Fate V: Bonding I
As it turned out, everyone ended up staying the night at Noel's place last night. Noel slept in her own bed, Makoto took the spare bed that Ragna had slept on the night before, Bullet took the couch in the living room, and Ragna took his place on the floor with a blanket.
The three girls all woke up around close to 8:30, and noticed that Ragna had left his coat on the dining room chair and a note on the table saying that he was going out for a morning jog and wouldn't be back until close to 9. While the letter seemed straightforward to them, and it wasn't a lie since he technically was jogging, the main reason Ragna was doing wasn't for the exercise, but to attempt to complete his layout of Kagutsuchi.
"I guess we'll make breakfast when Ragna gets back," Noel said. "By the way, I wanted to talk to all of you about these next few days."
"What about them?" Bullet asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"It's about the agreement we made last night. We said that we'd let Ragna choose, that we'd be friends by the end of this, and that we wouldn't interfere with one another. I can really only see this working one way, and that's if we decided to divide our time up with Ragna and spend an equal time alone with him."
"I guess that makes sense," Makoto agreed. "Let's see today's the 22nd of December, so that leaves 3 days left until Christmas including today. I guess that means we should each get a day with Ragna, and then spend Christmas with all of us. Now the question in what order do we do our separate dates?"
"I have something that I wanted to see if Ragna was interested on going to on Christmas Eve, so I'd like to take either that or the middle day if he's not interested," Noel requested.
"Fine with me," Bullet said. "That just leaves who wants to hang out with Ragna today."
"Is it alright if I spend today with him?" Makoto asked. "You guys already spent some time with him, so I think it's only fair that I get my turn to spend time with Ragna first."
Noel and Bullet thought about it for a moment, but in the end they agreed with the Squirrel Beastkin. "Alright," Bullet agreed. "But you should know this means that you don't have much time to plan the day out."
"Don't worry," Makoto said with a grin. "I already know what we're going to do."
""Then it's decided," Noel said with a grin. "I'll just have to ask Ragna when he gets back."
Around 15 minutes later Ragna returned from his run, sweaty and breathing heavily… but give the guy a break, he'd literally just run up and down a mountain. Plus, the girls weren't exactly against a hot and sweaty Ragna. After helping the girls whip up some waffles for breakfast, the four sat down at the table.
"Did I miss anything?" Ragna asked before biting into one of his waffles. Sadly, Noel couldn't find the syrup bottle, so he had to settle for having butter on them."
"Just making plans," Noel said truthfully. "I was thinking about showing Bullet around town today, so maybe you could go out and do something with Makoto?"
"No problems from me," Ragna said. "What are you in the mood for Makoto?"
"You'll see!" Makoto said with a playful wink.
"Leaving me in the dark, huh? Well that's fine I guess," Ragna said to himself. "Any plan's for Christmas?"
"None so far," Noel said. "But my friend had invited me to visit him and his girlfriend on Christmas Eve and I wanted to know if you were interested in coming. They seemed interested in meeting you."
"Sounds fine to me, I'll just have to find something better to wear," Ragna said as he chowed down the last of his waffle. "Dibs on the first shower!"
"Hey!" Makoto exclaimed at him. "Whatever happened to ladies first?"
"Snooze you lose!" Ragna said as proceeded to walk into the bathroom. When closed the bathroom door Makoto struggled not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Bullet asked her eyes narrowed. Makoto motioned for her to be quiet. "What did you do?"
"Just wait," Makoto said.
It was then that the water turned on. While he was in the shower, Ragna was singing the lyrics of 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' (written by Green Day)… just picture that for a moment. Anyways, Ragna actually had pretty decent singing voice, despite his gruff attitude and personality.
"Is that what we were supposed to laugh at?" Bullet asked after listening to the first verse. "It's not like he's embarrassing himself; I sing in the shower myself."
"Just wait for it," Makoto said, holding her hand over her mouth.
"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me, my shadow heart's the only thi-!" *SPLURRRRRRRT* "WHAT THE HELL! WHY IS THERE SYRUP IN-?! MAKOTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
At this the Beastkin fell out of her chair in uncontrolled laughter, Noel had no choice but to join in the laughter herself and Bullet just stared at the door with a blank expression on her face. Then the water was shut off and Ragna almost broke the bathroom door with the force he opened it with.
Ragna marched over, shirtless, with one of Noel's towels (the baby blue one) hastily wrapped around his waist, dripping wet, with brown goo all over his head, the syrup bottle in one hand, and a VERY pissed expression.
