Welcome to the fifteenth chapter of Troublesome Brats! Surprise surprise, I'm not dead!
Okay okay, I know I've been gone for decades, and I apologise, but I got valid reasons for that. Jobs and exams. Yeah. That's all you need to know. It's a miracle I even managed to cook this one up, so please spare me...
I'll talk to you guys more down below. For now, reviews!
SifTheGreat: Thanks for the kind words, Sif. I appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoy my work so far, but worry not! 'Cuz I've got more! And yeah, little Kazuma will do anything to impress his brother.
SolarxBlack: Wow. Thank you for that. I'm honored to know that you love my story. As for Summer's weapon, I like the dual-bladed idea, but we'll see for now. A dual-bladed scythe without a gun mixed into it works fine, don't you think?
Artyom-Dreizehn: LOL, you know it. Could it be, the Butterfly Effect? Haha!
Gerard Sta Maria Terumi 310: Well it's the least I could do for my buddy boo, haha! You're welcome, by the way. And yes, I'm proud of that adorable special myself.
Neramo: Yes, yes she does. As for Azrael, he'll probably make his appearance later down in the story. I'm still cooking fresh ideas for our beloved Tyrant. Be prepared!
BreezyNymph2375: Of course he doesn't! What do you expect from a guy who has anger issues? Haha! And the sisters? Actually I have! They might appear in the coming specials, if my brain is lucky enough to produce the whole idea. And yes, the guy in the yellow coat was Adachi. Regarding his relationship with Neo, we'll get to that eventually. And as for the adorable special, sadly, I have to agree. Why!?
NexusRider161: I hope not, haha!
EpicLinkSam: It took a while, didn't it? Sorry about that, but hey, I liked how it turned out!
Biddy: Thanks! I'll do my best!
Phew, now that the reviews are done, let's read.
I own nothing.
-IIXII-
It's been two days, and she's probably visited him for more than ten times by now.
A shame that he hasn't woken up yet. Well, unlike his younger sibling of course.
Lord knows how that child managed to maintain his calm attitude after that whole ordeal…
Summer released a sigh as she entered the hospital along with her daughter, who seemed to be as nervous as she was from the looks of things. The two never had a thing when it came to crowded places, so it was understandable.
"Hey Mom?"
Summer looked to her daughter. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Will he be okay?" she asked.
In response, Summer patted the young girl on the head, smiling as she said, "Of course he will. He's your caretaker, isn't he? He'll wake up eventually. And when he does…"
Ruby tilted her head to one side. "When he does?"
Summer grinned. "We'll throw a surprise party or something! How does that sound?"
At that, Ruby beamed. "Sounds awesome! Yeah, let's do that when he wakes up!"
Summer giggled. "That's my girl. Now, come on. Kazuma is probably lonely right now."
"Okay!"
After bringing the two over to the hospital, the people in charge had decided to put Kval and Terumi in the same room together. And the sole reason why that happened was because the doctors were afraid of separating the two. If she had to guess, they were probably worried that he might go berserk upon waking up and seeing that his little brother was nowhere to be seen.
Understandable. Thinking about it now, he actually might.
So after some twists and turns and up the stairs here and there, Summer finally found herself on the exact floor where Terumi's room was situated at. Smiling, she took a handful of quick steps forward and upon reaching a corner she-
"Oh! My apologies. I almost bumped myself into you," an unfamiliar voice apologised. "Deary me, I must have been spacing out there…"
Summer took a step back, taking Ruby along with her. "N-No no, it's fine. Please, there's no need to apologise." She put up a smile for the man in the trench coat, but it soon faltered somewhat due to the fedora which hid away his features. For some reason, his appearance was rather unsettling, along with the strange and quite familiar aura he was emitting. Without even realising, Summer narrowed her eyes, as it was a sign that she had her guard up just in case if something unexpected were to suddenly happen. "W-Well, carry on then," she said.
"Right," the man said. Holding onto his fedora, he then lowered his head and walked right past her, thus excusing himself.
Ruby turned her head around to get a good look at the man's back thanks to her curiosity, eyes squinting, while not knowing that her very own mother was copying her.
-IIXII-
I've been here for less than a minute, and I can already tell that every single guard in this building is watching me, was the thought that went through Ragna's head as he waited outside the door leading to a certain someone's room. He simply kept his arms folded and let out an annoyed sigh. Was visiting someone always this troublesome?
Well, at least he wasn't alone.
With that in mind, Ragna turned his attention to his only companion, the one and only Velvet Scarlatina. Figuring that the silence was starting to get on his nerves, he decided to speak, "Seeing that we're going to be stuck out here for a bit, how about explaining to me a few things to pass the time?"
"Shoot," was Velvet's swift reply.
"When was the first time you met Kazuma?" he asked.
Honestly speaking, Ragna was curious. When he had told her about the news of his neighbour suddenly ending up in a hospital along with his younger sibling the day before, she looked as if she just saw a maniac murdering a kitten in broad daylight. Though that's obviously a typical reaction you'd get from a friend if you'd tell 'em that someone you know was in a hospital, but the moment he mentioned Kval's name…
Ragna wasn't able to describe the bunny's expression with words, but he knew for a fact that something was wrong with her. And what surprised him even more was when she suddenly chose to accompany him on his trip to the hospital for a friendly visit.
