𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀
(𝗻.) 𝗇𝗈 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝖺𝖿𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽.

𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚:
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗬
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Lazy fat pieces of nayye shit.

Maribel grumbled curses under her breath as she ran down the flight stairs to open the door that had rung not once, but fucking twice. It hadn't even been a considerable amount of time since the first bell rang. Not even fucking thirty seconds, she huffed exasperated. yet this impatient ass, unknown bitch had the fucking audacity to not even implement basic decency.

In her haste and annoyance, maribel forgot two very important advice her parents had drilled into her and her siblings' head since birth. Number one was that if anyone was to knock or ring the doorbell, the peephole must be used for obvious reasons. Number two was to never open the door for anyone. Of course, this rule only applied when it came to absolute strangers (postmen excluded) or someone their parents knew but had warned them of, but you get the main idea.

And with her negligence, Maribel had abruptly slammed the door open and realisation struck when the door recoiled heavily. But she was already too late. The bunching up of the rug got caught between the gap at the bottom which caused the door to resist despite her aggressive tugs, further increasing her exasperation.

Another string of curses were uttered within her mind as she used her foot to straighten the medallion rug before opening the door rather harshly. When the door opened smoothly, much to her relief, Maribel's gaze turned to stare at the intruder pensively before blanking at the stranger.

She blinked once. Twice. Then thrice. Oh. The realisation sunk deep. I didn't even check who knocked. Maribel's stomach dropped, before involuntarily stiffening as worst-case simulations played in her mind.

The stranger, much to her relief, seemed too meagre to cause much harm. Maribel inwardly shook off the stereotypical conclusion as soon as it surfaced. This was a commonly practiced tactic used by felons; the cross-dressing of evil as innocence. It was but a mere disguise used by the stranger in front of her to conceal their true identity from Maribel.

Right, Maribel nodded surely. This was certainly a ploy to take advantage of her gullible nature. A ruse to catch her off-guard, kill her for being in the way, rob the house, kill her family to silence them, sell her and her family's organs in the black mar—

Upon realising the extent of danger she actually was in, she determinedly came up with a plan to outdo the scheme of a potential criminal that most likely had backup situated somewhere in case things were to go awry. Maribel blankly met the gaze of the taller girl before her, her cognac brown eyes excluding the air of confusion, contrary to the aloof azure of the criminal's eyes.

Maribel intended to make herself appear gullible. That way, she could use reverse psychology to lower the guard of the trafficker by making it seem as if 'the task is much easier than it seemed'. And the moment the criminal relaxes by celebrating her 'early accomplishment' is absolutely crucial for Maribel.

"Uh," Maribel's voice wavered like an idiot, before she put up the most white-washed accent she could pull out of her clean arse. "How can I help?" Her smile was visibly strained, yet not so noticeable to strangers.

"...." Rather than answering her query, the blonde haired girl seemed to grow displeased with Maribel's disposition, namely her idiotic smile and her poor imitation of a 'white girl accent'. Her cerulean eyes squinted and stared down in supposed distaste, emphasising the perfectly winged liner that complimented well against her facial structures, her tall stature and her pale skin.

If you couldn't tell already, the girl was white herself.

Maribel noticed the sudden spike of hostility, of course. A minor part of her envious of the siren-like beauty, the other becoming a bit self-conscious. Just a bit. She became wary of her floral patterned pyjamas, consisting of her mother's old nightgown that was up-cycled and tailored to sate her figure, paired with some random grey sweats. Her frizzy, unwashed hair in a low bun with two shorter, face-framing ringlets placed behind her ears.

The girl had pretty, long blonde hair, all straight, sleek in a high pony, in place with no frizz. Her outfit consisted of wide navy trousers, a high black turtleneck sweater that covered most of her neck and an umber trench coat that reached to her feet paired with trinkets of jewellery. All of which screamed of opulence.

Maribel's eyes lingered longer than she would've liked it to on the girl's chest. I probably look like some tramp next to this flat-chested runway model girl...

No longer wanting to compare herself to the girl in front of her, she unconsciously clenched the wooden door beside her. The action not going unnoticed by the keen eyes of the blonde, but even so, she made no effort to point it out. The heedless girl was probably startled seeing a stranger at their door early noon.

As the charmer cleared her throat to voice out her thoughts, she was met with the abrupt closing of the door. Yet before it could meet its frame and slam shut, effectively locking her out, the blonde reacted quick. After reaching for the edge of the door, she pushed it open with her strength derived from her athletic career.

Maribel's adrenaline spiked when the criminal resisted the door with surprising force, clearly unprepared for this outcome. But she didn't genuinely think this maybe the day she meets her demise. She leaned her whole bodyweight against the door to close it, but it was all for naught.

