Welcome to the fifth chapter of Troublesome Brats!

I apologise for the long wait. Like always, life is pretty hectic around here.

Anyway, reviews!

EpicLinkSam: Indeed I did, and I'll buy the rest of those ideas if you don't mind. And let's face it, Raven meeting Terumi was bound to happen at some point. That being said, can you guess why Jin needed those strawberries in the previous special?

Frank Horrigan: So some of 'em are considered dangerous? Well, I'll be sure to add in a reference to that in the coming chapters. And take it easy on the cheap fruits now!

Reviews aside, let us begin!

I do not own RWBY nor BlazBlue.

-IIXII-

"This is it."

Terumi watched with bated breath as the house towered over him like an intimidating giant. Despite having second thoughts about all this, he somehow managed to hold his ground instead of running off to who knows where in order to purposely get himself fired on his very first day of work as a damn caretaker.

Though, it probably had something to do with Kval eyeing him from behind with his arms crossed. With the serious look plastered across his face, it was clear that he literally had no intention of letting his older brother escape. The strict brat.

"So uh..." Terumi turned to his younger brother, doing a poor job at hiding the fact that he was nervous, which was a rare occurrence. If Kval wasn't so serious at the moment, he'd be laughing. "...what now?"

Kval cocked an eyebrow. "Are you really going to ask me that? Just go to the door and announce your presence. It is as simple as that."

Terumi moved his gaze over to the front door of the house as if it was something out of a horror movie, not that he was afraid of horror movies or anything. The thing just looked ugly. Yeah, that's it. "Right..." he muttered.

"Go on," Kval encouraged, smiling. "The door's not going to hurt you, Brother."

"I am well aware of that..." Terumi growled, sparing Kval a brief glare as he did so. He stared at the door for a couple of seconds and, figuring that standing around like an idiot would get him nowhere, decided to make his way over. Each step he took was more faster than the last, and he also wasn't aware of the fact that his teeth were clenched, which was probably because he was still unsure of what he was doing. "Screw it." Terumi quickly reached for the door and-

"I'm so late!"

"Gah!" Terumi found himself staggering back when the door slammed into his face. He hissed, not quite noticing the surprised gasp which came a second later. So much for trusting Kazuma's words, he muttered internally with his hands covering his face. He cracked open an eye, and nearly jumped when Summer's face, which was dangerously close to his own and filled with concern, entered his line of sight. "Give me back my personal space, woman!" he shouted, his voice muffled up thanks to his hands.

"Eep!" Summer jumped and stepped back, wide-eyed. About a second later she put up a sheepish smile, and said, "I-It's good to see that you're not badly hurt. I'm sorry for hitting you with the door, Mister Yuu-"

"Terumi," Terumi interrupted, his eyes half-lidded. "Just Terumi is fine."

"R-Right." Summer nodded. "Anyway, I'm sorry for hitting you with the door. I didn't really mean to do that." She looked to the entrance of her house. "My daughter's in the living room, and her friends aren't here yet, so be sure to greet her once you're inside. I'm currently late for work as you can tell, so I have to rush."

"Got it." Terumi nodded. He uncovered his face and made an attempt to move right past the young woman so that he could enter her house, only to stop himself when a thought occurred to him. "Oh yeah, when are you coming back?"

"Around 12 AM."

Terumi's eyes widened. "Say what!?" He turned to Summer, and was miffed to see a handful of white rose petals drifting through the air around the spot where she had been standing. She was already gone, from the looks of it. "Shit..." Terumi massaged his forehead, cursing himself over and over internally. "Why the hell did I not ask that woman yesterday...?"

Damn. He was suffering from a headache already. Maybe he should've just stayed in his apartment and-

"I'll be heading to the grocery store to buy us some snacks," Kval announced from his spot, grinning. "I'll meet you back here in about half an hour, so be sure to not damage the house while I'm gone."

"Shut up, brat. And don't talk to strangers!" Terumi waved at his little brother, who in return waved back, and proceeded to enter the house before closing the front door behind him. He sighed. Remembering what Summer had told him, he made his way over to the living room, and the first thing he landed his eyes upon was Ruby drawing something in her drawing book with a red crayon. It appeared that she wasn't aware of his presence, judging by how concentrated she looked with whatever she was drawing. "Yo," he greeted.

Ruby looked over at Terumi, and immediately grinned widely the moment she saw him. She waved at him in a cheery manner, the red crayon still in her grip. "Hi!" she greeted back.

Terumi stared at her. And stared. And stared. And stared.

Ruby tilted her head to one side, puzzled no doubt. "What's wrong, Suspicious Person?" she asked.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just..." Terumi allowed his eyes to wander around the living room for a bit, only for him to settle them back onto the little girl who was sitting on the floor directly in front of him later on. "...I honestly don't know what I should be doing. And the name's Terumi. Get it right."

