Coming home from work, both Midori and Aza paused at their front door. The sun was setting over the busy city which caused all the automatic neon signs to turn on. Taking a deep breath, Midori lowered her keys from the door. Her gaze trailed down as she stared at the door handle.
"What's the matter?" Aza asked while glancing at her.
Quickly looking up, she blinked. "No, it's, it's nothing." She exhaled. After a moment, she looked away. "Kagami is just... she's just the same as I remember." She clenched her jaw. "Just like me when I was younger."
"Is that a bad thing? I've heard great stories of grandeur from you." He gestured with his hand. "Plus, she seems to have grown up just fine. She's kind, caring and fearless."
"That's what worries me." The former Huntress shook her head before unlocking the door and stepping inside.
Sighing back, he reached up to rub his face. "Of course." He let out a breath of air as he stepped inside his home. Closing the door behind him, he turned towards the living room and tilted his head with a raised eyebrow. "The bloody hell happened to all of you?"
"Nothing." Kris grumbled while laying on her stomach across the floor.
"We just did a lot of walking around the city today." Elise held up a finger while sitting at one end of the couch.
"Yeah. Gurin is tuckered out." Kagami spoke up from the other side of the couch. Laying down beside her, her younger sister was curled up with her head on her lap. Her eyes were halfway closed but she was still fully awake.
"I think we're all tired." Cheyenne corrected while sitting on the floor. Her shoulder pressed up against the corner of the couch.
While Aza shrugged it off and walked on, Midori narrowed her eyes at the group of girls. "Is that so?" Her eyes trailed to her daughters.
Both girls flinched slightly at that. Their mother's glare felt like a million daggers jabbing deep into their bones.
"Y-Yep." Kagami stuttered only slightly as she nodded. "Gurin showed us a bunch of nice places to eat around here. We even ate at this really nice ramen shop."
"I got boba too." Gurin raised a hand with a small yawn. "Mhmm... boba is so good." She shifted around.
"Uh huh." Midori crossed her arms. Glaring for a moment longer, she eventually gave in and sighed. "Well, I'm glad you girls had fun. Gurin needs to spend more time with girls rather than her brother and his friends." She stepped over and grabbed the remote.
"Hey, he has one friend who's a girl." Aza pointed out as he took off his chef's jacket.
"She won't date him. She doesn't count." She waved her hand while turning on the news. Setting the remote down, she headed towards the kitchen.
Blinking a few times, the blonde man tilted his head. "What does that have to..." He trailed off while shaking his head. "Okay." He chose not to argue.
After changing into more comfortable clothes and taking her hair down, Midori came back with a bowl of microwaveable ramen and a bottle of shochu. She set them both down on the coffee table along with a small glass with round ice cubes and a pair of chopsticks. "So how do you like Vytal?" She asked Kagami while sitting down between her youngest daughter's feet and Elise.
"It's really not what I was expecting, but it is nice." She softly smiled with a nod. "The food is absolutely great though."
"Mhmm." She nodded back while pouring her drink. "There's plenty of wonderful places we could try out. I could pick something up on my way home from work tomorrow. Is there anything you want to try?" She glanced over.
"Everything." Elise interrupted with a grin. "Absolutely everything."
Cheyenne quietly chuckled at that. Slowly breathing in, she relaxed a bit more. Today was a hectic day to say the least. Not that they haven't had crazier days, she just wasn't fully prepared for the madness to happen so fast. They were supposed to be relaxing on Vytal. Slowly, her eyes began to close. She would have dozed off fully if it hadn't been for the news report that came on.
"This just in." A man in a dark blue suit and tie spoke as a repeating headline rolled across the screen. "The criminal Mo Ice, more commonly known by her allies The Nanny, has been found mauled to death in an abandoned indoor swimming pool. In the same place, multiple missing children have been found. It is unclear what exactly happened. Multiple witness reports say a team of Huntresses and a young girl aided in this. Whether they had to do with the death of Miss Ice is still unclear. Investigation is still underway."
Blinking very slowly, Kagami slowly turned her head to the side.
Slurping a few noodles from her bowl, Midori very slowly lowered her bowl and chopsticks. Breathing in, she too turned her head to the side. Her eyes narrowed harshly as her brow furrowed.
"Kagami did it!" Gurin blurted out suddenly before rolling off the couch and onto the floor. Softly grunting, she scrambled to her feet before moving to the other end of the room.
Coming out of the kitchen, Aza held a bowl of freshly made ramen. "Is there anything interesting on the news tonight?" He calmly asked before blinking a few times. He could feel the tension rising in the room. "Um... did I miss something?"
