Chapter Text
"Surrender and we'll go easy on ya', sweetheart~" His voice drew, his gruff accent making the loops he tired to put into his words only sound more ridiculous than he already is. His buddies chimed in, swaggering closer, their feet not once lifting from the ground to properly walk.
"Ya honey, just put down the carrier and we can be chill."
"Got a kiddie at home? They wouldn't want to see their mommy all banged up would they?"
"We can be friends, just calm down baby~"
It was all disgusting and vile, she pitied their mothers, having such scum as their offspring. She sighed, eyes closing softly as she shook her head.
"That's it, just relax~" His twitching and dirty arm reached out, clapping onto her shoulder. His buddies, confident by their bosses movement foolishly started to close in. She could smell the trash, dirt, and drink on their breath. Their ripped and loose-fitting clothes, noses left un-wiped and their breath coming out in short puffs from their mouths.
She was the picture of calm, posture straight and balanced, her smooth hands clasped behind her back. Piercing ice eyes once looked on the floor, slid up to meet the scum in front of her. Their eyes full of greed and lust, the need in their pupils as they expand. Locked only on what they want to take and ruin. They want to reach their hands up and coat the clean in their filth. Have the pure swim in the same shit that the dirty gladly walk through everyday.
'don't give them a reaction it'll only give them satisfaction.'
A soft, clean voice rang through her head, pounding against the walls of her brain like it was ringing a gong. It would float around for an hour or two before it disappeared again. It always did.
Her back leg kicked out, her boot sliding back and behind her other leg. Forcing the rest of her body to adjust into a low stance. A fighting stance. Her hands that were once iron behind her back came forward reaching up and clutching the strap around her arm. She tightened her grip around the strap, her eyes meeting every single one of their gazes. She had let them think she was harmless they were about to pay for that assumption, right no-
KASHHHHH...
Static cut through the tense atmosphere, the men surrounding her looked around their brows upturned and eyes wide. She even was confused for a moment, her back shooting up a tad. Still low but instead of ready to fight she was ready to run if needed. Then she looked down and realized it was just her choker. She sighed and felt a slight upturn of her lip, just a microscopic difference. Not noticeable to the untrained human eye. A smooth female voice replaced the static.
"Sis, can you get back to base soon, Enjin said he needs your help with his new 'project'."
She nodded, knowing that while Semiu couldn't see her moving her head, Semiu knew her well enough that if she had an objection she would voice it.
"Okay, see you soon."
The woman's voice cut off and the static was back for a moment before the quiet was back, or at least as quiet as it could get with the mouth breathing scum around her. She looked up from her choker that rested around her neck and looked at the suddenly babbling men around her. They must have recognized the choker or their buddies who've tried (and failed) to take over HQ before told them of that woman's voice. Ether way they were just about to piss their pants in fear, the idea made the 'smile' on her face just grow bigger. The eyes that were once hoping to conquer and strike fear had fear stricken into their own instead.
Well, as Mother once said, no use playing with your food.
It was over before they even knew it had begun. she'd thrown her carrier's straps off her arms and transferred them both into one hand, using the hard metal to whip it across their faces. The men's faces were blooded, some lost teeth, two had a broken jaw, half had to have had a concussion, and one even had his jaw hanging off his face, only the soft red flesh holding it from falling off completely.
Well, she'd say a job well done. She may be a cleaner but even they make messes sometimes.
She slung her carriers straps over her arms once again, she had no doubt that she was a bloody mess from the spray she'd gotten. She also knew that no one would be surprised. For someone who loves to be clean she sure does get dirty a lot.
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Walking into HQ she was greeted by warm lighting and a nasty glare from Semiu who had stopped flipping through her magazine at her desk just to do so. She frowned, she thought she got back in a decent amount of time? Had she lost one of her magazines and thought she took it or was she just in a bad mood? Well she made peace with the fact that she'll never know unless Semiu told her. Internally shrugging she walked up to Semiu's desk but before she even got there the woman raised a hand into a flat palm. Stop was the message. She stopped instantly.