Ruby tilted her head further, eyeing the now-employed man with her innocent eyes. "Well...what should you be doing?"

Terumi, not knowing how to respond, simply shrugged at the question.

"Huh." Ruby frowned slightly, but then a smile found its way up to her face. "Why not start by watching some shows on TV? Mom always does it when she's done cleaning the house!" she suggested.

Can I? Terumi found himself asking internally, eyebrow raising.

He was clearly clueless as to what he was supposed to be doing as a caretaker, but despite that he made his way over to the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV as if it was his own. A cooking show appeared on screen and-

"What the hell am I doing!?" Terumi shouted out to the heavens above much to Ruby's surprise, clutching at the sides of his head as he did so. He went to his feet, turned off the TV, dropped the remote on the couch, and started pacing around in the living room while sweating profusely. "I mean, how the hell did I even end up in this situation!? Gah! I should be out there looking for another job that doesn't have anything to do with watching over a group of kids! Something like...sitting inside a grocery store, or...something! Not this! That being said, why am I even doing this!?" he ranted and ranted, making him look like a retarded asshole who expected the Goddess of Death herself to come get him in order to end everything. "I should just quit this crappy job and find a new one! Something that...something that suits my taste better!"

And so right after he was done exploding, silence started to fill up the living room.

Terumi was willing to bet his left nut that Ruby was now afraid of him thanks to his sudden outburst, and yet he wouldn't be surprised if he'd see her running up the stairs with tears in her eyes in the next few seconds. He rarely gave a crap when it came to others, and Ruby was no exception.

But then...

"Why don't you?" Ruby asked in a curious and innocent voice, blinking a couple of times soon after.

Terumi froze.

Now that was a very good question. Why couldn't he?

"That's..." Terumi trailed off, unsure how to respond to the girl's innocent question.

Nothing was holding him back from quitting, so why couldn't he? In fact, he could give Summer a call right now and end things! And not to mention that doing so would finally put his mind at ease.

But still...something didn't feel right. It's like he was forgetting something. And maybe that something was-

Oh yeah. He had a terrible habit of picking fights with his employers, which would always end up with him not getting whatever jobs he'd been able to get his hands on. Kinda explained everything there. And even if he did able to get a job, then expect him to get fired in less than a week.

Well...at least Summer was nice.

Terumi sighed and sat back down on the couch. He picked up the discarded remote, observed it for a little while, and later turned on the TV. He stared at the screen with half-lidded eyes, unfocused, and found himself muttering, "That's a pretty good question there, kid. I'll be sure to answer it once I've got my answer..."

Ruby looked up at him with clueless eyes, before grinning widely in a cheerful manner. It was apparent that she was unaware that Terumi was now troubled, all thanks to her innocent question alone. "Okay then!" she exclaimed.

Terumi said nothing in return as he stared at the TV, not quite enjoying what was currently on.

From the looks of it...I guess I really am stuck with this job.

-IIXII-

The sound of thunder tore through the silence of the whole area, scaring the hell out of little kids who were walking around in said area, along with a few adults here and there.

All except for one.

"It's going to rain soon, it seems," Kval noted as he stepped out of the grocery store, gazing up at the darkening clouds above. He then moved his gaze down onto the paper bag he was carrying, only for him to frown moments later. "Without an umbrella, I don't think I can last long in the rain."

"Is something the matter, little guy?"

"Eh?" Kval turned to where the voice originated from. "Pardon?"

A man with unkempt black hair in a black suit with a white long-sleeved shirt towered over him, who appeared to be smiling for no actual reason. The man, whose name was currently unknown, took a brief moment to examine Kval up and down with his gray eyes, and later started adjusting his red tie as a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"You look a bit troubled there, so I couldn't help asking," the man said.

"Oh." Kval scratched his cheek at that, smiling somewhat. "Well thanks. It's pretty uncommon for people to do that nowadays."

The man nodded in agreement. "I get what you mean. People these days are...pretty much rude to one another." He held out a hand towards Kval, his smile now replaced with a small grin. "I'm Adachi. Nice to meet you, kid."

"Mister Adachi. I see." Kval shook hands with the man and chuckled, being polite as ever. "I'm guessing you know who I am, so I'm going to ask this now." His grip around the man's hand tightened ever so slightly, as the look on his face revealed nothing but hostility. "What do you want? There're a lot of other things you're better off doing, Mister Detective, rather than speaking to little children in broad daylight. I know a scheming rat when I see one." Underneath his bangs, his serpentine eyes sharpened. "Whatever information you want, I don't have it."