"Tell me Makoto," Ragna demanded testily. "When you woke up this morning WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS INSPIRED THIS!?"
"Aw, c'mon," Makoto said to Ragna, giving her the grin that always seemed to get her out of this sort of trouble. "Early bird get the worm, second mouse and all that. Can't you laugh with it?"
"Oh, I can laugh with it all right," Ragna said, this time he wasn't about to drop the prank. He tore the cap off the syrup bottle and dumped the remaining contents all over the Beastkin. Makoto gave a shrike as she was covered in the sticky goo. "There, NOW I'm laughing!" Ragna grumbled as he made his way back into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Now it was Makoto's turn to be laughed by Noel and Bullet. The Squirrel gave a pathetic whimper as she tried to pick out a chunk of syrup out of her tail. Sadly, it didn't budge but it hurt a ton. Meanwhile, Ragna had begun to shower again.
"What do you have to say for yourself now?" Bullet asked with a smirk on her face.
Makoto glared at the two who were laughing at her expense while Ragna went back to singing in the shower. "Dibs on the next turn in the shower," she grumbled to her friends.
*One Hour Later- Kagutsuchi Streets*
After Makoto finally managed to get all of the syrup out of her hair and fur (even with the shampoo, it hadn't been easy) she and Ragna made their way down Kagutsuchi. Ragna was dressed in his regular clothing and carried all of his weaponry, it didn't seem like he'd need them, but it never hurt to be sure. Makoto wore dark jeans and an orange and white striped tank top, she also carried her metal tonfas on her belt.
"So where are we heading?" Ragna asked.
"Just to the park," Makoto told him. "I thought we'd go on a bike ride around the park, just enjoy the scenery and get some exercise at the same time. Then we'd grab some lunch after that and figure out what else to do."
"Sounds good to me," Ragna said. 'This could also be a good chance to learn a little bit about the city and get some info.' "Is there a place in the park to rent bikes, or do we have to buy one from the market?"
"There should be one at the park," Makoto told him. "Come on, let's go! Day's a wasting!"
"Say's the person who spent a good half hour in the shower," Ragna remarked.
"Your fault for dumping syrup on me!" Makoto challenged him.
"You started it," Ragna chuckled. "Plus, you smell nice like this." He didn't notice that his last comment had caused Makoto to blush slightly.
*Meanwhile- Kagutsuchi's Rosewind Café*
"Nice place," Bullet said as she and Noel sat down at a table outside. The place was somewhat formal in design, but they had a fair dress code and prices were fair. It was usually a very busy place, but Noel and Bullet had gotten lucky and the place was only slightly packed.
"I like to come here often," Noel said with a small smile as they waited for their tea. "You also said that you had something to talk about."
"It's about Ragna," Bullet started. "Specifically the secret he's been keeping, from all of us no less."
"Secret?" Noel asked doubtfully. "Ragna isn't the type of person to keep secrets."
"I know," Bullet admitted. "He's always been terrible at keeping them, even when it was as simple as him stealing my desert when we were younger, he'd always give himself away so easily. But at the same time, we've never really asked about his past."
That wasn't completely true for Noel, she'd asked Ragna about his past a long time ago. Back then he'd said he wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone. She and Makoto had assumed that it had something to do with how he lost his arm and got his BlazBlue, and decided not to question hum further on the matter. Ragna had never really talked about his past after that, but at the same time Noel and Makoto weren't really asking.
"What do you know then?" she decided to ask diplomatically.
"I just learned this recently, after talking with the person himself. Apparently Ragna was trained by one of the six heroes… the strongest hero."
"You mean Hakumen?" Noel asked. While Ragna's power and skill were on an almost impossible level, for him to be trained by a man who was said to have vanished from the world almost a century ago? It was impossible. "I just can't see it," Noel admitted. "It's just outrageous!"
"I can understand that you're skeptic, but I actually met Hakumen. Just before coming to this city."
"What did he want?" Noel questioned.
"He wanted me to make sure Ragna, his apprentice, was alive by the end of this. I don't know what any of this means, but he implied that it has something to do with the NOL."
"The NOL?" Noel repeated, more to herself than Bullet. Wait… the attacks on the NOL… "No… It can't be… you don't think?"
"I can't say for certain," Bullet admitted. "But this isn't really the best place to be throwing around these kinds of theories. Regardless, what would you do?"
Noel was silent as she thought to herself. "I'd still trust Ragna. He's always been there for us in the past, he knows what he's doing. And I'm going to be there when he needs me."
