I do not own Worm or Blue Archive. Claiming otherwise would probably see me sued to high heaven.
—(X)—
"BWAHAHAHAHA!"
"It's not that funny."
"It really is! You actually took my advice and went for the hardass approach? Oh God, that is just- BWAHAHAHA!"
"It's not- I was just- I'd like to see you deal with a bunch of kids who make Arius look nice!"
"I'm not, and that's what makes it even more hilarious!"
The guy in the shorts and t-shirt laughing themselves silly on the floor of my dad's kitchen was Rick, my secretary and other assistant. He'd been with me ever since the whole thing with Abydos and Kaiser Loans. He was an excellent worker, and he worked well with Arona, but his personality was a lot like that one Undersider…Alice? Alex? Alec, that was it. Well, he wasn't that much of an asshole, but the fact that his favourite pastime in Brockton was "trolling the wanna-be gangsters" as he put it, made me swear to never let him and Alec be together for any length of time. The other Undersiders agreeing with me made my determination even stronger.
I waited with red cheeks – and anyone who said I also had a pout was spreading lies and slander – for Rick to calm down. Once he finally ran out of air, he went on his knees, gasping and wheezing. After a bit, he stood back up, and got back onto his chair, though the grin he had on his face was not helping my blood pressure.
"In all seriousness, though, how was it?" he asked, finally looking at least a little bit serious. I could complain all I wanted about his behaviour, but one of the reasons I'd hired him was because he didn't waste time when necessary. The fact that he one of the few people who could keep an eye on Haruka and her bombs was definitely a bonus.
"You mean besides the skinheads, yakuza-wannabes, drug-dealers, and apathetic students and teachers?" I responded sarcastically. Rick rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but motioned for me to continue. "Disappointing, actually. I don't remember a lot about the Bay, considering everything, but I always expected the schools to be, well, relatively clean. I mean, I get it's asking a lot for a city practically ruled by superpowered gangsters, but come on!" I let my frustration show a little, the ball of anger I'd been feeling all day unravelling a bit.
"Well, this ain't Kivotos," Rick said, and God if that wasn't the truth. At least in the City of Schools, the gangs and delinquents were kept in check by clubs like the Prefect Team, C&C, the Justice Task Force, and other various organizations. Here, there wasn't anything like that. I mean, yeah, I understood that the people in Brockton Bay weren't tough like everyone in Kivotos was (actually, people from Kivotos would probably count as mid-tier Brutes according to the rating system, should add that to the list of things to tell the PRT about), but seriously? I mean, did no one have any respect for the sacred spaces of learning schools were supposed to be in this God-forsaken city? I swear, when I got my hands on one of those stupid, ignorant, egotistical, childish gang-members, I'd give them a PowerPoint demonstrating why hampering education was a bad idea! In fact, make the font Comic Sans, that'd really push the message into their thick skulls that were so dense you'd need an AT rifle to-
"Umm, boss? You're rambling again."
Blinking, I realized that yes, I had been rambling, if the look on Rick's face was any indication. Another thing that I realized was that we weren't alone anymore.
"So, should I come back later or…?" Anne Barnes was at the kitchen door, holding a plastic bag in one hand. She'd grown since the last time I saw her, when we were both thirteen. She looked a lot like her younger sister, Emma, who I'd seen in one of the classes I'd been introduced to, if older (obviously) and with darker hair. There was a moment of awkward silence between us, with Rick looking between us back and forth rapidly, eyes wide.
"Who let you in?" I asked, wincing at how accusing that sounded.
"The maid in the front. Where the hell did you get a maid?" Anne replied, an eyebrow raised, though the teasing smirk on her face made it clear that she didn't take what I said personally. I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me breathe a small sigh of relief.
"She's not my maid. She's a student, from Kivotos."
"Kivotos? What's that?"
"Well…that's kinda complicated."
The silence continued on, though it was slightly less awkward than before. We just stared at each other, taking in each others' features and comparing them to what we remembered, at least in my case. Suddenly, Rick clapped his hands once, snapping both of us out of our memories.
"So!" Rick began, a small smile on his face. "What've you got in the bag? If I had to take a guess…cup noodles? Please tell me it's cup noodles, I have been starving for some." Well, at least Rick knew how to break a silence, awkward or otherwise.
"Umm, yeah. Yeah! Behold!" Anne said, reaching into the bag and dramatically pulling out a cup noodle. "Behold! The mana of college students everywhere!"
Rick gave a small cheer, then stood up, went to the kitchen counter and grabbed a pot. Anne sat in a seat opposite to me, placing the noodles on the table.
