88) 'The Boy who cried Wolf' (Noblesse fanfiction)
Summary: Noone believed him. So Shinwoo decided he needed proof.
Genre: Adventure, Humor, Friendship;
Chars: M-21, Han Shinwoo;
Rating: T
Beta: Marcy Queen of the Narwals ( thank you SO MUCH :3)
Disclaimer: Not mine. So sad. ;.;
The Boy who cried Wolf
Chapter 1
He wasn't sure what exactly had woken him up, but the glaring red numbers on his digital clock that read '1:03 am' assured him that he was not supposed to be awake right now.
Sluggishly, the red-haired beast of Ye Ran High School, Han Shinwoo, sat up. Covers half tangled around his feet and half-kicked off the bed, he scratched his unkempt hair habitually and looked around. The apartment glared at him in oppressive silence. It was stilled in shadows, hinting at the ungodly hour he had just woken up to. Still, dark, silence. Not a combination the young man was fond of.
Sleep was beckoning to him; he could feel it in his drooping eyelids. Yet for some reason unknown to him, he refused its call. Hands limply resting on top of his knees, Shinwoo stared at nothing in particular, quietly intent on ignoring the annoying weight that rolled around his stomach.
'Again,' he tiredly mused, lifting his head towards the ceiling in a lazy stretch that cracked his neck.
This wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, it started happening so often that even Shinwoo, dense as he was, had noticed: he would wake up in the middle of the night, without the slightest clue as to why, and then subconsciously avoid going back to sleep again.
Did he dream something?
He didn't think so. There weren't any lingering imprints on his brain. No illogical images that dreams usually harboured, and no physical reaction like sweat, heavy muscles, or…ahem, something else entirely, that would have given him a clue as to what had shaken him awake.
He threw himself back against his pillows, folding his arms behind his head in the process.
"So weird," he muttered, staring at the ceiling. And so, yet another night, Shinwoo was condemned to wait for the sandman to make a lap around the whole of Korea, just to come back and unknowingly knock him out with a frying pan. Speaking of laps, he had to briefly wonder how many Pedro would make him run tomo- that is, today, when he shows up late. Again.
He inwardly groaned, covering his face in frustration. It wasn't fair. He was okay with running laps, but only when it was actually his fault for being late. It was a worthwhile sacrifice, one he'd gladly make when coming across a boss worthy of his gaming skills or a bonus level. But this? This just sucked! That would mark a whole two weeks of running laps around the entire school. He was, at least mentally, getting tired of it.
Maybe he was hungry?
That was always a possibility. It wasn't uncommon for him to get bouts of hunger in the middle of the night.
Not bothering to turn on the lights, Shinwoo got up and walked blindly to the kitchen on pure muscle memory. The hum of the refrigerator vibrated around the vacant room. When he pulled the door open, the light temporarily blinded him, revealing almost empty shelves and a cup of half-eaten instant noodles he was pretty sure were not meant to be a rusty blue colour.
His head dropped, hitting against the top refrigerator door with a thud. He had forgotten to go shopping. Again.
He knew something bad was going to come out of freeloading at the Principal's house daily.
~~ ( O ) ~~
Unlike centuries ago, when men slept soundly with the first dark so they could rise with the dawn, the world today no longer slept. Despite the cover of the night, the sounds of honking cars, loud music and drunken laughter rang in the distance.
Under the unblinking stares of the street lights, the lone and secluded alleys were empty. The nocturnal residents of the city knew where not to venture if alone. Hence, the main streets were bustling with a fair amount of people, even in the wee hours of dawn.
In a small, yet more remote part of the town a fast, irregular clinking sound reverberated from a much too big schoolyard.
Clink-clink! Clink!
The ground subtly erupted with each sound, rising small puffs of dust when the shape flanked.
Blue eyes darting to the side, he followed its movement with practiced ease. He ducked just as something maniacally cackling whizzed passed his head, snapping viciously. Eyes narrowed, he spun around, the cross hanging from his hairband swinging after him as he whipped out two guns.
