A/N: And here comes the final chapter to this incredibly short series. I thank everyone for reading and bearing with my slow updates so far. A special thanks goes to the people who reviewed and added this to their favourites. You guys don't know how much that encouraged me with my writing. Now without further ado, I present to you the final chapter, which is almost 4K words! *does a little happy dance*
Simply Complex
Chapter Six
"Huh?" Already a distance from the pier, Ragna looked over his shoulder when a voice called out his name. The blonde-haired lieutenant stopped in her sprint the moment she reached the man in the striking red jacket.
"Oh, it's you..." Ragna acknowledged her presence with a begrudging sigh. "What do you want?"
Choosing to ignore the curt tone of his question, Noel smiled sheepishly, though urged herself in attempting to keep eye contact. "I...um, what was I going to say...? Oh yeah, I wanted to thank you. For rescuing me. Who knows what could have happened to me if you didn't show. So thank you!"
"Er ... Okaaay," managed Ragna, with little effort. Noticeably awkward, he reflected on the strangeness of having the lieutenant sent to capture him come up and give her thanks in a trail of incoherent mumbles. Either it was a really odd day, or she was a really odd girl. He vouched for the latter.
Nevertheless, Ragna shrugged offhandedly, completely disregarding the fact that she was fidgeting under the discomfited silence from his lack of response. "Your welcome, I guess."
And with that, he wasted no further time and turned on his heel, carrying on his own way.
Noel blinked at his retreating back before she involuntarily jerked forward, her mind urging herself to carry out a quickly formulated plan. "W-wait!" she called out, causing him to pause in step.
Holding in a sigh of annoyance, Ragna quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "Is there anything else you wanted?" he inquired, his expression as pokerfaced as usual.
This made her determination sway in slight hesitation. "I... Uhh..." Noel averted her eyes for a split second, fumbling for the right words. She could see that he was irritated, but in all honesty, his mood was the very least of her worries.
What she worried about was her tenacious habit to stutter making a return and possibly humiliating her even further than what she was soon to say. Deciding not to put it off any further, she snapped her gaze up at him and blurted; "Do you want to go get some ice-cream?"
Surprisingly, that came across quite clearly.
What Ragna heard was probably at the very bottom of the list of things he expected the anxious blonde to ask. Although he was unsure of what it was he expected in the first place, he was as sure as hell that it was definitely not what she just said!
He looked down at the young lady with his eyebrows raised, somewhat startled. "Come again?"
Noel pursed her lips at this brusque remark. She knew he'd be surprised and she already felt nervous about what his answer may be, though did he really expect her to ask that humiliating question again...? She looked at him again to see if this was right. Judging by his expectant gaze, she affirmed that he did.
Halfheartedly, with uneasiness rushing to her cheeks in the form of a blush, Noel compelled herself to repeat the question. "D-do you want to get some ice-cream with me?"
She sighed inwardly. There was that stutter she was thinking about earlier...
Ragna let her words settle, noticing that she looked self-conscious at having to repeat herself. She was not even looking him in the eye anymore. Evens so, he had to ask, "Isn't it usually the guy who asks the gir-"
"No-no-no-no it's not like that!" Noel stopped him right there with wide eyes as she waved her arms in front of her, her face flushing brightly at his assumption. That was quite embarrassing for her to hear, so she objected. "It's not like that at all!"
"Then what?" Ragna asked, cocking an eyebrow at her alarmed tone. The reason why he was still hanging around was because he could already see by the gauche gleam in her eyes that she was currently too distracted to set the chase again.
Though it was annoying when she got all loud like that, he was honestly curious to know what was going on in this girl's mind. It...intrigued him to say the least. God, now he was starting to sound like that stupid Rabbit.
Oblivious to his thoughts, Noel shied away at his tone. Had she asked in the wrong way...?
She decided to elaborate, lest he got the wrong idea. "You see... The reason why I asked is because, I wanted to treat you to something," she started, nodding at her words, feeling relieved that they came out coherently. "As a token of my appreciation."
Her reasoning didn't sound the least bit solid. To be honest, Ragna thought it was suspicious. It was one heck of a mixed up, role-reversal day...
