Chapter Text
What appeared from the corner of the hall was not what Zanka had expected. A ginormous Rudo rolled in front of both Zanka and Dazai.
Dazai couldn’t hold it in and toppled over laughing at the absurdity of this. He grew to a fifty times his size because of that candy! Guess he really should’ve stayed.
Rudo took up the entirety of the hallway. Zanka looked up to his face.
…It really was Rudo.
“Who the hell fed ya the entire diner hall?!”
“Didn’t think I asked for insults.” Rudo responded with a voice that shook the entire hallway.
“Move! Move!” Voices spoke behind Rudo. Dazai guessed they were trying to squeeze past this monster of a boy.
-
A hundred laps later, they had finally gotten Rudo back to his original size. How? Dazai got a free whistle, and everyone else got free will.
In other words, everyone took turns rolling Rudo around as Dazai blew the whistle to signal round changes.
After taking a much needed break, they gathered in the basketball court for ‘training.’ As if Chuuya needed any of that. He was pretty sure Zanka saw enough during that fight with the raider. But still, the others had wanted to see how it worked so he had no choice.
Dazai, on the other hand, was not looking forward to working again. Now he’d have to make it interesting.
Enjin, and Riyo both sat on the bench and watched as Chuuya crouched down next to a pile of trash. He picked up an old looking vase and used his ability to make it float in the air. He’d much rather spar with someone who had skill, preferably someone who didn’t have a kink for getting beat down. Chuuya wanted to feel actual victory.
He turned around to see Rudo gripping a dagger in his hand, staring intently at it. Right, he didn’t know how to use his vital instrument. Still seems a little much.
Zanka was standing right behind him, watching over Rudo. He was supposedly their ‘teacher.’ He hadn’t exactly taught Chuuya anything he didn’t already know, and he likely never would. Chuuya knew all there was to know about his abilities. Even the parts he didn’t enjoy using.
“Need me to bleed out?” Zanka said sarcastically. Maybe there was more Rudo’s instrument than just grabbing any old object.
“Man’s got so high on sweets he’s got performance issues!” Enjin commented from the bench, laughing as he did.
“Thought we were here to gauge out your power, not the effects of an all-sugar diet.” She paused to look him over. “Glad you got a neck again though.” Enjin erupted in laughter at the comment.
Zanka sighed, thinking over what to do. As soon as he thought he had something, the thought shattered, along with the vase Chuuya had floating in the air.
Chuuya looked up at the boy who was touching his shoulder with newfound irritation.
The arguing began, and Zanka was getting sick of it. He was trying to help Rudo and these two were not going to make it easy.
Rudo looked at both of them with a deadpan. Again? They’re like cats and dogs. Can they not get over it already? Because of it, they ruined a perfectly good vase he could’ve fixed up…
Zanka, running a hand over his face, finally had enough. He spun around and pointed Lovely Assistaff straight at them both, making them both pause their verbal attacks.
“If yer gonna start fighting again, leave.” Zanka spat. Pretty soon he’d have to at least explain vital instruments to these guys too, which in all honesty, Zanka didn’t even want to think about.
“Ohhh Chuuya, you got him mad.” Dazai teased, leaning back to avoid anything being flung at him.
“Chuuya, doesn’t it feel weird for ya when he touches you?” Rudo asked. Earlier when Dazai touched Chuuya to make the vase shatter, it looked like it didn’t faze him.
Riyo leaned forward to listen in. “Damn, kid’s right. He had a pretty big reaction earlier.” She thought back to the whole candy incident. Rudo flinched pretty hard at first contact, and not experiencing it herself, she found herself curious on what it felt like.
Enjin was leaned back in the bench, listening in to the whole thing. He huffed out a laugh. “Keep askin’ questions like that and I’ll start considering writing recommendations for your next job as a detective.”
Rudo wished. Maybe then he could’ve provided some solid evidence for himself so he wouldn’t have been thrown down here in the first place.
“He’s always fuckin’ touching me, obviously I’d be used to it.” Chuuya got up off the ground to sit on the bench beside the one Riyo and Enjin were on. He just needed a moment without Dazai getting on his nerves.
Dazai grinned at the sight. He knew his dog would cover for him. How kind, he didn’t even have to make him this time. “It’s true. Chibi and I are always in close range after all!”