Clink clink! A grunt from his opponent. But the long-haired marksman didn't relent. Clink clink clink clink! Two shells fell to the ground, followed by four more. His target managed to move in time, avoiding the round of bullets.
One leap, two, dust rising behind him, his opponent kept evading like a shadow. Was he hoping he'd run out of ammo? Come on, that was too obvious. He could do better. Two more shots were aimed right in front of the leaping figure, making him jump in the air. The gun followed his direction.
'Shit!' Black eyes widened in realization as he stared at the halo of the gun, blue eyes closely watching him from behind it. Quick to correct his misstep, he darted his hand out, a thin black cable following suit.
Just before Takeo pulled the trigger, the black wire wrapped itself around the guns' barrel and his hand, jerking them both to the side in a single move. The unexpected tug made the sniper accidentally fire, ultimately missing his intended target.
Not expecting that, Takeo had to congratulate the man opposing him, who landed gracefully a few yards in front of him. 'Not bad.'
Lifting himself up much too slowly (for the sake of coolness), the long-haired man noted the smirk of satisfaction that appeared on the hacker's smug face. "Heh, weren't expecting that, were you?"
There was something in his voice, namely arrogance, which annoyed him and prompted him to open his mouth in retort. But something made him freeze. Slack jawed and wide eyed, Takeo started shaking in fear.
Tao proceeded in his usual over-confident manner. "Don't tell me you haven't seen this coming. Heh, I mean it is ME we're talking about."
Takeo was well aware that Tao was about to, as M-21 had plainly stated, start bullshitting, but he couldn't care less at that exact moment. He gazed in pure and utter horror behind Tao at one of the school's windows, where shattered glass kept crumbling down (much like his hope of ever seeing daylight again) and leaving a very bare and noticeable window frame sticking out. Tao, being Tao, of course, didn't pick up on or hear anything other than himself once he went into a rant.
When the other didn't move, the hacker took that as his que to continue, mistaking inconceivable fear for surprise and wounded pride. He tsk-ed in a pitying manner. "Poor, poor, Takeo. Shocked?" He smiled a smile so devious it could leave a Cheshire cat in shame. "I matched your speed and am about to beat you. After you fall? Regis is next. And then M-21! And after him? Seira! …No wait, I can't hit a girl. Okay, forget Seira, but you! You all shall be reminded why I am the leader of Raizel's Knights! Bwahahahahahahaha!"
So into his speech, Tao missed the dangerous narrowing of Takeo's eyes. As forgiving as the sniper could be, he learned that his paycheck, though substantial, was sacred when he accounted for all the damage they usually did. Also, the owner of the school is a terrifying man.
His hand stilled. He stared, clearly unamused, as Tao failed to realize one teeny tiny little detail while he continued to laugh like a maniac:
…the gun was still pointed at him.
"Hahahahahahaha-" Clink. "-GYAAAA!"
Falling backwards and comically tripping over two conveniently place duffel bags, the mighty Tao yelped. "OW OW OW OW!"
Unwrapping his hand and gun from the cable, Takeo stepped closer to the hacker who was rolling on the floor, clutching the throbbing welt on his forehead. "Damn it, Takeo!" he hissed before glaring up at the silently gleeful man through the moisture gathered in his eyes. "We said below the head only!"
His own smirk came out into the open now. "Sorry," he wasn't, "It's your own fault for being careless."
"You put those there on purpose, didn't you?" Tao sat up and looked around, the tip of the gun's silencer pointed right in between his eyes.
The exclamation earned him a raised eyebrow from Takeo. As if he'd do that. "Never jump or run backwards. Only sideways. No matter how familiar you are with the territory."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the younger man grumbled, glaring at the weapon and equipment-stuffed duffel bags, clearly unhappy. Not about how the tides had turned, but rather why they did. Takeo nudged him in the forehead with his gun, as if only to irk him further. He looked up at the marksman, who was ever so patiently waiting for him. With a sigh, Tao raised his hands in a peaceful manner. "Hahh, fine. You got me. I give."
Satisfied, Takeo drew back his guns and returned them to the holsters on his lower back. Now smiling good-naturedly, he extended his hand to the hacker. It was a gesture they'd grown fond of: a testimony of their firm friendship.
