Disclaimer: I don't really own the rights, SIU, the author, does own the rights to TOG and its characters.
On a typical day, after a typical lunch with typical friends, it would be typical for someone to get back into the rhythm of a typical afternoon.
But not for someone like Khun Augero Agnes. The dark rings under his eyes and the paler then usual skin would be obvious to anyone he needs rest from his work.
This is more of a compromise for Khun to sit in the town plaza, it's better to endure the dull conversations of the local residents then having to be guilt tripped by his team members who are too worried for someone like him.
'Now I'm all settled, what should I do about Baam and Rak. There should be something me and the two can do together. There needs to be food in for Rak, oh, is there anything Baam might be into?' Khun thought to himself.
"It seems the sunshine has done some good to your skin, you mind me sitting here?" Hwa Ryun asked behind the bench Khun was sitting on.
Khun turned around to address Hwa Ryun. "There better be a good reason for you coming here. I was thinking of something important that doesn't have anything to do with you."
"I was bored" Hwa Ryun shrugged, seating next to Khun on the bench.
'Weren't we in a similar circumstance on the last floor?' the thought occurred to Khun just then. He was right, this might as well be the exact same bench they were sitting on a few days ago.
Hwa Ryun settle herself on the bench, from the feel of it, this bench was more comfortable then the previous bench.
In an atmosphere like this, Khun wasn't exactly in the best mood to interrogate Hwa Ryun. Though, could it be considering interrogation if they were just having a conversation.
"Hey, Hwa Ryun" Khun said. "I-"
"I'm not saying anything about FUG" Hwa Ryun interrupted, ruining Khun's peaceful mood.
Khun's face retch in disgust. "It's not that. I was about to ask you about how you are doing, this is what I do for everybody else on my team."
"Oh, really?" Hwa Ryun asked, not amused.
"Yeah, really" Khun looked at Hwa Ryun.
Hwa Ryun raised an eyebrow. "Ok then, then tell me about how Androssi's doing?"
Khun stumbled for a second, realising he was caught in a trap. "Well, she's doing alright."
"So much for checking up on her" Hwa Ryun possibly raised the other eyebrow that was covered up by her eye patch.
"If you talked to someone like Androssi, then you would understand why it would be hard to get a coherent response from a Zahard princess" Khun said, not letting Hwa Ryun get the final word in.
"Then, how about we meet her and I'll see what you mean by her being so difficult?" Hwa Ryun said.
Khun could deny that possibility, however, if he did, then Hwa Ryun could easily hold this one over him and imply he looks at her with perhaps a different motive in mind.
"Alright, it's your funeral" Khun said. Though it'll likely be his funeral, It's either him regretting his defeat from Hwa Ryun or having a sore body thanks to Androssi's kicks.
For the next ten minutes, Hwa Ryun guided Khun throughout the town to find Androssi. It only took them to the last and searched clothing store that is most likely around on this floor.
"Hmm, she's not in any of the clothing stores" Hwa Ryun said from the front of the store.
"Yeah, so much for your guiding ability" Khun said as he walked up to her from the main aisle, taking the opportunity to dig the insult into Hwa Ryun's side.
"She shouldn't be that far away" Hwa Ryun ignored Khun's insult, as she eyed the layout of the store one last time before turning around to stare out the window. "Lets see, oh there she is" Hwa Ryun spotted Androssi walking on the sidewalk on the other side of the road.
Khun spotted Androssi as well, dreading the possibility of having to asleep tonight with his body all sore.
"Alright, lets see what she's doing" Khun said, but was stopped by Hwa Ryun.
"No, wait, she's acting abnormal for some reason" Hwa Ryun said, pushing Khun down so that Androssi couldn't see either of them.
Androssi was looking at the back of herself, then over to the other side of the road. Noticing that there isn't anyone following her, she went inside a 5 story building.
"That's weird of her to do that" Khun said, puzzled by Androssi's weird behaviour. This isn't what she would typically do, unless she was picking it up as a new habit to sneak up on Baam without him noticing.
"Well, there's only one way to find out" Hwa Ryun said, motioning to Khun to follow her.
Khun and Hwa Ryun crossed the road, entered the same building Androssi entered only a few moments ago.
Inside the building is a barren entry corridor, a lot of dust everywhere on the ground. A slight cough could easily stir up a dust storm in here. At the other side of the corridor was a door.
"Guess that's where she went" Hwa Ryun said, paying no mind to the state of the corridor.
"I swear if Androssi ends up a hostage, and I have to save both you and her, the things I'll do to you" Khun grumbled as he covered his mouth with his hand to prevent himself from coughing.
