Switches & Spices

Chapter Five

"Please, tell me I'm not late! There was this kid and a cat stuck in a tree and-"

The red-haired hero took a second to catch his breath, crouched over while pressing his hands to his knees, my eyes darting over his form. A rather mobile costume, indeed. His chest and stomach were exposed, his muscular form on display. Curious red gear-like guards were on his shoulders, and his arms were covered by some kind of durable-looking black sleeves.

His long red hair looked a mess behind him, some natural shorter spikes jutting out above his face guard, multiple layers of his hair jutting out the whole way down his back. As he straightened, I noted the R on his belt, a ripped cape coming from the bottom, finishing with dark red boots and black pants.

My lips twitched a little, and I glanced back to Fat Gum, meeting his eyes and seeing his wink, a devious little grin coming to my lips. That was all the permission I needed. I recognized him first off, an absent hope that Tamaki wouldn't feel lesser because of it.

"Ten minutes late is a long time, Red Riot." My voice hardened and official, my arms crossing over my chest as my wings unfurled and fluffed out, hood falling back, struggling fiercely to keep my lips pressed in a tight line and eyes narrowed to appear as menacing as possible.

Tamaki shook next to me, and I peeked to see his face, watching him struggling to hold back his laughter, before looking back to the man in front of me. Good, Tamaki had been snapped out of whatever was keeping him trapped in his head before. Red Riot's jaw slacked, his eyes widening as he stared at me. He flailed his arms around a little in absolute panic before he clapped his palms together, head dropping in a quick bow.

"T-That's so unmanly of me, I'm so sorry! I'm usually on time, early even, I swear!" His pleading tone was bordering on desperation, and I bit my lower lip hard, trembling slightly myself as I contained my snickers. Seeing such a large guy panicking was amusing, to say the least, and I had to fight to keep myself from laughing.

Tama next to me seemed to be holding his breath, his shaking increasing as he glanced at me. Almost as if he was giving a 'he's a good guy' look, to take it easy on him. I let out a slightly shaky breath, letting the tension rise for a bit longer, before nearly growling out.

"Well, you better apologize to the Takoyaki that almost burned because you didn't come in early. For shaaaaaame." I couldn't help the quiet laughter that finally slipped out past my defenses, Fat Gum positively losing it behind me, his guffaws piercing the perceived tense moment.

Tamaki snorted loudly, quickly clasping a hand over his mouth and nose, staggering over to the nearest wall and pressing his forehead against it as his shoulders trembled. It was quiet, but I heard him laughing, softly punching a little at the wall.

"I'M SO SORRY TAKOYA-wait." Red Riot's head shot up soon as both my and Fat Gum's laughter hit his ears, and he blinked repeatedly, staring at me dumbstruck. Then all of a sudden as he caught on, his eyes flooding with relief, arms dropping loosely at his sides as he groaned, wilting forward slightly where he stood.

"I thought I was in trouble..." His whiny tone made me laugh harder, and I stepped forward, gently patting his shoulder with a grin. I played tricks on Hawks all the time, as well as a few other heroes that thought they could get out of situations without any discourse, but this was perhaps a little mean. The sweet bean didn't need to deal with my teasing streak too much. Or did he? Part of that sweet honesty riled up the inner brat in me to the next level. I'd have to temper her just a bit.

"I couldn't help myself... You're fine, Red Riot. Forgive me?" I flashed a warm grin at him, and his head raised, cheeks dusted a soft pink as he grinned brightly back. My eyes instantly locked on those sharp, shark-like teeth, thoroughly distracted by them for a moment, fascinated.