Itsy Bitsy Spider

31. Good or Bad

Small footsteps made their way down the sunlight hallways, basking in warmth that felt like a steaming shower after a hard night. Skin cracking, renewing; refreshed. It was nice. They pattered up and down stairs, sometimes pausing to gaze out a window at the pure blueness of the sky. Unlike everything that had happened, it almost seemed peaceful; serene.

It felt like an eternity had passed, and Rein found it hard to believe it had only been a few days. So many—no—everything changed. The Chain User, Uvo, Paku, Chrollo, and her entire knowledge of the world as she knew it... everything had gone wrong so quickly. So she was comforted to know that there were still people by her side. All the Spiders that tried to comfort her, even if nothing helped. And that new person, Lucky.

Who, come to think of it, she had no idea who he was or why he was here.

She was close to bursting with questions, but she supposed the others could wait so she could address the more immediate one. But who should she ask?

"Tch. You too slow."

A frustrated pant. "I'm trying!"

Rein quickly made her way to where the voices were, and stopped short upon seeing the sight. Feitan, standing as tall as he could, exasperated. Lucky, on the ground in a push-up position and going as fast as his long dangly arms would allow. His middle was sagging just a bit too much to be good posture, and his face was turning red every time he pushed up. It was evidently clear he was struggling.

He paused to seemingly adjust his plank, but was what Rein suspected was actually just an excuse to take a break. Sweat dripped down his slim jawline as he spoke. "Do I really have to do all this for Nen? I don't even want to."

Feitan looked on disapprovingly. "Talking not make you go faster."

Lucky threw a defiant glance his way before giving in and easing into another push up before Feitan could punish him for slacking off.

Now, one has to understand that Lucky is a tall person, and Feitan happens to be... quite the opposite. All on his own, Lucky stands at over a head and shoulders above the top of Feitan's. Add in his dusty sneakers and mussed hair, and he practically towers over the Spider, his four o'clock shadow enough to fit three whole Feitans. Feitan claimed to like his height, but perhaps something could be seen in the way that he'd forced Lucky to do exercises that require him to stay with his hands glued to the ground for well over an hour, while he stood and looked down upon him, issuing orders.

With a final push, Lucky once again lowered himself to the ground, but instead of getting up, he stayed there, done.

Feitan sniffed. "Ten more."

"No!" His cheek still pressed limply against the concrete, Lucky pointed a finger up at him without taking the extra effort to raise his arm as well. When he spoke, it was between short breaths. "I did all one hundred. I counted. I'm getting a degree in math. You can't trick me."

Feitan just rolled his eyes in response.

Rein cleared her throat, not exactly sure how to ask about everything at once. Their gazes shifted to her. "So. What are you doing?"

"Oh. Hey, Red." Lucky gave a small wave from the ground before his eyes fell to her wrist. With a pant, his already tired eyes softened a bit. "You're wearing the bracelet."