Hey you all! Just wanted you to know that I'm not dead yet, and that I'm having some problems over here. I can't write the actual chapter right away, so be prepared to be assaulted by specials instead!
I own nothing.
-IIXII-
"What's with the face?"
Weiss flinched. She turned her head around, only to be met with the sight of her annoying and yet reliable caretaker.
"W-What are you going on about? Do me a favor and stop staring at me, creep," she said to him in her usual annoyed voice.
The man ignored her words and sat himself down beside her on the porch, taking off his hood as he did so in order to make himself look somewhat less intimidating. She knew that he knew just how much she feared his appearance, especially when he had his hood on. When directed at her, those pair of eyes terrified her, and she was sure that Blake would agree with her if she were to question about it.
So putting it simply, Weiss appreciated what he was doing. Not that she was planning on letting him know the fact that she appreciated it, of course. Anything but that.
"I've seen that look countless of times. Cough up," said Terumi.
Weiss quickly turned to stare at him with shock evident in her expression. "So what you're saying is that you've been watching me!? Like, stalking me!?"
"Freaking hell, no! You got it wrong! Damn it, why are kids like you the ones who misunderstand things the quickest?" Terumi turned to face the sky and released a sigh, which sounded a whole lot heavier than it appeared to be. "Y'know, I've seen that expression countless of times, and not from you, but from Kazuma. I know what he's thinking when he has that face on display, so seeing that very same look on your face, the same applies to you too."
Weiss blinked. "Huh?"
"Something's bothering you, am I right?" Terumi pulled out a butterfly knife from one of his pockets and, to Weiss' relief, started twirling it around with his fingers. "There is no reason to hide it."
Weiss frowned. "Why do you care?"
"Why, you ask?" Terumi glanced at her for a split second, before replying, "Because I'm your caretaker, I guess. In a way it's kinda my job."
"And if I refuse to say anything, what will happen then?" Weiss questioned, more out of curiosity rather than anything else of course.
"Then I'll keep asking," the green-haired serpent nonchalantly replied, glancing at her briefly once more. "So, what will it be?"
Weiss looked to her feet in silence and gathered her thoughts. As much as she would prefer to keep this to herself, doing so would be utterly meaningless in the end. Weiss needed to get this whole thing out of her system at some point anyway, so getting it out now was probably a better thing to do rather than taking no action at all.
So with that said…
"It's…a family matter."
"Ah. I knew it." Terumi tossed his knife into the air and held out his hand in order to get it back, in which he successfully did, though he almost harmed himself in the process. But if the look on his face was any indication, he probably wouldn't have flinched nor cared even if the knife did cause injury to his hand. "So what am I dealing with here? Abusive asshole of a dad? Uncaring mom? A bothersome younger sibling, perhaps? I've seen you interact with your older sister once, and I can tell that your relationship with her isn't as horrible as the others, so suspecting her is out of the question."
Weiss blinked and stared at her caretaker with the eyes the same size as dinner plates, and if it was possible then her lower jaw probably would have touched the ground by now. Without even having to meet her family, this man just practically figured everything out just by simply reading her face! Unbelievable!
"H-How did you…?"
"Got everything right on my first try, eh? Unsurprising." Terumi kept his knife away and set his chin on the palm of his hand, looking all bored but not. "I have my ways, though right now that's unimportant. So, financial issues kind of deal as well?"
Weiss shook her head, frowning. "Nothing of the sort."
"I see. Just your typical family problem, huh. Right." Terumi gazed up at the darkening sky with his serpentine eyes, his mouth forming a thin line. "I'm assuming that this has something to do with your dad. So…daddy issues?"
Weiss refused to answer. She knew that he knew.
"Don't wanna end up like this daddy of yours, eh? Heh. I can relate…"
Weiss cocked an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"
"Well, unlike you, a girl who doesn't want to end up being just like her father when she grows up, I for one have someone who I don't want to end up being just like myself when he grows up."
Weiss tilted her head to one side, slightly puzzled. "You're talking about…Kazuma?"
"The one and only. I swear, that kid. When he was younger, he used to do all kinds of reckless shenanigans in order to impress me. All because he wanted to be a person like me when he grows up, which is one of the things that I actually don't want him to be." Terumi chuckled. "Hell, there was this one time, where if I recall correctly, it had something to do with these bags of apples…"
"Oh my." Weiss smiled a bit, interested. "Do tell."
-IIXII-
Around 5 years ago…
"Brother! Brother, look!"
"Hm?"
A slightly younger-looking Terumi turned himself away from his work, which apparently was an alley filled to the brim with injured thugs and the like scattered everywhere, and focused his eyes onto his 9 year old sibling. He took note of the bags of apples he was carrying, and was soon unable to resist the temptation of asking a question which suddenly came swinging into his head.
"Kazuma."
The green-haired child smiled innocently at him. "Yes?"
Terumi narrowed his eyes. "Where did you run off to, and where did you get all that?"
Kval grinned, appearing as if he had done something that would earn him a gold medal. "I stole them!" he answered.
"What!?"
"I know!" Kval jumped with joy, not quite noticing the look of shock and anger which was showing off in the eyes of his older brother. "The store owner had no clue what was coming! One moment he was checking the register, and the next he was sprawled across the floor with-"
"Okay, that's enough! Bring me to that store now!" Terumi yelled.
Kval's grin grew extra wide, due to excitement more than anything. "We're going to steal more? As expected of you, Brother! Let's go!"
"No, you idiot! We're going there to return these and apologise!" Terumi explained in a stern tone. "What you did was wrong!"
The young child stared up at him, genuinely puzzled. "So…you beating all these people to a pulp is considered-" A hand came in and grabbed onto his head before he could say anything else, which apparently belonged to his brother. "O-Ow! B-Brother, you're squeezing my head too hard…"
"Don't give me that, you little brat! Now come on!"
-IIXII-
"Really?" Weiss couldn't help but giggle at the mental image of Kval receiving some measure of scolding from Terumi of all people. Who knew that the calm and quiet boy whom she knew was such a delinquent back in the day. "And then what happened?"
Terumi sighed, though he made no effort to hide the little smile on his face. "Well, funnily enough, when we went to the store to apologise, the store owner recognised my face the moment I walked in, and he immediately told me to keep the apples out of fear. I insisted that I'd pay for all of them, but I was too afraid to get close to the guy."
"And why is that?" Weiss questioned, genuinely curious. "He held a gun or something?"
"Nah." Terumi waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "More like he was on the verge of suffering from a heart attack."
At that, the young Schnee burst out laughing.
And just like that, she felt all better.
-IIXII-
Yep, younger Kval is such a devil. An innocent one at that.
Anyway, I seriously wanted to add in a little more, but I'm afraid that doing so would turn this into a huge pile of mess. This will have to make do. And with Ruby and Weiss out of the way, expect to see Terumi's moment with Blake and then Yang at some point. If any of you have ideas for these specials, be sure to suggest! I'm all ears!
CPL, signing out.