"Your dripping. On my floor." She tilted her head in confusion before she turned around to look behind her and Semiu was right, the metal back of her carrier was covered in bright red blood and it had made a trail wherever she walked. Oops. She slowly turned back to Semiu, a small innocent smile creeping it's way along her checks, her shoulders bunched up and hands open next to her. It was akin to a child being caught doing just what they'd been told not to do and trying to weasel their way out of the consequences. But unlike most cleaners who that would work well on, Semiu didn't give a damn. Her hand that was once a sign for stop was now positioned into a cruel pointer finger out to the opposite way of the dorms. She held onto the act for a few moments longer hopping the older women would give in but soon saw that she wouldn't be moved and stomped off to the showers, huffing and puffing the whole way.
After fifteen minutes, she was back. All clean again - good- and in her back up uniform. It was a black long sleeve under her grey vest cleaner jacket, her long baggy pants with far too many pockets, and her tall black boots along with her now clean carrier slung across her back. Her half and half hair was dry, all the crusted blood washed out, back in her signature style two spiky pig tails.
She was clean. She was clean again.
She walked back out to Semiu's desk to ask what Enjin needed help with, only to see Enjin, Riyo, Zanka, some white hair'd little boy bugging her at her desk. She tilted her head at them, and debated just ignoring them and coming back at a later time after visiting with Bro and Dear and the rest of team kid but decided against it. After all Semiu did say that Enjin needed her.
Her footsteps were silent as she walked up to the group, only five feet away before she cleared her throat signalling her presence. Enjin was surprised as were the two other boys but Riyo seemed to know that she was there and simply neglected to say anything. Enjin jumped out of his stupor first, cheering and walking over to clap a hand on her shoulder, leading her closer to the group.
"Sis, glad you could make it! How ya been?"
".....fine..." She spoke from time to time. When she had to and when she was in the mood. Today she was in the mood.
"Good, well the reason I asked Semiu to bring you back to base is because of this kid here!" He pointed at the boy with white hair who blinked and seemed to have the fog behind his eyes clear up, jumping back into Zanka who was still zoned out and a little red. Which leads to the two starting to argue only for Enjin to break it up.
"Alright Rudo, you've met most of the cleaners but you haven't met Sis, she's away on missions or with Team Child most of the time. She's Dear's big sister and She'll be her new teacher along with Zanka."
She raised her hand in greeting at the young boy, while she didn't know about this prior to seconds ago she wouldn't let her surprise show. Instead choosing to keep a straight face and not let her irritation at Enjin show. Though she suspected that she was failing horribly at both because Rudo grimaced and shuffled back a little and Enjin gave a nervous chuckle. She glared at him through the corners of her eyes, she could see him curdle in real time. He quickly removed his hand from her shoulder and took a few steps back towards the group.
"..Um well, Sis has been a cleaner for more than a decade, she's one of our oldest cleaners. But the reason why she will be a great fit for you is because her vital instrument is directly designed to combat naturals such as yourself."
She took the carrier off her back and held both the straps in one hand just as she did earlier but instead of spinning and throwing it this time, she held it to show off and not use it to harm someone. The carrier itself had metal bones, scrapped and scuffed up but well cared for, and on the inside there was a small woven blanket that was used to plush up the bite of the metal. Her mother had woven this blanket for her when she was a baby, this was her baby carrier once upon a time and for years it was used to carry her pride and joy....
"...is that a baby carrier?" Rudo asked with disbelief, squinting to see if his eyes were fooling him. When new cleaners joined and saw her vital instrument they thought it was weird or weak and they always got the same glare from her, signaling them to back off or else they'd see what that carrier could do. But seeing as this was her new student apparently-thanks Enjin- she better at least try and be civil.
She nodded her head, swinging her carriers straps back over her shoulders. her eyes glazed over at the dumbstruck Rudo and Riyo teasing him to Zanka who was standing in the background, his cheeks were dusted with pink. He looked like a sulking toddler. Hm, Cute.
"You see, Sis's vital instrument when used makes the victim incredibly naive, as well as making the person she uses it on have the fighting prowess of a young child. So Sis sometimes comes to help with the more talented cleaners who still need help." Enjin popped up once again, explaining the use of her instrument to Rudo.