Staring up at the hand which was offered to him, Tao smiled and took it. Letting himself be pulled up, he dusted off the dirt from his tracksuit. Takeo saw it fit to continue pointing out his mistakes during their spar. "I told you not to rely on high jumps when you're going against long-ranged attacks. You had a good save back there, but it's best not to test fate. You can't dodge when you're in mid air."
"Right."
"Also, your field of vision is limited to one-hundred degrees at best Tao. Use it. Don't jump around blindly."
"Rub it in, why don't you?" He moved his shoulder to get a few kinks out, a small grin playing on his lips.
Takeo only chuckled, shaking his head in mock exaggeration, before looking at him again. "How many?"
Unzipping the blue jacket of his tracksuit, he revealed a bulletproof vest with two shells sticking out. Tao looked exceptionally pleased with himself. He grinned at the sniper. "Two…if you don't count the head-shot."
"You know I do." Takeo smirked and took the cartridges out of his weapons with practiced speed, dropping them into one of the duffel bags. Crouching down he carefully unscrewed the silencers and wrapped both of them and the guns in towels. They provided a good visual and verbal cover should they come across anyone. Putting the camouflaged gear back into the bag, he looked back up at Tao, who was loosening the sides of his vest. He paused when he noticed him staring. "You're getting better."
"Hm?" He gave the marksman a peculiar look before grinning again, "I am, aren't I?" Undoing the last strap, Tao shed the thick cloth and grabbed a bottle of water while leaving the previous article in the bag. "Didn't I already say this? It IS me we're talking about here."
Takeo chuckled. Tao, modest as ever. "Don't get ahead of yourself."
"Hahaha! Wouldn't dream of it." With that, the hacker downed the first gulp of water. Takeo wiped his face and neck with a towel before putting it back into the bag and zipping it closed.
"What? We done for tonight?"
Takeo looked up, meeting the other's gaze. Tao was holding the now-closed bottle to his forehead. Pushing himself up, he nodded in confirmation. "Well I am."
"Why?" Tao asked, honestly puzzled when the guy didn't even get a proper spar. The dull face Takeo made conveyed the 'are you kidding me?' message quite nicely. Especially when he pointed to the broken window with his thumb.
"Ohhhh shit…" Tao muttered. Yeah, now he was realizing what- "I thought you were an A-class shooter?!" he asked in astonishment, sounding just as shocked as Takeo felt offended. Not to mention amazed with Tao's inability to read basic body language, despite probably having an IQ well over 200.
"Now I gotta rewrite the info I have on you, geez. Talk about extra work."
Takeo's whole face twitched in a failed attempt to keep it straight. The saddest part of it all was that Tao was serious and not trying to be an ass. 'Patience. Paaaaaatience, Takeo.'
"Boss is gonna kill you." Tao continued, completely oblivious to his partner while he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think we might have a spare window in the school's basement. I know there was some extra material from the last time we needed to patch this place up."
Takeo massaged his forehead, trying to soothe the Tao-induced migraine. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
With a final 'hmmmm' Tao walked past the long-haired man. "I'm going to check on M-21 and Regis," he informed him, his destination one of the other courts for P.E. at Ye Ran. "Might as well survey all the damage before we start cleaning up."
More composed than just moments ago, Takeo nodded. "I'll join you in a few." Bending down, he picked up a bullet shell that was lying near his feet. "I need to collect the dummies*."
He heard a distant 'okay' from the hacker before he disappeared behind a corner. Takeo breathed out a sigh. Straightening up, he scanned the dusty soccer field, trying to remember in which directions he shot in during the spar. Zipping up his tracksuit, Takeo counted in his head how many rounds he had shot, hoping that would lessen his work at finding all the dummy bullets. He didn't need kids playing with those things and raising a commotion if he missed any.
He used the left Beretta around eight times out of twenty if he recalled correctly, and twelve times for the right. The marksman briefly noted that he should stop favouring his right arm – that could get him in trouble. With a huff, he was about to set out across the dusty field in search of twenty bullets when- "Argh!"
Takeo fell flat on his face.
