Rebellion the Eighth: Unstoppable Will
"Well that's our shopping done for today," Hyde says with a sigh. "Jeeze, we didn't even go out to fight monsters and I'm still feeling pretty wiped."
"We still did a lot of walking around… even if there wasn't really a lot to see," Ruby said with nervous giggle. "But man oh man Yu, you were scoring us some major deals out there! You never told me you could barter!"
"It's… just something I sort of picked up," Yu told them as he scratched the back of his head. "You know, like a special skill or something."
"Special is right," their guide May noted as she examined the travelers. "Ever since I first saw you three you've always had this odd air about you… and spending time with you now you all seem a little clueless yet strangely talented."
"...You're not wrong I guess," Hyde admitted with a sigh. "Lately a lot of our travel's have been nothing but luck… well, maybe luck's not the right word. Simple then. We try to get somewhere, we find a monster or two, and we beat 'em down. That's about as much as you have to do to survive."
"When it comes to survival I suppose a simple approach is the best one… but you three don't look like you're just trying to survive. So what are you really trying to do?"
"...Save the kingdom maybe?" Yu told her, earning some surprise at from May at his bluntness. "Ruby, do that pose again. That should get the message across."
"NO WAY!" she shouted before crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks out in a scowl.
'She did look kind of red after doing it last time,' Hyde thought to himself. "But yeah, we're the type of idiots that can't exactly let what's been going on in the kingdom become a norm. Call us what you want, but we've got to do our part… whatever that turns out to be."
"I see… but if you have aspiration that strong, then wouldn't it be better to have gone somewhere a bit more… dangerous? Excluding the massive snake, the spider problem might be spreading but there's sure to be somewhere that could use your talents more than we can here."
"We were… in the area!" Ruby decides before smiling and trying to save. "Yeah, we just happened to be here and see your town! That's why we're starting here!"
"...In the middle of nowhere you just happened to be in the area to where you could save our town from a massive serpent?" May asked her eyes growing suspicious.
"I know it sounds odd, but that's the truth," Yu told her before using his Sex Appeal skill in a warm and inviting smile. "Don't you believe me?"
'Dude, really? We've already seen that this doesn't work like that…' Hyde thought with a sigh, right before seeing the large blush on May face as with her fingers fidgeting nervously as she couldn't appear to look Yu straight in the eye. 'WHAT THE CRAP!? HOW MUCH SWAG DOES THIS GUY HAVE!?'
"But in all seriousness, we needed somewhere to build our skills," Yu admitted, changing gears so quickly that everyone else nearly got whiplash. "If we headed any closer to the capital, I doubt that we'd be able to survive… even with our leader's power."
"I see…" May began, as she thought the info over. "So you're really here to build up your levels then."
"L-Levels?" Hyde asked with a stutter. 'I thought that the powers that we got were special… meaning that only the heroes from the prophecy could get them… so why does she have them?'
"...You really are clueless then," she noted with a sigh before opening her palm. A strange marron glow came from her hands right before a small scroll appeared there. All of the three looked at each other with a sense of confusion. "...Go ahead, open it and you'll see."
Taking a hesitant breath, Ruby took the scroll and shakily opened it as the two boys glanced over her shoulders. Inside the scroll was something that they hadn't expected to be seeing. A form not unlike their own screen listing out May's name, her class which read Base, her level of three, her stats, her abilities, and the few magic spells that she knew.
"What you're holding there is what's called a Soul Scroll; it's a special item that's often used by adventurer's in order to keep their stats in order. In order to gain access to one you usually have to undergo a powerful ritual called an Inner Awakening. Your own strengths and the quality of the ritual you're able to afford can set the limits to your awakening…"
"I...I see," Yu said as he overlooked the scroll. 'If her class is called 'Base' then that must mean that her ritual didn't have that high of a quality which reflects in her lower stats. But then…?' "Don't you have a section for Skills somewhere on here?"
"Skills?" May asked with confusion.
"Yeah, Skills," Ruby said. "You know things that will help you get through the daily grind, stuff that lets you do really awesome things with your day to day responsibilities… Don't you have anything like that?"
"I've… heard rumor that there are some high ranking scrolls that allow you to see how skilled your are in certain fields… but I can't say that I've ever seen one myself," May admitted with a sigh.
'Now who's the clueless one?' Hyde thought to himself with earned cockiness. 'Maybe it's just a special set of abilities that we managed to get thanks to the Inner Awakening that we had, might explain why we got it and May here doesn't.'
"But you three can fight, even without a Soul Scroll of any kind…" May notes. "I've heard that certain low class warriors and mages are able to perform without them, but it sounds like it's a very difficult thing to accomplish. I'd suggest that you find a way to get your own Inner Awakening, though I'm afraid our small church here likely wouldn't be of any major help."
"All the same, thank you for the information," Yu says pleasantly as Ruby hands May her scroll back and its owner lets it fade into the same brown light. They're about to continue on their way… but then Yu notices a large group of people heading their way with a familiar face at the head. "Is that-?"
"Ragna!" Ruby calls out with a cheerful wave at the the Reaper. Ragna didn't seem to react, but as the guy beside him laughs and give a hearty slap on his shoulder his team begins to show confusion. "Eh? Who's that with him?"
"Someone he had to rescue maybe? Nah, he said was on a bounty hunting job," Hyde remembered, thinking back to that morning. "Either way he doesn't look like he's exactly in the best of moods right now."
As the Reaper made their way up to the three, the man with brightly colored hair hair that had hit the Reaper, says something to him before leaving followed closely behind with a young woman about a head shorter who wore a traveling cloak similar to his.
"Glad you made it back safe!" Ruby said to him, trying to remain energetic with a warm smile on her face. Ragna shot her a cocky smile back, but it didn't seem to last long as his expression turned serious almost immediately afterwards. "How did your job go?"
"Without a… with one… okay, there were some of hitches but I'm still alive dammit," Ragna told them with a sigh, whilst his three teammates chuckled awkwardly at his repeated misfortune. "So… how'd you three do? Enjoy some time off?"
"Yes and no," Yu told them. "We didn't exactly spend the day off, but we managed to get a couple of great deals and learned about the town. All thanks to May here," Yu said, giving due credit to their guide.
"That right? Thanks then…" Ragna said to the woman who only gave him a polite bow. "You guys can keep exploring or whatever, I've still got some stuff to take care of."
"About that, does it have anything to do with that guy that was talking to you?" Hyde asked, leaving Ragna to give a short sigh. "I'll take that as a reluctant yes… So what's his deal then?"
"...Well for one thing he's about to be my opponent along with that daughter of his," the Grim Reaper tells the group before turning to scowl at the back of the man he'd just been talking to and the girl following him.