The strength behind her was overwhelming.

And something told the darknette that if the blonde had really bothered to try, Maribel would've been easily overpowered. Shit! Why you wasting your beauty being a fucking trafficker when you could've made bills being a model?!

"Wait—!" the blonde called out, her voice uncharacteristically deep for a woman. "It's just me, raconteuse!"

"...huh."

Maribel was inwardly grateful it was just Kaiser. Because if it wasn't, her organs would've been distributed across the market by now.

(translation briefly implied)

"Yendi eneku collalai ondreh kutali varalne?" Maribel's mother stretched out with hand gestures, clearly enraged that her daughter had not informed her of her friend's visit. "hah?"

"Iperane sonen na marendutenne." Maribel repeated that she had forgotten about this invite. Perhaps it would've been better if the person was a trafficker instead of Kaiser. Actually, no.

"Adipavi! Maradi-a?" Her mother held her temple melodramatically before asking sarcastically about Maribel's forgetfulness. "Chinai vaisile ennai maradi?!" She demanded in outrage to know what forgetfulness existed in youth.

"...." Maribel remained silent, for if she went ahead and refuted her mother's claims she'd be asked what friends she made to be acting like a misbehaving kid. The friend in question being the white girl awkwardly waiting upstairs in Maribel's room for the aforementioned girl.

Her mother sighed at her silence before shaking her head in what Maribel assumed was disappointment, she was sure to chew up Kaiser with his unexpected arrival that she couldn't tell her mother because obviously her mother would then use Kaiser's rude behaviour as being a bad influence on Maribel if she were to ever to do something wrong in the future. So she had to lie and say it was her fault, and that she forgot.

Fuckinh piece of stupid shit.

"Pai podi," her mother shrugged, telling the girl to leave (and gtfo of her sight) clearly done with this bullshit. "Kutti khati nikaporal." With her words, Maribel was reminded of the girl who was waiting upstairs.

Without saying anything, Maribel walked out of the kitchen and turned to walk up the stairs. But before she could take the first step, her mother had called out yet again, rather impulsively.

"Aval karamah capudai virupoma?"

Maribel thought over her mothers words, typically, white people couldn't handle their spices. but since it was Kaiser, she should make him suffer the consequences of his actions. "Nala virupom." It was also a bonus since Maribel could then eat the parrupu vadais he couldn't eat, more for her.

With that, she walked up the stairs, her steps careful and unhurried to avoid accidentally tripping and making an embarrassment of herself. Once she reached the top, she rather aggressively slammed the door of her room open, revealing the pretty girl who stood in the middle of the room, puzzled on whether she should sit on her own accord or remain standing until Maribel gave her the green light.

"What the fuck are you doing here? You piece of shit." Maribel spat the words that came to mind on the spot, her previously planned scolding gone blank now that her anger resurfaced again after seeing the dumb blonde.

"Hm? Is that the proper etiquette used when treating your guests?" Kaiser crossed his arms over his padded chest, his usual teasing and stupid smirk on display.

"You invited yourself in, you fucktard." Her words were slow and patronising, as if talking to an obstinate old man.

flashback...

"Hmm," another voice from beside her invaded. Somewhat sweet but in a counterfeit manner. "Why do you keep insisting her that it's a bear, when its clearly a panda?" His meticulously phrased words, a direct contrast to his messily tousled brown hair. With his abrupt intrusion into the conversation, the shorter guy grimaced with aversion. "Aren't you curious too, Yoichi~?"

"....." huh?

Rather than replying, the guy named Yoichi chose to remain silent. And the silence quickly became awkward. Maribel glanced at the guy who wasn't even part of their previous conversation about whether the drawing was of a panda or bear and mulled over his curt obtrusion. This guy was clearly eavesdropping in our conversation... A brief pang of unease crawled up her spine.

Her gaze moved back to the yoichi guy and her brain clicked in recognition. Yoichi... as in the guy that's in the football team..! Realising this would be the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone, breaking the awkward silence and resolving the issue of being kicked out the library with Kaiser, she inwardly calmed her nerves and figured out how to go about this.

"Yoichi, as in the Yoichi from the football club?" Maribel casually started off, her attention solely focused on him.

"Huh— uh, yes.." Yoichi seemed surprised and perhaps a little bit flustered at the sudden spotlight, but grateful nevertheless that Ness wasn't the one pointing it.

"Ah, then can I ask you of a favour, please." Maribel slightly cringed at her ungainly approach.

"Depends on what it is first." Yoichi teased lightly, but the chuckles that adorned his jocular tone told Maribel he too was trying to quieten the awkward air.