Khun and Hwa Ryun opened the door at the end of the corridor, it was not what they were expecting.
It was an amateur classroom divided into two sections. The closest half is the standard format you see in normal classrooms, thought it's nothing like the Floor of Tests classrooms. The far off section is filled with mini kitchen stations.
'Is this a cooking class?' Khun thought, taking the visual information in.
A teenage girl with upper back black hair, is standing in front of a whiteboard at the front of the class.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting anyone else besides Androssi, do you know them by the way" the teenage girl asked.
Khun adjusted himself to gauge her reaction.
Androssi's eyebrows creased together, perhaps out of surprise or anger, but they disappeared and were replaced with a pleasant smile.
"Yeah, you could say we're acquaintances" Androssi carried on as if she was expecting the two of them to come in today.
"Sorry if we were intruding, we just wanted to see how she's doing" Khun restricted the urge to shudder, he can feel a chill or could it be sweat starting to show as a response from Androssi's examined stare. 'Darn these Zahard princesses, Androssi can't be that intimidating.'
"What is this class about?" Hwa Ryun asked, cutting to the chase.
"Oh, this is a baking class, it's just me getting some teaching experience in the summer" the girl at the blackboard rambled on. "I didn't expect my first one to have a Zahard princess in it, which is a big honour by the way."
"Yes, they are acquaintances" Androssi calmed down and blowed Khun and Hwa Ryun off.
"Sorry if we were intruding, we just wanted to know how she's doing" Khun said, noting Androssi's weird look at him. This isn't something Androssi would expect Khun to say.
"What is this class about anyway?" Hwa Ryun asked, cutting to the chase.
"Oh, this is a baking class, it's just me getting some teaching experience in the summer" the girl at the blackboard rambled on. "I didn't expect my first one to have a Zahard princess in it, which is a big honour, plus, if you want to know my name is Nari Lee, but please call me Nari, this is supposed to be casual" Nari rampantly explained.
'Well, at least she's trying' Khun thought, she at least deserves a better student then Androssi.
"I suppose if she's alright here then we must get going" Khun tried to turn around, but Hwa Ryun was behind him, and prevented his much needed escape.
"On second thought, why don't we stay here? Who knows, we might get to see how Androssi's actually doing" Hwa Ryun said, squinting her uncovered eye in delight. If she was more transparent, she would have giggled at this point.
'It's only a couple of hours, a couple of hours, no need for force' these justifications were enough for Khun to sit down on the nearest chair in the room, not because he was compelled to by Hwa Ryun, but rather it was out of politeness to the highschool student. It wouldn't be good for her to witness someone of the Khun family stabbing a red hair witch.
Khun switched his view between Androssi and Nari, their positions in the room fully imprinted in his mind. 'Damn it!' Khun thought as he sat in the nearest chair. 'Well, we'll stay just for today" Khun said, moving his chair away from where Hwa Ryun had sat next to him.
How he managed to keep himself from striking back at Hwa Ryun speaks to the influence of learning self control when he was very little, when any little move could have had spelled disaster for his own biological siblings.
"So for today, we're going into depth by examining the theoretical depth to how the art of baking was developed though the history of cultural exchange in the tower" Nari turned on the projector beside her, signalling the start of the PowerPoint presentation on the whiteboard, she switched from the introductory slide to the 2nd slide which has a basic timeline of important events in the tower's basic history.
The insanity of considering how much this girl must have studied to be able to present something like that to the degree of confidence nearly got Khun to listen for the sake of listening.
However, such knowledge wouldn't be necessary for a light bearer like him. It wasn't like he would have the time or place to bake anything for himself or someone else.
'Wouldn't that mean the same for Androssi?' the thought keep barraging Khun's mind, until eventually the lingering question muted whatever Nari was happen to be saying about anything baking related.
As a result, in the interest of keeping himself from going insane, Khun subtly oriented his body to look at Androssi to not cause attention to himself.
Androssi was paying attention to Nari, but every once in a while, she pinched herself to keep herself from losing focus.
'Whatever reason she came here for; it must be for someone else.' Having concluded his restless question, Khun let the ticking of the clock mixed in with Nari's lecture to allow him to set his mind on the blissful tune of autopilot.
The sound of the clock ticking by stirs Khun out of autopilot mind. It appears from the last slide which shows the reference notes and what sites Nari used for her research, it must be over at this point.
"And that concludes the history of baking, sorry you two, my lecture was more in depth then what would be expected for such a topic as baking. This was more suited for a one on one session" Nari waved her hands about as she turned off the projector, the sight of the final slide will only be a distant memory in both Khun's and Hwa Ryun's memories by tomorrow morning.
