side.

“Sticks?”

The woman held herself with confidence, something Sonic had only seen in one… other… girl…

She placed a seductive hand on her hip and then flicked her finger out to call Sticks again. “Sit.” she instructed.

Sticks looked away from the kid she had pounced on and growled towards Amy.

“Hey! What makes you think you can-!” she wagged her boomerang at her, not like being ordered in such a way, before Amy took her hands and scratched under her ears.

“W-wo-woah, momma…” Sticks’s leg suddenly started tapping widely like an animal, as Amy lured her down to the ground and then got her to sit down.

“Now… play dead.” she rolled her over and Sticks lay with her tongue flung out to the side as if hyped up on catnip.

“I don’t know what you are… but it’s some kinda voodoo magic…” she mouthed out, still in her lulled sense of submission. “But I will find you.. and I will stop you..”

“Hehe, it’s me, Sticks.” Amy drew back her black hood with lace lining its surroundings.

Sticks turned to Amy with absolute shock, “Woah!” she stood up on all fours. “You gotta be kiddin’ me! I thought yous were a hypnotic witch!”

“Nope.” Amy rose up from her squat, as the boys gathered behind her and she removed her hood to reveal her patterned makeup was that of flowers, vines, and other natural beauties. “Mother Nature.” she turned to the men, “But having fallen from the natural law of things.. she now seeks to restore her throne… any means necessary.” she removed the draping cape from the front of her and placed it over her shoulders.

The men gasped, as the party music stopped and everyone’s eyes were on Amy’s amazingly detailed workmanship.

She swayed her hips out, acting older than her age and strut right by Sonic, turning to the DJ.

“Something I can move to, please?” She placed an elbow on Dave’s workplace, trying to act friendly.

“Oh, I don’t know… My mom said not to touch it so much… it can get temperamental..” he whispered the last part to her, worriedly.

She winked and leaned further up. “I’m sure she won’t mind… if I supervise you…”

He gulped and quickly fumbled with records. “This goes out to the only girl who didn’t hurl fruit at my face.” he then sighed and played a dancy tune.

Sonic snapped himself out from the effects of the pause button his brain had defensively turned on, but then he worried that Amy really was trying to steal the spotlight from him, and was angrily thinking of ways to make an outstanding comeback.

But before he could even get a thought in there, a group of men gathered behind him.

“Who is that?” “She’s gorgeous!” “I wouldn’t mind dancing with her tonight!”

Sonic shifted his head to them for a moment, before rolling his eyes and looking at Amy from the corner of his eye, shrugging. “Dudes, chill. It’s just Amy…”

“Amy~” the boys swooned, as Sonic– for some unknown reason to himself– panickily looked to each in awkward concern.

“Wait! C-come on, you guys, you… You know her!” he gestured back to her, dancing so carefree, before showing Sonic a mischievous smile and curling her fingers for him to join her.

The men slipped to the ground, “Yeah… I know her… in my dreams..”

“Ugh.” Sonic face-planted,… but peeked through his fingers at her seductive eyes.

‘What she playin’ at..?’ he asked himself, before pushing the dazed men back and walking briskly towards her.

“Whatever this is-” he started, “You’re not winni-NG!” he stuck a finger out at her before she took his hand and pulled him out on the dance floor.

Take a sip of my secret potion. I’ll make you fall in love~ For a spell that can’t be broken, one drop should be enough~ Boy, you belong to me! I got the recipe!

….And it’s called black magic~

For a moment, Sonic was awkwardly fumbling along with her, as she laughed and broke from her previous act.

She twirled under the raised hand she held up for him and then moved her back closer to his. She flicked some glitter that was in her hair out of her face and swayed back and forth with him.. flickering her eyes to try and look to his face but then away. ‘I can’t let this advantage just slip by me! This time- You won’t be able to back down from me, Sonic!’

“W-woah-hey!” Sonic was pulled along as she danced before a man swiped her out from Sonic’s forced dancing she was putting him through.

He spun away, before flailing his arms out to gain some balance and turned back to see her pushing away from the man

“Ugh, let me go, you creep!”

“Hey, toots. Just one dance, eh?” he wrapped an arm around Amy’s waist as she turned her head away from his and grimaced, annoyed.

‘I didn’t think I’d get this much attention… I just wanted Sonic to see me decked out, not for these guys to get fresh!’

Instinctively, almost as quickly as the man had done the action, Sonic had yanked the arm off from around her and thrust the arm away, causing the man to stumble back.

“H-hey, what gives?”

“She’s not your date.”

The record skipped to a halt as Dave looked down a second.

Rah rah ah-ah-ah! Ro mah ro-mah-mah, Gaga oh-la-la! Want your bad romance~

He quickly and with great difficulty of ‘grace’, stopped the track.

“Are you.. her..?” the man pointed to Sonic.

“Dance partner?!” Sonic avoided in all seriousness, and did a breakdancing move to intimidate, before landing with flare.

The crowd cheered, especially Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks, who thought this was interesting.

“Come on! I bet you can’t top those sick moves!”

Suddenly, Sonic lost confidence when he saw the man and his boys start breaking out moves too.

Tails, in his getup, and Knuckles suddenly strode up behind him.

“Dudeittute!” he almost summoned them, but they folded their arms and nodded, doing their routine.

The dance battle went on before Amy stepped out, shocking everyone before Sticks joined and the Sonic gang all got together to push the man out from the dance floor, making him stumble into the punch bowl where the mayor got sprayed with the splash.

“Hoho, I seem to have been in the ‘punch-zone’ hoho!”

“is that a fact?” A fancy man with his fist raised smirked.

“Oh no! Last year’s runner-up!” he ran off as the other man followed him, “Oh dear!”

“Amy! That was-!” Sonic excitedly ran up to her, arms out as if to embrace her.

She smiled with a flutter in her heart, holding a hand to her heart before he stopped himself, and leaned back, growing shy and awkward, and scratched the back of his head.

“I-I mean… great moves back there.” he smiled, sheepishly.

She chuckled in a bit of nerves, shifting her eyes about after realizing he wasn’t going to embrace her and got equally as awkward as well. “R-right… thank you.”

So you wanna play with magic? Boy, you should know whatcha falling for~

The music started again as Dave cowered while it scatched the record as if devouring it in place before it setlled into it’s ring. The two stood awkwardly in front of each other, swaying on heels or bobbing with the music, pursing their lips, looking down or around behind them, hands either together in front of them or behind their backs.

“…Oh, dance with her already!” Percy cried out, as the twins pushed the two together, and they startled into each other’s faces.

They froze as they were so close, closer than any other adventure in their life… any other time in the milliena they’ve ever known each other.

Baby do you dare to do this? Cause I’m coming atcha like a dark horse~

“W-well… heh, shouldn’t spoil the party.” Sonic was frizzled up, his chest out to her before he calmed his body down and moved back a bit.

immediately, she stepped up, not wanting the distance to lengthen between them. “O-oh, sure! you should take my hand…t-then..” she dipped her head down a bit, her eyes staring with a nervous excitement into his.

They paused in the electricity around them… before Sonic gulped and took her hand. “I’ll lead.” he smiled, charmingly, and this time did, in fact, guide her to the dance floor again.

She giggled, swaying to the music.

Are you ready for, ready for~ A perfect storm, perfect storm~ Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine….

They stopped, but not before Sonic pulled her closer and had his nose to the side of her cheek, staring as close they may ever go to looking directly in one another’s eyes.

There’s no going back.

(I took creative liberties and made this AU, hope that’s cool XD)

#sonamy #sonic #amy rose #sonamy prompt #sonamy boom #sonic boom #halloween #sonic prompt #sonic boom prompt

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sadisticsmiles · 7 years ago

Text

Beyond a Thief’s Power Episode 11

Initiated Assault

The Following Morning

Everyone was gathered inside Le Renard Noir as usual, mainly regarding important matters and so on. Since all seven members of the Black Foxes were there, it was time to discuss what was going on.

“So,” Hiro began, unsure of the meeting, “what are we here for exactly? I have a class at nine, and if I miss it, the professor’s gonna chew me out. I shouldn’t stay at LRN very long, Boss. There’s also another class after lunch is over too.”