"What the-?" Reflexively he spun on his elbows and turned his head, only to see a black cable wrapped around his feet.
"Taaooo…"
~~ ( O ) ~~
They were at an impasse. Which usually wasn't how it went. Usually, this was the moment he gained the upper hand thanks to his sharp-wit and battle experience. But now?
Red eyes held gray ones, alert and ready. Should he tell him?
Before he could decide, his stance widened and the clawed man ran at him. Regis narrowed his eyes at this, clearly displeased. 'Impatient.' Keeping his elegant, yet firm stance, he waited for the right moment to move. Evading the combination of slashes his sparring partner issued, Regis ducked and aimed a fist at his torso.
The gray-haired man noticed it- not as fast as he usually did- but he noticed it. Moving to the side, the noble's fist left a long scrape along his bare chest. He jumped back to put some distance between them. Regis barely refrained from scowling. 'Pulling back? What for you ignorant-' he stopped himself there, keeping the anger prickling his insides in check by gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes.
Yes, he should definitely tell him. As his comrade it was his duty to point out his mistakes during spars so they could both better themselves. Yet for some reason he still held himself back from doing so.
'Come on! Concentrate,' he urged inside his head, honestly hoping that the enhanced human would turn the tables on him in the next few moves. He made the next step. Pushing himself into a dash, Regis readied his hands for a strike. A three-combo-thrust with his palms open in his usual fighting style, the Noble's frown deepened when M-21 faced them with a block.
Untwisting his fur covered arms, he advanced with an attack Regis easily side-stepped. At least he retaliated. 'About time,' thought the Noble, a bit less annoyed than he was a moment earlier.
Lowering his stance, the human went in for a kick to the side. His opponent responded with a well-timed flip through the air, landing behind him. Aiming a punch at him from behind, Regis became more pleased when M-21 ducked in the nick of time and targeted another kick at him. This one was much closer, but missed him nonetheless as he jumped backwards.
Ready for the next assault, M-21 enclosed one of his claws into a fist, spinning around and aiming it at the Noble's head. Regis picked up on the feint before the man opposing him could launch it. He would have clicked his tongue if he'd had the time. 'Predictable.' He moved out of the way.
Once that didn't work, the half-werewolf launched another series of attacks, none of which landed where they were intended. His fighting style shifted again. It was so noticeable that Regis couldn't help but grind his teeth in frustration. 'Sloppy!'
Each move was becoming as bad as the next; in some cases even worse. He had so many openings that it was absurd! They were small mistakes while sparing, but not favorable to make during a real battle in Regis' still-growing experience. Throughout most of the sparring session, despite being vexed at his partner's horrid performance, the white-haired boy opted for keeping his mouth shut.
That was quite a challenge in itself, considering that both of them had a common quality of always choosing all the right words to direct at one another. Or rather all the wrong ones anyway.
'Careless!' He actually had to bite his lip to stop himself from shouting in anger as M-21 exposed the left region of his chest, right where his heart is. Regis was now visibly shaking in repressed anger. 'Where are you looking at, you nitwit?! Pay attention!'
He had to say something. It couldn't go on like this! He held back from lashing out in pure concern and consideration, hoping that the enhanced human would pick up on his poor display and right it! But he didn't. Regis concluded that the more he procrastinated in saying something, the more he was likely to thwart M-21 rather than do him a favor. Parting after another effortless clash, the Noble pinned him with a hard stare. Resisting the urge to give him an earful, Regis spoke as calmly and non-criticizing as possible. "You had two fatal openings." He had more, but who was counting anyway?
Chest slightly heaving up and down, the gray-eyed man didn't miss a beat. "And you didn't take them."
There was the first snap of the Noble's cord of patience, manifesting itself in an over-exaggerated twitch of his fingers.
'Of course I didn't, you ignoramus!' He swallowed back, struggling so hard not to let it slip past his lips. He was trying to be polite and patient! Not pick a fight with that, that- that man!
Taking a deep breath, he narrowed his crimson eyes at the enhanced human. "Not the point I was making, M-21."
