Chapter 49: Toby Awdry: Part 3


"Speak life~ Speak life~"

Toby happily sang in a low voice as he walked through the Border base. It had been a while since his squad's recent match had ended, and a while since he had a good fight. He had enjoyed the ones he had been in during the match, but now he had nothing to do. The C Ranks, having seen how good his Side Effect is in recent matches, decided that they didn't want to fight him.

He had already been (kindly) rejected by multiple agents stating that his Side Effect was "something I don't feel like losing too", so Toby took it as it was. He had gone to some of the people who he would usually fight against, but they each had an excuse. A few of the B-Ranks seemed to be busy with something, Kageura was nowhere to be found, and Midorikawa had quickly been taken away Yoneya.

He didn't mind (too much), so he just decided to fight against anyone willing to fight him. He had wanted to fight against Scorpion users first, but didn't want to be picky when hardly anyone even went up to him at this point.

"Hm~ Hm~ Hm~ Maybe I should just find out who our next opponents are~ I kinda wanna go up against Osamu's squad, but now that Noah's squad is in the top tier... Sigh~ The odd of us going against both of them is a bit low~"

Toby stopped for a second. He could hear a small sound that continued to get closer. It was easy to tell that the sound was small steps that were rapidly approaching. He could also tell the general height of the person from how fast the steps were coming and how small they sounded. He was a genius after all.

He quickly turned around, lowered his body so that he was in the stance a sumo wrestler would take before a fight started, his arms were outstretched as well. He braced himself for the impact that quickly came and slammed into his body. He wasn't in his Trion body so he gave a grunt, but he still held his ground.

He looked down to see exactly what he expected. A small child with golden blond hair with a similar face as his own, just a bit younger. The two did have many differences besides their age through. While Toby had hair more in the wild side, the child's hair seemed more tame. While the child's clothing looked more pristine and formal, Toby's was casual and had a few holes from constant use.

Toby quickly got an idiot grin on his face as he lifted his younger brother high in the air, earning delighted giggles from the child. He brought the blond down and fix their position so that Toby was holding him with his right arm.

"(So, how's the lil' bluebell doing~?)"

"(Great! I watched your awesome fight! I was going over to see Pyrínas with Michelle and Mitsu! Father stopped me from going though. He said that he needed me for a little bit.)"

Toby resisted the urge to frown at hearing this. He knew how much his younger brother loved playing around with the two other young ones and autonomous Trion soldier that took residence in the Yagura Branch.

He also knew when his brother was lying.

"(Step, what happened when you talked to...Henry?)"

Stepney's gaze quickly fell to the ground as he fidgeted a bit. He hated troubling other, always being the one to want to help out. So telling his older brother this wasn't something he wanted to do. But he knew that Toby wouldn't relent.

A heavy silence fell onto the two. It didn't last long though since Toby let out a sigh.

Lifting his arm, Toby continued to grin as he moved his arm across his body. He put his hand on Stepney's stomach and started tickling him.

Stepney wasn't able to withstand the onslaught of tickles, so his childish laughter was unavoidable. The sound rang out through the hall, getting Toby to start laughing as well.

"Do you have to be so loud? Why do you even have a child with you?"

Toby stops his "torture" of his little brother and let out a small sigh as he turned around to see Katori standing there. The two hardly ever talked to each other, so this was rather odd. Toby knew that Hoshi had gotten rather close to Katori Squad's Gunner, but he didn't think that was much of a reason for the captain to just suddenly start talking to him.

Katori gave a small look at Stepney, who had been trying to calm down from the laughing. She recognized him as one if the children that had been behind her squad as they watched Kotowari Squad's latest match.

"So, whatcha want? A fight? That'd be nice~"

"Why does everything go straight to a fight with you?"

"Meh. It's fun to mess around when I have the chance. Between these rank war matches and defense duty, it's fun to play instead of worrying about 'official' stuff. I just leave that to Take and Mei.

"And they complain about me..."

"What was that?"

"I had to pass by here. You and that kid were being too loud, so I thought I'd shut you up."

"Oh. Well, do you wanna go a round or two? We've never fought before, so it would actually be pretty cool to go against you."

Katori looked back at Toby with scrunched up eyebrows. She had a look that seemed disgusted, but at the same time just annoyed.

"Heck no. Dealing with your Side Effect is troublesome enough. Now that you have Viper and Chameleon, there's no way I would wanna deal with that hassle. Besides, you've become way too defensive in your fighting."

