Note: Rags will be very busy serving the country, and I will have to start studying for end of year examinations (0-levels). So please do be patient with us.
Now…MOVE IT ALONG!
Chapter 10: A date…?
Let's see, pull up my jeans, throw on my black undershirt. Now we TIE MY BANDANA OF PURE TRUTH, and unzip my zipper, and we're ready to go!
Yeap, that's right, my folks, Ash Shikigami is now clean and aragami goop free! In fact, this is my fourth shower within less than 3 days!
…
Ok, I meant my jacket zipper, not my fly zipper, by the way.
I mean, seriously, how would you guys like to be showered in gboro-goop and then be made of by one of the girls in your would be harem? I know, yeah YOU, you're so damn laughing over there huh?
I don't see Rags very often. Maybe that's kind of my fault as well, since I'm always vanishing by myself. I mean, I'm starting to find stuff ironic. I claim that I want to go round and get a harem, but what am I doing here, walking out of the shower?
Okay, maybe the shower was kinda needed.
Getting myself out of the shower stalls, I slung the towel over my shoulder and, whistling a tune, walked out to the laundry area. Checking the directory that was slapped onto the side of the wall, I roughly pin pointed where the laundry area was and headed off.
…
And then I walked back to check it again.
"For the love of pete, this place is TOO DAMN FREAKING HUGE!" I slammed my fists against the map and started head slamming. If I can't even get to the laundry area, how am I supposed to get my awesome clothes back? I mean, sure, I have like 3 similar…okay fine, EXACTLY the same sets of clothing, but I like to keep my stuff neat and tidy, you know? The Ash Shikigami manly way?
You know you're jealous right now.
But damn, I thought as I squinted my eyes at the mini map, even the maps in the field missions are easier to read than this piece of crap.
"I seriously wonder who drew this lousy piece of shit," I said out loud, "I should really give some of my complaints to director Shicksal and Old Man Sakaki about some of the stuff around here. First is the lift, now the signs…"
"Oh no, is that a fool a hear blathering?"
Hmm, I know that voice anywhere. I may have only heard it once, but when my Shikigami senses start tingling, there's no doubt about who that voice is.
"Oh its you, ya little pri-" I stopped short as I saw another, older man follow behind Karel. His hair was a little grey, but it seemed more natural than dyed. His eyes were a deep, ocean blue and he wore similar colours on his work jacket, undershirt and long jeans (like ME).
He looks pretty damn serious. Not the moody serious, just…well, serious.
"Karel, do you know this boy?" the man spoke, his voice WAAAY deeper than both of us, "you two seem to know each other quite well from the immediate exchange of insult."
…
Wow, I couldn't even TELL of that was sarcasm. Seriously, he sounded WAY too straight saying that!
"Brendan, please," Karel scoffed, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, "I don't even want to be put on the same level as this guy. A sane person would question why he was made to become a new type in the first place!"
THAT PRICK!
Luckily, American dude managed to butt in before I could say anything, "Did you say new type? Oh, so you're that boy I must have heard so much about huh? Actually wait…there were TWO new type guys. But from the description I got from Kanon…"
"White hair, bandana, I don't know about the crazy part though…sharp green eyes. Do you happen to be an Ash Shikigami?"
Well, looks like Kanon already did the job of spreading my great name around this little den! I mean, this dude looks pretty senior in terms of experience.
"Yeah, got that one right man," I gave me signature, shiny teeth grin and outstretched my hand, "Ash Shikigami, crazy, totally of the rocker new type at your service, sir…?"
"Brendan, Brendan Bardell at your service, Ash," he nodded his head, a small smile spearing on his lips, "its nice to meet you. Don't worry about the whole crazy thing, I'm sure Karel must have exaggerated or something. You know how he can be sometimes."
"You have no idea, my fellow senior and aragami killing crime."
"Well, don't mind him. He's a really good guy, try to get along well with him, alright? I'd hate to hear complaints from anyone."
Wow, this guy looked like he could mean business too. I better get on this guy's good side all the time, lest he blows his top at me.
"Hey, does ANYONE not remember that I'm still standing here and listening to the both of you say all of this?" Karel tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, his face twisted into some kind of frown, "for your information, Shikigami, it was YOU who shot me with a freezing bullet at my hide THREE TIMES!"
