Here's a special.
Enjoy, I guess.
-IIXII-
Just when he was about to take off his red jacket, his scroll suddenly began to vibrate on the table.
Raising an eyebrow, Ragna got up from the couch and, moving around Saya who was currently drawing a picture of herself along with her two older brothers on the floor, walked over to the table. He picked up the scroll and held it up closely to his ear, thus answering the call.
Something he would soon regret doing.
"Raggy Boy!"
It was Terumi.
Wincing after having his hearing assaulted, Ragna brought the device back to his ear with a scowl. "Dude, the hell is your problem!?" Ragna yelled, understandably angry. "I'm not planning on going deaf at this day and age. Now what do you want?"
"Yeah yeah, whatever. I need you to do me a solid and buy some things from my go-to grocery store! This is urgent!" Terumi exclaimed. He sounded stressed out and frantic for some reason. "There's a bargain sale going on today, so you don't have to worry about spending too much!"
"Huh?" Ragna furrowed his brows. "And why am I going? Do it yourself, jackass. You got a pair of legs, don't you? Use 'em!"
"I can't because I'm at work! For hell's sake I'll pay you back, now quit bitching!" Terumi growled. "I just need you to buy me eggs, salmon, strawberries, apples, chocolate bars, and-" The sound of what seemed to be something being slammed hard onto a table suddenly came from the other end, cutting him off briefly. "What? Ice cream? Are you out of your mind!? You can't have ice cream for-" There was another slam. "Okay, y'know what? Fine! Go and have ice cream for dinner. See if I care!"
Since when did he get another job? Ragna stared at his scroll with a dumbfounded expression, before bringing it next to his ear again. "Hello?"
"Add ice cream to the list, Raggy," Terumi answered, the exhaustion leaking from his voice. "And also anything else that you can find that's healthy. Just..." A small pause. "hurry up and get the hell over here. They're driving me nuts. I'll go insane if they keep complaining about dinner."
"Who are you talking about?" Ragna found himself asking as he, after patting Saya on the head and smiling down at her, went to the door. He stopped and took a second to stare at Blood-Scythe, and in the end decided to bring it along just in case.
"Not important," Terumi muttered, giving Ragna no choice but to leave it at that. The tone in his voice left no room for more questions. "Anyway, I want to tell you a thing or two about the grocery store you'll be going to. Oh, and you better be out the door while we're talking or else I'm going to lose my shit."
Sighing, Ragna opened the door and stepped outside. "Done that." He sent Saya one last smile, which she gladly returned, before shutting the door. "Now what were you going to say to me?"
"Just wanna tell you to watch out for the other customers. The store's having a bargain sale, after all," Terumi explained. "They tend to take... extreme measures in order to get what they want. Be careful. Oh, and don't let them damage my goods. Always remember to keep your guard up."
"Hey!" Ragna shouted, surprising the people around him as he walked his way towards his destination. "Just what in the hell am I getting myself into!? You're making it sound like I'll be fighting people! What's the deal here!?"
"The deal?" Terumi chuckled at his cluelessness. The asshole. "Well, let's just say... that there are a lot of possibilities. Good luck."
And just like that, Terumi ended the call.
Ragna glared at his scroll. Not wanting to lose his cool and break the device, he kept it away and took deep breaths.
"Damn that asshole." Ragna kicked a small pebble that was in his path, his pissed off expression showing. The people around him received the message quite clearly and made sure to stay out of his way, lest they would get beaten to a pulp.
Fortunately for him, the grocery store was just across the street.
It took him roughly around 10 or so minutes to reach his destination. Ragna would soon find himself standing a few feet away from the store's entrance. He continued and entered the store with his pissed off expression still showing.
So far, aside from the store being unusually quiet nothing was out of the ordinary.
Speaking of how quiet it was, it felt like he was the only one there.
Weird.
"Didn't he say there was a bargain sale going on? Huh. Guess this store ain't all that popular in this area." Ragna had a sinking suspicion Terumi was just toying with his mind, as he always did. He probably wanted him to feel uneasy and paranoid for laughs, that bastard. "Well, there's no use standing around like an idiot. Better get this over with," he told himself.