Adachi's grin quickly fell, and it was soon replaced once more with the smile from earlier. "Calm down there, kid. I was just actually going to offer you my umbrella and talk a bit," he explained, and later held out his black umbrella with his free hand to prove his point. "You got time?"

Kval narrowed his eyes as he pulled his hand away, then nodded. "Not much, but I'll spare a few minutes. It's better to be polite about this rather than not."

Adachi, wincing as he gazed at his pained hand, closed his eyes and released a nervous chuckle. "Thanks..."

Moments later, the two found themselves sitting inside a small café located somewhere near the grocery store, right next to a window. The air was tense, and Adachi couldn't help but sweat profusely when Kval started to stare at him intently from across the table.

"S-So uh..." Adachi scratched the back of his head and laughed. "...order anything you like. I got enough money to last me a week so...go ahead. Haha..."

Despite the offer, Kval continued to stare at him, much to the detective's dismay.

"N-No? Okay then..." Adachi smiled nervously.

"Get to the point, Mister Detective," Kval said, or better yet, demanded. "I said I would only spare you a few minutes, not a full decade, so I suggest you get along with it, lest I leave right now. I have a busy life, just so you know."

Adachi sighed. "Alright, I'll get to the point. It's about your brother."

"So you do know me," Kval noted.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here," Adachi said, frowning. "Anyway, since you're the only one I know who's close to Mister Yuuki Terumi, I figured that I'd ask you a few questions regarding...certain matters."

Kval raised an eyebrow. "And what matters do you speak of?"

"Murder cases," Adachi replied, and later found himself screaming when a butterfly knife stuck itself onto their table, much to the surprise of every single customer inside the café.

"Well," Grabbing his paper bag, Kval rose up from his chair, dusted off his clothes, and later spared the detective a brief glance. "it seems to me that you got the wrong person for this." He turned around and walked off. "Keep your umbrella, and feel free to have that knife as a souvenir. Have a good day, Mister Detective."

Adachi stared as Kval made his way out of the café, sweating bullets. He gulped. "That's Terumi's brother for you..." He jumped a bit when his mobile device vibrated inside his pocket, which ended with him blushing in embarrassment. "Stupid. Getting scared by your own gadgets is not a good thing for a detective..." Pulling out the device, Adachi answered the call and held it up to his ear. "Hello? Oh, Captain! I was just on my way back, actually. Y'see..."

-IIXII-

"Just because he was a troublemaker in the past doesn't mean he killed anyone," Kval grumbled, annoyed. "That's the fourth detective this month. Are they too afraid to personally meet with my brother to the point where they have to go to me for information? And why do they assume that my brother has anything to do with these recent murder cases anyway?" He shook his head. "I can never fully understand these people. They can be really annoying when they want to be, it seems."

"Hey you there!" a cheerful and yet familiar voice called out. "Wait up!"

Before Kval even had a chance to turn his head around to see who it was, he was nearly knocked to the ground when someone tackled him from behind. He yelped, and this time he made sure to turn his head around fast enough before anything else could happen, just in time to see a pair of lilac eyes staring into his own serpentine ones.

"Hello!"

"Uwaah!" Kval quickly stepped back from his attacker, only to lower his guard upon noticing that it was just Yang.

Along with her mother, Raven Branwen.

Kval quickly went rigid, and later held onto his cape when the memory of him being carried around by the woman resurfaced inside his head. "M-Miss Branwen. H-Hi," he greeted in a nervous manner, sweating slightly.

Raven eyed the child through her sunglasses, nodding in return soon after. "Where are you heading?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Yang added, grinning widely.

"To...my brother's workplace?" Kval answered, and yet it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Raven folded her arms. "I see. He's working as a caretaker today. Tch...that condescending asshole..." she grumbled.

Kval chuckled nervously. I take it that she doesn't like my brother very much...

Raven sighed. "Yeah, whatever. I'm just going to grab some grub before I head home to prepare myself for work." She turned to her daughter. "Yang, be a good girl and follow this little guy. He's heading to Summer's house, same as you, so I don't see any reason why you shouldn't follow him."

Kval blinked. "Eh?"

"Okay!" Yang exclaimed. "If he asks, I'll be sure to tell Dad that you're out eating!"

"Alright then." Raven nodded. "Later."

Kval silently watched as Raven walked off to who knows where without a care in the world, before turning to a certain blonde who kept poking at his arm nonstop. He frowned. "I take it that...you'll be following me?"

"That's what Mom told me," Yang replied.

"Deary me..." Kval sighed. "Oh well, it's not like you're going to hurt anyone. Come on then." He allowed a smile to settle itself onto his face as he started walking. "I know it's rude to ask this, but what was your full name again?"

