Hello, world! I don't know what to call this chapter, so I just randomly put a tittle.

CHP 7: A New Friend

It was the tenth bell of the day and Azure was seen waiting for Lag in front of the Bee Hive as promised. She was wearing a white short sleeves t-shirt with a pair of brown shorts. She wore her favourite sneakers and long white socks. She also tied her hair into a pony tail on her left. Excallibur was with her as always.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Lag called out.

The girl shook her head and replied, "I just got here myself."

She looked at how plainly Lag was dressed. He was wearing his Letter Bee pants with a white long sleeves shirt. He smiled at the girl.

"Well, let's get going," he said.

Azure nodded. They walked side by side. Lag told her that Niche was at home, preparing something for her to eat. Azure smiled at what he said. She looked around when they had entered the road to Sylvette and Lag's house. The road to their house was not that lively because most of the dwellers prefer to stay in their houses. The houses were perfectly lined up side by side. Sylvette's house was the fifth one from where they had started walking. As he opened the door, Niche charged in at Azure.

"Azu!" she called, grinning.

Azure patted the Maka's head with a smile. "Hello, Niche," she said.

"So you're Azure that Lag has been talking about," an uncommon voice was heard.

Azure stood straight at the front door as she glanced up to Lag. A girl about her age, on a wheelchair, approached her. She had long silver hair and cerulean eyes. Her hair was tied into a pony tail. She was wearing a pink dress that was covered with a white apron. She wheeled her way towards Azure and held the girl's hands in hers. Excallibur stared at the Sylvette, making a decision whether to trust her or not.

"I'm gonna have lots of fun talking to you! Come! I've prepared some snacks for you in the kitchen," the lively girl said.

"I guess we'll be heading upstairs," Lag announced, scratching his head, "I don't wanna join in your 'girl talks'."

"That'd be nice," Sylvette agreed without a second thought.

"Niche stay with Azu!" the petite Maka exclaimed.

"You can tag along if you want..." Sylvette muttered, annoyed.

The three made their way to the kitchen while Lag went upstairs. Excallibur was loyally at Azure's feet. Azure was served with a glass of milk tea. There was a basket full of all kinds of bread on the table too. Sylvette said that her soup was just about ready. Niche sat on the floor with Excallibur, talking to him as if they were old friends. She watched as the girl on the wheelchair stirred her soup. Soon she poured some into three bowls. Then she served them on the table.

"I didn't know there were another albisian around here..." she said, taking a bun from the basket.

Azure took a sip of the tea before replying, "Oh no...I was coincidently born on the Day of the Flicker..."

"I see..." Sylvette muttered, resting her chin on both of her hands.

Azure stared nervously at the soup. She remembered about Niche's comment on the soup. She took a spoonful, gulping as she did. She quickly swallowed it in one go. It was as Niche had said, pukey.

"T-This is good..." she drawled nervously when the girl in front of her asked about it.

"Thank you. Lag and Niche love it too," she said.

"Niche don't like!" Niche shouted from on the floor.

Azure chuckled. Sylvette gave a stern look towards Niche. The Maka puffed her cheeks and then, whispered something to Excallibur.

"So Azure, how is work? I mean, you're working as a Letter Bee just like Lag...and you had to wear a skirt..." Sylvette asked.

"Well...the skirt part is kinda annoying since I can't jump around too much. My work is...doing great I guess. One time, I was caught in an accident and had to take a few months off," Azure told her stories.

"Oh, that was when Lag begged me to look after you!" the girl remembered.

Azure nodded. She said that there were only four female letter bees and the others were all male ones which were around 14 to 25 years old. Azure tried her best to finish Sylvette's soup as they talked. There was a long pause before Sylvette asked another question.

"So...is there any boy you're interested in particular?" she asked.

Azure almost choked her tea. "B-Boy?! No...no...no one in particular," she replied in a stutter.

Smirking, the girl teased, "Really? Because I heard you met a certain someone before you even start working as a bee."

"Sylvette, Zazie is a pervert and an annoying guy I met in Sinner's Bread and Weaponry!" Azure exclaimed.

"I never mentioned the boy's name..." Sylvette hummed a tune.

Azure sighed. She took a bun and gobbled it down in a flash. Sylvette poured herself the third glass of tea.

"He's a pretty good guy, Azure. Just get to know him...I mean, Lag did tell me that he looked after you..." she said, sipping her tea.

