Hunted or Busted: A Side Story
Dusted 20: Kiba Character Short
When we last left our wild tattooed teen he was living his best life! Passing his classes! Surrounded by friends! Had a girlfriend and already took the first steps to becoming a man! Life was great for our boy!
Then something, something, something...
He wound up in a hospital bed with his throat sliced opened, his city in tatters, his teammates either gone or dead, and the only person there being the strongest guy he knows who also happened to lose a hand.
So yeah, I guess he might have missed something.
If you read the Tenten chapter before, you know my frustration with the side characters that didn't get enough of a chance, but fortunately Kiba was one of the guys that did get a good chance. A member of the original Sasuke Retrieval team - one of the OGs! That got him my absolute respect as far as I was concerned! That team and all of its members were pretty much my favorite characters in Naruto from that day on!
So when I see a new reaction to the original series and I heard someone say Kiba was pretty much just Yamcha, I was like EX-FUCKING-SCUSE YOU?! This beautiful dog-loving bastard was willing to gut himself in order to save his dog and kill a threat to his village! Give him some respect!
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, depression.
((((((((Hunted))))))))
"I'm gonna go to Beacon!"
"HELL YEAH!" His mom cheered and threw her hands up in celebration as she jumped at him with a hug. He squeezed his mother back and they both laughed with unbridled joy. Her ears frantically twitched on her head and she smiled up at her son, "I'm so proud of you kiddo!" She ruffled his hair and grinned with pride, "When did you find out?"
"Last week."
"You little shit!" Her praise quickly turned to scorn as she smacked him across the head, "Why'd you take so damn long to tell us?!"
"Ow!" Kiba rubbed his head and glared at his mother, "What the fuck?!"
"Well I'm pissed you kept it from us for so long!"
"I wanted to clear things up with the school before I made the trip! There's a bunch of crap about luggage and notices I have to go through! I though you'd be happy for me!"
"I am happy! But I probably would have been happier if you told me when you found out too!"
"Well I wanted to make it perfect before I told you and Hana!"
"W-Well congrats kid you did it!" His mother shook her head in disbelief before the big grin came back to her face. He couldn't stop smiling in joy either as they laughed, "You really did it."
All this time and he still had a hard time figuring out what to expect from his mother. It would be clear to anyone watching from the outside that he had inherited his passion and spirit from her. She could be loving and supportive one moment and then strict and disciplinary the next. She wasn't afraid to yell or get physical with her children when she thought it necessary.
Kiba expected that she had developed that kind of behavior after so many years of working with animals. They needed to understand who the alpha was and his mother was always ready to make it clear where she stood in the food chain. She did it with all the animals and she practiced the same philosophy with her children.
Huh, was that why he was so brash, always demanding others speak clearly with each other, and had such a hard time making friends?
...
Nope, probably unrelated.
"We need to tell Hana!" His mother pulled out her Scroll and started punching in the numbers before she paused, "Oh shit, is she on her rounds right now? Would we be interrupting?"
"Maybe?" Kiba shrugged before a devious grin came to his face, "Hey, how about we wait until she comes home and we surprise her?"
"That's sick." She matched his grin, "I love it."
Kiba and his mother shared a laugh as they made their way into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Akamaru was sitting on the floor with cats and dogs and birds perched around him for comfort. They looked up as they walked in and started preparing the food. Kiba picked up a few bowls and pulled out the food-
"So you're gonna be careful in Beacon, right?"
Kiba looked over at his mother as she washed her hands but had her eyes on him. He shrugged, "Of course I am. I'm taking my tonfa and they'll be teaching us better ways to use my Aura-"
"I mean you aren't going to get in trouble and pick fights with the other students if they say anything, are you?"
Kiba avoided her direct gaze and looked aside as he prepared the others' food, "That depends."
"On what?"
"On how the people there act and what they say."
"Kiba-"
"Hey I can behave. It's the other people that need to learn to act better."
His mother sighed, lowered her plate, and walked up beside him. Her hand swung up and smacked him behind the head in that way she showed that she could only resort to smacking it until it started working properly. Kiba hissed and rubbed the pain away as she shook her head, "Why do you always have to act like that? You're only ever making trouble for yourself. You know we don't care what they say about us."
"But I do." He answered shortly under his breath, "It's my family. No fucking way am I just standing by while they badmouth us."