-A Few Hours Prior-
"GAH!"
A sudden scream from a bandit right before his body crashes into a tree, embedding himself deep into the wood before the sudden stop snaps his spine in half. His body slowly slides down said tree, dead to the world. Another bandit lies nearby with his face fatally caved into his head. A third in slump against a tree with a broken neck while a fourth is impaled in the tree branches above. All that remains is one last bandit, their apparent leader, laying on the floor in a small pool of his own piss clutching his treasured axe closely for dear life… the skull necklace around his neck seeming much less intimidating now.
"H-H-H-How the hell does someone like you even exist?" the final bandit asks in fear as the man in red towers over him. His hands nonchalantly placed in his pockets as he glares down at the waste of a man before him. "First we find you stumbling forward through old hunter traps that we didn't even know were there, then you attract three fully grown grizzlys to fight off, then you almost get crushed when a whole damn tree falls on top of you… and you still aren't dead!"
The man is terrified, but able to rise to his feet, albeit shaking in terror the whole while. The man in red does nothing save for watch and scowl, a wide eyed look about the bandit assuring that he's clearly insane.
"All of that bad luck… YOU'RE LIKE THE DAMN PLAGUE!"
The bandit swings his weapon a final time, the red coated warrior's hands are still kept in their pockets as the axe sails towards him… and then a murder of crows sound off and fill the air with their deafening caws.
"Even if he was a bastard of an idiot, he was right about one thing," Ragna the Bloodedge thought to himself aloud before he grabbed the axe the lead bandit had been using, proof that he'd completed the job and killed the highway bandits that lurked in the forest along the path to Heavencliff. He was about to turn around, before letting out a rather large sneeze. "Guh… I don't get colds, meaning someone I know is probably talking shit about me right now… Probably the guys still back in town."
Letting out a sigh, he was about to head back, but not before he stops cold. Besides the regular wildlife there's not a sound in the air. A few seconds pass, then a minute... eventually he hears the light crinkle of twigs break as a figure approaches him.
"Heard a scream so I wanted to check what was going on," the tall man said. He was dressed in a travelling cloak so it's difficult to see what his body frame looked like, but Ragna can at least see a sturdy jaw covered in red whiskers and a his uniquely colored hair; the majority of it is red but with deep blue highlight towards the end of each thick, long lock including the long ponytail he has in the back of his head. He's got a relaxed smile on him, at least until he notices Ragna scowling back at him. "Easy, I'm not your enemy… at least I hope I'm not."
"Talk then, who are you?" Ragna asked suspiciously.
"My name is Rojo; Rojo Icarus," he say to the Reaper with a cocky smirk before looking at the bandits surrounding the two. "So that's where these bastards ended up… This your handiwork? Gotta say it's impressive; brutal, but impressive."
"It's efficient," Ragna tells him, not in the mood for any games.
"Maybe, but you'd probably be at least a little more efficient if you had someone to watch your-"
"Dad! C'mon! They're getting nervous!" comes a call from nearby, interrupting the man.
He shakes his head with a chuckle and points his thumb towards the road. "You heading to Heavencliff? 'Course you are,' there's nothing else around worth going to. How about you hitch a ride with us then?"
"I'll pass; you seem nosy and annoying," Ragna told him so bluntly that Rojo swore he felt a punch to his stomach.
"Oif, fighting's not the only thing you're brutal at apparently… but come on. You're going to pass up a chance to get back on a cushy… on a comfortable… on a smooth… you're really going to walk all the way back?"
"That has to be about the worst sales pitch I've ever heard," the Reaper says to him with an annoyed groan.
"DAD! NOW!" comes the girl's call once more, this one was much more demanding.
"Coming!" he calls before keeping his attention on Ragna. "MAN! Is it nice to get to where I'm going on a wagon! No unnecessary blisters on my feet, I can enjoy some nice scenery, and I can even get some well needed rest." His smirk has gone to a full shit eating grin.
'Son of a bitch,' Ragna thinks to himself as he sits at the front of the lead wagons. There were five of them total, four of them filled to max capacity with people while the final one held their supplies. Everyone was wearing a traveling cloak with a hood, save for Rojo and a blue haired young lady that Ragna assumed was his daughter. While Rojo stayed on the front wagon, his daughter took the back one since it seemed they were the only people of the convoy equipped and ready for battle.
"You know, never got your name…" Rojo notes as he looks at Ragna. "Kind of unfair since I already gave you mine."
"...Ragna," the Reaper says, not giving an inch.
"That's a rather unique name; first time I've heard it," Rojo says as the wagon travels along. "So then… you're on the road by yourself?"
"Why do you care?" he demands with a scowl.
"Just trying to make small talk," Rojo tells him before guestering around him. "These guys, they're not the most talkative people, but everyone's got a story among us. You see we're all refugees trying to get away from the capital. Life's become so risky there that a town like Heavencliff sounds like paradise." He then focuses on Ragna. "Again… you travelling alone?"
"...My team's already in town, what's it to you?" Ragna relents, hoping to shut Rojo up.
"Then that makes it even worse; you've got a team but you're not working with 'em. That's not just dangerous; it's stupid," Rojo told him causing Ragna's eyes to narrow further into an even shaper scowl at the insult. "Those guys were wanted back where we're from too, but they probably came down here because they weren't dangerous enough… what would you have done if you'd run into some actually strong bastards?"
"The same damn thing, what else?" Ragna shoots back.
"...You're sounding more and more like my cocky little Azula, but even she knows to work as a team," Rojo says before he has a challenging look in his eye. "If you went to the capital with an attitude like that… I'd be looking at your mutilated corpse in some ditch by the end of a week."
"Feh, think whatever you want," Ragna says as he continues to answer with his own scowl, the tension in the wagon quite clearly rising and causing a few of the passengers to worry.
"So that's how you want to play… How's about a little wager if you're feeling so cocky? ...Unless of course you're all talk."
"What'd you have in mind?" Ragna demands, not feeling that he had anything to prove, but finding it difficult to turn down challenging words like that.
"What else? A fight," Icarus says, causing some stirring amongst the convoy members. "Calm down, once we get into town of course." That seemed to relieve them… somewhat. "If you're as strong as you try to look and can beat me and my daughter then I'll be indebted to you; meaning you can ask me for next to anything at any time of your choosing… and I'm a good man to be owed a favor by."
"And if you win?" the Reaper asks, not feeling much doubt in his own abilities… but not wanting to be screwed over all the same.
"...I'll keep it small; that axe you got there," he says as he looks at the weapon Ragna was holding, the same one he'd gotten from the bandits. "I win this battle, the bandit's bounty belongs to me… oh, and you have to buy dinner for me and my Azula at whatever place I think looks good to eat at."
