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"Holy…" Yuu trails off, looking at the envelope in her hands. "I actually won?"
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Fellow asked through his mouthful of eggs.
Currently, the residents of Ramshackle sat at the kitchen table as they ate breakfast. It was the start of a week long break at NRC and while most of the students were on their way home, the Ramshackle group was figuring out what to do.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Rollo glares at him from over his newspaper.
Fellow rolled his eyes and reached for a muffin; just barely managing to grab it before Swing could.
"You had like six." He hissed
"Mr. Swing can't deny some good food." Swing smirked and drank his coffee.
Skully rolled his eyes and directed his attention at Yuu. "What did you win, Yuuki?"
"A week long trip to the new Ryokan Onsens that's about to open up. We'll be the first ones there." Grim reached for the tickets, which Yuu was quick to hold out of his reach. "Hell no, you're not getting your paws on this. You'll find some way to ruin it."
"No, I won't! I just wanna see it!" He jumped and she got out her chair to make sure he didn't snatch it. "C'mon!"
"Grim, settle down." Rollo set his newspaper to the side while Grim sank into his chair with a pout and crossed arms. "How did you win them?"
"There was a cooking competition in town that was promoting the inn and I wanted to try my hand at it." Yuu looked at the tickets. "I didn't think it was good enough to win."
"What did ya make?" Swing asked.
"Oden. It's a traditional winter comfort food in Japan." She hums as she thinks. "They were kind enough to let me shimmer the ingredients in the broth before I made it."
"Sounds tasty. You gotta make it sometime."
"I'll think about it, for now, let me deliver one of these tickets to Cater." She handed the tickets to the guys. "And the other to Jamil. Start packing, we leave tomorrow."
"Funa, why is Cater getting one?"
"Because he's the one that told me. See ya!" She grabbed the last slice of bacon and left Ramshackle.
"…So, we should get packing?" Fellow muttered.
"I believe so." Rollo sighed.
"Yuu-chan, I love you so much!" Cater set down his bag and wrapped Yuu in a hug as he stood in the Hall of Mirrors. "You're my bestie!"
"Uh-huh." Yuu gave a laugh. "You're welcome, Cater."
"Thank you for the invitation, Yuu." Jamil spoke as the third year let her go. "You… you have no idea how much I need this."
"Aw." She placed a gently kiss to his lips. "I know you, Babe, you really needed this."
Jamil hummed and wrapped his arms around her, Grim made a fake gagging sound only for Gidel to nudge him.
"Alright, let's go." Yuu said as she reluctantly let go of Jamil.
They traveled through the mirror and in flash of light, they found themselves in the lobby of the Ryoken Onsen. From there the staff greeted them warmly and congratulated Yuu on her win. They directed the group to their rooms, showed them around, and let them settle in. Cater, hearing that there were new shops in town, departed from the group with a wave and a smile. Yuu, also wanting to see the shops, followed him with Jamil tagging along. Skully, Gidel, and Grim went to look around the Ryoken with Rollo joining to keep an eye on them. Which left Fellow and Swing to do whatever they wanted.
Swing settled into the hot spring with a content sigh as the hot water seeped into his muscles. Steam rose up into the air and disappeared into the sky, Fellow stared at it before directing his attention to the ancient Fae.
"How is it?"
"Why don't you come in and see, Foxy?" Swing looked over at him with a smirk. "C'mon, the water's fine and I don't bite."
The man scoffed and glared at him before slowly making his way into the spring. Fellow sank into it with a groan and tipped his head back against the stones.
"And places like these are normal when Beastmaster is from." He clicked his tongue. "She's lucky."
"Yep." Swing popped his back and Fellow could feel his green eyes staring at him. "Gotta question for ya."
"We can't just sit in silence?" The fox beastman looked at him with a small glare.
"Nope." He popped the 'p' in the word with a smirk.
"Fine, what is it?"
"How did'ya get those scars?"
Fellow blinked, once, twice before his face morphed into a grimace. "We comparing scars now?"
"No, just curious."
"…Well, I lived on the streets until I worked at Playful Land. Most of these are just from me trying to survive or from stupid moments." He pointed at a scar on his shoulder blade. "I got stabbed with a broken bottle for trying to steal a loaf of bread from someone." He pointed to a gunshot wound on his other shoulder. "I beat someone in a poker game and he took offense to it." He points to another gunshot wound below his ribs. "I scared a woman on accident and she shot me point blank out of panic."
Swing snorted at that last story. "What's the worst one?"
Fellow paused and looked off to the side, his eyes going hollow as he recounted the memory. "My old employer broke my knee with a sledgehammer because I had raised enough money to get Gidel and myself out of his grip. I apparently made so much money for him that he couldn't let us go, so… he made sure I couldn't." His ears fell. "It never healed properly."
"That's why you have the cane and you stumble every now and then?"
"Yep."
"Shit. That's rough."
"Mmh. What about you?" Fellow gestured towards the mass of scars and tattoos on Swing's body. "What's the story with those?"
"Oh, where do I begin?" He whistles and points to the one on his head. "I don't know how I got this one, all I remember is a bang and my body hitting the ground. Next thing I know, I'm waking up with bandages on my head." He points to the two scars on his mouth and the side of his face "Messed with something I shouldn't have and got this as a result and this is where I broke my jaw." Next, he gestures to the top of his torso. "I'm pretty reckless, Foxy, all of these are stab wounds from a group of people who really wanted me dead."
"And the centipede tattoo?"
"It's a magical infused tat." At the mention of it, the centipede unraveled itself from Swing's neck and moved towards Fellow. "Comes in handle in freaking people out."
Fellow slightly moved back. "Why a centipede?"
"Mr. Swing likes bugs, namely centipedes." Swing smirked.
"Right. Gotcha. You're, uh, you're an interesting guy, Swing."
"So are you, Foxy." The tattoo returned to Swing's neck. "Thanks for humoring me."
"You're welcome."
The sound of a door sliding open caught their attention and they turned to see Yuu in the doorway.
"Yo, we're gonna be eating soon. Thought I would let you know." She looked between the two of them. "…You two didn't tear each other apart?"
"Nah, we were civil." Swing replied.
"Uh-huh." She clicked her tongue. "I'll leave you guys to get ready." She slid the door close.
"Time for a good meal, huh?" Swing directed his attention back at Fellow.
"As long as you don't eat my share."
"No promises."