Kiba was a pretty uncommon kid. Usually when a human and Faunus had a child it would most times end up being a Faunus as well. It was rare for a family like theirs to have two humans and two Faunus. Even rarer when one of them ran off and abandoned the family years ago.
With the rest of his family made of Faunus, Kiba was asked a lot of questions in his life. Was he a Faunus? Was he just pretending to be human? Was he adopted? Was he taken? Did he wish he was a Faunus? Did he wish his family could just be humans like him? Did he wish he could stop pretending and just be a Faunus? Was he ever sick of cleaning up after animals - and they didn't mean at the pound.
Some of the questions were asked with earnest curiosity while some were posed just to get a rise out of him. They always made him angry, with his reaction ranging from mild annoyance to outright rage. And his responses usually ranged from walking away in anger to physical confrontation.
It was why he didn't have a lot of friends. And also how he ended up in a correctional facility when he was younger.
Still his mother looked disappointed and shook her head, "You know answering their jeers with rage won't do you any favors. Even if you did it for other people-"
"I'm not doing it to make friends or ingratiate myself with anyone. I'm just doing what my heart thinks is right."
His mother sighed before a small smile came to her face, she reached up and gently patted his head, "Love that spirit you've got. I know you'll make one hell of an impression at Beacon. But just promise me something," She pulled his chin around so he was looking down at her as her eyes looked stern, "Take care of yourself. I know you're first instincts are to charge in and do what you can do when facing trouble. And I'm sure you're going to help a lot of people like that. But please look after yourself as well."
"Heh, yeah Mom. You can trust me."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Even after finally waking up from his prolonged sleep all Kiba felt was more fatigue.
The doctors had been keeping him awake to do checkups. His food wasn't doing much in the way of giving him energy. And even the acting of breathing strained the injury on his throat. He had to resort to breathing through his nose, which still caused the same pain but on a much more manageable level.
Sasuke was there by his side having suffered a terrible injury which got his left hand amputated. His teammate stood by his side as he reacclimated to the waking world. The doctor and nurses had contacted his mother and sister the moment he woke up and gave him the chance to talk to them. They hadn't been allowed to come to the hospital yet because Vale was doing everything it could to keep anymore people coming in during these hard times.
Beacon had fallen and Vale was inevitably cascading to its demise. That was a harsh reality to wake up to.
After he had calmed his mother and Hana down, all the doctors had gotten what they wanted, and the food was taken off his plate, Kiba was left in his room alone with his roommate. Sasuke stood by his bed and accompanied him in his brief moment of reprieve, "How are you feeling?"
He couldn't speak just yet. He was warned the effort would only stress his injury and possibly leave permanent damage. The young fighter instead weakly shook his hand before mimicking a yawn.
"Yeah, anyone would be drained after what you went through. Do you remember what happened?"
It would probably be better if it was just some terrifying nightmare he couldn't quite make the details out of. But sadly it was a memory with every detail seared into his brain. The exhaustion. The beast. Everyone falling in its path. The brief swell of idiotic courage. Followed by the worst pain in his life that he could still faintly feel to this moment.
He grimaced and rubbed his throat gingerly. Sasuke seemed to understand his meaning and nodded in silence. They looked up out the window and stared at the destruction and desolation apparent even through here. Kiba looked back at his friend and pointed at the window before covering his eyes like scopes.
"Yep, pretty much everywhere you look." Sasuke morosely answered, "I heard reports while we've been in here that there are small pockets of protection around the city that Hunters are desperately protecting, but these few blocks are the most we've been able to salvage. Beacon and Vale are disappearing."
That was a sickening thought. The last time he was awake his school and city were bastions of peace and beauty and perseverance. And now they were rubble and nothing more than memories the mourning could hold on to.
He suddenly felt much sadder and desperate for comfort. He looked around and noticed just how empty the room was. Turning to Sasuke, Kiba motioned his fingers running along his cheeks like whiskers and curling up into balls in his hair.
"Naruto and Tenten?"
Kiba nodded. The moment he answered, his chest constricted at the sight of Sasuke's darkening expression. His friend pulled up a chair and sat down before looking up at him, "Kiba, I need to tell you what happened the night Beacon fell. What happened after we got hurt."
Kiba gulped down the lump in his throat and nearly gagged at the pain it caused him.
