ぐちゃ ! (Splat!) [Yoru x F! Reader] [2]
Heya everyone!
Guess what? That's right, I'm trying something new!
After accumulating some a good amount of writing while waiting for the vote, instead of posting every other day with a few words, I'm gonna be posting once a week with a collection of words!
Yep, this bad boy here is 7.8k words long!! MY HANDS AND EYES ARE KILLING ME I'M SORRY FOR ANY MISTAKES I MISSED
This is just a test to see if it's a good idea or not. Maybe if it goes well, I'll keep going, or stop if it's chaotic.
Anyway, have a good one! See you next Friday!
❤ฺ·。
Yoru x F! Reader
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 4.5 / Part 5 / Part 6
Genre: Fluff
Synopsis: Hapless doesn't even begin to describe you. With your life flipped upside down within the span of a day; you're left to rely on your best friend Tala to help you pick up the pieces and build the new one forced upon you.
And this 'luck' seems to have caught the attention of one of her friends.
。+❤ฺ·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ· +❤·。❤ฺ·。+❤ฺ·
Police sirens loudly rang throughout the entire district, Tala peeking from the alleyway you both hid in to notice another police car swerving past.
“Relax, Y/N, they won’t find us here!”
“It doesn’t matter! Did you see the print on the GROUND?!”
You gasped and held yourself, still shocked from the entire ordeal. Tala knelt next to you and patted your back, struggling to reassure you. How could she, when the sight surprised her just as much?
Besides, it’s not like she knew how to calm people down in the first place.
“It almost killed us! It almost killed us, Tala!”
“It didn’t kill anyone, okay?! It missed us, we’re alive!”
“We almost died! We almost died!”
You hugged your knees, hyperventilating.
“We almost got squashed, it missed us by a few inches!”
You kept rambling nonsense under your breath, your voice quivering with an abnormal amount of fear.
Tala, used to near-death experiences, wasn’t as horrified as you were. But that doesn’t mean what happened could just be easily brushed off.
Whilst swatting the flies away, suddenly, it was like an extraterrestrial force from outer space slammed itself against the ground. And when you both opened your eyes, a massive hand imprinted itself upon the hill you both stood on; defiling it.
Like a giant that slapped the ground with all of its might. Even she couldn’t explain it.
“Y/N, Y/N, it’s alright, look, if the government doesn’t catch up to us first, then maybe a secret organisation will!”
“HOW IS THAT BETTER?!”
She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, chuckling to herself.
“Okay, uh– good point, but… but look on the bright side! I just called someone and they know exactly how to help!”
“Help us?! We had nothing to do with this! The hand– it, it appeared out of nowhere, it came out of nowhere! It almost killed us! We were so close–”
Tala grabbed your shoulders, and forced your gaze on hers. She would slap you, but you weren’t one of her co-workers.
“Y/N! Help is on the way, okay! Stop freaking out!”
You stood up, clutching your head with both hands and muttering random sentences under your breath, ones she didn’t catch onto.
“I– I think I’m going insane, Tala! A– a giant hand, a massive hand! It appeared out of nowhere and almost hit us! How does that happen, how is this– how, is it possible? How is it normal?! Is this– is this what they meant by Radiants being dangerous?!”
“No, Y/N, this has nothing to do with that!”
Tala knew your information of Radiancy was extremely limited, mostly to what the news would spew out. But she couldn’t exactly tell you the whole story, not when you could hardly differentiate between left and right.
Also, it’s confidential. Shouldn’t forget that.
“Just hold on, we’ll get help. The police will be off our tail in a second!”
You turned to her, panicking.
“Why would the police be on our tail?!”
Shouldn’t have said that either.
“What’s with you two?”
Thankfully, like some guardian angel (to Tala), a familiar voice appeared from behind you both. A dark silhouette stood in the entrance of the constricted alley, the street lights reflecting off of his blue jacket.
Of course, you were terrified for a split second, thinking it was a cop, but Tala’s reaction quickly calmed you.
“Yoru, finally! We need your help!”
He stepped in, both hands in his pockets. And on his face, juxtaposed to the chaos, the police sirens and helicopters that wrapped around the park you both rushed out of, was an expression full of boredom.
“What now? Did you make another thunderstorm?”
Tala noticed the sudden shift in your expression and awkwardly chuckled, scratching the back of her head. But luckily, Yoru turned his attention to you instead.
“Who are you?”
“Who am I? Who are you? Why are you here?!”
“Yoru! Yoru, she’s, uh– this is, this is Y/N, my friend, and she’s freaked out right now, so you shouldn’t be asking her anything.”
He blankly stared at you, almost as if he was sceptical of your general presence. Thankfully, it was only for a few seconds before he turned to Tala.
“Give me a run down.”
“Alright!”
Tala quickly perked up, politely keeping your mouth shut. The events were scrambled in your mind, so the chances of you saying anything coherent was zero. And Tala knew it.
“There’s a park behind us, and, uh… there might be, sort of, a massive handprint on the hill.”
“Yeah, I saw it on the news. I meant give me the intimate rundown. Did your kit manifest?”
