Fubuki stood before her target's door, Eyelashes on her left and Mountain Ape on her right.
With him joining the Blizzard Group today—
Eyelashes' abrupt step forward disrupted her thoughts.
"B-Class Rank 5, Caspian! We know you live here! Come out! The B-Class Rank 1, Miss Blizzard of Hell, would like to speak with you!"
A moment later, the door clicked open, revealing Caspian.
Fubuki eyed him up and down. He looks even more ordinary in person.
Caspian's gaze bounced between Eyelashes and Mountain Ape but didn't once glance at her.
Why hasn't he looked at me yet? Quit it! I must not think of such things.
Great, now I missed what he said.
Eyelashes' next words did little to clear up Fubuki's frustration at having zoned out at such a pivotal moment.
"Show you?! You're not even worthy of holding my spare eyelash curler."
"I'll take that as a no." Caspian shook his head and closed the door behind him. "Then you two are only in the way."
She wasn't sure what happened next, only that her two subordinates cried out as they were sent flying away.
"No need to be surprised. You three came here to force me to join your gang, and if I refused, you'd 'newbie crush' me. Well, what are you going to do now? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here, so it's time for you to start talking instead of just sending such a frigid look my way."
Fubuki still hadn't grasped what had happened or how this man before her had drawn such conclusions out of thin air, but she wouldn't tolerate such actions or insolence from anyone.
"You dare harm my people? You've just signed your own de—"
Caspian cut her off. "Do you think your big sister would approve of your actions? No, she obviously wouldn't. Maybe you should try placing one foot outside of her shadow and start living for yourself for a change. What is it that you want for yourself, Fubuki?"
Her chest tightened, a sharp, familiar ache flaring deep within her. Tatsumaki. Just the mention of her sister was enough to unravel the carefully constructed walls she had built around herself. She could feel the weight of Tatsumaki's presence pressing down on her, suffocating and inescapable, as it always had.
"Y-You're insane! This isn't normal behavior! How is that the first thing you thought appropriate to say to me?"
And how dare you... how dare you bring her into this!" Fubuki swung out her arm. "You don't know a damn thing about me or my sister!"
"Are you sure? I know for a fact that you rarely ever see her aside from the occasional dinner and when she has to come save you.
You're not gonna survive forever in a cycle like that. Start having faith in yourself and try to grow stronger instead of placing artificial limits on yourself.
Limits are meant to be broken or removed entirely, not latched onto as an excuse for weakness after all."
Crazy man! What right does he have?
Fubuki's body trembled as she took a step closer to Caspian. His smug expression only fueled the fire burning inside her. She stepped so close that she was nearly pressing herself against him. Her gaze locked onto his with unflinching defiance.
"You talk about limits," she said. "You think I'm holding myself back? That I'm using her as an excuse? You have no idea what it's like to live under someone like her. No idea what it's like to fight for every scrap of respect you get!"
She took a deep breath and continued. "But I'll tell you this: I don't need her approval. I don't need her protection. And I certainly don't need your pity or your ignorant lectures."
"My words failed to get through to you, unsurprisingly." Caspian leaned down until his face was mere inches from hers. "I don't need. I don't need. I don't need. Are you a broken record player? You still haven't answered my earlier question. What is it that you want for yourself, Fubuki?"
She didn't answer. She couldn't. The question struck too close to the heart of everything she had been avoiding, everything she had been burying under her pride and her determination to prove herself.
"What do I want?" she repeated, her tone icy. "Right now, I want you dead."
He leaned back and smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere."
¤ ¤ ¤
Wind screamed and slammed into Caspian, a vortex of raw, violent force tearing through the surrounding area. Debris flew past in a chaotic spiral of pebbles, sand, and shattered glass, ripped from the surrounding street and swallowed by the raging storm.
This reminds me of…
Being at the center of Fubuki's 'Hell Storm,' Caspian found his memories drifting back to his middle school days, when his school would occasionally rent out the local skating rink on Friday nights. At said rink, there had been a money-blowing machine that he had been able to enter a handful of times. Yes, this felt similar, though the prizes to catch out of the air here were less than stellar.
I've stood in this personalized tornado for how long? Man, she's really trying to kill me.
He exited the whirling winds and appeared behind Fubuki. She continued her hysterical victorious laughter, still unaware he had moved.
"I don't mind if you're crazy."
Fubuki spun around, an uncertain look on her face.
Did she not hear me?
As the debris rained down onto the street, Fubuki's expression rearranged into one of pure hostility.
"You and your sister certainly have a lot of pent-up emotions." Caspian brushed off some loose bits of glass wedged in his yellow jumpsuit's collar. "I also have my fair share of issues, so there's no need to feel negative about it." He moved forward and stared into her mint-green eyes. "There's definitely more you have to throw at me, right? Let it all out. From now on, I'll be your outlet for release."