The Ugly Reflection of a "Team"
~Flashback~
"Ugh! Seriously? Is there nothing we can do?" Nao was lounging on the chair, lifting one leg and then the other in boredom.
This must have been her hundredth repetition.
Seiichi was practicing what forms he could, however with his dominate right arm wrapped and in a sling, there wasn't much to work with.
"Review your basics." He commanded.
A spin kick while snapping his other in a jump.
'Is that all he thinks about?' She sighed.
"I already know them though."
"Hence the review." He turned to her; the bruise on his forehead was somehow worn without embarrassment.
It practically the size of an egg, in the center; an ugly purple that was only hid slightly with his hair down. She was just glad the black eye was nearly healed and the butterfly stitches were coming out soon.
It was secret note that she made; Seiichi is hot with a few scars, but completely beat up ruins the image.
"Can't we at least have some fun?" She stood up, tossing her hair provocatively.
While the shortness took away much of the affect, she found the length quite nice. Easy to maintain and it accented her natural facial beauty. That is, when she wasn't pretending to be a guy.
He gave her a heavy scowl, still not over the grudge that her actions had caused him such injuries.
She rolled her eyes, pushing a few strands behind her ears, the shape was still odd; still in need of getting used to.
"Hey you knew this would happen."
"I didn't think you'd destroy an entire mountain."
"I thought it was three." She tapped her finger against her chin, her tongue running across her teeth a dozen times in her mouth, cringing at the sharpness of the fangs.
"You took out the entire assassination team and blew the assignment." He'd have folded his arms was one not disabled.
"Not like the enemy wasn't killed. Besides, you made it out ok." Nao shrugged.
"I was the only one." He reminded her.
She noted that the entire time, he was avoiding her line of sight.
"You'd think that'd be a good thing." She rolled her eyes.
The assassination unit had never been her favorite of people, duller than the usual band.
They needed something to spice things up.
Sure…dying probably was a bit extreme….but better than nothing right?
He blinked.
"You really are a pain."
Nao smirked, showing her cannibal set, his eyes made the mistake of meeting hers.
Every time eye contact was made, it was like a stamp.
Pounding an illustration in a second without warning or the need to pause.
Just suddenly blinding, there wasn't even a definite picture. It was just something that clouded him, something that suddenly made the world spin.
Things that weren't moving would sway or random colors would flash like lights.
Someone screwing with his senses, it was a pain.
He hated it.
It was the reason she couldn't be seen by anyone other than those aware of the situation.
"You should be nice to me." Nao warned, slipping close to him.
Focusing on the ground, it was safe.
"I'm not intimidated by a simple Master." He said.
Her fingers danced up his arm onto his shoulder, drawing next to him.
She pressed her mouth to his neck, kissing it in a fashion to give a hickey.
He was unaffected.
"I wonder how it'd taste." She whispered, "Would you be intimidated if I found out your blood was desirable?" She bared her fangs.
The tips scratched the skin, with a little pressure they'd break through.
"Am I going to have to put a muzzle on you?"
The knowledge that he would had a smile creeping on her face.
"Why? Am I being a bad girl?"
She wasn't actually going to do anything.
No. As long as she didn't crave for blood, she wouldn't try to force herself into thinking it'd be good. So far, she didn't even enjoy her steaks more; her taste was the same luckily.
Still, the threat lay even and fun.
Rather than waiting for an answer, she pulled his head lower, moving her lips to his, the door couldn't have opened at a worse time.
"…That isn't the position I assigned you for." Ren raised an eyebrow.
Seiichi was still unfazed, straightening a bit for his superior.
That was what was what bored these moments.
He wouldn't even react.
He wouldn't kiss back or show any sign of interest; neither would he push away nor refuse. He was just…there.
"This is one of his benefits." Nao wrapped her arms over his neck, propping her head on his shoulders to look at the commander.
The direct contact caused him to flinch; he felt something crawl in his mind, a bug that wouldn't leave.
"Well enough of this. I do not need your teenage hormones affecting your performance." He dismissed the idea.
