"Kagami!?" Elise called out, stumbling into the abandoned building they were hiding in, in hopes that their leader had returned there after running off. "Kagami!?" She shouted, panting softly as she quickly looked around. "Kagami are you-!"
"Quiet!" Baren's voice snapped before echoing softly.
Flinching at the harshness in the old warrior's voice, she slowly looked over while making her way to part of the room that had an old torn couch. Seeing the one arm woman sitting with a glare, her head slowly tilted before she noticed her friend resting her head on her lap. "Kagami!" She perked up, stepping closer before pulling back.
"I said quiet." The pinkette hissed, keeping her left hand on Kagami's shoulder. Glancing over as both Cheyenne and Kris ran into the room, she sighed. "We have a problem."
"A problem?" Kris softly scoffed. "Well no duh we have a problem! Kagami just ran away from someone!"
"Not to mention she looked terrified." The Faunus pointed out.
"Enough!" Baren snapped again, taking a deep breath as she gripped the jadette's shoulder tight. "Now... listen..." She trailed off a little. "There's..."
Sighing softly, Kagami slowly pushed herself up. Her shoulders hung low as her head sunk between her shoulders. "Look... I'm... I'm sorry I ran off and made you worry... I just... got overwhelmed..." She glanced away, averting her eyes from her team.
"Hey, we don't care about that." Kris pointed out while stepping a little closer. "We don't care that you ran off and made us worry."
"Well maybe a little." Elise leaned in with a smile before grunting softly as she was pushed away by a hand on her face.
"We care about why you ran off in the first place." Cheyenne gestured softly. "What happened? Who was that man? What-" She was cut off.
"He's the man that attacked me on Vytal." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she rested her hands on her knees. Her head lowered as her hair fell around her face.
Reaching over, Baren gently rubbed the young girl's shoulder. "His name is Cin Astro from what I gathered." Grabbing the jadette's scroll, she opened it and handed it to Cheyenne. "Top of his class at Atlas Academy. Enlisted in the military soon after graduating. Was selected to join a special forces unit that specialized in swordsmanship for close quarters combat and missions that required a more quiet and calming touch."
"You... know how to use a scroll?" Kris blinked a few times as her head tilted.
She rolled her eyes in response, leaning back as she rested her arm across her chest. "Captain Julia Caesar was head of command and currently still is for this unit. They were stationed in Vytal to aid the small island in favor of Atlas and well..." She trailed off and sighed. "I'm sure she's told you the rest."
Looking over the Faunus' shoulder, Elise skimmed over the small bio and image of the blonde scruffy faced man. Clenching her jaw, she stepped around before kneeling in front of Kagami. "Hey." She softly spoke, placing her hands on her friends. "Listen, hunting down Rey can wait." She smiled, glancing up at her. "I think this deserves all our attention."
"No! No..." She pulled away a little, her voice cracking. "We're not-"
"We are." She said bluntly, gripping her hands tighter. "He may have gotten what he deserved when he was kicked out of the army and forced to live in the slums with no lien, but he still deserves a whole lot more for what he did to you." She stood up, pulling her up along with her. "And you deserve some sort of closure after all these years."
Blinking, Kagami was slightly taken aback by her confidence. She was quiet for a moment before her brow furrowed as she looked away. "I... I don't know..."
"Fine." She crossed her arms and grinned. "How about we just pause this conversation now and go do something fun? Hmm?" She held out her hands. "How's that sound? Just to help clear your mind from everything. Okay?"
"Huh?" She let out, her head tilting.
"I'm sure we could find something fun and relaxing to do." Kris smiled with a soft chuckle. "You know, more than shopping so you can enjoy it too."
"And then when we get back, after you've had time to calm down a little and clear your thoughts," Cheyenne stuck a hand on her hip. "Then we can talk about what we're going to do with everything that's happening."
"Sounds fair?" Elise held out a hand towards her leader. "We could get something to eat."
Kagami stared for a moment, glancing in the direction of her mentor who nodded back at her. Swallowing, she took a deep breath and reached out to grab her hand. "Fine, alright, you win. Let's go find a quiet place to relax." She softly smiled back.
Watching as the four of them left, Baren took a moment. Sitting in silence with her eyes closed, she very slowly inhaled as her hand balled into a tight fist. Her knuckles turning white as she curved her wrist inward. Exhaling as she stood, the old warrior raised her foot. Letting out a sharp cry, she sent it straight into the couch. The furniture was sent flying back, tumbling on the floor before colliding with a wall as the wood inside it splintered and cracked.
Walking inside a run down but still opened business, Kagami slowly raised an eyebrow as she glanced around. "This is your guys' idea of a relaxing place?" She asked, her hands in her jacket pockets as she eyed a few rows of beaten up arcade machines with a few tables over by a counter. The floor stained with more than what one would want to concern themselves with and the lights flickered every now and then.
"Oh come on, even I think this is a great idea." Elise smiled brightly, bouncing slightly with a small chuckle. "I'm thinking an extra large double the meat on meat lovers and double cheese pizza too for myself," She gestured towards her body.
"She needs to eat more vegetables..." Cheyenne muttered softly in a whisper to herself.
