Panda Hero
Chapter 6: One-Sided Familiarity
It seemed like everyone knew what was going on besides her.
She and Len were walking down a wide alley-way when she heard the nervous, yet excited, whispers of crazy-eyed people.
"She. . .Teal hair. . .Panda. . ." were the pieces Rin's ears picked up from the various, quieted voices. Len was too arrogant to notice as he strut slightly ahead of her.
She decided to just wave it off. Some people who lived around here weren't exactly. . .alright. It was just the booze talking.
More and more groups of people were appearing in the outdoor corridor mumbling to one another as they looked over their shoulders seemingly paranoid. At first she was hesitant and a bit shy, but she eventually pushed those feelings off to the side. A young womans eyes went wide when Rin neared her. She shrank away from the blonde girl heading her way.
The woman wasn't afraid of Rin, per se. She was frightened about what she was going to ask her.
"What's going on?" Rin asked the unfamiliar woman. The lady looked to her friend beside her desperately for help. By now, Len had realised Rin wasn't trailing him. He turned and watched what was unfolding.
After a moment of being silent, the woman sighed. "Just. . .Just go to HQ." Without thanking the meek woman, Rin turned on her heels and made her way to the direction of the building.
Len jogged slightly to keep up with the girls fast pace. She didn't answer his questions. With a stubborn mutter to himself, he finally shut up and continued to follow Rin.
Arriving at the main building surrounded by the rest of the clan's district, Rin noticed the large swarming crowd of people. It was hard NOT to.
It was eerily silent. Usually when their was a riot there would be random outbursts of threats and/or foul language. But the air in the center of the slums was covered with a thick coat of anxiousness. That was unordinary.
Rin instantly tensed up. Something was wrong. The last time something like this happened was when half of their clans higher ups were murdered by a rival, which explained how scared that woman looked. But when that even happened, Rin was eleven. It was years ago
The fair girl halted and stared at the crowd, rolling her thoughts on what to do around her head like a contemplative tumbleweed. Kaito should be in HQ, he would know what the giant gathering was about. She hated being caught in tight spots, as was normal for being a claustrophobic. But it would have to be done.
She hated being caught in tight spots, as was normal for being a claustrophobic. Without a second thought, she lunged into the heavy, tightly packed crowd. She didn't even have to push her way through after intruding; she was let through passively. Len unfortunalty, was pushed in different directions and ended up loosing Rin.
Once parting through the sea of stunned people, she was more stumped to see that the usual guards weren't at their posts beside the entrance.
Heatbeat racing to match her rapid breathing, she slowly opened the door as quietly as she could. The crowd behind her watched with concerned interest, not knowing what was going on at all. They all knew Rin might possibly be walking into a dangerous zone, but they were more cowardly than the young woman.
A flash of shiny silver and teal is what greeted Rin as she cautiously peeked around the slightly jarred door.
"Oh, come on. Why not? It's extra cash." a high pitched-yet cloaked with a very thin film of smoke- voice spoke. It was clearly female. Rin leaned in closer, quietly and stealthily squeezed herself through the door's small gap and hid behind a stray chair in the main area of HQ.
A sigh, then followed by a familiar mello voice. "We just can't. We'll ask you one more time to leave." but the mello voice wasn't so laid back. It had a steely, demanding edge to it.
Rin shifted to get a better look.
REI? What was he doing here? And who was that girl?
Her brother was facing in her direction, so she could see him clearly, but he couldn't see her. Same with Kaito, who was beside him. The happy-go-lucky man wasn't very thrilled by this woman either. His eyebrows were knit in frustration, crinkling the scar on his forehead to look like a lightning bolt. Rei, however, looked calm-which betrayed the annoyed tone his voice held so clearly you would think the woman would get the hint.
The mystery woman was turned away from Rin, not allowing her to see her face. She was looking towards the two men. All she could see was a single, long teal ponytail of silky smooth strands tied highly on her head. Rin selfconciously raked her fingers through her own dirtied, stringy hair. Compared to the woman's lush head of hair, Rin looked like pure crap.