"Pyrrha went up the tower to try and save it in time for reinforcements to arrive. They didn't and it fell before they could. And she...she died before anyone could get there." Kiba's heart dropped at the thought of his red-haired friend never being there with her teammates ever again, "Jaune, Nora, and Ren are still alive but...they aren't taking it well."
"Blake and Yang were both hurt in the attack. They were attacked by a White Fang leader I've had some experience with and saved by someone - w-well I'm not totally sure who saved them. But Yang lost her arm in the fight and Blake was injured too. And she disappeared the next morning and no one has been able to find her. Ruby's been asleep all this time and she was taken home. And Weiss' father came and took her back to Atlas without giving her a choice."
Kiba looked down sadly at his raven-haired friend. He knew he had a fondness for the Schnee heiress, and even he could see that something was building between them that was truly special for both. Her absence during this time must have been especially hard on him.
"When Beacon fell the world panicked and Mistral was desperately trying to collect their students. Tenten's dad was also worried and requested that when the students returned, she came back with them." Kiba's eyes widened and he shook his head, weaving symbols and signs for things he wasn't sure he could communicate before Sasuke raised his one hand, "Listen, I know it sucks but you have to understand. She wasn't doing okay. Losing Pyrrha and everything else was weighing her down. She was spending pretty much every hour she could on patrols and fighting Grimm. She was running herself ragged. She would have stayed her and waited for us to recover but she wouldn't have been willing to help herself. I just...I did what I thought was best for her."
Kiba was...upset. He was angry that his precious teammate was gone and he didn't even get to say goodbye. But he trusted Sasuke's intuition and decision, and knew that if Tenten really did stay it would have only been for their benefit - not hers. With reluctant acceptance, Kiba nodded and quelled the frustration inside him. He mimicked the whiskers on his face again and wanted to know what Naruto thought of this all.
The look on Sasuke's face was enough of answer.
"Naruto," Kiba shook his head as Sasuke started, "He tried to distract the Wyvern from attacking the civilian evacuation ships and all the ships carrying out the injured." Kiba's eyes widened and his fists clenched from the tension, "He attacked it and drew it away from everyone, but it left him open. The Grimm turned on him, and it-"
Kiba's hand lashed out and grabbed the collar of Sasuke's gown before dragging him in. Kiba's face was flushed with anger, his heart monitor wildly reacting to the beating in his chest and his nostrils flared with rage. He refused! He refused to believe it! His leader! His partner! His friend! The scrappiest, toughest, hardest bastard to beat or kill! The friend he had made and trusted over the course of their time together at school! If there was one thing Kiba could believe in, it was that Naruto could make it out of any situation alive! So right now he refused to believe such a lie!
Sasuke's eyes denied him that refusal. The Uchiha looked more haunted and hollow from this loss than just the simple loss of his hand.
"What happened?"
"His sutures! They need to be reapplied!"
In his anger Kiba didn't even notice that his wound had started to reopen from how taught his body felt in response to this knowledge. The doctors and nurses ran in, removing Sasuke from his grasp and lying him back down against his pillow. They tried to calm him down but couldn't cause the anger to fade from his eyes. In the end they had to sedate him enough so that they could close the wound again.
As Kiba's body relaxed and mind turned hazy, his strong denial faded as well. And tears filled his eyes as he realized what had changed since he last closed his eyes.
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Winter was a beautiful time in Vale. The leaves remained colorful on the ground long enough for the snow to start frosting them white with the change of weather. Unfortunately in the wake of what happened to the city, even this beauty was sadly melancholic.
But it was still tranquil and very peaceful.
Kiba sat outside his house, sitting in their large backyard as he watched the animals they looked after running around and relieve themselves. Some of them got antsy at nighttime and needed to go out again to calm down. So he brought them out, sitting on a bench with a fuzzy coat, stroking Akamaru's head by his hand and watching the snowflakes come into the light and cover the ground.
This was...he was glad to have this peace.
"Glad you're up to take care of them. If not they'd come clawing at Mom or Sasuke."
Kiba looked up and saw Hana by the bench, having walked around the house to see what the sounds were so late at night. She still had her scrubs on underneath her heavy coat. Kiba walked his fingers along his palm curiously.