"Right," Bullet agreed as their drinks arrived. She took a sip of her coffee. "That's a good cup of coffee. And normally I can't stand the stuff."
"Ranga's never made coffee?"
"He has it's just… I think last time he tried to make a cup for us he did something wrong. I couldn't sleep for a week after only having one sip. Imagine what a cup would've done."
*Meanwhile-Kagutsuchi Park*
As it turned out, Makoto had been right in saying that there was a place to rent bikes in the park. After renting the bike and some other gear, Ragna took it outside. Bikes were pretty popular that day, so the only type they had left where the double bikes that sits two people.
Makoto finished putting her helmet on and sat on the front seat. "All right, ready to go!" she said with enthusiasm.
"Like hell," Ragna said. "If we're going to do this I'm steering."
"What, you don't trust me?" Makoto demanded. Ragna pointed to his hair. "Fine, pull one stupid prank and I hear about it for the rest of the day."
"If it was a stupid prank then you shouldn't have pulled it," Ragna said as he took his rightful seat up front. "Let's get going."
The two made their way around the park. The biking area wasn't large, but it was certainly a scenic route. Not too hilly, and a lot to look out on the way. They passed by several other bikers on the way, all of which seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"How's work been?" Makoto decided to bring up as they rode along the park.
"Pretty decent. I managed to take down another syndicate, but they honestly weren't that strong to begin with. More of a pain in my ass if nothing else."
"What type of syndicate?" Makoto asked.
"A slave trade," Ragna said through gritted teeth. "They'd been capturing refugees from the Ikaruga war and selling them on the black market. Job was pretty standard, but I did meet an unusual guy while I was on the job. Called himself Bang Shi-something. Pretty loud, energetic, and always leapt before he looked. Heh, reminded me of you."
"If that all you can think when you see me?" Makoto asked, a little peeved but mostly disappointed.
"Of course not," Ragna assured her. "At the same time though, that's part of your charm."
Makoto blushed slightly at that last part. "I-I guess so. Anyways, you want to stop for lunch soon?"
"Sure thing, I'm starting to get hungry, what are you in the mood for?"
"How about-?"
"No French pastry shops."
"Dang it!"
*Meanwhile- the Forest outlying Kagutsuchi*
Hakumen swung his Okami again to destroy the animated missiles that Platinum had created. A soon as he had completed his slash, a giant mallet like object with a lion's head energy from the tree line and was about to come crashing downs on him. He blocked the attack off of his sword, but then he noticed that another round of missiles was about to strike him.
"Clever girl," he said to himself as he let the missiles strike him. Out of the tree line a girl with blond hair with pink ends came out of the woods, the look of satisfaction evident on her face. She was wearing a light skirt, had glasses on her face, and carried a heart shaped staff.
"How'd I do that time, master?" Platinum asked, a little giddy.
"A significant improvement," Hakumen assured his apprentice. "You seem to have gotten your timing and strategy down for your attacks."
"Heh, do you think I could beat HIM?" Platinum asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.
'It's times like this that I actually hate having to tell her the truth.' "Not just yet," Hakumen told her. "You've gotten stronger, but my first apprentice was on a different level when I last saw him, I can only estimate his improvement."
Platinum sighed for a moment, before asking, "Hey, Master Haku?"
"What is it?"
"I was… uh, wondering… what your first apprentice was like."
"I prefer not to talk about him," Hakumen said, hoping to drop the subject there.
"Was he that bad of an apprentice?" Platinum had to ask.
"No, he learned discipline and was respectful enough, I just prefer not to think of him."
"Master Hakumen, is he the revolutionary that you and Miss Rachel were talking about?"
"Yes, he's fighting the entire NOL on his own, but he's managed to do quite well. He actually should be in this city."
"And Terumi is going to show up in this city?" Hakumen merely nodded. "Then shouldn't we be there before he decides to arrive?"
"We will be there only when he arrives, not before. If he senses us anywhere inside the city, all of my planning will have been for nothing."
"Sounds like a tough job," Platinum admitted before stretching her body. "I'm going to go make some lunch. See you later master!"
Again, Hakumen only nodded. After Platinum had left, he sensed a familiar presence behind him.
"Harlequin," he said without emotion. "What brings you here?"
"Merely stopping to be sure that you haven't nearly killed your apprentice again. Lord knows how many times we had to heal Ragna after all of the times you nearly killed him."
"Hmph, you always were defensive about him."