"I guess..." Azure replied.

The thirteenth bell rang. Sylvette said that she had to start cooking lunch as Niche was complaining that she was hungry. Azure excused herself after helping Sylvette with the dishes. She declined the offer to stay for lunch as she had work at Sinner's.

"It was nice talking to you. I hope to see you soon, Azure!" Sylvette said, beaming.

Azure nodded. Excallibur bowed by nodding his head. They exited the house and made their way back to the plaza. Noticing that Excallbur was being alert, she asked him what was wrong. Out of nowhere, Wasiolka jumped in front them. Azure's heart missed a beat. She stared at the dark blue panther. The panther looked tired out of running.

"Come back here, Wasiolka! Take your bath!" a familiar voice was heard.

"I was just about to thank the Goddess because I haven't seen him today," the girl sighed.

Wasiolka hid behind Azure, as if the girl could protect her from her master. Zazie soon came to view. He tried to catch his breath while Azure stared with an annoyed face. He stood up straight to face her and demanded for her to hand over Wasiolka.

"Why does she hate taking a bath? Are you forcing her?" was all she replied.

"I am not! She's usually obedient..." Zazie mumbled.

"You're a really bad master..." Azure remarked.

"You're one to talk!" the guy replied.

Azure glared at him with her hands on her waist. "Well! My Ecallibur is really obedient when it comes to hygiene! He never not wash himself!" she exclaimed angrily.

"Really?" Zazie asked.

"Yeah!" she replied.

They glared at each other, Azure fisting her hands and Zazie folding his arms in front of his chest.


"Now, now, Wasiolka...there's no need to be afraid. I'll be gentle," Azure said as she got a pail of lukewarm water.

Zaze watched from the bathroom door as his panther listened to hers. Wasiloka inched herself closer to Azure. They ended up at the Sinner's because Zazie kept on doubting how well Azure can give a panther its bath. She decided to show him the right way to do it. She refused to go to his house and refused to use hers, so they asked Jacob and his wife a favour. The two didn't refuse as Azure had been helping out a lot around the shop that they could not thank her enough. Sandra was watching from the front of the shop.

"I don't get those kids...they don't seem to like each other...yet they always result into something like this..." Sandra sighed.

Jacob, who was playing around at his work place, laughed. "You should leave them alone. They're still kids! Besides, they are colleagues to begin with," he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Zazie watched as Azure asked Wasiolka to shut her eyes as she poured some shampoo on her back. The panther purred, loving it when Azure caressed her and brushed her with a soft brush. Zazie scoffed to hide the fact that he was actually amazed at how gentle Azure was, despite her rough and rude sides.

"All done!" she announced.

Wasiolka was dried by Sandra using a hairdryer. She wasn't that much scared at the loud sound coming out from it. She stared at Excallibur as she was dried and the orange panther stared back. Azure went to change her clothes because the one she was wearing had a mixed scent of Wasiolka's and the shampoo used. Zazie sat at his usual spot as he waited for his shindanjuu to be done.

He huffed and complained, "I don't get her at all! Such a show off!"

Jacob laughed out loud at Zazie's remark. "She sure is! But she did a great job!" he replied.

With one last wipe, he handed Zazie his shindanjuu back. Wasiolka was almost done too. Zazie was busy observing his shindanjuu when they heard a loud scream. Out came a girl from the bathroom. She was wearing a pink mini dress which went only a few millimetres under her knees. She had to tie the strings attached to each side of the elbow parts to her neck to keep the dress in place.

"Aunt Sandra...don't you have anything else for me to wear?" she asked.

"Why? You look cute! Now all you need is to fashion your hair!" Sandra exclaimed.

"Don't complain, girl. That is the only clothe we have for you. You took most of them home and all we have left is Sandra's old sexy dresses and her usual dresses," Jacob interrupted before the girl could say anything.

Zazie came to the kitchen door. He caught a glimpse of what Azure was wearing. To him, she looked different from her usual self – she looked more feminine, a real girl. He faintly blushed. Jacob hit him on his back and he regained conscious, widening his eyes.

"Zazie thinks you look cute!" he laughed.

"P-Pops! I don't!" Zazie exclaimed.

"He's a pervert...of course, he loves something like this..." the girl rolled her eyes.

The two teenagers glared at each other, even though it was obvious that Zazie was just faking it. Jacob made an eye contact with Sandra. They were using telepathy of sort to talk to each other. After the quick mind discussion, Jacob was the first to speak to the two.

