Daily Life of A Caretaker

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.

Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Arc 4: Experience the Story - Chapter 12

It had been a few minutes since the chaotic killing spree, and the tension had begun to fade. We found ourselves in Bonta-kun's room, taking a brief break for a short conversation.

Ruby's wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Bonta-kun, her curiosity obvious. "So, you've been in a great war?"

Bonta-kun nodded, his expression unreadable. "Yes." He said with a hint of nostalgia. "It was a long time ago, back when the luxury of moments like these—taking a break—was rare. People had little time to relax, unlike now. These days, I'm just assisting my comrade, who's teaching all of you. Featherine, of course." He paused, his eyes briefly meeting mine before continuing. "Though I was requested to fight you all, I'm smart enough to recognize a losing battle when I see one. There's no way I could stand a chance against your contractor here." He pointed at me, the gesture slow and deliberate. "Well, unless he decided to focus entirely on protecting just one of you. In that case, I could probably handle the rest without much trouble. Especially if I had my old gear, which I passed down to the next generation in my family. With that, taking on everyone here wouldn't be an issue at all."

Weiss, her eyes narrowing slightly with a trace of wariness, glanced over at Bonta-kun. "Then, are you planning on fighting us at some point in the future?"

Bonta-kun met her gaze without hesitation, his voice steady. "Yes," he confirmed, "unless Featherine needs me elsewhere. Actually, tomorrow was supposed to be the day I'd face all of you. At least, that was the plan." He paused briefly. "But things have changed. Featherine has given me new targets, and the surprise attacks that were scheduled for tomorrow morning had to be scrapped. I suppose my little appearance today spoiled the surprise."

There was a beat of silence before Octavia chimed in, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Well, that's one way to wake up in the morning." She shook her head slightly as if already imagining the chaos that would've occurred.

"Anyway, I must be leaving now. Thanks for the help." Bonta-kun said as he rose from his seat, a chair that was, surprisingly, still intact despite his imposing frame. Given that it was built for someone of a much smaller size, the fact it held up under his weight was almost comical. He glanced at all of us, his expression as neutral as ever. "We will meet again in the future... if Featherine wills it. Good luck to you all."

With a nod of farewell to everyone in the room, Bonta-kun walked out the front door like any ordinary person, despite the brief intensity he had brought to our discussion.

I stood up as well, glancing at the others. "We should go check on Yuri and Mayuko."

Octavia raised an eyebrow at me. "Why did we leave those two behind again?"

I let out a small sigh, already knowing where this was headed. "Well, Yuri fainted when she saw Bonta-kun again." I reminded her, gesturing toward the door. "That's why we came here instead of continuing the conversation in the room. Figured it'd be better not to have her wake up to that."

As I walked to the door and held it open, I paused, glancing back to make sure everyone was ready to move.

"You know." Ruby began thoughtfully, her brow furrowing as she glanced around the group. "I think we need to toughen up Yuri so she doesn't end up fainting again… By the way, why are we keeping Mayuko around?" She looked at everyone with a genuinely confused expression.

Weiss, not missing a beat, leaned over and poked Ruby's cheek, smirking. "Because she's our backup in case something happens to Yuri, remember?" She reminds Ruby in a playful tone but with a hint of exasperation. "And you call me forgetful."

Ruby snorted in response, clearly unbothered by Weiss's teasing. "Yes, that's your excuse for not studying the guidebooks Jin gave us. You always 'forget' about them." Her voice took on a mocking tone, but a playful glint remained in her eyes. "Anyway, I did forget that Mayuko is an important character we could use." She gave a small nod. "After all, with that one restriction placed on us, it would be impossible for us to even touch a single hair on Mayuko in the first place." Ruby nodded again at the end, as if she'd come to a satisfying conclusion.

"I'm still baffled that our class assignment is just to cause madness, but without being able to go all out," Octavia said dryly, her tone tinged with frustration. "This is exactly why I never wanted to get involved in the Action Genre. Too much work behind the scenes before anything meaningful happens in the main plot."

I nearly reached out to pat her head in a gesture of reassurance but stopped myself just short, knowing it probably wouldn't be appreciated. "Just be glad you don't have to be the one fighting all the time. Now, let's just hope Yuri's fine and Mayuko didn't somehow manage to break free."

With that, we headed back to the room where we'd left Yuri and Mayuko, hoping for the best but mentally preparing for the worst. And sure enough, as we stepped inside, the sight before us made me want to slap myself for not anticipating it sooner.

Mayuko had freed herself from her bindings and was holding a small fruit knife to Yuri's throat, but what was even more absurd was how utterly unfazed Yuri appeared. She sat there looking bored, effortlessly holding Mayuko at bay with one hand, gripping her wrists as if it required no more effort than holding a cup of tea.

"Well, you guessed half right." Octavia remarked in her usual deadpan voice. "Should we, you know, do something?"

