A scream and dirty laundry

[Deleted]

‘Is it really impossible? Is it really impossible to make changes to Veyyard? I mean, they don’t have to be drastic, as the crime rates will just continue to rise.. But there has to be something that we can all do that will impact people, inspire people no matter if they want to hear me or not I will try my best to at least TRY to make a change. It may not happen right away, but no one can’t tell me that I didn’t give it my best shot.’

‘It’s been hard on everyone, Zero looks exhausted as if he’s going to collapse on his bed at any moment, and Jean looks so frustrated, I mean the bounty hunters are my family and Zero is my one and only, and I know he puts on a brave face and assures me that they are doing all that they can but the work keeps piling up. No matter how Zero looks at me with those blue eyes of his, I know he’s frustrated. If I didn’t join, I feel that the workload would have been 3 times overwhelming, and I wouldn’t be able to spend time with him at all.’

‘I may not know everything about bounty hunting, but I feel like I can touch one person at a time. I can’t change the whole world but I can start with what I CAN do. No tears, no sadness, but embracing my resolve. Even if it was ever my last day on this earth, I would want to touch someone’s heart, the first thing I have to do is remain positive, and keep providing the support that everyone in this building needs.

Ever since the interrogation it has been burned into my mind. Duo is doing such a great job being a music teacher… I think that was the best thing that could have happened to him, he’s living his dream and that is making people smile.’

The interrogation took place a month ago but the whole situation was still bothering Mitsuko just a bit, it made her realize that Veyyard has a lot more problems then any other country, and there were tons of barriers in place, and even some complicated laws, that she just couldn’t break down instantly.

To be frank the interrogation—even though it happened a month ago, was a wake up call to her. Not everything was pure and sweet like her dreams, like her heart, however she wanted people to know that we can all take a stand and have the courage to make a change. No matter how big or small, no changes made go unnoticed.

Change is scary for everyone, but while she is alive the angel must do something, but like what Zero made her realize, they must start small and work their way up the ladder. As she was collecting her thoughts she was doing some chores at the HQ, that hadn’t been done for quite a while, and one of the chores that she had begun doing was Hunter’s laundry. She had heard various complains from members of HQ that Hunter was not keeping his room clean, much less doing his laundry weekly, so Mitsuko took it upon herself to help him with it.

She gathered all of his clothes that were scattered around HQ, and some of the other bounty hunters were asking her how in the world can she stand to do Hunter’s laundry and she replied that every man needs a woman’s touch now and again. However as she was gathering Hunter’s laundry there was something not quite right. One of his pieces of his clothing was moving--- it was as if something was underneath it.


‘wobble wobble wobble’


Whatever was under his own clothing was continuing to move toward her as if it was following her, and she got scared. Zero was taking one of his evening naps before dinner, and she didn’t want to wake him, however… once she got the courage to remove the piece of clothing off of the thing that was moving, she let out a scream after she gasped, as she saw a nasty cockroach under hunter’s piece of laundry.

“EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Hunter get down here!! Oh god someone arrest it! TT_TT that is disgusting!!! I thought you were a man of cleanliness!

[Tagged: Zero and Hunter)

[Zero]

Zero lightly breathes through his blanket, one of his arms clutching his favorite bear; Mister Binky, and his other arm laid free at his side. He's taking his nap, and it's one of the most comfortable nap that he's having.

...If not for the fact of the sudden shrill screaming from downstairs would violently awaken him.

The scream, which undoubtly came from Miki (he could tell even when unconscious), woke him in such a way that his legs immediately began moving before his body...which made him fell off his bed with a thump and a cry of pain.

Then, when he stood up, his feet were moving too fast again that he wasn't even able to stabilize himself that he ended up ramming straight into the door frame. "Ow!!" Bouncing back from the solid frame, he then readjusts his balance and ran downstairs. But not before stubbing his toe on the staircase. "Miki!! Miki..! What happened?!"