"You always this talkative during a fight?" The man opposed him sneered, lowering his stance. "Or are you hoping to talk me into submission?"
Aaaaand there went cords number two and three.
Being courteous to that aggravating human never got him anything but his blood boiling! It was becoming painfully obvious to Regis that he was only good at being subtle as much as Tao was good at being quiet. The straightforward approach it was.
The ground cracked underneath his shoes when Regis, no longer feeling generous enough to hold back, launched himself at M-21. Startled with the Noble's abrupt change in pace, M-21 raised his hands in another block only to be taken aback when his opponent changed his course in the last second.
Moving to the enhanced human's side, the boy raised his knee and delivered a solid kick to his stomach. The force of the kick pushed M-21 a good few meters back, his feet leaving two in his wake.
'Damn it,' he ground his teeth, frustration ebbing him. No sooner had he managed to stop himself from skidding further did he have to move to the side. An incoming fist whizzed past his face, a little too close for comfort.
Regis, not intent on wavering in the slightest, delivered strike after a strike. Never being one to follow the 'beat a lesson into someone's head' approach, the Noble found that, surprisingly (or maybe not) this might have been the best way of dealing with that man. Each move M-21 made was spontaneous and unprepared, avoiding almost every attack in the very last second. He was sure to slip much sooner than later and maybe, finally take notice that he was driving him crazy with that flimsy excuse of a fight!
The said man was struggling to keep up. His instincts advised him to do something other than dodge, but he, as the case was, couldn't. His body knew the moves he should be making, every unissued punch, slide or kick, every opening he could use to do something. Fighting was carved into his muscles. But he was suddenly unable to match their signals. They would twitch, as if saying 'NOW!' but he'd react too late and miss his chance. As if that wasn't frustrating enough, Regis was apparently the one in control of their fight, dishing out hit after hit he barely avoided and, clearly, from the way he ceaselessly continued attacking, angry about something and set on kicking his ass into oblivion.
Meeting a thrust with a block, M-21 knew that his tempo had to change. Hence the next strike that was aimed at him was faced head-on as he grabbed his hand with his fur covered ones, halting it. Caught off guard, but not enough to make him pause, Regis attacked with his other hand, only to be met with the same fate.
Face to face now, both scowling and glaring at the other, it was clear as day that this fight would not come to a stop unless something was resolved, and that wasn't the outcome of the spar.
"You're distracted!" The Noble accused, pushing harder against the human and quite effectively getting into his face despite being a whole head shorter than him. M-21 held firm, matching Regis' strength with some effort. The Noble, however, kept seething.
"You can't-" he hissed out, using more power, "... land- one! Single! Hit!"
The earth beneath them quaked, followed by cracks as they started tearing up the ground around them. They both persisted though, too immersed in the heat of the moment to notice something as trivial as the basketball court they were wrecking.
"Che, maybe- ...it's because-" M-21 growled out, adrenaline stirring up and coursing through his veins, " -you're too. damn. Short!" He bit out, for some reason suddenly as angry as the Noble was.
There was the final crack of earth beneath them before M-21 managed to push him away. Parting, both of them landed on their feet and instantly charged at each other again. Engaged in combat once more, Regis would have been pleased at how the battle had finally shifted to his liking, had he not been infuriated to the point of wanting nothing more than to punch M-21 right in the face. Repeatedly!
After exchanging a few more attacks, they came into a deadlock again. "Excuses!" Regis spat out, their strengths rivaling one another. The hostility was palpable in his voice. "My height has nothing to do with your incompetence!"
Now, by all means, M-21 had taken much grander verbal insults from the Noble before. But there was something in the tone of his voice. In the way he hissed it out. The way that animosity leaked out of his words like he was an enemy and sunk its teeth right into some nerve of his experiment-abused body.
Something snapped inside him.
With a feral growl, M-21 let up, surprising the Noble when he grabbed him by the sleeves of his P.E. jacket and fell back, throwing him over. Hitting and skidding across the field, the stunned boy twisted himself into a crouch in a catlike manner. Wide-eyed, Regis looked up at the bare-chested man in front of him.
Shoulders rising with his rapid breathing, M-21 held his gaze.