"And like I don't know pineapple for Kris." She continued and waved her hand.
"Excuse you!" Kris crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one leg. "I'm not a heathen for Oum's sake. A small pizza with black olives and spinach will do just fine. Maybe some artichoke too..." She trailed off in thought as the brunet began to make quiet gagging noises.
Softly sighing as she shook her head, the Faunus glanced towards her leader. "You want to split a pepperoni pizza?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Stuffed crust too?" She grinned back.
"Definitely." She nodded.
With the rest of the girls sitting at a table, Kris placed their order at the counter with a less than amused cashier. The young man who was working clearly did not want to be there in his red and blue uniform. "That'll be forty two lien." He spoke in monotone as he held out his hand.
"Geez, don't look like I'm killing you..." The redhead mumbled back, handing him her mother's credit card. As he scoffed in response, she rolled her eyes and took the card back along with four drinks. "Damn, okay. Whatever." She shook her head, walking over towards her friends. As she sat down, she began to hand out the cups. "Sweet iced tea, hot tea, water with no ice annnd soda for me." She brought her straw to her lips, taking a very long sip from her drink.
"Surprised you didn't get yourself a cup of coffee with that too." Cheyenne let out in a small chuckle while taking a small drink of water.
"Or add sugar to it." Kagami added.
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "I hate all of you. I hope you know that."
Leaning in, Elise held up a finger. "The feeling is still mutual." She flashed her teeth before taking a few gulps of her iced tea.
"Oh shut up..." She exhaled, slouching as she looked back at her. "You're so not funny. Ha ha ha."
"Oh is that sarcasm or sincerity in your voice, hmm?" She set her cup down and put her hands on her hips. "I think it's sincere so I thank you for the compliment."
Taking a deep breath, she let out a quiet scream into her soda. The liquid bubbling slightly.
"Better cool off or else you'll boil over." She softly laughed as footsteps approached.
"Here's your double meat pizza." The cashier let out while holding three pizza trays. Breathing through his teeth, he began to set each one of them down on the table. "And the veggie." He exhaustingly exhaled, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose before going to set the last pizza down. "And the pepperoni-" He paused, his eyes trailing towards Cheyenne's antlers. "Is this one yours?" He glanced at the pizza in his hand.
"Yeah...?" She quietly let out, raising an eyebrow up at him.
He stared back for a moment, his eyes meeting and locking with hers. Tilting his wrist, he let the pizza tray slide from the palm of his hand. The pizza itself falling onto the floor in a mess of cheese and sauce. "Whoops." He let out in a scoff.
Blinking once, Kagami tensed up. Her teeth flashing as she went to pounce the man like a lion only to be stopped by a hand holding her wrist under the table.
Glancing back at her, the Faunus softly smiled before releasing her grip. Standing up, she moved her hands behind her back. "Okay, now listen." She stood face to face with him, her eyes narrowed. "First, you're going to clean this up and then, you're going to make a new one."
"And why the hell would I do that?" He crossed his arms with a cocky smirk.
"Because," She pointed towards an old school punching bag strength test. The leather of the bag worn slightly while the paint on the machine was slowly chipping off. "I'm going to beat you at that." She crossed her arms.
"Really? Really?" He began to softly let out a hysterical laugh. "With your skinny arms? You don't look like you've worked a single day in the mines."
"That's because I haven't." Her glare hardened.
"Maybe you should have..." He grumbled while shifting around. His arms adjusting across his chest. "And when I beat you?"
"I'll work the rest of your shift. Today and for the rest of the week. And you still get paid." She slowly had a grin forming. "You obviously don't want to be here anyway. What do you say?"
"I hope you're ready to work your ass off." He chuckled, rolling up the sleeves of his uniform. Stepping up to the machine, he pressed a button on it. The glowing numbers flashing eight, eight, eight before changing to a row of three zeros as it let out a soft ding. Raising his hands, he sized up the punching bag like it had murdered his father. Pulling it back, he shot his fist forward.
The punching bag folded up into the machine as the number counter on the side began to count up. Rising up into the eight hundreds, it suddenly dropped down to the six hundreds. Eventually, it stopped counting and began to flash at the number six hundred and thirty-two.
"Hah!" He cheered back, proudly hitting his chest. "Beat that, you freak of nature!" He snarled slightly while flashing his teeth.
Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne stepped around him as she reset the machine. Calmly taking a step back, she readied herself. Exhaling, she pushed her fist forward. The punching bag going up with force. As the numbers went up, they began to steady out near the four hundreds before quickly shooting up and stopping at eight hundred and forty-six.
Smiling to herself, she moved her hands behind her back. Turning around on her heels, she turned to face the worker. "My friend and I would like our pizza now. And not burnt or spit on, please."
He growled a bit, baring his teeth before pulling away. Mumbling something under his breath, he began to walk off while slouching. His hands burying into his pockets in defeat and broken pride.
"Yeah! That's right! Fuck off you racist-" Kris shouted while crawling up on her seat before being pulled back down and silenced by Elise.
"You realize she's trying to not start a fight, right?" The dark brunet raised an eyebrow towards her.