Rudo knew he wasn’t lying. Dazai practically hung off Chuuya’s shoulder, and if not, the other way around. They’d probably been on the ground longer than himself, having time to try out their vital instrument tons of times. He turned his attention back to the dagger in his hands. If this could just work already. If he just focused harder.
Dazai grabbed a small teacup from the pile of trash. Despite how dirty it was, he could see the floral design with the leaves along the edges.
Probably no flowers down here, huh? Rudo was the only other person here that was a spherite, other than himself and Chuuya. Maybe he could get some info on his side of the whole thing and that’d give him more to work with?
Zanka stood Lovely Assistaff up in his hands. She was no longer being pointed at them. Zanka wondered how he was even going to teach this brat. First, he should find out just how Rudo’s instrument works, he’ll figure out Dazai’s later.
Zanka glared down at Dazai, who was now staring at a half broken teacup too intensely. He relaxed himself a bit before bringing his hand between the teacup and his face, snapping his fingers.
“‘M sure dirty glass ain’t that pretty.”
Dazai took his eyes off the teacup and looked back at Zanka with a smile. “Then you just haven’t seen what I have.” He turned the teacup in Zanka’s direction, pointing at all the designs. “Do you guys have givers to paint or what? Such art should be admired no?”
“And ya think now is the time to?” Zanka looked back over to Rudo. “Shut it, or yer goin’ on the bench next.”
“How violent.”
“What’d I just say?!”
“Dunno. It’s been sooooo many seconds since what you last said.”
“Easy there, you’re gonna burst a vein, Zanka!” Enjin yelled over from the bench. These two would make such good friends.
“I’m really not in the mood to deal with yer shit.” Zanka, reminding himself of what Enjin said, and took a breather. “On the bench already.”
“I dislike tyrants.”
“I dislike you! Seriously, who the hell raised ya?!”
Dazai’s response was a smirk on his face to infuriate Zanka further. Good. Zanka should dislike him. They all should. Walking over to Rudo, he gently put his finger on the blade of the dagger he was holding onto so tightly.
Rudo pulled the dagger away in an instant, looking straight at Dazai with a glare. What was this dude’s problem? Was he trying to get himself cut?
“You’re not gonna get anywhere having a staring contest with a dagger.”
Rudo frowned at the comment. Dazai wasn’t wrong, but how else was he going to get it working?
“I don’t see you comin’ up with something better.”
“And I don’t see that red glow, or crazy transformation yet.”
“Really, dude?! Why do you always have to say something?!”
“I’m just stating a fact.” Dazai thought for a moment. Considering these vital instruments of theirs had a special connection to them then maybe it had something to do with his personality. Considering how much he cared about Gris’ talisman then—
“Who we are as people define our giver powers…” Zanka began, “so then, you fix things. But you can’t fix something that isn’t broken.”
Exactly. Enjin did mention Zanka was the best at using vital instruments after all. “Just what I thought! Great minds think alike I guess.”
“What?”
“Oh nothing.” Dazai flicked back over to Rudo. “Since you won’t need that little thing there, you wouldn’t mind handing it over?”
It was the way he spoke. Handing a blade to the guy that provoked a masochistic psychopath earlier? “Yeah, no.” Rudo said as he put the dagger in his other hand facing away from Dazai, walking over to the pile of trash next to Zanka.
“Were you seriously expecting him to just hand it over?” Chuuya spoke with an exasperated expression from the bench.
“Uh, yeah? I could’ve stabbed myself with that.”
The more Dazai thought about that sentence, the more he realized what a terrible idea that was. Imagine the pain. Well, that could be fixed with ending it quick.
“And that’s literally why he didn’t give it to ya.”
Chuuya leaned his arm on the other side of the bench so there wouldn’t be any space for Dazai to sit. Yeah, we’ll see who’s the dog now. The one sitting on the floor or the one sitting on furniture.
Riyo watched as Rudo gazed over the different broken or rusted items. He had tossed the dagger near the back wall. Dazai probably didn’t notice since he was still having his little banter with Chuuya. Why would he even need that dagger when he could disable vital instruments?
She leaned her head back on the bench and turned her head to Enjin. “Y’know, after what Zanka said in the whole bath house thing, everything Dazai’s been saying’s just coming together.”
“Yeah, I was thinkin’ the same.” Enjin kept his eyes on Rudo as he once over a few items.