How things went from there to here aside, Ragna still couldn't get the question out of his head. How did the two know each other? It wasn't something that really bothered him to the point where he couldn't sleep at night, but still it was enough to interfere with his daily routine.
Curiosity killed the cat, yes, but Ragna being himself, he'd probably beat the crap out of curiosity before it could even try anything.
The bunny seemed to pause for a second as her soft gaze went up to the ceiling, indicating that she was deep in thought.
"Around 4 years ago, I'm guessing," she finally said.
Sweet Susano'o. Was this girl serious?
"Oh? That's…unexpected." Ragna raised an eyebrow as another question entered his head. "How did you two ended up knowing one another?"
Velvet smiled. "Fate, I guess."
Wow. Unexpected, but an answer is still an answer.
"Right…"
Velvet giggled. "Sounds silly, doesn't it?"
"W-Well…yeah, it kinda does," he replied.
"Believe it or not, this hospital was-"
"Huh? Mister Ragna, is that you?" a familiar voice called out.
"Hm?"
With a quick look, it only took roughly a second for his brain to remember the person calling out to him.
"Terumi's boss. Good to see you here…" He then proceeded to scratch his head in an awkward manner. "…I guess."
Yep. Blame his stupid childhood for not actually knowing how to properly deal with people. Women especially.
Though judging by that look on the woman's face, it was safe for Ragna to assume that she didn't mind his way of saying things.
"You too!" the woman replied back with a cheerful grin. "Just got here?"
"Yup." Ragna nodded.
That's when his companion decided to speak up.
"Pardon me for asking, but who is she?"
Ragna casually shot a glance in Velvet's direction and soon explained, "My neighbour's boss, basically. Don't ask for more. I only met her once."
To be precise, he didn't even know her damn name…
"R-Right…" Velvet trailed off.
"Well, seeing that we're still not allowed to see how my asshole of a neighbour is doing due to bullshit reasons from the doctors, I think it's time we properly introduce ourselves," Ragna decided. He really wanted to get this out of the way quickly. The sooner the better. "As you may know already, the name's Ragna. Ragna the Bloodedge. Though I'd prefer it if you'd call me Ragna instead of anything that would attract unwanted attention. Appreciate it." He held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss…?"
The woman offered him a genuine smile and accepted his hand, giving it a firm shake soon after that. "Summer. Summer Rose. Likewise, Ragna."
Ragna nodded once and pulled his hand back to his side, before gesturing over to his companion. "If you're wondering, this is Velvet, a friend of mine. We're co-workers."
Velvet smiled. "Nice to meet you, Miss Rose."
Summer giggled. "Likewise, Velvet. Say," She then turned to him. "why are we not allowed to enter?"
Ragna simply shrugged. "Beats me-"
"Hey! I'm here too!"
"Oh!" The woman brought a hand to her cheek and giggled. "I totally forgot! This is my daughter, Ruby."
"Hi!" the little bundle of pure energy exclaimed with a slight jump, catching Ragna off-guard. Damn, the kid was so small that only now he registered her presence. Glancing at Velvet, the same could be said for her as well.
"Well hello there, Ruby. Nice to meet you," Velvet greeted with a soft smile.
"You too, Miss Bunny!" Ruby grinned, and it only grew wider when Velvet started giggling due to the silly name she gave her.
As the two started chatting and getting to know one another, Ragna noticed that Summer was looking at him as if she wanted to ask something. Knowing what it was, Ragna scratched his cheek and started talking.
"Apparently the doctors are discussing about something inside, something important, and we're not allowed to enter. That's all I know."
Summer blinked, surprised. He could tell that she didn't expect him to satisfy her curiosity, and to be perfectly honest he could totally understand why. "O-Oh. I see…"
-IIXII-
"What a huge mess ya got into this time…"
Wrapping his tails around the branch which he was sitting on, Jubei proceeded to rest his chin on his paw as he blankly stared at the dumb-looking doctors inside the very same room of a certain someone he knew all too well, discussing about things that he honestly didn't care about. Medical bills and all that, most probably.
Though he wondered how the poor son of a bitch was going to get out of this one, what with his financial struggle and all.
"Honestly, because of yer little stunt, the kids got worried…"
He sighed.
Knowing well that his friend was going to have visitors for the whole day, Jubei decided to wait and take his turn to visit during the night. And that could only mean one thing.
To take his turn, he had to wait for hours.
Great.
"The things I do fer them kids…"
Jubei chuckled. Can't say that he minded. He's been through worse than this.
"Well, this ain't the first time."
-IIXII-
Another character! Woot!
Jubei - Unknown
Haha...here I am...
Yeah, well, I do sincerely apologise for my absence. And I do have to apologise again for the very short chapter. This ended up being a filler of sorts more than anything. I noticed the sudden drop in quality, and I blame myself for that one. Looks like I'll be needing to clean away all my rustiness again.
Anyway, please leave a review. It helps with my creativity. I know I don't deserve them reviews, but sometimes being a bit greedy isn't a bad thing.
Well, that's all from me.
CPL, signing out.