"Hm? I already had Mei take off Viper and Scorpion though. And what do you mean I've become 'too defensive'?"

Katori wasn't sure what to really think right now, so she just sighed. She could see from Toby's tilted head that he genuinely didn't realize the changes in his fighting style, but she didn't want to explain it. She looked over at the child on his arms and saw he had a similar look to his older brother.

She couldn't resist this idiotic (and admittedly cute) duo and their confused looks.

"Urg. Your Side Effect saves you from almost any attacks directed at you. But now you have that annoying little girl's prototype Triggers that send attacks back at the person. You go in for attacks after you see it's safe enough to do that."

It was Toby's turn to scrunch up his eyebrows. He had been told, by multiple people, that he was always so forceful and wild whenever he was fighting. He had always kept things simple with just Scorpion and Teleport. True, he had changed it up a bit with the special Teleport that Yuki helped him with, as well as adding Shield and Starlight, but he only ever used them in dire situations, or in Starlights case to help improve it.

As he thought more about it, what Katori was saying was a bit true. He had used Teleport and the Shield-Starlight combo when he wanted to keep away or block for minimum damage. He had used this together with his naturally fast movements with Scorpion for his fights. He had started getting use to this kind of fighting to the point of forgetting about his former use of Scorpion for his special moves like Hedgehog and Porcupine.

That was when something clicked in his head.

'My own style... True, using Hedgehog and Porcupine were unique, but I would usually just attack, swinging any sort of weapon around... Not much of a style. I always feel uncomfortable using Shooter Triggers, and hate that I copied Minoru in the last match...'

Toby went wide eyed as he shot his head to the side, looking at his younger brother.

"(Hey, Step! Where would you love to see blades come from!? What body part!?)"

"(Huh? ... Oh! Arms! Make them pop out from your arms, so you can fight like a ninja!)"

"(Wah! Leave it to my lil' bluebell to come up with something so awesome!)"

Katori stared with a confused (and slightly freaked out) look as Toby and Stepney spoke on English. She gave the freaked out look because when they were done talking, Toby had started nuzzling Stepney with a grin.

She was about to take her leave, realizing that she really had to interest in being there, but had been stopped when a hand landed on her shoulder. She knew who it was from, but she didn't want to turn around to see the idiotic grin of the brunet behind her.

She didn't have time to say or do anything though as Toby grabbed onto her wrist and started pulling her. They were both now running towards the booths while Toby held his younger brother in his arms.

"Since you're here, (and since I don't have the time to get Ai), you'll he be partner for a bit! Sorry! (I'll repay you at some point!) Let's go! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Katori had a bit of trouble trying to understand the quickly spoken English and slightly broken Japanese. She wanted to pull her arm back and walk away right then and there but Toby seemed to have a death grip on her wrist, preventing her from doing anything from running - along with tricking and stumbling.


"Sorry about this! But also thanks! I'll super owe you for this! I really, really, really want to try this out! You're also a great person for the job!"

"Tsk. Flattery really won't get you anywhere. You dragged me all the way here and almost literally threw me into the booth! Damn right you owe me!"

Katori gave an annoyed sigh as she stood in one of the booths, waiting for Toby to get ready. She had been forced into this situation, there was no way she wasn't going to go all out. She didn't care if he wanted "test something out", she would try her best to beat him down.

She already knew his weakness from the recent match he had been in, so that was what she planned on doing. She would put a large amount of pressure on him to the point that she would he able to get passed his Side Effect and win.

'I'll make sure to embarrass him in front of his little brother while I'm at it. Next time he shouldn't drag others into things they didn't want to do!'

She felt it. She felt the anger rising in her. While with Hoshi she felt more annoyance than anything, right how, with Toby, she was angry. She wasn't the type to take kindly to being forced into something, so of course she would be pissed with Toby. She did have to give Kitora and Kotowari Squad props for dealing the the brunet though.

"Alright! Let's get this started!"

"It's about damn time."


The two were sent into the virtualized area that was made up of an urban setting. Once they were both set, they went into action.

Toby grinned as he disappeared from sight.

Katori used Grasshopper to fly into the sky.

Toby had appeared more to the left of where Katori had once stood. He knew she would use Grasshopper to escape his first attack, but he had a one-in-five chance of getting the direction right. He had chosen wrong, but that didn't stop him in the slightest.