"...Don't go crying when you lose," Ragna tells him darkly, making it clear he has no intentions of being suckered into treating another person. Rojo just give a sigh and opens a burlap sack, grabbing out a piece of salted meat before chewing, knowing it'd be hard to get anything else out of the mysterious man.
Back to the Present
"The crowd's starting to get pretty big," Hyde notes as he walk standing in the plaza of Heavencliff with Ruby as Ragna's preparing for the fight. Yu was off with a group that was mixed with the regular townsfolk and some of the refugees that had managed to make their way to Heavencliff and was talking with them… oddly enough there seemed to be an exchange of money. "I guess word gets out quick in a place like this… Kind of hard to believe all of these people are here to watch two people beat the crap out of each other."
"With this town as small as it is and the people still in fear of all of the spiders outside of the wall they're going to have to take whatever entertainment they can get… Back home there was a tournament where different teams needed to fight in each other; I was part of it even."
"No kidding? That's impressive," Hyde said as a form of a compliment. "So how'd it go?"
"First half was great… second half I'd rather not think about," Ruby told him, thinking back to the way her life had changed, the friends she'd lost… not exactly the best thing to be thinking about.
"Gotcha, won't pry," Hyde promised as Yu came over to the two after talking to a group of the townspeople and holding a small piece of parchment. "What's that you've got there?"
"A small note for the bet I just made," Yu told the group. "I put put Ten gold on Ragna to win and he's got Three to One odds on him… Would've liked to bet more, but that was as high as they'd let me wager…"
"Come on, that's all our master barterer could manage?" Hyde said to his friend with something of a smirk.
"That's with my bartering; the original limit for a bet was supposed to have been only a single gold piece, but I really had to work just to bring my bet above that. Apparently the guy in charge of the betting doesn't have much money to spare."
"Not too big of a surprise, they're refugees from the capital after all… I guess it's a good sign that they have any gold at all to trade with at least," Ruby admitted before she turned over to the a trio of hooded figures talking to Rojo and his daughter. "Hey… is it just me or is something off about those three?"
"No… I've noticed that something's off about them myself," Yu agreed. "I can't place it, but… we should probably leave them for the moment."
"Good call, match is about to start anyways…" Hyde noted, and it appeared he was right as May made her way to the center of the small gathering. "Guess she's announcing."
"All right, now I want a clean fight without damage to the town," she informed both sides strictly. Any intense damage done to it by either side will result in stopping the match at the offending side's loss. The fight will go until one side either admits defeat or is unable to continue." May looked at Rojo's side of the arena as he stood ready with his daughter. "Now… which of you will be the first to fight?"
"Who ever said we were taking turns?" Rojo asked seriously, though his glare was focused squarely at Ragna. "This guy made it clear that he'd be taking both of us on at the same time… unless of course I didn't hear your boasting correctly earlier."
"Tch, go ahead and twist my damn words however you want; won't matter for jack when your ass is on the ground," Ragna promised with an equal if not harsher glare.
Scowling, Rojo threw off his traveling cloak revealing a perfectly toned body complete with red tattoos; a hawkish bird head on the front complete with talons, fiery effects on both of his forearms, and detailed feathery wings on his back. With his cloak off they could see what he used as clothing; dark brown leather pants with a double black belt, leather gloves with studded metal plating around the knuckles, and thick leather shoes.
'Idiot, I gave you a chance to take an out… ah well, if I don't teach you a brutal lesson here and now then you'll probably end up dead before anything else.' Rojo shook his head. "Azula…"
"I don't know why you're doing this, I could take care of him myself," Azula said as she too threw off her traveling clock. Unlike her father's clothing, she was dressed in a more traditional sleeveless black martial arts gi, complete with a cobalt blue belt that reflected her shade of blue hair done behind her in a ponytail. She had gloves similar to her dad's along with tattoos on her forearms; her tattoos were colored black and appeared to be based on long ocean waves.
"These guys… they definitely don't look as weak as those monsters we fought earlier… and Ragna's supposed to be fighting both of them at once," Hyde noted nervously.
"R...Ragna should be okay… right?" Ruby asked the group nervously. "I mean… we all know how strong he is, right?"
"Of course he will be, we just have to keep our faith," Yu assured his teammates. "We've held our belief that we can get through any obstacle… this is no different."
"Guess you're right…" Hyde said as he watched Ragna with a smirk. "He may be an ass, but he's one of the toughest asses I've ever known; he's got this."
"Yeah!" Ruby said in agreement before bringing her hands up to shout. "COME ON RAGNA! YOU CAN DO THIS!" The Reaper didn't appear to have heard her… either that or he was too focused on the two in front of him.
"Of course he can," Yu said with a confident smile before beginning to walk off. "Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to-"
"ALL BETS ARE IN! NO NEW WAGERS AND NO BACKING OUT!" came the call from the bookie. "YOUR MONEY STAYS WITH ME UNTIL THE END OF THE FIGHT!"
"...Well there goes our Ten Gold," Yu muttered as he scratched the back of his head.
"YOU JUST TOLD US TO HAVE FAITH!" Ruby and Hyde screamed at the silver haired teen.
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ Broly Theme Extended)
"You have a pretty colorful group, too bad they have to put up with a stubborn ass like you," Azula said to Ragna, surprising the Reaper with her language. There was then a violent gleam in her eye, something about it he just didn't like. "I'll beat you down quick."
She didn't give him a chance to offer a comeback either as she lunged forward and forced him to block. While her speed was impressive enough, Ragna smirked at the ease of blocking the simple strike right before Rojo came up along his other side. Grunting as he twisted his guard, he barely managed to block the father's strike with his other arm. Using her father's attack to her advantage, Azula brought her fist back and drove it forward.
"Weaponless Technique: GREATER STRIKE!" she shouted as she smashed her fist down.
Putting as much force on his blocking arms and legs as he could, Ragna just barely managed to push himself back as Azula's attack screamed through the air, cutting through where he'd been just before striking the ground and creating a small crater in the cobblestone which cause long cracks to spread throughout the square. He didn't have time to be impressed either as Rojo took the advantage and went after Ragna mid-dodge.
"Brawler Skill: PUNCHING WHIRLWIND!"
A complete storm of strikes, so fast to regular eyes that it actually looks like the user is turning their arms into tempest of punches, hence its name. Ragna had no choice, but to bring his arms up in the hopes of guarding before he was blasted back. Digging his feet on the ground, he skidded to a stop just before he hit one of the town house walls.