Pictures already spread throughout the country, especially since it flattened a few dozen massive trees in one fell swoop, and possibly a few animals hidden within the grass and branches. If the concept of it pancaking living beings wasn’t so horrifying, it would’ve been impressive.
Of course, it shocked you how quickly things spread, but bad news travels fast, as they say.
Tala raised her hands defensively.
“There wasn’t electricity involved, it wasn’t my fault! Stop bringing it up!”
“Electricity?!”
You blurted out, and it was too late for Tala. Though he might’ve not really known it, Yoru’s complete disregard for the situation pretty much exposed her.
Not that he really cared.
“Is she a Radiant?”
“No, she’s not. I’m telling you, it wasn’t either of us!”
Tala interrupted, but Yoru kept his eyes on yours, as if she never spoke.
“Before the hand, what exactly were you doing?”
He stared at you, and you couldn’t help but feel uneasy under his piercing gaze as he towered over you.
Then, he looked down, the glimmer of gold catching his attention. In the darkness that enveloped you all, it stood out.
“I– I was swatting flies, okay? They were gathering around us and I–”
“Spare me the details. You were swatting flies, right?”
You nodded.
“Y– yes, yeah, I was swatting–”
“Was your hand open?”
“Yeah?”
“And what about this thing?”
He pointed to your bracelet, which you didn’t even notice until now. Not when you stumbled on your words, hardly able to put together a sentence with how fast he was going.
Unlike Tala, this Yoru guy absolutely did not hold back, even when you were at the peak of your anguish. He seemed overeager to put the blame on you.
“This bracelet? What about it?! It has nothing to do with–”
The words were stuck in your throat once you lifted your hand and actually got a good look at it.
You saw the golden accessory now wrapped tightly around your wrist, hardly moving an inch. Unlike before, when it could’ve easily been mistaken for a necklace with how loose it was. You scratched at it; but it wouldn’t move.
Tala was just as stumped.
“That– that was loose, yeah?”
You awkwardly laughed, struggling to tilt the object. But it stuck to you, like a limb.
It didn’t take long for Yoru to catch on, turning to Tala.
“There’s your problem. You should’ve called Harbour, not me, idiot.”
“Harbour’s not my friend and you know it!”
As they bickered, you struggled with the bracelet. But trying to vigorously rip it away from you shot pain through your arm. Trying to get this off would be like ripping off your finger with no tools.
You couldn’t fathom how this was even possible. How did it even happen? How did it tighten, and when?!
You clenched your fist and worked to take it off, digging your nails under it whilst the two continued arguing about meaningless nonsense.
“The bracelet’s so tiny! How could it have so much power, anyway?!”
“Hell if I know.”
“Really, it also fell on her arm when she first wore it! When did it get so tight?”
As she continued rambling, Yoru felt an odd sensation enter the atmosphere around them. And he quickly glanced behind him, noticing the trees that previously swerved with the wind completely stop, the branches now still as statues.
In the literal sense, the air stood still.
He looked at you, noticing your fist clenched, and you prepared to loosen it.
Then, the shadow of an invisible set of fingers emerged above you.
But just before it could crush you all, he grabbed your wrist and slammed it against the nearby wall, the silhouette disappearing just as fast as it appeared; not before destroying the top portion of the buildings you both hid in between.
“Stop moving that damn hand!”
He shouted, a massive portion of the roof falling behind you. It crashed and splattered into pieces so loudly, the noise deafened you for a split second.
And once it was over, you weren’t given a single moment to catch yourself. Yoru angrily met your gaze, still holding on to your wrist.
“Don’t you dare move a finger, lady. Your hand can squash a quarter of the Philippines.”
Just like that, he let go and stepped out of the alley.
“With me. We’re getting this sorted.”
Like a pair of chicks behind their mother hen, you both mindlessly rushed behind him, blindly trusting his judgement. Of course, you had no choice, while Tala clearly trusted this dude.
“That’s so cool! So, this is like, an artefact? Like Harbour and Astra? You also have that mask, yeah?”
“What are you talking about?!”
Tala stuttered once she remembered you were right there again. And this time, Yoru caught on, annoyed.
She could hardly go a few seconds without blowing her cover now, and it was embarrassing to watch on his end. So, like the honest, no-nonsense man that he was, he made the obvious decision to ease the stress on his dear friend’s shoulders.
“We’re both Radiants part of a secret organisation. And her callsign’s Neon.”
“Yoru!”
Genius.
“Neon? Radiants? Secret organisation?! So, that’s the job you didn’t want to tell me about!”
You met her gaze angrily, furious at her keeping this from you. And of course, she awkwardly chuckled, turning her gaze away.
Shortly after, you clutched your head and massaged your temples, working to ease the aching that slowly took over you.
“Oh god, this is too much for one day…”
Yoru sighed and took out his comb, brushing his hair.
“Yeah? Don’t worry, there’s more.”
❤ฺ·。
Arriving on an aircraft dubbed the VLT/R, you sat right next to Tala– sorry, NEON, still holding your head and staring at the pristine flooring in shock.
Yoru sat in front of you, fiddling with a butterfly comb in his hand. Unlike you, he was completely unbothered. Maybe he had gotten slightly amused by the situation, and your reaction to all of this.