Katori on the other hand sped toward him, Grasshoppers placed on a few areas. She quickly appeared near him, gun in hand and Scorpion on her arm. She moved to strike with the blade, but missed when he used Teleport.

She used one of the Grasshoppers to move where he reappeared (she noticed with direction his eyes moved), pulled out her gun, and fired Asteroid in his direction.

Toby's Side Effect kicked in, forcing him to twist his body so that the shots wouldn't reach him.

He noticed Katori coming towards him again, but instead of using Teleport, he brought out a Scorpion blade, mimicking the one Katori had on her own arm. He moved forward and trained bladed blows with Katori while also dodging the shots of Asteroid.

He could feel the pressure starting to appear as Katori moved with quick moves that didn't waste too much space, keeping him trapped a bit. It was evident to him now just how skilled she was, and how she had quickly become a master level fighter. Although, that wouldn't slow him down in the slightest.

He felt so happy right now.

Seeing his change when Katori switched guns, Toby moved forward once again, this time a Scorpion blade coming from his left arm, the right armed one now gone. He made for an attack at her head, but missed when she moved back.

He grinned as he moved forward again, arm still in place, making it seem like he wanted to run her through.

Katori knew there was something else to this than just running forward and hoping for a hit. She got ready to a Teleport, and also kept track to make sure no markers had been placed on her for a special Teleport.

"...!"

What she wasn't expecting was multiple blades springing from Toby's arm, continually retracting then shooting out.

She moved back and fired a few shots. She missed when he used Teleport.

Toby appeared above and behind Katori, right arm out with the retracting and springing blades coming from his arm. He continued to move forward, dodging the shots, while he skillfully moved from slashes to kicks with blades popping out and retracting at a rapid pace that Katori couldn't keep up with.

Katori clicked her tongue as she continued to gain new scratches. It wasn't one-sided through since she had manged to shoot Toby with a few shots as well, almost matching th about if cuts she had. She placed Grasshopper out, sending Toby flying into the air while another sent her flying back.

'This guy...! So he uses a mix of destroying and creating new blades while using Hedgehog/Porcupine... Leave it to this idiot to do something so irritating!'

Katori looked at Toby as she moved to keep her distance.

'On the other hand... That must take up a lot of Trion. There's no way her can keep this up for much longer. I just need to hold off until he runs out.'

Even with that being her best option at the moment, Katori couldn't actually bring herself to do it. She felt that she would be even more mad if she won like that. She wanted to have an actual victory over Toby, to hold it over him that he had lost in their very first battle. She wouldn't be able to feel satisfied if she won just because he was an idiot who didn't keep track of how much Trion he was using.

She started getting more mad at Toby now, for making her want that kind of victory. She had maintained her focus in the fight, but she still felt angry at him. She had heard multiple things about him and his fighting, all good things like "He's so fun to fight~", "You always feel so energized during and after fights with him!", as well as "I want to go another round, but someone else took him away!" She had never cared about those kinds of things, but now that she was here, fighting him in their first match, she could understand a bit of how they felt.

Katori could now tell that he was the type of person who enjoyed any fight he was in, unless it held some sort of malice in it, and she hates that. She knew that he was the type of person to try hard, but she also knew he had talent. That sort of combination got her a bit frustrated, since she herself felt that once a limit had been reach that there would be no way beyond it. Then there was the fact he was able to get her to feel like winning in a "fair" way.

She had fallen into a trap. It was a trap like the one Osamu had set up during their rank war match. No. This trap was much more simple. Much more unnoticeable than those wires that had given her and her squad so much trouble. This trap when by the name of "Toby Awdry".

As she moved around the area, using walls, poles, and any other things as a springboard, Katori continued to attack with moves that proved her skill was real. She contined to show that she was able to gain a win over Toby, someone who had an almost unfair Side Effect. She continued to put pressure on him, so much so that he actually seemed to be slowing down.

Katori knew that Toby was quickly running out of Trion, so she moved to deliver the finishing blow.

Toby had appeared in the air after using Teleport, but didn't have side as his Side Effect activated, making him twist his body again to dodge the shots coming from the ground. He tried to fix his stance in the air, but didn't have enough time.

Katori was already there, a few inches away from him, Scorpion at the ready.

Not wanting to go out without resistance, Toby shot out a blade from his side.