"Yeah, just walked in." His older sister nodded and rubbed her neck, "Long night. There were a few more people coming in that needed attention. Turns out they were there at Vale too, and their injuries hadn't been healing very well. Some of the senior staff had to help them settle down."
Kiba tilted his head in bewilderment.
"They were worried something might happen if they weren't ready for it." She sat beside him, stroking Akamaru's fur as the sleepy dog raised his head and rested it in her lap this time, "They're still jumpy and not really resting. The events at Vale have really gotten to them."
Kiba nodded his head understandingly before jerking it back towards the house. Hana followed his movement and looked back, "Sasuke?" She questioned, "Yeah, the same thing for him. All that fighting. All that terror. And an injury to remind him of it. He's definitely been affected by what he's been through."
Kinda stared ahead and slightly nodded his head in agreement. As he did his hand gently reached up and felt the bandages still tied around his neck. The injury had started to close up and wasn't as irritated by him breathing or eating. However talking was still prohibited for now and even the cold caused it some tightness.
He refused to meet his sister's eyes as she stared at him knowingly.
She decided to ask the question anyway, "Kiba, did you wake up to let everyone out, or were you not asleep yet?"
He didn't respond to the question she already had her answer for. Instead all he did was feel his body tense and go cold.
Hana's ears twitched as some snowflakes lightly dropped on them. Her face creased with a frown before she whispered, "Kiba, I know you're tougher than most. And I know you hold that perseverance highly. But no one can withstand what happened back in Vale and not have some marks or scars to show from it. Not just on the body, but in the-"
Kiba lurched up to his feet suddenly and moved to walk away-
"Kiba!" Hana called out more firmly and forced him to pause with just the pleading tone in her voice. He hesitantly looked back at his sister as she pressed on, "You can't ignore it. Pretending nothing is wrong or that you'll be able to toughen it out is just foolish. People who have trained their whole lives and faced the worst Remnant has to offer have crumbled down because their mental wounds were never treated properly."
Kiba's anger and frustration reached a boiling point as his fists curled up at his side. He turned back to her-
Instead of the condescending or patronizing look on his sister's face he had expected, all she had was worry and fear that he wouldn't take her words seriously. Kiba gritted his teeth and lowered his head in shame for expecting anything less from his sister. He was misinterpreting her worry and generosity for pity and distrust. Despite what he should have thought all he could think about was...
Was that he couldn't do anything to help after he had failed.
As the animals trotted through the covering snow and sniffed at his feet and legs, Hana whispered, "Please Kiba, you have to take care of yourself. If you don't it will just get worse."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
"They went this way!"
"After them!"
Kiba pushed the cloaked figure in front of him as they sprinted down the alley between tents and homes made of mud and brick. The Vacuo sun bared down on them from above - somehow different from anywhere else in the world because of the sheer intensity and heat coming from it. Being unprepared or foolhardy with the weight of the sun falling down from above was a quick way to get yourself killed.
After so much time in Vacuo Kiba thought he'd gotten more accustomed to the heat and what it entailed. When was the best time to travel or how easiest to move through the sands. What to wear and how to ration your supplies to last the longest. These cloaks were supposed to be especially useful while traveling the deserts and standing against the raging sands.
Turns out when you wore them under the sun without the sands raging against you, it was just a sheet you got super fucking hot underneath.
Maybe Sasuke had the right idea ditching his on them and running away.
"H-Hey, can I take this thing off?! It's in the way and I can barely see!"
"No! Don't let them see you!" They banked around a few corners and did everything they could to lose their tails. He looked back and saw their White Fang pursuers charging through the streets and pushing everyone out of their way.
"Hey, I think I recognize this place!" The hidden figure in front of him eagerly said as she smiled and turned another corner, "Follow me, I think we can lose them up here!"
He wasn't sure about that but she was the local so he trusted her intuition. Following her guidance, he sharply turned a corner and knocked over any plant or garbage pile he passed to give them a buffer. The curses of their pursuers told him his distraction had worked, and this next corner would give them all the distance they needed to-
They ran into a large empty lot between tents and modeled houses. There were no other exits except for the one entrance they just came through.
Kiba slowly stepped forward and glared down in silence at the shorter woman by his side. She pointedly refused to meet his gaze and whistled under her breath. Having spent most of her life in Vacuo she was used to it's heat, so he knew with just one look that the sweat on her cheek was from shame and embarrassment.
