A New Addition
Hey, Readers! We're back with another installment of A New Addition. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far, because I love writing it for you all. Enough stalling though so without further ado, Enjoy!
Familiar Faces
While usually one would describe Toby as a young man with patience and charm, right now the only thing that could describe him would be absolutely angry. Reading the note over again, Toby felt the need to call Yukiko, just to scream at her in their shared language.
('Told the movers that they could help themselves to your Ramune case, if they got thirsty. Figured you wouldn't mind it. Love you, Usagi!')
The frost haired teen felt a vein pulse against his neck as he looked at the empty case that had been shoved into the bottom of his trash can. Clicking his tongue, Toby made his way to the front door to grab his keys and shoes, before heading out to a nearby store.
It had been roughly three days since he and his family landed back in Royal Woods and while they had offered to make room for him at their house, Toby declined due to the fact that his grandfather's people had already gotten him an apartment to live in. While he was appreciative of the place he was given, he knew that it hadn't been given to him out of kindness. In the three days that the teen had been in the city, he had to tie a couple of business loose ends for his grandfather before he could completely settle in.
Pulling into the store's small parking lot, the teen got out and looked up at the sign, Flip's Food and Fuel. With a heavy sigh, the teen made his way inside for both business and pleasure.
Walking through the front door, Toby was greeted by a red haired girl who looked like she was bored out of her mind behind the counter. Not paying much attention to her, the teen made his way across the small store and to the office door of the person he was looking for.
"Customers are not allowed back there," came the voice of the redhead, a Russian accent making itself known in her voice. Hearing this, Toby turned slightly to look at her with an annoyed expression, something she seemed unfazed by.
"I have some business with your boss," Toby stated, intensifying his expression.
Shrugging, the teen spoke again, "I do not care, you are not allowed back there,"
Heaving another heavy sigh, Toby turned completely towards her and made his way to the counter. Placing his hands on the surface, the white haired teen looked at the teen, "Listen here, Chekhov,"
"Laika."
"Don't care. I have business with your boss that needs to be finished, so either you can let me go in there and finish this business or I could use you as a battering ram to get in there and finish it anyway," Toby stated, leaning forward as he glared at the Russian teen.
Leaning forward herself with her nose almost touching the teens, Laika sent her own glare back and said, "You are welcome to try, but it will not end the way you think it will."
The two continued to glare at each other for a while, neither of them making the first move as tension became more than palpable in the air. The teens continued their impromptu glaring contest for a while, before it was ended by the sound of the doors bell ringing. Breaking their stares from each other, the two looked towards the front and saw a small, pudgy latino boy.
"Uh...hi..?" he said.
"Bob-boy," Laika replied, nodding slightly towards the kid. The 'Bob-boy' in question seemed to linger at the door, staring in slight confusion at the white haired teen in front of the counter.
Seeing this, Toby pushed off the counter slightly and made his way towards the boy. "Y'know, where I'm from, staring like that usually means you wanna fight," he started before leaning forward to get directly in the kids face, "And I'm always game for that."
The little boy's eyes went wide as he began to vigorously shake his head and stammer something out. Seeing the fear that the boy had, Toby stood up straight with a sneer at the boy and made his way back to the counter.
Upon getting back,Toby was greeted to the sight of Laika staring at him with the glare she had moments ago. This time however, the look was mixed with a look of contemplation as she seemed to study his face intently. Opening his mouth to speak, Laika cut him off.
"кролик?" she asked, making Toby's brain screech to a halt. Hearing the nickname said like that brought a memory to the surface for him. A memory from a decade ago. A memory of a small, red haired girl calling him that since it seemed easier for her to pronounce at the time.
"狐?" Toby asked back.
The two teens seemed to look at each for a bit longer before a smile broke across their faces as they seemed to reenact a handshake from an old action movie. Releasing their hands, the two's mood seemed to have done a complete 180 from just a couple of moments ago.
"Holy shit! I wasn't expecting to see you here of all places," Toby said, a wide smile over his face.
"I did not expect to see you either. Honestly, I took you for...someone else," Laika said, a noticeable pause made evident in her tone. Hearing it, Toby opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but was stopped by a voice.
"Um...excuse me," came a meek voice. Following the voice, Toby looked down and saw the small boy from moments ago, his spoils being held in his arms.
"Oh, hey kid," Toby started before seeing the boy stagger back a bit. Realizing why, he sighed, "Sorry about what I said a minute ago. My day hasn't been too good as of recent."
"I-it's fine..."
"It's not and I wanna make it up to you," Toby said before looking at Laika, "Ring him up, I'll pay for it."
W-wait yo-" The boy started before Toby quickly plucked the items from his arms and placed them on the counter. The snacks were quickly rung up and bagged before being pressed against the boy's chest, his arms wrapping around his small treasure as he received a gentle pat on the head. Seeing the frost haired teen turn away to continue talking with Laika, the boy just sighed and muttered out a 'thanks' before leaving.
Hearing the store's bell ring as a sign that the small child had left, Toby got back to business. "Listen Fox," He started, calling his friend by her nickname in english this time, "As much as I would love to catch up with you, I have some business with Flip. So could you maybe just let me back there for now?" Toby said, his voice having no trace of its earlier irritation as he spoke.
