A/N: This is not my usual pace. It must mean that this story is on a roll! Which is good for BlazBlue readers but bad for my Tales of Vesperia muse. Anyhoo, here is the fourth one-shot. Thanks for the supportive reviews everyone!

Simply Complex

Chapter Four

Approximately two hours passed since Tao dragged Noel through the marketplace, both of them getting distracted by various trinkets and goods at times. Though the one that zoned out and got distracted far more quicker than Noel was the frivolous Taokaka.

"Um, Tao...we're supposed to be looking around. Not throwing darts." Noel cared to mentioned.

"They're daggers! Very rare and expensive daggers! You don't get slade-metal slender-bladed daggers brandished in this part of the world! Daggers! You hear?" the merchant peevishly corrected, causing Noel to flinch at the volume of his voice.

She flinched all the more when she had to wipe the resulting spit off of her face.

And very well indeed, Noel Vermillion and Taokaka were standing before a booth that awarded an unlimited food brochure to whoever hit the center of the dartboard. All you had to do, after winning, was turn the leaflet in for a buffet at the Chow Restaurant.

When Noel explained this to the curious kaka girl, Tao would not let the opportunity slip, and that proved as a severe distraction.

"Meow? Think of it this way lacking lady, if Tao wins, you don't have to pay me for helping you!"

"But..." Noel trailed off hopelessly. As far as she could say, Tao wasn't particularly helping... She was in fact doing the exact opposite, but the blonde couldn't find it in her to deprive the Kaka of her fun.

Tao swung her arm back and then threw the last dagger, narrowly skewering the merchant's ear.

What Noel couldn't understand was how the kaka girl could play this game since she had paws instead of hands with fingers. It baffled her completely how Tao managed to get a grip on the daggers, which is the main reason why Noel stayed to watch.

"You're all outta turns. Try again next time, cat-kid." the merchant crustily said, retrieving the last dart.

Noel blinked, breaking out of her daze to realize that she had spaced out and missed another round of the game.

"Meow? There's gotta be something wrong with your arrow-thingies! You're cheatin' moustache-man!" Taokaka protested, leaning over the counter and looking around in the small booth in inspection.

The man jabbered to himself, flabbergasted by the name she called him. He swayed his arms angrily. "There's nothing wrong with my goods, kid. Get outta here or pay for another round!"

Before Tao could even ask, Noel dug her hand in her pocket and handed the competitive Kaka some money. At this rate she would have nothing left by the end of the day...

"Tao, this is your last try, after that-" Noel started, but the kaka girl flippantly waved a paw, cutting her off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" she said, then steadied her posture, crouching and keeping her eyes on the red circled target. Tao drew in a breath, fully prepared now. Noel watched intently while Tao threw the five darts one by one and missed each time, the last dart pricked an inch away from target.

Noel saw the merchant leaning back with his arms crossed and his mouth stretched in a smug smirk at the sight of the grumbling kaka. Unsuspectingly, she tightened the grip on one of her pistols.

BANG!

After the loud noise, and a few shouts from civilians including the vendor himself, a narrow hole appeared right in the center of the target, shooting right through the circular wooden board itself.

Tao jumped up and down and cheered ecstatically. "W-h-h-h-hoa!" she breathed, grinning broadly. "That was awesoooooome! You go Lacking Lady!"

Noel smiled at the giddy kaka girl who clutched her arm in an excited squeeze. "...Please, sir, would you be kind enough to award us our prize now?" she asked civilly, nodding towards the gawking man as she lowered her pistol.

The man stammered behind the counter, flailing his fists threateningly. "That's cheating; you're not getting the prize! You were supposed to use the darts-I mean daggers! Plus, you damaged my equipment! I'm going to press charges against you! Both of you!"

"Ah!" Noel blinked down at the grubby finger insultingly jabbed at her collarbone. She looked around her, realizing that the sudden murmurings was of a small crowd who stopped to watch this commotion.

"...Excuse me?" She straightened her back, passing off her shrunken appearance, and took as bold a step forward that she could manage. She kept her gaze firm. "Do you have any idea who you're threatening? I'll have you arrested for public persecution and the slandering of an NOL officer!"

