Hello again!
I deeply apologise for my long absence, but I'm back! CPL is back people! The holiday managed to clutch me by the balls, but I'm officially back!
By the way, did anyone notice the Phase Shift reference in the previous chapter which involves Kazuma surviving the assassination attempt of the three assassins?
Now, reviews!
EpicLinkSam: Thank you. And yeah, when it comes down to Terumi, what do you expect? The bastard takes no shit from nobody! Nobody damn it!
Frank Horrigan: Uh...you lost me there, but thanks for the review! Though, you'd probably be surprised to see who's truly the one being abused most of the time throughout this entire story.
SoraReach: Thank you very much! Every little comment helps! And you were close too. It was supposed to be her originally, but I decided to change her role in the story. But it's okay! Here, have a muffin for trying!
Reviews aside, let us begin.
I do not own RWBY nor BlazBlue.
-IIXII-
Summer was a lot of things. She was kind, cheerful, supportive, patient, brave, and many more. But despite all the positives, crooks and thieves alike had a tendency to be easily fooled by her appearance. She may not look like it, but she was very capable in terms of combat. To her, self-defense was important.
All those harsh lessons she did with her friend Raven in the past surely paid off.
But let's not also forget the fact that she's a mother. And like any other mother in any situation, they'd be alarmed to see their child in the state of danger. If the danger was caused by another person, then the mother would do anything in their power to hunt down the one responsible, even if it would mean that they had to search through the entirety of Remnant for the poor soul. But if the danger was caused by their own child, then the only way to prevent the situation from happening again was to give them a good scolding.
And that was the main reason why Summer was scolding her daughter.
"Bad Ruby! I specifically told you to stay away from Yang's skateboard! You should consider yourself lucky that nothing was broken!"
"I'm sorry," Ruby said, eyes downcast. "I-I just...I just wanted to play with it because it looked fun to play with. I didn't mean to."
The sight of her daughter looking all guilty pulled at her heartstrings, but Summer quickly pushed the feeling aside and sighed. At least she knows that she's in the wrong. I guess that's more than enough for me to stop scolding her, she thought, but even then she still needed her daughter to know that what she did was dangerous.
She didn't want the same thing to happen twice.
"Ruby," Summer called out in a gentle voice, no longer sounding unhappy. "Look at me, sweetie. I'm not angry."
Ruby moved her gaze up to meet her mother. "You're not?"
Summer shook her head. "Of course not." She went down and hugged her little daughter, a genuine smile playing across her lips. "You just scared me is all. I didn't want you to play with Yang's skateboard because I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. So seeing you riding it scared me. Do you understand now?"
Ruby returned the hug, as much as she could with her small body anyway, and nodded a couple of times to show that she understood. "I understand. I'm sorry for scaring you, Mom. I promise I'll never touch that skateboard again. Ever!" She smiled. "Oh! And I was lucky because a suspicious person saved me!"
Summer immediately broke the hug in order to get a good look at her daughter, her eyes narrowing shortly after. "I'm sorry, but what was that?"
"A suspicious person saved me!" Ruby repeated, grinning widely.
Summer continued to stare at her innocent daughter, and later found herself asking, "Mind showing me where this person is?"
"Okay!" Ruby turned around and pointed a finger at a certain unemployed man, who appeared to be busy competing against Weiss in a glaring contest. And from the looks of things, he seemed to be winning. "There he is!" she exclaimed.
-IIXII-
Terumi, at some point during Ruby's talk with her mother, had decided to irritate the little snowball further just for shits and giggles. He paid little to no attention to what the mother and daughter were talking about, but the same couldn't be said for the adorable glare which he was receiving, courtesy of little Weiss Schnee.
For a squirt, she sure had a lot of guts. He would've respected that, if it weren't for the fact that he was too lazy to do so. Not like it was important anyway.
"Give it up, brat! Just be a good girl and admit defeat already. Wanna surpass me? Then I suggest you start practicing by glaring at a wall or something!" Terumi sneered. Adding more salt to injury, he went down to the girl's level and poked her on the forehead. "While you're at it, why don't you start working on your height as well? Haha!"
Weiss winced, and later found herself gritting her teeth purely out of anger. No one can blame her. "Y-You dare...make fun of me?"
"Oh?" Terumi offered the irritated girl one hell of a grin, and asked, "What are you going to do about it?"