This time Seiichi moved to force Nao's arms off of him.
'No fun what so ever….' She rolled her eyes.
~End of Flashback~
"I WAS SCARED AND AND….IT WAS SHAKING AN- AND RUMBLING AND FALLING AN-AND NEVER LEAVE AGAIN!" Aeka was wailing, tears streaming down her red face.
Her baby hands were wiped beneath her chin to prevent them from dripping.
The "stay here and don't move" command had certainly been an advantage.
With all the invasions and explosions, she fled beneath the table in the room, head down and tucked under her arms while the entire front half of the house was destroyed.
Some soldiers had passed through the rumbled section, however, they seemed to have thought the residence had moved on, not even bothering to check the remaining sections of the house.
Flames still in corners, the group had rummaged through the area to the back and found her curled in a ball, almost small enough to disappear.
Her breaths silent, they wouldn't have noticed her were they not specifically looking for her.
And then…she was Aeka again.
"We weren't exactly going on a parade you know." Benjiro mumbled.
"BUT IT WAS SCARY!"
"Can we have serious Aeka?" He requested, being in no mood to put up with this.
"NO! AEKA-CHAN'S MAD CAUSE AEKA-CHAN WAS SCARED AND NO ONE WAS THERE TO HELP HER!" She pouted, folding her arms.
Nakajima was resting on the bed; Eita pacing back and forth while Emi did what she guessed as treatment.
Aeka refused to come out from her security spot while Benjiro was sitting on top of it.
"What the hell are we going to do with him?" Eita was just ranting now; her hand wrapped, she kept tugging on the bandages like she would her gloves.
"I think we need to-"
"If you say 'sit down and talk' I swear your other arms gon-"
"Don't take it out on us! WE didn't do anything!" Benjiro was surprised he had the confidence to cut her off.
"You freakin said he was under enough control! You're the one that defended him!" She got in his face.
"I didn't think he'd go off and be stupid like this!" He got to his feet, shrinking when he realized he still didn't have any height advantage.
"He's a master! They're always causing trouble!"
"Because people are always judging them!" Emi shot back; she twitched a bit with a pain in her arm.
"They never give us a reason not to!" Eita snapped.
"He always acts as if he can do anything and doesn't listen to anyone!" Benjiro sort of jumped sides on this.
"He doesn't like to admit weakness! No one likes to! It's not his fault!" She could certainly think of another person who can't admit when something's too hard.
"But if it's as drastic as this we should be informed!" Eita argued.
"Well at least the ones that he can TRUST." The tables suddenly switched.
"What?"
"If you weren't so harsh perhaps he'd have a bit more confidence." The fact that she wasn't trying to settle this showed the uncharacteristic side of Emi.
"So now it's MY fault?"
"No it's his!" Benjiro wouldn't let him off so easily.
"Of course it is! He was freakin pickin fights for no reason!"
"How do you know he started it?"
"It doesn't matter if he did! The fact that he's in them means he had to have done something!"
"Yeah he could just walk away!"
"It's not like either of you ever walk away from a fight!"
"Don't compare me to him!"
Aeka sighed, blowing on her bangs.
"Your optimism is seriously pissing me off!" Eita grabbed her hair.
"It's better than thinking the worst possible scenario!"
"At least if you're prepared for the worst nothing will shock you!"
"I think we already hit the worst!" Benjiro pointed out.
'Why do they even try to stay together?' Aeka wondered.
Were they even trying?
Probably not.
They all just wanted to be right.
Just turning on each other.
~Flashback~
A punch, a kick, when they man brought out a knife Aeka knew it was too much.
She charged in, jumping on the man's back while wrapping her arms across his neck.
He gagged and nearly fell back, choking noises and odd gurgles until white saliva ran down to her arm.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Another pulled her off, throwing her against the wall as if trash.
A whimper escaped as she fell to the ground, her leg having taken a large hit.
"Who's this little punk?" they grabbed her by her shirt, she had two choices.
Fight back and deal with her leg pain later.
Or play the innocent little girl.
She chose the hardest.