Now Zero has a bump on his forehead, a semi-straining arm from the epic bed-fall, a stubbed toe, and complete with his messy bedhair too. He was mid-way down the stairs as he called her, and now seeing a familiar blonde hair from a mile away, he rushed towards her in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the cockroach, Zero let out an extremely deep sigh. Sharing in a room with Hunter, it's something of a tradition for him to even greet the cockroaches crawling by. It's so common, Hunter even named them. Sometimes, Zero can even recognize the local cockroaches.

"HUNTER!! Portsy --at least I think this is Portsy-- is scaring Miki!! You better get him away before I kill him!" He called. Some of the hunters in the area let out a slight laugh by how familiar this scene is.

Yes, this HAS happened quite a few times before when others attempted to clean off Hunter's legendary mess.

[NPC: Male]

Of course Hunter heard the scream. There is ALWAYS a scream coming around when anybody had the guts to take over the job to settle his laundry. He was busy chopping his fingernails short on the windowsill, and if it wasn't for the fact that he's so used to hearing screams every so often, he would've cut himself.

Walking languidly down towards the scene, Hunter could only support a weak smile to Zero and an easy-going "Sorry," to Miki. He bent down his tall figure to put a finger on the floor, where the cockroach faithfully climbed on.

Bringing the cockroach near his eyes to take a closer look, Hunter then laughed. "Wow Zero, you got the name right this time. I'm impressed!" Walking towards the nearest window, Hunter flicked the cockroach outside. "Go, Portsy, go! Say hi to the wife and kids for me~! ..If they're still alive~!"

His actions and words made quite a few hunters walking around laughing out loud, and at this, Hunter smirked. Walking back to Miki and Hunter, the tall man scratched his hatless head with an insipid grin. "I'm really sorry about that, Miki, ahaha. Portsy really likes to hang around my clothes somewhat, heheh."

[Deleted]

Mitsuko started to cough since that scream of hers strained her vocal cords, so she ended up communicating with Hunter by writing on a notepad the following:



The angel gave Hunter a look, and since she is now scared that there will be more creepy crawlies visiting her, especially since she had a sweet smell to her, she clung onto Zero like a baby. Yep now today was the day where the roles are reversed—Instead of Zero being a big baby, Mitsuko was now the baby. The angel went ahead and continued to do Hunter’s laundry and she had put his first load in the washer.

Once she did so at the corner of her eye she saw another bug, but this time it was a centipede. Seeing this she quickly ran behind Zero—and treated him like her knight in shining armor. All he was missing was the suit of armor itself. Once she felt like she was able to speak again she started to cheer for Zero.

“GO Zero! Get that thing, the next thing you know they will be attracted to the little garden I set up outside of head quarters…. My poor flowers. And Hunter if they are attracted to your clothes, I… I don’t mean to sound rude, but wouldn’t it be because it isn’t clean? I’m sure if you clean your clothes regularly, it wouldn’t have this problem. It’s not healthy for bugs to be wandering around the home. They can carry all sorts of germs.”

When Mitsuko went to where Hunter was by the windowsill, as he was clipping his nails, one of his nails ended up hitting her in the eye.

“Ouch.”

“I’ll teach you all about cleanliness and hygiene, Now your first lesson is to clean up after yourself. Bugs are attracted to food, especially sweets. So as soon as you are finished eating you throw out your garbage and let your dishes soak in the sink. And if you forget Zero will remind you. Right Zero?”

“I also worry about contamination… You all need someone to scrub down this place. You know what… I’ll do it.”

Some of the bounty hunters had told Mitsuko that she wasn’t their maid, as there were quite a few of them that respected her, but she shook her head and ended up getting a broom and mop, with soap and water in a bucket.

“Zero, can you handle the creepy crawlies? Oh wait…”

Then it dawned on her that Zero was napping, and her scream was the one that woke him up from his peaceful slumber. Her eyes widened at this sudden realization, and here she was already asking him for help and that caused her to feel bad, and knowing Mitsuko whenever she felt bad she would do her very best to make it up to that person.

“Oh dear, oh dear oh dear…. I-I’m sorry you were sleeping. I’ll make you dinner tonight what would you like? Name it and you got it.”