"I don't know!" She stomped her foot in indignation as her cloak flapped wildly around her, "I-I thought it was a turn I recognized but I-I guess I got it mixed up! Maybe it's further down or a different turn! Even if it was a dead end I can usually get over them super easy when I - STOP IT! DUDE, SAY SOMETHING! STOP JUST PEERING INTO MY SOUL LIKE THAT!"
Kiba grumbled under his voice and palmed his face. Why was this level of stupidity and dangerous incompetence giving him serious déjà vu? The sounds of scuttling boots and angry exclamations from just a few alleys over reached his ears.
"Seriously, please don't be angry! I just - hey!" Kiba grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her over to the side. Once they reached the darkest corner of the lot, just to the side of the entrance and a blind spot for anyone just charging in, he pushed her down to hide in the shadows under her cloak, "W-What are you doing?"
"Stay there." He ordered as he stepped away and into the center of the area. He pulled off his cloak and tossed it aside as he faced the alleyway entrance, "And don't do anything to get their attention."
"Over here!" One White Fang member spotted him in the lot and waved his comrades over. Suddenly there were at least a dozen masked people filing in and stepping into the lot. Thankfully they were so focused on him they hadn't noticed her behind them. They quickly formed a semi-circle around him and reached for their weapons, "Where did she go? Tell us where and we won't hurt you?"
A rush of wind came over them and carried a cloud of sand with it. It rubbed into his eye and stuck to his face. Plus there was a ton of it sticking to his beard. He was going to have to either trim or shave this thing when he got the chance.
"Did you hear me?"
"I heard you." Kiba sighed, reaching back and drawing his Red Fangs that extended into place along his forearms. As he started to twirl his tonfa around, the White Fang members hesitantly stepped back, "I'm just refusing to comply."
"You would stand in the way of Faunus everywhere-"
"Stop." Kiba quickly interrupted, once again realizing in the moment that his voice was more gravely after his injury. He shook his head, "Save the manifesto and speeches you practiced in front of the mirror. I have friends who are Faunus. I have loved ones who are Faunus. And I was at Beacon when it fell. If you think you have anything to say that will sway me or get sympathy, you're delusional. Instead, I'll just tell you right now..."
He stopped swinging his weapons and stood across from his enemies, "Walk away. Now. I won't ask twice."
The White Fang looked looked between each other before drawing out pistols and blades. They slowly stepped around and tried to form a circle around the bearded, tattooed Huntsman. One of the Faunus decided to make their move and charged him-
Kiba tossed his weapon up and grabbed its shaft, suddenly reaching out and catching the back of his attacker's neck with his grip. He yanked them in and slammed his knee into their face, shattering the mask and immediately knocking them unconscious.
The violent actions seemed to spur the rest of the hesitant young freedom fighting volunteers as they changed in. Some fired shots and Kiba deflected them with a spin of his tonfa. Others took their first steps in and started to physically charge him.
Kiba fired a dozen rounds into the sand beneath their feet and stopped their stampede forward. Once they halted, Kiba charged in and barreled through a pair and sent them flying into the dirt.
"HA!" His arm reflexively swung up and blocked a blade with his weapon. With a deft spin of his tonfa he disarmed the Faunus and caught them in a clothesline. As their comrade slammed into the ground, they all closed in around him.
Kiba fended off their strikes with the rapid movements of his weapons. Cuts and stabs along with any punches or kicks they could land bounced off his Aura as he knocked them away. He kept warding off their weapons but they were swarming him and he didn't have any more room.
They were everywhere.
He had no room to move or breathe.
His heart had already been beating fast from the heat and all the running. But now it was so booming that it was the only sound in his ears.
A flash of a monstrous hybrid flashed in his eyes.
"RAAAAHHH!" Kiba roared with barely contained ferocity as Feral activated and his body's most basic functions reached their absolute limit. The sheer power of his yell caused the Faunus surrounding him to retreat and give him room to move.
He charged in and barreled through a group of them like a raging bull. As they were knocked around or blown off their feet, Kiba reached out and grabbed two by the legs. He spun around and used them as battering rams to floor every other Faunus in his way.
He raged!
He powered through!
Every instinct in his body told him to break them down and win!
