Author's Note: So, I mainly get inspired to write through either music or fanart. This piece was inspired by drawings I did of these two. Also, I thought it would nice to squeeze this story in for hype for Central Fiction's release later this year. Each of the drawings can be found on my DA.

This will be a three-shot set in a slight AU where the conflict between the Grim Reaper and the NOL is over. I actually plan on changing the cover art when I get a chance to.

Rated T for minor language.

*Disclaimer: I do not own Blazblue.

"Yo Doctor, where do you want the lanterns?"

"Put four of them in the crate, and you can hang the other two on the low ceiling of the Chief's house, please." Litchi replied back.

Ragna did as he was told with a grumble. Why the hell am I doing the labor work for this place? It's Master who wanted to reconstruct the village. And where the hell is Tao?

He looked up towards the sky; with progress, more and more of the blue overhead blanket had become visible. Several months had passed since the final conflict between Ragna's war with the NOL had ended. Terumi and Relius were gone, and Izanami had been defeated. Ragna had been pardoned officially; his crimes however not forgotten. Jubei had actually suggested that he participate more in reconstruction projects. Something about giving the public eye a good name for him, now? Damn cat!

"...na? ...Ragna?!" Startled by the shout next to him, Ragna looked over to his side. Noel pouted up and called again. "Can you please put these ribbons and the banner on the cabinet for later for me? Mister Bang is using the ladder."

Ragna looked a little irritated, but refused to let it out. "Small fry, you don't have to yell."

"Small fry-!"

"Give them to me." Without waiting for Noel to answer, he snatched her belongings and placed them on the top of the cabinet.

Noel stared at him. Even though the fighting was over, she still felt that Ragna was too stiff sometimes. Sure, he had loosened a bit, but could still be easily ticked off. Well, around her it seemed. Noel asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Ragna sighed and ran his gloved hand through his hair. "Goddamn slavedrivers here are testing the limits of my courtesy. I was hoping for a chance to relax for once. And this is after everything I already did for-"

"Ragna, remember Mister Jubei asked us to help out. We need more people since he and the Chief and Tao had gone up to the city for formal documents." Another voice was heard from behind Noel. Tsubaki walked up to the duo holding light wooden crates. She smiled up at him and Noel. "Noel, you could help me sort these out. Leave the grumpy one here."

Ragna raised his eyebrow at her light verbal jab while Noel snickered and walked away with her friend. Surprisingly, he could not retort back. He turned around and grumbled to himself again.

Tsubaki glanced back when Ragna did not tease her back. Not... that she had wanted him to. No. She just expected him to retort back. She recalled that he had a habit to fluster her whenever he could. She heard Noel talking to her. "Tsubaki, you seem distracted. You keep looking over at Ragna."

"What?" And to prove her friend's point, she looked over at Ragna again. This time, Ragna looked back at her. Their eyes locked and a small smile formed on Ragna's face first. Tsubaki returned the smile and felt that her cheeks had begun to burn when Ragna's smile widened into his signature smirk. Her look was broken off when Noel poked her in the ribs. "Hey...!"

"Tsubaki, you probably didn't even hear what I was telling you. You seem so off today." Noel's eyes followed to where Tsubaki looked at. Upon realization, her eyes widened and she gasped. "Wait, is Makoto right?"

"Hm? Makoto? She's visiting her family this week and helping her home's reconstruction." Tsubaki was confused. Why did Noel suddenly bring her up in the conversation?

Noel bobbed her head up and down. That's got to be it! She continued, "I know that. But is what she said is true? You and Ragna?"

"What?!" Tsubaki nearly dropped the colored labels she was holding. Her face heated up quickly while she tried to deny the implications. God, she was embarrassed, but thankful that Makoto was not around. Tsubaki doubted that her beastkin friend would ever stop bugging her. "No, no... no. He's just a friend. He just helped me through... a lot. It's not like that." Her voice grew softer and she looked down to the side, cheeks red.

Noel pressed, "But you always talked about him to us. And while we were fighting Terumi and Relius you were always worried for him. Makoto noticed it was more than how you used to ramble about Jin back from the Academy. C'mon, you two are sometimes chummy around each other."