And then he had the audacity to scoff.
That. Was. IT! Dust and grains of earth sliding from his gray tracksuit, Regis stood up. Teeth bared and eyes turning white with power, the Noble, inelegant and uncivilized though it was, did the last thing he expected to do. "ARRRGHHH!" He tackled him.
This... was no longer a spar. It was something personal.
Each exchanged blow held the lividness and vigor of what could be described as an overpowered fistfight. Neither cared. One was subconsciously pushing an unsaid issue, and the other was countering by purposefully disregarding it. There was something underneath the violence and ridicule that they were stepping all over; something far too unclear and vague for them to make out. But it was there, uncertain and shifting with each verbal and physical attack. Whether for better or for worse, they both didn't dare ponder.
So they continued what they where doing: beating the crap out of each other. That was until-
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! What the-!"
Both M-21 and Regis stopped with their fists conveniently placed near each other's face mid-strike. Two pairs of eyes turned simultaneously towards the newcomer. Tao stood not too far away from them, mouth agape and pale as death with his hands twisted in his hair, looking in their direction.
"What the hell you two?!"
~~ (O) ~~
Takeo's eyebrow twitched dangerously. A small plastic bag was lifted to his eye-level. Seventeen dummy bullets indifferently stood stacked upon each other.
Sighing and shoving the little bag into the pocket of his jacket, he gazed out into the dark soccer field and, not for the first time since they started training, seriously started to reconsider his weapon of choice. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Only this involved bullets and a too-large soccer field.
A few steps into his search again, he heard Tao's voice from way over the other side of the school. The man was naturally loud, but it was the alarmed pitch that made Takeo instantly tense up. Spinning around and going into a dash, the sniper prepared himself for the worst. When Tao came into view, he was flapping his hands around hysterically like a chicken while facing their other two comrades. "-e just rebuilt the whole place and you wreck it?! What's wrong with you?! You're worse than Takeo!"
"What's going on?"
Tao instantly turned towards the newcomer before gesturing with his hands towards the basketball court. "Look! Look what they did!"
The sniper took a long, meticulous scan of the field marred with dents, ditches and small craters of all sizes, each detail making his eyes widen and lowering his body temperature bellow normal standards.
"W-Wha..." He turned to his companions who were pointedly facing away from each other. The adjective 'guilty' flashed brightly above them like a Las Vegas sign. The said pair glared in opposite directions, set on avoiding any eye contact. "What happened here?"
"Nothing," Regis muttered.
It didn't take a genius (excluding Tao) to notice the aggressive tension between the Noble and the half-werewolf. Both were stiff and reserved. Usually their silence spoke in deafening volumes of 'it's his fault!', but now there was none of that. This silence? It was far too malevolent and oppressive for it to be nothing.
Takeo, less panic-stricken and yet more doubtful, narrowed his eyes minutely, his voice carefully controlled and leveled. "You two made quite a mess." He was met with no response from the guilty pair, which only heightened his suspicion. "You're usually more careful."
Feeling the need to verbally retaliate, M-21 boldly met his eyes with indifference. "We got carried away," he explained, looking far too casual about it.
"I'll say! Oh man, look at this!" Tao interjected while inspecting the slightly bent basketball pole. "How am I supposed to explain this?"
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Takeo took it upon himself to play the voice of reason and patience. Again. And certainly not for the last time. "Calm down Tao, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be."
"Not as bad as..." snapping his head in Takeo's direction with bewildered eyes, Tao's voice faded away before erupting again. "How is it not bad?! Did I not teach you the correct meaning of a word again? This is bad!"
"No, it's not. Look," irritated, Takeo walked up to the bent pole and tapped the back of his finger against it. "No dents. The posture is a bit off, there's no real damage on it. We just have to straighten it up, that's all."
Visibly calming down, Tao thought over Takeo's plan before nodding to himself. "Hmmm, that could work." And in less than a second he perked up again. "Alright! Let's start cleaning up then. There's quite a bit that needs fixing tonight; Boss and Seira are expecting us soon, so we better hurry up. Takeo, you got all your bullets?"
