Fairy tales
Title:;Fairy tales
Author:;Akilei
Note:;This was fun~
“Don’t push yourself, Ren, you don’t have any backup this time around.”
“Don’t worry, Aoi-unnie, I’ll be fine,” Ren said assertively, tugging at her double-knotted shoelaces before jumping up, straightening her back so she reached her full height as she stretched, yawning and rubbing her eyes, “It’s been boring lately, we haven’t been able to do anything since you high-schoolers have so many projects, I should probably take this chance for a bit of a patrol, I promise I won’t get into any really huge fights! Plus, all of the shounen anime I've been watching made me want to fight!"
“You say that, but…” Aoi sighed; Ren didn’t exactly have much self control, and she probably wouldn’t think twice before intervening somewhere even if she was alone, “Couldn’t you wait until everyone was done? Why are you in such a hurry? You could at least wait until one more person is available, even if one person isn’t much of an improvement.” Aoi made a face - having someone else with Ren would probably make her even more reckless, but would the extra cavalry make up for it?
“But unniee~ I’m bored!” Ren whined, putting on her jacket and tying her long, red hair up and hiding it beneath a baseball cap and her jacket hood
“..I guess there’s no stopping you,” Aoi sighed, shaking her head, and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, handing it to Ren, “Here, since you don’t have a cell phone. I put everyone on speed dial, so just give us a call if anything comes up. Just try to keep in mind that we still have to finish out homework, okay?”
“Sure, no problem!” Ren tossed the cell phone into her jacket pocket, waving at Aoi as she opened the door and left, “See you later!”
Ren bounced down the streets, blinking up at the flickering street lamps casting the shadows of rustling leaves on the semi-lit sidewalk and walking to the beat of the music from the ear bud hanging off of her right ear, keeping her senses perked for any signs of hostility on the dark streets.
I’ve done pretty well, haven’t I? Ren thought as she surveyed the alleys, reminiscing of her childhood, when her parents never allowed her to go outside after four or five in the afternoon due to the fear of multiple gangs that infested the area.
In seventh grade, Ren had decided to do something about it, after a slight incident between a bully and her friend. She vowed to protect her friends and all of the faintly respectable attendants of the school and members of the community, thus, she enlisted the help of Aoi, a family friend, to help her find a group of competent people to help in her crusade against the gangs.
Now, a year later, they had managed to disperse a good amount of gangs, or at least reduce the amount of violence in the area, since dispersed gang members tended to rejoin different gangs instead of retiring or tried to form a smaller gang, staying in the shadows. By then, there was only one significant gang, which tended to stay in the shadows, probably devising an intricate plan to get rid of Ren and her group.
The leader of that gang was infamous - heartless, strong, smart, respected by everyone, even rumored to be pretty popular with girls. He was probably freaking filthy rich, too. It was absolutely unfair. Ren had to admit - she was jealous. He was everything she wanted to be. Well, not including the heartless nor the popular with girls parts, but the strength and intelligence…
How hard did he have to work for it? Was it natural, genetic? Or did he spend all of his childhood years studying and working out?
No. Impossible. Children didn’t have the attention span or the dedication to work that hard, and she didn’t exactly have any basis for judgment, since she had never met him and she didn’t plan on meeting him.
Ren looked up perkily at the sound of angry voices nearby, pulling out her earphone and turning her music player off as she followed the sound, being careful to stay light-footed so that no one could hear her approaching. The voices got louder, and she could make out the silhouettes of people. She hid behind a trashcan as a spot where she could see their faces pretty clearly, eavesdropping.
“You think you can steal all of our girls and get away with it so easily?” One of the attackers growled.
Oh, was that all? Ren rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered to go down that alleyway.
“Of course not, but I wouldn’t force them to stay with you when someone far superior is available, that would be cruel.”
Wow, this guy really didn’t know how to play the role of a scared, apologetic victim. Ren blinked. Why was she still here? She got up to leave, still staying in the shadows.
**BOOM** Ren winced, freezing midstep.
She never could walk away from danger.