"It's okay!" Yang went to his side and followed him. "And it's Yang Xiao Long. I know it's a mouthful, so I'm sorry if you're having trouble with-"

"Yang Xiao Long, is it?" Kval repeated the name with ease, much to Yang's surprise. He cupped his chin and hummed, thinking deeply. "Well it is a bit difficult, but I'll get used to it somehow. We'll be seeing each other far more often starting today, anyway, so I'm sure I'll get used to it."

Yang grinned. "Good luck with that. Just don't start practicing by muttering my name over and over before hitting the hay every night, okay? I'll avoid you if you do."

"N-Now why in the world would I do that?" Kval asked, his eyes wandering elsewhere. "In fact, I can't even picture myself doing that..."

Yang giggled. "I wasn't serious, Kazuma. It's supposed to be a joke."

"A-Ah. A joke." Kval nodded. "So that's what it was..."

Yang looked to Kval and found herself frowning. "You're not the joking type, are you?"

"Well," Kval shrugged. "I tend to take things quite literally, and I pretty much have little experience when talking to people around my age, especially girls. Maybe it's because I'm a shut-in who's been dealing with adults day after day for the past few years, but I don't know."

"So you don't go out much." Yang furrowed her eyebrows. "But what about school? There're a lot of girls in school, and surely you've spoken to some, a few at least."

Kval chuckled. "I won't talk in school if I don't have to. And the teachers? Don't get me started. They act as if I'm not even there because I blend in too well with the background. I guess you could basically call me a loner."

"Sounds lonely," Yang commented with a frown.

Kval genuinely laughed, not bothered by the topic they were discussing. "Well that's a loner for you," he said.

Yang's frown deepened. She was about to ask him how it felt like to be in school with no one to talk to, but the weather had other ideas. Before she and Kval knew it, rain started pouring down heavily onto the area mercilessly. Reacting quickly, Yang grabbed Kval by the wrist and pulled him along as she ran in the direction of their destination. "Let's go! There's no way I'm going to catch a cold for today. I won't lose to the rain that easily!" she declared, grinning all the while.

"W-Wait! Yang!" Kval yelped when he nearly tripped himself. "S-Slow down!"

"Slowing down in life will get you nowhere!" Yang declared with the most largest grin she could muster, looking at Kval over her shoulder.

All Kval could do was stare at her, before shaking his head. He made no effort to hide the tiny smile on his face, however. "I see..."

Seconds later, surprisingly, the two kids found themselves standing near the front door of Summer's house. The two were way out of breath, if the way how they kept gulping down huge amounts of air was any indication.

"If I don't catch a cold..." Kval started, one hand on his knee as the other carried his slightly damaged paper bag. "...then I expect myself to pass out once I enter this house."

"Y-You...wimp..." Yang forced out a laugh, her grin not as large as it was before due to all the running from earlier. "But...with how I am right now, I guess I'm the same as you," she admitted.

"You're joking, right?" Kval chuckled. "I know for a fact that I can't run as fast as you. If you weren't dragging me back there, then I'd probably still be out there at the mercy of the rain." He opened the door of the house and gestured for his companion to enter, in which she did. He followed in seconds later. "First order of business, we should dry ourselves with something. A towel, maybe?"

"I'll grab 'em. You just head to the living room and say hello to Ruby for me," Yang said, smiling. "I'll only take a minute, so don't get too cold without me."

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Kval smiled in return, amused. "I honestly couldn't tell."

Yang said nothing but winked at him as she made her way to the stairs, climbing up soon after with the intention of grabbing herself a pair of towels.

Kval, remembering what Yang had told him, walked over to the living room with the intention of resting himself somewhere, only to gasp in surprise at the sight of Ruby sleeping soundly on his brother's lap, who appeared to be also sleeping. She was drooling from the looks of it.

"Was I gone that long?" Kval asked to no one in particular, noting the fact that the TV was on. Knowing his brother, he was probably bored out of his mind and decided to nap in order to pass the time, with Ruby joining him right after. "Huh. Well, that's one way to not damage the house," Kval commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Yang sounded as she entered the living room, carrying a pair of towels, just in time to see Ruby turning herself in her sleep on Terumi's lap. She blinked. "Well now...I wasn't expecting to see this when I came down."

Kval chuckled. "You tell me."

"Mm...boiled eggs...best girl..." Terumi mumbled, still asleep.

Yang and Kval took a brief moment to stare at Terumi, and soon after the two started laughing. They made sure to keep their voices down, thankfully.

-IIXII-

What is this? A new character? From another series at that? Unbelievable!

Adachi Tohru - 28

This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I decided against it. Don't worry though, because Terumi's first day of work as a caretaker will continue where it's left off in the next chapter.

Anyway, be sure to leave a review and point out any grammar mistakes if you see any. Thanks!

This is CPL, signing out.