Crossover Fragment: As long as it works (ZZZ x Kagurabachi)
On the surface the sight itself wasn't anything special.
A boy and a girl, sitting in the chair in front of the principal's office waiting for their parents currently inside. Their fidgeting nervous ticks made it clear for the onlookers that their presence and parental visit occurred because they had done something wrong.
What made the scene mind-boggling was who they are.
A fox Thiren with black fur that matches her raven colored hair, complementing her red sharp red eyes. All of it was a striking feature of a well-known student in the academy, the regal swordmaster who will cut open a new era, Hoshimi Miyabi.
Except how her ear flopped down and the slight slump in her posture made her seem small(er) than how she usually is.
A young man with a prominent scar that runs from the upper left part of his head down to his jaw, with a short black hair and his sharp red eyes and an intense gaze, everyone knows him despite not being a student at the Academy, the skillful steward of the Hoshimi family who'd visit every now and then to rein in the heiress eccentricity, Chihiro Rokuhira.
But instead of his usual sharp focus and steely gaze, his eyes and mind darted all over the place as if he'd rather be anywhere but there.
Guilty, that's what everyone who saw their current form would think (not many have the guts to actually say it out loud), and it was the correct word to summarize the situation as Hoshimi Souichirou stepped out of the principal office with an expression of tiredness and annoyance.
Miyabi and Chihiro all but leaped out of their chairs, already stammering apologies and explanations to their father, only for all words to die in their throat as he raised his hand in a gesture to stop.
The silence that follows was deafening, until finally their father broke it itself with a simple yet loaded question:
"Why?"
The question was wheezed out in the most defeated sigh, acting like a punch to the gut for the both of them. Especially coming from the most responsible adult figure that they know, leaving no room for the knife to be twisted.
If it was with uncle Shiba, they'd just laugh it off and pat their heads. If it was with uncle Azami, her explanation might earn her points of creativity instead, even if he'd still find the situation a hassle to deal with.
And while he's no longer with them, Miyabi knows that her uncle Kunishige and Chihiros's biological father would have no problem with her 'liberal usage' of sub-weapon.
'Why' it was a simple yet loaded question, and thus Miyabi has no option but to answer her father truthfully.
"...It's the most effective way to use the Wakizashi," Miyabi started, "In a battle where I'd primarily use Tailless, I think this maneuver would do well to catch any enemy off guard."
So her daughter explained, and the worst part is, Souichiro knows his daughter enough to see that despite the guilt for committing the deed, she felt zero hesitation or doubt behind her logic to opt for the action.
And he's more than smart enough to know where the inspiration comes from, thus he turned to the other offender to allow him his piece.
"...It did work for me a couple of times… and when Miyabi brought up that she's lacking long-range attack… I… floated the idea to her…"
"That's all?"
"I… also gave her the pointers on how to be accurate when pulling this kind of maneuver?…"
Chihiro's confession was met with his father's blank expression, one that rivals his annoyed one whenever Mr. Shiba is being unhelpful.
It rarely happens, but when it does, it spelled nothing but trouble, and right now, it has enough strength to knock the wind out of the both of them and ensures that they'll feel guilty for the next week or so.
Not that it lasted long on account that their father switched to a long groan of defeat.
"Ok, just…" He struggled to even begin, sucking in the air to compose himself. Souichirou really thought that he had left this kind of shenanigans behind when he got married, and having his three best mates nearly, literally, crash into his wedding venue will be the end of it.
Nonetheless, he (very reluctantly) unearthed his decade old experience of being the voice of reason of a group consisting of him, Shiba, Azami, and one Kunishige.
"The logic is sound, that I admit. But why here of all places? It's quite literally the worst place to train this kind of thing!"
Chihiro and Miyabi averted their eyes, turning sideways and looking down respectively, and his instinct when it comes to dealing with the aftermath of dealing with shenanigans all but confirmed that he wouldn't like the answer.
"...I was failing firearm class so I thought that pulling this maneuver would get me a pass for creativity?" Miyabi
"...Miyabi even if you fail this class you're still ensured to graduate on top of your year." Souichirou pointed it out.
"I did tell her that sir." Chihiro interrupted (and it hurt him a bit how he still calls him that instead of father). "But, she wanted to surprise you by passing her class instead?"
A second, two, and three. For what seems to be the longest of time, Souichirou stood completely still. His face was an expressionless mask, but the sheer pain ravaging through his soul couldn't be more visible.
He knew that one day he'll have a chance to get a trip down the memory lane of his younger, trouble-filled and absolutely tiring days thanks to the people he calls friends, but he'd much prefer not to experience this brand of idiocy directly.
As he brought his hands to his face with a weep, he fought through the all too familiar pain and finally raised the last unanswered question.
"Okay, okay, just-" Souchirou struggled amidst wheezing, old (mental) scars flaring to life at the worst display of how the apples didn't fall too far from its tree. "Where is it now then? The Wakizashi!?"
The dead silence as the two averted their eyes the second time broke him, and Miyabi and Chihiro spent the next month reigning in their 'practice' and 'quest for vengeance' to appease their mistake.
….As for what exactly happened and where the weapon in question's current location is…
XxXxX
"Why is there a Wakizashi in the wall?"
Zhu Yuan wasn't stuttering, at the end of the firing range, buried into the concrete and through a paper target until only its tsuba and hilt was visible, was a Wakizashi.
One that she had shoved on her face more than once, as she realized the fine quality of the weapon in comparison to the ones she usually encounters while putting on the standard gloves to use during live round practices.
"Wait, that's the one Chihiro made? Miyabi's?"
"You assumed correctly, Zhu yuan." Unlike her, her partner and competition for the day, Raidou Kuzunoha was not befuddled in the slightest by the sight. It's not much compared to fighting sorcerers alongside a giant goldfish after all.
"That is indeed Chihiro Rokuhira and Hoshimi Miyabi's handiwork, the sword and the hole, respectively."
"...I know what I'm looking at, Raidou, and I know both of them enough to understand that this could happen." Zhu Yuan retorted, "What I'm asking is, why?"
Just like the first time, Raidou answered the question without missing a beat, all the while putting on the standard issue protective ear muffs.
"For our firearm finals and bemoaning her sheer lack of affinity for the weapon, Miyabi instead decided to present an out of the box solution in a bid to earn herself at least a passing grade."
Now it took Zhu Yuan a few seconds to finally connect the dots, and as she finished affixing her firing goggles. She spared the weapon one last look before arriving to the right conclusion:
"And her revolutionary solution was to throw her Wakizazhi at the target?"
"As you can see from the final result, one time use aside, it is an effective strategy when it succeed."
Zhu Yuan supposed that's not exactly wrong, though more immediately, this means that Miyabi and Chihiro are likely otherwise occupied for the rest of the day, which means that it's only going to be her and Raidou and no sudden interjection about swords and the likes.
As far as Silver lining goes, this was one of the best yet considering their circle.
"Well nothing to it then, think we can shoot this kind of projectile attack down?"
"I believe that having known this possibility, taking a leaf out of Miyabi's book to practice it would be the next best step."
Taking up the suggestion, Zhu Yuan takes aim. "Then let's get straight to it, best two out of three?"
Raidou, too, raised his arm to point his revolver at the faraway target. "I'll take you up on that."