Grabbing one of the available shopping baskets, Ragna went to the area where the fruits were located. Upon reaching there, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he got a good look at the prices.
"Holy Hades! These are cheap as hell! It's no wonder Terumi likes it here!" Ragna exclaimed. He allowed his eyes to roam over the price tags of each fruit, his mouth going ajar. "Damn. If I'd known about this place sooner I would've been a regular customer. Man, where do I even start? Heck, I should probably get a thing or two for Saya while I'm here."
"See what you like, Brother?"
Ragna drew Blood-Scythe in an instant and jumped to the side, watching as an ice blade came crashing into the spot where he once stood. With a low growl, he turned to where it came from, and what met his eyes soon made his blood boil.
"Jin!"
There he stood, all comfortable in that NOL uniform he so greatly despised. The only thing missing was his weapon, but Ragna knew that it was with him. Somewhere.
"Mind telling me what you're doing here?" Ragna spat, tightening his grip around Blood-Scythe.
"Deary me, is it not obvious?" Jin said in a teasing manner. A glare was sent his way, and in return he chuckled. "I'm shopping. The store's having a bargain sale, after all." He lifted up the basket he was carrying for Ragna to see, proving his point. "I would love to settle things with you, dear Brother. But I am afraid now is not the best time. I am also unarmed, so you can lower that blade of yours."
"If that's the case, then why bother attacking me in the first place?" Ragna growled.
"I just wanted to test your reflexes, nothing more," Jin answered with a slight smirk. "Now please, cease the hostility."
Ragna narrowed his eyes, hesitant, but after a while he decided to lower Blood-Scythe. He had no intention of keeping his weapon away, however. There was actually no telling what Jin might do to him the moment he lowered his guard.
"What are you after?" Ragna questioned.
"Ah, small talk. I see." Jin smirked at the annoyed look on his brother's face. "Well to answer your question, those strawberries."
Strawberries? Ragna looked to where he had been standing just mere moments ago, and only then did he realise he had been standing in the way of all the strawberries. How come I didn't see them? Wait a minute, did he just say... all of them?
"Now if you will excuse me," Jin started walking over towards his goal. "I am going to-"
"Jin, I'm afraid I can't let that happen," Ragna interrupted. He casually went back to his previous spot, once again standing in the way of the strawberries. "These strawberries are mine, so back off."
Jin froze. His eyes narrowed. Soon afterwards the entire store went cold. The smirk on his face was long gone.
"Are you challenging me?"
Ragna glared at him. "You wanna go at it?"
Jin dropped his shopping basket and called forth his blade, Yukianesa. "I didn't want to do this, Brother. Just remember that you forced my hand."
"Cut the crap, Jin. I can tell that you were itching for a fight from the very beginning. Now's your chance." Ragna, for whatever reason, suddenly found himself grinning. Just then the words of a certain jackass crossed his mind. He gave out an amused chuckle. It all made sense to him now. "So this is one of the 'possibilities', huh." Ragna entered a fighting stance while eyeing Jin, who seemed to be doing the same as ice started to slowly materialise all around him. He was preparing for an attack, no doubt. "In that case, all I have to do is beat this one up!"
Out of nowhere, an explosion went off just a few aisles away from them. A teenager wielding a long red katana with black and bleached blond hair came running out of the smoke, passing by an undeterred Jin all the while carrying a shopping basket filled with multiple items. He had a cocky grin on his face.
Too bad he was blasted aside by a wave of electricity, courtesy of a gray-haired high school student.
The two teenagers were having their own fight from the looks of it.
Choosing to ignore them as he had his own opponent to deal with, Ragna pointed Blood-Scythe at his younger brother and called out, "Come at me, Jin!"
-IIXII-
New characters, not that it matters anymore.
Yu Narukami - 17
Hyde Kido - 17
The hype for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle was real. Too bad it ended up becoming a half-baked game in the end.