"She will not do anything, and I will see to it that you will not either." Kval made his appearance known by stepping in between Weiss and his older sibling, surprising the girl. "Brother, do not embarrass me in public by tormenting little children. How do you expect to find a suitable job when you keep behaving like this? Things will not change unless you decide to change yourself, you know that right?" He folded his arms with his eyes narrowed. "With your current behavior, even working as a janitor I am unable to guarantee how long you will last. If you wish for me to spell it out for you, then fine. I want you to stop acting all childish and start being serious!" he scolded.
Terumi opted to silently stare at his younger sibling, but in time, without knowing it, his eyes started dropping down, only to find themselves locked onto the concrete ground later on.
It was frightening how mature Kval can be at times, considering his current age and all that. Unlike him, the little guy had restraints when it came to dealing with people, and he respected that. It just goes to show that in the next few years, he'd become someone who's reliable to others. Well, more reliable than his older brother can ever be for the past few years anyway.
Huh, was the first word which his mind was able to come up with. Can't believe I'm being scolded by my little brother of all people. But I can't say I'm not the one at fault here. Truth be told, I don't think I was ever serious about getting a job in the first place. Terumi blinked, his eyes still locked onto the ground. Maybe...it would be best to change things.
He was actually this close to start thinking about how to stop slacking off and start getting serious, but the sudden slow clapping coming from a certain child with a black bow on her head interrupted him from doing so.
"Despite your appearance, you seem mature. More than your brother at least. I'm impressed," the child said, sounding amused despite the blank expression she was displaying for the entire world to see. She took note of the glare given to her by Terumi, but chose to ignore it in order to focus her attention more on Kval. "Pardon me for asking, but how old are you?"
Kval turned away from his older brother and landed his eyes on Blake, his expression revealing how truly puzzled he was. "Um...excuse me?"
Blake rolled her eyes. "Your age."
"Ah!" Kval nodded. "I'm 13. My name is Kazuma Kval, by the way. Nice to meet you."
"Blake. Blake Belladonna. I'm 12." Blake smiled, though it was faint. "Likewise."
"And I'm Yang! The great and awesome Yang Xiao Long!" the blonde suddenly joined in, surprising Kval but not Blake. "I'm 12 years old too!"
"Y-Yang, is it? Well, nice to meet you too," Kval said, smiling sheepishly at that.
Terumi's right eye began to twitch, no doubt annoyed. Were you not going to make sure that I start getting serious about this? Why are you suddenly acting all friendly with those brats? Tch. He looked away. Well, at least he isn't breathing down my neck anymore. That's good.
"Excuse me," a voice called out.
"Hm?" Terumi looked up, ignoring the calls from Kval as he was being swarmed by the three girls from before, and found his serpentine eyes locked with a pair of silver ones, which belonged to a woman who seemed to be around his age. Something about her seemed familiar, and it probably had something to do with the white cape she was wearing. Overall, he wasn't sure. He took note of the woman's black combat skirt, and had to admit that it blended well with her white cape. With that outfit, he had to assume that she at least knew how to handle herself in a fight.
Observing aside, it seemed that she had business with him, if the look on her face was anything to go by. What the hell, right?
Terumi tilted his head to one side, went up to his full height, and found himself asking, "Can I help you?"
"Yes, actually," the woman replied.
Terumi would've folded his arms, if it weren't for the paper bag he was carrying. He moved his eyes over to said bag, and sighed when the familiar sound of eggs cracking suddenly played itself inside his head. Speaking of which, the thought of wasted eggs did not sit well with him. It just didn't. And not to mention...
All those eggs were bought with my little brother's money. For the love of...
Right now, words could not describe how awful he felt. He'll have to apologise to Kval later on. It was the least he could do for using their eggs as his own personal shield.
But now that he thought about it, why couldn't he just move out of the way instead?
Fuck...
Terumi balled up his free hand into a tight fist. He felt like an idiot.
For fuck's sake...
No. It wasn't his fault to begin with. In fact, things would've gone smoothly if it weren't for that cape-wearing brat. She was the one who ruined everything.
The story of his life. Someone just had to be a bitch and shit on his day for no good reason!
Terumi clicked his tongue. "Tch. This pisses me off," he muttered without thinking.
The woman widened her eyes in surprise at that, only to narrow them shortly after. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned herself forward. "Excuse me?"