Coming home from their spa day, Aero smiled brightly. Her entire body felt refreshed. Nobody could tell she was hungover this morning. "Come on," She spun around on her feet to look back. "Wasn't that fun? Don't you feel great?"
Staring blankly back at her, Baren rested her arm across her chest. "No. I hated that."
"But the mud bath! And the massage!" The bluette let out a breath of air. "I feel like I could conquer all of Remnant right now!"
"The massage was the worst part." Her eyes narrowed.
"If you didn't want to go that badly, you didn't have to." Eleanor spoke up while keeping her hands behind her back.
Sighing, the one armed warrior watched as Aero opened the front door. "But I did." She mumbled before freezing in place as she heard yelling. Blinking a few times, she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Kagami... what did you do?"
Hearing the door open, Midori looked away from her oldest daughter who sat on the couch. She was standing in front of her. Watching her friends and mentor enter, she narrowed her eyes and glared at the pinkette.
"Hold on, I didn't do anything." Baren held up her hand in defense.
"What happened?" Eleanor narrowed her eyes on her own daughter.
With a soft squeak, Elise flinched and looked away. "We may have possibly sorta I dunno tried to stop a crime boss and ended up getting Gurin mind controlled and then freeing her and a bunch of other kids but then the other kids turned on the woman who was controlling them and sorta killed her so we created a gang of child murderers..." She trailed off while lowering her head.
Blinking rapidly, the dirty blonde's mouth fell open. She went to speak only for no words to escape her mouth.
"In our defense, that bitch had it coming." Kris mumbled as she shifted around. She was still laying flat on the floor.
"Heh, nice." Aero grinned a little with a nod of approval.
"Nice?!" Midori turned towards her as her eyebrow twitched.
As her mother went back to scolding, Gurin slowly got up and walked over towards the old warrior in the room. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she nervously tugged on the sleeves of her sister's hoodie. "Um, Miss Baren?" She quietly spoke.
"Hmm?" She glanced down at her. "What is it?" Her head tilted a bit before her eyes began to widen. She knew that look. "...you've got to be kidding me..." She mumbled under her breath.
Swallowing hard, the young girl looked down at her feet. "Um, um you said before there's always someone who can beat you, remember?"
Sighing, the pinkette knelt down. Very slowly, she nodded. "I do. What about it?"
"Well you taught mom to fight... and Kagami too." She took a deep breath and hugged herself. "Can you... show me how to do the things Kagami does? I want to be better. Like her." She glanced up. "I don't want to not be helpful when bad things happen. I don't want to be the reason bad things happen either..." Her head lowered.
Lowering her head for a moment, Baren closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Looking up, she placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "I'll gladly show you a few things. And if you are really interested, I'll think about fully training you." She smiled while placing her hand underneath the girl's chin and forcing her to look up. "You're not a burden. Trust me. You just have a lot to learn. All of us do. Even I still do."
"Why the fuck were you even chasing after that fucking donkey?!" Aza shouted while standing next to his wife. "Do you know what could have fucking happened to you!? Or your sister?! Do you even fucking care!?"
Lowering her head more and more between her shoulders, Kagami swallowed hard while averting her eyes. She did care. She really cared. She cared about her sister just as much as everyone else. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and grabbed her knees as the scolding continued. She was just new to this.
"She was just trying to help, okay!" Kris finally pushed herself up. Shifting around, she glared at the two adults. "All she ever tries to do is help! So why don't you stop yelling at her like she's done something horrible and maybe listen to why we were out there!" She took a few deep breaths before huffing and laying back down.
Both parents turned to stare at her for a moment. Aza went to yell more only for Cheyenne to speak up before him.
"You don't have to keep scolding her. Kagami already feels bad enough." The Faunus said while sitting up straight. "She really was just trying to help. We all were."
"Help with what?" Midori eyed her before looking at her oldest daughter. "What could you have possibly thought would help by doing this?"
"Dad... said he was having trouble with a chef. And it was hurting business." Kagami chewed on her lip while rubbing her arm. "He said he was only acting the way he was because crime was a problem where his restaurant is. And if we could stop that woman that he'd stop. So that way things would be fair between your businesses again..."
Blinking a few times, Aza let out a very deep growl. "Blaze..." He spoke the name with a snarl. Turning around, he began to walk towards the door.
"Dad?" His oldest daughter rose to her feet with a concerned look.