[NPC: Male]

Hunter had to laugh out loud at reading the angel's notepad. "Relax, relax~ Cockroaches don't bite." He reasoned with a grin before walking off, still laughing.

When Miki had loaded the first batch of his clothes in the wash, he was internally impressed. So he followed her with his eyes and watches how she work while clipping his nails, until she noticed Calypso, the centipede.

"Aaww, Miki, that's just Calypso. She's pretty timid, and you're frightening her~" he sang and just laughed at her comment of his clothes being dirty. "Welp, that might be it. I guess I'm just really lazy to pick up my clothes, especially since I'm very picky of my clothes." Thus is why he owns such a big cupboard to store his clothes, since he's such a fashionista.

As he was clipping his nails near the windowsill, Hunter genuinely jumped a bit when one of his nails hits the angel in the eye. "...Sorry about that. Can't really control where it flew." He offered her a smile, but clearly, Mitsuko is not amused.

She even started lecturing him of basic hygiene. "Err... aye aye, ma'am.." He responded awkwardly, not used in seeing a very strict cleaning-maniac Mitsuko.

[Zero]

Despite having some sleep still in his eyes, Zero stood and protected her from the creepy crawlies like the man he is. He only needed to hold both his hands up and she'll be jumping up in his arms whenever she saw something that moves on the floor.

So he followed her as she cleaned, now having a bug spray in one of his hands and a stick in the other. When the angel ran behind him from the centipede, he had to chuckle a bit as he watches her over his shoulder, trembling hebind him. It felt good that he acts as both the shield and comfort for her.

"It's alright, calm down. Breathe. I got this, okay? Don't be scared," he spoke calmly in a gentle tone as he pats her shoulder in attempt to calm her down. Then he moved near the centipede and sprayed at it, watching it curling into a ball and had to laugh as Miki cheered for him.

He used the stick to pick it up and tosses it outside the window, right over Hunter who's busy clipping his nails. He could hear Hunter saying something close to "Hey, watch it!" but Zero doesn't care, because he's playing as the hero today.

"C'mon, Hunter. Its your mess, help Miki clean up, will you?" He groaned, throwing the stick to Hunter as if it could avenge the nail he had hurt Miki's eye with. Zero went back to Miki and followed her around the headquarters as she cleaned, he even helped up with carrying the bucket full of water and an extra mop.

"Hm?" he blinked at her in surprise when Miki suddenly began apologizing to him. Tilting his head sideways a bit, he now began to realize that he still has his bedhair, and his stubbed toe is throbbing and his forehead is red due to bumping on the doorframe, and his arm is a bit sprained by the fall from his bed.

"Oh. Hahah, it's okay, Miki. I'll help out. When you're in trouble, I just seem to forget whatever's wrong with me. Heheh.." Laughing nervously at how embarrassing he must have looked, Zero smiled down at the angel like an innocent child waiting for an order.

"Hmm...talk about dinner... I'd really like to try those noodly things they eat with the red sauce.. Gepetto? Spighetto?" His eyes traveled upwards as he thought hard on the name of the particular food he wanted. "I think it was called as either gepetto or spaghetti.."

Who knew he could mistook a name of a character from Pinnochio as food, but his mistake is understandable since the last story Miki had read for him is Pinnochio, so the puppeteer's name must have been stuck in his head.

[Deleted]

“Pumpkin you are telling me to breathe and relax but look at them all ahh!”

The angel stayed close to Zero the whole time, even when they started to cleanup together, there were times where she would cling onto Zero like a little baby. Her hold onto him was gentle but tight all at the same time, and each area that they cleaned she would look to see if there were any creepy crawlies that they missed, and there were a few cute screams coming from her.

“Z-Zero look over there!! It’s coming right at me! Spray spray spray please!”

As she stood behind Zero she wrapped her arms around him in a hugging way and each time he walked she walked right behind him with her arms hugging him tight. Eventually they stopped and she had apologized for waking him up. Once he had mentioned that he always forgets what’s wrong with him whenever she’s in trouble she stopped him from saying anymore for a second by placing a finger on his lips, as well as instantly feeling his pain.

