It took a while but at last, Azalea made it to the apartment complex she resides in, using the fastest route. Or the fastest she currently knew. Exhausted from the day's events, she forfeited in taking any sort of detours or exploring the area.
Thankfully, she encountered none of the enthusiastic residents in the building.
Nameplate in hand, Azalea set it back to its proper place as she arrives at her apartment's front door. The thing was even shinier than yesterday from the teacher's polishing now known as Korosensei. Mind you, it was new.
Korosenai sensei. The unkillable teacher. Korosensei. Ironic. Yet, fitting.
Azalea's ears sharply picked up sudden frantic movements inside the apartment. Then, it was silence. Body tensing, she casually entered the place. Removing her shoes by the doorway as she got in.
She could hear minute steps from the living room. None of the lights were on and she kept them off.
Going straight to the kitchen, she placed her bag on one of the kitchen chairs before taking a glass from a cabinet. Azalea moves to the sink filling it with water. The sound of running water filled the silence of the apartment.
Behind her, a hand made to grab her. A pair of scissor in another hand.
"Tch," the sound accompanied the sound of Azalea nonchalantly drinking from a newly refilled glass of tap water. Violet orbs observing her companion, sitting at the dining table across her.
The 'tch' came from a man no older than twenty, or so he says to anyone who asks these days. Hair newly dyed black but currently wet from a certain pinked haired girl splashing water to his currently irked face. Right hand supporting his head, towel set on his left shoulder.
Finishing the glass, Azalea set it down in front of her on the table.
"Why are you annoyed?" The girl asks quietly. Eyes shaded nearly identical to her own zeroed in on her. At the correct light or lack of, those eyes would have been an exact match to hers. Currently, the amethyst orbs glared rather viciously at her.
"You didn't have to splash water at my face!" The man retorts. Hands slamming on the table between them.
"You were trying to cut up my hair, baka. What did you expect?" Azalea continued. Violet orbs eyeing the scissors on top of the table.
The man was weird to a fault. The girl clearly remembers that as soon as she splashed water to his face catching off guard, she had kicked his stomach as hard as she could. Clearly, the man needed to straighten his priorities.
"Buuuut, I wanted us to match these characters!" The supposed adult in front of her whined. Dvd case in hand from out of nowhere, its cover showed four people. It was clear that An wanted her to match the pinked hair one with the short messy hair and glasses. The man ranted how 'kawaii she'd appeared with some megane.' His exact words.
Azalea clicked her tongue. What an otaku.
Upon hearing the sound, An stopped mid-rant.
"If you wanted to match, clearly that character is paired with the blonde, not the black haired one." Azalea blankly pointed out in the momentary pause.
"Rough day?" An quietly asks.
Azalea opened her mouth. Remembering Karasuma's words…
"Your target is a state secret. Tell no one."
…she closed it.
"It's nothing." Azalea looked away. Irritated at herself for the slip. In her mind, she's blaming Korosensei for her exhaustion.
"You can tell me anything." It was rare to hear An's voice be sincere. It would be rude to not respond just as truthfully.
"I know."
It was annoying how closed off she was to the world yet so open to this man.
Hopefully, the man currently named Andrei Saverio stays as the only one able to read her easily.
"So, how's school?" An asks changing the subject. His tone was back to teasing yet it had a hint of genuine curiosity.
A miniscule twitch on Azalea's eye answered it.
"Tiring, huh? You didn't have to enter school, you know~" An quipped.
"And explain to people how a teenage girl is not at school?" Azalea countered outright.
"You have always been home schooled, what's the point?" The man shrugged.
"Not attract attention."
"Tch."
"Work?" Azalea asks, knowing she had the last say about her sudden surge to go to a normal school. Sure, normal.
"Well, I found one yesterday." The man looked like Azalea had landed on landmine. His eyes staring anywhere but her.
"You mean last night." Azalea blankly supplied remembering how she went to bed with no sign of her guardian already late in the night.
"Well, yeeeeah."
Clearly trying to not spout anything stupid, An shut his mouth. The man was visibly sweating though.
"Tell me." It better be a convenience store. Azalea states passively. Face even more deadpanned. Seeing this, the man gulps.
"A-a-a ho-host c-club hi-hired m-me." Invisible roses could be seen behind the man when he strikes a smile her way despite stuttering through his response.
Azalea could have thrown the glass she held at the man's stupid face, but it had already broke in her hand.
"Ah."
It was the weekend. Two stoic voices voiced out in unison upon recognizing the familiar face of the other person as a classmate from the isolated classroom up in the mountains.
A day free from academic responsibilities and assassination duties. The previous day of school had Hayami Rinka wanting to practice shooting with an air gun in the hopes of killing their octopus homeroom teacher, now dubbed Korosensei. Recognizing the person in front of her, she realized she wasn't alone in this endeavor.
