Chapter Text
Nell pushed open the door to the Cleaner’s HQ, the door creaking under her concentrated effort. The heavy doors were quite the effort for a 10-year-old that was already small for her age.
The child stumbled in and hurried to right herself, flustered. She smoothed down her large t-shirt and baggy shorts, fidgeting in her boots before looking around. There was what looked like a receptionist desk in front of her but it was unoccupied and the entrance was quiet. Nell frowned. There was already a wrench in her plans - there was no one to ask for help.
She blinked before wandering down the corridor to her left. She didn’t know where she was going but her mother always said that as long as you kept moving, you’d eventually get somewhere and, right now, somewhere was surely better than hanging around in the lobby and getting nowhere.
Elsewhere in the headquarters, Shikage was watching a strange little person meander through his home.
“S-Semiu!” he stuttered when she picked up his call.
“What’s up, Shikage?” the woman responded nonchalantly. She had been chilling with Enjin and a few of the older Cleaners in one of the many common rooms due to a rare lull in paperwork. Her head was tilted back on the couch, laughing with Enjin and Gris at whatever joke Bro had just told.
Shikage blinked rapidly at his screen. The subject was still wandering about the corridors. “We, um, we have an intruder!” he cried.
Semiu sat up straight. “More bandits?” she asked, already preparing to lay down the law once again. Enjin and Bro shifted beside her, ready to throw any rabble off their turf.
“N-no. It’s actually…a child?”
The adults shared a perplexed look. A child?
Meanwhile, Nell was quite sure that she was lost. This place was freakin’ huge and every door seemed to lead to a random room with no inhabitants or a supply closet. She wondered how anyone managed to find their way around here. It had been ages and she was tired so she sat down against the wall to rest for a moment. She hadn’t seen any people the whole time she had been walking around. It was a little unsettling. All the graffiti was fun to look at, though. It was just like Canvas Town!
Digging in her yellow backpack, Nell pulled out a bottle of water and sipped. Her mother was going to be so upset when she realised where she’d run off too but this was important. Nell had to know! And she wanted to help her mother, that was important too. She was sure to understand later when she saw the note. Mama couldn’t be mad forever. Probably. Hopefully.
The girl sighed and played with her grey striped arm warmers, exposed fingers stroking the fabric in contemplation. Looking for someone you don’t know sure is hard work. While she was sitting here, she should probably try and figure out what to say when she actually did reach her goal. Or maybe it would be better to wing it?
No more contemplation, she decided as she sprung up again. Time waits for no one after all! And Nell knew if she thought about it any longer, she would just scare herself into going home and she saw no reason to get in trouble after gaining nothing. It was difficult to get around this place, though. She sure wished that one of them would come across her. They worked for the Cleaners so maybe they knew! Yeah, maybe she should try and look for-
Nell strolled around the corner and nearly collided with the person on the other side. “Ack!” she squawked. She blinked and was faced with a girl with bright red hair braided into an intricate style - two braids and what looked like a bow made of hair - and wearing trendy clothes.
Nell’s first instinct was to shrink away but then she realised that this girl was the first sign of human life she had found in this heavensforsaken labyrinth. She stepped back and squared her feet. Her shyness couldn’t take over her now, not when she had come so far!
“A kid?” the red head muttered in confusion.
“Um, hello!” she said, cringing inwardly at how her voice came out. C’mon Nellie, be brave! “D-Do you know a strong man who’s a Cleaner?!” she blurted out.
The older girl in front of her blinked, clearly taken aback, and then smiled. “Gonna need to be more specific than that, girl; For starters, tell me the guy’s name. And what you’re doing here.” How was she even able to get in?, she thought to herself.
“But…I dunno his name. No one’s ever told me it,” Nell pouted. “Mama just said he’s a Cleaner and his job is super important. Like I said, I need to find a guy who’s super strong and also a Cleaner.”
Nell looked down at the floor and then suddenly looked up in alarm, startling the red head in front of her once again. “Oh, I’m sorry! My name is Nell! It’s, uh, nice to meet you!” she exclaimed.
Mama always said it was important to introduce yourself and make a good impression! Nell hoped she hadn’t made the situation uncomfortable. She didn’t know this girl but she seemed nice so maybe she could help her out as long as she was polite.
“I’m Riyo,” the older girl replied with a smile. She tilted her head and her braids shifted with her. Nell nodded.
“Can you help me find this person, Riyo?”
Riyo stared at this random child that had somehow made her way inside her house and faintly wondered what the hell was going on. All of the Cleaner’s who had kids in the base were accounted for and she had definitely never seen this little girl before. She was wholly unfamiliar; an anomaly. The child was wearing oversized clothes, fashionable but somewhat boyish, and her thick hair was slightly messy and growing into a bob, the fringe covering most of her face.
“Sure, why not,” she drawled. It’s not like she had anything better to do right now and it would be fun to see what came of this bewildering situation.