Riki nodded. Like Hiro and most of the members in their group, he was not glad to be at the bar in the morning, especially because it was seven o’clock during that time of day. “Make it quick before I snap your neck with my bare hand.”

Takuto had his archetypal, nonchalant expression plastered on his face. “I have nothing great to say about you, old man. I’m not even amazed by this myself, but Hiro’s got college to attend, so why don’t you treat him to some breakfast as an apology for waking his stomach and nearly ruining his artistic hands? What I’m trying to point out is that this is a waste of time and we’re all busy today. Do you know any common sense or survival tactics? I don’t think so. Therefore, you should let some of us go back home and sleep or something. Kenny’s probably gonna be on duty today, so who cares about spending what little time we have at the moment over here in the stench you bathe in every day, when we could all be productive for a change without being dragged to…” He was at a loss as to what else to say, but it soon donned on him. Somehow. “…whatever you’re trying to get to. It’s just a civil thing I’m telling you to screw into your head for the millionth time in all the years I’ve been alive. You might want to consider it while you’re still around, s’all.”

Atsumu’s eyes broadened. He was stunned at hearing Takuto’s lecture to him but still. It was a normal moment in his household/restaurant. “H-Hey! I may be older than the rest of you all, but this is pretty harsh for my shoulders to handle! Not to mention, it’s a really important matter I have to announce before you guys leave the bar.”

Kenshi grinned. “You gotta admit. Takuto’s correct on this since we’ve all got something to do before we can talk about what you’re planning on revealing to us. He understands that my job as a firefighter is one of those things that’s more likely to happen as a daily part of my life. The same goes for you, Boss. You look after LRN since you’re the owner and it’s your home. You’re also one of the city elders and you attend the shopping district’s meetings, but you know what? You’re the boss of the group, so it isn’t so bad. Anyway, I should go now. An early day is something I have to prepare for and I can’t miss any more of it. See you later, though.” As cool as he appeared externally, Kenshi stood up from his seat, pushed it back in and walked out of Le Renard Noir.

“Are you going to tell us what’s on your mind already?” Takuto asked with the same expression he always had. Though, there may have been a chance he was just annoyed or bored. “Time’s tickin’ and everyone else can’t possibly be here for much longer. That’s why you should spill out what’s in your throat, but that’s gross, so give us the details, Beardface.”

“You’re as crude as ever, aren’t you, Takkun?” the most mature-looking man commented. A smile ran across his face within the speed of light. “But I’ll do what you asked and be gentle. So here goes nothing. What I’ve come to let you know is that I’m thinking we should go on a brand new mission tonight if everyone would like to participate in it, of course!” He was beaming with joy and glowing with it as well. “How about it?” He opened his eyes, quickly skimming the other four seated in front of the counter. “We’ll all kick some ass together and beat the hell out of these knuckleheads in order to save this kind gentleman—or something like that scenario. For example, we could put in some more effort and execute some justice every now and then, just for giggles. I respect my ami Fujioka a lot, and his team’s like a one-hit wonder, so I say it’s about time to repay the favor.”

Riki narrowed his eyes in irritation. “What favor? We don’t owe anything to those decorous police officers working under him, so don’t make any excuses for going on a mission. That’s the worst thing you could ever bring up to your fellow foxes as a thief. You should know better than to decide on one using those who are after us.”

Hiro smiled slyly. “Maybe he’s trying to invoke the goody two shoes to do something for him, or for all of us. Kinda makes a person think whether or not he’s trying to lure Sayuri out due to her genuine deeds as someone who’s on the side of the law.” Then, he frowned. “I’d hate to have her get angry at us for doing something like this. With Boss’ personality and harassment attempts, the whole place might be destroyed in no time if he tries to capture her.”

Takuto glanced at Atsumu. “Well, it is Beardy we’re talking about, after all. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the first time he committed a felony towards women and younger girls. I bet Shinobu’s felt betrayed many times in the other world because of him. See, even trying to think about it is disgusting. He’s also the most perverted out of all of us. That is, if you don’t count Riki.” The light blond switched his attention towards the government official, turning his head to his left to where he could see his older friend in plain sight. “But he doesn’t go after other girls when it’s clear as day whom he’s eternally in love with.” He looked back at the owner of Le Renard Noir and started to snicker mischievously. “Hehehe. You are such a lonely sucker it’s hilarious! How do you not have many female friends? Age has thrown plenty of pies at your face by now, it’s dying for more laughs! Hahaha!” Takuto kept chuckling with his teasing and it was getting to the point where he was having a hard time holding his stomach in place.

Hiro began to laugh as well. He had his right hand near the side of his charming visage, so it was endearing to anyone who saw his expression. “It can’t be helped, though, Takkun!” Tears formed as he resumed. “Ahaha! Boss is middle-aged, so it actually makes sense that he can’t get the girls after marrying and becoming a widow. He might not look the part, but he used to be an awesome combat specialist. It’s natural for him to have bad luck hovering over his head.” The college student was also amused with the teasing he and Takuto flung at Atsumu. “As for Riki, he’s caught the hearts of so many ladies, he’s turned them down the very second Mitsuki was in his eyes’ view. He wasn’t able to stop staring at her, as it was love at first sight!" He let out a giggle. "Hehe! It was so cute seeing them together! It was like watching a waltz take place without it actually happening; Riki was so happy, a trampoline surrounded him and everything started bouncing off his infectious aura, including small balls and stars. Ooh," the orange-haired artist-in-training added, "and don't forget the hearts, too. Those very really pretty coming from him." When he had spoken of the second eldest member of the entire team, his facial appearance became fond of the past he came to know during the years of childhood innocence that belonged to him, as what he recalled was a long time ago.

Riki frowned sternly. "You know, I do remember you staring at me with amazement in your eyes during my last year of high school when I brought Mitsuki here back then. Your mouth was even open, Hiro. I was wondering what was going on in your little mind at the time, and now I know why you were being cute yet strange yourself." All in all, he was calm and composed like a mature grown-up should be at his age. "Boy, am I ever relieved to find out it wasn't a serious case directed towards something wrong I may have done." He sighed and looked at Atsumu. "Anyway. If you're going to bring up the subject of having a mission later on, why don't you find something that involves the word 'danger' shining off of it? Then again, we might have to learn and gather some more information beforehand. We can instantly leave most of that to Takuto, but you get the gist of what I'm saying."

Mitsuki, who had been witnessing the events of the morning at Le Renard Noir unfold, finally spoke in a frustrated manner. "I’m the one who asked Atsumu for this meeting. I wanted to take a break from work since I was away from Ginza for a number of days. To be honest, I didn’t go to work yesterday because I went to visit Takuji in Roppongi.”

Atsumu smiled tranquilly. “I see.”

Rina’s eyes widened. “You did?! What did you discuss with him?”

“A few things,” the dark purple-haired magician answered. “To start off, we engaged in a normal conversation about his home in the Human World, along with the fact there’s someone living with him and Asuka. That’s before I became a bit more serious to inquire about Sayuri’s whereabouts and something nostalgic.”

“…About Neon?” Rina asked.

“About Asuka’s lack of presence in their place,” Mitsuki replied. “That’s not the nostalgic portion, rather it turned towards Kousuke.” Her eyes lowered a bit. “It saddens me to say that I didn’t get a chance to be part of those two’s lives as they grew up into the adults they are now.”

Rina nodded in comprehension. “Right. The Saionji and Hogo families helped those two grow up without their parents around, along with… a few others, even after your absence in Neon.”

Riki had an anguished facial expression as he listened onward. “…”

Takuto glanced at the male government official. “You okay?”

“…”

“Speaking of which," the college art student stated in order to lighten the mood, "I better get going. I actually enjoy going to college, unlike some people." He glanced at Takuto and smiled. Then, he headed to the entrance/exit and waved before going to his designated area.

Takuto blinked. “Hold on.” He took out his flip phone which was the same color as his hair—courtesy of his fondness for Shiffey—and opened it. “That little liar. It doesn’t take that long to walk from here to the university. He went off early.”