"So, how've ya been? How's your mom? What's with the uniform, and seriously, what's with the maid?" Anne asked, leaning on the table and grinning. Inside, I felt a pang of nostalgia. For a bit, it felt like we were both back in Anne's room, gossiping under the covers of her bed.
"I've been good, mom's been getting better, I got a job for the government, and she's not just a maid."
"Wait wait wait, a job? For the government? What, like an FBI agent?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it. Now that I thought about it, I suppose my job kind of fit what the FBI did, from a certain point of view…
"I suppose? Although that's more of a side job than anything else. No, I'm a teacher."
And we talked, settling into a comforting rhythm. She asked question about Kivotos, I answered them. I asked question about what was going on in Brockton Bay, she answered them. After a few minutes us talking, Rick took the cup noodles and poured hot water into them, then sat down while waiting for the noodles to cook.
"Wait, so everyone carries guns? How the hell is no one dead?" Anne asked. I chuckled a bit.
"Well, that's more thanks to the fact that everyone would be a mid-tier Brute, if I'm remembering the PRT rating system correctly, than anything else."
"Holy shit. How the hell are you still alive?"
At this, Rick gave a bark of laughter, giving a grin to the both of us.
"Well, it helps when you both have the luck of the devil, and the ability to befriend everyone…including making almost everyone you interact with have a crush on you," Rick answered, his grin large enough that a flashbang could probably fit in there…which was coincidentally what I wanted to do right at that moment.
"I do- they do not all have crushes on me! Stop laughing!" I shrieked in mortification while my two friends decided to laugh at my misery.
After a bit of them laughing and me screeching at them to stop, we all calmed down and ate our cup noodles – which I did miss the taste of – while talking about ourselves. How were the Barnses, what my dad had been doing, how my mom was doing. But as they say, time flies when you're having fun, and it felt like we'd only been chatting for an hour when Anne had to leave.
"Hey, come over to our house, yeah?" Anne said, as she prepared to leave.
"I will, so long as I get to tell your little sister all the embarrassing stories about when we were her age…especially that time with the tea pot," I answered, grinning a little while I leaned on the wall.
"That was one time! One. Time," Anne complained. "Are you never gonna let that go? It's bad enough when Mom guilt-trips me with it." Anne gave an exaggerated pout.
"Nope!" I said cheerfully. We both gave a small chuckle. Anne seemed to hesitate a bit, before walking over and gave me a hug.
"It's really good to see you again," Anne said, moving back after a few more seconds.
"Yeah. It's good to be back," I replied, a small smile on my face.
We stayed like that for a few seconds, smiling at each other, when Rick and Karin came into the living room.
"Oi, boss, you've got that meeting with the PRT early tomorrow. I wouldn't recommend missing it, I'd rather not deal with either Rin or the Director's glare. Again," Rick reminded me. Inwardly, I groaned.
'Dammit! I swear, these sorts of things have the worst timing."
Anne and I quickly said our goodbyes, and promised to meet up again, and then Anne left. Once the door closed, I looked at it for a few seconds.
"Is everything alright, Mas- Sensei?" Karin asked.
"…It's fine, Karin. I'm just thinking," I answered. Karin hesitated, then turned towards Rick. It'd taken a while, but I'd finally learned to read what Karin was thinking through her eyes, and though her face was as impassive as always, she seemed to be worried.
"Don't worry, Karin. You can go back to the others. You can take my car, I'll still have my motorcycle," Rick told her. Karin nodded, then left the house, though she gave me a worried glance as she passed me. A few minutes of silence reigned, before Rick sighed.
"Your father called me earlier. He said he'd be late dealing with the Docks," Rick informed me. I felt a sudden bubble of frustration before I wrestled it back. I knew that with everything, Dad being busy was simply a consequence of Kivotos' actions. But it'd seemed that ever since I'd come back to Brockton Bay, he'd been doing everything he could to avoid me. I knew it wasn't out of a malicious reason, though I don't think my younger self would understand that. No, I think that he was avoiding me because-
'-He still feels guilty for what happened to Mom.'
Rick looked like he was going to say something, but then thought better of it. He turned around and went up the stairs. After a bit, I followed him up.
By the time I had changed into my pyjamas and entered my room, Rick was already in his bed, snoring away – not that he'd admit it. I went to my own bed, placed my glasses on the small counter beside me, and dreamed of the day my life changed forever.
—(X)—
Yes, I know, I am evil. I know your pain, but I thought that this would be a good place to stop, considering anything more would probably feel bloated. And anyways, it'd probably be better placed in the next chapter. Well, this is it from me. Did I do well with the characterization of Taylor? Did my OC feel too out of place? Tell me what you think! Theories, comments, reviews, I accept them all! See you next time!