Meanwhile, Nell could’ve cried. Yay to not being lost anymore! She grabbed Riyo’s hand quickly and the red head gripped her little hand back without missing a beat and started walking.
“We’ll go see Semiu to start with. She can probably help.”
“Who’s Semiu?” Nell asked.
“Only the most awesome receptionist ever! She’s on a break right now but this seems pretty important. Let’s get you some food first, though.”
Well, that explained the empty front desk. Nell nodded and hummed, happy to be finally getting somewhere. Riyo manoeuvred the halls with ease, guiding her new companion with practiced movements.
Meanwhile, Semiu, Bro, Gris, and Enjin were losing their minds. The mystery child had long since shifted from where Shikage had said she would be.
“How hard can it be to find one damn kid?” Enjin grumbled. “I’ll call Shikage. She can’t have gotten too far.”
He huffed and fiddled with his choker. “Shikage, hey.”
“E-Enjin!”
“You got eyes on the kid?”
“She’s with Riyo in the cafeteria,” Shikage replied.
“Riyo found her?” Bro piped up.
“That’s all the way on the other side of the damn building,” Enjin complained. “Whatever, this saves us a lotta hassle. C’mon!”
As he and his friends started towards their little stranger, Riyo was feeding Nell sweets at the bar. It probably wasn’t the healthiest thing to do but Nell seemed happy enough with the arrangement.
“Hey, now! Drink water, silly,” she said gently as the kid scarfed down the cookies and sugar pretzels on her plate. The girl downed the glass offered to her and finally took a breath. Riyo held back a giggle, suddenly reminded of Rudo.
“Thank you,” Nell said as she kicked her feet lightly, boots swinging. “This is yummy.”
Her vice was sugar, she couldn’t get enough of it. Being given as much as she wanted was an excellent stroke of luck as far as she was concerned. She reached for another treat and nibbled slower this time.
Riyo rested her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands as she looked at the little girl, curiosity getting the best of her.
“You wanna tell me more about this mysterious strong Cleaner you’re looking for?” she asked.
Nell swallowed and looked down in thought. She pushed her plate back and took a deep breath.
“My dad is a Cleaner, I think. But I’ve never met ‘im.”
A singular red eyebrow was raised. Nell continued.
“Mama talks about him sometimes, mostly when I was younger. Said he was strong and was doing important work with the Cleaners which is why I never see ‘im. But Granny knows who he is, I think. They’ve argued ‘bout it, she says Mama should reach out but it always makes her sad. I…I don’t think he wanted us.”
She tugged on her hair lightly. “But I still wanna see ‘im. Just so I can ask.”
Riyo listened in stunned silence. Nell’s head dropped fully, hair obscuring her face further. The situation had suddenly gotten a whole lot more complicated. Riyo could feel a surge of anger on Nell’s behalf towards whoever this guy was. She loved her fellow Cleaners but being a deadbeat was a crime she couldn’t stand by.
Nell played with her fingers, appetite seemingly gone and face obscured. Riyo dug around in her little bag where she kept Ripper and procured a number of hairclips, saying the younger girl’s name softly.
“C’mere. Let’s get that hair out of your face first,” she said gently as she stroked Nell’s head. Nell let her, shifting closer. Riyo’s hands were gentle and curious. Nell thought she was nicer than most strangers.
Nell’s hair was thick and soft as Riyo messed with it gently before picking up one of her accessories. “Tell me about your mother,” she said. Maybe more information could help narrow down whoever the girl was looking for.
“My mama? She’s awesome!” Nell sounded proud.
“She does tattoos and her studio is really popular! She’s super young so people are always surprised but she gets a lot of customers.”
Super young? Riyo started clipping locks of Nell’s hair back as the child went back to eating. “How old’s your mom?” she asked.
“Um…maybe twenty-six? Less than thirty for sure because she always gets mad when people say that. She nearly threw big bro through a wall last time he called her a hag,” she giggled.
“And you’re…?”
“Hm? Oh, I just turned ten.”
Riyo hummed, adding more and more colourful clips to the child’s hair. She could see how thick her lashes were now. Twenty-six with a ten-year-old. Teenagers having kids was far from uncommon on the Ground. There were a good number of people who could say that they were less that twenty years younger than their parents.
There were only a few who could fit into that timeline. Or so she hoped, blanching at the thought of any of the men around her daring to be such creeps.
“You mentioned a big brother.”
“Yes, but we don’t have the same mommy. His and big sis’ parents are dead but we’re all super close.”
All her hair was pinned back now, and Riyo mentally congratulated herself for doing such a good job.
“Ah, they actually work here! Their names are-”
But Riyo wasn’t hearing a single thing Nell said because she had finally looked Riyo in the face and it was as if her brain had been taken over by white noise and pure, staticky confusion. She looked at this child that she had most definitely never met before this morning and was suddenly faced with the eyes she knew better than most others. The very eyes that had saved her life.
What the hell did you do, old man?