"Aww, but that's just my way of saying hi to such a good guy. Come on, Karel, share the love!"
"With a poor mongrel such as you?" he nearly spat, "yeah, the only time that'd happen is when I get eaten by an aragami, which is NEVER going to happen."
Aw man, if my dad was alive right now, he would so sue the guy for calling us a mongrel. Yeah sure we were kind of not-so-rich, but we were decently financed! Still, senior is here, and as I said, I don't wanna start a scuffle now, so keeping my mouth shut it is.
"Oh hey, look at the time," Brendan barged in, "come on, the showers are gonna get crowded. Let's go Karel, later, Ash!"
Well, at least one person addresses me by name properly, sides my great bro Rags of course.
The next day
I still felt pretty good about it all, a senior calling me by my first name at all. I mean, you don't see a crazy dude like me getting much respect, don't ya? I mean sure, I might not have been to proud that he didn't address me as "that awesome new type" or whatever, but even a little recognition like this is good, you know?
"AH damn! I'm still kind of happy about that," I said to no one in particular, stretching my hands as I walked through the elevator, "righty, I should go see if there's anyone in the lobby to chill with, maybe Rags or something will be there."
"Don't you know when to zip it, Shikigami?"
Ah…that familiar, tsundere voice I'd always love to hear, Hibari Takeda.
"Oh? Sup, Hibari," I gave her a slight wave, "but why am I being asked to keep quiet? Unless…that was an excuse to talk to me?"
"When a kongou flies, maybe."
Damn it, she's a hard one.
Shrugging and making my way past her and made my way to the balcony, where I saw a familiar tuft of dark hair and designer glasses from my side.
"Yo," I said, albeit a little softly as I joined Ragner at his staring out over the balcony. He was a little hunched, hands on the railing and eyes unmoving. He seemed….SOMEWHAT peaceful, ye in deep thought as well. You know, like a monk?
Ok, maybe Rags isn't a monk. Still, there was sort of a calming aura between us two.
Yup, bros do that sorta thing…
…
…
"I'm bored," I unceremoniously broke the epic bro-silence. Man, THIS IS SO BORING! I mean, sure I love him in a total bro way and all, but this silence is unbearable!
"Hmm?"
Turning his head my way, he let out a small voice for a moment…before immediately returning to the position he was in previously. Damn him, DID HE NOT HEAR ME OBVIOUS NEED FOR ATTENTION!
"I'm bored," I repeated the same thing, same tone, hoping he would actually get the idea for us to do something together. I don't know, ANYTHING! Go on a group date, score some chicks…oh wait he has Licca (I think), hunt some aragami…
Yeap.
"I'm bored."
Sighing as I knew I wouldn't get a response I turned around and leaned myself against the handlebars. Huh…the old man was still there buying and selling stuff. Maybe I should go over there and give the guy some business, he looks like a beggar.
And…oh? Did Rags just cough? Did he finally notice my…
"Woooo! I touched Hibari's ass and it felt awesome!"
Wow, my voice sounds great even if it was said like that…wait a second, MY MOUTH WAS SHUT! RAGS! I'MMA FREAKING KILL YOU-
Though that was an awesome imitation of my voice
"Shikigami!" Hibari screamed from behind the desk, slamming her hand down on said desk. Damn, she's one pissed lady!
I backed away…only to realise I couldn't back away into anything. After seeing her tap a few more keys on her laptop, she looked like she was gonna jump from behind the counter…
…and THAT looks like my running cue.
Making the first move, I made a run for the god arc storage area. This time, I remembered where certain parts of the den were. Being in an office suit and all, obviously Hibari couldn't run that fast. Turning my head momentarily as I leapt of a few steps of the staircase, I made sure she wasn't….
Holy CRAP she's fast!
"You IDIOT, that's TWICE!"
"I swear it wasn't my fault! And it was ONCE!" I called as I ran down the god arc storage area. I couldn't use the same storage number again to hide in, it'd be way too obvious. Heck, why did I even run HERE? She'd know where I am! Damn it, for once, I made a stupid move…
"Though that's kind of an understatement…" I mumbled as I made a turn, running upwards to ANOTHER flight of staircases.
I knew where this would lead to, no way she would follow me inside here. It's a flawless plan, I tell you all. She would never be able to find me in the MEN'S SHOWER ROOM! Eat that, all you people who think I'm stupid and retarded!