"Was it that obvious?" Now, Tsubaki's face was the same color of her hair. "And th-that-that's just him messing around. He had softened a bit towards others." It was true, in some cases. His usual glint in his eyes went away when he talked to certain people. And he cut down his vulgarities. ...A little bit. Okay, rarely. Tsubaki cleared her throat with a cough. "Let's finish these, okay? Afterwards, Litchi asked us both to see the Chief."

Tsubaki had never been relieved to sit down in her life. Her legs ached, but she expected them to be fine after some minutes of sitting to walk again. She leaned back against a tree and looked upwards; the sky was overcast with a slight cold breeze making its way through the village. She smiled to herself when she opened her box of her chocolate covered pocky. She made a mental note to remember to thank Noel again for them when she had purchased them during her brief visit in Orient Town. She opened the book she had brought with her to the dog-eared page at her spot on the grass and started to read where she left off.

Lost in her book's fantasy world, Tsubaki did not notice Ragna's form getting closer to her. She did not notice Ragna taking a seat next to her. She did not even notice him trying to get her attention. She did however, give out a small yelp when her candy stick was abruptly snatched from her grip, and she whipped her head to give him an annoyed glare. Ragna smirked at her expected reaction and put the pocky in his mouth. "Too slow, Tsu. Seems that you're not keeping up with your training."

"...What are-"

He interrupted already having finished with the treat. "Taking my break here. Arms were killing me from the heavy lifting. Bang and his crew should be the only ones doing that shit."

"Oh, okay." She nodded.

"Hm?" Ragna looked down at her. "It almost seems like you're disappointed with me being here."

She never had expected him to say that out loud to her. Stop teasing me, she wanted to say. "No! It's not like that. I was just thinking..."

Their lack of distance as they sat on the patch of grass made Tsubaki shift. She blushed when she looked up at his heterochrome eyes. She did not miss Ragna's eyes narrow and glisten when she put her candy in her mouth. She read his expression and swore to herself that she heard gears rotating in his head, and scooted away. But Ragna was quicker, and he smiled and bit the other end of the her pocky stick. Tsubaki's breath hitched, cheeks aflame.

Ragna smirked wider, eager for more reaction from her, but was inwardly surprised of his bold move. Making fun of her seemed to be one of his favorite pass-times. He saw her red cheeks, but knew he could not say anything as he felt his own face burning. She still seemed frozen in her spot, so he chanced it. Oh well. He bit down at his end of the chocolate cracker, his face naturally coming closer to her.

Tsubaki's mind was racing. Did he want to go through with it? His smile seemed to put her on edge. What did it mean? But before Ragna's mouth inched any further, Tsubaki bit her end hard and jerked her head to the side. The action broke the pocky; Tsubaki closed her eyes and hid her face in her novel. God, why did he always make her feel like this? She peeked over the pages and shyly looked at him. He was lightly chuckling to himself- or even at her- she couldn't tell. Ragna was just too much sometimes.

"Shit... sorry 'bout that." He offered her a genuine smile although his apology didn't seem sincere. "I would'a stopped myself, actually. So reading anything interesting? More Six Heroes stuff?"

And just like that, he resumed on like nothing happened. Maybe he does that to avoid any awkwardness. "Umm... N-no, not this time. It's actually a book I've been meaning to buy for a while..."

Tsubaki continued to gush about the book and its contents, but Ragna blanked out for a moment. His smile remained and his body loosened up. He noticed how she began to relax and now she had her body fully face to him. Her crimson hair swayed softly in the cold breeze. When he detected that she was about done from talking he said, "You're wearing your uniform today..."

"Yes, I am." She giggled. Her position as a Major in the Wings remained thanks to the new Imperator. However, like the job of the Wings, she was rarely ever seen in office. Tsubaki explained further, "I was tasked to supervise the restoration of certain blocks in Kagutsuchi. That includes both below and above. So I thought I'd lend a helping hand today."

"So when do you report back to your supervisors?"

"Whenever I can. I normally would call in though radio if anything needs to be delayed."

