Kibishi's POV

  We were all inside the investigation room. There, we saw David and Riley sitting in front of someone who seemed to be a soldier as well.

  Wait... wasn't that...?!

  "Huh? Oh, it's Akuma!" The girl soldier from before smiled at Akuma. She also had her helmet off, so I could see her long, naturally brown hair, matching her brown eyes.

  "Hey, Emily! Good to see you training your skills to integrate!" Akuma waved at the girl named Emily.

  "Yeah, well, it was either me or a buff, well-trained soldier who'd seen hell and back. I doubt he would've gone easy on them just because they're teenagers, so..." Emily sweated and ughed nervously at the end.

  "Ah, that's fair enough," Akuma nodded.

  Akuma and Emily seemed to have a history together. But more importantly—

  "Hey! Look who it is!" David gave us a light wave, grinning like nothing had happened.

  "Tao! Kibishi!" Riley shouted, beaming at us.

  The troublemakers who had started this whole thing in the first pce.

  "Don't 'Tao! Kibishi!' us!" I shouted out of pure instinct.

  I used to do this whenever they acted up in a way I didn't like. It wasn't harmful, so it was more like a way of life whenever things ended up that way. At this point, I think it was just a reflex.

  But despite me shouting at them out of worry, I felt at ease knowing they were alright.

  "W-what seems to be the problem?" Riley asked in a soft voice, pcing her hands on the table.

  "How could you guys be so selfish?! We were worried sick about you two!" Tao shouted as well. Not out of annoyance or real anger—she was relieved they were okay. But she was still somewhat furious that these two had caused us so many panic attacks.

  "How could you do this to us?! We thought you two got hurt—or worse—before you got kicked out!" Tao started to cry. "I thought you guys didn't want us to worry about you! I thought that's what we promised each other?!"

  Tao narrowed her eyes at David and Riley.

  "Acting like everything's okay ISN'T fine at all!"

  "Tao..." I whispered.

  I was at a loss for words. All my anger, frustration, and sadness—Tao had described it perfectly for me. Honestly, I was gd I hadn't said it myself. I would've exploded way worse than Tao.

  I was too emotional.

  Anything I said would've sounded way too cruel.

  But even so... Tao was right.

  "You guys have some expining to do. Why did you cause trouble for the others? What happened to our promise?" I said in a deep voice, staring straight into David and Riley's eyes.

  David lowered his head and closed his eyes. Riley did the same before they both looked up at us.

  At first, there was silence. But then, David stood up.

  "They wanted us to forget about rushing in and saving you both," David said sternly.

  "H-huh?!" My eyes widened as my body shook briefly.

  "Forget?" Tao whispered, tears still falling.

  Emily slowly stood up and sighed deeply. She smiled a little as she pced her left fingertips on the table.

  "They were bickering about how it was unfair for the backup group to stay on the sidelines while the main fighters risked their lives to protect this city. And even if they had valid points, there are ways to prove your point besides violence." Emily touched her lips as she continued.

  "David busted a soldier-in-training's lip and caused a riot between him, Riley, and the other soldiers. They don't want to see them after today and wanted me to interrogate them to prove them guilty."

  Emily sweated and scratched her cheeks in embarrassment.

  "Course, after asking David the reasoning for his attack, he said that he wasn't in his right mind and that he'd apologize—even if it meant maybe leaving this building for good. Riley is in this room because one of the soldiers kicked David in the face. And then... she jumped on the man's back and—I kid you not—started beating the living crap out of him."

  "Whoa..." Akuma widened her eyes in amusement.

  "Akuma, you didn't see it, but Riley literally painted that guy purple and blue all over his body. I mean—the girl was on a rampage, for goodness' sake! All the soldiers from the outside, including me, had to stop her and bring her in with David." Emily expined, seeming both amazed and terrified by Riley's strength.

  "Eheheh..." Riley ughed nervously, looking away with a small blush.

  "Is the soldier okay?" Akuma asked.

  "Yeah, he's fine," Emily replied.

  "Good. Now then, let's keep going with the story, David. What happened before the fight broke out?" Akuma asked in a calming voice.

  David nodded and then sat back down.

  "It wasn't meant to be a brawl. I just wanted to be there with my bro and his friend. They're like family to me, man." David lowered his head and rested it between his arms. "I didn't like the idea of being kept back from saving them. It really pissed me off, so I tried to talk things out with the others. And then someone said that they're only disposables, so I socked the guy for talking crap. And then... the rest is what Emily mentioned."

  "David..." Tao whispered, wiping away her tears.

  "But why though? Why didn't you leave it be like you always do?" I asked.

  "These people don't know what they're saying. And they're supposed to be the st line for the human race..." David closed his eyes.

  "Agreed. I know we caused trouble for the people here—and maybe for The Founder, who runs the pce. But talking about our friends like they're trash? That's unforgivable." Riley narrowed her eyes in disgust. "No one will talk about my friends that way and live to tell the tale! NO ONE!"

  SLAP!