“Even though this is an important meeting…” Mitsuki and Atsumu calmly said at the same time.

“Too bad Kenny left before he got to hear what you had to say, Mitsuki,” Takuto added. “I’ll message those two on what they’ve missed out on later. Though,” he shrugged, “it would dampen their reactions compared to having them here in person.”

“It’s fine,” Mitsuki responded back. “Anyway, Takuji told me Sayuri had already left before I came, so I can only assume she knew I was going to seek her out. It’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to find any more information, especially with how secretive they are.”

Rina let out a short and relaxed sigh. "Well, they do follow Akio-sama’s instructions since he’s their advisor. Sayuri’s getting by even faster with moving from one place to another. I wonder if we’ll be able to catch up.”

“I can only hope so,” Mitsuki smiled at her fellow magician. “We should all have a little hope that we’ll be able to confront her sooner or later.” A few seconds passed by ere her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of a transparent area of the near her and opened it. “Yes? A meeting? We’ll be there.”

Atsumu glanced at the dark purple-haired magician. “Was that call for work?”

“…Of course.” Mitsuki was still smiling as she closed her eyes. “It’s too bad our own one had to be cut short, but since the call I received was basically an order, Riki and I will take our leave and meet up with you all later.”

Riki’s eyes widened. “What? We’re leaving now?”

Mitsuki glanced at her husband as she hung up and continued to smile. “There’s no choice in this matter. The Minister of Finance wants us to go to the meeting.”

Riki frowned. “…Alright.”

The married couple walked out of Le Renard Noir with Mitsuki going ahead of Riki, with only Atsumu, Takuto, and Rina in the restaurant/bar.

Rina folded her arms against her abdomen. “It seems as if I should get something from my pocket to replenish my stamina."

Takuto looked up. "Pocket?"

After the six-letter word came out of his mouth, his past sweetheart stopped in her tracks before shifting her gaze at him. "...We just saw Mitsuki-san take her phone out."

"Oh, that." It didn't take long for Takuto to figure out what Rina meant. "The invisible 'pocket' magicians have where they can take out anything they want or need when they're not close to the objects for their convenience, including things from their Neon. I'm envious of you and Mitsuki for having one. It makes me wish I was like you guys sometimes, mostly you, though. It must also be fun having super strength, unlike an ordinary person like me."

A calm expression etched rapidly onto Rina's face. "Don't forget that Sayuri has one as well. Still, I think you're fine the way you are Takuto. You're smarter than most of your kind and as a thief, you use your computer skills to hack into security systems and aid everyone on the missions. Plus, I—" She paused immediately to prevent herself from completing her sentence. "..."

"...Go on." Takuto urged for an answer.

Rina frowned. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to." Rina averted her gaze. "It's... difficult for me to say. Anyway, do you want to eat something? I'll prepare something for you."

The programmer cocked his head to his right side. "Isn't that Beardy's job?"

Rina glanced at her ex-boyfriend. "It's fine. I'm working here for free, anyway. I'll be helping with the cooking and cleaning, so go ahead and order anything from the menu." A kind eye smile appeared on her pretty visage soon after.

Takuto felt drawn towards the sincerity Rina showed him, and he thought to himself in a trance. How long has it been since I saw that smile? He didn't know the exact answer, but it did feel like several decades had passed by without his knowledge, and it struck his heart with a sting. Ah, it hurts. It really hits me whenever I see you that I feel at ease, angry at myself, so pained inside, and many other emotions continue to pour out.

Rina stared at her former lover's expression and saw the sad beauty within it. "Takuto..." She reached out with her left arm in order to place her hand on the side of his face, but abruptly stopped herself from doing so before it could touch the tsundere. "...!" Then, she pulled her arm back and let her shoulders fall to their corresponding sides.

Atsumu placed his left hand on Rina's right shoulder, looked towards her, and smiled gently. "It'll be alright."

Rina didn't nod, but gazed at Takuto. "You are probably the one who understands me more than you understand the others, Boss. Then again, perhaps Hiro knows me more than you do."

Atsumu's eyes slightly widened. "Oh? I believe you're right on the mark, Rina. But you're very level-headed towards me out of everyone else."

Rina smiled and closed her eyes. "Well, it's no wonder you're a pervert in everyone else's minds."

The wavy-haired brunet laughed lightly. "Ahaha. I guess you have another point there." He poked the side of Takuto's face with his right index finger, instantly catching the latter’s attention. "Takkun~, it's time for you to order something. What'll it be? You can tell me, and I'll have it ready in a few."

Takuto glared with an irritated expression. "Wh-What are you doing, you sick bastard?!" Atsumu's poke sure did snap him back to reality. "Are you trying to harass me or something?!"

Atsumu backed away with his eyes raised more than when he was chatting with Rina as he put his hands up. "Woah, Takkun! I was just trying to get you back to Earth! Really! Besides, you still haven't had breakfast, right?" Just as he was freaked out seconds ago, he was currently joyful and beamed at the twenty-four-year-old. "Let's get some food into that belly!"

"Tch!" Takuto's upper and lower teeth met one another, indicating his grumpy mood. "Whatever, just get me something to eat. I don't care about ordering a meal right now, so serve me whatever you want as long as it’s decent and legal."

Atsumu sighed. He was down in the dumps. "And after Hiro told you that all of us are concerned about you. A growing man needs to eat his meals three times a day, you know?" He smirked in a clever manner. "You might shut down one day if you keep spacing out for many periods of time."

Hearing that made Takuto frown indifferently. "Is that supposed to be a joke about me when I'm facing a computer? You're not making me happy, though. Also, I'm not laughing, and if I did, I wouldn't giggle like Hiro, or burst out like Kenny does. Those two need to improve on their laughing styles. I'm in between, so I fit perfectly while Hiro is somewhat girly, and Kenny is too over-the-top. Riki? He's okay—he’s between me and Kenny so he's fine. As for you, I hate to admit it but you're better than Hiro; you're just under me. Out of all five of us guys, I'm the best at laughing. What do you think of that?"

Atsumu sweat-dropped once the light blond's explanation was over. "Talk about brutal. You've basically butchered everyone's ranks on that. I bet those three would really get mad. The only thing I'm glad about is that you didn't include the girls. You sure overanalyze peculiar things, Takkun. It's your specialty but it's not such a bad thing in your case."

"Of course not," Takuto objected. "I'm a gentleman and I'm nicer to ladies more than you are in terms of sensitivity, but girls outside our group are mainly an eyesore to me. Well, except magicians. Anyway. Because Rina trusts Sayuri, I'll have faith in her for now. Despite the possibility she could be up to something at the moment, I can't conclude her to be a bad woman, but she's still a little suspicious. I mean, she did lure us to the mountain and almost sent us to our deaths. Part of it was Riki's fault so I'll forgive her for..." He started to blush and continued. "...saving Rina's life. She really duped us after planning ahead but conning us might've been the best karma we’ve had in all our years of being thieves."

The next thing the two men knew, Rina came out from the kitchen with a tray in her hands. "Well here you go, Takuto. Have a nice breakfast." She shot him a considerate glance with a casual smile after placing a normal Japanese-style morning meal on the counter in front of him. "Oh, and be careful or our identities will be found out by the you-know-who. Remember what I said before in the cave, so make sure to keep a cautious eye and ear whenever you speak about us."

Takuto could only blush further in embarrassment. "I-I know! I haven't forgotten about it, so you shouldn't, either."

As the Black Foxes' hacker muttered a, "Itadakimasu," he felt a warm sensation in his chest. Then, he took out his chopsticks from their wrapper, and split them apart evenly to enjoy his food. Having his ex-girlfriend around to remind him of the fact who the seven members altogether were during the night was bad enough since it was also their secret, but... He couldn't deny the reality of the world as it was true he and his friends were thieves who performed hidden deeds behind everyone else's backs. Seeing his expression gave Atsumu the smile the brunet would typically wear on his face, while Rina went back to the kitchen to check on the food cooking inside.