With a sigh, she slipped the phone Aoi had gave her into her pants pocket - that was probably safer than her jacket’s.
“Ah, all done~” Ren said, stretching and wiping her mouth as she looked at the person who she had just ‘rescued.’ He looked like he could have taken care of himself, but those numbers were pretty stacked; they would have been difficult for someone who hadn’t had as much fighting experience as Ren to defeat. “Are you crazy? Actually, no, are you new around here?”
“New? No, I’ve been living here for a few years now,” the guy said smugly, standing up from where he had been enjoying the show off on the side and walking over, putting his arm on Ren’s shoulder, leaning on her, and poking her arm, “Huh. How can you be so good at fighting if you’re stick thin?”
Ren whacked him, stepping away (noting to herself that he was taller than her - she’d have to start drinking more milk), “Are you drunk?” She asked with a look of disgust.
“Drunk?” He chuckled, “Well, this isn’t going very well, is it? Let’s start over. I’m Taeyu, and you are?”
“…Ren,” Ren stepped back warily.
“Aww, no need to be so shy,” Taeyu reached out and put his arm around her shoulders, causing Ren to stiffen, “I know why you saved me back there. Well, honestly, I didn’t need saving, but that was a good effort to impress me.”
“…What? Impress you?”
“Aw, don’t play dumb,” Taeyu smirked, pulling Ren closer, “You saved me because you love me, right? Well, I’m sorry, but I’m somewhat busy, I have a gang to run, you know.” His lips brushed Ren’s jawbone.
Ren shuddered, taking a deep breath to make the chills going down her spine disappear; he was the infamous gang leader? “You…you…” She bit her lip, swinging around and punching him straight in the face, “CRAZY, CONCEITED IDIOT.” She yelled, storming away. She really shouldn’t have gotten into that fight…maybe she should have listened to Aoi’s advice…once in a while, at least.
Ren twitched as that memory ran through her head again. Really, she had managed to completely forget it for a few years. Why did they have to bring in new recruits? They were working perfectly fine.
Well, okay, Dante was an adorable little boy who Ren actually liked, but Kazue…and mostly Kyuki.
Why they heck was Kyuki so similar to that Taeyu brat? How was that even possible? (Skill and determination)
At least he hadn’t pulled the whole “I know you’re in love with me” stunt yet. She reached out to knock on Kyuki’s door, wanting to check if Miaki was in there.
“Isn’t it obvious? Dante’s fallen madly in love with me so he doesn’t want you taking me away, of course.”
Ren twitched, pulling her hand away from the door. Okay, Kyuki was probably even worse than Taeyu. It was a good thing he didn’t talk to her nearly as much as he did Miaki and Dante. She turned away huffily, walking briskly to the cafeteria. Well, she was never going to tell Kyuki she was the Lotus. The last thing she needed was him trying to beat her.
It’d been a while since Ren went on a mission, with the new recruits and such. It was really quite refreshing, going out without anyone to look after and worry about.
She passed the security quite easily - after searching through each room and discovering multiple trick security systems, nothing out of the ordinary, especially since Ren had gone through the same building multiple times. It was somewhat of a tradition for whoever was the richest person in the country to buy the house away and most of those people had achieved it through some sort of illegal action.
This time, Ren just had to find evidence and tell the police the location of the evidence so they would know where to look when they got a search permit. Well, she was also asked, if possible, for her to find some way to make the criminal unable to run away, since most of the past suspects managed to escape to another country.
Ren herself had just started receiving assignments for criminals at that building, and, of course, she had a perfect record, although she only did receive two assignments.
She had just finished locating everything in his office, and had moved on to the bedroom.
However, something about the assignment - and the person she was targeting. She should probably have gotten a clue from the multiple pink, ribbon-wrapped, present-like things in a room she passed by or perhaps the fact that there were just as many sweatpants, sweatshirts, and T-shirts as there were suits and professional-looking clothes.
Well, the faint scent of blood could probably be used as evidence too…or she should at least make a note that it’s there. Ren took out a notepad and wrote it down under her detailed drawing of the room.