Ragna then prepared a counter as Azula ran towards him to continue the assault, but his quick jab went over the female fistfighter as she tried to sweep him off of his feet. Ragna managed to tense his leg muscles in order to form a desperate guard. Covering for his daughter, Rojo rushed forward with a clothesline strike that the Reaper managed to guard against using arms, but pushed him all the way back into the building wall. Pushing off said wall, Ragna managed to barely leap over Azula's well timed jab which was so controlled she managed to stop it a hair's breadth before it hit the building. Rojo spun into a powerful skyward kick to catch the Reaper, so Ragna was forced to perform his own kick in midair to clash before he finally landed on sturdy ground.
'Dammit, they're not giving me any openings,' Ragna thought to himself as Azula came at him with another Great Strike which he was force to roll in order to avoid. Rojo had leaped into the air and was trying to dive kick the Reaper, but Ragna managed to dive out of the way and dodge the attack. 'Seriously, haven't I gone through enough of this shit having to deal with those Clover bastards?' He then noticed Azula focusing and readying a punch despite the distance between them. 'If I've learned anything, then that's trouble.'
"Weaponless Technique: FORCE SHOT!"
An invisible blast passed by the Reaper and while he'd sidestepped out of the way so he didn't get the full force, what little he did feel gave him cuts along his clothes and skin managing to draw blood.
'It can do that even with my stats? What the hell?'
If it hadn't been for his sixth sense protecting him from danger, Ragna might've been too distracted to guard against Rojo's own Force Shot. While it would have been next to nothing to brush this attack off at full strength, as he was now even guarding against the attack felt like he was getting hit by Mag Dog Azrael. With their opponent obviously shaken, both fighters of the Icarus family charged towards the Reaper.
'I've got a chance, but my timing can't be anything less than perfect,' Ragna thought to himself as he carefully considered his situation. As he'd thought his experience fighting against Carl and Relius Clover along with their two mechanical dolls would serve him well here, but only if he could act upon it.
This time Rojo took the initiative, slamming into Ragna's guard with a full body tackle and causing the Reaper to grunt as he tried to hold his footing while Rojo then unleashed a mighty and chaotic haymaker on the Reaper's guard, the attack sounding like a cannon shot as it made contact. Azula the then leapt over her father going above Ragna's guard.
"Weaponless Technique: GREATER-!"
'NOW!' Blasting forward off of what little footing he still had left, the Reaper managed to barely avoid Azula's attack and left her soaring past him. While her father was still recovering from his earlier attack, Ragna turned on his heel and spun into a final roundhouse kick which screamed in the air as it-
FLOOSH!
Ragna had been about to hit him dead on, he could have dealt some decent damage with that attack… now he was off his feet… his guard was completely down… oh, and he was also on fire. Kind of important. Time seemed to slow around both him and Rojo, the later of whom was surrounded by an intense burst of red fire, looking just as surprised as Ragna was. Then he seemed to recover himself, ready to take advantage of the situation while Ragna's guard was still down.
"Brand Formula: RED PHOENIX RUSH!"
The tattoos on Rojo's skinned burned like a raging inferno, coating the man in intense red flames as he threw his whole body in to tackling Ragna, resulting in a violent explosion when he made contact. The Reaper shouted in pain as he was blasted away violently hitting the ground while still burning from the flames. Knowing he was still in a fight, he harshly fought to make it to his feet as Rojo just stood back with his daughter, his tattoo flames still burning harshly.
"That was close; so close that I thought that you had me there," Rojo admitted to his opponent before smirk as flames continued to dance around him. "Funny, I wasn't trying to activate these things… must've just gotten lucky."
'My damn luck stat again,' Ragna growled at himself. The flames covering his body were starting to fade, most likely as a result of his high Spirit stat, but Rojo's attack had still left a powerful impact on him.
"But if you've seen mine…" he began before smirking as he turned to his daughter. "What say we both go all out kiddo? Give him a show worth remembering?"
"It sounds like overkill, but if that's the way you want to do it," Azula began before the tattoos on her forearms began to glow violently. Ragna started to grow worried as small cyclone of watery energy formed and surrounded her arms while spinning viciously. Ragna knew that whatever she was doing, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.
'Gotta throw 'em off!' "DEAD SPIKE!"
It could have been a telling move about him, Ragna knew, but he'd been pushed into a corner and he had a lot of ground he needed to make up to get back in the fight.
"Brand Formula: WATER SICKLES!"
"Brand Formula: FLAME CANNON!"
Azula sent waved her swung her arms towards the attack and sent out several razor sharp waves of water while Rojo simply thrust his open forward and sent out a red hot blast of fire. Both sets of attacks made contact with the mass of darkness, result in an explosion of dark energy. Using that to his advantage, Ragna desperately rushed through the exchange.
"HELL'S FANG!"
Ragna's black flamed lunge made contact with Rojo's guard, but instead of simply letting him block the attack the Reaper roared as he pushed them both forward managing to get some distance between Rojo and his daughter. It took Rojo a second, but eventually he managed to get his footing and shoved against Ragna charge. Desperately spinning into an overhead kick, the attack was dodged and about to be countered by Ragna's-
"Weaponless Technique: FORCE SHOT!"
Only for the Reaper to be blasted square in the back by Azula's long distance punch. Not only did Ragna drop his attack, but now he'd also dropped his guard, which was just what Rojo had wanted.
"Brawler Skill: PUNCHING WHIRLWIND!"
With no means to guard himself, Ragna took every hit of the rapid onslaught which struck just about every part of the Reaper's body. The final hit was even hard enough to send Ragna off of his feet and left him open for Rojo's stronger attack. The fistfighter grinned as his tattoos blazed to life once more.
"Brand Formula: RED PHOENIX RUSH!"
Once more Ragna felt Rojo charge at him with entire flaming body and once more he felt the painful explosion of flames once he made contact. Ragna gave a harsh shout of pain as he was flung off of his feet. Flying through the air he noticed a shadow covering him for all of a second. It was Azula who had leaped into the air and had charged a titanic mass of swirling energy around her arm, larger than she was. Worst of all, she was actually grinning with excitement as she knew how much damage this was going to cause.
"Brand Formula: HURRICANE RAIDER!"
Ragna felt the full force of the technique as it smashed dead into his face, the blow severely boosted by all of the energy that Azula had managed to channel. The attack sent the Grim Reaper straight into the floor with enough force that the entire town trembled at the force of the attack.
(End Theme)
"RAGNA!" Ruby screamed as the Reaper's battered form lie on the ground. Azula's last attack on him had left a small impact crater where he'd made contact with the ground while leaving a long line of unearthed cobblestone as it had blasted Ragna through. Azula just gave a nonchalant shrug as she walked back to stand beside Rojo. Several of the members from the caravan were giving a victorious cheer, apparently quite pleased that they'd bet money on Azula and her father.