Meanwhile, Kenshi was in the nearby fire department—the closest to Le Renard Noir, which was actually a long distance from there, though. As he was getting ready for duty, his co-workers smiled splendidly at him.

"Say, Inagaki," one of them began. "You look pretty happy today. Somethin' happen lately?"

Kenshi smiled back. "Nothing really. What makes you say that?"

The same guy who initiated the conversation stared at his fellow firefighter, pondering whether or not he should tease the twenty-five-year-old. "You really don't know? It's all over your face."

Kenshi's eyes widened in trivial confusion. "Huh? What is?"

"That you're in love with some chick none of us know about," the co-worker blurted out with a grin on his face.

Within an instant, Kenshi's visage was flushed with a shade of pink like Takuto's whenever the latter would get tongue-tied. "Wha—How do you know that?"

The co-worker smirked. "So it is true. Spill the beans, will ya? We all want to hear the details about her. Are you gonna try and make a pass at her the next time you see her?"

Another co-worker nodded. "We're really curious about the type of girl you've got your eyes on, Inagaki. You've never taken much liking to them in a romantic sense, but girls are attractive in their own way. It's a shame you never fell for anyone until the age of twenty-five. When it comes to us men, love comes and goes in the blink of an eye if you're not serious about a girl. And, you should be going on dates when you're young like a teenager in his second or third year in high school. When you get to the drinking age, you should marry the woman you love, and have a hot night all to yourselves when you're at home. Then, she'll be popping out a baby or two, and before you know it, you're already a father. So you see, you should enjoy the romance while you're young, not old. You won't get to do that at your age, man. You're the only one who's single now, which sorta makes you leftovers from a batch of cookies."

A third co-worker exhaled. "Face the truth, Kenshi. You've got some looks, but no significant other to share your heart with. You're also dense when it comes to a lot of things, and you're too nice." He crossed his index fingers to form an X. "That's a bad combination and so many girls have been hurt by your characteristics. It's not that we don't think very poorly of you; we're just pointing out your flaws."

Kenshi looked at the guys who had supported him for several years and looked down. "It's not as easy as you guys think it is. I've had a lot to do and... that's not an excuse. I understand that. Really. But you guys have had better luck than me. I'd like to experience being in a relationship too— and get married, have kids. Those sort of experiences. And I envy you for achieving every bit of happiness with your wives and children. Unfortunately for me, I'm in love with this girl who's out of my reach. She's beautiful and everything about her shines brilliantly." He clenched his hands into fists. "How can I not like her? She's not someone I can be with, and she's around my friends' age. I can't stop thinking about her, and it's so painful I feel like I'm going to die from these feelings if I don't get the chance to see her again. That's how much I like her."

The first co-worker walked up to Kenshi, placing his hand on the single man's back. "You're an earnest guy, aren't you? Even though she's out of your league, I'm not going to apologize for making you feel bad when you're still—how should I put this—untaken and in your mid-twenties. Continue to suffer from the heartache, will you?" He patted the posterior region he was already touching and smiled lightheartedly. "You're such a sappy guy, Inagaki. It's hard to believe you work with us in a fire station. Anyway, tell us when she dumps—I mean, rejects—you. We'll be around to hear every detail, and we'll berate you even more. Can't wait to pull another one on you. Torture you later!" As he and some other firefighters went to their station for the morning, he gave a wave with his left hand, and the back of it was in full view.

And then it hit Kenshi right on the face.

"What?!" He shouted with a shocked expression. His so-called companion at work had just made him confess he was in love with a certain someone without him saying that girl's name to everyone, to which the others joined in with saying horrible things about him, as well. Kenshi felt infuriated; his face was boiling hot with a red color. Oh, it was worse than a lobster or two. Heck. A thousand of them couldn't compare to how angry the spiky-ish-haired son of a restaurant owner was as he was soon alone in the area he was standing in. Within the almost empty space displaying his existence, he took a breath and yelled to the sky. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Kenshi's frustration and humiliation broke some windows belonging to larger buildings. Surely enough, it may have even shattered the glass of a certain government facility that was one of the most renowned ones in Japan.

XXX

Inside the Ministry of Finance, a meeting was interrupted from the sound of glass breaking. One of the employees opened the door each of the agents entered through, and frowned with a tone of disappointment.

"Oh, that's great," the man who checked on the situation muttered. He had emerald green hair and viridian eyes; wore a beige plaid suit over a white dress shirt [that had clear buttons], whereas his pants extended to a few inches above his ankle; his pale yellow socks and dark brown dress shoes were shown. "We have to fix the windows with our powers now. And yes, I do mean all of them. They're all... greatly damaged by a..." He tilted his head to his right, blinking with a perplex look on his face. "...human man's scream...?" Then, he narrowed his eyes defeatedly. "What the heck?" No satisfaction whatsoever appeared on his nice visage. As colorful as he was with his physical appearance, was contrasting on the outside. That was when he sighed, lowering his shoulders. "To save us some trouble, we'll have to call a repair team and go under reconstruction for a while."

Claire took a glance from the left door as he stood beside the Minister of Finance. "No kidding." His eyes were large due to raising his upper eyelids. "We've got to act fast." He took out his cell phone and dialed a call to the company that would be of most help at the moment. "Hi. So you've just heard about it. Yes. There's a huge conflict with our windows. Of course we’d like to have them repaired. Thank you very much. We will secure a large payment after you're done rebuilding the ministry. Have a nice day and goodbye." He hung up and turned around toward his many co-workers who were still sitting in their seats. "We're all clear on that matter. The repair team is currently on their way with a helicopter to provide a net for covering the Ministry of Finance and they're bringing in other materials to fix this entire place up by truck. While we're waiting, let's resume the meeting."

He and the Minister of Finance returned to their seats and sat down. Then, the latter stood up and cleared his throat.

"Ahem," he said, covering his mouth with a fist before removing it. "I called this meeting today to recognize the return of our fellow co-worker, who has accomplished an enormous success for us during her trip to Europe. Although it's a bit late to announce this, I'm still grateful of her efforts to go through with work before taking any breaks and vacations. It may have been a bit forced on her since we've been encountering plentiful amounts of escalations for a long time now, but you all know what I mean."

There was a round of cheery laughter in the closed room; even Riki and Mitsuki gave in to it.

"So to give a quick ending to my speech," the Minister egged on, "Let us all commend Mitsuki for completing this time-consuming job, and welcome back to our team." He gave a light bow with his head. "Congratulations on bringing us some more pep and negotiations. As a reward, I was going to give you three weeks off from work. However, since we're going to be dealing with an extended period of repairs to make it seem like a normal case, we'll be stopping work at the Ministry of Finance for an unknown amount of time, so I guess most of us can return to Neon without any worries.” It was then that he heaved a sigh. “I wouldn't mind it if we were to shut the office down for good.” He scoffed. “I mean, isn't that an extreme benefit to us owe don't have to keep track of everyone's money in Neon? Man, oh man, do I ever want to give the Japanese government a piece of my mind. It’s the opposite here in the Human World."

Nao smiled tranquilly. "It certainly would make our lives easier to manage if we tried to change this world to make it fit our standards. While this is not part o he ministry’s ‘business,’ Kei and Rie are more likely to do that in the future than we are at this time and day. We would also be eliminating more than just the ministry. Consider how much we could gain from the losses of most of this world’s government control. Taxes wouldn't exist anymore, so people could be paid the total amount of their work. But. As we're here to aid humans who are kind to others, it would be more for their personal gain. After all, their world is not like ours in terms of the law. I understand it's frustrating, but let's bear with it. We should ensure that they're in a safer place to live in, as well as for us before we try anything against this world’s governments. Sometimes if we wait long enough, someone else will take action to solve our complaints."

"I see," one of the male employees who had lunch with Riki that day said, and some of the others nodded. He had his arms folded across his chest again as he continued to speak. "We'll have to see what happens before we do anything about it. That gives us more time to go back and forth between the two worlds, but it might take years beyond our guesses to shut the governments in the Human World down. Maybe even a millennium or two."

With his usual smile, Claire inquired, "But doesn't the world revolve around the business field? Wouldn't international connections be lost if you decided to cancel the governments' authority?"