"You play with Kaiser too, right?" She started and Yoichi felt his mood dampen at the name drop. Was this gonna be another confession from Kaiser's fangirl's to pass on?

"Yes." He answered almost too curtly and Maribel was quick to catch on to the memo.

"Um," she paused, her nerves getting to her again. "Can you please tell him to meet me at room XX, please?"

"I ca—" before Yoichi could refuse, a part of him slightly disappointed that someone had approached him just for the sake of using him to talk to that shithead of all people, maribel interrupted.

"I need his approval for the updated costume designs. Before he— you know, throws another tantrum again." Maribel emphasised, rolling her eyes mockingly.

"...." Yoichi remained silent, before facing her with a starry look in his eyes. "You're the one in charge of our costumes?"

"Uhm, yeah..?"

"You must be really good if even that bastard, Kaiser approved!" His emphasis on the insult told Maribel everything that needed to be said. This guy is probably the only one besides me who understands how much of a dick Kaiser is!

"Pfft— I wouldn't say I'm that good, but thanks." Maribel grinned, rolling her eyes in embarrassment.

"I'll let him know today at practice." Yoichi mock saluted and before Maribel could thank him, the guy that had been eavesdropping had yet again interjected in their conversation.

"I can do that instead." He spoke with a close-eyed smile that screamed of 'eeriness'. Yoichi grimaced at his intrusion again but didn't bother saying anything.

"Oh.. um, are you sure..?" Maribel hesitated, her gut telling her to refuse, but her conscience remained conflicted.

"Yes, I'm sure. You see," he started off, pointing at yoichi as if scripted by Dhar Mann. "Kaiser and Yoichi... don't really get along."

"..oh..." Maribel furtively looked to Yoichi for confirmation but his unreadable gaze remained fixated on Ness.

Upon sensing Maribel's reluctance to agreeing, he continued. "What I mean is, Kaiser wouldn't really believe it if it was coming from Yoichi." He finished off, the smile on his face never leaving.

I guess that's true... "but I," don't really wanna bother you, just get the hint!

"I'm also more civil with Kaiser when we play, so—"

"Oh," Maribel frowned in deep thought. Just now he said 'we'... does he by chance also play football? "Are you also on the team?" She queried to make sure she heard right.

"Hm?" Ness raised a brow, wasn't it already obvious by now? "Yes, I am.." he ruminated over it and realised that he did not make it evidently clear. "Yes, so it's not a bother."

"Oh, um alright then." Maribel looked towards Yoichi, hoping she didn't offend him. "My bad, you don't have to tell him.."

"Nah, you're good," Yoichi smiled and the relief was quick to settle into Maribel's stomach.

She turned to face the magenta eyed guy and expressed her gratitude in the form of words, "thanks..."

"Huh?" Ness didn't see why she was thanking him, did she seriously think he was going to do as she asked? Nevertheless, he remembered Kaiser's words and smiled charmingly whilst giving her a thumbs up. "No worries."

thump.

"...." Maribel returned the gestures rather clumsily before dropping them ungainly when he no longer was facing her. oh!

Yoichi watched the interaction dubiously, a part of him surprised that Kaiser's 'boy toy' hadn't refused the offer. However, he was much more astonished with how ness hadn't verbally attacked the girl when she first asked him (Yoichi) to pass a message to Kaiser.

It was just so— so weird. Despite his suspicions, he chose to remain quiet and observe the situation. Yoichi made a mental note to tell Kaiser to visit the girl during practice despite Ness' protest of doing it himself.

Even though he didn't know the girl personally, she seemed to dislike Kaiser from the way she spoke earlier. That alone was enough for him.

An unspoken alliance was formed from their mutual feelings. Isagi wasn't about to have the courteous girl get humiliated by Kaiser simply because the final designs didn't meet his absurd expectations.

Im return, he hoped she'd repay the favour when the time called for it.

Yes. Indeed the unspoken reciprocated respect was what formed the beginning blooms of something quite extraordinary.

The unofficial Kaiser hate club has now been formed!!!

(still in the flashback just a bit later)

Kaiser swiftly made his way to the room he remembered isagi briefly mentioning.

He didn't know what had possessed him to do so. No, he did. Kaiser did know, but he wouldn't acknowledge it. Kaiser refused to acknowledge what he didn't like.

And so, he planned to remain in denial. To be stubborn on the belief that Yoichi had lied to him earlier to piss him off, to waste his time or make a mockery of him. For whatever reason it may have been, it didn't necessarily matter.

Kaiser wouldn't believe Yoichi so easily, his pride wouldn't allow it, obviously. So imagine how much it hurt even when