“You’re hurt aren’t you?”

Mitsuko put a hand on his forehead, and using her healing ability she started to ease the redness that was present, and then the sprained arm, and then his toe. He didn’t have to tell her where his pain was since as an angel she could feel his pain and knows exactly where it was coming from. She looked at him with a smile. Once he mentioned what he wanted for dinner her face brightened considerably and she clasped her hands together happily.

“Oh you mean spaghetti. Hahaha Gepetto is the father of Pinocchio but I have an idea, since you love all the stories that I read to you from treasury of fairytales book I’m going to bring the magic to you, just wait and see okay? This is to thank you for everything you have done for me, especially protecting me from the creepy crawlies.”

The angel quickly pressed her lips against Zero’s and went into the kitchen after she finished cleaning up with him and putting the dirty laundry in the washer. Once she was in the kitchen she started to make the meal for Zero and everyone else but she had told them to stay out of the kitchen as she was planning a surprise.

The bounty hunters knew that when Mitsuko gets an idea in her head, they knew that something big was going to happen. Eventually she had stepped out of the kitchen and asked Eve to keep an eye on the stove for her, and she quietly got two costumes but she hid them behind her back to the best of her ability.

She noticed Zero wondering what the heck she was up to and she laughed lightly.

“it’s nothing~”

The angel tip toed back into the kitchen and had called Hunter. She had told Hunter that since he had freaked her out with the bugs, he could at least dress up in the Pinocchio costume just to help get the magical moment in place for Zero. The angel knew that Zero still had his child like side to him and once in a while it was important for him to have an outlet to just feel like a child again, and besides you are never too old to love Disney.

Eve put on the Gepetto costume, and Mitsuko was the fairy that made Pinochio into a real boy, but since she had no fairy costume, she had to turn into her full angel form. Once everything was set she continued to cook. The smell of the food drifted from the kitchen to the main areas of HQ, which of course got people’s tummy to growl.

[Zero]

"Yes, yes, and I'll kill all of them before they even reach you, it's alright.." Zero continued calmly as he did what he said; spraying everywhere and exterminating every single bug he could see. Miki is holding onto him so tightly from behind its actually quite adorable.

He was just explaining something to her when she stopped him mid-way and went on healing him in all the right spots. "Miki," he sighed, "I'm used to the pain, it'll heal itself. So don't heal me from all these minor pain next time, okay? I don't want you to waste your healing energy on me."

At the topic of food, he could only blink at her idea of 'bringing the magic'...whatever it may be. "Um...okay. I'm...looking forward to it, then." As long as he gets his food, and Miki's cooking it. Zero always loves Miki's cooking, it always tastes great no matter what she cooks. Or perhaps it's usually because the food she cooks is specially for him.

The cleaning has been finished, so Zero's just putting back all the cleaning supplies in the tool shed at the back of the building. After that, he went to the washroom to wash his hands from all the dirt and bug-hunting he was in earlier.

He passed by the kitchen and ran into Miki who's asking Eve to watch the stove. The angel seemed to be particularly rushing somewhere else, so Zero can't help but to shot her a curious look.

"Um...should I be worried or something?"

[Hunter]

"Wait. Hold up. I'm a what now?" Was all Hunter could utter out at Miki's sudden call for him to act as a human-turned puppet. "But I'm 6 feet tall!" He tried to reason, but there's no use getting into Miki's thick head once she gets an idea no matter how crazy it might be in her mind.

Still, Portsy and Calypso and many others of Hunter's extraordinary critter friends had managed to creep Miki, to the point that Zero has to take the roll as the hero. "Augh, can't I just be Snow White or something, since cute critters likes to hang around me? And my laundry?" He complained in the midst of getting himself in the Pinnochio costume.

Then he just sat there on the chair of the dinner table, leaning himself back all the way that even his head tilted over the leaner. "Miki, did you put any beef in there?" Because the man do love his meat.