Katori clicked her tongue as the blade cut off her arm. She didn't give it a second thought as she moved forward and quickly took off Toby's head.

Bail Out


"Gah! So damn close! You wanna go another round!? Please!?"

"Hell no. Screw off already."

Even thought she said such harsh words, Katori really put any sort of malice in her voice. In all actuality she wanted to at least make a best two out of three match, but held back. She didn't want to get more ensnared in the trap known as "Toby Awdry".

She heard a sigh from the other end and figured that was Toby's way of calling it quites for now.

She herself was a bit relieved, as well as a bit sad (although she would never admit it), that he hadn't pushed the situation any more into another fight. She figured it was better for her though, so she said nothing as she exited the booth.

He looked down to see that Toby was already on the first floor.

'Did he really jump from up here in his real body?'

She walked up to him as he looked like he was panicking. That's when she noticed that a certain golden blond haired children was no longer there. She had remembered Toby telling him to sit down and watch them fight.

"Crap! Crap! (Crap!)"

There he goes again, changing languages. Katori hated that she couldn't understand him now.

"(Hey! Lil' bluebell! Where are you!? Stepney! Don't play hide-and-seek in here!)"

Katori, out of pure curiosity... Yeah! Just because she was curious! Nothing else! Well, out of curiosity, she looked around to see if she could spot the young child somewhere. She didn't seem him, but she saw some of the other agents giving Toby and odd look.

She sent small glares to the ones who were looking over, as if to say "Mind your own business, nosy bastards."

She heard a pair of steps getting closer to them, so she looked over. She saw Kitora walking up to them, but said nothing (and was most certainly not because she was disappointed that it wasn't Stepney).

"Hey, Toby. If you're yelling for your brother, he was with your father. I saw them walking by while I made my way over here."

Katori noticed that Kitora seemed a bit stiff (more so than usual) when she spoke to Toby. Rather, she got stiff when she mentioned the brunet's father.

Toby quickly turned around to Kitora, getting both girls thinking that he would get whiplash from the quick movement. The brunet didn't seem to care about those kinds of things as he quickly hounded Kitora about which direction the two had gone.

Kitora gave him the answer, almost in a hurried tone.

It didn't take more than 5 seconds for Toby to start running.

Katori was a bit curious (just a bit!) about what was going on. She could make a few guesses, but didn't come to any conclusions. And she'd rather fight Toby again than ask Kitora for the information.

Kitora on the other hand simply let out a sigh.

"He has way too much energy."


By the time Toby caught up with the two he was panting and he could feel the sweat on his body. He made a mental note to go into his Trion body before running like that again.

Henry stood in front of him, usual expressionless face on and superior aura all around him. He seemed to be standing in front of Stepney, who was looking at the ground with a red mark on his cheek.

Once Toby noticed the mark he tightened his fists and glared up at Henry, refusing to stand down in the slightest. He could see that Henry looked rather mad right now, which was something that only he, and a handful of others, would be able to actually tell.

"What do you want? We have a busy schedule that does not involve dealing with a child like you who does not even understand proper manners. Leave and go back to your barbaric fights, Tobias."

Toby let out a sigh before turning to Stepney.

"(Hey, lil' bluebell, cover your ears and eyes for a sec, 'kay?)"

He tried his hardest to keep his voice down and calm. It seemed to work as Stepney did as he was told and called his eyes while placing his hands to his ears.

Henry slightly raised an eyebrow at this.

"What? Are you going to fi-"

"(Shut the fuck up, you sack of shit!)" Toby yelled out as he stuck his middle finger right to Henry's face. "(You hit Stepney again and I swear that beat the shit out of you! I don't give a damn about your position! I don't care if I'm stuck in some cell for the rest of my life! Hitting me is one thing, but Step is just a child! You do not hit a child! Especially of he is my younger brother!)"

Henry's expression at this point was a mix between shock and, what Toby would classify as, absolute rage. He refused to be told this sort of thing by how own child, but he couldn't say anything in return. He could see that Toby felt too strongly about this, to the point of him actually being able to go through with his threat right then and there if needed.

Toby on the other hand seemed to be going on pent up emotions than actual thoughts. He knew his voice had gone beyond what he intended, but he didn't seem to care right now. He said what he wanted, and he was happy with the results.

He seemed to he cooling down though as he went to just glaring at Henry.