Forcing tears to well up in her eyes, a scream just left her mouth before she was forced onto the floor; someone hit her face before it was pure bawling.
Loud and untamable, it would have been humiliating had she not had such a young appearance.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Someone stomped kicked her, forcing her volume even louder, the sniffles may not have all been fake.
The gang seemed to realize this would draw attention, evacuating quick enough to give an airbender competition.
Aeka panted in quick scared breaths, waiting until they were out of earshot before stopping, standing and turning to Huyu, whipping the tears as if to salvage her dignity; it was amazing how fast the redness left her eyes.
Blood was drooling from his mouth and the nose with the cut on his on his cheek adding to the fountain. An already swelling eye was closed. The whole in his pants could only have been a stab mark.
Huyu didn't move, sitting on the floor with his legs spread out.
Aeka shrank to the snow; her leg nearly had its own pulse while the still growing muscles felt torn.
It didn't matter, her theories confirmed, a sudden anger rolled harsh enough for her fists to be clenched.
"So…that's it? You just take it? You don't even try to defend yourself or…or anything? You just take it?" She shook her head, letting out gasps of disbeliefs, "You just take it! I thought you had some logical explanation o-or some kind rational excuse! You don't even care! You're just too much in self pity that you let them! You're so convinced that you deserve it th-that you just give up?" Focusing on him, her eyes sharped as her voice raised, "We're Masters! It's not a crime! Why do you act like it is?"
Huyu closed his open eye, resting his head against the wall.
"How is it…that you can run your own interrogation based off no facts…and yet you can be so stupid when it comes to basic behavior?" He asked.
Aeka was offended.
"I've been tr-" She stopped herself there.
'Uh oh…' The fact that she even let that much slip out was dangerous.
Was she losing her touch?
No, just getting too close to them.
"I have experience." She chose instead.
Huyu exhaled through the nose, pushing more blood through.
"For someone who demands explanations, you certainly withhold a lot yourself." He wasn't dumb.
He knew she was involved in something bad.
Perhaps not lawfully bad, but it was something that a master shouldn't be involved in.
He was giving up on asking what though.
'Senpai wouldn't be a danger…' Aeka knew that she was generally safe telling them, '…but he'll ask. They'll all ask.' The thought of recalling that night sent a shudder down her.
She couldn't tell it. She couldn't explain what'd happen.
It would be too much; she couldn't handle thinking about it.
No, they didn't need to know.
"Why don't you fight back? Why just let them bully you?" She changed the subject, a clear brush off of the conversation.
Anyone else, he would have lied.
No one else needed to know.
But her.
She was a master too.
That gave her a right to know.
"Think about. They fight me because of some pathetic egotistic test that they find the need to challenge. We're supposed to be the strongest things alive. They don't like that. It's an attempt to prove that aliens can't just come in here and be accepted. We're outsiders, and it's a motion to say that's never gonna change. They want to believe that natural talent can't out beat years of hard work." He licked his lips, the lower one just short of splitting.
Aeka nodded.
"Exactly. So if you just let them do that then word will get out that the master is a chicken! It'll just get more peoples wanting to see if they can do the same and get away with it!"
"But if I fight back what rumors get around then?" Huyu snapped "Nobody will go around saying they attacked a master and lost. They'd make up something. Say I used my gift and drained them. And then what? People will start to assume that I'm on a rampage or something and stories will be made suddenly I'm a threat to the entire town!"
Aeka would have denied it.
Said that no one would talk at all if that were the scenario, but she couldn't be sure.
It all depended on the situation. On the person.
Yes, his reasoning was rational. If a person was so against the master that they'd seek him out to bully them, he couldn't do anything.
If he was to lay a finger in defense they'd have a reason to harm him. They could say that, yes, they attacked him first, but then he was about to take their energy, therefore they needed to defend themselves.
And as biased as these people were, the police would buy it.
"But if you don't do anything…they'll think you're just a wimp! It'll get around that the Master is too pathetic to fight back and then people will want to see if it's true!" Aeka repeated her observation.