I though faint, I could still hear Hibari's footsteps catching up. By my guess, she was almost up the staircase. Running up the final flight of staircases I needed, I found a sign that said "shower room" slapped up on the door. Grabbing the handle, I yanked it open and hid inside. Outside, I could still hear Hibari shouting, "Damn it, Shikigami! When I get my hands on you…"
Heh heh. Even you can't beat my master plans, Hibari Takeda. I don't care if you're a C-sized, orange haired chick around my age in an office suit, you will NEVER be able to find me here…
"Now…what was that voice outside?"
"Hibari again? She hasn't been in a very good mood lately. Theres this rumour someone grabbed her ass?"
"You think its that Shikigami guy? I heard he's a total creep, and a pervert to boot."
"Really? I heard he and that other new type, Ragner, are like some combat geniuses or something."
"I heard that Ragner's like, really cool!"
"Yeah, same here! Hey, didn't you notice that Licca has been-"
…
Huh…? Why do I hear women in the men's shower room? I mean, there wouldn't be a reason for them to, and there are more than one too-
….
Oh, my…
SHIIIT!
This cannot be happening right? Tell me this isn't happening! Te;; me I didn't lock myself in the girls shower room (as much as I would get a good view), this CANNOT BE HAPPENING!
"Crap…its so steamy in here…" I blinked my eyes quickly and rubbed it, "but I can't get out as of now, Hibari may be outside…"
But then again, she would probably have run off.
*squeak*
Damn it, I think the showers just turned off. Oh damn…
"Hey, did you see my soap?"
"It's right there…"
"Oh…"
*squeak*
The showers started running again, much to my relief. Alright, brain time. The odds of her being outside is highly unlikely, but if she is, I'm way faster so I can dash off fast. Guess it's a plus factor for me.
Alright, time for the plan, I nodded to myself for assurance and grabbed the handle of the doors.
And now…
…I BREAK THROUGH!
Twisting the door knob and not caring about stealth, I threw open the door and slammed it shut just as quick and ran to the staircase at the side.
"Now time for my great escape-"
"GOT YOU!"
AW, FUDGE STICKS!
There, right in my face, was Hibari Takeda. Her eyes were narrowed, like a Kongou ready to pounce on me (Kongou…?), and she was cracking her knuckles, coming down the staircase slowly.
"You know, I handle Tatsumi every single damn day," she cracked her left knuckle and advanced, "its not helping that you do this to me you know? Moreover, seems you couldn't have enough, eh, going into a girls shower room for God knows why…you pervert! Last but not least you…"
I could tell she was stuttering at the last part, I couldn't help but smirk even a little.
"I what…?"
"You gra-grabbed my-"
"I did what now?"
"ASH SHIKIGAMI! YOU KNOW WELL WHAT YOU DID AND SAID JUST NOW!"
Well, looks like she's gonna get off the stairs and pound my face in. Still, I can always head down the other direction…
Wait, did she just skip a step…!
"Hey Hibari, watch it!"
"Watch wha-ah!"
"Damn it!"
Her realisation came too late as she missed a step, and began to fall.
*CUE EPIC SLOW MOTION*
Reacting as fast as I could, I placed my right foot forward, getting a firm grip on the ground. Shifting my left leg backwards, I steadied myself in case of anything.
"I got ya!"
I stuck my hands out, and everything seemed to slow down as I caught her head in my right hand and her lower body in my left.
*END EPIC SLOW MOTION*
And by the way, folks. Just to let you know in case you're all wondering, catching a woman like that isn't as epic as it seems, really.
Either way…to the matter at hand. '
"Whoa, heeey!" I frowned at her, "if you wanna slap me at least do it WITHOUT tripping yourself? I mean, what good is there in hitting me if you get equal payback in return."
"Shikigami…"
"I mean really," I continued, "equivalent trade sucks BOLLOCKS sometimes, you know? You gotta do right what you gotta do right…"
"Could you…"
"Wait, I'm almost done with my awesome-"
"Let go of me…seriously."
Oh FINE!
And it was so early in the day as well…good thing those female gods eaters NEVER found out…
Well, Hibari pretty refused to look me in the eye for the remainder of the day so far. I did try to talk her up once or twice, but she kept looking away and mashing away at her keyboard.
Man, what's with everyone having things against me?