"Get out of here already. I want to talk to Stepney for a sec."

Henry opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. It wasn't by Toby though, it was by a new voice.

"Do not worry. We'll make sure your son gets back to you once their conversation is done."

Kitora stood there, arms behind her back. She held the aura of a professional that most saw on TV.

Katori was also there, next to Kitora, but she had her phone out with a bored look. Toby had to wonder what she was doing there.

"... Very well."

With those small and simple words, Henry took his leave. Althought his anger was still there, carefully hidden so as to keep his appearance.

"Thanks, Ai."

Kitora let out a sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. She turned to Toby and gave a small nod before moving back a bit, pulling Katori with her.

Toby walked towards Stepney, who still had his eyes closed and hands to his ears. He lightly tapped the golden blond haired boy on the head as he crouched down so that they were at almost at eye level.

"(Hey, Step, it's fine. You'll have to go with that... With Henry once we're done talking, but until then, I want to talk to you some more. Although I think big sis Ai over there might get mad if we go on for too long.)"

Stepney gave a small nod as he looked up, tears threatening to fall. The mark on his cheek still stung, but that wasn't why his eyes got watery.

"(When father said he was busy... It's because we're going back to America. I want to stay here with you, so I can play with Michelle, Mitsu, and Pyrínas more, but I can't, can I?)"

Toby really felt hitting something right now, while also wanting to just hug his brother and not let go. He did neither of those things. Instead he gave a small, but sad, smile.

"(Right. I would love to have you here, but... It really is better for you over there. I can't take care of both of us. Well, maybe if I get rid of Takeshi, but I really can't do that either, so... For now, you need to stay with them. But! Don't be like them, okay? When I see you again, I want you to be the same lil' bluebell as always, got it?)"

Stepney nodded again. He understood exactly what Toby was saying. He knew that he really should stay with their parents, no matter how hard that was going to be.

That still didn't make him feel any better though. He knew that once he was out of Toby's sight that he would get punished for this. He would still live with their parent's tyrannical authority. He would still have to go through all the tough learning to take over one, if not bother, their companies. He was a smart child, way smarter than any 5-year-old.

As he wiped his eyes, Stepney could feel something on his head. He felt something fuzzy touching his cheeks. When he looked up he saw that he could now see Toby's hair, in all of its semi-wild glory. He felt his older brother's hand land on his head while the brunet grinned.

"(Keep this safe for me, okay? It's really, really, reaaaaaalllly important. Since it's so important, I can only leave it to someone I really, really, reaaaaaaallllllly trust. Heh heh~ You can even show it off to others if you want.)"

It seemed that all Stepney could do was nod his head since he didn't open his mouth. He just grabbed the flaps on the side of the hat and rapidly nodded his head.

"(Good. Now then. If either one if those two hurt you, just give me a call. I'll be over in the blink of an eye and beat them up good, 'kay? Just leave everything to your big bro! At least when it comes to fights!)"

"(Right! Because big bro is super awesome!)" Stepney gave a watery smile as he spoke.

.

Off to the side, Kitora could hear Katori fake gagging. She elbowed the older girl on the side, not that it hurt or anything.

"Bleh! I think my teeth are rotting into just by watching this."

"Why are you even here? I came by to help these two out, but you really have no reason. None that I know of at least."

"That's not really any of your business, now is it? I just thought I could get some entertainment from this, but I was wrong. This is just some drama you see on TV."

"Oh yeah? Then why is your phone's screen locked?"

"..."

Katori clicked her tongue as she turned around.

Kitora gave a semi-smug look as she heard Katori started to walk away while muttering something under her breath. It was hard to actually hear what she has said, but it sounded like something familiar that she herself had said before.

"Leaving things like this to someone like him is never a good thing. He really should be glad he has people like us watching out for him."


QOTC: Do you have any siblings? If so, 1-10 with 1 being hate them and 10 being love them.


What...the hell did I just make...? I am so sorry! Is it just me or do these chapters keep getting worse and worse!? I AM SO SORRY! What makes things worse is that I suck at touching moments the most! Gah! Oh, and Toby and Katori will not be together or anything. In case you were wondering...

Speaking if which... Small thing I noticed while making this chapter, Katori and Kitora have their "a" and "i" switched on their names. You all probably noticed that already but I just did, so...yeah.

... Sigh. I still hope you enjoyed at least some of this though...

Until next time... See ya.