The tension was heavy, and she could tell your head was so close to exploding. NEON needed to calm you down.
“So… what now?”
“Best case scenario, they break the thing off and let her go.”
“Great! Don’t worry, Y/N, you’ll be back to your clerk job in no time!”
Neon said as she clasped her hands together. Yoru, on the other hand, simply raised an eyebrow.
“Tch. You’re excited about being a clerk?”
“It’s a peaceful job!”
You blurt out, meeting his gaze. And he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Right. Must be high paying, too. You smell like you stepped out of a hibachi restaurant.”
…
“Is that a joke?”
“I’m serious.”
You shook your head in confusion.
“We went to a cafe. No restaurant.”
“Liar. I know the scent of a grilled steak with soy sauce on top. All cooked in sesame oil, too. Only a skilled hibachi chef could successfully pull off something that smells like that.”
You blankly stared at him for a few seconds, unable to process all of the extra information. Compared to everything you previously learned, it wasn’t anything important, but you also never went to a hibachi restaurant in your entire life.
Too expensive.
Yoru proudly pointed to his nose, a smug smile on his face.
With how blank his expression was this entire time, this looked unnatural on him.
“I have a good sense of smell.”
“Yeah… I didn’t want to say anything, but I swore I could smell adobo since we left the alley. Fresh adobo! Just the way lola makes it.”
You couldn’t help but giggle, watching Neon lick her lips in excitement at the simple thought of it.
“I think you’re both just hungry.”
“Did you dip your hand in water?”
Yoru suddenly perked up. You met his gaze in confusion, before he pointed to your hand.
And safe to say, you were shocked all over again. Out of nowhere, there was some form of liquid that suddenly started seeping from your skin, dripping down your hand. It wasn’t sweat, either, it was an ongoing flow of clear fluid, like water.
You held it up to your face, confused. It didn’t smell like anything. Maybe it was water?
“I probably wasn’t looking…”
Before another word can be exchanged, you jumped once the VLT/R landed, and the door slid open to reveal a sight that took you a second to process.
In the exit stood two women and one man. The one with the long black ponytail stepped up, a warm smile on her face and her eyes locked on yours.
❤ฺ·。
At first, you thought the one with the ponytail, Sage, would be the one to examine your hand. But Viper instead took it upon herself, since she seemed more qualified when it came to actually studying the human body and such.
It was the next day, early morning, and weirdly enough, it started off better than most mornings. That’s right, you were in the empty cafeteria, getting yelled at by your boss on the phone.
You would say it’s a typical morning, but that would be a lie. Usually, you’d wake up by your extremely aggravating alarm at four, and still be late for work. Or, on the weekends, by the screaming of your younger family members.
“Y/N, I trusted you to have the papers ready by seven! You didn’t even show up!”
“Look, I’m sorry. Things happened!”
“What? ‘Things happen?’ That’s your excuse? You might as well spit on my face while you’re at it.”
You sighed and glanced at the bracelet on your right hand, a jade green tinge slowly overwhelming the gold.
“It wasn’t my choice. You’d know me by now, right? I never miss a day of work. But believe me, just this one time, something really did happen!”
“Unless this vague thing can get my papers done in less than fifteen minutes, it doesn’t really concern me, Y/N!”
You winced at the volume of his voice.
Even if you’d gotten around to completing the task he’d given you, the amount of papers you were entrusted with were enough to complete a book. Logically, you’d need multiple people to complete it.
But he knew that, unlike you, your co-workers would complain about doing this without getting paid for it.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’ll try to find my way back, but–”
“Don’t bother. I might as well fire you, that’ll save me the stress of–”
You noticed a shadow looming over you, looking to your right to find a familiar face.
Surprisingly, it was Yoru; the guy from yesterday.
Pleasantly complementing his generally blue palette were the rays of the sun, painting both him and the cafeteria into a stunning shade of gold.
Had you believed in fairytales, you’d assume the Midas touch was in full effect.
You muted and gave him a tired smile.
“Magandang umaga. Yoru, right?”
<Good morning.>
He pointed to the phone in your ear, your boss’s voice loud enough for him to be audible to the Japanese.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, I missed work and my boss’s mad. Don’t worry, he’ll drop it eventually.”
You’d grown used to his yelling enough to be able to guess exactly what he’s talking about. And thus, you were able to have a conversation without missing anything.
And by the blank look on Yoru’s face, he wasn’t impressed.
“You might as well quit.”
You tittered and turned back to the phone, but he caught your attention once more.
“I’m serious. You’re not going back to civilisation with that thing on your wrist.”
“I live paycheck to paycheck, you know. If I quit, I’ll be out on the streets!”
“You’ll be living here, lady. There’s no ‘bills’ anymore.”
His tone slightly shifted towards aggression. And though you were taken aback, you were already overloaded with stress enough to let it slide.
“Even if I wanted to quit, he won’t take me seriously! Maybe if I keep nagging him for like, a week, but not now.”
“Best I can do is two minutes.”
You stared at him for a moment, before tilting your head.
“You can get me out in two?”
“Want me to?”