"Eh? What?" Terumi sounded as he was pulled back to reality, focusing his eyes on the woman once more. He nearly cursed at himself for forgetting all about her, and decided to straighten himself to at least show that he was giving her the right amount of attention. "Oh yeah. You had business with me?"
The woman's eyes narrowed further, and she nodded. "Yes. I do." She then stepped aside, revealing a certain cape-wearing girl who apparently had been hiding behind the woman's legs. "Regarding her."
Ruby offered the unemployed man a small and nervous smile. "H-Hi..." She waved at him.
Terumi's face turned so sour that even Ruby herself was frightened by the sight of it. The woman seemed disturbed, but she didn't comment on it. "Ah, so you're her mother. Great. I suggest you keep your eyes on her next time," Terumi said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't want her slamming into anyone else, now do you? Get her a leash while you're at it."
"I...see." The woman frowned. She didn't take the comment too well, but decided to let it slide for now. "Well, as her mother, I'm here to apologise for all the trouble she has caused you." She offered him an apologetic smile. "Also, thank you for-"
"I don't need your thanks, nor your apology!" Terumi snapped, not caring the way the woman flinched at his sudden outburst. "Got that!?"
"Eep!" Ruby quickly hid behind her mother.
"E-Excuse me?" the woman, Summer, stuttered. She was confused as to why he was suddenly acting like this, despite him being calm just seconds ago. "Why are you-"
"Oh shut up!" Terumi yelled. "You know perfectly well why I'm pissed off!"
Summer shook her head. "N-No, I don't."
"You see this? If you're blind, then here!" Terumi raised the paper bag he was carrying and proceeded to shove it into the woman's chest, catching her off-guard. "Take a look inside, and you'll understand why I'm pissed," he growled. "Go on!"
"U-Uh..." Summer did as she was told, albeit reluctantly, only to furrow her brows at the sight of cheap noodles and wasted eggs inside the paper bag. She moved her gaze up to meet Terumi's, and raised an eyebrow. "What...does this has to do with anything?" she asked, puzzled.
"Are you blind?" Terumi jabbed a finger into the paper bag, making Summer wince intentionally. "My eggs...are wasted! All thanks to that child of yours!" he snarled.
Summer took a step back, shocked. "W-What? How?"
"Tch!" Terumi reached out and snatched the paper bag away from the young woman, much to her surprise if the sudden gasp coming from her was anything to go by. He glared at her, and questioned, "How do you think I stopped your daughter from breaking a bone or two? If you're smart enough, then do me a favor and cough up some money."
"W-Well..." Summer, with no other choice, pulled out her purse with her eyes glued to anywhere but Terumi. She looked to her frightened little daughter, and smiled a bit so that it would at least make her feel safe. Pulling out a handful of cash, she then held it out towards an impatient Terumi. "I know you said you didn't want to hear my apology, but I want you to know that I'm really-"
"Yeah yeah." Terumi attempted to snatch the money away from Summer, but some sort of creature made out of pure black energy slammed into him from the side, much to everyone's surprise. "Gah!"
"Terumi!" a familiar voice called out. "The hell do you think you're doing!? Mugging a woman in public? Have you gone completely insane!?"
Terumi coughed a couple of times and groaned. He went up to his feet and focused his eyes on his attacker. "I am not mugging her, you dog," he growled. "And you really...need to stop poking your nose into somebody else's business."
Ragna tightened his grip around his weapon, Blood-Scythe, and entered a stance. "Well it seems to me that you are, you prick! Go get yourself a job dammit!" he yelled.
"Sometimes I regret having you as my neighbour," muttered Terumi.
"Don't worry." Ragna squinted his eyes. "You're not the only one, you asshole."
And with that, the two fighters started trading blows with one another.
In public.
-IIXII-
Summer, still holding out the same amount of cash from before, silently stared at what was currently happening. She was astounded at the turn of events, but the feeling was soon washed aside when someone started tugging at her sleeve.
Summer looked down. "W-What is it, honey?"
"That wasn't me..." Ruby sounded.
"Y-Yeah, your daughter's right," an unfamiliar voice said.
Summer immediately turned her head to the owner of the unfamiliar voice, and couldn't resist the urge to jump back when Kval came into view. "Eep!"
"Haha..." Kval chuckled. "I apologise for scaring you, Miss. My name is Kazuma Kval. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Summer. Summer Rose." Summer lowered her guard. She scanned the boy up and down, and nodded later on. "Likewise, I guess."