"I don't have to do anything," I grin, glancing down at Octavia, who, as usual, rolled her eyes at me. "Want to take a shot at them, or would you prefer to leave this to Ruby and Weiss?"

Octavia raised an eyebrow, giving me a skeptical look before turning to glance at Ruby and Weiss for their input. "I don't know. How about we ask them?" She paused as her eyes landed on Ruby, who was sprawled out on the couch, nose buried in a book, and Weiss, casually lounging on another couch while working on her nails. The complete nonchalance of the scene was almost laughable, given the situation. "Seriously?"

Ruby didn't bother looking up from her book as she lazily raised a hand, giving Octavia a thumbs up. "You got this, Octavia." She said in a laid-back tone as if cheering her on was more than enough contribution.

Weiss, still focused on her nails, calmly added. "Your turn, Octavia."

The two of them weren't exactly offering much help, and Octavia's resigned sigh said it all as the responsibility now clearly fell into her lap.

"Cheer up, Octavia." I offer some encouragement. "After this, it'll either be Ruby or Weiss' turn to deal with those two, and you can do whatever you want in the meantime." I gave her a knowing look before adding, "And don't forget, you have access to magic itself, which should make this a whole lot easier for you."

"Right..." Octavia let out a heavy sigh, clearly still not thrilled about the situation, but she got to work. It wasn't so much about separating Yuri and Mayuko as it was about preventing Yuri from losing her patience and snapping—because, let's face it, Mayuko would have no chance if Yuri decided she was done with her.

Satisfied that the situation was under control, I moved over to sit next to Ruby. The moment I did, she quickly shifted, resting her head on my lap and stretching her legs across the armrest with casual ease.

"Hey, Jin." Ruby began, her voice relaxed as she settled in. "Should we really be relaxing like this? Weren't we supposed to be moving out to cause chaos or whatever? Featherine doesn't want us hanging around here too long, right? Sure, that last fight was something, but if I had to guess, Featherine probably found it boring."

While Weiss, across the room, blew on her freshly polished nails, seemingly unfazed by the entire situation.

Ruby had a point. While we were taking a break now, the bigger picture, aka the class assignment, still loomed over their heads. It was only a matter of time before the next move would need to be made.

"Oh yeah." I blinked, suddenly remembering our task. Gently, I nudged Ruby off my lap, and though she pouted at the loss of her comfortable spot, she sat up and tucked her book away without protest. "Time to go on a walk and see if we can bump into some fellow students and contractors."

"And do what exactly?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow. "The last few times we tried something like that, we ended up killing them. Speaking of which, those students and contractors... after we killed them, do they just come back to life in this world? Or do they wake up back in the classroom, waiting for the rest of us to finish?" She glanced at her nails, clearly pleased with how they turned out.

I shrugged. "Maybe we could try talking it out this time? Honestly, I have no idea what happened to them afterward. It's not like Ghost is going to pop out and answer our questions at the moment. After all, he is still on you, Weiss." I pointed at Weiss' wrist, where Ghost was still quietly taking the form of her wristwatch.

Weiss looked down at her wristwatch, a brief flash of surprise crossing her face. "I honestly forgot about that..."

Just then, Octavia plopped down onto another couch, her voice heavy with exhaustion. "Alright, I've successfully stopped Mayuko from attempting another murder. Though I'm sure she'll keep trying—and failing—to escape from us." She let out a tired sigh, clearly done with the day's shenanigans. "What's the next plan? I really hope it isn't another killing spree."

"Fuck you!" Mayuko shouted at Octavia from across the room, her open resistance unmissable. Octavia, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest, her expression remaining as bored and detached as ever.

"Well, the next plan doesn't have to involve more bloodshed." I said, half-serious, half-amused. "But, knowing us, who knows where things will go?"

"Could we… go check on my brother?" Yuri asked, her voice barely above a whisper, and the moment she spoke, she flinched as all eyes turned toward her. "I-If you guys don't mind, that is…" She quickly added, her gaze dropping slightly in nervousness.

Weiss was the first to break the silence, nodding in agreement before anyone else could respond. "Better than wandering around killing people and meeting random strangers. Besides, I'd rather not risk ruining my nails after just finishing them."

Ruby rolled her eyes and shot back, "Can't you just use your Semblance to fix your nails if they get messed up? You literally just did that." She then turned her attention to Yuri. "Also, sure, Yuri. We've got nothing else on the agenda, so we can go look for your brother."

The instant Ruby agreed, Yuri's face lit up with relief and a brief flash of excitement, though she quickly suppressed it, trying to maintain her usual calm. Her gaze shifted from Octavia, who merely gave her a slight nod, and then to me, waiting for my final say.

"Alright then, let's go find your brother." I said, getting to my feet. "It'll be good to focus on something other than the usual chaos."

Yuri nodded, still trying to hide her enthusiasm, but her eyes gave it away, glimmering with newfound hope.

"Shit... even in this world is against me..." Mayuko looks like she is about to tear up.