  Riley smmed her fist on the table, causing it to crack slightly.

  Akuma widened her eyes and pced her hand under her chin. Riley closed her eyes and started to tear up. "It sucks! Why are the people here so mean?! I thought we were on the same side?!"

  "Oh, Riley." Tao swiftly ran toward Riley and hugged her for support. Riley continued to cry in Tao's arms as David lifted his head.

  "I won't ask for forgiveness, Emily. But please, don't kick those two out as well, okay? At least find a home where Riley and I can stay together. That's... my only wish right now..." David pleaded with a small smile, though his eyes showed sadness.

  Emily sighed deeply and pced her hands on her helmet, which was resting on the table. Her fingers tapped on it for a few minutes before she spoke again.

  "That, I cannot do. You two are still young, so The Founder won't allow it." Emily stated firmly, her eyes closed.

  "Fair enough..." David nodded in agreement, not even trying to resist Emily's statement.

  Emily then opened her eyes and smiled.

  "However, I CAN punish you two and have you do all of the soldiers' duties for a whole week."

  "Huh?!" David and Riley said in unison.

  "Yep. A whole week of duties that belong to the soldiers-in-training. You'll wake up at 3:00 in the morning, help the cooks make meals for everyone in the building, clean the dishes, clean everyone's rooms, and even take out the trash. Oh, and you're scrubbing the toilets that have had those weird spots for months. Good luck with that!"

  Emily beamed at David and Riley as their expressions turned grim.

  "T-t-the toilets?! The same ones those shitty soldiers sit their fat asses on and crap in?!" David's body shook in fear.

  "Mm-hmm! They're so nasty that we use the fighters' own whenever we need to go! Haha, it's finally good to know they'll get cleaned!" Emily ughed, giving a thumbs-up to David and Riley.

  "Nnoooo!!!!" David and Riley shouted at the same time, holding their heads.

  "Then it's decided! You both won't be kicked out, so that's a good thing! You might want to wear durable gloves, though. I think a sewer monster grabbed a poor soldier while she tried to..." Akuma announced as if it were the most casual thing in the world.

  "M-m-monster?! Isn't that the fighters' job to kill those things?!" Riley asked, her skin turning blue from fright.

  "Better you than me!" Akuma stated bluntly.

  "Waahh!!!" David and Riley shook in disgust and fear once more.

  "Well, now that that's settled! Tao, Kibi, let's go to our department to rest for the night!" Akuma swiftly turned around and headed toward the exit.

  "Oh, right! I better tell everyone the good news! This will be WAY better than banishing them from the building and making them live in a daycare! Whoo!" Emily jumped up and then skipped along, following Akuma's lead.

  "T-Tao! Kibishi! Do something!!!" Riley clung to Tao tightly. David stared at me in fear, his eyes pleading, "Please, bro! Help me out of this mess!"

  But I refused.

  I might be a kind guy when it comes to my friends, but as long as they were safe AND getting the lesson they deserved, I was okay with it.

  I'd be the 'shitty' guy and pull an 'Akuma' on them.

  "Welp, time to be a tree and 'leave.' See ya." I waved at my doomed friends with a bright smile and walked off, hands in my jacket pockets.

  "H-huh?! Tao, w-what about you?!" Riley asked in a panic, sounding like she was about to cry.

  "U-um, then I'll he—"

  "You know, Tao, if you help them, there's a big chance a giant bug will fly your way and drag you to its nest!" I teased with a smirk, turning around to face Tao with my eyes closed.

  I heard Tao shiver, which made me open my eyes.

  "O-oops! Would you like that? I think I'm needed over... anywhere else besides where you two are going, sooooo... bye!"

  Tao swiftly slid toward me, making me ugh since it looked straight out of an anime. We both turned around and started walking away again.

  "What?! Tao?! Tao! You're leaving me with bugs?!" Riley's voice shouted.

  "Not cool, bro! Not cool!" David shouted at me.

  Their voices echoed, ranting and praying that the things I'd said weren't true. In hindsight, I doubted they were, but a good scare would teach them a lesson.

  I'm sorry, guys, but I won't save you this time.

  "I kind of feel bad for them..." Tao voiced her opinion as I closed the door with satisfaction.

  "Yeah, me too. But you know, I think making them do this will keep them in line for a while. And if things go bad, we can always help them, right?" I said to reassure Tao.

  Tao raised her left brow and then clung to my shoulder, gripping it silently.

  I wondered why—oh.

  "Right. We'll help them in ways that DON'T involve cleaning the toilets. Promise."

  "Okay. Thank goodness!" Tao held her chest and sighed in relief. Yeah, Tao might not normally dislike bugs, but the idea of them being in the toilets probably freaked her out. Maybe it was because they were the 'bad' ones or something.

  At any rate, with the muffled screams of David and Riley begging us to come back, Tao and I decided to chat on our way back to The Founder's room. I assumed that's where they'd go to finalize the compromise first.

  With idle chatter along the way, this wasn't a bad end to our first day!