He really thinks he can get to someone as stubborn and talkative as your boss, huh?
As much as you didn’t want to, you really didn’t have much to lose. Even you knew that they wouldn’t let you out so soon after flattening a hill by accident.
And so, with an eager nod, he immediately. stretched out his hand towards you.
“Hand me that.”
You did.
He took a few steps away, and you shifted in your seat as he walked towards the centre of the cafeteria, anxious.
“Hey, listen here.”
Yoru slightly raised his voice.
Though he was a metre away, you could hear the boss’s ranting immediately get interrupted.
“This is her friend. She quit. Sorry.”
The air stood still for a few seconds, before he started talking again, clearly furious.
And knowing how much he liked to rabbit about, Yoru had gotten sick of his voice within a few seconds, judging by the way he furrowed his brow.
Probably bringing up the papers he entrusted you with.
“Not her problem anymore. Figure it out.”
Just as he began ranting again, Yoru quickly spoke up.
“Yeah. Too bad. Bye.”
And just like that, he closed the call and handed you the phone.
To say you were shocked would be an understatement. More specifically at how blunt he was, telling a powerful man to shut his trap like that.
“Juskó, uh, are you– are you sure he won’t–”
<Oh my god,>
Just as you said that, your phone began ringing once more, and it was exactly who you expected.
“Do I answer?!”
“Tch, no? Block him.”
“But what if he gets mad? Like, what if he does something?”
He rolled his eyes and moved to the fridge.
“Y/N, you’re an active threat to humanity until you get that hand under control. Relax.”
Oh, right. The bracelet.
You stared at the phone ringing in silence, many thoughts overlapping in your mind.
Though you were shocked to your core at what he’d done, Yoru didn’t seem bothered whatsoever. He simply made his breakfast like this was a typical morning for him.
Taking your phone into your hand, you hesitantly closed the call.
It began ringing again. And this time, you took his advice and blocked him.
Once you did, the calls stopped coming.
And it was as if a few tonnes of metal were lifted off of your shoulders, taking in the silence once more.
Wow… This must be what serenity feels like, beyond a word slapped on top of a pretty image on Google.
“So… what happens now?”
“What?”
“I just quit my job. What do I do now?”
“You work for Valorant now. Did Viper test out that arm yet?”
You looked at your hand where the ‘bracelet’ sat. Only now did you notice the colour.
There wasn’t a hint of gold anymore. It was fully green, and it didn’t glimmer like a gem.
Also, they numbed your arm so that you wouldn’t accidentally crush the base.
“I guess. I don’t remember what she told me. I blanked out halfway through.”
Yoru scoffed.
“They’ll figure that out, first. Then, after training, you’ll get on missions with us.”
You looked up at him, watching him take out a few eggs and wash them.
“Missions? Like what?”
“Depends. Other than squashing, what can you do?”
You turned back to your numb arm. And this time, you lifted up to the table, allowing the sun to shine and give you a clearer view of the bracelet.
It was hard to remember, and you left Viper’s synopsis back in Neon’s room since you ran out when your boss called.
“I think she said I can make smells, or whatever.”
“Tch, what?”
“Yeah, wait– I remember now! The water from my hand, apparently it’s nectar and it has a scent. Viper said it smells like fruit, and there’s someone else, she had a big ponytail. She said it smells like… mountain air.”
“Mountain air? Yeah, that checks out.”
You followed his movements, watching him wash a bowl and a pan.
Was he mocking her?
“What does that mean?”
“Sage was a monk, I think. Probably meditated on a mountain.”
He turned on the stove and immediately got to cooking, cracking the eggs.
“Monk? That’s… new.”
The people here sounded like unique individuals. First, Viper, whom you recognised from the awards she won years ago. Now, a monk.
“Explains the hibachi smell yesterday.”
He commented and you smiled to yourself, remembering his eagerness as he explained the intricate details of the meat.
Him, and Neon.
So, the smell differs with everyone, you thought. But you seemed to be immune to it.
Then, there was a delectable real smell that ripped your attention away from your thinking and back onto Yoru.
Surprisingly, it was from his food.
“What’s for breakfast?”
“Tornado omelette.”
Tornado omelette? Unique breakfast, you thought.
“Mind sharing?”
“I do, actually.”
You paused for a moment, quickly growing disappointed once you understood.
“Awe, really? Lame.”
“Yeah, I only cook for people I like. Sorry.”
His apology didn’t sound genuine. But, to be fair, nothing that came out of his mouth sounded genuine.
‘People I like’, he said. Did you even need to ask to know that his list of liked people was minuscule? Just look at him.
“Do you like anyone here?”
“No.”
He answered with quickness and you rolled your eyes and sat back.
But then, you promptly remembered what he did.
Yoru shut down your boss with no more than a few words, and practically freed you within a few minutes of meeting you. So really, how could you be mad at him right now?
This was one of the rare interactions that didn’t go horribly wrong.
You looked at him. Well, the back of his head, since he wasn’t facing you whatsoever.
“Hey, Yoru?”
“Yeah.”
You smiled.
“Thanks for helping me out.”
…
“Don’t thank me.”