[Deleted]

“Hahaha! Be proud of your height Hunter. I am short so I can’t reach things on the highest shelf, so when Zero comes to visit me I have to get him to help me, though he doesn’t mind it since I can tell he enjoys giving me a helping hand. It’s nice to know that Zero will help me with anything, even with trivial things. Zero keeps me safe you know even from your friends, and cooking for him and make this like the storybook is the way I can say thank you.”

As Mitsuko said her words to Hunter she saw a creepy crawlie come near her and she let out a gasp, and she quickly hoisted herself up on the counter and sat there until the bug made its way away from her. The angel didn’t like bugs so she would get this chill down her spine whenever she saw them, but after it was nowhere to be seen she sighed a breath of relief.

“No. You are perfect for Pinocchio~ Come on this is for Zero pleaaaaaaaaaase Hunter? Pleaaaaaaaaase?~ I’ll give you extra meat in your food if you do me this favor. You only have to wear the costume for one hour. Just one hour of your time is all I ask.”

The angel soon came down from the countertop and gave Hunter a hug and a smile.

“I know I spoil Zero to no end but I want him to be happy.. I want to make him smile everyday, I want him to keep his child side intact, I never want him to ever lose those feelings Hunter or forget the feelings of a child. While I know he is grown now, I never want him to lose that part of him. Having a child side balances out our serious side… Don’t you think so Hunter?”

The angel greeted Zero and took both of his hands in hers angel form and all since she was playing the role of the fairy, that granted life to Pinocchio. But since she was no fairy but an angel, she wanted to embrace who she is in this way. A hint of blush hit her cheeks, but that was because she was happy.

“Come with me and don’t be worried, I got a surprise.”

Mitsuko was known to be full of surprises when it came to Zero and she led him into the kitchen.

“Welcome to the wonderful world of Disney! Miki version. And look! There is Pinnochio! I brought him to life for you with the magic of my wand!”

Sure enough the angel took out a pretend wand and touched Zero’s head with it. Yep the angel was having a case of adorability at it’s finest, in fact one could guess that this would be anyone’s first time to see Mitsuko in such a cute state, no matter how random it was.

[Hunter]

"Believe me, tall men are made to help sweet petite ladies." Hunter grinned at the angel and chuckled a bit as he balances himself on the hind legs on his chair. Hunter always liked to balance himself like that when he's sitting. "Eeehhh. Zero's only nice and sweet to you Miki, can't say I--"

Just as Hunter's about to continue his words, he heard the angel let out a noise and watched her get on the counter swiftly. At the sight, Hunter let out a chuckle. He had to wonder sometimes why some people are so terrified of bugs. Is it because they aren't cute or fluffy enough?

As he thought of this, Miki suddenly begged him to act as the puppet in whatever this story is. Though, with the promise of extra meat, Hunter immediately shifted his weight to the front, so the chair fell in its correct position. "I'll do it!" When meat is concerned, Hunter is serious.

He had to laugh when Miki went up and hugged him, "Yea yeah, you're welcome. Zero's gonna laugh at me for this, but with meat promised, I don't care." Grinning ear to ear, he patted Miki on her back a bit before releasing the angel.

"Oh you did spoil him to no end, but you keep him balanced while doing it, and its fine. Just keep making each other happy, eh?" He winked at her before waving her off to greet the special spectator. "Man. The things I do for meat." He sighed, testing to wear a sort of plastic nose to make it seem longer for the play soon.

[Zero]

Zero was just trying to find a mirror to fix his bedhair when Miki suddenly surprised him in her true angel form and grabbed both of his hands. "H-huh? Miki, why are your wings out?" He noticed the blood rushing to her cheeks and blinked his eyes. "And you're turning peach again."

Following the angel to the kitchen once she said that she has a surprise for him, Zero obediently followed her, then the smell of spaghetti traveled up in his nose that he had to inhale it and heave off a long satisfied exhale by the lovely aroma.

Now when he entered the kitchen, even though his nose had smelled the spaghette, his eyes did not expect to see Hunter in some kind of funny uniform and Eve too. His eyebrows hit his hairline as Miki said that the kitchen is his fairy tale story now, with the hunters dressed as the characters.