Looking at her old friend, Laika heaved a sigh, "As easy as it would be, I can not let you. Store policy."
Hearing that, Toby decided to do something he usually wouldn't with people who weren't in his line of business. The teen was going to strike a monetary deal with the redhead. "Alright, alright. I understand," he began, pausing to take a deep breath, "But what if there was something in it for you?"
That grabbed the girls attention as she merely raised an eyebrow at him, showing her slight interest. "For me?" she asked simply, crossing her arms over her chest, "Is that so?"
"Yes and it'd be something that would be highly useful for you."
"And what would that be?"
"A monetary gain of a thousand dollars in cash."
Laika couldn't help but feel her expression widen in surprise at the offer before feeling her gaze harden as she spoke, "What is the catch?"
"The catch is you let me go into that office to finish my business with Flip and after that, money's yours."
Laika continued to stare at Toby, searching his expression for any form of deceit as well as weighing the options of the offer. While ordinarily, the girl wouldn't yield to any form of bribery from people, she also knew that Toby and his family were not people to make offers that they couldn't uphold and it didn't help that she also knew that the money would benefit her and her mother largely with their bills.
With a sigh, the Russian teen said, "You have ten minutes."
Smirking to the girl, Toby continued on his original path, opening the door without hesitation before promptly closing it behind him, taking a moment to lock it.
Following her time table down to the very second, Toby popped back out of the office with a briefcase in one hand, a small wad of bills in the other, and a smirk on his face. Walking over to the counter, the older teen plopped the bound bills down in front of Laika.
"There's your cut. A grand, just as promised," Toby said with ease, his smirk taking on a bit more of a warm glow to it. "Might want to count it to make sure though," he added simply.
Taking his advice, the redhead unbound the cash and began to count it. Flipping the bills over in her hand and recounting them, Laika found herself surprised at finding all of the money accounted for. Looking at her old friend's smirking face, she couldn't help but smile softly herself as she gave him a simple thanks.
Toby simply gave her a nod back before quickly buying a couple of cases of soda and leaving. Climbing into his car and cracking open one of the somewhat cold cans, the teen was off to finish his business.
"I'm guessing the missing grand came from your cut?" Asked a suited woman as they looked at the machine counting out all the money at an impressive speed. Toby nodded at that, having found himself standing shoulder to shoulder with one of his granddad's caporegimes as they shared some sodas while waiting for the money to finish. A ding soon sounded before one of the woman's employees' made their way over and took the counted money out, placed it in a manila envelope, and stamped the front with the family crest before having the parcel handed to him. Toby smiled at the Capo and shook hands with her, before taking his leave and leaving one of the soda cases behind for everyone to share.
Finally making his way home, Toby felt whatever plan he had prepared for his lazy afternoon, stripped away as he got a text from his Aunt Lucy. The goth woman had apparently wanted him to stop by to talk and spend time with some of the family that he had yet to meet. Knowing how much he couldn't say no to the creepy yet kind woman, Toby soon found himself pulling into the driveway of a two-story house.
Getting out of his car, and taking care to stuff his parcel in his inner jacket pocket, Toby was greeted by a voice calling out to him. Turning to the source, the teen was met with the flying body of Lacy as the pre-teen hurdled through the air, her hands outstretched and her face bright from her infectious smile.
Easily catching her and holding her out at arms length, Toby spoke to her, "Nice to see you too, Lacy."
"Dude, where've you been for the past couple of days?"
"Home."
"Home? You have a house?"
"No, it's an apartment that my granddad gave me."
"Cool! I'd love to visit sometime!" she exclaimed, her eyes bright, earning a chuckle from Toby before he placed her back on the ground and patting her head. Making his way around her and onto the porch, the teen rapped on the door.
A couple of minutes passed before he was greeted by the face of a somewhat youthful looking face of a hispanic woman. The two of them made eye contact and a look of confusion came over the woman's face before something seemed to click in her mind as she quickly put on a slightly forced smile.
"You must be Tobias," she said before extending her hand to shake, "I'm Ronalda, Lincoln's wife, but you can call me Ronnie Anne."
Accepting her hand, and taking note of some of the calluses on them, Toby responded with a smile of his own, "Please, call me Toby, Mrs. Loud."
The latina quickly escorted Toby inside before telling him to make himself at home while she went to get him a drink. Quickly taking his shoes off, the teen made his way over to the sofa and sat down. Taking note of the paused image on the screen, he could tell that someone had been watching a movie before possibly leaving to do something.
Sitting there, the teen studied the screen intently, trying to figure out what exactly was on screen.
"It's a documentary." came a sudden voice right next to Toby's ear, causing the teen to let out a yipe before jumping off the sofa and onto the table in a defensive stance. Seeing who the person was, the teen felt his muscles relax a bit as he took in the source of the voice.
"Oh, it's just you Aunt Lucy," Toby said, easily getting himself off the furniture and returning to his seat. "Sorry about that," the snow haired teen said simply.