Chiba Ryunosuke
Nodding at each other, they entered the air gun shooting range/store side by side.
"Tadaima~!" Andrei Saverio called out softly, upon entering the store he left to buy some drinks. He was greeted by the shop owner's voice directed to someone else.
The man's gruff voice directed at two teenagers on a closer inspection, "I can't let you two fire air guns here without an adult's written consent at least."
The two teens were a girl and a boy appeared to be the same age as the person he's been taking care of since his own teenage years. The girl wore her wavy orange hair down and had sharp green eyes. The boy has his black hair covering nearly half of his face. Despite their young visages, they had one hell of an aura. Why does it feel like he only encountered mature kids these days?
The two kids right now appeared troubled at the owner's reply. Disheartened, maybe. Andrei thinks, an expert at reading indifferent people.
"Should we ask Karasuma-san's consent?" The boy whispered to his companion. Andrei's trained ears picked up. Deciding to play hero, he cuts in as the owner was about to kick the two out. He was a gracious soul, after all.
"TADAIMA, BOB~!" Andrei shouted, calling all attention to himself in the store. Mentally, he could hear Lea calling him an idiot.
The shop's owner dubbed Bob and the two teens stared at him. 'Bob' just sighed and called out on him. The two teen glanced between 'Bob' and the unknown man.
"Oi, gaki!I told you stop with calling me Bob!"
"Demo kawaii yo." The unknown man childishly shrugs. Remembering something, the man rummaged through the plastic bag he was carrying to produce a can of juice. "Anyways~! Here! I bought you juice!"
"How many times have do I have to tell you that we don't allow drinks here?" Bob exasperatedly retorts. He accepted the can though, having to go through this same thing for five times already was tiring. "This is the last time, Rei-san."
"Soooo, what got your feathers all ruffled, Bob~?" 'Rei' answered. He observes the now quiet kids from the corner of his eyes. The mentioned kids simply stared back at him curiously, according to their body language at least.
Bob muttered 'you' in his direction as he opened the can of juice. "These two here," pointing to the two middle school kids, more mature than the 'adult' there, "needs an adult's consent to fire air guns."
Andrei hummed in thought before grinning from ear to ear, "All you need is an adult right~?"
"Eto, Rei-san?" A hesitant male voice calls out. The man they only knew as Rei gazed back at them as he led both Chiba and Hayami to the store's firing range.
"Hm?"
Observing the stranger, they would have described him as handsome with the black hair style and amethyst eyes, initially. From the mutterings of the store owner, he was a rude and childish foreigner who needs disciplining. Clearly, poor Reya-chan had to be taken care of an idiot. The store owner's exact words.
"Andrei." The strange man with a child's persona smiled. At the curious stares he received, he continues, "It's my name. But you can call me Rei~!"
"Are you sure about that?" The male teen asks. That being the man's signature as their adult's consent to still be in the store's premises. They followed him now only because as soon as Bob had his signature, Andrei had immediately pushed them to the firing range to escape lectures of being irresponsible. It wasn't a lecture directed to the 'kids'.
"I already have one minor to take care of in here, what's two more~?" The man gazed forward before he announced. "Here we are."
Here being a rented room for firing BB guns. Targets of all shapes and sizes hung on the furthest walls and corners of the room away from the door. Tables and benches tucked opposite of that. One table held a huge amount of equipment varying in different types of air guns and riffles.
The sound of a firing air gun resounding in the room catches the attention of the newly arrived group. Their eyes zeroed in on the lone person firing a BB pistol at a target five meters away from where she stood. The person, who seem to prefer loose clothing, wore a shirt two sizes larger than her estimated stature from another person's perspective.
"LEAAA!" was the loud voice of the adult in the room before the two met the gaze of a blank faced Azalea, who promptly flung the pistol at the loud man's face without missing a beat.
"Reya-san?" Hayami asked the stoic female who was sipping from a banana flavored milk drink Andrei handed her. The man whined about the lack of respect for his precious pistol which he had caught midair and was now caressing it.
"A nickname, Hayami-san." Azalea turned to the man whose whines didn't stop, calling out, "An."
Ehh
"I didn't pick them up. I'm not a pedophile." The man stopped his whining to comment rather bluntly. "I didn't even know you knew them." He defended as he placed his precious pistol among his collection carefully.
The stoic pink haired female utters quietly. "This is Saverio Andrei, my guardian. An, these two are my classmates, Hayami Rinka-san and," Azalea pauses, "Chiba Ryunosuke-san."
'An isn't Anne?!' The two thought, disbelief in their body language. Azalea shook her head no.