Even if she she seemed genuine enough, he still had to make sure, "Is that all?"
"That's all," she answered innocently, clutching her hands in front of her. She looked at him from under her bangs. "What else were you expecting?"
"You're not going to arrest me when I'm off guard?"
This made the diligent soldier in Noel rouse to shoot out a tensed, "D-don't get me wrong, I still have a mission to complete!" She simmered down. "...But in this case, it wouldn't make much of a difference."
Ragna appeared to take a moment to mull this over. At least, that was what Noel persuaded to herself. She liked to believe that the look he gave her was a contemplating one and not a puzzled, taunting smirk.
"Well..." he relented with an amused smirk. "If you're gonna pay then I guess a little ice-cream wouldn't hurt."
Noel's anxious smile beamed with uncontained enthusiasm.
"Your wanted posters are all over the city." The blonde haired young lady informed the white-haired man, unaware of the sarcasm used previously when the clerk spluttered his name in astonishment and he snippily responded to with a curt. "Looks like I'm more renowned than I thought."
Ragna looked at Noel with rising incredulity. "You're really telling me that I look like that? I was beginning to think you guys were mistaken," he announced, disbelievingly.
"Our very best artist drew that!" Noel defended, staring at Ragna with her delicate fingers wrapped around the covering serviette of the cone she had just received.
"Yeah, your very best artist is a c-" he was broken out of his retort when a caramel ice-cream cone rapidly neared his face.
Ragna and Noel had approached the nearest swirly cone stand, minutes ago, and had gotten lost in a conversation that was speedily inclining to an argument. But thank heavens for the clerk's good timing, because the swirly cone shoved to Ragna's face instantly distracted him.
The balding clerk nodded jovially, but by the apprehension in his eyes anyone could see he was in a hurry for the two of them to leave. And voice his opinion; the scrawny clerk did, "H-here. Now please, go away."
"That's some shitty customer service you got there," Ragna drawled languidly, clearly unimpressed.
"Service suitable for the Grim Rea-!"
"Thank you very much, sir!" Noel slapped some money toward the man, preemptively shutting him from his come back.
Partially distracted by the payment, the clerk's hardened glare dissipated as he ran his fingers in count of the notes.
Noel gently coaxed Ragna to follow her and let the man be. "Come one, let's go over there," she pointed to the far side, where a curved area overlooked the ocean.
Ragna followed, shaking his head. "I wasn't gonna waste my time on a wimp like him, anyway..." he uttered under his breath in defense of his pride and Noel couldn't help but roll her eyes.
The two of them stepped up to the elevated platform. While Ragna leaned his elbows against the railing, delightedly slapping the ice-cream with his tongue; Noel stood next to him and looked out at the vast waters that made up the blue-green ocean.
The sky reddened slightly as the gulls squawked by, bringing sound to the taciturn silence which steadily befell them. Well, apart from Ragna's approving nods and "mmhmm"s every now and then as he devoured his ice cream.
Noel marveled at sun as it made its unhurried descent in the horizon, the orange-red rays reflecting off the blue of the sea, causing the mass of water to glisten . "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Ragna's attention was directed to the blonde, who had slight awe in her voice. He followed her gaze out to the ocean. "If you're the nature-y type, I guess."
Ceasing a frown at the various possibilities of his blunt response, Noel looked at Ragna with an affable smile which soon turned into an inaudible giggle. She graced him with a more cheery smile, this being because an unaware Ragna had a dab of ice-cream on his chin as he unknowingly proceeded to ignore her and lap up a dribble of ice-cream which began melting.
Noel couldn't help but note how adorable that looked. She tilted her head, observing his eating mannerisms, and then she noticed something.
"...What are you doing?" Ragna asked slowly, his brows quirked upward at the peculiar blonde who was bent down level to his hands.
Her eyebrows were pulled tightly together during her intent stare. "You eat with your left hand..."
"Yes. So...?"
Straightening up, Noel shook her head, revealing that no offense was intended with that. "It's just that most people normally eat with their right, so I was a bit ... intrigued."