"He just got beat pretty bad out there…" Hyde noted worriedly before he turned his attention back to Azula who was heading back to her father. He was silent for a moment as he watched the two of them, something clearly on his mind. "Hey guys… you see that text floating above their heads?"
"Yeah… it's still a little blurry, but I'm starting to see it better now," Yu told him. "It says Rojo Icarus and Azula Icarus above each of them. Next to Azula's name is the term Pugilist in italicized text… think that's her class?"
"Yeah… but what's really worrying is the number 16 next to it… I think that's the level that Ragna was fighting against," Hyde muttered. "And then against Rojo…" He paused as he saw that Ragna's older opponent was no pushover; his class read Brawler and his level was... 32. "Holy…"
"It's no wonder Ragna can't fight back; with levels like those, their techniques, and those tattoos on them…" Yu paused he noticed Ragna struggling to get out of the crater. "He… he's still going to try to fight? Is he crazy?"
Inside their fighting ring, Rojo certainly seemed to think so.
"You know, if you'd gone along with what I said and fought us one at a time you might've been able to stand a slight chance against us. Like this though… well you lost the second you tried to play it tough," Rojo said to the Reaper, sounding more disappointed than satisfied in his victory. "All this working alone is only going to get you killed, so lose the attitude and-" Rojo paused as he watched Ragna slowly managed to pick himself up from the ground, his clothes were dirty and torn slightly in a few areas and there was blood dripping from the wounds he'd gotten, and he was slumped forward from exhaustion… but he was standing all the same. "What in the hell?"
"I… I hit him dead on… and I didn't hold back," Azula noted with some horror as Ragna did nothing but stand in place and breathe shallowly.
"Hey! He should've lost by now!" one of the spectators shouted angrily, evidently having bet his coin on Rojo's team. "Get him out of here! He's just grandstanding!"
"...Wrong…" came Ragna's voice; it was low and rather quiet, but somehow it spoke with enough authority that everyone was able to hear him… and there wasn't a person that didn't listen. "What were the rules?"
"You mean the rules about the destruction of town?" May asked. "I mean-"
"Not that one," Ragna spoke again, interrupting her. Had he better luck he knew that the fight would've ended for that reason long ago in his favor, but of course it wasn't. "The fight keeps going until one side can't keep fighting… or gives up." He brought his head up and sent a filthy and dark grin directly at them. "Soon as they said that… YOU LOST."
"That's quite a claim; looks to me like you've still got some trouble keeping yourself off the… ground?" Rojo's eyes narrowed at his opponent, keeping a careful watch on Ragna's wounds. It was a slow process, but by watching carefully enough he saw that they were slowly starting to close and strength was returning to his opponent. "Your body can heal itself? That's a nifty little trick you've got there, but you won't be able to win with that alone." The fighter and his daughter paused, both of them almost taking a step back as an odd sensation started to cover their entire bodies. Not raw power or high magic concentration; it was something far more terrifying.
"Wh… what's this feeling?" Azula stuttered, her eyes starting to show signs of terror as beads of sweat formed on her brow.
(Cue ONE OK ROCK Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer)
"Hey," Yu asked nervously to Hyde. "What's Ragna doing?"
"I..." the blonde tried to say in turn. "I really don't have a clue…"
"I-I think I know what's really happening," Ruby spoke up, surprising both boys while she looked at her partner with a strange sense of awe. The wind then picked up and sent his coat and hair flapping in the powerful breeze. "Right now… he's convinced himself that he has to win."
"Let me tell you one thing; I might be a moody asshole that has to do everything on his own, I probably I swear my mouth off too much, and I'll run into fights without a plan… but if there's one part of me that I can have a damn shred of pride in…"
Ragna charged forward and slammed his fist into the Brawler's guard with enough force the cobblestone around the two became badly cracked.
"IT'S THE PART OF ME THAT WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING!"
Much like before, Azula sent a flurry of deadly water edges and forced him to drop the attack and dodge to the side. Ragna then performed a spin kick which collided with Rojo's own. Flipping his body around, Ragna managed to shift into an overhead kick that went around the Brawler's guard and struck him dead in the face.
"U-Unarmed Technique: FORCE SHOT!"
"DEAD SPIKE!"
Even if the technique hit hard, it wasn't strong enough to disrupt Ragna's attack alone;the form didn't even slow as it surged forward and crashed into Azula who grunted in pain as she took heavy damage against the bulk of darkness. Rojo had then recovered from Ragna's earlier attack and rushed to engage him.
"Brawler Skill: PUNCHING WHIRLWIND!"
Having been on the receiving end of Rojo's attack twice before, Ragna now had a better idea of how to handle it. While the punches were numerous, they had a pattern and the extra power behind the last hit was especially telling. Bracing himself, only skidding back slightly after the final strike, and twisting his body he threw a kick at Rojo. The brawler tried to send Ragna off of his feet while using a full powered burst of fire from his tattoo, but Ragna had only baited the attack. Pulling his leg back, Ragna timed his lunge the instant that the flames had faded enough and struck through with a blow to Rojo's gut that made the Brawler gag at the impact. Ragna then performed a brutal haymaker on him and sent his opponent flying.
"Pugilist Skill: LUNGING BLOW!"
Azula charged from right behind Ragna, rushing forward in a harsh jab that was not unlike his own Hell's Fang. The Reaper leaped into the air in order to dodge the attack and transitioned into an axe kick that struck Azula and forced her to lurch forward. Landing and letting loose a solid punch skyward, he sent her in to air before leaping again and striking her with a spinning kick to deal further damage and a midair haymaker to smash her back down.
"HELL'S FANG!"
Ragna lunged forward with his own signature black flame cover strike catching Azula before she even hit the floor and sent her flying back.
"DEAD SPIKE!
He just managed to send off his only other technique in order to catch Azula and kept her airborne a while longer. Running forward he was quick enough to get on the other side of her before comboing with a high roundhouse kick that caught her in the guy before drop kicking her and sending her skyward once more. Staying where he was and charging up his power, he roared as he unleashed a single powerful blow that blasted her straight back into her weakened father who was toppled over as he tried to catch his daughter.
"That's it… I'M GOING ALL OUT!" Azula shouted as the ground started to rumble around her as he she rose to her feet. A circle of swirling mist then surrounded her before the mist formed its into violently spinning water. "Brand Technique Overdrive: RAGE OF THE OCEANS!" The rumbling intensified, right up until all of Azula's limbs were coated in violent water vortexes.