He said. And again, you were taken aback.
It didn’t sound like a humble statement, either. He genuinely sounded uninterested by your gratitude.
What kind of philosophy does this guy follow? You thought, but it felt like it was too soon to judge.
❤ฺ·。
“I can’t believe you’re getting your own room already. You should’ve said no, and we’d have sleepovers every night!”
Neon said excitedly as you scanned the updated paper in your hand. Her voice echoed through the cafeteria you both sat in, since it was empty despite it being late in the afternoon.
It’s not like you’ve seen anyone other than her and Yoru, and Viper who took you in for a few hours before letting you have your break.
“Tala, two can barely fit on that bed.”
“But with a promotion, I can make it a king-size.”
She winked, and you couldn’t help but force an eye roll at this, looking down at the paper again.
“Also, it’s Neon. You’re not really allowed to use real names around here, remember?”
“You guys call me by my name all the time.”
“They haven’t picked a callsign for you yet! I’m thinking it’s something about gems. Maybe… Psh, I dunno, gold? Mineral?”
“Mineral? What am I, baby food?”
Neon laughed, taking her smoothie into her hand.
“Fair enough. Anyway, did you meet anyone yet?”
You wordlessly gestured to the cafeteria around you, as if to remind her there’s nobody.
And it’s not like she caught on, she blankly stared at you as she took a sip.
“Valorant’s emptier than I thought. Are you and Yoru the only ones here?”
“Oh! No, no way, there’s plenty of us! They’re on missions right now.”
Amidst your crowded and exhausted mind, the only people you remembered were Viper and the other monk lady. But were you about to admit that, out of all of them, Yoru took control of your mind effortlessly?
Well…
You put the paper down and sighed, smiling.
“I talked to Yoru this morning…”
Neon raised an eyebrow as she sipped her smoothie, watching your previously tense posture shift.
“What’s his deal?”
“What do you mean?”
You turned your gaze away, unsure how to tell her.
“I don’t know. He's nice, but also vulgar at the same time.”
“Oh! Yeah, I know what you mean. Yoru’s just that type of guy, you know? Lone wolf and that edgy stuff. He’s a rude-ass, but if you don’t mind that, he’s chill.” she brought the straw up to her lips as she spoke, “Did he do anything?”
“He told my boss off, and I don’t have a job now.”
She nearly choked, clearing her throat and pulling the drink away.
“Your boss? The same guy who–”
“YES. The same guy who convinced me unpaid overtime is legal, okay? Don’t remind me.”
Neon laughed, taking a quick sip. And this time, she was mindful not to spill a single drop.
“Did he share his food with you, though?”
“Uh, no?”
“Then he doesn’t like you.”
…
What?
“Is this an ongoing thing?”
“It is! Yoru’s like, the best cook here. Nobody can top him, but nobody can get a taste either. I’d kill to try his homemade soba!”
She said as she licked her lips with the same excitement she harboured for her lola’s adobo.
You beamed at this, sitting up once more.
Nobody can get a taste either, huh? And Neon’s overeagerness combined with the tornado omelette you saw earlier, it was clear that his dishes were no joke.
Gordon Ramsay who, right?
But just as you thought you could take on this challenge, you backed off.
No way.
Then, Neon fixed her posture once the sound of heels clicking took over your ears, both of you looking back to see a silhouette familiar to only her.
You squinted, before smiling once you recognised the large ponytail, elegantly swerving with each step.
“Good morning, Y/N. How’s your hand?”
The ‘monk’, as you called her in your mind said, a sweet smile lifting her cheeks. Applying pressure to your fingers, you could tell the drug only now was in the midst of wearing off.
“Still numb, but I’m used to it.”
“Good. Are you ready to go back to the lab?”
You sighed and nodded. But just as you stood up, so did Neon, putting down her now-empty smoothie with a loud clank.
“Sage, did we decide on a name yet?”
Sage. That’s her name.
Well, callsign
“Something came to mind, but we won't get to it until we determine how her hand works.”
She stopped at the doorway, wordlessly gesturing to you both to follow her. And with excitement you definitely didn’t share, Neon made her way towards the healer, trotting with each step.
❤ฺ·。
There wasn’t much of a difference between your old boss and Viper, now that a few hours have passed.
Sure, this time, by what Yoru said and Neon confirmed; you had absolutely no bills to pay and even had vending machines to eat out of and all you had to do was let her study you relentlessly– okay, putting it that way; you sounded like a child.
“This might hurt.”
Viper suddenly twisted your wrist, forcing you to take in a sharp breath. Just a few more inches, and she’d definitely rip a few tendons.
Thank god your hand was still numb.
“No, that’s fine– go ahead.”
You said with an awkward giggle, but she didn’t change her focused expression.
And like an orange, more of the transparent nectar slipped out. And using her pipet, she aspirated a considerable amount of it, before emptying out on a vial. Then, she repeated this process, until it was full.
“Sheesh, Y/N. Are you a sadist?”
“Sadist…?”
You said in confusion.
Viper pulled away, side-eyeing Neon as she worked on the sample, and you quickly clutched your wet hand to relieve the pain.
“I think you mean masochist.”