Kval chuckled once more. "Sorry..."
How did I not detect him? was the question flying around in Summer's head. Something about him...made her wary for some reason.
"Anyway, I saw the whole thing with you and my brother, and I want to apologise. Do you um..." Kval scratched the back of his head, looking unsure. "...have time? I mean, I wouldn't want to bother you if you're busy."
"Oh don't worry, I have enough time!" Summer smiled brightly, before realisation dawned on her. "Wait a minute, did you just say that the man over there is your brother?"
-IIXII-
"And that's how we ended up living like we are now," Kval explained. "Oh, and the guy in the red jacket over there is our neighbour, Mister Ragna. Apparently him and my brother don't get along too well with one another. I honestly don't know why though."
"Wow. Your big brother has quite a lot on his plate," Summer commented. She winced when Ragna was stomped on the head repeatedly, only to be sent flying away thanks to a devastating kick, courtesy of Terumi. "Did he ever recover after that incident?"
"No." Kval shook his head and frowned. "He was devastated. Still showing signs to this day, in fact."
"That sounds terrible," Ruby sounded with her eyes filled with sadness. "Why won't they say sorry to each other?"
"When you think you're in the right, it's difficult to give out an apology. Trust me," Kval answered, earning a small nod from Ruby.
"Huh." Yang blinked a couple of times. She scratched her cheek and said, "I think I can understand that."
Weiss huffed. "You think?"
"Well at least I'm trying!" Yang turned to Weiss and pouted.
"Whatever," was the girl's reply.
"So putting it in simple terms, you two are struggling every single day to earn money. Is that correct?" Blake questioned.
Kval shrugged. "Pretty much. It's a miracle my brother and I made it this far. I guess it goes to show how hardworking he is whenever the time calls for it." He chuckled. "He may not look like it, but he's actually a pretty reliable brother."
"Somehow I doubt that," Yang muttered, only to cough loudly when Blake suddenly slammed an elbow into her side. "Oof!"
The sight of his older sibling getting axe-kicked high up in the air, just moments before crashing down hard onto the concrete ground made Kval wince. "I need to stop those two from killing each other somehow, but before that..." He turned to Summer. "Please forget about all the things my brother told you. Keep the money. I was the one who bought those eggs anyway, so technically...it all comes down to me."
"I see." Summer held a finger to her chin, looking as if she was thinking, and later snapped her fingers when something crossed her mind. A large grin took over her face. She pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote down her number, right before handing it over to a confused Kval.
"Uh...what's this for?" Kval inquired with a tilt of his head.
Summer giggled. "Remember when you said that your brother keeps getting fired?" She saw Kval nod once, and continued, "Well, I think I have a solution to this problem."
Kval raised an eyebrow, but he can't say that he wasn't curious as to what she had in store. He took the small piece of paper from the older woman and took a long look at the numbers. "Why help us?"
"There's no harm in helping others every once in a while." Summer winked at that. "It's in my nature."
"That's...true, but what's this solution that you speak of?" Kval asked.
Summer let out another short giggle. She went down to Kval's level and started whispering something into his ear. Whatever she said, it managed to catch him completely by surprise, judging by how his eyes widened ever so slightly at the end there.
"I-I don't think..." Kval stuttered, but he couldn't find it in himself to finish his sentence.
"I'm a busy woman, and you did say that your brother's a reliable person. All the things you said about him? I trust you. Plus, this will benefit both parties." Summer brought a hand to her mouth and winked. "Give it some thought. Be sure to give me a call once you've made your decision."
"B-But..." Kval stuttered.
"What did you tell him Mom?" Ruby asked innocently.
Summer turned to her daughter while giggling. "Nothing important." She went up to her full height and looked to the other three girls. "Alright girls, it's time to go." Summer turned her head to face Kval one last time, and winked. "I'll be waiting."
"See you later!" Yang waved.
Blake followed the blonde's example and waved as well. "Bye."
Weiss did the same, but said nothing.
Ruby on the other hand kept her eyes locked onto Kval's face for a couple of seconds, only to turn away later on. She grabbed onto Summer's hand and walked off alongside her mother.
"Ah," was Kval's only reply as they all walked away. He scratched his head and allowed his eyes to roam over the numbers which was written down on the piece of paper in his hand. "I guess I'll give it some thought. But reliable as he is...I have my doubts."