She really was a weird one, Ragna decided, calming from his tensed posture. "Some people are just different than most. It's called individuality, if you didn't know." With his nonchalant shrug, he shifted his gaze back towards the ocean.
Noel leaned over the railing as well, careful not to loose her balance and unintentionally hurl herself to the waters. Her following chuckle gauged a quirked eyebrow in response.
Ragna discarded the serviette seeing that his cone was already finished; then he pushed himself away from the railing, giving the blonde an odd look. "What's up?"
He was seriously beginning to question the mental state of this chick.
"You just reminded me of a friend," Noel laughed, looking nostalgic. "She always used to be so defensive about individuality."
"Was she a beast-kin?"
Noel blinked, letting out a small gasp which traitorously escaped. She stared at Ragna, unsure if what she felt right then was amazement or bewilderment. "H-how did you know?"
Ragna shook his head, smirking at her blatant astonishment. He could imagine thats he was wondering if he was a mind-reader or something like that. "Just a guess," he answered casually. "Ordinary people wouldn't be so tense about individuality. They almost never get judged."
Noel stared at him for a moment. He hadn't used the word 'Normal people'. Smiling grimly, she uttered, "My friend used to get judged a lot by people. Not as who she was as a person, but by her appearance. I didn't like seeing that happen to her..."
"Appearance doesn't matter," the white-haired man scowled, giving the blonde an impression that he was slighted by such opinions. "There's nothing wrong with being a little different. . ."
Noel gave him a sidelong glance, noting his tone and expression as he said that. She felt a new and forbidden sense of admiration for him.
A memory flickered at the back of her mind. Back when she was at the Military Academy, Tsubaki and Makoto took her out one afternoon.
The three girls noticed Jin sitting at the pier all alone and Makoto bounced up to him in her usual out-going fashion. Somehow it ended up with all four of them having ice-cream together and watching the sunset. But then some students walked by and snickered at Makoto for sitting with them at a table, passing off rude remarks. It ruined the whole relaxed mood after Makoto had just gotten rid of any awkward vibes from invading in on Jin.
Even though Tsubaki scowled and said to ignore their immaturity, Jin sat up and walked over to them. "There's nothing wrong with being different," he had told them plainly.
That was one of the few times Noel had seen Jin stick up for a friend. That was one of the times she realized that he was not as cold and uncaring as he made it out to be, yet even with those realizations she hadn't dared approach him...
But she was sure it was all a front. Same as Ragna right now. This insensible attitude, carelessness, hardness, it all had to be a front.
"Hellooo. Anyone home?"
"Neeh!" Noel squeaked, stepping back. She sighed when her mind belatedly realized that the hand waving before her face belonged to a now startled Ragna. With her fist clutched to her chest in attempt to steady her rapid heart beat, she heaved a breath of relief. "You...you frightened me."
"For an NOL officer, you're pretty easy to frighten." Ragna commented, dropping his hand and chuckling at her meek reproach.
Noel pouted, acknowledging his mocking tone. "I spaced out..." she admitted.
Ragna nodded in a half-shrug before putting in, "You did have this weird faraway look in your eyes."
"You just reminded me of someone." Noel felt the need clarify that she wasn't weird before his opinion ranked her as odd -which he initially did- though not to her knowledge.
"Another friend?" Ragna easily deduced, without looking at her for confirmation.
Noel immediately faltered in her answer. She frowned softly, though tried to keep her expression relaxed. "I thought he was," she stated dolefully.
"Well you sound like you've had a pretty drama filled life." Ragna simply observed, going back to gaze across the sea with a mask of disinterest.
Noel sniggered uneasily, embarrassed. "Here I am reminiscing about my past, when I know absolutely nothing about you. Well, except that you're a rebel against the Librarium, you've got the largest bounty on your head, and you destroy all our branches without motive," listed Noel, though the topic was strangely easygoing and not as tense as she would have imagined otherwise.
"Hey, I'm not the one who told you to spill your heart out," Ragna mentioned with not tact whatsoever, crossing his arms behind his head before heedlessly resting his head thereon.
"But, you're so easy to talk to. For some reason..." Noel continued unceasingly. She was now determined to pin the topic of conversation on him.