"No, I'm still missing a few. I'll look for them after we finish this."
"Alright, so there's that too and there's still the window that needs replacing," the tech expert muttered to himself, calculating how much time everything would take. "We should start with this place since it's the most damaged one..."
"Don't bother," M-21 stepped up, walking pass them and waving them off. "It's my fault, so I'll fix it. You guys get the other stuff."
This earned him a few stares. Takeo noticed a particularly irked-and-ready-to-argue one from the Noble. Thankfully, Tao quickly followed up on M-21's exclamation. "Great! In that case-" Before anyone could intervene, the white-haired boy suddenly found himself pressed up against a very loud and grinning Tao. "I'm taking Regis with me! Takeo you help M-21!"
Confusion winning over his temper, the Noble lost his edge. "Wha- Why would I-"
"Oh, come on! I need you for a very special mission!" Not allowing him a moment to retaliate, Tao already had his arms wrapped around the boy's shoulder and was leading him away. "See, Takeo couldn't match up to my awesomely amazing skills and despite being an expert in marksmanship he-"
'Subtle Tao, very subtle.' Takeo listlessly followed the two retreating shapes until they disappeared and he could no longer hear Tao complain about a light-switch and never being able to find it.
If anything, he did a good job initiating the 'divide and conquer' strategy. Regis and M-21's sense of responsibility and word choice would most likely restart whatever drama they had missed. This way everyone had someone to bitch to.
Well, everyone but himself anyway. Takeo rarely got that pleasure.
~~ (O) ~~
His foot came down, stomping on the dirt, smoothing it out. Inspecting his handy work, the marksman concluded that another ditch was successfully covered up. The basketball court was looking better already. Maybe even slightly better than before.
It was ridiculous how good they got at this.
The fact that they were almost proficient at cleaning and fixing messes wasn't all that glorifying if anyone took the nature of their true professions into consideration. The universe sure worked in mysterious ways. One moment he's shooting down people and causing mass destruction under blackmail, and the other he's dressed in an embarrassing pink apron and latex gloves washing dishes.
Speaking of 'causes of mass destruction', Takeo decided it was high time to start unraveling the mystery behind the latest one.
Glancing in the direction of M-21, who was wrapping up at his side of the court, he leaned casually (or at least what he hoped was casual and not obvious) on his shovel.
"Phew... You guys sure went all out." He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand despite not working up a sweat.
A simple grunt was his only answer.
Raising an eyebrow, Takeo wondered how he was supposed to take that. It wasn't one of the shortest replies he had gotten from the man; his way of conversing always being short and to the point, but, heck, this wasn't even coherent. Okay, maybe he didn't choose the right way of going about this. The man was so closed in on himself he shouldn't have really expected a different answer.
Deciding that his best bet was to stick to his strong point, and that was being compassionate, Takeo heaved a sigh and fully turned to face him. "You wanna talk about it?"
M-21 paused in his work for the briefest of moments and met him with his usual poker face, before turning back to the job at hand. "About what?"
"The weather M-21," Takeo deadpanned, folding his arms. "You know what."
"We got carried away. That's it," M-21 explained, flattening out the crater he had filled up.
There was an underlying yet rather obvious message of 'letting sleeping dogs lie', but Takeo felt the need to voice out just how unconvinced he was. "Yeah, well, something leads me to believe otherwise."
M-21 scoffed. "Believe what you want."
Okay, now he was just being difficult on purpose. No wonder Regis went berserk. "Listen, I-"
"If you're done-" the gray-haired man cut him off, glaring bitterly into his eyes "-and have the time to talk, you should spend it looking for the rest of your gear."
Takeo held his glare with his own sour one. Tension built up between the two, needling under their skins and ominously ringing in the air. The sniper was well aware that this was just another game. A harmful and nasty defense mechanism of M-21's turned to habit, where one either advanced ready to collide or pulled back with their tails between their legs.
He was far too repulsively familiar with it. It stirred up an unpleasant, angry warmth within his blood as he faced his teammate who was practically daring him to press on. 'Come on. See what happens.' Takeo was all but ready to rise to the occasion, fists clenched and the intense beat of protest raging inside him-
"Fine."