“Oh? Another fangirl? I’d really thought that the security system would keep them out. Smart one, aren’t you?”
Ren blinked. It would have been more convenient that he showed up after she had gone through all of the stuff in the bedroom, but it was rare to be so lucky. She stepped back to turn around, but he got there first.
An arm slung around Ren’s shoulder. A really strong arm; she could tell just from a brief contact. Automatically, Ren turned around and hit a point in his shoulder, stepping back as soon as his arm fell off.
Ren blinked in realization, stiffening, before grimacing and saying in an extremely disgusted tone, “Oh, it’s you.”
“Oh? Have I met you before? Sorry I don’t remember many of my fans, just the ones that stick out a lot,” he cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows, as if concentrating on Ren, “Oh, now that I think about it, I do remember a particularly tall redhead, though her hair was much longer. I suppose it isn’t too much of a hassle to cut it, though. Huh, that was all the way back in high school.”
“…Glad to know I’m memorable, and I am not your fan.”
“Of course not,” He waved me off, “Ah, right, you’re the one in denial. Really, you should just accept your love for me; otherwise, it’ll be bad for your health.”
Ren grimaced again. He had just stolen her phrase.
“…You’re right. Do you think you could give me about ten minutes alone, so I can gather up all of the words I want to say to you?” Ren made the best hopeful-looking face that she could.
“Ah, of course, of course, girls need to have their time alone!” He said, walking outside.
...Cocky little idiot.
In five minutes, Ren finished her search for evidence, putting the notepad in a safe spot. Five minutes after that, she had put together a fairly long rant.
“Are you ready~?” Taeyu’s voice came from the other side of the closed door.
“Yeap~” Ren said cheerfully.
Taeyu opened the door and walked in, “Alright, go on ahead~”
“You,” Ren paused, changing to her best love-struck voice, “are so beautiful and handsome and strong and smart, how do you do it? How did you get the money to become the richest in the country, and buy this house? You’re so amazing~!”
“Ah, simple, just a bit of rigged deals and some illegal business,” he said nonchalantly.
Great, Ren thought, I’ve discovered his weakness. She patted her pocket to make sure the recorder was running, then continued, “Really? Wow, you’re so great! How come you haven’t been caught yet?”
“Ah, they’ve sent plenty of forces after me, but none of them had been successful, and I don’t plan on there being any.”
Was that a challenge? Did he see through me? “Wow, you’re so superior!” Ren made a star-struck expression.
“I’ve heard enough,” Taeyu grinned, a satisfied expression on his face, walking over and hugging Ren, “Here’s your prize for today~ Good work~”
Ren resisted the urge to stiffen like usual, reminding herself to play the role of a love-struck fangirl. She relaxed, imagined herself like chocolate melting in the warmth, and took a deep breath, holding it for a while to make her cheeks turn red.
He let go, and Ren stumbled backwards, catching something white sticking out of his pocket.
My notepad. Ren glared at him, reaching for it.
“Nope, nice try, but you aren’t getting this back,” Taeyu smiled. Ren reached into her pocket to find the recorder gone as well. “Nice try, you put up a good act. Though I know you secretly enjoyed it.”
“…” Ren reached for his other pocket, pulling up his shirt slightly to see the subtle shape of the recorder - designed by Yuzuki, of course.
“Oh, you want to see my abs? No problem there,” he reached to take his shirt off.
As he was halfway done, Ren lunged forward, aiming for a series of points that would paralyze him. After one strike, though, she realized - he had a layer of protection around his torso.
“Ah, you couldn’t wait for a bit while I took this padding off? Impatient girl, aren’t you?” Taeyu scolded, smirking. He leaned in and whispered, “Really, give it up already, you’ve lost. Now, why don’t you be a good girl and spend some time with me?”
“…You disgust me,” Ren glared at him, “Don’t think I’ve lost yet.”
“Yes, you have,” Taeyu grinned, “Just look at it. I’m stronger, cooler, smarter, more coordinated, better with technology, did I mention cooler?” He smirked, "This isn't an anime, Ren, the good guys won't necessarily win."