She remembered the first time she was asked to help train a cleaner directly from Enjin. She'd been 13 and was just allowed to go on solo missions, She had just finished up slaying a trash beast, breathing deeply in her mask with her carrier hanging in her weakened hand. Her body had aches and sores all over it, the beast had given one hell of a bleeding lash to her ribs which if left unattended would become irritated and no doubt get infected. Maybe she should've opted to stay with team Child after all, maybe she wasn't ready for this after all. Bro Santa had been guiding her for years, since before she even became a cleaner. He took her and her ....'brother' under his wing ever since they showed up at the door of HQ all raggedy and worn out.
She felt a deep ache in her chest and heard a dripping noise past the buzzing in her ears. Looking down she saw a blood of blood around herself. Her pants had wet blotches of red now sucked into the fabric as a result of her gash. Her vision blurred and her head felt so so light, like a balloon tied to a rock. Before she knew what was going on she was down. Her legs were kicked up on a pile of trash that she had tripped over, her head was lower than her feet and that really messed up her inside order of affairs. Her vision was going in and out, she couldn't feel her chest nor her fingers. Blood was rushing down from her legs and pooling downwards to the wounds area as well as her head.
This is it. she's failed. She killed the trash beast and it's taking her with it as revenge. But the difference between the trash beast and her is that while the trash beast will eventually reform, she won't. She'll lie in this pile of trash forever, be covered with more trash as wind and the sphere pass through, she'll likely be eaten by rodents, bugs, or scavengers. Dear will be fine, she thought, he'll have Bro and they'll live on. He most likely won't even remember his 'big sister'.....he won't remember. He'll never know. Bro will probably tell him that he had a big sister once upon a time. That once upon a time they had a family, a life all together. That they were all happy but one day their parents died of a sickness going around because they were too poor to get the vaccine, that his big sister found the carrier their mother used to carry her around in and carried him for months and months, trying to find a new home until she stumbled upon HQ and life was great before she died.
Dear will never be told the full story, the true story and he'll never know that its anything but the truth because bro doesn't know that that's not the real story and just the story she told him because she was too much of a coward to tell him the truth. Dear will never know that his 'sister' is really-
"Hey." when she opened her eyes again a man with an umbrella loomed above her, she'd seen him in passing but never got to talk to him. She blinked lazily. Open, close, open, close, open, close. The man's scowl became deeper each time until it seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face. Her eyelids were getting heavier, growing weaker by the second. Her will weaning with each breath. Open, close............
SNAP.
Her eyes flung wide, staring up into the mans face.
"Hey, hey hey! Woah you need to stay alive for me, I have a task for you!"
"...wha..?" Her voice was beyond gruff, since she doesn't use it. Once or twice a month she'll speak making the cords all weak.
"Yes, I need you to teach a new recruit, his name is Zanka. He's a little brat but he has it where it counts."
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She had finally escaped from the group with the promise she'd swing by and teach Rudo for a little bit tomorrow with Zanka and was ready to crash. She's been moving for hours non-stop, she was done for the day. She unlocked and opened the door to her dorm, swinging open the door. Everything was the same as it always was. white walls with crayon drawings pinned up with thumb tacks that most definitely left holes in the walls. There was a messy desk covered in paperwork, black pens scattered around, empty leftover beer cans that she threw in her wastebasket and a photo of Bro, Dear, and Her after Dear's first mission. Bro was smiling brighter than ever before, holding the camera up high to get a picture of dear dead asleep on her back in the carrier. She had a smile on her face as well, just a her smile instead -small and with her lips.
A little kitchenette tucked in the corner, bowls piled in the sink that she should clean but will put off again. She had her mind on only one thing. Her bed. Kicking off her shoes and throwing off her jacket onto the floor she as if in a mindless daze walked over and laid dead asleep on her bed above the covers.
nine hours later, there was a knock at her door effectively waking her up. She moaned quietly, rubbing a hand over her face and glaring at the door but nonetheless she tugged herself off the safe bed and over to the door. When she did open the door there was Bro without his normal sidekick, she frowned at that, looking back at the spot he was supposed to be standing with a pout on his face sucking on his pacifier. Bro must have noticed her frown because he quickly spoke up.
"We just got back from a mission, he's napping." Which made her face smooth out and step aside, indicating that he may come in. He did and sat down at her desk chair, making her in response flop onto her bed once again. He huffed before turning on his more serious face, when seeing this she sat up on the bed and looked at him.