"It's quite alright, everyone has that reaction when I enter a room," the goth woman said as she rounded the sofa and sat on it elegantly, not a single sound being made as she did so. "How are you this day, Tobias?" she asked, a soft smile on her lips as she spoke.
"Pretty good, all things considered. I was actually on my way home when you texted me and asked me to come over," Toby said with a smile of his own, his tone having a politeness in it. The smile quickly dropped however, when Lucy responded.
"I'm sorry for texting you on such short notice, by the way," The older woman said, a hint of guilt in her usual monotone.
"It's quite alright, I didn't really have anything planned today. Besides, I'd love to meet more of my family."
Lucy merely smiled at that before turning her attention to the dining room behind her nephew. "I believe Ronnie Anne wishes to talk to you at the table," she said as she gestured behind the teen. Turning around, Toby saw the Latina setting a couple of glasses down alongside some snacks. Seeing his que, the white haired teen got up, gave his Aunt a small smile before making his way over.
Lucy had given him a smile back but no sooner did her nephew turn away, did the smile drop from her face as something soon plagued her. The spirit she had seen when they left New York, it wasn't there but instead there was a new one. While that fact didn't bother her in the slightest, it's what the spirit looked like that did.
The spirit bore a similar yet younger resemblance to Toby himself.
With that fact revealed to her, Lucy felt the need to make a call.
"Before we start getting to know each other, I have to ask you something," Ronnie Anne said as she took a small sip from her glass. "About six years ago, were you at a restaurant named Casa Du Sol?"
Toby couldn't help but look at the woman with a look of pure confusion before thinking for a bit. There was a small silence over the table before he spoke again. "Yes...yes I was. I went there for my eleventh birthday. Why?"
"So I wasn't seeing things back then," Ronnie Anne muttered under her breath before shaking her head, "I'm asking because I was there as a temporary Sous Chef for a bit and I remember there being some small, white haired kid who wanted a chocolate cake for their dinner."
That made Toby choke on his drink as the woman finished her sentence. He knew what she was talking about and it brought a significant warmth to his face as he wiped his mouth. "I-I don't like what you're insinuating there."
Hearing the teens flustered response brought a chuckle from the woman before it morphed into full blown laughter. "S-So it was you!" Ronnie Anne stated in between her laughs, "And I thought Lisa just lost track of a Lincoln clone!" Toby couldn't help but fold his arms and pout slightly at the womans' laughing.
"Aw, c'mon, Toby, I'm just messing with you a little," Ronnie Anne said as she got her laughter under control.
Toby looked at his step mother, before a smile broke past his lips as he unfolded his arms. "I was a little bit of a brat back then," he said as he sat up in his seat.
"A little bit?" Ronnie Anne asked with a half smile. From there, the two fell into a fairly peaceful conversation.
Their chat seemingly lasted longer than either had intended since by the time either of them checked their phones, it was well into the late afternoon. Around the time Ronnie Anne usually began cooking dinner with Liena.
"Well as much as I like talking to you, Toby. I have to get dinner started," the Latina said as she got up from her seat, the teen not too far behind her.
"Yeah, I usually start dinner around this time too."
"You could stay for dinner, if you want. I think you and my son would like each other."
"As much as I would love that, there's some salmon calling my name."
The two made their way to the door before Toby bent down to put his shoes back on. Opening the door and giving the woman a hug, the two said their goodbyes and parted. Ronnie Anne made her way back to the table to collect their dishes only to find Lucy clearing them for her.
"I will handle these for you," the goth said.
"Oh, uh...thanks Lucy," Ronnie Anne said before going to get Liena to help with dinner.
Making her way to the kitchen, Lucy kept to her word and washed the dishes. Save for one glass.
Toby's.
Drying her hands, she pulled out and donned a pair of latex gloves before grabbing the glass and leaving the room. Making her way down to a section of the house that she usually never visits, due to never having too much of a reason to, the writer gave a gentle yet firm knock on the metal door.
It opened instantaneously and revealed the white tiled, sanitized room of her younger sister's lab.
"Glad to see you finally made your way down here, Lucille," came the usually equally monotone voice of one, Lisa Loud. The young scientist taking time to glance at her sister with a clipboard in hand before returning her gaze to her daughter, Lulu as the infant merely looked at her mother. "I take it you grabbed something that was needed for this?"
Lucy easily presented the glass to the woman, who donned her own latex gloves and took the object from her. Lisa made her way over to her computer with Lucy, who had picked up Lulu. "While I don't deal in superstitions like you, Dear Sister, I do believe you're onto something with this."
"Do you have any theories on how something like this is possible?"
"Aside from ruling out your beliefs? A couple," the scientist said as she began to run some diagnostics on the glass. From fingerprints to saliva residue, the DNA on the object was completely checked and after a few minutes of scanning and comparing, the results were shown.
Subject; Finley, Tobias Xavier
DNA Match; 74.986%
"What does this mean, Lisa?" Lucy asked as the two women looked at the screen.
"It means that this DNA isn't exactly Tobias'."
And thus another chapter comes to an end. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter because things are gonna begin to ramp up from here. There's something going on and I hope you all stay to find out what but Until then, Stay Tuned Readers!