Chapter Text
“This place was anything but a home. It pulled the word out of our mouths, but never once did the word hold any meaning. Not from us. It called itself Home…yet not once did anyone truly live here.”
She stirs in her sleep, her face contorting into a look of pain.
“I wanted to have the chance someday. To know what it would’ve been like. To live somewhere. Not just survive. I wanted to have a home. With you.”
The sheets are wrinkled, pulled off in some places. She squirms as though caught in a desperate struggle.
“You have to go now. You still have that chance. To find a home. A real one.”
Her breathing steadily grows faster. As though she were choking on her own breath.
“Romulus.”
The blanket is kicked off in a cumulative act of panic. Roused from her nightmare, she sits up. For but a moment she’s lost, until reality settles in once more. Upon the realization that it was only a nightmare, she buries her face into her hands, distraught.
Only a nightmare. Or so she wished.
She pulls her head up, staring at the wall in front of her. Her breathing steadied, the room fell silent once more. She gets up to retrieve her blanket. Holding it in her hands, she stands there for a while, continuing to stare at the wall. After a minute passes, she simply lays back down.
She didn’t feel like gracing her nightmare with a waking response.
. . .
The Backstreets of District 23 were far from hospitable. In fact, they were probably the worst in the City. Anyone who wasn’t already doomed to live there knew better than to dare enter it, lest they had some sort of death wish. Unfortunately for her, Romu was one of the aforementioned “doomed” ones.
Romu was no one remarkable. She was just another Backstreets Fixer, working her ass off to make it through each passing day. Though the Backstreets of District 23 being riddled with crime did make finding work a bit easier, and she was notably strong, she still struggled as a solo fixer. Not to mention, the people living here didn’t exactly have much to pay her with to begin with. Still, she stayed at it, as frankly, she didn’t have any better options. Her best hope was simply continuing to work at it, to eventually earn a better Grade and get the chance to take on jobs that paid well.
But for now, she was still at the bottom.
Having just finished up a job, Romu made her way through the Backstreets, thinking about what she should do for dinner tonight. She was dressed fairly thickly, wearing an open black trench coat with a dark blue turtleneck underneath, coupled with a pair of gray cargo pants and black boots. Over her shoulder she carried a case holding her weapon, a fairly average broadsword. Emphasis on the broad. She had fairly tan skin, brown eyes, and messy, yet fluffy brown hair, that reached down to about her shoulders. Most notably, there was a scar traveling up from her neck to her chin. It looked as though the scar continued much farther down her body.
Though Romu was just about ready to call it a day, it seemed as though the day still had plans for her. Creeping forward from the shadows, thugs began to surround her nonchalantly, smug grins plastered on their faces. Seemingly almost unfazed, Romu sighed, coming to a slow stop as they closed in on her.
“I’ve got nothing on me. If I did, I wouldn’t be hanging around here,” Romu spoke, eyeing down the man who seemed to be their leader. She couldn’t tell what Syndicate they were from, if they even were from one. They could just be a group of Rats for all she knew.
“Big case you got. What’s in there, a sword? Instrument? Whatever, doesn’t matter. That can probably still fetch a fair price, eh? Give it here,” the lead thug said, casually performing tricks with his dagger in one hand.
Romu knew there wasn’t much she could do. Sure, her weapon was much bigger than theirs, but they still had the upper hand in terms of numbers. By a lot.
“I…kinda need it for my job, y’know. If I lose this, I won’t be able to work. If I can’t work, I can’t get paid. And if I don’t get paid, you won’t get the chance to rob me in the future. Doesn’t letting me go sound like the best option here?” She suggested, sheepishly.
Almost immediately, the lead thug's grin faded, replaced by a frustrated grimace. “Shut the hell up, smartass. We ain’t here to bargain with you. We’re taking that…whatever it is you got, capiche?!”
Romu looked down in defeat. In hindsight, that was a pretty dumb move. What was she even expecting to get out of that? Were her last words really going to be a stupid quip?