"...What you're not stopping her?" Rojo asked Ragna who only stood before the two, clearly waiting for Rojo to do the same. "You're acting like you've got something to prove… Fine, let's see if you've got what it takes." The rumbling intensified as Rojo's own tattoos burst into flames. Everyone watching the fight could feel the pure heat the fires were generating and it just kept getting hotter. "Brand Technique Overdrive: REBIRTH OF THE PHOENIX!" The fire on Rojo's chest coated him completely now, almost like a set of chestplate. The fire off his arms had extended, now forming flaming edge that extended from his elbows.
"Well… you get points for presentation at least," the Grim Reaper told told the two before he started running towards them which then accelerated into a full charge. "BUT LET'S SEE HOW TOUGH IT REALLY IS!"
Rojo swiped his arm at the Reaper, his extended blade of fire giving him extra range and forcing Ragna to slide in order avoid taking direct damage. Azula then charged at him with a vicious haymaker, carrying even more power than when she'd beaten Ragna down the first time. Just the power behind the attack alone was enough to rip chips off of the cobblestone ground as the attack sailed toward Ragna, forcing him to guard against it as it sent him sliding back. Rojo then follow up with a second slash with his fire blades, searing Ragna with harsh flames.
"Pugilist Skill: LUNGING BLOW!"
Azula rush forward once more to bring a quick water infused strike to the Reaper's face, but he was ready for it. Sending her a heavy kick, he managed to catch her right in the face and interrupted the attack before she could land it. Rojo focused intentse fire energy to both of has palm, readying himself to unleash a great blast.
"HELL'S FANG!"
Even if he'd have to strike through fire to stop him, Ragna didn't hesitate as he flung himself forward and smashed a darkness covered fist into Rojo face, causing his fiery aura to harshly flicker as he tried to keep his footing. The Reaper let out a roar as he drove his fist downwards, again hitting Rojo's face and sending his straight into the ground with enough force to cause an eruption of dust. The red haired brawler wasn't moving, only groaning as his fiery aura slowly faded away.
"Brand Formula: HURRICANE RAIDER!"
Azula had launched into one final attack to knock Ragna out of the fight. Thanks to her overdrive, both the power and the speed of the attack was greatly increased as she dived the through the air right at the Grim Reaper. Gritting his teeth Ragna turned and coated his arm in darkness, pouring whatever energy he had left into that one final push.
"DEAD SPIKE!"
Instead of emitting from the ground before him, Ranga was completely shrouded in the Black Beast aura as he surged the energy towards Azula. The two warriors roared shouted as they made contact, a violent explosion eruption followed by a blinding flash of light.
(End Theme)
Everyone held their breath as the light slowly faded… Azula's strike had indeed gone through the Reaper's attack to attack him square in the chest… Ragna was in poor shape barely managing to stand as his body trembled. Both warriors were still, apparently froze in the moment that they had made contact.
"Uh… uh… err…" Azula then fell forward before him, hitting the ground with a muffled thud."Wh… what… the hell…?" Rojo himself didn't look like he'd be moving any time soon and just lay in defeat.
Though he might've just won Ragna was fighting to catch his breath, but his healing factor would make sure he was still standing for the time being. All around the arena, the spectators were silent. Not a voice was heard from them-
"YOU DID IT!"
"GAH!"
...until Ruby tackle hugged him from seemingly out of nowhere. Yu awkwardly scratched the back of his head at the display while Hyde could only facepalm; this would be about when Ragna started to swear.
"Take it easy, will ya?" he could only mutter at Ruby as she kept smiling happily at him.
'Must be too tired to even use that foul mouth of his,' Hyde thought to himself. The blonde then noticed that one of the hooded figures that Ruby had noticed earlier was heading towards the two. "...Come on, let's go give our congrats to the winner."
"Shouldn't I pick up our winnings?" Yu suggested.
"You can do that later… have a little faith," Hyde told him with a smirk as he replayed the silver hair youth's words back to him. Realizing he didn't have much of a choice, Yu followed and the two approached Ragna just as the hooded figure arrived.
"That was a well fought battle indeed, I didn't think that anyone here could stand against Rojo and I certainly did think they could do so while fending off his daughter." The voice was feminine and calm, almost sophisticated to some degree. The group guessed she was a more mature adult, consider she'd almost reach Ragna's height if he were standing. The figure then moved their hand upward and arcane symbols started to dance around its fingers as it reached towards Ragna, only to have Hyde and Yu step in protectively before she could make contact. "...I'm only here to heal him; I mean no harm."
"Help Rojo and Azula then; they could probably use it more than me," Ragna muttered, knowing that even if it was impaired to all hell, his healing factor would have him in working shape soon enough.
"Your opponents already seem to be receiving the assistance they need," the enigmatic figure told the quartet as she turned to the beaten Icarus family who seemed to be recovering as two people from the towns clergy were placing hands of warm glowing light upon the wounds. Ragna recognized one of them as the green haired cleric he'd briefly spoken to two days prior. "If I may?"
Neither Hyde nor Yu parted way for the woman and even Ruby seemed to have a bit of a protective glare aimed at the woman herself. "Might put everyone's mind at ease if we could see your face," the Reaper decided to suggest, albeit with a touch of smugness.
"...I suppose I can't hide it forever," the woman said as she reached up and pulled her hood back. Despite everything that they'd already seen up to this point, the group was surprised to see the specifics of this woman's features. Long lavender hair that fell to her shoulders, clear and fair skin without a blemish and carrying minimal scarring on the face, large and bright ruby eyes which almost seemed to have a reflective gaze to them, and most telling of all; her long and pointed ears.
"An... Elf?" Yu asked as he looked to the two other hooded figures that were kneeling beside Rojo as the clergy continued to heal their wounds. "Them too?"
"Indeed… my siblings in all but shared blood," she informed before she looked down at the young Miss Rose and gave a warm smile. "A concept not lost on you I imagine."
"...How long are you going to stay there Rubes?" Ragna finally asked, figuring it was time she let go of him.
"Come on, I was just excited that you were able to pull off such an awesome win," Ruby told him with a bright smile as she eventual let go. The Reaper rolled his eyes, but still managed a small smirk.
"Thanks for the offer, uh…" He then realized that even with her reveal, the Elf had yet to give them her name.
"Greluda…" she said, finally introducing herself. "And I've already heard your names from the stories the townsfolk have been telling of your exploits."
"Word gets out fast then… anyway I think I'll manage to tough out these bruises just fine," he promised her.
"I just thought that I would offer… though I do think that you could find such use in learning the spells yourself if given the aptitude." Greluda then left to join her two hooded companions while managed to slowly make his way to his feet, though with some pain over his body… and an expected groan from his stomach.
"I dunno about you all, but I haven't eaten a damn thing since breakfast…"
"Then you're overdue for a good meal," Hyde told him. "'Course if you wanted to get the best food in the village, you'd have to end up making it yourself."