"Uwaaah~! My dark anti-social Lea has friends~!" The man declares cheerfully. Sunshine all around him if not for such hidden sarcasm. Azalea looked at him with a straight face. The two classmates swore their respect for Azalea to heighten for being able to handle the man.
"Anyway, introductions aside. Wanna try firing an air riffle?" The man inquired, gesturing at a target with an air riffle in his hands. It was frightening how fast the turn of events were with this one man and his contrast with their stoic classmate.
"You have talent, Ryu~!" The man now dubbed Rei-san by Hayami and Chiba complimented out load as Chiba shot the target with good precision at a six meter distance. It wasn't at the intended target's center but it was close and good enough for his first time with the man's riffle.
'Ryu?' Chiba thought, his head turned to Hayami in question. The female answers back with a shrug as if to say, 'ignore it.'
"Sadly, despite my years of teachings, Lea just doesn't get this." Rei ranted, a hand on his cheek. His other hand gesturing to their surroundings. He turned back to Azalea who was firing at five meters. Her shots were hitting its intended target, huh?
Azalea, as if on cue, takes a step back and BANG! The BB flew thru the air to almost hit Andrei on the forehead if not for his somewhat fast reflexes in avoiding it. Mind you, Azalea was firing seriously at the target in front of her only to hit the man beside her.
The BB had ricocheted at various angles of the room to hit the man. No wonder the man had vehemently insisted they wear protective goggles as soon as Azalea once more took her position to fire.
Azalea shrugged at the three with a blank stare. Pistol in hand.
'How?!'
Andrei explains, "She's a bad shot beyond a five meter range. Of course, we can correct that with a different type of gun but she is comfortable the pistol." The man was clearly insulted at the mentioned girl's lack of interest with his hobby.
"I'm a bit surprised though, she asked to join me today and she usually opts out."
Having no reply to that, Chiba and Hayami stayed quiet, having an idea why.
The three stared at the pink haired female who went back to take a sip from her drink where Andrei's equipment were arranged on display. Andrei, the two found out, was a gun enthusiast, had all kinds of air guns and a massive collection.
Taking a break from the childish personality, Hayami sat on the bench next to a bored looking Azalea who was finishing her drink. The man was correcting Chiba's way of handling the riffle. Before she could open her mouth, Azalea beat her to it.
"If you want to learn, ask An. He'll teach you. He's an idiot but an expert with guns."
Violet eyes met green. Both set of eyes gaze forward to see the man in question handling the riffle, showing their classmate the proper handling. The man fires in a sequence, all hitting dead center at five different targets.
'Show off' thought all three middle schoolers in unison.
Despite the child's antics, their overall experience in the firing range was enjoyable. Chiba and Hayami discovers that they had a knack for the air riffles. They also observed that their new classmate seems more animated around her guardian's presence. As animated can be with an apathetic guise that the man can somehow read.
As the session, Andrei had rented at the firing range, was about to end, the two wanted more time to learn more on both aspects.
Packing up his stuff, Andrei offers them, "If you want, you can meet me here again next weekend. Lea can give you my contact details. Though I can't guarantee that she'd join us again."
The last part directed to the orange haired female.
The two had agreed reluctantly. Hayami more so than Chiba.
Upon hearing her name, Azalea blinks at them from her perch at a bench not far, a book open on her lap. She had ditched them for her book on an anti-hero's journey two hours ago. Initially, she was supposed to leave the store but a glare from the other female in the room told her otherwise.
"Lea, let's go~!"
Azalea notes her page as she stood. The girl tucks her book in her own bag as her two classmates retrieve their belongings from a bench they tucked them in. Having finished packing, Andrei leads them out.
Hayami and Chiba heads a different way from their two companions. Knowing where they were supposedly headed if home was in mind, Hayami glances at Azalea who merely shrugs.
"Dinner out."
"Curry da yo~!Jaa~!"Andrei adds with a wave to their companions. The man was skipping towards the opposite direction from the three teenagers. "Hayaku~!" He shouts to the pink haired teen.
Azalea turns her body to follow after her overly enthusiastic guardian sighing. Remembering her classmates, she calls out. "See you at school."
It was definite.
Celeste Azalea was more animated with her overly childish guardian.
Hayami and Chiba turned to one another with the same thought before the two walked off into the evening towards home.
A/N: I ship Hayami and Chiba, nuff said.
Baka – means idiot
Tadaima – means "I'm back" or "I'm home"
Bob – the first name that came to mind. Plus, if this is written with Japanese letters, it would be written as Bobbu in katakana. I imagined a specific voice for Andrei-san with the phrase, Tadaima Bobbu~!
gaki – means brat
demo kawaii yo - demo means 'but', kawaii is for 'cute'. The overall phrase means"But its cute"
Jaa – informal, meaning 'see you'
Hayaku – means "hurry"