She heard as the thugs began to charge, and she instinctively braced herself, before they were all suddenly silenced, replaced by the sounds of clattering weapons hitting the ground. She stood there for a moment, still bracing, before realizing that she should’ve been long dead by now. Slowly, she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw being a thick cloud of red dissipating into nothingness. The thugs all laid before her, having been struck down so quickly they didn’t even have the chance to yelp. She didn’t move for a moment, trying to process the abrupt turn of events, before she suddenly felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She quickly turned around and met the gaze of a pair of amber eyes.
“You alright?” The woman asked simply. Her long flowing red hair gave her identity away almost instantly. The woman standing before her was none other than Kali, The Red Mist. Everyone had heard of her, especially in District 23. Romu was no different. She had never actually seen her in the flesh, however. She’d only heard the stories from her neighbors.
Shocked, it took a moment for Romu to reply, but she eventually gave Kali a simple “mhm”. She paused for a moment, before following it up with a word of thanks.
“You're welcome. Get yourself back home soon, yeah?” Kali said, seemingly about to head off. Broken out of her trance, Romu shook her head, before speaking up.
“Ah, w-wait a moment!”
“Hm?” Kali turned back towards Romu, raising a brow.
“Ah…um…don’t I need to repay you, or something?” Romu asked, maybe a bit foolishly.
“No need. Just trying to keep the place safe,” she responded, waving her hand dismissively.
“Really? Nothing? Can I at least buy you dinner? I was, uh, already going to go buy something myself before they showed up…” Romu offered, clasping her hands together softly.
“Hmm…” Kali paused.
. . .
Romu smiled ever so slightly as the aroma of fresh noodles filled her nose. Objectively, it wasn’t much, but to her, it was more than enough. Next to her sat Kali, looking down at her own bowl of ramen quietly. She shut her eyes for a moment, letting the warm steam hit her face.
“Thanks,” Kali said, before beginning to eat. Romu responded to her with a cheerful “mhm!”
They sat together in front of a small noodle shack. The place was so small it was more of a stand than a restaurant, but eating outside wouldn’t be too much of a problem with Kali around. Backstreets thugs knew better than to mess around when she was near.
“Honestly, I don’t think a bowl of ramen can really repay the act of saving my life, but it’s the least I can do,” Romu spoke up, giving Kali a weak smile.
“No, this is more than enough,” she responded calmly, not looking Romu back in the eyes. “I haven’t had a proper meal in a while. Too busy.”
Romu perked her head up, curious. “Too busy for a little meal? I get that being a Color isn’t easy, but is it really that time-consuming?”
“I’m not this busy normally,” Kali replied, taking a moment to sigh. “Just a certain job I picked up recently.” Before Romu could inquire, she tacked on, “Can’t say what it is. It’s just important.”
“Hm…I see,” Romu said, going back to eating her ramen. A few minutes passed before, much to her surprise, Kali spoke up.
“And you?”
“Me?” Romu asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Yeah. What do you do?” She inquired.
“I’m just a fixer…” Romu replied, looking down at her bowl. “Independent. None of the Offices I could reasonably work for have any openings. So I’m on my own, trying to get by. Hoping it gets better, y’know?”
“How are you hoping it gets better?” Kali asked, unexpectedly firmly. She finally raised her head up, looking directly at Romu. Romu returned the gaze, a little surprised by her question.
“…I guess I want to improve as a fixer. Get a better Grade. Get stronger. So then I can take on jobs that pay better,” she answered, after a moment of thought.
“And after you get that?” Kali pressed on.
“…I’ll look for a good place to live,” she answered quietly.
“Mm.” Kali finished the last of her ramen, sitting quietly for a moment.
“That isn’t a bad thing to strive for. Can’t say I’d call this place a home.”
Romu looked at her quizzically.
“You said you’d look for a good place to live. Guess that means this place isn’t a home to you, then?” Kali looked up, seemingly pondering on something.
“I…guess not,” Romu would answer after a notable period of silence.
“Work hard then. A home isn’t a place that’s easy to get. Anyone can get a house. Finding a home is a lot harder,” Kali looked back at Romu, standing up. She gazed into Romu’s eyes, as if she were trying to tell her something.
Romu was caught off-guard by her words. She silently thought about what she really meant by that.
“Thanks again for the food. I’m off,” Kali said, looking at Romu one last time before heading to who knows where. She didn’t stop her this time, merely watching silently as she walked away.
She wasn’t wrong.