It pained him to admit it, but it was the truth.
No matter how hard he tried, Kval was unable to picture his brother doing such a thing.
That is...unless he was extremely desperate to earn money.
"Carnage Scissors!"
"Jakyō Messenga!"
Kval released a sigh. "Deary me..."
-IIXII-
"Stupid Ragna and his blasted Blood-Scythe," Terumi cursed as he entered his small apartment room. Once he was sure that Kval had entered, he slammed the door shut and made himself comfortable on their couch. A heavy sigh left his lips soon after. "Ugh..."
"Tired?" Kval asked, smiling slightly.
Terumi allowed his eyes to slowly shut themselves, and later muttered out a quiet, "You bet." His muscles ached, but that didn't stop him from moving around on the couch in order to make himself more comfortable.
Kval chuckled at the response as he set the paper bag containing the cheap noodles they'd bought down onto their table. "At least you managed to defeat Mister Ragna. In public at that."
"Hehe..." Terumi gave a tired laugh. "I'm sure the bastard saw it coming from miles away..."
Just then, someone started knocking on their door from the outside, gaining Terumi and Kval's undivided attention. The two siblings looked to one another, and shrugged.
"Go get it will you?" Terumi requested. "I'm beat."
"Sure thing." Little Kval made his way to the door in order to see who it was, and was quite startled to see someone who he knew that Terumi would most likely not want to meet at the moment. "M-Miss Fall. What can I do for you?" he asked in a quiet voice.
Cinder Fall, or much better known to Kval as simply the landlady, gazed at the little boy with absolute disgust written across her face. She pulled out her scroll device and said, "Bring me that incompetent man, little one. I need to speak with him."
Kval shook his head. He decided to be reasonable about this. "Now is not the best time, Miss Fall. You see, my brother is-"
"I care not," Cinder said. "Bring him to me."
Kval folded his arms. He may be little and younger, but that wasn't an excuse to back down from this woman. "It's the rent again, isn't it? If it's that, then we need more time. I request that you cut my brother some slack. He's been working himself to death lately, and I fear that adding more pressure would worsen his health."
Cinder did nothing but scoff. "Very well then. You're pretty reasonable...for a child, that is. But I shall give you a week, and only a week. Understand?"
"It's better than nothing." Kval sighed. "And I'll take that as a compliment."
Cinder held her head up high and left, right about the same time when Kval decided to close the door shut.
"Who was it?" Terumi called out from the couch.
"No one important," he lied. Kval made his way to the same couch Terumi was resting on and sat down. He clutched at the piece of paper inside his pocket, as countless of thoughts ran through his mind. Well, now would be the best time than any. Still, he needed to be careful about this. Right now, taking small steps was the only safe solution. One wrong move would-
"I know that look. Spill," Terumi demanded, somewhat tiredly if one may add.
Kval deflated. "You got me..." he muttered.
"I know you better than anyone," Terumi stated matter-of-factly. "Now spill."
Kval sighed. Scratching his head, he turned away and started, "Brother, how close are we from reaching the bottom of the barrel?"
There goes his plan involving small steps.
Terumi briefly went silent, and later responded with, "Pretty close, but you know for a fact that I will keep the two of us from reaching that deep. I always find a way."
"The rent?" Kval questioned with narrowed eyes.
"I'm still trying to find a solution for that one." A small groan left the unemployed man's lips as he went up to a sitting position. He yawned, scratched his belly, and proceeded to wrap an arm around his little brother's shoulders. "What brought this up so suddenly?" he asked tiredly, but curiosity was present in his voice, though it was faint.
Kval found himself clutching the piece of paper somewhat tighter than before. "Well...I recently...found a job for you that has decent pay, but I'm not sure if you'll like it though."
Terumi raised an eyebrow, but then his eyes sharpened. Any signs of being tired were immediately washed away from his face, replaced with something that was much more serious in nature. "Lay it on me," he said.
Kval gulped.
-IIXII-
At last, things are finally happening...
And two new characters have been introduced! Yay to that!
Ragna - 26
Cinder Fall - 21
Be sure to give out suggestions regarding the other characters and their roles for this story! When it comes down to you lovely readers, I'm always willing to listen!
Anyway, thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the second chapter of Troublesome Brats!
This is CPL, over and out.
