Ruby Red

8

I exited the car and aimed my path to the entrance of Headquarters. Earlier this morning, I had awoken to a weird creature staring at me in the doorway. I had followed it in curiosity since I needed to get up anyway. It led me to what I found out to be the conjoined dining room and kitchen where Jin, a toddler, and Rindo sat with another boy around my age. He introduced himself as Reiji and informed me of his age at nineteen. We ate a leftover course of meat upon meat which they had apparently eaten last night after I passed out.

    Our breakfast was quiet until Rindo summoned me to follow him out to his car. We both had to return to base so he would provide our transportation. The ride had a peaceful silence as I stared out the window until we pulled up at the large, grey building. I exclaimed my thanks to the man for taking me in the previous night and he replied with the same thing he said before:

    "You're welcome anytime."

    I made my way into Border, not knowing when the two of us separated. I was still wearing Jin's shirt and the shorts I was given. I held my wallet,phone, other clothes and boots in my hands as I refused to wear them in this outfit. That left me walking on the cold, hard ground in my solid black ankle socks.

    My hair was tangled from not being brushed and fell where it wanted. It had lost its clean shine from my tossing and turning throughout the night on the unfamiliar bed. My mascara from the day before had flaked a bit under my eyes but I didn't look like a panda. I still rubbed under my eyes to remove any black spots so I appeared more put together than I was.

'Coming from the girl with no shoes on...'

    I ran my hand through my hair as my trigger granted me access inside the building. I stepped into the brightly lit room and squinted. Two figures suddenly shot up from a lounge table and ran at me; a female followed by a male. My bones were immediately crushed in a hug from the female as she sobbed on me.

    "Where have you been?" She grabbed my shoulders and shook me roughly. "We've been worried sick! Why didn't you come back yesterday?!" With a closer look at Shiori, I found tears in her eyes and teeth marks on her lip from biting it too hard.

    "Rindo contacted Shinoda this morning. I thought he would've told anyone that wondered," I said blandly. She glanced down at my hands.

    "I see Jin delivered your stuff. So you were at Tamakoma?" I nodded and she sighed. "I'm just glad you're okay."

    "Who's clothes are those?" Kazama inquired as his eyes trailed my body up and down.

    "Jin's t-shirt and one of the Operators' shorts." Kazama's eyes lowered into an upset looking squint, but I matched it with my own. "I didn't want to sleep in my good clothes." The male averted his eyes across the room, pouting like a child. I could only roll my eyes at the older male.

    "Can I go to my room now? I need some actual sleep and a shower." Shiori gulped as she retracted her hands from my shoulders but she didn't move from in front of me.

    "At least meet us for lunch." I looked at her skeptically. "Please? We all want to talk to you." She played with her fingers nervously. I sighed and shut my eyes.

    "It wouldn't hurt." Shiori gave me a smile and stepped out of my way. "Now if you'll excuse me." I began walking towards the elevators but stopped as I looked back at the two who had bags under their eyes. "Did you guys stay up and wait until I showed up?" Neither spoke but instead nodded; I smiled at them genuinely. "Thank you for caring about me." I turned back and continued toward the elevator.

赤

    The watch on my wrist read 12:05 and I decided to leave my room to meet with my... team?

    I had returned to my comfortable leggings and sweatshirt since I missed their warmth the day before. I made my way to the Headquarters cafeteria and sat at a table as I waited for the other four to appear. The two younger boys showed up first, both both sliding into the red booth beside me. The two remained silent and nervous. Soon after, Shiori and Kazama approached together.

    My throat dried as I questioned why they were together in my head. I shook it off because I trusted Shiori. And she's definitely not the type to do that to me.

    We were all sitting; not eating or talking. I looked around the group, hoping to catch the eyes of one of them, but their irises remained glued to the light brown table. I released an exasperated sigh.

    "Are you guys going to talk or sit here in silence and continue wasting my time?"

    "Sorry," they all mumbled.

    "We're all sorry... for what happened yesterday," Shiori spoke up. "And for how you've been treated this past week. We don't want you to leave the team. We need yo-"

    "Seriously? Shiori is the only one who ever speaks for the group. I want and actual discussion from you guys. Otherwise, I'll leave." I rested my chin upon my interlocked fingers and stared them down.

    "She just likes taking the lead on things. Big deal," Kikuchihara complained. I glared at him.

    "Can something other than an insult come from your mouth? Respect even those below you," I spat my lecture at him. "And Utagawa, you're way too quiet all the time. Just speak!" I met a similar pair of ruby red eyes. "And you only ever talk to me to interrogate me. I'm free to do as I like, whether you're my captain or not. I'd like to talk to all of you as friends, but you never let me. That's not a team I want to be apart of."

    "How can we persuade you, then?" Kazama asked.

    "Prove to me that this is a team that I can build up and think of as a family. That's what a team is. Family..." My voice trailed off as I looked away from the group. "Look, I don't want this to sound like a sob story, but when I first joined Border with my uncle, all I could think about was my future with an amazing group by my side that I could trust and care for. But if I can't get that from you, then I need to move on and keep looking. I thought having already known Shiori would make this easy, but I guess not."

    My expression remained solid since I was trying to get my point across. Normally, a teenage girl with my kind of speech would have watery eyes and a shaky voice. However, as a person of my stature none of that even phased me. I had gained a title by being Shinoda's niece but I earned the respect that I received from others. I wouldn't lower my level for anyone. Not even my only living relative.

    "I want that, too," Shiori mumbled.

    "Me too," Utagawa followed. Kazama nodded for his answer while keeping his eyes glued to the table. Kikuchihara looked between us all.

    "Didn't you say that you didn't want it to sound like a sob story? 'Cause that's exactly what we got." I was appalled but couldn't help but laugh at the rude boy in our group. I grabbed him in a playful chokehold from his position beside me and messed up his hair with my fist. I stopped and allowed him to look up at me from my hold.

    "That's more like it," I said as I winked at him. His face heated up slightly making me smile. "To family," I whispered to myself.

赤

I'm the worst. I'm so sorry for the delay in updates. Also, Kazama Squad has their first Team Rank Battle in the next chapter. Who do you guys want to see them fight? (Has to be reasonable with the timeline). Thank you for reading!