“Emo little dude.” She smirked. From what Riyo heard and seen just now, the part when Dazai was grabbing the glass from the mirror made a whole lot more sense. They found themselves another self-destructive coworker.
“Black clothes for a reason. August knows his stuff.”
Rudo crouched down to look more closely at the pile of items in front of him. He could totally fix these up and have them looking shiny in an hour at most.
Zanka stood by and watched as Rudo sorted through the pile of trash in front of them. Across from Rudo he spoke. “Grab whatever speaks to you and try again.”
Rudo hesitated before digging his hands in and gently moving the items around.
All the items spoke to him.
But one in particular stood out like a sore thumb. He picked up a triangle looking shape from the pile. This was it. The way it felt in his hands was perfect.
Riyo and Enjin both got off the bench to see the item Rudo picked up. They both stood behind him on either side.
Enjin was confident in zanka and his abilities in this department. Therefore, this was going to work.
Rudo held onto the triangle tightly, and not too long after, a red glow enveloped the object. He held onto a tad bit tighter. This was working.
Chuuya watched as the light grew brighter from the bench, almost tempted to go up as well to watch. Finally the glow died down and what was left was a black, sharper triangle, with a red shine. The weapon looked sick.
Chuuya decided to get up and let Dazai have the bench since he didn’t need it anymore, and the bastard deserved nothing more than what Chuuya deemed useless.
As Chuuya got up, Dazai plopped down where he was just sitting and grinned idiotically. Annoying. Chuuya swears the universe only brought Dazai here to piss him off.
Whatever. That could wait after he took a look at the instrument. Clearly their giver powers relied on personality so how is Chuuya going to personalize his gloves with gravity? Is he gonna have to make up some shitty sob story too? Chuuya settled for standing next to Riyo to observe.
“Give it up for Zanka and his keen insight.” Enjin smiled at him. “Couldn’t have done it without ya. Excellent work.”
Chuuya didn’t miss the smile that grew on Zanka’s face from the praise. It was kinda wholesome to be honest. Maybe working here wasn’t too bad.
That only lasted a second until Zanka fixed his expression and looked off to the side. Chuuya clearly saw it was an attempt to hide how that made him feel. Nonchalant wannabe. It almost made him smirk.
“We average folk gotta work double the effort of natural talents. That’s why our brains are more developed.” Zanka spoke as if that were a fact of nature.
“Thanks Zanka.” Rudo replied as he admired the weaponized triangle now in his hands.
Zanka face of pride shifted into one of exasperated irritation. “Shut up before you give me another reason to slap you. Now start grabbing stuff. Starin’ at it won’t help you, man.”
Rudo quickly began rummaging through the items, grabbing a teapot next. The teapot transformed as well, revealing its now sharp handles, and new sleek look.
Chuuya peeked over Riyo’s shoulder to see Rudo now grab a third object. A creepy looking doll of some sort. Some voodoo shit if you asked him. He saw Rudo work his instrument, making the doll black and different shades of red. And somehow, a lot more intimidating.
Zanka commented on how much of a cheater Rudo was for being able to use multiple vital instruments, but before he could finish his sentence, it seemed as if Rudo’s body itself couldn’t handle it.
He collapsed.
The blood from his nose splattered onto the floor as he fell back.
Chuuya lowered his head to stare. Least he’s not fully out. It’s pretty pathetic how a kid with multiple instruments is what surprises these people.
“You good…?” Chuuya asked in mild curiosity, at most.
Although Rudo was technically conscious, Chuuya’s words went in one ear, and out the other.
Enjin crouched down beside him, keeping Umbreaker on his lap. “So one too many instruments and he starts gushing.”
“That sucks.” Riyo replied, putting a hand on her hip.
Chuuya narrowed his eyes on the gloves. “Aren’t the gloves the ones doing damage?”
“Yup. The quality must be insanely good to do that much damage to ‘im.” Enjin responded as Rudo finally came back and pushed himself off the ground quickly.
“Ugh…what?”
“Like I said, time and TLC’s what makes a vital instrument.” Enjin paused to open Umbreaker, leaning it against his shoulder. “The more ya give the more seasoning. And the more seasoning, the better quality.”
Shoot. Was Chuuya supposed to be showing more love to his gloves? These freaks were obsessed with random items so he guessed he had to match that. He cared for his gloves, obviously. They helped him keep his cool, but he cared for them as an item, cleaning them regularly and all. Is he supposed to kiss them goodnight?