"Claire has a valid argument," Riki proclaimed. "We might need several governments to operate how we regulate our supplies and resources, along with keeping track of our inventory and money for—"

The Minister of Finance looked straight at Riki and commented, "And that's why you're such a realist, Riki. You don't want to accept this under the circumstances other civilians will lose what they have, and other than that, you wouldn't want to lose this job. Think about it: Is it really necessary for you to condemn yourself to working as a government agent when you could just live your life the way you want to with the woman you love? With all the problems this world has, the government isn't interested in human affairs. Those who are supposed to lead your kind aren't doing their jobs properly, and look. People are suffering every day but no one has truly attempted to lend a hand to anyone in need, except for the noble thieves known for stealing works of art to bring decorum back. We as magicians had decided to come here to aid others who are pure and can be trusted in some way or another, but we observe from afar to see if there are 'good' humans who won't stray from that kindness they let us know of. It's not that we're doing this to be terrible beings; we want proof of a human's sincerity before we act out on anything too rashly, which of course we don't want, and what we don't like to do is make mistakes we'll regret. For our reasons, we want what could be a better life for you and some others we come to trust. Do you comprehend what I mean?"

Riki nodded firmly. "Yes... I know. It isn't as easy to abandon this position and move forward. On the contrary, I'll try to live a life without being a government employee. It's just... A lot has been going on in my life. Not only mine but Mitsuki's, and our friends' lives. There are more conflicts arriving at our door, and we can't resolve every one of them by sheer will. We can't wait for anyone to do something, so we've decided to stay by their sides and support them. We're not sure if it'll turn out perfectly fine for them, but we want them to know they're not alone."

"Then, watch how things turn out for them," the male magician facing him replied softly. "You'll find the answer in due time. For now, focus on what you can do as a person before resolving a conflict. It'll go away without your presence at times. Without further ado, I believe it's time to end this meeting and take a long break from work. I'll even have them make this place smaller in size and proportions."

In a brief moment, they all decided to leave the room and pushed in their chairs before doing so. As they strolled side by side, Mitsuki took Riki's left hand in her right to assure him it would be alright. Soon, they met up with Nao outside. She was indeed as beautiful and fair as ever.

"Mitsuki-san, Riki-san," she smiled casually. "Going on a date now?"

Riki perked up. "That's right. I can't let the fact we're all out of work for a while get to me when I have my wife by my side. You seem jolly yourself, Aozora."

"I agree," Mitsuki remarked. "Do you have plans with your boyfriend?"

Continuing to smile with her eyes closed, the white-haired magician replied. "I'll be helping my boyfriend with some errands and cooking once I get home." She opened her eyes and added, "I better start shopping for a ton of groceries in a bit."

"Does your sweetheart like to eat a lot?" Riki asked with a smirk. "And cooking for just one person sounds tough when you put it that way."

Nao placed her left hand on the side of her face with her fingertips touching her cheek. "I didn't say I was cooking just for him; Riki-san, did you misunderstand what I said?"

"You mean, there's a whole round of others who'll be enjoying the food you prepare besides him?" Riki's eye were currently widened. "Boy, you must have a tough time taking care of your man and getting those meals done."

"He is a doctor, after all," Nao mentioned. "It's not a surprise several people visit him during the day. He's also very skilled at what he does. Although we're not always together since we both work separately and in different career fields, we do what we can to show that we care about each other. It isn't any trouble for me to at least cook for a big group when he's so busy because I love him."

Mitsuki put her hands together and smiled tenderly. "That's true. I don't mind preparing a bento for Riki and sometimes for our sisters. They're very important to me, and I can't help but love all of them. It's natural to have a desire to do something for those you care about."

"Well, I better get going. Have a lovely time together, alright?" She turned round and walked a few steps forward in her direction before teleporting somewhere.

The dark purple-haired magician glanced at Riki and said, "Shall we resume from where we left off? I like going on dates with you, Riki."

"Well I believe so." The tall, wealthy human man had a loving expression on his handsome visage as he gazed back into his wife's magenta eyes. He wanted to hold her in his arms so much, but restrained himself to be more gentlemanly in the eyes of those who saw them together.

"Oh, they're holding hands," a young woman whispered. "How lovely."

Another one inquired, "You don't suppose they're actually...?"

A young man nodded. "It has to be true. Just look at the way they're looking at each other."

The second woman disagreed on something. "But they're so..." It felt as if she wasn't pleased with the height difference.

Understanding what she meant, a third woman around the other three's ages responded with, "Who cares about that? Don't they look cute together, though? They really suit one another to me."

Despite the both of them hearing the spectators' comments about them, Riki and Mitsuki kept walking forward before the wife in the marriage called out.

“Riki,” Mitsuki said and stopped. She turned to face him with a sincere seriousness in her eyes and facial expression. “It’s time for me to tell you my concerns. Rather than to put our romantic reunion as a couple first, I want us and everyone else in our group, to counter the roads ahead of us. There is not a single doubt in my entire being of the dangers towards the magicians, but us as well. You know that, don’t you?”

Riki gazed back into his love’s eyes in a serene manner. “Of course I do. Being with you and the others has molded me into who I am right now, but being apart from you most of all turned into a time for me to learn more about what you’ve endured since our first encounter. Not only about you, though.”

Immediately, Mitsuki knew but was not surprised by her husband’s words. “…You’re such a workaholic. No wonder I can’t bring myself to forgive you for yesterday’s—” She cut herself off and took a step back, not once taking her eyes off of the man who loved her; and she towards him.

Riki smiled slightly, but all so affectionately. “I know, and I apologized for how I treated you after finding out about your pain and the history that’s gone on for a long time.”

“Yet, knowing the things you’ve learn about me doesn’t sever the love I have for you. I don’t doubt my feelings for you as much as you’ve felt for what I couldn’t tell you myself.” Mitsuki paused and then continued. “What I would like to let everyone know are my circumstances and Neon’s history, but I’m forbidden to as part of my punishment and exile from home.”

The sun’s rays glimmered in a lovely way on Riki’s black hair and he nodded. “This’ll be our secret until the time comes for us to tell them.” His shoulder’s fell. “No. I’ll be the one to do that so I can protect you, Mitsuki.”

“Riki…”

Riki took hold of his wife’s left hand with his right and lowered his legs. He steadily entwined their fingers together before taking hold of Mitsuki’s waist with his free hand. Then, he pulled her body close to his—it was evident there was no resistance from her, in contrast to his advances. The dark purple-haired magician placed her right hand on Riki’s cheek; their eyes gradually closed and their lips met.

The love they held for one another attracted more attention—stares and glances from bystanders, but nothing else was important. They spent as much time together before being called in to Le Renard Noir later that night.

XXX

"What's up?" Kenshi asked as he and Hiro entered the bar together. "I heard something was urgent and met Hiro on the way here."

Atsumu had a serious expression on his face. "..." He glanced at Takuto sitting in front of the counter. The latter appeared to have a flustered look.

"What's up with Takkun, you mean!" Hiro exclaimed. "His face is totally red!" A sly grin formed from his lips. "Something juicy definitely happened."

Takuto glanced upward at Hiro and Kenshi. "It's nothing." He may have had a calm tone when he spoke, but he seemed angry. "There's no way that's frickin' possible."

Hiro blinked once. "Takkun, are you feeling okay? You seem like you would be sick by your voice and facial expression."

"Of course I'm not!" the light blond yelled this time. "Who would be when they've been humiliated so much in a day?!"

Hiro glanced at Atsumu. "Boss."

Atsumu frowned in a way that seemed more like his usual self. "A male customer today was hitting on Rina, so Takkun got riled up and told him not to mess with her. There were a whole bunch of other people who had come to eat here as well, and when they saw Takkun helping Rina out, they were complimenting and cheering him on. They also called those two a couple, thinking they were dating. It was nice but also embarrassing in Takkun's case, so you know how it typically is." He smiled dryly before returning to a somber expression. "That's not what I called you all here for, however. We've got a new mission on our hands, and it involves countering the mafia. What we're dealing with is no ordinary mafia, either. It's a triad. Do you know which one?"

