Blame [Gang Member!Bardock x Reader AU]

Part 1 - The Book Store

"... and as she meets this man for the first time, she already knows that great things will come... Mh-hm." You nodded with approval as your fingers traced little patterns on the dusty pages of the book, leaving a small layer of grey dirt on the sensitive skin.

West City has been a wreck lately. Almost every day, the news only reported about one single thing: crime. Every kind of it: murder, robbery, hostage-taking and the list goes on. Some of these psychos even had the guts to break into Capsule Corp., but guess what happened to them.

Even though this trouble affected your everyday life, you decided to not let it scare yourself. What should you do, after all? Hide in your house for weeks? Years? Who knows, but you wouldn't let them control your behavior. You wouldn't let them win so easily by taking your happiness.

This happiness was even bigger when it came to books. The book store was your favorite place to be and fortunately, you found a liking to almost all kinds of the small paper bundles. Yes, cliché romance ones too.

**

"Snap out of it already!" Your friend shouted and slammed the book shut, sending a small storm of dust right into your (e/c) eyes. It wasn't a good idea to bring Caffey with you, you knew it.

"Can't you just let me read one time? It has only been 5 minutes!"

"(Y/n), it has been 40 minutes. I couldn't find you after you wandered off and you wouldn't answer when I called you." , she stopped and sighed, "I'm getting tired and you promised me that you'd come to the thrift shop with me."

You knew that she didn't even try to make you feel guilty, but she succeeded anyway.

"I know, I'm sorry. Let's go." You comforted the smaller woman, which seemed to push a button because she turned around in a split second and headed towards the shop, not leaving any time for you to buy the book.

"She's unbelievable." You mumbled and ran after her to catch up.
And she really was. Even though you were an eternal optimist already, she was even more bubbly and happy than you, it was almost over the top. She was the joy of life incarnate with her long, blonde locks bouncing off her back as she quickly made her way to her destination, her brown eyes having that familiar sparkle.

"We're here!"

You stopped and examined the building. It was quite... fancy. At least it didn't look like what you expected it to be.

"That's it?"

"Of course, you dork. Now let's get inside, choose something and I'll treat you today."

You laughed at her offer, but it was replaced by a sharp breath as she brought her index finger to your face while narrowing her eyes till they were almost closed.

"You owe me a dinner."

"Yeah, yeah." You shrugged and couldn't hinder you from chuckling again, that's what she called treating?

This time it was the same as in the book store, only with your roles reversed. Caffey wandered off and was soon out of sight, so you decided to take a look at the clothes rack before you.

You pushed piece after piece to the side, examining their fabric and colors: bright, faded, destroyed. There was everything you could imagine and it gave you a weird, yet nice feeling.

Then, your slender hands came to a stop. A jacket. Black and blue.
It had that certain vibe, making you curious, but you just couldn't put your finger on it. You had to buy it, but why exactly?

You just shrugged it off, thinking it was just normal affection towards a piece of clothing. It looked nice, after all.

"Boo." Someone suddenly whispered into your ear and grabbed your shoulders, making you jump.

"Caf, geez. Don't sneak up at me like that."

Completely oblivious to your words, she focused on the thing in your hands.

"You shouldn't buy this."

The happiness vanished from her face, leaving a very serious expression.

"What's gotten into you? Oh... wait. You want it, don't you? You could've told-"

"You shouldn't buy this!" She repeated, her voice cracking a bit, which caused you to raise an eyebrow at her in confusion.
That wasn't Caffey as you knew her.

"Ah." You replied, raising your chin and crossing your arms in front of your chest.
"And why shouldn't I?"

She inhaled and turned her face away, she was obviously seeking for a lie you would buy.
"It, er... it is a man's jacket. It would look bad on you."

You snorted in disapproval and slipped into the nice material. As you looked into the mirror, you were proven right. If it really was made for a man, he was small and not bulky. It was a bit over sized, but only a little bit, which made it look rather nice.

But apart from the nice look of it, there was something else hitting you as you moved around. A stench emitted from the jacket.
Blood.

You quickly took it off, eyeing every inch of the fabric, but you couldn't see a thing. No blood stains, nothing. But as you brought your nose near it again to check a second time, it almost made you throw up.

"See, I told you it was a bad idea! Come on, I found something, let's pay and leave."

No... that wasn't it. She was still acting strange, now she was in a hurry, too?

"Tell me the truth already, Caf! What's your problem? If you don't want to wait till I find some more pieces, you can go home already, as it probably is what you want. I'm fine on my own."

"Okay. I'm just not feeling well, that's all. I'll go, see you tomorrow."

"Night." You replied harshly and averted your gaze, concentrating on the jacket again.
Out of the corner of your eye, you could see her hurry out of the store without buying anything. What the hell was up with her today.

**

After you found another piece you liked, you went over to the checkout and paid.

What you didn't know was that Caffey was still near the store and watched you take the jacket with dismay before finally leaving.

"Crap, what have I done.."