The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 8: It Begins

"Good afternoon, Y/N."

The katana-wielder looked up from his book, meeting the icy blue eyes of Weiss. "Oh, hey."

The heiress looked around curiously. "... Where's Vao? He's usually with you."

Y/N shrugged. "He's at wherever he works."

"You don't know?"

He shook his head. "Vao refuses to tell anyone what his job is. It's... Concerning, actually." He set the book down, leaning back on the bench. "So what's up?"

Weiss grinned. Not a normal grin, but the kind of grin that would make any man shiver. "I wanted to know if you'd like to go shopping!"

Y/N felt his PTSD kicking in. There was one time he went shopping with Yang when he was fourteen, and they spent six hours in one store while Yang talked about nothing but clothes. But Y/N is also a pushover. Unless it came to Vao. With his femboy drunk brother he was just plain rude.

"U-um... Sure... Which store?"

"The Vale Mall! You can go off on your own, but you must rate my clothes when I buy them. It's a requirement."

Well, at least she wasn't going to make him sit outside the changing room like Yang did. "Yeah, I'll go." He stood up, walking alongside her.

"You're just going to leave your book there?"

"It's not mine, it was just there when I sat down. I think it's Blake's."

"Oh."

As they boarded the bullhead, they continued to talk about their assignments in class, among other nerdy things. After an hour, the bullhead touched down, letting it's passengers off. Y/N squinted when the light beamed in his eyes - he had grown used to the lighting of the airship.

"Ah, it is a wonderful day! Let's go!" Weiss exclaimed cheerfully. Y/N followed her down the street, the pair quickly arriving at the mall.

"I'm gonna be at the arcade if you need me," Y/N told the heiress.

"Of course. I'll shoot you a text when I want you to rate my outfit," she replied. They went their separate ways, Y/N entering the dark arcade. And to his surprise, who did he see at the crane game? Absolutely no one, because those things are fucking rigged. With a sigh, he sat down at one of the machines, sliding a coin into the slot. As he played, he didn't notice the footsteps approaching him.

"Hey, ugly fucker."

Y/N snickered. "Have you looked in a mirror lately, Cardin?"

The ginger feigned offense. "Ow, just ow man. You up for co-op?"

"Go ahead."

Cardin sat down, grabbing the second joystick. No, not that kind of joystick you perverts.

As they played, Y/N only grew more and more impressed. Cardin was actually winning. "Damn, Cardin. Found someone else to practise on?"

"Maybe I'm just that good and you just suck," Cardin snickered.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be back," Y/N said. Cardin gave a little wave as Y/N left the arcade, making his way to the bathroom.

The restroom was at the other side of the mall, and as Y/N walked further away from the arcade, the chatter of people going about their day died to silence. Soon, only his footsteps kept him company. He shuddered - he never liked being alone in these types of places.

He entered the abandoned restroom, walking into one of the stalls and sitting down. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his scroll. He had missed a few texts from Weiss. She seemed pretty upset that he wasn't answering her. He wanted to send a text back, but a quick glance showed that he had no service.