He said, "Zazie, as payment for your shindanjuu, why don't you accompany Azure to her house?"

"What?!" both of them shouted in unison.

Sandra smiled as she combed Azure's hair. "Think about it. Wearing such a dress, you'd need a company to get home. People will stare at you...or may even take advantage of you..." she explained.

She tied Azure's hair into a large braid. Zazie was staring even more. Azure shot a glare at him. He turned away immediately after that, earning a sigh from Wasiolka. The girl sighed. She abided to Jacob's suggestion, if Zazie would to. Zazie said he didn't mind if it helps to clear up his debts with Jacob.

"Let's get going before the nineteenth bell," the boy said.

"O-Okay..." Azure replied.

She put on her sneakers. Sandra told her to leave her laundry so that she would have something to wear when she comes by. The girl nodded. Then, they started walking towards the plaza, their dingoes behind them. Once they reached the plaza, Azure could feel piercing gazes around her. Some were from women who looked disgusted and some were from men who looked hungry to touch her. She shivered a bit but tried to hide the fact that she was scared. Zazie soon noticed. It was fortunate for Azure that the boy was wearing a simple coat. He handed it to her to hide a bit of her skins.

"Thanks..." she mumbled.

"I hated the stares..." Zazie replied.

"M-Me too...but I can't really do anything can I?" Azure sighed, shrugging.

Zazie kept his distance from Azure. He didn't want the people around them to think they were dating. He knew that Azure felt awkward too, so he didn't want anything to add to the awkwardness they were feeling. Azure was still uncomfortable with all the stares she was getting. She prayed that they reached her house soon.

"Hey, look...that chick's kinda cute, huh?" a man whispered to his two friends.

"Yeah...but she has a body guard with her, you know..." one of them, replied.

"It could her boyfriend too," the other one remarked.

"Nah...boyfriends don't act like that around their girlfriends," the first man said.

Zazie and Azure heard them whispering. He glanced up at the girl. She somehow looked more fragile than she used to. He understood that she wasn't used to wearing skirts but it had been a month since she started working as a Letter Bee, so she should get used to it by now. They heard the men following them. Azure glanced up at Zazie as a sign of a plea for help. Zazie rolled his eyes, turning to Wasiolka. The panther nodded and so did Excallibur. The boy sighed. He stretched his arms, pretending to yawn. He wrapped his right arm around Azure.

He whispered, "Let's pretend like we're a couple so that they'd go away..."

Faintly blushing, she replied, "I-If you say so...b-but I don't owe you anything, 'kay? This is so that I won't get bothered and you won't get beaten up."

"Fine by me...as long as we're both safe," the boy replied, huffing.


They soon arrived at Azure's doorstep, safely. The girl quickly pushed away from Zazie. She took off his coat and handed it to him. As she was blushing and didn't want Zazie to know, she looked down at the ground.

"T-Thanks..." she muttered.

"Whatever...you owe me for the coat, though," Zazie replied.

"F-Fine! I'll repay you!" the girl gave in.

The door was opened by Hagel. Zazie recognized him because of Azure's memories projected by Lag's shindan. The man looked furious. He took one look at Zazie but quickly turned to Azure. The girl bit her lip. He pulled her into the house while Excallibur rushed in. He slammed the door in front of Zazie's face.

"What a nice greeting..." the boy mumbled.

He shrugged it off and started his walk back home. Inside, Azure was shoved onto the sofa. She hugged Excallibur, partially piercing her gaze towards her uncle.

"Where have you been?! You promised to come home by lunch time!" Hagel shouted angrily.

"S-Something came up...and I..." the girl stuttered, but she showed no sign of fear.

"I don't want to hear excuses! A customer is waiting upstairs and you better entertain him!" Hagel ordered, pulling the girl up.

Azure didn't protest. She was pushed into her room. She sat in bed, waiting for the said customer. She heard her uncle and the customer talking but she paid no attention about the details. Soon, the complete stranger stepped into her room.


And there you have it! I'm sorry if I made this story a little too much of Azure/Zazie moment. Well, she is my OC for him and all. I just thought...nah, nevermind.

Anyway, be sure to review because I love them! Oh!

You can expect a very fast update for awhile since I only had two more weeks before continuing my studies! Man, time goes by so fast when you're having your break...

#My name is Moonfire Hikari, I am from Malaysia and I support Gaza!