"Holy crap, seriously?" Zero burst out a laugh, obviously at Hunter. He was surprised, to say the least, when Miki suddenly tapped his head with something. Taking a second look at it, it looks like makeshift wand.

Eyes reverting back to the adorable angel, Zero smiled at her before raising both his hands to pinch both her cheeks, though not too hard that it would cause her skin to redden. "Since when did you get this cute?" He teased, pinching her cheeks with that boyish grin of his.

[Deleted]

When Zero pinched her cheeks, this caused her to get redder and because of what she was feeling deep within herself her wings were fluttering. She put a hand over his that was pinching her cheeks and laughed. Zero was just as cute as she was and when he asked how she became this cute she laughed harder but leaned in close to him and trapped him in a hug—her white wings around him also.

She spoke to him in a whisper into his ear gently using that same tone she did when he was little. Using that tone she knew that she could make his heart flutter just like he was making her heart flutter right now. Hunter was right they do make each other happy and as the angel embraced Zero while whispering to him, she took a free hand and started to comb out his bed hair.

For some reason the angel knew how to take care of Zero’s spikey hair. It was as if she had developed a strategy to comb it through out the time she took care of him.

“I got this cute because you draw it out Zero hahaha! Now I feel I should give you these!”

She gave him a total of three kisses. This was a technique she used when she was teaching Zero to count when he was a little boy, and making sure he was loved all at the same time. Even today the angel’s kisses retained the tenderness in them, and it was a tenderness that only Zero knew. The only exception she made when they were children was that she never kissed his lips, but now because they were involved with each other, and adults, it was okay.

“One kiss on your cheek, one kiss on your nose, and one kiss on your lips. Mwah!”

“OH! And one kiss for Pinocchio!”

The angel placed a kiss on Hunter’s cheek as a thank you for helping her out.

[Zero]

Zero blinked as he noticed that his action in pinching the angel's cheeks had made her wings to flutter. His eyes darted back towards Miki when she puts her hand over his and then hugged him, her wings closing around him as she did.

As they hugged, he went closer to his ear and spoke to him in a whisper. "M-Miki, don't do that." He asked quietly, honestly rather weak in cntrolling himself if he were to be exposed to any sensual delights, like her voice when she's whispering.

He used to like it when he was a kid, but now that he grows up, that sort of liking had grown more into something that can stimulate him, for the lack of better words. Her wish came true though, his heart did flutter like she wanted.

Zero sighed and looked away when Miki began smoothing his bed hair, though the smile on his face still stays there. "My hair sometimes likes to stand on its own." He said sarcastically, and then suddenly, kisses attacked.

His cheeks grows red at her three kisses, due to how extremely cute Miki was just now and his heart is beating out of control again. He had to hold his face because he's grinning too widely now, and decided to let Hunter go from getting that free kiss from Miki.

Usually, he would smack Hunter if he even touched Miki, but due to how red he is right now, Zero just stood silently there with a hand covering his whole face, frigid and still like a statue. After an inhale to calm himself down, Zero finally got a hold of himself and dropped down his hand to his side.

Regaining back that composure, the young bounty hunter then looked at all the characters present there. "Wow. Okay, so Miki's supposed to be the fairy. Hunter's the puppet.." He turned to look at Eve finally, "Who are you supposed to be?"

[Hunter]

Hunter is generous enough in lightening the room with his laughter as he watches the two lovebirds interact. Really, he still remembers the time of how Miki first stepped inside this very building for the first time with the Kevin issue and Zero's standing up for her, now everything's so relaxed and light-hearted, Hunter can't help but to enjoy himself.

He brings out both of his hands to give a clap of their kissing performance and then chuckled when the angel even turned to kiss him too. "Aaww, Miki, thanks for not leaving me out of the picture~!" He grinned at her, half-hugging her as a respond to her kiss.

Hunter had to lean down a bit to do just that, and it always makes him happy to see a smile on her face. "Just keep smiling like that and you can lighten anyone's mood."