The men looked at each other before gazing at the wavy-haired brunet. Rina and Mitsuki on the other hand, gave their undivided attention to him as he explained the direness of his statements.

Atsumu continued. His expression did not budge as he told his teammates. "It's the 14K who're targeting us. Though this might be an assumption, they could be after the magicians as well due to the powers magicians hold within themselves. I'm concerned about Sayuri more than the girls because of the video they sent us." He glanced at Takuto and nodded.

In response, the hacker took out his laptop and opened it. Then, he clicked on the play button for them all to watch.

"Yes, may I help you gentlemen?" A man turned around and asked after closing his shop early.

When Hiro saw who it was, he was stunned. "What?!"

The video continued to play, despite his surprise.

A group of three men in suits walked up to the man. They were all wearing sunglasses and had stoic looks on their faces. What was most prominent about them was their sync when they stepped up to the man while standing next to one another in a row.

"We're looking for a girl who may have worked here," the man in the middle began. He took out a small photo of said girl from his breast pocket located on his suit’s left side, handing it to the man, who delicately grabbed the photo and gazed at it for a second before shifting his focus to the leader of the three. "She is notorious for striking against us, specifically at our master, and has attack us on many occasions since the day she arrived on Earth through a form of teleportation, or so we believe. Her name is Sayuri Mitsuyoshi. She is also a magician with wings that shine brighter than what we picture angels to have, as hers are packed with a power unlike anyone on Earth has seen or experienced when they emerge from her back. Therefore, she is a very dangerous adversary of ours, sir. If you would please cooperate with us, we will give you a large sum of money in return."

"Sayuri, you say," the man noted calmly. "From what you have just told me, I don't believe she is the same girl I remember. This young lady in the picture does not remind me of the girl I once knew, except for her orange eyes and hair. Sayuri's hair, however, is lighter than this woman's, and her eyes couldn’t be agate. Since the picture is also small, I am not certain if they have the same hair length or not, but I believe hers was shorter. The young woman in this photo probably grew her hair out longer than Sayuri's, too. The Sayuri you've described to me is not the Sayuri I know. Sayuri Mitsuyoshi could never look like this; she couldn't be a magician, or an angel-like being. Sayuri is a human girl who didn't have a place to go to until I met her. I don't believe she is, and I don't wish for money. Sayuri is not a dangerous person, but an innocent—"

"Innocent? I don't think so." He was cut off by the leader. "If you have a different view of her, you're wrong. You don't know a thing about Sayuri Mitsuyoshi because the way you see her is someone who doesn't have any special abilities--someone who's dull in nature and has no real qualities to create a sense of frustration and lure out someone else's wrath. But the orange hair and agate eyes in the photo? Those aren't what human girls have unless they dye their hair and get cosmetic surgery performed on their irises. No human could ever have those types of physical characteristics at birth, and they certainly can't have abnormal bodies and powers. Though there are some humans who are blessed with unhuman strength and attributes, Sayuri Mitsuyoshi could never be one of them due to being born in the magician world, a world so ancient and advanced before our own." He removed his sunglasses from his face, revealing his brown eyes. "She is, sculpted to perfection. That's not the reason we're after her, but she's interfering with our plans." There was one demand he and his lackeys had in mind at the moment. "Tell us where she is if you know what's good for you." He came closer to the manager.

The middle-age man's eyes widen. "...!" It appeared as if there was no place left for him to back into as the three members of the mafia cornered him to the edge of the counter.

The video stopped playing. Riki, Kenshi, and most of all, Hiro were shocked and paralyzed as to what had taken place before their eyes.

"...Who was that they were after just now?" Riki questioned.

Kenshi blinked. "And what's their reason for going after that man besides trying to get to Sayuri? Could they be after something else?"

Hearing those words from the firefighter, it was all coming together to Hiro. "!!" He swiftly turned his head towards Takuto. "Takkun!"

Takuto gave another nod. "Yeah. I checked before anyone else got here after the video was sent to my laptop. They know the manager of the café has the cymophane since Sayuri left it for him. She probably flew back the same night we gave it to her; plus, the 14K may also have been observing her and us since the night we snuck into the mansion to get that painting of Takuji Uramoto. He's pretty famous, and it's been mentioned many times that he's a magician, so it's likely they're after him as well."

Mitsuki looked at the floor. "That's correct. He's made himself known but due to the Human World's lack of magic and resources Neon has, he's brought more than enough to last him and Asuka years without having to go back to Neon. There have been times when Asuka's collapsed from overexertion and her fragile state, so he nurses her back to health.”

Rina added, “Takuji was also paired up with Sayuri during their time in high school to train and bring out their best abilities.”

Mitsuki nodded. “Despite the fact he hasn't revealed anything, he's likely to have planned something with her in order to bring the mafia down. As we're magicians, we are restricted on having our powers to their fullest range, unless we're told otherwise by the two highest ranking families of our world. But now, we need to get there as soon as possible." She looked at Atsumu. "I can't let you stay in harm's way, so the rest of us will go. At any rate, it'll be easier to get everyone else to the café now that I'm back."

Rina turned her head towards the other Black Foxes with a composed expression. "Is everyone ready?"

"Hold up." Takuto got up from his seat and closed his laptop. "I don't want to be dropped on my ass by the time we get there." He took hold of the electronic device, placing it under his left arm.

"Who said we would drop you?" Rina asked with the same look on her face.

Takuto blushed. "W-Well, I can't be too reckless, can I?"

"Anyway, let's go. We're already late as it is."

Hiro had a resolved expression etched onto his face. "We can't let the 14K do anything to the manager. He's too good of a person to be beaten and killed by anyone, so let's do this."

Everyone besides Atsumu nodded and were sent to the location of the café owner after having a bright light of different colors surrounding them.

Even though I know they'll be fine, I still fear for their lives, the wavy-haired man thought. I'm probably getting too old, but that doesn't mean I can't care about our family. Right, Shinobu? For their sakes, I'll have to prepare a grand feast for them so they can come back with brighter smiles.

XXX

It was a dead end for the manager of the café. He had run all the way to the rooftop and was a few feet away from the edge that met nothing else, but the cool air with his back facing it. It was truly a defective time and place for him to be at, as it was also one of the worst situations for someone to go through. The three mafia men were in front of him, and there was nowhere else to escape to. It felt like the end of the world for the frightened café owner.

"What is your purpose for doing this?" he asked, trying not to show his fear. "I have no clue as to where the woman you are searching for could be! She does not reside, nor does she work anywhere near here, or in the café."

The leader of the three only said, "It is your fault for not telling us so before running away. You could have saved your life if not for your unethical attitude downstairs. As for our purpose... Slaughtering you might give us an opportunity to lure her out and capture her once and for all. She has given us a long chase this past month, so it's to be expected that we'll have to take our revenge on her and sell her to the black market afterwards." He showed an eerie grin. "Perhaps we'll do some other stuff before that. She does have the looks, after all. We'll violate and torture her as punishment for messing with us. Then again, who needs auctions from the market when we can enslave her to do our bidding. Hehehe."

It was unbelievable how far the group of men would go to if Sayuri was in their hands. It was sickening and revolting enough to get on a kindhearted person's nerves, which there was no doubt the manager felt livid about.

"How dare you filthy lot of men say such impure things towards a woman, especially to Sayuri!" the middle-aged man shouted. "You should be ashamed of having been born into this world! Have your parents not taught you any courtesy at all?! No man should ever think about defiling a lady, no matter her appearance and personality! All men should be gentle and polite when a woman is in their presence!"

The 14K triad member gritted his teeth and snarled. "Why, you—! How dare you give me a lesson on how a man should behave! You're nothing but an old man who likes to run his mouth like a motor on and off until someone gets annoyed at you! I'll show you who's right or wrong!" He was aiming to punch the manager with his right hand and arm when...

"Hold it right there!" Hiro, who was enraged more than anyone else at the moment, had appeared with every member of the Black Foxes going on the mission. It was a terrible case of anger igniting his fiery core.