The merchant's posture stooped slightly as he fully regarded the blonde soldier, timely noticing the gold badge which flashed when a ray of sunlight hit it."Y-you, you're from the Library?" he stammered, at a loss for words.

Noel kept up her authoritative font, regardless of the uneasy feeling niggling inside her. This was not abuse of power... this was for the good of her mission! She kept that trail on thought in mind as a persuasion to ease her guilt.

"Take the prize, please, take it!" He shoved the thin leaflet in her hand and took a shaky step back. His pride drastically seeped with the words that came out next. "I humbly apologize, Miss Cat."

"That's Mizz Taokaka, to you! Meow!" Tao pressed on, holding her head high so that man cowered below her red-eyed gaze, regardless of her joyful grin.

Noel turned around and handed the leaflet to Tao. "...Here. This is your payment. Now, can we look around properly this time?"

Marveling at the glossy piece of paper, Tao paused in step when they began walking. "Uhhh...who are we looking for again?" she asked, tilting her head.

Noel's mouth dropped open. "Eh? Y-you mean to tell me you...don't know?" she stuttered incredulously.

"Uh, Lacking Lady didn't tell," Tao matter-of-factly pointed out, and to Noel's embarrassment, she was right.

"Aaagh," Noel couldn't stop the small groan from escaping her. Pushing through, she decided to describe Ragna as best she could.

"W-well...this man wears an old-fashioned red jacket; he's about this tall and has spiky white hair," she explained, hoping to gauge recognition in the kaka's eyes. "...Actually, when I think about it in this way, he looks kind of like an albino hedgehog. In red!"

Their slow walk came to a stop by the exact spot where they initially started out the fruitless search. "Hmmm," Tao made a pondering sound, glancing off to the side. Her ears immediately perked up and she grinned. "Ooooooh! You mean the Good Guy who looks kinda stupid? He went that way!"

Noel looked in the direction Tao thrusted her arm in, feeling beyond flabbergasted.

So Tao knew all this time!

However, Noel's optimism was far more stronger than her lamenting. This was the first form of straightforward information that she received since the start of her mission. Despite the time wasted, maybe things would work out simply today!

She smiled brightly and waved a pistol as she dashed down the road. "Thank you, Tao!"

The Port stood near the blue sea, which stretched almost never ending and competed against the clear sky to touch the horizon. The sea breeze billowed the blonde wisps of Noel's hair as she chased after her cap, which blew right off and swept across the paved floor.

"Got you!" she puffed, catching the cap between her two pistols.

She replaced the cap on her head, making sure it sat tight and firm. "Okay, now to find Ragna."

Her green eyes scanned the near area, hoping to discern any color of red, which should have been easy because of all the blue.

Down by the harbor was a well-paved open deck with boats lining the bridge. The space was minimally occupied by sailors, crates, barrels and squawking seagulls. A few civilians walked by, but other than that, the area was fairly empty.

Noel sighed softly; leaning against the railing of the upper platform she stood on. She would have to ask questions again. This time her determination sunk, sailors weren't the most polite and decent of men, she once heard.

Her stomach growled, protesting for attention. Noel looked over her shoulder and gave a relieved sigh, she was glad no one was around to hear that. "Oh... I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast. Yesterday."

She noticed a nearby stand, where the vendor looked to be selling rolls.

"A few minutes break wouldn't make a difference, right ...?" she convinced herself, making her way to the section where foods were sold.

After checking her leather purse for her spare keep of money, Noel purchased a delicious sandwich from a small outlet. Having eaten the delicious meal, she mustered up her confidence and navigated her way to the harbor where the ships and fishing boats were neatly kept, bobbing up and down in the waves.

The harbor was fairly empty and the only people in sight were a huddle of sailor sitting outside the walkboard of their ship. She approached them. "Excuse me, Sirs?"

The sailors continued blabbering amongst each other and two slammed their fists on the wooden table either in laughter at their wins or at their failure when they played the wrong cards. Unhearing of the soldier's repeated request, they continued their slurred jabber.