"Are you implying something?" Rachel demanded, her red eyes narrow slits.
"Only stating the obvious," Hakumen said, containing himself from chuckling. "But rest assured, Platinum is fine, I haven't even raised my blade against her."
"So long as that is the case," Rachel said, mostly uninterested. "I assume you will be ready for when Terumi arrives?"
"If I had any doubt in my mind I would have come to you for help," Hakumen admitted. "I will not let my pride blind me like last time, be assured of that."
"I suppose we should all be thankful of that," Rachel said to him. "Take care, defeating Terumi is going to take all of us if we're to stand a chance." And with that the Vampire was gone.
*Kagutsuchi- The Park*
"What'd you want to come back here for?" Ragna asked as he made his way back to the park with Makoto. It was the middle of the afternoon now and the sun was beginning to set over the horizon.
"Just thought we'd go a round, for old times sake!" Makoto said cheerfully as she equipped her tonfas.
(Cue Makoto's Theme Alexandrite II)
"Heh," Ragna said smirking as he got into a ready stance. "I should've figured. All right then, DON'T EXPECT ME TO HOLD BACK!"
"KILL YA IF YOU DID!" Makoto yelled as she ran towards Ragna.
Due to Makoto's skill with quick attacks and her up and personal fighting style, Ragna elected to stick to fighting unarmed and give himself more speed. He blocked Makoto's jab to his chest with his forearm before stiffening his leg to block her leg sweep. He then returned the attack with a jab to her forearm, which she guarded against with her tonfa, before grabbing Makoto by the weapon and throwing her across the lawn.
The squirrel Beastkin quickly regained her footing, but that Ragna took the opportunity to laugh himself forward. "Hell's Fang!" he shouted just before he made contact with Makoto, before she vanished right in front of him. 'So she's using her Asteroid Vision move, which means-" Ragna thought to him left before he reached behind his back and caught Makoto's fist. '-she'd try to catch me off guard,' he thought to himself. 'I would've thought she'd try something-!' "Pfft, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" he laughed uncontrollably.
He shoved Makoto back and attempted to regain his breath from laughing. "Seriously? That was your big idea, tickling me to death with your tail!?"
"Hey it worked didn't it?" Makoto said with a grin. "Thinking about calling the match?" After saying that, Makoto created a ball of energy in front of her. "BREAK SHOT Lv.3!"
She sent the orb towards Ragna at max speed, it didn't matter how tough Ragna was this one was going to hurt. That was, if Ragna didn't deflect it into the air with a single swipe of his hand. "Wasn't even considering it! I'm having too much fun here!" Ragna said with a cocky smile on his face.
Makoto grinned as she and Ragna rushed each other. They continued to fight, exchanging attacks and techniques with one another. This little sparring match of Makoto's ended up taking up the better part of an hour. There wasn't really a winner to the match, but the two certainly had fun with it.
(End theme)
"Phew!" Makoto exhaled as took off her tonfas. "Quite the work out you had going for me."
"Yeah," Ragna admitted, pretty tuckered out himself. "You certainly don't make it easy for me. But I guess I like things interesting. Speaking of which…"
Makoto realized what Ragna was doing far too late. The Grim Reaper had managed to snake his hands under Makoto's arms and tickled her armpits without mercy. For the next few minutes Makoto couldn't contain her laughter until Ragna decided to stop.
"D-Did you really have to do that?" Makoto asked gasping for air. Ragna gave her a grin.
"Well since I have to put up with your crazy stunts all the time, I think that's fair."
"Crazy stunts, huh?" Makoto said as she merely looked at the ground.
"What's wrong?" Ragna asked. That was before Makoto grabbed him by his Jacket collar and pressed her lips firmly into his.
She was hesitant and unsure at first, not knowing how Ragna would react, but that was before he wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace. The two stayed there for a few minutes before letting go of each other.
"I guess that was another crazy stunt you had to put up with," Makoto said with a small smile on her face.
"Yeah, well I didn't mind this one quite as much," Ragna told her grinning. "Come on, let's find some where to grab some dinner."
"Right with you," Makoto said smiling as she grabbed Ragna's hand with her own and proceeded to travel towards the Merchant district with him.
Even though Ragna had a happy expression on the outside, and was more than a little pleased on the inside, he could only think one thing.
"Damn it Ragna, what the hell are you doing?"
Authors Note: I don't own BlazBlue or the accompanying music.
Not much to say about this chapter, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time. If you have any ideas for the Bullet chapter, let me know.
Ciao.