Huyu lifted a patch of snow, patting it on his leg to heal the wound.
"But if I just sit there and do nothing, it'll get boring. People can't fight forever and will lose interest and leave. Less people will seek out an easy task than a challenge." He argued, "Besides…it's a bigger deal if I hurt a native than if a native hurts me."
If he's harming others, everyone is cautious. Families, gangs, storekeepers…everyone. He'd be considered a hazard and would be watched. If others harm him, it's just another street fight.
Then he was considered a coward; preventing the fear of everyone.
It wasn't fair.
"But you-"
"How many people knew you were the master?" Huyu interrupted.
It was one of those that you needed to be through it to know.
Based on her attitude, she couldn't know.
Aeka looked to the floor.
One.
After a year, she had told only one person.
No one else, not even her master.
They all know now; they all figured it out after she went into bender's state.
And then she ran away.
She never had to deal with the stereo-typing; just a bit from Eita when they first met.
"But…people didn't always have a problem with you! You were like the princess's best friend right?" Aeka pointed out.
Huyu knitted his brow.
How would she have known that?
'Pointless in asking.'
"They were scared though…I could see it. They were fine as long as I was under supervision…but once I abandoned the city, people considered me a refugee. Acted like I'd done a life of crime. A few small villages didn't know me, which worked, but word gets round fast. Worse than TV sometimes."
That was for sure.
Few months ago, it was a giant mystery as to what his actual gift was.
Now nearly everyone seemed to know the majority of it.
Someone had spilled.
"Why don't you tell Benny-san and Ami-san?"
They could help.
They could…
Do nothing.
What would they do?
Overreact was a definite, but anything useful?
He didn't respond.
It wasn't just that, he felt shame.
He didn't deal with it well, pity was something he did to himself, not what he wanted others to feel for him.
Based on his attitude; he was accustomed to this.
Accustomed to handling harsher times on his own and leading other to a false illusion.
"Hello? Is everything ok over here?" FINALLY a cop came.
'By now they could have killed me.' Aeka pursed her lips, ridiculing this cities lack of safety.
Huyu stood up, dusting some dirt before turning her back to her.
"Have HIM take you home. I'm going to go clean up."
Walking back so beat up wasn't a pleasant thought.
'Senpai…' She watched him leave, unable to follow.
~End of Flashback~
Aeka blinked, watching as they fought ridiculously, screams loud enough to wake the neighbors.
If there were any houses left standing.
Eita…too prejudiced to see anything rational.
'Nakajima must be the only one left from her village. And…Huyu harming him…she's just trying to prevent what happened before.' It was understandable, but stupid.
Emi was just too close to him to see anything.
'She must have been scared at one point and now feels guilty about it. Therefore, she is attempting to give extra trust in order to balance it out. And the fact that she likes him does have a large portion to do with it…'
It wasn't a reliable opinion.
Benjiro…was Benjiro.
'He wants to trust him…but doesn't completely…no…' his case was a bit more complicated, 'he's his friend, but lightly, or medium, because he respects him enough not to mock him about Kaimu or his gift issue. But, Benjiro hates him because Huyu didn't respect him enough to back off on Emi when it was obvious he liked her.'
Benjiro was actually looking for a reason not to trust him.
Aeka exhaled.
Why was it so hard for them to have a clear head?
She had to be the level headed one, the one to speak on Huyu's behalf.
'Pathetic.' Her lips mouthed the word in disgust.
Her hands ran near her neck before sliding beneath her shirt, touching the chain with reassurance.
'All of us lied so much…about nearly everything…so why did we have a better team than them?' The large eyes flickered to group.
'Because we had a common interest and could relate. And made an attempt to understand each other…' yes, that surely had something to do with it, 'well…some of us…'
She wanted to smile at the thoughts, the best moments they shared.
But they were overshadowed by the thoughts of the betrayal.
Of how they played right into his hands.
Her ears twitched when she heard boots crunching glass, cloth sweeping dirt and snow.
"You guys still alive?" Huyu questioned, barely having time to show himself at the doorway before Eita's fist made contact with his face.