The White Fang were groaning, crying heaps of limbs and bruises on the ground when he was finished. His chest heaved, greedy for air and peace while his blood circulated and adrenaline demanded his body keep fighting.
The shuffling of dirt and panicked moaning drew his attention to the side. Kiba spotted a cowering, frightened young member standing to the side and barely holding his weapon between his hands. It was shaking and jittering in his palms and would probably slip out if he didn't squeeze tightly.
Kiba slowly turned to him, his face stretching into a manic grin despite his best efforts as he puffed out his chest. The young, stupid Faunus watched his blustering and seemed to let a competitive fire burn under him in response. Instead of doing the smart and rational thing of running away, he played the fool and stood his ground.
He charged at Kiba.
His knife at the ready and prepared to plunge into his body.
Briefly the form of a large, maniacal monster with a human face and Grimm mouth flashed over the charging Grimm mask.
Kiba grinned and prepared to attack-
"HAAAA - AAAAAHHHHH!" The young charging White Fang member was suddenly stopped by an instantaneous, powerful gust of wind that rushed over him specifically. He was blown of his feet and slammed directly into the wall before he dropped down unconsciously.
Kiba finally started to calm down and find his peace again. As he struggled to even his breath, he turned in the direction of the dying wind current.
A glowing green figure flew several feet of the ground with a gust of wind lifting it up. It slowly lowered its hand after blowing away his last attacker before the wind started to die away. Its feet gently lowered to the ground and landed in the dust-
Until all the Aura disappeared and the girl underneath collapsed to her feet.
"H-Holy crap!" The dark-skinned, mint-haired girl underneath the Aura tried to catch her breath after her last second assist, "I-I've never actually used that to blow people away before. Didn't know it was that good." She let out a little giggle, probably a little high on what might have been her first ever win in a fight.
Kiba looked at her critically, "I thought I told you to keep hidden?"
"Y-Yeah, but you were doing all that cool fighting and I was just sitting here!" She then grabbed her cloak, "And this thing is hot! I prefer bare skin in the sun thank you!"
"Whatever." Kiba sighed and holstered his weapons before nodding to his new ally, "Thank for the assist." She blinked a few times before she gave him a big, happy grin at the praise, "Alright don't let it go to your head."
"No promises!"
He rolled his eyes and felt his pocket started to shake. Pulling out his Scroll, he quickly answered the call and saw Sasuke's contact.
"Kiba...you ther-"
"Sasuke?" He spoke loudly into his Scroll, "We're fine. We took care of things on this end. All the White Fang have been dealt with."
"Kiba what happe-"
Stupid reception was crapping out, "You gotta come find us. And our new partner is the kind of spectacle you need to see for yourself." He looked over and saw her beaming with joy at his words, "Quite the powerhouse we got on our side."
"Awwww~, you're gonna make me blush."
"Don't get too big a head. You got power but apparently shit control."
"H-Hey!" She indignantly cried out in defiance, "I don't use the wind to fight! I just fly with it! It's not my fault you're suddenly asking me to do more!"
"Yeah whatever," He stepped over some unconscious White Fang and offered her a hand, "Let's go."
"Oh, okay." She took it and he pulled her up, "Where now?"
"To the next lucky bastard we can trick to work with us."
"Y-You probably shouldn't talk like that while I'm standing here."
((((((((Hunting))))))))
Done
He might not have been awake or able to help during the Fall, but he is determined to weather any attack and face any enemy now. No matter the cost.
Yeah, no way that could possibly backfire. One of these days I'm going to write a character going through trauma in a perfectly healthy, reasonable manner with regular therapy sessions, doctor appointments, social contact in order to reacclimatize, and animal therapy to cope.
But until then, watch them suffer!
One of the things I'm looking forward to showing you the most are the new dynamics and interactions I have planned. Now that the characters have been changed and the people they're around are new, they've had to adjust. That's especially evident with Sasuke and Kiba.
Like I think back to what happened before and while Naruto and Tenten regularly interacted with everyone on the team, Sasuke and Kiba talked with their partners or each other's more than each other. Besides their partners, Kiba and Tenten had to build a bond of trying to deal with Naruto and Sasuke's prior, deep friendship. Kiba and Sasuke didn't really interact with each other.
Now they've been partners almost as long as they were in Beacon together. That changes things. And, of course, they have a new friend to bring along with them now.
We're so close to Saturday!
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