Well, after awhile, I did manage to get something out of her.
"You have a new mission assigned to you."
I mumbled something under my breath as I read the contents of the "concrete jungle mission." Huh, some zygotes and a Kongou…wow, that's much more than me or Rags usually take on. Let's see, party members…
"Soma…Lindow, Kota, Sakuya (aw yeah) and…Ragner," I read the list of members, "sweet, we're gonna have this easy!"
"Don't get it over your head, rookie."
Oh, that's someone I haven't seen in awhile. Whipping my head around, I turned to see Soma, walking straight pass me without even sparing a glance, "I don't want any unnecessary faults because three rookies flunked the mission."
Gee, who made him Captain Emo, some popular game company?
"Yo, Ash!"
"Brota!" I slapped my other buddy a high five, "haven't seen you much since that mission with us three rookies."
"Yeah, same here," he nodded, "got to know some of the other guys. Gotta say though, guys like Shun are pretty hard to get along with, strong as they may be."
Oh, hat man huh? I've heard the stuff about him being not much of a team player. I should find that out by myself, only talked to him a few times.
"So," Kota pumped his fist, "ready to prove who's best to Sakuya?"
"That's like default victory for me, you stand no chance against the great, awesome, MANLY, Ash Shikigami-"
"Sounds like some people are fired up for this. That's good attitude I say!"
Hey, I'm pretty sure it only smells like cigarettes, alcohol and a whole lot of boss-ness with one dude in the house, BOSS MAN!
Sure enough, he came not too long after Kota, Sakuya tagging along behind him, looking pretty damn cheerful. Fact was, the only one who seemed remotely emo was Soma. As my dad would say, "What a party pooper."
Wait, or did George Washington say that? Never mind. The whole crew's almost here now. Though I must wonder, where on earth was Rags?
"Oh, he's probably busy with a woman or something," Lindow blew a little more smoke before crushing the bud, "you know, guys like him probably get popular with the ladies, so don't mind him. Let him have some…alone time, was it?"
Oh come on, don't rub THAT in my face! Damn, must regain confidence levels!
"Hey, lady boss!" I did a little jump as I faced Sakuya, "watch and see how much I've learned alright! I promise I won't drag you down!"
"Sure, sure, I'll be watching," she placed her hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh.
Well, looks like this'll be a fun jaunt…but something seems off. More like SOMEONE seems off…
"Anyone seen Rags around," I asked the crew, "I haven't seen him since this morning, so I'm sure at least some of you guys MIGHT know…" More like I wanna PUNCH THE GUY IN THE FACE for almost letting Hibari screw me up! I almost lost my chances with-
*thump thump*
"Hey, glad to see you could make it," I heard Lindow say.
I heard someone other than Lindow respond. Taking a quick glance away from Sakuya, I resisted the urge to scream "BLOODY MURDER" as Ragner entered the scene. He looked a little energetic though, if anything, probably after effects of getting me into trouble.
We'll see.
"Ready to head out?" boss man asked Rags, nodding his head towards the door.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he nodded back, placing his earpieces on. Well, least he's in one of his better moods.
Old City
Wow, this time shift is faster than I thought…er…I mean…wow, we got here pretty quickly.
"Hey! It's another great day to work!" Lindow heaved his god arc over his shoulders, "Return to base safe and sound! That is all!"
Hmm, time to take notes…wait what?
That description was rather…well described. In a Lindow Amamiya sense at least. Great men speak small words, or too many like me.
"Huh? That's it?" Kota looked a little disappointed at boss man. Really, Brota. You need to understand the power of philosophy. Well, I'm sure he would get there soon enough, I just took a way shorter time to understand all that.
Slick, eh?
"You won't last long if you keep questioning him like that," Sakuya whispered to Brota-the-not-so-epic.
"What a drag…"
Yep, that was Soma.
Looking around at the ragtag crew of the first unit, a huge grin crept to Lindow's face, "Glad to see that with the exception of two of us, our souls are all connected.
YOU HOE, WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME AND RAGS?
"Hey man what gives! Stop staring!" I yelled at him.
"Whatever," Rags growled, lifting the god arc to his shoulders. Yeah, I'm pretty pissed too.
"I'm kidding, take it easy," Lindow laughed, quickly waving his hand in front of him.
DAT HOE!