“Tomato, tomato.”
Viper inhaled the scent of the nectar. And to your surprise, her face twisted to disgust; a major contrast to the serene expression you evoked from her and Sage just the day before.
“The smell keeps changing. What’s with that?”
“How? Didn’t it smell like fruit yesterday?”
“Yes, but it’s like…”
She pulled down her surgical mask and smelled it once more.
…
Viper shook her head.
Clearly, she knew the answer, she just didn’t want to say.
“Neon, smell this.”
Neon stepped up to the counter and took a deep sniff, before coughing and pulling away.
“Why does that smell like– bleh, it smells like a bunch of electricity!”
You stared at her in confusion, and she took another deep inhale, clearing her throat.
“Yeah, it’s like, it’s kinda like I stuffed my face into a thunderstorm and smelt it, you know? It– it doesn’t make sense, I know!”
“Probably shouldn’t have only one person to test the sample.”
Viper sarcastically noted as she hurriedly closed the vial. This, of course, earned an odd look from you.
“Wait– but yesterday you said that the smell was good. Why’s it bad now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s linked to emotion. How do you feel right now?”
You blinked.
“Uh… Fine, I guess?”
Just as you said that, there was a loud yet unfamiliar knock on the door behind you, and you all looked over to see a figure push the doors open and let himself in.
It was a large burly man. Tall, and by god, even though his ocean-blue colour scheme reminded you of Yoru, the aura he emitted with each step was one of confidence and joy you’ve never seen in anyone else, especially not in a workplace.
It was a complete juxtaposition to everything the Japanese was.
“Good afternoon, ladies! How are we doing?”
He called out with an immense amount of charm, being met with a wide smile from Neon.
“Harbour, welcome back! Remember what I told you? We found your match!”
“I thought I heard some ruckus about a new bracelet-wielder around here.”
Harbour. That must be the guy with the bracelet artefact, you thought.
He stopped. And though he met your gaze, your eyes were locked on his arm, his own imposing bracelet taking over half of his forearm with mesmerising patterns, as if it was cuttlefish that would take on different colours to hypnotise prey.
Moreover, it was gold. Unlike the weird gross green tinge you had, it shined brilliantly, harbouring the same confidence as its carrier.
“I take it you’re tired?”
You jumped and looked at him, your lids heavier than a few tonnes of metal.
Clearly, he said a few things you didn’t catch beforehand.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I was– uh, your bracelet’s so much cooler…”
“Don’t say that, I’m sure yours has its own unique–”
“Definitely not.”
Holding up your arm, your hand and fingers numb, you smiled awkwardly as you allowed him to take in your own underwhelming… artefact.
You noticed a shift in his expression as he took a step closer and observed, but his response wasn’t what you expected.
“Wait, is this a plant, or what?”
Only now did you notice the bracelet’s new form. And to say it was incredibly awkward looking, especially compared to Harbour, would be a grave understatement.
To put it in the most flattering way possible, it looked like you ripped out a rose, cut off the top, took the stem and tightly wrapped them around your hand.
It took on a more forest-green colour with a vague cherry red hue surrounding it, a dozen spikes slowly sprouting with a drop of clear fluid on the end of each one of them. Said liquid looked like the nectar your hand would produce, but more contained.
Sure, the green might literally be its ‘stem’, but what plant even looked like this? Besides the aforementioned roses, you couldn’t think of anything else that was red in this way.
“Harbour, before you train her, can you smell this?”
Viper quickly handed him the vial. And once he complied, you noticed his previously amicable expression quickly switch at this.
The scent displeased him. It wasn’t like he was disgusted, either.
It was something else.
“That’s…”
He smelled it once more, before handing it back to her.
“That’s just repugnant.”
“Repugnant? Why, what do you smell?”
Even she was surprised at the word he used.
“I can’t describe it. I– I think you should ask someone else instead. Now, let’s get going, those hands aren’t going to train themselves, are they?”
Barely given a moment to process from how fast he was going, you quickly stood up and followed him.
But why was he so eager to leave the conversation after smelling the vial? You wondered, especially with how quick he began talking.
Just what could be in it?
However, before you could ask, he suddenly perked up with a new topic.
“How long have you been in that lab for?”
“Oh, I don’t know, since twelve?”
“Twelve afternoon? That’s almost six hours. I can’t imagine how suffocating it would be to stay that long. No pun intended.”
You smiled to yourself, meeting his gaze as you each walked down an unfamiliar hallway.
He didn’t say anything funny, you just couldn’t help but share his contagious joy just by the way he’d talk.
Harbour was a massive difference from Yoru, that’s for sure.
“No pun intended? What pun?”
“You weren’t told yet? Viper works with poison. That’s her whole thing.”
“Oh? Poison? But I thought– wasn’t she a doctor…?”
“Doctor? Well, if you consider submerging rats in acid as healing them, then technically she’s a doctor.”
You sighed and rubbed your temples, attempting to move your right hand’s fingers despite barely being able to feel them.
But thankfully, by this time, the drugs had slowly begun to wear off.
“Is there anyone normal around here?”
Harbour laughed and crossed his arms.