"It was no problem, we wanted to make sure Androssi's doing's well, like we said earlier" Khun said, keeping in mind that Androssi would likely be rolling her eyes at the sight of him covering up what was obviously a spy mission.
"That's sweet of you" Nari smiled, nodding as well. "Then I must go gather my experience notes together. Oh, and Androssi!" Nari called out to her. "Remember what we learn today, it will come in handy when we actually go in the kitchen tomorrow.
"I'm not going to forget any important information!" Androssi shouted from the corridor, already outside by the time they were able to comprehend what she had said.
"Do you two mind checking up on her outside, I gotta lock this classroom up, otherwise the headmaster will get mad at me for being irresponsible" Nari said, not wanting to inconvenience Khun and Hwa Ryun.
Khun and Hwa Ryun left the building, Nari exited the building shortly after and disappeared after she locked up the entrance.
Androssi was waiting for them, with her hand on her hip and her foot tapping the sidewalk impatiently
"So, do you mind explaining to me why you and Hwa Ryun were stalking me?!" Androssi impatiently asked. This tone is occasionally reserved for Baam when he acts too dense, even for someone who has an unstoppable affection for him.
"I think it would be better if you asked Hwa Ryun" Khun had planned at the moment to force Hwa Ryun into the equation, but a faint trace of newly formed shinsu was all that was left of her.
"Looks like she ran for it" Androssi said, her not so amused stare leers straight at Khun. "So, she put you up to it, you realize you didn't have to do it, yet you did it anyway, just why?!"
"Because it's a matter of getting information out of her, of course it backfired on me" Khun said, regretting the fact he's at the receiving end of Androssi's rage.
Androssi huffed in displeasure. "If that's the case, then don't waste your time bothering her."
"As much as I would like to stop, this is necessary, otherwise I wouldn't be able to figure out when she will have a coordinated plan with FUG in the interest of kidnapping Baam again." Khun was about to respond with more detail, but he was stop short by Androssi grabbing his shoulder with force, knocking him back a step or two.
"That's why I'm here, to prevent such actions. The only way they're getting him is over my dead body, and I don't intent to die soon." Androssi asserted, her confidence daring Khun to try and prove her wrong.
Khun felt himself nearly buckling under the princess's pressure. "We still don't have what it takes to protect Baam."
"Not with that attitude" Androssi almost growled directly into Khun's face, the distance between them got tighter as a result.
But swiftly as it came, her face initiated a tactical retreat from Khun's face. "Look, maybe I don't get it, but we know what Baam was like before FUG took him, and he's almost the same as before." Androssi let the tension flow out of her before continuing. "I care about Baam, so of course I intend to do whatever it takes to keep up with him."
"You do that, however, my part is stopping Hwa Ryun before she could help FUG again." Khun tapped Androssi's hand to let go of him.
Androssi complied and removed it for his sake. "So be it, but don't say I didn't warn you. She's someone you don't want to mess with, unless you're someone like me." She slightly grinned, a better outcome then what Khun had predicted earlier.
The light ball in the sky was itching closer to the horizon, casting a warm orange glow on the town.
"We should get going, after all, you're so concerned about her" Androssi snorted, her joke lifted her up into ecstasy, while being oblivious to Khun's downward spiral of flushed cheeks and implied and implied situations on his part involving the sneaky red hair witch.
"Not you too!" Khun grumbled, walking sluggishly in contrast to Androssi's cheerful skipping down the sidewalk.
Continually writing these chapters make me realise that I'm more of a sculptor then someone who writes. Chipping away at a rough draft, sharpening some aspects while playing down other aspects, and boom, a new chapter!
By the time I finished this chapter, I realised that the premise of this fanfic isn't suited for comedy. So that was my first mistake. The second mistake would be not thinking of the ending when starting it. Don't worry, I have an ending planned out, it's nearly done by the way.
I wasn't expecting to use my first OC this chapter but it came to me when I was figuring out why Androssi would go to a baking class. By the way, the second day of Nari teaching Androssi baking is not happening in this chapter, sorry if you were hyped for it.
Night-time is oddly the period of time where work doesn't feel like work, but actual fun. I'm going to see if I can take advantage of that.
Feel free to tell me if there are any grammar mistakes.
If you are planning to offer feedback, I would love to hear what my portrayal of Androssi is like. There seems to be something with me characterising these fictional characters. Some characters I naturally take to, while other characters take a bit of time writing until they are properly portrayed.
I hope you enjoyed this new chapter of mine and I'll see you in the final chapter!