"Eh, if it heals me I'm all for it," Ragna told him as he started heading for the inn the group was staying in.
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," Yu told them, his attention now directed to the bookie that he'd gone to earlier for his bet on Ragna. As expected the teen got his three to one payout of thirty gold (a twenty gold profit), but as an added bonus as soon as he was handed the money he say a small screen pop up before him.
Gained Two Ranks to Gamble
'Looks like I've got another skill I can invest in… and a pretty useful one at that,' Yu thought to himself as he closed his menu. He was going to follow his fellow teammates back to the in they were staying in, but paused when he noticed May was walking around the city and seemed to be taking note of the damage that had been caused to the town in the fight. Deciding he'd at least say hello and thank her once again for guiding them through the city, Yu headed over. "Taking notes on the damage?"
"...You're wondering why I didn't stop the fight, aren't you?" she asked, not taking her eyes up from her work.
"The thought crossed my mind, but I figured you had you had your reasons," Yu told her.
"About halfway through the battle, I realized we happen to have a decent surplus of the cobblestone needed to repair the streets already and when the Dwarves make it back into the city we can sell back the broken parts for their use," she informed him.
"That's all well and good, but won't it still cost money to pay someone to…" Yu paused as he realized May's line of thinking. "The refugees…"
"Exactly, this will be a good first job for them to earn the coin they'll need without the town having to outright give it to them…" she explained. "I suppose you could say that this fight turned out to be more profitable to the town than I had initially thought."
"I'm glad to hear it… I was actually expecting you to be angry with the damage," Yu told her. "So… up for grabbing dinner then?"
"Are you asking me to join your group… or were you hoping it'd just be the two of us?" the brown haired woman asked, trying to get an idea of Yu's thought process.
"...What would the lady prefer?" Narukami asked, giving a well meaning smile as he tried to apply his still developing Sex Appeal skill.
"...Even if this is my day off, I'll be busy cataloging the damages, finding workers, and presenting the idea to the governor," May told, effectively shooting down the proposal. Yu felt a twinge of disappointment, but then noticed her small blush as she seemed to play with a piece of her brown hair. "Tomorrow though… I might be able to find some time in the evening."
"I look forward to it then," Yu told her, giving another smile before bidding her farewell. From that little exchange he'd managed to earn himself another point in his Sex Appeal skill and the promise of a date the next day… despite the dangers it presented, the young Persona user was starting to like it here.
Later -The Journeyman's Reprieve-
'I'm starting to think these people will eat anything and say it's good cooking,' Ragna thought to himself as he finished preparing one group's meal of spit cooked chicken, baked potatoes, and weak wine. The truth was he was barely putting what he would consider a 'reasonable' amount of seasoning on anything, but the people he was serving said food to seemed to love it all the same. 'Least my Cooking skill is has been going up smoothly enough; already reached Rank 22 with all of the work I've been giving it.' "Order up."
"Awesome, this should leave everyone satisfied for a while," the waitress Liza told him as she started taking plates and putting them on top of the tray. "Speaking of which, I think it's about time that you take a break."
"I can take a break later, probably going to be more customers coming in for the rush anyways," the Reaper told her, not even feeling that fatigued even with the fight he'd been in earlier. It didn't look like he had much of a choice though, as Liza then shoved a beer tankard into his hands. "...Alright, what's this about?"
"That guy you fought earlier is waiting outside for you; bought this drink for you and said that you didn't have choice," Liza told him, watching as Ragna looked into his tankard as he remained silent. "Just humor him; you can come back to work once you see what he wants."
"Do I seriously have to?" the Reaper groaned.
"You do if you want to get paid tonight!" came the call from Liza's mother at the other end of the kitchen.
"Who's the guy helping you in the first place?" Ragna grumbled to himself as he started headed outside of the restaurant, seeing Rojo and his daughter simply leaning against to outer wall. Even with the healing they'd gotten the two looked like they'd been through hell. A good night's rest would help that though.
"You know I was pretty sure I said that you'd have to treat me for a meal if I won," Rojo said as he held his own tankard of booze. "And as much as I'd hate to say it, you still managed to beat us today even if we both took you head on…"
"Get to the point already," Ragna told him rudely, crossing his arms and not taking a sip of his drink.
"We want to know why you decided to treat us," Azula told him bluntly. Like her father, she too had a small tankard of beer that she was drinking from. "We were just trying to order two bowls of the stew, but then our waitress brought out bread, salad, and several other sides dishes… and told us that you were covering it."
"Dammit, I thought I told her to keep quiet about that…" the Reaper grumbled.
"To her credit she still did, we just knew it was painfully obvious who sent it," the brawler told him. "So like my daughter was asking… why did you decide to treat us?"
"...Call it a force of habit," the Reaper enigmatically admitted, taking a long sip from the beer tankard he'd been given. The taste wasn't bad, but he had never really been one for drinking alcohol. "Anything else?"
"I guess I should apologize for what I said to you on the road… but what I had to say to you still stands; capital's a dangerous place and your going to need to be a lot stronger if you're going to change the place like I've been overhearing from that town gossip," Rojo told him. "If I were you, I'd start focusing on making sure that team is ready, make sure they can back you up if it ever comes down to it…"
"...I'll keep that in mind," Ragna told him, staying passive much like he had earlier.
"There's something that I don't get though…" Azula told him as she gave Ragna a rather focused glare. "I saw that giant serpent head that the Inn's putting up on display, the same one that you they said you managed to take down with that group of yours… so why did my dad find you alone when you were fighting against the bandits?"
"...Because killing people is something that they're just not ready for," Ragna explained with a somewhat darker tone, thinking back to their first encounter with such an issue on the road to the city. "And call me whatever type of idiot you want, but even now I still hope they don't have to be…"
"...Heh, in that case I'd have to say you're the best type of idiot," Azula said, strangely complimenting the Reaper as she gave an actual chuckle.
"Holy crap, she can laugh…" her father said, worrying Ragna as his surprise somehow seemed a little too genuine.
Author's Note
So since I have until next week to get my next chapter of A Reaper's Awakening out, I figured I'd take a well needed change of pace and head back to one of my favorite stories to work on. Seriously, I had a blast writing this one so I hope you get at least HALF as much enjoyment out of this as I did.
My love of writing aside, most of you may remember Rojo and Azula if you read BlazBlue/RWBY crossover (the one I'm still updating) Grimm Reaper's of Remnant. They're OC's that I've created to serve the purpose of side characters… but considering that anyone that isn't one of the four is an original character character in this story, their inclusion was easy to work in.
Alright, let's get to the review responses.
Wlyman2009: Ah, thanks then.
Medblare: Heh, just a bit of humor I enjoyed.