The three triad members turned around, and the leader smirked. "Well, well. What do we have here? So the Black Foxes have finally arrived, have they? It seems you all got our message. We were waiting for you to get here. And look, you managed to save the café owner from death's hands. For now at least. But we'll kill him after you've been finished off by our comrades." He blew onto his index and middle fingers located on his right hand to form a whistle-like sound, but was a bit softer when doing so.

Immediately, several other triad members jumped out and covered the edges of the roof. Although they were completely surrounded and outnumbered, the Black Foxes’ team did not falter, standing their ground with their backs facing the others'. It was like a scene from an action film but it was even better than one. It was also at that very moment that something phenomenal happened, and in the blink to an eye, too. A bright light radiated above everyone on the scene as if it were a fairy tale glow summoned from a book of the stories that were listed in it. Thousands of needle-like objects spun out and hit the mafia members, knocking them unconscious and evading the Black Foxes. Shortly afterwards, the sharp needles dissipated, and the light sank back to a pair of wings, giving the chance for Sayuri to display her alluring, yet pale form.

As they witnessed her appearance, Hiro's eyes were taken in the older girl's beauty, more so than Kenshi was; albeit there was the fact Sayuri landed between those two when it came to age. Even the manager of the café was enchanted by the woman balanced above all of them. Soon enough, the winged magician gracefully descended down to the roof's ground.

Sayuri scanned wherever the 14K triad members were lying. "What a pain in the back. Really. Do I have to go through all of this for a group of criminals looking for me? Just when I was about to go home, too. This isn't a night that's in favor of me now, is it?" Afterward, she confronted the members of the Black Foxes with her agate gaze. "So we meet again, you so-called noble thieves of art. Or should I say, the Black Foxes. It really isn't as great of a pleasure to see you, but that doesn't matter. I have to rally up these foul men and turn them over to the police station before the night ends, thank you very much. I'll be taking my leave, so fare thee well."

"Wait," Hiro called out, almost as though he were desperate.

"What is it?" Sayuri glanced at the orange-haired young man whom she once referred to as a friend.

Hiro frowned somewhat sadly. "Can we talk for a bit? There's a lot we'd like to discuss with you, Sayuri."

"There's no reason to," Sayuri shot down her words.

Hiro shook his head. "But there is. Because I just told you that reason."

Rina gazed at her best friend with her hands folded across her chest and added, "Why don't you hear us out, then? I don't care if you refuse to say anything in reply to the other guys, but at least have a chat with Hiro. He's a good person at heart, which sets apart what a thief at night would commonly be from who he truly is on the inside. You already know not all human guys are like this, so do something for his sake."

Sayuri's shoulders fell. "Fine. We can't speak inside the café. That's my condition for listening and answering you guys. I don't want to be in a place like that anyhow. Understand?" She arrowed her eyes with order. "I just can't find being in the place I had reluctantly agreed to live in and work at as an employee very fitting since my wings weren't comfortable the first instance I had been here. I even went home every night but you should get the point by now."

The owner of the café took a step forward. "Um..."

Sayuri glanced at him. "Yes?"

"Are you really... Sayuri Mitsuyoshi?" the middle-aged man asked. "You don't quite seem to be the same girl I remembered meeting over a month ago."

"Is there anyone else you recall meeting on their twenty-first birthday who has the same name as me?" Sayuri frowned indifferently.

"Well, no, but..." He looked down. "It's hard to believe you were the very young woman who was once here not too long ago. I was quite fond of you for being such a kind and warm person. You attracted so many customers to my café, and I have always been grateful to you. I can't thank you enough for spreading joy to this place and bringing wonderful smiles to everyone's faces."

Sayuri let out a worn out sigh. "Well, I suppose I should thank you as well for giving me a place to stay and hiring me. Why don't you join the conversation? I'm positive you wouldn't want to be left out of this." She looked back at the group of thieves, and sat down with her legs crossed.

XXX

"Now, what do you want to ask me?" Sayuri inquired as she waited for Hiro to start conversing. Her wings had disappeared after sitting down to face the Black Foxes.

A sense of nostalgia flowed into Hiro's body and he softly smiled at Sayuri. He thought back to a couple nights ago and the memories of that portion of the past came back to him in a flash. "You're really nice, and I mean more than meets the eye, you know that? You went out of your way to create a trap for us in order to restore Rina's powers and save her from losing them. That's an astounding feat none of us could have thought of since we didn't have Mitsuki back in Japan with us until after we went to the mountain. Thanks."

"Well, I can't just let Rina die from that rotten woman's plans." The orange-haired magician was looking into Hiro's eyes with a crucial hint in her expression. "It's her fault that Rina was in danger in the first place. Not only Rina, but other magicians who are here on Earth. Of course, I don't want them to perish. Because they're important to me, I can't let them go. It's too sad to never get the chance to see the ones you love ever again, along with not being able to talk to them when they're gone forever; it's even more painful to have to say goodbye to them, especially when they're in your line of sight. I'm not the only one who doesn't want that. There are so many magicians who don't, as well. That's why..." She was filled with a resolve that could move the hearts of others in a short amount of time. "...I won't give up on setting things right. And I'll make sure that woman pays for what she's done. She's pulled a lot of strings, but I'll be working to stop her with Takuji and the others."

"...Sayuri..." Hiro saw how much Sayuri was purely devoted to save her own people.

She must be going through a lot to do what she has so far, he thought. It's no wonder she has such a strong sense of justice. I want to help her, even if I'm not fit to stand on the same ground or breathe the same air as her. So…

There was a curious look on Takuto’s face as he gazed up at Sayuri from his computer screen. “’That woman?’ Who exactly would you be referring to? From what you’ve told us just now, there’s something unpleasant about her. She must be sucking away the magicians’ powers in order to eliminate them from existence, especially in the world you’ve been trying to benefit—our world, the Human World—since there was originally no trace of magic until...” He narrowed his eyes before finally coming to an answer. “ ...the magicians came here as part of their mission to help this world. So I take it she's hated all magicians enough to strategize and perform a counterattack against you guys. Which means..." He glanced at Rina for a few seconds before turning his gaze back at Sayuri. "Every magician staying here is in peril far more than quadruple the amount the whole planet is going through right now. What about your princess? Is she still on Earth, or is she back home?"

"For the time being," Sayuri went on, "Takuji and I have sent Asuka home to rest and recover her powers. At the very least, I don't want to involve her in the fight that I'm going to take part in. I don't know if that's going to do anything but... You all may end up going into this if you decide to go with me. It's no ordinary battlefield, but whatever your choice is, I won't stop you."

Hiro and everyone else smiled at Sayuri. Of course they were going with her. And. It was evidently present that their bond and willpower were powerful and overwhelming for a band of thieves, so much so they wanted the orange-haired girl to be part of their bond.

"Like anyone's going to stop us," Riki grinned victoriously. "We're the Black Foxes. We don't back down from what we seek to do and we'll finish our missions without a care for anything else. That's one of our mottos we live by when we work at night! I'm gonna ask you this again, Sayuri. You rejected my offer before, but that doesn't change the fact I'm set on having you as a member of our team. Will you join the Black Foxes?" He held his hand out for the magician's reply as he stood up.

Sayuri also rose from her position and looked directly into the leader's eyes. "I'm sorry to say this to you, Riki. But my answer remains the same. I will not join you as we're on the opposite sides, but I can stay with you all, seeing as you're willing to risk your lives for the magicians. Therefore, let us arrange what we will be doing later on. I will meet you after I recharge in Neon. I need to heal there as well since I was attacked and wounded before arriving here tonight."

Kenshi spoke despite being flabbergasted along with the others as he glanced up from sitting on the ground. "What? You're hurt?" He frowned in concern. "Is your wound... painful? If it is, I think you should come by LRN another time. Maybe, you should stay home for a few days if you're gonna go back to heal it."