Perhaps this way she could even learn of the motive behind his actions, and try to reason with him. He may have had a stubborn outlook, but he was considerate enough to engage in a conversation this far. He wasn't as bad as he seemed. Well... those were her current thoughts about him.
Though she knew very well that accumulating such hopes would only make potential disappointment all the more depressing if he did in fact turn out to be a cold-hearted destructive villain. She couldn't help but doubt that though, he was starting to grow on her whether she permitted it or not.
"Yeah," Ragna wryly scoffed his reply. "Even if you're the one doing most of the talking."
"It's just. You seem to act all gruff, but...there's more to you than just that. I know so, because you saved me." Noel pensively carried on, unaware that it was intended as a light jab. "If you'd have been as callous as any other criminal, you would have left me injured. So that's more proof that you're a good guy."
Ragna stared at her, his gaze softened. He quickly composed himself. "...Who said I didn't consider it?" was the brisk retort as he let his arms down. Why was she so bent on summing up his persona like that? It was suspicious to say the least, and also irritating...
Noel furrowed her brows at the glare she received. "See, there you are acting like a jerk again, but just a moment ago you actually seemed like a nice guy!" she protested, her mind confounded by his volatile nature.
"Why the hell are we talking about me again?" Ragna groaned his frustration, before slumping over the railing as if giving up. As far as this argument was going, he was defeated. And he was a sore loser about it when he sighed, "This is such a waste..."
"I don't get it..." Disregarding his child-like grumbling, Noel expressed her thoughts. "Why do you act like such a stupid, idiotic, highly annoying jerk, when being nice comes so easily to you?"
Ragna turned his head to look at her, offended, insulted and confused. She had somehow found a way top mix an insult and a compliment all in one sentence.
"Who are you calling a stupi-!" His jab was countered by a raised hand, signaling that she was not quite done yet.
With an unheard sigh, he listened as she continued, this time in a softer tone. "What I meant was, that there's more to you then what meets the eye Ragna. There's more to who you are than what you let on."
Silence reined for a few moments as Noel's good-natured words conveyed her overall view of him. Ragna's mind digested this unpredicted claim, noting the goodwill in it.
Was Blondie unknowingly naïve or just stupid? He couldn't tell.
Was Ragna upset that she'd spoken her mind? Had she said too much? Noel couldn't tell.
The two stared at each other, their thoughts both ranging on the matter.
"Squwaah," A seagull squawked somewhere in the distance, comically breaking the silence.
"Hey, you gonna eat that?" Ragna finally asked. His tone of voice was friendlier this time, and he lowered his gaze to her hands to point out what he was talking about.
Noel made a confused face. Right then and there, she stopped in her staring and realized that she hadn't been eating her ice-cream apart from nipping the top swirl off. She frowned. And it was her favourite flavour too...
"Here," she went, readily handing the ice-cream cone to Ragna with a polite smile, seeing that he really seemed to like it since he stuffed his face the moment he got his.
Shamelessly accepting the treat, Ragna gulped the ice-cream down in no less than a minute causing Noel to gawk, entirely awed.
Rubbing the sleeve of his wrist over his mouth, Ragna straightened up his posture, sidestepping Noel. "That was delicious, thanks."
"Oh, you're welc- Hey wait!" Noel swung around, breaking out of her smile and throwing her hand out to grip onto his forearm before he could take leave.
Halted in his obscure escape, Ragna sighed, feeling her firm grip on his arm. "What now?"
Composing herself, Noel let both her hands rest at her sides. "I... You said yourself that you saved me twice. I only made it up to you once now," she pointed out informatively, with an assenting nod to herself.
Ragna's eyebrows arced in astonishment, his mouth involuntarily opening as well. Was she for real?
"So...what? You gonna treat me to a gourmet meal?" he presumed teasingly; though he wouldn't exactly put it pass her.
She was, after all unpredictable, completely mind boggling... yet surprisingly cute seeing that's she was suddenly blushing, her lips pursed. Now Ragna was really curious, so he waited patiently for what she had to say.