"This is the first five-person mission this team has performed. Just do what you always do."
Five? Wait a sec, what about him?
"Huh? What about you Lindow?"
Stop stealing my lines, Brota…and never, EVER, question a boss man or face the consequences. I mean, did he even read the manual?
"Well you see... I've been asked on a secret date right after this." Lindow answered, pulling out his phone for emphasis, "and if I don't get there soon my date will get mad and leave! Talk about impatient!"
Wait a second, you're leaving us to go on with some hot chick? AND YOU DIDN'T BRING ME? WHAT THE FU-
…
Huh…that's a really…odd looking message checking page…because I'm sure a message page…does not have a radar on it…
Hmm, must be my imagination.
"Well I'm taking off now guys, my orders are the usual: don't die, make sure you come back alive."
"They're your own orders, make sure you follow them yourself…" Soma grunted as he turned towards the ledge. Just before Lindow walked off, Sakuya scrunched her eyebrows at his direction, "Try not to stay out too late Lindow, ok?"
You'd think she'd be jealous at least.
With Lindow now gone, Sakuya turned to the rest of us, "Let's go!"
All right, mission start-huh? Why the hell wasn't Rags getting off?
"Uhhh you guys go ahead, I gotta take a dump," Rags grimaced, one hand around his stomach. Damn it! First you make me almost get screwed up by Hibari, and NOW you need to take a shit? Really, timing could've been better, ya know!
"Alright, don't take too long." Sakuya yelled up to him.
"I'll try not to!"
Anyway, now that that's settled.
Operation: Concrete Jungle.
Commence.
Damn…bold font is awesome…*ahem*
"Alright, quick briefing," Sakuya was quick to get to it, "three zygotes and a Kongou, not anything we hadn't handled before. So, substitute commander, what's the plan."
This one was easy, even a moron could think it through.
"Zygotes, FLY, don't they? I hate flying stuff, so Soma and Kota, you guys take charge of killing of the Zygotes and since Soma can extract cores. Sakuya, you and I go rape some monkey ass since you can heal me."
"Why'd I gotta go with the rookie…" I heard him mutter.
"Aw c'mon, I'm not THAT bad."
"Cause I'm boss that way," I grinned, "final words-er, orders. Don't die, so we don't let boss man down. If Rags comes back in time, this'll be even easier. That's all."
"Understood?"
Three nods, alright.
"Commence!"
Today, I'll try that short sword Rags is so fond of using.
Hiding round the corner of a building, the timing couldn't have been more awesome as all three of the zygote were right around the corner.
"Kota, you're up first, since you run the fastest."
"Gotcha!" he gave me a thumbs up and ran out, "Hey, ya floating egg shells! Eat bullet!"
Spamming that trigger, Kota launched a barrage of colourful bullets at the flying aragami. At the first shot, the group sighted us.
"Soma, back him up. Sakuya, ignore them and let's go!"
"Don't need to tell me that…" Soma charged forward and jumped, slamming his blade down on the first zygote and dropping it to the ground.
That's some…really LEET buster skills.
Running past the three zygotes, one of them in the middle tried to tackle me, but Brota was ready. Spamming more of his flashy bullets, he got it down in seconds. Up ahead in a large, destroyed warehouse, I could see the Kongou eating some metal.
This'll be a snap, seeing as Rags and I used to EAT Kongou's for breakfast (once again, don't take me seriously).
Motioning for Sakuya to keep it down, I snuck round the gorillas ass and pulled the crank, sending my god arc into devour mode. When the mouth fully appeared, I released it, signalling the start of the battle.
"EAT SHIT!"
Taking a bite from the Kongou, it turned and immediately noticed it. Unfortunately for it I…
"I'm ON FIRE, BAYBEH!" a did a maniacal scream, "Sakuya, covering fire!"
"You got it!"
Dodging to the side with extreme ease to avoid Sakuya's flame laser, I swung my god arc in a wide slash, gashing the side of its body. I made do with my current momentum, slash a few times, dodge, continue assault.
Crap..gotta watch my stamina…
*ROAAAAR*
Oh shi-
"BUARGH!"
After rapid combo strikes, I failed to notice the kongou launch an air blast at me, sending me almost flying into the wall.
"THAT GORILLA!" I pointed accusingly at it, "GIVE ME SOME WARNING NEXT TIME-"
"Rookie, watch out!"