Sayuri shook her head. "No, it'll be alright. It's... a wound that gives me a feeling of remembrance." She looked down for a few seconds, then raised her head up slowly. "I'll meet you all. At Le Renard Noir. So... Wait for me and don't forget that I'm going to be staying with you, so I'll be sleeping on a bed there for a while. Also. Have Rina return to Neon tonight before I come. She should at least visit her family and let them know she’s doing well in the Human World. I won't be seeing her back home, though." She turned around, walking toward the edge of the rooftop before stopping in her tracks. After that, she turned her head to gaze at the six members of the Black Foxes and the café manager. "I nearly forgot to mention this. Mitsuki-san, you two look good together. It has been over nine years now, but congratulations on your wedding. Manjuki-san must be looking forward to the day you have a kid with your husband.1 And Owner? Live well without me and don't get yourself involved with this. It's about time for you to sever your will to hold onto me, so don't become depressed over the memories I've been in, and resume your life as it already is. You can't look back and sink into despair. You need to be strong for the people around you. If your employees become worried about you, apologize to them and make a decision to remove their anxiety. Thank you for everything you done for me." Sayuri's wings grew out and flapped once before rising again. She flew up and disappeared afterward. Along with her, the 14K triad members were gone and out of sight, indicating where she might have gone first.

Hiro looked at the manager and smiled. "I know you're sad about her departure, but try to listen to her words. I'm positive she wanted the best for you, Manager. If she didn't, she wouldn't have cared to tell you anything. I believe Sayuri was looking out for us as well. She might not have said much about it, but maybe she's trying to protect everyone who're pure at heart in her own way. That's... my conviction." At that moment, his smile became softer and full of endearment. His support for his friend was to be praised, as he could not be disloyal to the feeling of care towards the winged magician.

Kenshi felt a wave of excitement for the college student. "Hiro...!" He was glad the young man was dedicated to Sayuri as he was, but felt as though Hiro had a stronger heart for her than he did.

Takuto looked at the café owner. "Well, she did pull the wool over our eyes the last time we crossed paths with her. Luckily, we weren't killed, but she concocted the perfect plan to lure us—except for Sir Beard-it-all—out to a secluded terrain and replenish Rina's powers." He gave a short nod at his ex-girlfriend. "She was losing them, anyway. Sayuri's a clever one to have done all that in a short period of time. Looking at our missions so far, she was always ahead of us. Even tonight, she stole the spotlight in just a flash. She really beats us to it every time, but with good intentions. It's no wonder Riki wants her to join us. She still rejects the thought of siding with thieves, but now we can compromise on working together to defeat the woman who's going against the magicians. She's a commendable person at least, so don't fret over not seeing her again. The girl you knew was hiding her true self; yet she does it to help her kind. You're already proud of her and you love her like a family member, but with everything that's happened, you'll have to move on and forget about her. She doesn't want you to regret anything. The thing is, she can't go back to being under your roof and working for you. The cymophane returning to you wasn't for nothing, you know."

The manager of the café was surprised. "You mean... Sayuri didn't receive it from someone she knew? Then..."

Hiro nodded in confirmation. "That's right. She said it belonged to someone she knew and that person happened to be you, Manager. We didn't know who the cymophane belonged to until Takkun and I visited you. Thanks to you, we were finally able to see her again. But... It wasn't like we were on friendly terms then." He gave an eye smile this time. "I guess the credit should go to Rina since Sayuri seems to have opened up a little whenever she spoked to her."

Kenshi chuckled. "And with Saionji here, she even acknowledged our married couple." Looking at Riki for a brief second, he laughed some more. "But she totally refused our leader, which of course makes it worthwhile. Hahaha."

Riki frown with an irritated look on his face. "Laugh all you want while you still can. I'll be giving you something you won't be looking forward to once we get back, you little brat. It's no wonder you never got a girl to keep with you." He smirked sarcastically. "Aren't you the poor old sap of us all?"

"What are you talking about?" The sniper cocked his head with a dumbfounded expression. "You and Boss are the oldest ones of us all, and Takuto's next in line after me! I'm basically in the middle of everyone, even if you include the women on our team."

Heh... Takuto narrowed his eyes as he stared at the firefighter.

Hiro was also watching with a similar facial appearance, but had a dull half-smile to add to it in contrast to the hacker's nonchalant look. Hm.

The two of them sighed simultaneously in their minds [but not letting out an exhale from their actual bodies]. At least he didn't say anything about Mitsuki's age.

They then sent signals with their eyes with Takuto being the first to respond.

That would've been bad. For Kenny, I mean.

Hiro silently agreed. No kidding. But Mitsuki's feelings would've still been hurt in the process.

"..." Riki was still looking sternly at Kenshi. Then he turned around. "Let's get going. Boss is waiting for us and Sayuri is going to be at the bar soon. He must have prepared some food for us. Hopefully, nothing's gone cold."

Mitsuki smiled. The sight of her was as serene as ever when things hadn't gotten to an unpleasant state. "Perhaps the food has already... We can reheat it once we get back. Let's not worry too much about making Atsumu wait."

Kenshi was still clueless in the current situation. "Did something happen while I was at work this morning?"

"It's nothing you really need to know about, Kenshi," Rina patted the most oblivious member of the group on the back with her left hand. She glanced at the café owner/manager. "Sayuri will be fine with us. She can take care of herself, no matter what's thrown at her."

The middle-aged man nodded. "She was capable of saving us while injured. I wonder if she can truly handle being in this foreign place by herself."

Rina raised her eyebrows. "Oh? That sounds like you don't trust her enough. Sayuri's always like this; she's a bit reckless in some ways, but she's also a magician like Mitsuki-san and I are. We all make foolish mistakes because we're alive. Sayuri probably doesn't want to inform you how she got hurt in the first place, as well. If she decides not to say anything else about it, it's her choice. Do you not think so?"

"I see you're very supportive towards her," the manager smiled gradually. "Thank you. She must be fortunate to have a friend like yourself, young lady."

"Not at all," the blonde beauty replied. Her expression was still as collected as usual when she was unprovoked by anything/anyone, especially by a certain someone. "Sayuri's... always been by my side during our high school and college days in Neon. I'm grateful to have her as a companion."

She looked down and entered her thoughts. Even during my most difficult times, she was placing more effort to cheer me up. And not just her, but everyone else in their own way. I can't abandon those dear to me, not even Sayuri. With the new circumstances we'll be facing with her, I have to ensure her safety as much as I can.

The café manager gave one last tender smile. "I must really be getting old for my age. I don't even know if I've live half my life yet when I think back at everything that has occurred in it. To think a magician had been by my side all this time, and that one of my greatest customers was a member of the famous Black Foxes. In addition, there are two female magicians aiding this band of thieves. I would have never thought the truth was laid out in front of me like this." Taking a glimpse of the six members who came along that night, he added, "My, you all are an impressive bunch, and so is Sayuri. I'm glad to have had this encounter with you seven tonight. Thank you for saving my life. I shall pray for your success in saving the other magicians, including your own.2 Goodbye and good luck to you all."

Hiro closed his eyes with a jubilant smile. "Thanks! We'll make sure those evildoers don't get away with their objective. You can count on us!" He saluted the owner of the café. "Teehee! Or should also we say, toodle-loo!"

The rest of the Black Foxes smiled at the manager and Hiro's last words to each other before heading (teleporting) back to Le Renard Noir with Mitsuki and Rina's help. From now on, they would be moving forward and could not look back on the old things which were peaceful, but the ones that needed to be done for the sake of magic and alteration. That very night was when a new door towards their future was unlocked, and they had decided to step through it without hesitation. It was because of their desire to assist Sayuri and the other magicians in order to save them from a cruel, malicious demise that they took drastic measures into their hands, jumping into an extraordinary frontier awaiting their arrival.

XXX

1) Sayuri used verbal irony in which to invoke situational and dramatic irony, as Mitsuki and Riki cannot have a child together.

2) In case there is any confusion, the café manager/owner’s words mean to save the magicians, along with Rina and Mitsuki, whom are members of the Black Foxes.

#Riki Yanase #Takuto Hirukawa #Atsumu Kashiwabara #Hiro Sarashina #Kenshi Inagaki #love letter from thief x #LLFTX #voltage fanfic #Voltage Inc. Pair-up #voltage fanfics

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