"Sis, you know that I know you've got to tell him at some point." She shook her head harshly, "Yes, you do need to tell him. I understand why you told him that when you were a little girl and when you first got to HQ but Dear's getting older and-" She waved her hands up, trying to stop the way this conversation was going. He's hinted at telling dear a few times a year every since she told him but never this directly. "-Sis, you're getting older too he was fine with me when he was little acting as his parent but-"
"...n..no.." She choked out, pain coating her face. Bro saw this and his own face softened in return but he pushed on.
"Sis. He needs his mother."
She looked down, biting her bottom lip to stop it from shaking. The wood grain on the floor was encasing in this moment, she would look anywhere in the room. Anywhere to avoid Bro's gaze but anywhere but the floor had reminders of Dear.
"you are his Mama."
Her dear.
Her little boy.
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A cry echoed throughout the house. It's concrete walls encasing the sound and making it bounce off the walls, but she couldn't be bothered to go and take care of the source of the noise. Her eyes were locked on the body in front of her, pupils smaller than ever.
A black and purple bruise was spreading across the side of his face in real time. His split lip and eyebrow was beginning to swell, she had no doubt that his heart has stopped beating. After all, she had watched the life bleed out of his eyes while the blood spilled out of his head. He had fallen naturally, no doubt having an instant concussion the second she hit him making him lose balance.
He'd been yelling, screaming, grabbing onto her arm. He had this tantrum every day since....it...was born. The house was a mess like always, it was crying, and all she was doing was laying there on the mattress staring at the ceiling.
When he'd come home from work the house was still a mess, it was still crying and she was still staring at the ceiling. He yelled at her, pushing her up from laying and forced her to feed it. Even when she was feeding it, mindlessly patting it's back he was still yelling, tapping his foot with his arms by his sides.
And he kept yelling and yelling and yelling. At some point it unlatched and started to whine, though she suspected it was from the noise and not his full belly. Her icy eyes wandered from a random piece of trash to a metal carrier. It had been hers when she was a baby, her mother used to carry her in it and sing little songs to her. She hasn't done either with it.
He kept yelling, something about her being 'lazy' and 'emotional' but she wasn't listening.
The carrier seemed to call her name.
She placed it on the stained mattress, walking over to the carrier.
He was following close behind her.
She reached out for it, held both of the straps in her hand just as he grabbed her free wrist.
before she even knew it, she was spinning around, facing his shocked expression and lugging the metal carrier at his face.
She nudged his shoulder with her bare foot, tapping him lightly. She waited and waited for a response, a scream, a groan, a yell, a twitch. Anything. but it never came, she waited for three hours, it'd gone dark long ago and it had long since tired itself out of crying and fallen asleep.
She was standing up, retrieving the carrier from across the room not bothering to wipe the blood off of it, grabbing it and settling it into the metal carrier only for it to wake up and start to whine again. She looked back at him, no, he wasn't moving. She looked around. No one was here but them what could it be unhappy with? Was it her? She couldn't do anything about herself and she couldn't just leave it here, it'd get eaten. Then her eyes locked in on the carrier. It was supposed to have a blanket. She had a blanket with her when she was young. After hours and hours of digging through trash she found it. A brightly colored badly made blanket with yarn sticking out in random places, but nonetheless it was something.
She walked back over to it, placing the blanket down over the metal and putting it in the carrier. She waited a moment, his face scrunched up for a moment but soon smoothed out. She slowly picked up the carrier with its straps and put them over her shoulders. She didn't hear a cry or a plop so she assumed that it was still in the carrier and not on the floor.
She stepped over his body, walked out the door, out of the town, out of the city, out of the desert, out of that life and wandered for months. Scavenging, building a story, keeping it alive.
she tried to do what mother did, she carried it, sang the songs, fed it, and made sure it was safe. But she was missing something, one night when she was dreaming it came to her.
She was on her mothers back, her mother had just finished a song and was now talking to her.
"One day you'll do this with your own children, Dear."
dear.
Dear.
it was dear.
it was her Dear.
Her Dear was a he
He was Dear.
When she awoke that's what she called him, he giggled and for the first time since he first came into the world she felt a flutter in her stomach and her lip turn upward.
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"You are his Mama."
"Maybe it's time you started acting like it."
She looked up from the wood flooring and at Bro. She could see the hurt on his face, he was the closest thing she had to a father that she could remember.
"....m....Maybe it is....."