"So knowing you, you'd probably spend the night and help more until most of our crap is done here." Ragna concluded with a smirk. His face heated a little as he spoke, the edge of his voice leaving, "You always wanted to help out as much as you could. You always were good at looking out for others."

Tsubaki knew what he meant in his last line and she felt warmth blossoming in her, despite the cold air. Red painted her face again as she darted her eyes towards the ground in embarrassment. "T-thanks. But you looked after me more, you know. Even when I swore that we could have only been enemies. I was still blind metaphorically around what truly defined justice."

"I didn't blame you for most of that, you know. I knew you were devoted to your ideals and Jin. You were a victim and also kept in the dark-" A rather loud thunderclap broke Ragna's speech. Both of them looked at the sky, the clouds visibly darker than before. He raised himself to his feet first. "Hey, we'll talk later 'bout it. Let's go inside."

The rain began to drizzle on the pair fast. Of all the luck. Shoot! This is a new book! Tsubaki growled lightly in annoyance, trying to shield her book from the precipitation as she walked toward the building. Without warning, she felt an arm snaking around her and landed on her waist. She squeaked in surprise at the contact. She felt Ragna pressing herself against his side. His grinned at the flustered blush spreading to her face and said, "You cold?"

No, quite the opposite. Her entire body, especially her face felt that they were on fire. Why did he keep doing this sort of thing? This isn't fair! "Um, a little, I guess..."

Ragna moved his face obnoxiously closer to her, amused and unashamed. He knew he was embarrassing the girl, but hell, he was having fun with it. "Your face is all red. Did you catch something?"

"D-don't do that, Ragna!" Tsubaki abruptly pulled away from his grasp. The rain began to pour a little harder and faster. "And outside? It's embarrassing!"

"So if we're not outside, it's fine then, right? Well, we are heading towards the building."

"No! That's not what I meant! You can be so mean to me sometimes!" Tsubaki walked away fast, leaving Ragna behind. She refused to look back; she wanted to hurry inside and away from him. Being with Ragna only served to fluster her more. Flirting like that in the open? I don't get him at all.

Ragna walked behind Tsubaki. "Hey, Tsubaki, wait for me!"

"I will not!"

Ragna's smirk lessened, but still followed after Tsubaki. Shit. Too far, I guess, huh? The rain had now already dampened his clothes and hair. It was getting darker; he secretly was grateful for Tsubaki's red hair to illuminate his way towards her. She did, however, walk at a slower pace from him, back still facing him. Perhaps she was starting to calm down a bit. An idea rooted itself in his head when he noticed she was trying to hunch over, frustrated about keeping her book dry.

When the water droplets stopped falling over Tsubaki, she halted her trek and looked up. Ragna caught up to her and lifted one side of his heavy red coat over her body. She stared up in shock, forgetting that she was miffed with him. "Ragna?"

Now, he had been drenched to his skin. His white hair fell down in a moist mess, and his coat and shirt and pants pressed to his skin. He looked down at her smiled when he saw that she was minimally wet. He spoke softly, blushing at their closeness. "Hey, I'm sorry alright. But don't walk away from me fast. That book is important to you, yeah?"

His left arm, still holding his coat over her, inched closer to her side until he pulled her up against him. It was a soft embrace, a stark contrast to his playful grip earlier.

While his arm around her pressed her to him, Tsubaki felt more warmth inside. Her stomach felt like it housed butterflies. Tsubaki shared his blush and smile. She snuggled closer to his side for more contact. Such a gentleman, maybe his tact has hope. "Thank you very much."

They walked together, the lights of the building getting brighter. "Sure. Now, let's get you inside. It would ruin my sleep if you got sick."

His last sentence earned him an elbow to the ribs. It was playful, but he still grunted at the impact. "I-I'm not a child! ...And I'm more worried about you, with what how drenched you are getting."

Author's Note: So, been a while since I wrote on here. Sorry about that. It's mainly because I'm more active on my Deviantart account (under the same username if you're interested) and stuff in life. Another thing, I have a poll up and running regarding a new story I'm planning out. I have the general plot already in plan, and even have ideas for the ending. Thank you, and until next time.