1204/08/25 12:00
It was a rare, slow day for the SSS. Unlike yesterday, when they were swamped with support requests, today, there were barely any requests that they had solved everything before twelve. Now, everyone aside from KeA and Chief Sergei was resting in the SSS building. Noel was cleaning her weapon while Elie was reading a book. Randy was with Lloyd, about to ask Juna (who visited them) things Lloyd wanted to know. Apparently, it was something related to weight? Wazy didn't understand what they were talking about, but considering the things he read in Lloyd's notebook were from Juna... he'd better pay attention.
"Right, so you want us to recount the entire day as usual? Alright. This is before Michel called us to come to the guild. At breakfast, Wazy told us that Ashleigh, the owner of Neinvalli Exchange, might know about the situation in Erebonia. She confirmed that there was a lot of movement for weapons inside Erebonia but nothing else," Lloyd started.
"I see... I guess it was her code of honor as a black-market goods seller?" Juna nodded to herself. Was she trying to convince herself? "Anyway, what happened next?"
"After that, we were confronted by Wald-"
Before Lloyd could continue, the door to the SSS building was opened.
"Excuse me." A gruff, unfamiliar voice entered the premises. It was coming from a tall, muscular redhead with spiky hair. From what Wazy observed, this new guy was even more muscular than Randy. That orange coat the SSS's redhead wore hid an aesthetic muscle beneath them.
"Can we help you?" Lloyd immediately turned his focus to the newcomer.
"Oh, Agate! What are you doing here?" Juna immediately ran towards the new redheaded man. It seemed like she was familiar with him.
"Yo, Crawford. I was visiting all the places of interest. I actually came here yesterday to introduce myself, but your boss says you're on a support request, so I came here again today." He then turned towards the SSS. "Nice to meet you. I'm Agate Crosner, a Bracer visiting this city for a week."
"Oh, A Bracer? Nice to meet you, Agate." Lloyd offered his hand. "I'm Lloyd Bannings."
"Yo," Randy saluted the man. "The name's Randy."
"Agate Crosner... the Heavy Blade? An A rank Bracer from Liberl..." Elie, as usual, knew a lot of things. "Ah, I'm Elie MacDowell."
"N-Noel Seeker. What is an A-rank Bracer doing here?" Noel asked nervously.
"Calm down, Noel. He said before, didn't he? He wanted to introduce himself," Wazy calmed the loaned CGF member. "Oh, and I'm Wazy Hemisphere."
Agate sighed. "The pretty boy is right. I ain't doing anything. I just feel like introducing myself because Estelle talked so much about you guys, the Special Support Section."
"Oh, you're that Agate! No wonder I feel like I've heard of your name," Lloyd clapped his hand in realization.
"The one from Estelle's story?" Randy asked, to which Lloyd nodded.
"Suddenly, I feel nervous about what Estelle and Joshua had said about us..." Elie laughed awkwardly.
"You think Estelle had the bone to talk bad about someone behind them?" Agate asked them, to which the three original SSS members, plus Juna, shook their heads in unison. "Anyway, Crawford. You're really busy, I see. Yesterday, you were fetching us from the airport, going to St. Ursula, and then training before picking up your sisters from the Sunday School. Today, you're here with the SSS?"
Juna just scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Ehehe... I just feel like it's a waste if I do nothing, so I try to help anyone in need."
Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, Juna helped us aplenty before. In fact, I was in need of her help again to confirm my suspicion."
"Huh? Well, I'll be. I heard from Joshua that you're smart, but to think that a professional police even asked for your help..." Agate now looked at Juna differently.
"By the way, while Wazy was correct, may we know the reason for your visit to Crossbell?" Elie changed the topic. Yes, while he was correct that Agate was just visiting to introduce himself, the SSS still didn't know what Agate was doing in Crossbell.
Agate shrugged. "Not much. I am just chaperoning Renne and someone else. They are involved with the new Epstein Foundation project."
"Oh, Renne? I was actually in the meeting that decided her involvement. Please give my thanks to her for offering help. If she and the Foundation succeed, it will make the conference easier," Lloyd revealed.
Agate's eyes sharpened. "You were in the meeting? Then that means you know about the possible terrorist attack?"
"Ah!" Juna shouted, to everyone's surprise. "Sneaky Michel! Chaperoning Renne and Tita was just a cover for reinforcement! No wonder I was confused why an A-rank accompanies Renne and Tita."
"So that's it. Before the guild made any decision, Michel managed to secure one for Crossbell. We really need to thank them," Lloyd picked up Juna's words quickly.
The rest of the SSS had to process Juna's words for a few more seconds before they got it.
"So you're here officially to chaperone Renne and this Tita but unofficially to help Crossbell with the security of the conference?" Elie reiterated.
"Yes. You got it right," Agate nodded while giving Juna a side-eye. "I only knew when I grilled Michel myself yesterday."
"Wow... I'm not that familiar with Michel, but that sounds amazing," Noel sang praises.