Noel braced the butterflies in her stomach, feeling a tingly sensation rushing up from her stomach to her cheeks. She stepped forward, but with the grace and elegance usually associated to a sack of concrete, she felt herself trip in an unplanned lunge, sending Ragna in a half stumble.
Ragna blinked. Unwillingly, his complexion betrayed his manliness and he felt himself blushing scarlet. He was frozen in place and the only part of him moving was his eyes which flickered slightly.
Noel ripped herself away and lowered her glance from a shocked Ragna to the floor. She tentatively touched her quivering lips. Suddenly the floor looked a whole lot more appealing. She didn't know how he would react. Her reaction couldn't even be put into words properly.
This wasn't what she intended!
She only planned to give him a small, thankful, peck on the cheek! She didn't even know what sudden rush compelled her to do that in the first place, to lightly peck the SS class criminal's cheek, but now, that sudden impulse went even farther than she had originally thought. She would have let out an uncharacteristic curse at the floor that was to blame for this accident, if her brain could properly function.
"W...well..." Ragna gulped, hastening his pokerfaced self to return, to no avail. He tried again, clearing his throat. "Uh..."
Maybe he couldn't fully compose himself; his mind was still trying to grasp what the hell just happened. He looked upon the blonde lady, her head bowed and her face concealed by her hair, as if she was desperately pleading that the ground to swallow her up immediately.
The blonde's expression reddened violently as she braved herself to raise her eyes and look at his face. To her surprise, he was blushing slightly.
She took a steady step forward, making threads of rushing thoughts tangle in the young man's mind. He had no clue what she would do next and blushed even deeper at the thought.
Noel lifted her head, her blush steadily dissipated and her emerald eyes loosed their sparkle, now gleaming boldly. "Now Ragna, you are under arrest."
Ragna's eyes widened. That was unexpected. "What the...?"
A gunfire shot and he narrowly dodged a bullet hurtling towards his foot. Regaining balance, he stared at Noel, appalled, shocked, bewildered.
"What, are you stupid?!" he managed unbelievably, simply unable to grasp the complex mechanics of this girl's mind.
Noel pouted, offended by this. She lifted her pistols, assuming a reflexive battle stance. "Don't call me stupid, and, turn yourself in!"
"Wh-what the hell!?" The man in red tilted sideward in a step back, dodging an incoming bullet that missed his shoulder. This was unbelievable. What the hell was going on today?
Without further comment, Ragna darted in the direction out of the port, giving up in the impossible attempt to figure this woman out.
With a determined expression, Noel broke off in a run, hot on his trail, even though the slightest of blushes surfaced through her dutiful impression.
Gunfire's, jabs and incredulous squawking echoed through the Port area of Kagutsuchi. Vendors desperately awaiting customers wondered what the commotion was about, as well as the few dispersed people occupying the seaport.
Everyone paused in their business and lifted their head, picking up more yelps, commands and gun shots which drifted in the air.
The sounds faded away as the two figures, clad in red and blue, departed the port in an unwavering chase.
A blonde haired girl with delicate, juvenile features stepped out of a swirling void and onto the presently vacant platform. The ribbons holding up her parted hair, waved in the light sea breeze.
She lifted her head, her narrowed crimson eyes discerning two figures animatedly leaving the area, their forms silhouetted by the fading rays as the sun bade the world goodbye.
A gunshot, a yelp, an exasperated, "Are you crazy?" followed by a commanding, "Turn yourself in right now, Ragna the Bloodedge!" and a drained, "Why do you always have to yell my full name?!" faded out of hearing range.
The faintest of amused smiles appeared on the mysterious young lady's impassive expression. "And so the chase continues..."
A/N: I hope it was an enjoyable last chapter! I'm thinking about doing a continuation, though whether it is released as an extension to this or a follow up series all depends. As a potential spoiler, it might include another major pairing. The epilogue I'll release might enlighten you more. Though I can't guarantee that the sequel be uploaded anytime soon, if I decide to write it that is.
For now, I'd like to focus on my main story which hasn't been updated in a month. Or more, if I'm miscounting. So I'll be working on that again. Well, adieu, and thank you for taking the time to read this story!