-he folded.
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Takeo coolly turned his back to him. Setting his course for the soccer field, he bit back the urge to rebel against the choice he made, being on the retreating side one too many times.
He would let him get away with it. This time. For the teammate that brought him to his senses, he could at least do that much. He couldn't avoid it forever.
Besides, Takeo understood betrayal better than any of them.
M-21 stared at the marksman's retreating figure, not really wanting to acknowledge the situation he had created. Still, the self-accusation rang just like the silence that seemed to suffocate him now that he was alone. He had to look away. Great. Just great. The impulses from his days in the Union took over again. Didn't he get rid of them? How could he afford to act like this when it was crucial for him to keep it together?
His mind was ready to take a stroll somewhere it wasn't welcome, but he shook it off. This wasn't the time. He had just made another mess of things: both with their improvised training field and his teammates.
Sighing and leaving the shovel somewhere on the ground, M-21 walked over to the tipped basketball pole. He looked up at it, giving it a simple nudge of his hand to measure the amount of strength he should use so as not to destroy it.
He would try and apologize to Regis and Takeo later. Currently he had a court to fix and a job to attend in the morning. Maybe tomorrow they would be as forgiving about his poor judgment as they were before... he...
(You've become more naive...)
Lowering his head and closing his eyes, M-21 scowled.
Damn it, why was he thinking about it again?
Didn't he say he wouldn't hesitate? There was too much at stake now. It wasn't just about keeping the kids safe anymore. The Union started to move too fast towards them. It was becoming way too dangerous, especially with Raizel's declining health and the KSA in shambles. And now they even knew where they lived. No one was safe anymore. Everything- everything they fought and struggled for was falling apart because of-
Creeeaaaaak~!
The sudden moaning of metal made him open his eyes and notice he unknowingly activated his transformation, pushing the pole way beyond its intended position.
"Shit," M-21 hissed out. Flinching back in alarm, he quickly jumped to inspect his error. He only dared draw in a breath when he was sure that by some miracle he didn't do anything irreversible. Covering his face with his hand, the enhanced human stood still for a moment. There was no room for clouded judgment now. He needed to stay objective and numb the hindrances within him.
He couldn't afford not to.
M-21 pressed his lips together in a bitter resolution and slowly retracted his transformation. Flexing his bare fingers, he curled them into fists and looked up at the full moon hanging above the school building.
He wouldn't fail people who rely on him again.
~~ (O) ~~
Overlooking one of the P.E. courts of the Ye Ran high-school was the only other entrance to the facility from the outside. The back gate of the school was always locked, as it's purpose wasn't meant for students, but rather for the truck that delivered food and ingredients for the school's cafeteria.
Beyond it, there was only a small maze of side-streets and alleyways which people didn't use all too often.
A soft 'thud' resonated from one said small alleyways.
A simple white plastic bag collapsed on the pavement spilling out its contents. Wrapped up rice-balls rolled out, along with other instant convenience-store food. Milk was gushing freely from its now ripped container and pooling under a familiar pattern of red and white sneakers.
Staring at the display within the schoolyard from the outside-
"What... the fuck..."
Han Shinwoo stood paralyzed.
*Dummy (pl. Dummies) a.k.a. Dummy round – is a round of ammunition that is completely inert. That means it contains no primer, propellant or explosive charge. They are usually used for weapon-checking or crew training. These are, I must point out as to not give any ideas, NOT blank rounds. The difference? While both are used as props, blank cartridges do contain gunpowder, unlike dummies, and are potentially dangerous at close range. Meaning? Not for messing around with even though it's used as a prop. There have been reported multiple accidents where a person pointed a gun with blank rounds at himself and died because they were convinced that since it's a prop it wouldn't do any damage. A gun is a gun. A bullet is a bullet. Don't use it, if you don't know anything about it.
Well hello, hello, there! Welcome to my latest ride of a story! Please, insert your ticket by clicking on the button bellow marked as 'Review'. And once you do? Heh...
Buckle up.
It's gonna be a bumpy ride. ;)
xMF