Wazy nodded. "It takes more than enough guts to go behind the higher-ups and decide things on your own." He certainly knew how it felt.
"Anyway, since I've already introduced myself, I'll just go and-"
"Agate, wait." Juna cut him off before she started muttering something under her breath, "...interrupted... Agate... downtown gang..."
"What is Juna doing?" Noel whispered to Elie.
"Juna is doing her 'connect the dots' thingy, though, for the love of Aidios, I don't understand what dots she's seeing," Randy replied.
So that was Juna's skill at work? Interesting... Wazy wanted to know what kind of crazy things Juna would spout this time.
"Agate, can you stay and hear Lloyd's story with me?" Juna said once she finished muttering to herself. "Unless you took some requests from the guild and have to go..."
Agate shook his head. "Nah, not yet. I wanted to finish my 'tour' of the city before taking any request from the guild. What do you need me for?"
Juna then turned to Lloyd. "Lloyd, you wanted to understand about the weight that I said to you back in the Sun Fort, right? Then I'll just say this: There's a weight behind Agate interrupting your recount."
Juna's declaration caught everyone off-guard, including Wazy. What did Juna mean by that? He turned his attention to Lloyd, trying to see if he understood what Juna meant.
Lloyd's face was scrunched up, thinking of what Juna had said. A few seconds later, he sighed and gave up. "Alright, I still don't understand, but I trust you. Agate, if you don't mind, please take a seat. I'll continue recounting my experience that day."
"I'll go fetch a drink. Do you want a coffee or tea?" Elie quickly stood up.
"Thanks. A coffee might be nice."
Once Elie left for the kitchen, Lloyd continued telling his story.
"Right. Let's continue. After leaving Neinvalli, Wald confronted us."
"The leader of Saber Vipers?" Juna asked for confirmation.
"Yeah..." Randy answered. "I do hope you aren't getting involved with Downtown gangs, Juna."
"I did hear that the Downtown District was filled with gang members. But I didn't see them yesterday when I toured the city," Agate commented.
"Nah, I haven't even seen him before, but I did have to straighten some of the gang members when they made a mess in East Street. I heard his name through them," Juna answered.
Ah, now Wazy remembered some of his men told him something about a pink-haired, nagging menace. He didn't realize they were referring to Juna.
"Right, I did say that Wald confronted us, but it was mostly Wazy. In the end, after some exchanged words, Wazy fought Wald and defeated him in a one-on-one duel. After that, Michel called us to the guild. I don't think I have to explain that part, do I?" Lloyd continued.
However, instead of answering, Juna's forehead creased. "Juna?"
"Is that all? I was so sure there was something else from that," Juna asked Lloyd, fishing for more information.
Lloyd glossed over the confrontation. While Lloyd was technically correct, there was something deeper in Wazy's fight with Wald. Wazy didn't know why Wald wanted to win against him, but he knew that his fun rivalry with Wald had to end. It was why he ended up using more of his strength than needed to defeat him quickly.
"I think you should ask Wazy because I don't really understand their relationship myself." In the end, Lloyd passed the question to him as expected.
As the green-haired man saw Elie returning from the kitchen with a tray, he closed his eyes and hummed. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah," Juna nodded before elaborating. "There should be something important because of the weight. But so far, I haven't seen anything from Lloyd's retelling. I'd beat myself to oblivion if there really is something and I missed it."
"That's weird. From what I understood, you are connecting the dots from several pieces of information. But I don't see how you're so sure of it when you don't believe Lloyd is telling everything correctly," Noel mentioned.
Now, that was an interesting point that Noel made, Wazy pondered. It was weird if Juna could connect the dots from Lloyd's story when Lloyd himself didn't know.
"It's the weight. You see, when Lloyd began recounting his experience, Agate interrupted us. So the weight shifts, so the next part that Lloyd recounts would be important," Juna answered. "I... can't exactly explain how or why, but it just is. So when Lloyd's story felt lackluster, I feel there is something more to that."
Agate hummed. "How does my visiting shift this 'weight?' Actually, what kind of weight are you talking about?"
Randy was the one who replied to his fellow redheads. "It's a long story, and rather than overwhelming Juna here, let Lloyd explain it to you later," he said as he put his hands on Agate's shoulder.
Agate nodded before turning to Juna again. "...Alright, but you still haven't answered how my visiting shifted this weight of yours, Crawford."
"Well... that's because you're a former delinquent, aren't you?" Juna answered nonchalantly.
...
"Huh?" Everyone aside from Juna and Agate looked in surprise.
Frowning, Agate nodded again. "That's actually correct. Did Estelle tell you?"
"Nope," Juna denied. "Estelle and Joshua made it their mission not to divulge the personal history of their friends. Ask the SSS, why do you think they looked so surprised?"
"Then how...?" Noel asked in amazement.
"I think it's futile to ask how Juna knows. Let's just accept that," Elie sighed.
"Agreed."