Aw fudge.
*BAM*
This time, I think you could see my body frame against the wall.
Picking my self up, I felt my burst mode turn off. Sakuya was still out there, trying to distract it.
Damn…I don't feel so good…where the hell is Rags? We need him right now!
"Damnit…what the hell, Rags. Of all the damn times…"
"Get up."
What the…was that…?
I felt my body revitalise as some form of power flowed through me. Looking above, I saw the person who gave me the link aid: a familiar guy in a blue hoodie.
Soma, not the guy I really hoped to see, but nontheless…
"Hey, thanks man."
"I don't want any more baggage, now hurry up."
Nodding and making sure my lucky bandana was still on, Soma, Kota and I charged towards the Vajra. Swapping my god arc into my assault rifle, I took aim at Kota.
"Hey Kota, catch some!" I yelled towards the younger gods eater as I fired two aragami bullets at him.
"Whoa! I feel great!"
"Soma, take one!"
Using the final aragami bullet, I shot it towards Soma, who merely grunted in response, "I don't need your help, rookie. I can handle this alone."
"Ever thought that a boost could help you handle it alone, FASTER after that?"
"Hmm…" he grunted again as we simultaneously swung our god arcs, catching the Kongou which tried to take a bite at Kota off guard. Using the extra speed of the newly obtained link burst, Soma jumped high, as in REALLY high all the way onto the Kongou's head.
"Now stay down."
*WHAM*
The black god arc was swung, lodging itself in the Kongou's pipes before its owner pulled it out. Annoyed, the Kongou swatted Soma of him, enraging the aragami further.
"Shit!"
Spitting a curse as Soma hit me, both he and I were sent flying into a wall (second time for me…), the former landing on top of me. Back in the fray, Sakuya's bullets proved useless as the Kongou charged towards us.
"I only got one…looks like its time to use it," Sakuya reached into her pocket, "Kota, hit it with a shot, I need its attention here!"
"If your bullets didn't work…alright I'll try!" Kota, though a little uncertain, aimed his rifle at the lumbering Kongou.
"You know, you kind of need to get off me, Soma," I tried to push my senior of me, "that way I can actually move…"
"I did tell you to get out of my way."
"You didn't say that exact sentence a few lines ago…"
*ROAAAAR*
"Oh shit," the two of us swore.
Much to our surprise, the Kongou didn't attack us. Instead, it turned its head onto the two gunners.
"Sakuya, its reeling. NOW!"
"Everyone, cover your eyes!"
Oh yeah, its time for the flash grenade, BAYBE-
*BOOM*
Shutting my eyes JUST on time, I heard the loud boom of the stun grenade. The Kongou roared, now blinded by the flash.
"Now, GORILLA GANG BANG!" I yelled gleefully as I quickly untangled myself from Soma started to rush in for the kill. Launching my combo as I ducked my head (you never know when those bullets hit you…). Halfway through the slashes, I pulled the crank again.
"QUICK DEVOUR, SUCKA!" I pulled the blade back as I awesomely powered up again. The Kongou stood no chance, falling to the ground with a large THUD, "now time for the one, the only, the ALL AWESOME ASH SHIKIGAMI TO FINISH YOUR ASS OFF-"
"I swear, you're noisy."
*WAM*
The uncommon sight of a charge crush clouded my vision as Soma brought his black god arc down, smacking whatever life the Kongou had away.
"Man, that was so my kill!"
"Just extract the core and lets get out of here."
Despite the fact that we were all quarrelling and talking nonsense about stuff, a few thoughts plagued my mind.
The first: I really doubted that Rags went on a toilet trip. Moreover, I saw him go in boss' direction.
Secondly: Lindow, was definitely, NOT going on some sort of normal 'date'. I'm seriously suspecting a lot of things are going on here.
Thirdly…
Shoot, I'm hungry.
Back at HQ
When the four of us got back, we were pretty damn worried. Actually…more like I was pretty damned worried. Still haven't had any sight of that pair of designer glasses all time since we came back, not even a late arrival! Damn, I really didn't know anything about that guy…
Well, what we DID find was Lindow sitting cross-legged at the couch in the lobby, and wierdly enough: Rags
Bloody hell, Rags, why you ditch us and somehow come back miraculously with boss man? I swear the only thing holding me back now is this stupid plot line.