The Unplanner: I'd like Penny too, especially to see her interactions with Nu.
Guest (1): Again, trying to keep things simple with the core four.
fernandamichelleraya: Makes me wonder what I'm going to do for Penny in Grimm Reaper's of Remnant (plug plug)
Sr. Red: Eh, Monty Python's good and all, but for now I'll have to focus on representing Monty Oum.
Guest (2): Well now, that would be an awesome anime… Might still go with Kazen Kankaku Dreamer for the opening them though.
Guest (3): Plans for the future.
Guest (4): Not… great?
trustyCounselor: Only Penny was missing in the official game after all.
3 Question Marks: In… Cross Tag Apartment? What, it isn't already crazy enough
jadasimone16: That they do…
Guest (5): How about an update now instead?
Cool. FORWARD! TO THE OMAKE!
Cross Tag… Apartment?: Part 3
'Almost quitting time…' Ragna thought to himself as he hurriedly tried to wipe down the cooking counters so he could get out of his job. Working as a cook at Paradoxe de l'amnésie was tough work and carried plenty of high standards for every dish. Everyone employed here knew that the restaurant's owner, Hilda, would accept only the best food to be served to its patrons… and that went double for group reservations.
It was already nearing midnight and Ragna was nearly done cleaning his station. The other cooks had already left saying that they'd come in early and clean it then. Ragna knew he couldn't leave himself to that promise and had decided to stay late, only to be instructed by the head chef that it was the last cook's job to make sure the kitchen was clean for the next day.
'I damn well better get another bonus for this…' he swore to himself as he finally finished with his cleaning duties. He felt sore all over and knew that this was only the start to his work week; things were only going to get worse from here. Sighing, he threw his apron over his shoulder and headed out the kitchen doors.
"Well well, I'm not the only one still here…" came a rather familiar voice. Its owner was a man that went by the name of Gordeau. Ragna saw him often enough at work, but he didn't talk to him that much… compared to his other co-workers though, Gordeau might as well be his damn best friend. While Ragna was in the back, Gordeau was always working the bar. He was a well reasoned and charming sort of person, making him a usual hit with the ladies. "So you want to join me? I was just about to crack open a couple of bottles."
"Can't… I'm already overdue to hit the sheets and having a hangover tomorrow ain't an option," Ragna told him, hoping that the dark haired man would leave it there.
"Ah come on, what's a few drinks between us? I already got the a-okay with the boss and Chaos already left. Don't leave me out to dry here, I hate drinking alone." Chaos was a waiter that worked at the restaurant. He was usually very formal, but could tend to lose his temper, especially with unreasonable customers. On occasional off days Ragna would see him at the park with Beast, his giant of a dog with no easily discernible breed. "Come on man, I know you don't drive and it's cold out there. Take a nice drink and warm yourself up before you go."
"...You realize that drinking like that lowers your body temperature, right?" Ragna asked with a sigh as he realized he wasn't getting out of this. "Fine, but you better not serve me anything too strong."
"Says the guy who downed a whole glass of Spirytus… I gave it to you as a joke and after the way your chugged it just to get out of the bar I thought I'd be seeing a corpse the next day, but then I see you at work bright and early without as much as a hangover."
(Note: Spirytus is a Polish alcohol with a 192 proof score. Translated, it means its 96% alcohol… Yeah, don't chug this stuff.)
"You're making it pretty damn hard to trust you right now," Ragna told the bar keep.
"Good, that's the only kind of trust worth having," Gordeau told him as he started pouring out two glasses of brandy. "So… how are the kids?"
"Fine, I guess… little knuckleheads had me up too damn early yesterday thinking that I had to go in to work, but other than that they're a breeze to take care of… Aside from breakfast though, I've barely see 'em lately…"
"Yeah, we've been getting back to back events planned here lately. I mean expanding business is great and all, but we've been getting so busy lately I'm starting to think we need more people on the staff… Must be hard for the kids if their caretaker isn't able to see 'em most of the time."
"Eh, they manage so I'm not worried about them, but…"
"But…?" Gordeau pressed, handing Ragna some brandy on the rocks.
"The few times I'm able to make it home at a decent hour they're always busy with school work. That run in with that Chie friend of yours I told you about? Far from the first time they've had to meet up after school… they work hard."
"Sounds like it, but don't sell yourself too short…" Gordeau told him. "You work just as hard as the rest of us, if not more… Though you couldn't have made things easy for yourself with Hilda's constant advances."
Their boss had something of a unique quirk or a favored pasttime that she enjoyed above all else; getting a rise out of men and teasing them to no end. With her flirty, joking, and slightly malicious attitude it was hard to determine when she was on the hunt and when she wasn't. At the moment, Ragna was proving to be a favorite target of hers since he wouldn't return any form of reaction. The only other person to have managed that was Gordeau himself, but he had known Hilda for the longest. She hadn't given up… more like she'd decided to pursue more immediate targets. Ragna was beginning to wonder if he could pull something similar off.
"You lead a hard life my friend… How the hell do you even manage it?" the barkeep asked as he wiped down a few of the glasses one final time.
"...Sometimes I gotta ask myself that question," Ragna muttered to himself.
As expected with nights like these, the trains had stopped running long before Ragna had managed to get off from work. This left him to walk the entire way back in the cold. His only saving grace was his favored red jacket which would provide him with whatever warmth it could. Signs of the nightlife were clearly apparent; cops out handing out DUI's, men guiding their dates to love hotels, and the occasional weary businessman finally making their way home after working for several days straight… something Ragna knew only too well.
Unlocking the door to his apartment, the Reaper gently opened it as he entered the residence having expected his three wards to have gone to sleep long before now. He was right… to a certain degree. The light on the kitchen was on and the three students were a seated at the table, their faces all planted on top of their homework while they slept. The Reaper sighed to himself at the sight.
"Come on Yu, time for bed…" he tried to with the silver haired student whose eyes opened for all of a minute before he slumped over again and passed out.
Shaking his head at the situation, the older man slowly pulled out the chair before hoisting the student out of it. Yu was so fast asleep he didn't wake up as his caretaker carried him to his room and set him in his bed. Hyde proved to go along just as easily, but Ruby…
"...This again?" Even in her subconscious, the young maiden had a deadly hold on his coat. Ragna gave a sigh as he knew what he now had to do. Removing the jacket, he let it go as Ruby clung it close to her person almost like a blanket. He knew he'd have to get it back from her in the morning because there was no way to get it out of her death grip now.
"Half the damn time she's using it as her own friggin blanket," the caretaker mutters to himself as he lies on his own bed, hoping for sleep to eventually take him soon. "...Dammit, I… WE need a vacation."
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! CIAO!