"I see..." Lloyd trailed off, looking at the pink-haired girl seriously. "Juna, I understand. Originally, there was no weight to my retelling, but Agate interrupting us put a weight on my story. Why? That's because the section of the story that Agate cuts was about the fight between Wazy and Wald, the two leaders of delinquent gangs in Downtown.
"Lloyd? Again?" Randy looked incredulous. "It's been like the nth time you understood Juna earlier than us, and you have to dumb her words down so we can understand."
"Ahaha..." Lloyd laughed awkwardly. "In any case, Agate's timing puts weight on my story, but at the same time, my story also puts weight on Agate. Isn't that right, Juna? That's why you're so sure that there's something more to my story and Agate's background as a former delinquent at the same time."
Juna smiled. "Full marks, Lloyd."
Wazy was silent.
So that was Juna Crawford's mind at work, huh... He guessed Lloyd's book didn't lie.
"Wazy, do you mind telling Juna about the fight? I don't know what you two were thinking, just what you two said. And more importantly, I don't know how important the Downtown District and your relationship with Wald was."
Wazy hummed. Would he mind? No, not really. And besides, he wanted to know what kind of things Juna could find out about his relationship with Wald. Considering that Lloyd once told him that Juna had predicted that he would join the SSS and the content of Lloyd's notebook, he had an inkling about Juna's ability to predict things. Maybe this time, it could be a confirmation of his guess.
He exhaled before he replied. "Very well."
"I don't know when you started hearing about Wald, but I've been in Crossbell for a while comforting some lonely women. That's when I heard about some commotion in the Downtown District. A gang, the Saber Vipers, were blaring music out loud, being rude to anyone trying to intervene, and Wald even used violence when some Bracers stepped in."
"Does he have to say 'comforting some lonely women?'" Elie's eyes twitched as she muttered under her breath, but Wazy's sharp ears heard that, and he winked at the white-haired girl.
"I think I heard that from Scott. Wald faced him, and Scott lost because he only wanted to restrain, but Wald overpowered him," Juna nodded. So Wazy continued.
"I scoped out the situation and determined that founding a rival gang is the easiest way to reduce tension in the Downtown District. So I did. I headhunt some troubled youth and ask them to join the Testament. I rented a bar Downtown as our hang-out place and occasionally clashed with the Saber Vipers. The result was as follows."
"Status quo," Lloyd concluded nicely.
"Yes," Wazy nodded. "The status quo was enough to force Wald to hyperfocus the Saber Vipers on the Testament and stop bothering the Downtown District's residents."
"Wazy..." Noel stared at him.
"But it can't go on forever," Wazy continued. "As I said to Wald that day, the Testament doesn't need me anymore. They've grown. In the future, each of them will also outgrow the gang and walk their own path in life, just like what I'm doing here with you guys. However, Wald didn't understand. No, it's better to say that Wald didn't want to understand. Wald was so attached to his gang and lifestyle that he couldn't fathom ever leaving the gang. And part of that lifestyle is facing me, the leader of Testament."
Juna sighed. "So that's why you fought Wald..."
"Yes. I used everything at my disposal to beat him as a final act of good faith to someone who has become part of my life," Wazy finished.
Juna massaged her temple before she exhaled. "Well, now the pieces fit the puzzle. I think I understand now." She faced him. "Wazy, what is your feeling towards that event?"
His feeling? Wazy raised his eyebrow before answering. "Regret, to be honest. I regret that I didn't see the problem with Wald earlier. If I knew he'd feel that strongly about our rivalry, I'd lower the intensity of our earlier fights. Despite what he's doing, I am fond of everyone in Testament and Saber Vipers. They're good kids who are looking for places to belong, and our gangs are exactly that. Until they can pick up their life, they're welcome. But it seems that Wald doesn't think the same, and I felt a little foolish that I couldn't see it."
Wazy finished with a tired sigh.
Juna hummed. "I see. Then it's settled. To the Downtown District!" She pointed her fingers at the air and exclaimed.
Everyone blinked.
"What?"
"Juna... I think you should calm down and explain," Lloyd sighed.
"Lloyd, you did say you want to understand about the weight, right? Why don't you try to guess as we go to the Downtown District?" Juna offered.
"Let's go," Wazy was the one who pushed everyone to go. He had settled the score with Wald, but even if he couldn't see what Juna was seeing, the regret in his heart still gnawed at him. He wanted to at least see Wald and talk with him.
"Agate, too. You should join us. Your presence is important."
Agate only raised his eyebrow at Juna but nodded. "Sure. I'm interested in where this is going."
And so the SSS, Juna, and Agate headed towards the Downtown District, intending to see whatever Juna saw.
The inspiration came from a comment on Ao3 from EvanderAdvent about Agate meeting Wald and DayDream idea from the Spacebattles thread. I took the concept and added the SSS and Juna. Remember when I said Agate's introduction with the SSS won't move the story? Well, now I make it to do exactly that. Oh by the way, if you visit the Spacebattles thread, there is a fanart of JunaSI there, I comissioned someone to make it. Go take a look.