“I’ll be the first to tell you, you’re out of luck with that. I can't think of anybody here that’s normal.”
“Looks like I’m the first one, huh?”
Harbour laughed, slapping your back with a considerable amount of roughness, enough to unintentionally hurt you.
But you kept your mouth shut and simply smiled along.
It felt like your shoulder blade was about to break in half.
Every new agent that would be introduced, it would take some time to get used to them, with how unique everyone looked.
But the only unique thing about you was your ‘bracelet’, the dark roots deep within your arm that looked like veins from far away, and maybe your messy bob. Other than that, you looked completely out of place.
Almost to a funny degree if it wasn’t terrifying somewhat.
Harbour then stopped in front of a doorway. Inside, you could hear distant banging. Few and far between, but each one still made you jump.
“What the hell’s that noise?”
“That? Probably Gekko training.”
Gekko?
“What kind of training makes this noise?”
He looked at you in amusement, still grinning.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were normal, huh? Anyway, you’ve spent six hours back in the lab, you don’t want a break before we work on that hand?”
“No, no, no breaks, it’s okay. We can keep going.”
“Are you sure?”
You smiled and shook your head, clearly insisting despite your considerable need to lie down.
It felt like you’d be a nuisance if you prolonged this anymore, so you couldn’t help but cave in.
“Sure. I’m a bank clerk, I can handle anything.”
“Is that so? Can you handle guns?”
You awkwardly laughed, hoping that he was being sarcastic since his cheeky tone supported this notion.
“Oh, please. I get held at gunpoint weekly at work, a little glock isn’t gonna do anything to me.”
“Haha, good one. Alright, come in, we’ll see what you can do.”
You weren’t joking.
He swung the doors open and allowed the air from inside to strongly hit your face like a solid bring, the strong scent of gunpowder entering your nostrils.
And from the figure far away, shooting down a few dozen bots with smoke billowing from the red tip, it wasn’t a smell your hand could produce, that's for sure.
Not since you yourself could smell it.
“Gekko, easy on the Vandal! Give it a moment to cool down!”
He shouted over the shooting, somehow, his deep voice dwarfing the sounds of the bullets.
Enough to earn his attention and quickly comply.
“Hey, coach, welcome back! How was–”
Just as Gekko looked back, he cut his sentence short and smiled as you two approached him, the smell of fire growing stronger and stronger.
“Woah, who’s this?”
He quickly put the gun down, turned his body to face you in order to look more presentable. And by god, you couldn’t help but stare at his neon green buzzcut.
With how exhausted you were, this bright colour managed to wake you up.
“We have a new one to train alongside you. This is…”
“Y/N.”
Gekko beamed at this, clearly excited at having a new recruit already.
“Y/N! What’s up? They didn’t give you a name, yet?”
“Yeah… no. She’s an active threat right now. Names will come after we make sure she won’t squash the base by accident.”
“Squash the base? Like the whole thing?! Jeez, I don’t even want to ask what you can do.”
You sighed.
“You don’t want to know.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t involve the radivore stuff, Deadlock will be on your ass if so.”
He winked with an immense amount of cheekiness, earning an eye roll from Harbour.
But before he could get an earful for somehow bringing whoever that was into this, you heard a gurgle behind him, and a yellow creature emerged from next to his leg, an audible pitter patter with each slow step as it moved to get a good look at you.
You blinked and stared at it.
Were you dreaming, or what?
“Since when were penguins yellow?”
Gekko looked down in confusion, before he glanced behind him and saw exactly what you were talking about. And he couldn’t help but laugh at your assumption.
“No, this is Wings! He’s one of my buddies. You know, he’s part of that radivore thing I talked about.”
You knelt, getting a closer look at the critter.
And he looked adorable. Especially with the armour plates and the purple mask thing he had over his face, complementing his beady white eyes.
“Is he a penguin, though?”
“Noo, no penguins! He’s a whole new thing, you feel me? I dunno what, but it’s… um, you know, I never really thought about it.”
“Maybe you should do the honours of naming the species, Gekko.”
Harbour joked, but Gekko seemed to take it seriously, saying something your tired mind didn’t catch.
Wingman slowly approached, his eyes clearly stuck on the bracelet. Probably since the vein-root thing looked pretty macabre when you spent more than a second observing it.
“Anyway, I’m thinking we take this training outside, like Brim said. Maybe a landscape, what do you think?”
Harbour noted. And Gekko probably said something in response to this, but again, you couldn’t focus on anything other than the mysterious creature in front of you. Also, how much you wanted to sleep.
Hey, things were going well so far, why not enjoy yourself?
“He’s so tiny, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
You muttered. And on instinct, after the medicine wore off, you lifted your right hand to pet him.
“Y/N, I don’t think you should–”
A loud crash, though muffled, suddenly took over all of your ears.
You suddenly were forced up with an immense amount of pressure around your wrists, enough to completely restrict your blood flow.
Harbour had grabbed your wrist and lifted you before anymore damage could be done.
“OKAY. Okay. You know what? I think we’re taking you–”
Then, a portion of the roof to your right tumbled over, squashing at least five bots with a loud bang that deafened each of you. And of course, that wasn’t to account for the debris that suddenly rushed so threateningly close towards you.