Noel pursed her lips for a moment, thinking about what to do. She decided to try again though had no acknowledgement once more. She narrowed her eyes, lifted her pistols and shot at the ground near the leg of the table.

"Waaah!"

"Huwarr!"

"Haaah!"

"Gyahh!"

Were the multiple shouts when the sailors were made aware of the multiple bullets clinking at their feet, almost shooting through them!

"What the hell?"

"Whaddaya want?"

"Grrrr."

Noel blinked at the one sailor's growl. All of them wore typical blue-and-white sailor garb and she noticed more than one man had a scar at some or other part of their faces. Their hands were large and callous of work and inked tattoos decorated the bulky arms of the muscular ones. Only the skinny sailor was not marked by a tattoo, save for a vivid birthmark below his eye and a black pimple in the midst of his faded moustache.

She stopped herself from pulling a face. They were definitely not the lookers.

Nole decided to keep up her imposing front, feeling intimidated by the looks they gave her as their eyes travelled up and down her soft figure.

"Uh... now that I have your attention. Have any of you seen the SS-criminal, Ragna the Bloodedge, also known as the Grim Reaper, in this area?" she bravely questioned, keeping her voice fairly steady.

"Why don't you come over here and I'll tell ya, sweet cheeks," the scrawny one slurred, his voice was surprisingly deep.

"W-what did you call me?" she exclaimed, pointing her gun at the chubby sailor who nudged the muscular one with a nod. One of the others mocked her voice and an outbreak of roaring laughter aroused between the four sailors at her offended expression.

"...Why aren't they taking me seriously?" she wondered to herself, her eyes darting uncertainly between each of them. She didn't know why they leered at her and poked fun at her defensive stance. But there was one thing she was certainly aware of. Their inebriated eyes held dark intentions.

Ragna scowled, staggering forward when sudden ground stabled below his feet. "That damned rabbit!" he cussed, holding a hand to his forehead when his vision blurred.

So she summoned him just to give him riddled nonsense and then after pointlessly fighting, she dumped him wherever the hell he was. Frowning bitterly, he turned in the opposite direction which led out of the Port area. "That stupid vampire, she's gotta learn to mind her own damn business."

A commotion of gunshots firing resonated along with incoherent jabber. Ragna kept on walking.

Brute laughter bellowed. Ragna kept on walking.

More gunshots. Ragna kept on walking.

A panicked shout. Ragna paused in his step.

That one voice coaxed him to look over his shoulder. Elevated on the top platform, he noticed a certain soldier down by the harbor. Her blonde hair waved in the breeze as she shot at the four gruff men circling in on her. A fifth neared deviously from behind.

"The hell is going on down there?"

"S-stay back!" Noel warned, feet planted firmly in the ground despite her mind's plead for her to step back. The sailors only laughed at her audacity and made snide, lewd remarks which made the lieutenant's complexion redden. "...I'm... I'm warning you! I'll arrest you if you continue with this!"

They paid her warnings no heed and slapped her shoulders, causing her to buckle to the side. Noel decided it was best to leave; this wasn't going to get her anywhere. With this intention in mind, she hurriedly backed away; shooting at their feet to keep them at bay.

"Hyeeeeeeeeh!" Somehow, her arms were pulled back forcefully and Bolverk limply inclined in her weakening grasp. The sailors snorted as she riotously struggled, and in her shrill voice, commanded them to let her go. Noel tried to keep her gaze hard. Desperately gathering all her will power, she forced herself not to yield to the tears harboring in her eyes as she summoned up her voice.

A/N: Well would you look at that, a sad attempt at a little cliffie. Poor Noel. Although I'm empathizing with her, I can't help but chuckle evilly to myself. This is sort of the climax, so you can probably imagine what's coming next.

I figured the theme song for this series could either be Intabyua by Mengurine Luka or Starry Heavens from the game Tales of Symphonia. I can't remember who the artist/band is. :3 These two songs are kind of at a tie at the moment, but I think I'll go with Starry Heavens for now.

If you want a Ragna blow-up doll to do with whatever you please, then do not hesitate to review for I'll throw in ... a block of cheese? To translate: Please Review.