Sitting back down besides Kagami, Cheyenne nodded back. "Not every argument needs to end with violence."
"You did good." The jadette smiled at her before softly nudging her. "Really good-" She blinked a little, noticing that Elise was already over halfway done with her extra large pizza. "Wait what?"
"Hrm?" She responded, her mouth stuffed with another slice.
As the evening went on, the four girls bought arcade tokens until the machine that would exchange lien for tokens ran out. From play two button and single joystick fighting games to shooting games and even racing games. Along with skee ball, basketball and air hockey, they spent more lien than they could have even imagined. And for once, nothing chaotic seemed to happen. They weren't Huntresses fighting Grimm, they weren't traveling halfway across Remnant and for once, they weren't going after trouble. For once, they finally got to act like the children they were.
Heading out, each of them were softly laughing at the others. Smiles amongst them all. Passing by a crane machine, Kris paused and blinked a few times with her straw in her mouth. Taking several gulps, she slowly pulled it away from her mouth. Her eyes trailing to a green stuffed bear. Grinning, she waved her hand as a red glow formed around it.
Walking out the door, Cheyenne held her hand over her mouth as her shoulders bounced. "I can't believe Kagami beat you in a marksman simulator."
"Electronic crosshairs are bull..." The farm raised hunter grumbled out in a pout of defeat. "I was hitting the mark EVERY time, I swear!"
"Clearly you weren't." Kagami chuckled back.
"Heeeeey guuuuuys!" Kris hummed from behind before squeezing her way between the others. "Guess what I got?" She smiled wide, not even waiting for them to answer as she jumped in front. Turning around, she kept her hands behind her back. "I got this!" She quickly pulled her hands out, holding up the green stuffed bear in front of her leader's face.
"Um..." She blinked.
"Is that from that crane machine?" The Faunus tilted her head. "Aren't those things impossible to win and a complete scam?"
"Only when you can't control the way the toy moves." She held up a finger in defense with a small chuckle.
Rolling her eyes, the jadette quickly snatched the stuffed animal. "You're such a loser." She shook her head.
"Says the one wearing a turtleneck!" She chuckled more while spinning around on her heels. "Now let's get back! I am exhausted and beat!"
As both Kris and Cheyenne walked ahead, Elise stayed a little ways back with her leader who was closely looking at the stuffed green bear. Letting out a small laugh, she tilted her head slightly. "I'm assuming you really like it, hmm?"
"Pfft," Kagami rolled her eyes, quickly holding the bear at her side. "I mean, well maybe." She softly chuckled. She glanced back down at it. "It is a little cute." She began to smile before it slowly faded away. Letting out a sigh, she lowered her head.
"Oh no, no, no, no. We were doing so good. Come on." She leaned over, draping her arm over her shoulders. Smiling, she poked at her cheek. "Don't be gloomy. We had fun."
"I know, I did. I really did." She leaned in towards her slightly and exhaled. "I'm just thinking right now and-"
"Hey." She held a finger up against her lips to silence her. "You can think all you want later. Right now, we're still out having fun." She took a deep breath, moving her arms down to firmly grip her friend's wrist. "And I can promise you right now, that no matter what conclusion you come to, we're going to be there right beside you." She moved her hands up to her friend's chest, pushing them against hers. "No matter what, we're always going to have your back. Always." She smiled more and nodded reassuringly. "I promise."
She smiled softly back, slowly nodding. "I know... I know, and I am more than grateful for that." She inhaled before pulling her hands back down to her sides. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do-"
"Shush." Elise held up a finger. "Not now." She took a step back. Raising her hand, she shook the green teddy bear around. "Right now, you need to get your gift back." She chuckled sinisterly before turning around and bolting away.
Blinking once, Kagami stared at her for a moment. It took her a moment to fully register what had just happened. "Hold... hold on! Wait a minute! Get back here!" She shouted before running after her.
Later that night, as the nearly full shattered moon rose overhead, the leader of team MACE quietly waited for her teammates to fall asleep. When they did, she slowly got out of her makeshift bed, tucked her green teddy bear in and silently made her way out of the room in her pajamas. With soft footsteps, she came to a door and lightly knocked before entering.
Sitting on the floor with her hand in her lap, Baren didn't even so much as flinch as she heard the door. "I've been waiting for you."
"I know..." She trailed off slightly.
"What is it?" She finally asked, opening her eyes as she looked over.
Taking a deep breath, Kagami slowly exhaled while her shoulders dropped. "I... I don't want you to get involved with Cin." She locked eyes with her mentor. "I want to do this on my own with my friends. I always appreciate your help but I just-"
"I understand." She nodded, hiding a smile. "I'm proud of you." She let out a soft and quiet sound. "If you change your mind though, I already sharpened my blade." She flashed her teeth with a grin as her student softly shook her head and rolled her eyes back.
Well this chapter took longer to write than it should have/I wanted it to considering how easy it was. But I finally finished so woo. The next two chapters are going to both have a Rey parody song so I hope all of you enjoy my insanity.
*softly exhales*
I really don't think it should be necessary but please remember to be nice to everyone. No matter who they are or what they believe, just be nice.