No, that was too far. Deeply connected object. That’s all.
Dazai watched the scene unfold to the far left of him. Rudo was on some emotionally rooted breakdown probably on why his instruments broke down instead of staying intact. If they were using how Rudo thought, the instruments most likely broke down because that was all they were needed for.
Rudo’s power gave the junk a second chance at usage, and after that, duty fulfilled. They’d then return to dust.
When would his duty be fulfilled?
Dazai glanced over the three dark red instruments on the ground near the group of people.
If Dazai were to nullify one of the objects every time Rudo made a new one, would it prevent him from collapsing? Infinite weaponry. He liked the sound of that. Him and Chuuya could absolutely use that to their advantage.
“You give it a chance to fulfill its true purpose, which is very rad.” Riyo acknowledged. Rudo’s power was something new to them all, giving him a little ego boost would push him in the right direction.
“I think yer right. Gris’ talisman only fell apart after Rudo felt like he was safe.” Zanka added on.
Enjin got off the ground with a smirk on his face. “Looks like we found out a pretty important part of your power, Rudo.”
Rudo watched as Enjin continued, “Recycling. You see the potential in broken items and manifest it. Then, you lay them to rest.”
Enjin closed Umbreaker to set the tip on the ground and hummed. “Thanks for that observation, Riyo.”
Rudo took a moment to process the information. So that meant…
“It means you didn’t break Gris’ talisman, or anything else ya transformed for that matter. You let them go out in a final blaze of glory.” Enjin added, mostly to rub off Rudo’s doubts.
“So turns out all that whinin’ during the fight really was for nothing.” Chuuya recalled the time Rudo basically had a small breakdown over breaking that talisman. Yeah, he got poisoned, that was mostly the reason for the breakdown, but those emotions were still too much to be fake.
Rudo’s head snapped toward Chuuya. “Hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you were being a wuss about it.”
“I got stabbed by a poison filled metal blade?!”
“And guess who fought the guy wielding the poison filled metal blade?! Couldn’t have toughed it out a little longer to help?!”
“I had him for a hot minute while you were busy having your tantrum with that guy!” Rudo pointed at Dazai.
Enjin wasn’t even going to bother breaking this up. He laughed and only continued to encourage the fight. “Nah, man. You were out like a light!”
Rudo’s face flushed slightly. He didn’t seriously get taken down that easily right? He swore he stood his ground. “No shit, he pumped me full of whatever crap was in his vital instrument!”
Dazai was kept entertained by their little face off. Chuuya was so obviously winning this fight. Rudo got knocked down pretty quick by mere poison, so then he himself actually had to do something! Does this kid have any idea how much work he put into that plan?
A plan he wouldn’t have had to make if Rudo didn’t rely completely on his instrument. If Dazai was the one teaching him, he wouldn’t go nearly as easy as Zanka was. It was such an inefficient method.
Dazai’s eyes began to feel slightly heavy. It was so boring. Maybe he could find a way out of this place and lead a trash beast here, or find that raider guy and bring him here to fight. Better yet, go and join them. He’d convince Chuuya to come with him as well.
Before he knew it, Dazai looked up to see Enjin in front of him.
“Need something?” Dazai put up his usual practiced grin.
“We’re finishin’ up here with Rudo. Wanna go give your instrument a shot?”
Dazai stared up at him. To Enjin, the gaze felt more cold than warm. It was like the kid’s own features were contradicting themselves.
“You’d let me? Earlier you acted like I was some horrifying beast for having this power.”
“It’s not everyday we see anything like your power. Or Chuuya’s. Or Rudo’s, ah you get the point. Still at least wanna see what ya got. For future missions ‘n all.”
Dazai would also love to test the limits of his powers here. If his ability worked on vital instruments, would they work on trash beasts? How would Chuuya’s ability react with these trash beasts?
“Can I at least try on a moving target then?” Dazai got off the bench to look over where the other three were. Seems like Rudo and Chuuya sorted it out already. He quickly adjusted his uniform slightly.
“Don’t you just gotta touch it?”
“Mhm. But it’s so boring touching an object!”
Enjin smirked, a small idea popping into his mind. “So what? You want someone to tie a string to some of these things and wave it around for ya?”
“It’s a start!”
These guys would never get him.