"Hey," Sakuya was the first to step forward, "you got back before us, good work today."
Your eyes, Sakuya, scream to the heavens "Why didn't you go on a date with me instead?" I should really help her with that sometime, Shikigami style of course!
"Yeah," he crushed the cigarette and placed it into the ash tray, "I managed to wrap things up early, ran into Ragner on the way back. So, how'd things go on your end?"
"As per your command, the same as usual. Though we did have a…minor accident…"
He SO whispered the last part, PUSSY!
Well, someone is grumpy, though I bet its got NOTHING AT ALL to do with me, right, readers?
"That's right," Sakuya nodded, "we fulfilled our mission, and didn't lose anyone. "
Kota was really excited, doing all that hand gestures and all, "You should have seen us! Brilliant teamwork, we were so tight!"
That sounded kind of dirty, Brota…
"Really?" Soma raised a brow and turned to the energetic boy, "I don't remember you being of much use…"
"What the?"
All of us (excluding emo-hoodie man) had a good laugh at that. In a sense, it was kind of true, actually.
"Is that right?" Lindow settled his laughter, "looks like it won't hurt to go on more dates in the future!"
Personally, as a fellow ladies man myself, I'm curious. Where does he find these chicks? Or wait, maybe he DOESN'T, AND HIS DATES ARE LIKE…SECRET MISSIONS?
…
Just…MAYBE.
"Hey," Kota moaned, "aren't you supposed to hook me up with some girls first?"
"That's my line, dammit!"
"Hah!" Lindow snorted at the two of us, "like you two would be able to handle a girl. Maybe the new type, someday."
Are you saying my skills are INSUFFICIENT?
Just as Sakuya and Soma let out sighs, the loudspeakers started to blare.
*Staff announcement. Earlier today, the 7th unit successfully detached the core of an Ouroboros. All engineers, please come to lab number 5.*
*Repeat. Ouroboros core successfully detatched. All engineers, please come to lab number 5*
Just as the announcement was made, a large, burly scientist with a yellow bandana and a smoke pushed past us and went into the elevator…
Hurm…seems suspicious…
Either way, the look on Sakuya's and even Soma's face was…something I never seen before. Hell, ever seen Soma SURPRISED before? The dudes at the lower deck were all talking about it. In fact, the only ones who didn't seem surprised or bothered…
…was Lindow and Rags.
Something was up...
"What's an Ouroboros, is it powerful?" Kota asked.
"It'll pop up if you search the terminal, do you homework once in awhile!"
Brota getting owned by Soma HARD today…
"Well uh-" Sakuya sounded uncertain, "I don't think the four of us are ready to take it on yet."
"Are you serious, not even a team like ours?"
"Yeah!" I nodded furiously, "I mean, we were so beast out there!"
"One or two casualties, definitely."
Woo…that sounds pretty bad, actually.
"Hey come on!" Lindow looked up and clapped his hands together, "if we can survive somehow, we'll get it one of these days. No need to worry about it now…just focus, on staying alive."
Yeah, yeah. The whole take it slow and steady speech is really…
"You know that's REALLY getting old," Soma rolled his eyes at the comment.
LINE STEALER!
"Right, and I'll say it to you till I'm blue in the face," Lindow shot back, his face turning serious, "you'd probably head off to your own death if I wasn't watching."
"Damn you. Shut up!"
It took me some seconds before I realised that his words were directed solely at Soma.
"Oh, yes sir!" Lindow replied, no hint of sarcasm hidden, "okay, I've got another date coming up, so I'm going for a hearty meal!"
Without so much as a goodbye, Lindow took the elevator and got out of our sight. Kota and I could do nothing more than look back forth between what had just happened between the three seniors.
"Damn it," Kota mumbled, "what's up with them?"
"Beats me," I nodded in agreement…
Giving me one final nod, Rags and I parted ways. However, I can seriously feel the suspicion going on within all of us.
Something's up in the den…and I my Ash-senses tell me that Rags and I…were going to be involved in a lot of shit soon.
I pray hope I'm wrong…really. Because when I'm right...
Bad things happen...
AND HEADSLAM!
Man, Rags and I can't wait for the chapter after this! Well, I am at least! It may take awhile again though, so keep your pants up! WAI? NO SPOILER FOR YOU, HAH!
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