At the same moment, Kuro returned from his night out with his friends. Opening the door from the outside, he chuckled quietly to himself. "Hey guys, guess what. You won't believe-" He grunted as he was shoved aside. "Hey!" He turned his head and crossed his arms. "I know I'm home late but that's still rude."
"Shut up, donut." Aza grumbled as he stormed down the street.
"Huh?" The dark haired boy tilted his head. Glancing inside, he looked at everyone. "Aww, man. Don't tell me I missed something cool?"
"Long story." Kagami patted his shoulder before rushing past him and after her father.
"Kagami!" Midori shouted as she quickly stepped towards the door. "Where do you think-"
Placing her hand on her shoulder, Baren held her back. "Give them this." She softly nodded. "They'll be back. So why don't we all calm down?" She eyed everyone. "I'll go make something for dinner." She pulled her hand away. "Now is a good time to relax." She stepped towards the kitchen. Pausing, she turned to glare at both Aero and Kris. "No drinking." She held up a finger.
Running after Aza, Kagami caught up as he reached Grimm's Kitchen. He didn't even bother knocking as he forced his way through the front door. "Blaze!" His voice roared in the empty restuarant. "I know you haven't left yet, you fucking dick!"
An audible sigh was heard and after a moment, the man with tri-colored hair stepped out into the kitchen light. "Nikko-San." He chuckled a bit while drying his hands. "Your girls came by here earlier. I said hello."
"I know you fucking said hello." He stormed up to the hotplate. His body shrouded in the darkness of the dining area. "You nearly sent them to their fucking deaths."
"They were fine." He shrugged. "And took care of that old hag for me. My boss has been getting really tired of her ever since she left us."
"You're a fucking prick..." He raised his hand and pointed at him.
"Dad!" Softly panting, Kagami came running in.
"See, perfectly fine." Blaze waved his hand. "Good to see you again, kid." He nodded.
"Yeah, hi." She brushed him off while looking over at Aza. "What's going on? Why did you run off? I know you're mad at me but-"
"Not now." Placing his hand on her shoulder, he gently pushed her aside. "I can deal with nearly all of your fucking bullshit, but you are not going to fuck around with my family." His jaw flexed as he narrowed his eyes.
"And what are you going to do about it? Huh?" Blaze flashed a cocky smile as he tilted his head. "Last I checked, I was in charge here. Or has that changed?"
Glancing between the two chefs, Kagami furrowed her brow and looked up at her father. "Dad? What's going on? Do you know him?"
Breathing in, Aza's nostrils flared. He closed his eyes for a second and then looked over at her. "Blaze was a protege of mine when I was head chef here. He owed an old friend of mine a lot of lien. So we came to the conclusion that he would work for me and pay off his debt. A punishment in a way."
He then let out a low growl and turned back towards the cocky chef. "Except he was tired of this fucking life and wanted to get out faster so he could go back to the shit hole he was living in. So he challenged me to a cooking contest. With this place on the line. And the fucking shit had no dignity what so ever." His eyes narrowed.
"I won. That's all that matters. Using my semblance is simply playing to my advantage." Blaze shrugged. "Your honor and pride is what holds you back. You could have made a ten course meal in the time it took me to make a single plate. But no." He grinned. "You're just that pathetic."
He growled louder this time while leaning in. "Listen here, you fucking..." With all the words he knew, he couldn't think of just the right one for him.
"Why can't you just challenge him again?" Kagami spoke up.
"Because he can't." Blaze snickered while running his hand with only four fingers through his hair. "Once a Cooking Battle has reached a conclusion, there is no changing it. A loser cannot challenge that same person for what they lost. It is the way." He flashed a toothy smile.
"Let's just fucking go..." Aza grumbled as he turned around. "It was pointless to come here."
Taking a deep breath, the jadette stepped between the two men. With narrowed eyes, she pointed towards the man with tri-colored hair. "Fine. Then I challenge you to one of your... cooking battle things..." She glanced back at her father. "Is that what it's called?"
"Kagami!" He turned around with wide eyes. "Listen, you can't-"
"And what do I get when I win?" Blaze gestured towards himself. "I already know you want this place if you win." He chuckled.
"I have a magical hoodie and sword." She said bluntly. "And this." She held up her right hand and rubbed the black ring she wore. "It can create anything if you will it."
"K-Kagami!" Aza shouted louder.
Thinking it over for a moment, the chef eventually nodded with a smile. "Deal." The torment he saw on his former teacher's face was enough to make him agree. "Tomorrow at noon." He held out his hand. "Agreed?"
"Agreed." She grabbed his hand and shook it.