She wore the typical clothing for the hot summer season, but a more matured version. A low cut tank top and short shorts perfectly revealed her smooth, lightly tanned skin. Her stance just accentuated her figure further. One leg was stretched out while the other was bent slightly, causing her hip to hitch upwards. One hand was on her hip. A metal bat branished in her gloved left hand was slung over her shoulder, lightly tapping her back impatiently.
"Look," the woman said a little bit more forcefully. "think about it and how it would benefit your 'clan'." Kaito visibly softened and looked to Rei. Rei stood his ground and wasn't about to break like the other man.
Before the girl point her lethal metal bat in Rei's face with hostility, the knee Rin was crouching down on slipped. She shut her eyes and dug her fingers into the the chair in front of her deeper at the creak the wood floor made as she held her breath, PRAYING it wasn't heard.
Silence. Rin bravely opened her eyes, only to see the three adults stare back at her. Rin let out a tiny scream upon looking at the woman's face.
"Hey there?" the woman spoke confusedly.
Around the eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch was a thick, coal black ring that dropped near the outer edge of her eye. The brilliant teal that matched her hair perfectly was even more pronounced by the black ring and bags. The ghastly gaze seemed to pierce right through her and chill her to the core.
Rin fainted.
Forest green eyes was the first thing she saw when she came to. It was a refreshing sight to help get over. . . before.
"What the hell are you doing here." Rei demanded sternly. Rin knew he was worried about her, but did he seriously have to talk so loud?
Bringing a hand to her temple, she blinked rapidly and squinted, feeling the after effects of her faint.
The lumpyness beneath her was a sign that she was laid on the hideous, sulking couch in the HQ by smeone. Hopefull it was her brother her placed her there and not that woman. Then something dawned on her.
"W-who was that girl?" Rin asked feebly. She did not want to see her again. The woman was. . .scary to look at. And where was she, too? Rin prayed to any God's that exsisted that she had left while she was unconcious.
Rei opened his taunt lips to answer his sister. But instead of his voice coming out, it was the dread high pitched,free of annoyance, one speaking. And it was coming from above her.
Alarmed, she shot up in a sitting position and scooted back to the other edge of the couch. Lean arms connected to a slightly busty torso were carelessly slung over the back of the piece of furniture. The girl smirked and raised a thumb pointing at her chest.
"They call me the Panda Hero." she said with a twinge of overly confident snootyness.
Well, that was appropriate. Rin thought, referring to the. . .stuff around her eye. Nevertheless, Rin didn't dare say that aloud for fear of getting beaten with the shiny metal bat the 'Panda Hero' was stroking lovingly. She seemed the type to use it on a teen, too.
Instead, she was stunned in silence, having had a mini heartattack at the strange eye staring down at her earlier, playfully.
Rei rolled his eyes. He obviously didn't like this girl or the title she went by. Why was this woman (who appeared to be a couple years older than Rei) doing here in the first place?
The both of them continued to stare at her. That was when she realised Kaito wasn't in the room. Rei looked at her neutraly, while the 'Panda Hero' seemed to survey her as if she recognized Rin, but didn't know from where. Rin started to wonder why the woman wore the white medical eyepatch.
Then, the petite girl could practically see ringing bells going off in the teal haired lady's observant eye. How could she know her? If she saw a woman with long beautiful teal hair wearing an eyepatch, she'd remember. And it's not like Rin left to go out in the world outside of her clan. As quick as it came, the look dissapeared from the woman's eye and was replaced by a sparkle.
Creepers in the alleys who hit on her no longer scared Rin. Her new fear was the strange woman who somehow knew who she was.
A tad bit shorter than usual, but I thought the ending would be a good cliffhanger! *evil grin* So, if you guys wanna see what happens next, REVIEW! I'll get the next chapter up soon ASAP if you do ;D And did anyone notice how Len was completely forgotten? xD
~Sabby-Sama