All colour drained from your face.
❤ฺ·。
Your entire right arm was drugged.
And despite her best efforts, Neon wasn’t able to convince you to leave her room to meet the rest of the agents, especially her friends, who’d just returned from their expedition. Or even help you forget what had happened.
The only silver lining in this was that Viper hadn’t had the time to assign you your own room. Otherwise, she’d be banging and clawing at your door like a hungry cat.
“Y/N, relax, it’s fine! Harbour said the hole’s only a metre wide, it’s easy to fix!”
“I’M NOT MOVING.”
You shouted, your voice muffled since your hand covered the majority of your face. Mostly the lower part, but I digress.
Since you were sitting on a chair with your arm resting on the vanity table (full of plushies you pushed away), she was able to place a hand on your back in an attempt to reassure you.
“I’m serious, it’ll be fixed in like, a few days. Are you gonna sit here your entire life?”
“Do you know what I heard when I came back here? The white haired one, she said; ‘why’s the training range out of order?’”
Neon knew you were referring to Jett. And yeah, duh, said range was most of the agents’ favourite spot to chill, other than the cafeteria. So putting out of order on your first day…
Mortifying, to say the least.
“It was an honest mistake, Y/N. Nobody’s mad over it. Also we have like, a bunch of robots to take care of stuff around here.”
“I’m not leaving this room, Tala! When I meet those other people, I’ll probably pancake them! The only person who I sorta made a good impression on was Yoru, and that was its own brand of embarrassing…”
Neon took a step back and stroked her chin, suddenly falling into silence for the next few seconds.
Of course, being overwhelmed with the fact you’d crushed a portion of the base, even though Harbour insisted it was his fault for not bringing you out sooner, it took you a moment to realise that she was brewing one of her familiar plans.
Then, she took out her phone and gave you her back, taking a few steps away. And you couldn’t help but let curiosity get the best of you.
“Tala, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Nothing…”
Ignoring the dozen of messages she’d already received from her friends when they noticed her and your disappearance, she quickly opened Yoru’s (empty) DMs and began rapidly typing.
Of course, of all people, he’d be the last to ask about your whereabouts.
‘HEY’
Surprisingly, he went online and saw the message pretty fast.
‘HELP ME GET HER OUT????’
‘SHE DOESNT WANT TO LEAVE MY ROOM CUS OF THE RANGE STUFF’
‘tf do u want me to do’
“It’s this stupid hand!”
You suddenly called out, grabbing your numb wrist and tossing it on the table like it wasn’t a part of your body.
And under the sharp rays of the beach image she’d set to your right, it managed to highlight the roots inside. A few had grown thicker than your very fingers, and travelled through your entire arm towards your shoulder.
Clothes concealed the rest of the details, but did you want to know what it looked like?
Thanks to the medicine, it prevented the bracelet from emitting scent. Otherwise the whole room would stink of electricity or whatever Neon said earlier.
“I wish I could just chop it off! I can go with one hand in life, why shouldn’t I?! I can switch to using my left one, anyway!”
Neon, while texting, laughed to herself.
“Not that I’m saying you should, but– why don’t you? Again, I’m not saying you should!”
You sat back with a deep sigh.
Admittedly, you would never willingly amputate your arm. You weren’t that desperate.
Or brave.
“Viper said the thing’s implanted in my nervous system, or something. It’s stuck to my brain now.”
“Unlucky…”
She nervously mumbled, continuously spamming Yoru with texts upon texts as you spoke.
“Hey, so, unrelated, how do you feel about Sage?”
“Sage? That healer one?”
Neon nodded and turned to your gaze, setting her phone to silent so that you wouldn’t hear the incoming notifications.
She watched you shrug and turn your gaze to the string of pictures and posters hung up in front of you.
“I didn’t see much of her, but she’s nice, I guess. Why’s it always the healers who are nice?”
“What?”
“What?”
“Nothing! Okay, how about this. We talk to Sage, and since she’s nice and stuff, maybe she can help you out?”
You stared at her for a few seconds, before standing up and walking towards the centrepiece of the room, the haven of her plushes and freedom to do the most impossible gymnastics in her sleep.
“Thanks, but I think it’s better if I head to bed.”
“Wait, wait, think about it! She does stuff with her hands, you do stuff with your hands, it’s a match! Right?”
You plopped yourself onto the bed. And like a cocoon, you wrapped the blankets around you, completely concealing yourself.
Neon let out a defeated groan.
“Goodnight, Tala.”
“Bah, you’re such a grandma! Who sleeps at nine?”
“Goodnight!”
You announced, and finally convinced her to give up.
She turned towards the door and closed the lights, before giving you one last look.
“I’m gonna introduce them to you, anyway. When you leave this room, they’ll all know who you are!”
“Sure, whatever.”
“I’m warning you!”
Among the maze you formed with the blanket, you somehow managed to slither your responsive hand out to give her a wave, earning a giggle from her.
“Is that permission granted? Thanks! I won’t disappoint you!”
And with that, the door slammed shut, miniscule particles of dust settling after the impact.
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