“Oh, yes, of course you’re smarter. That’s why you can’t remember what you were saying three seconds ago.”
“Better than you. You can’t remember what you were saying two seconds ago.”
“…I hate you.”
“Don’t try to hide your love for me now, you’ve already confessed!” Taeyu teased, dodging another punch from Ren.
Ren rolled her eyes, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It was pretty unusual that she was on the offensive side in a fight, and Taeyu seemed to be playing her role pretty well. Ren stopped, glaring at Taeyu.
“What? You want me to switch to the offensive? Do you think I’d let you fight in your comfort area like that?”
“…Where the heck did you find out my comfort area.”
“I can tell just by looking at your motions~” Taeyu said, “Evasive and fluid.”
“…You suck.”
“Alright, let’s make a deal, if you win this fight, you get your notepad and recorder back,” Taeyu paused, cocking his head as a confident smile crept onto his face, “If I win, you…spend the rest of your life here, working as a maid.”
“Oh? You’re into that kind of stuff?” Ren’s eyes burned with determination (and skill), “Well, then, I accept.”
“Great,” Taeyu’s smile turned into a grin as he lashed out with a series of high-speed attacks. Ren managed to avoid each of them. “Hm, impressive,” He mumbled, before he continued, each attack faster than before.
His endurance is… Ren could feel her lungs on fire - she wasn’t particularly good with endurance. It had already been approximately five minutes, and Taeyu was still speeding up steadily.
**SLAM**
Ren felt her back against the wall, Taeyu’s hand next to her head. If she hadn’t dodged that one, he would have slammed her head into the wall. But, either way…
“I win,” Taeyu said with a grin.
Ren glared at him, but didn’t defy. The skill level gap was just too wide. There was no way...
The sound of sirens, slamming doors, and yells echoed through the house. Taeyu looked up in alarm and Ren’s face slowly changed into a smug smile, “Wrong. You lost.”
“What? How…?”
“That notepad you took…was my sketch notepad, you idiot. And the recorder was a distraction - evidence acquired like that can’t be used in courts, anyways.” She looked over Taeyu’s shoulder as the door opened, and a familiar black bear walked in, “Taru~ You’re back~” She stepped to the side and ran past Taeyu, hugging Taru, “I gave my notepad to him during the ten minutes of alone time you gave me~”
Taeyu raised his eyebrows, smiling as the police handcuffed him, “You are an interesting girl.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ren said nonchalantly, already off in another world playing with Taru, “Anyways, I’m off!” She bounced out the door, waving at everyone she passed as she headed to her client.
And there she sat, waiting for him. She played around with the device Yuzuki gave them to communicate to other members of A1, calling Mitsuru.
“I’m bored~ This guy should hurry up and give me my pay.”
“How long as it been?”
-ten seconds later-
“Sh! I’m not Ren right now! I’m the Lotus!”
**SLAM**
“Ren. Ren is…the Lotus?”
Oh, crap.
“Taeyu, you have a visitor,” Taeyu blinked. It had been forever since anyone had every called him anything other than Ishii-sunsaengnim or Ishii-sama. He looked up to see the familiar burning-red hair of Ren.
“Taeyu-hyung~” Ren said cheerfully, “How is it being in jail?”
“…Hyung…”
“Alright, fine, don’t answer,” Ren stuck her tongue out, “I was just wondering…do you know someone named Kyuki Ishii?”
“Kyuki? You mean that little brat of a cousin?”
“He’s your cousin? No wonder why you’re so similar.”
“Yeah. He used to look up to me so much, too. I taught him everything he knows. But then he went and became a bounty hunter.”
“Aww, poor little boy,” Ren reached in and patted Taeyu on the head.
“You know, I think we should still say that I won in our fight, because I always win, and I actually won our little fight, you just won what came afterwards.”
“NO WAY.”
“Aww, you don’t want to work for me?”
At that, Ren’s pats on his head turned into a whack, before she remembered what could possibly be the weakness of the whole Ishii family.
“Hey, Taeyu, do you dance?”
“…Get out. Right now.”
Ren grinned, turning away, “I think I win, then~”