Arron and Trexx

Chapter 69

Third person pov

"Hurry up, dad!" Ino hissed, dragging the man down the street. "Before she wanders off! I'm not supposed to leave her side, you know?"

"Why not?" Inoichi was a little dumbfounded. Her daughter had climbed through the window, yes, the window, of his office and dragged him out through the bushes. He didn't know why, but she insisted that it was because she had to take him to Arron. That her coming there wasn't going to happen.

"She tried to kill someone a few days ago." Ino said vaguely. Inoichi immediately felt startled. Ino noticed. "Oh, but don't worry! It was just a scumbag! Shikaku-san arrested him."

Inoichi nodded slowly, mind reeling. So Arron was getting out of the house now... Ino hadn't been too specific on why she was coming out more, or what she was doing; only that she was. Inoichi was glad to see that his daughter and Arron had become close. He'd even heard Ino refer to them as 'best friends' during her rambling about the dark-haired girl. He was glad.

"Arron!" Ino called. The girl was in the front yard, and she was... shouting. It momentarily startled Inoichi. He'd never heard her raise her voice in such a manner. Moreover, she didn't even look scared. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, and she turned upon hearing Ino's call, head cocking curiously. Her face turned sour upon spotting Inoichi, and the man had to deadpan. Lovely.

"Right here?!" A male voice called, and Inoichi looked up as they approached to see that there were people all over this... house.

"Left!" Arron called, and the man shifted his paintbrush.

"Oh, I see it!" The man called back. "Thanks!"

"Dad, this is Miss Himiko's home for women. I did my project here, remember?" Ino prodded. "For my last year at the academy?"

"Yeah, I remember... what are we doing here?" Inoichi asked, blinking.

"Well, turns out Arron is super rich, so she bought the house from Francis-san, and is redoing it completely! And it barely puts a dent in her funds, too!" Ino chirped. Inoichi stared at her blankly for a moment, the gears in his head turning. 

"She... bought the house?" He blinked a few times. How had Arron gone from sitting on Shikamaru's bed, refusing to leave until he got back from the chunin exams, to buying houses and hiring men to fix them to perfection? 

"Yeah! And get this, eventually, she's going to get payed back for it all! Since this is a nonprofit and all. A percentage goes to her." Ino grinned. "Pretty cool, right? Arron really wants to help the women."

"I... can see that." Inoichi scratched the back of his neck. "Arron, how have yo-"

"Move, I'm gay!" A man in a coonskin cap brushed past him, balancing an entire oven on one hand. Inoichi blanched, eyebrows furrowing as he took in the tube top he was wearing, the ratty jeans, and the cowboy boots. In contrast to the sparkly red lipstick and nails manicured to match. Not to mention he had long, black hair that just... what?

"House." Arron demanded, pointing toward the door.

"I've got this, babe. Queers, forward march." The man snapped his fingers, and several men toting various pieces of furniture began to file after him. Inoichi took a step back, watching with a dumbfounded look as a pair of men carrying a bed shuffled past him, followed by several others. All were dressed in excessive amounts of drag, and they were all gossiping about one thing or another.

"Arron, why'd you hire him?" Ino groaned, throwing her head back. "He and his crew... do you even know his name?"

"He's gay." Arron said as though the answer was obvious. Ino stared at her blankly, so Arron elaborated further. "They can go into house. Won't bother women." 

Ino's mouth formed at O, and Inoichi looked mildly stunned. He really, really should have brought his clipboard.

~

The final stage of the chunin exams was nearly a week away, and Arron was rarely home. It was like she had a full time job seven days a week, leaving early, and getting home late. But she was... happier. The underlying tension that had lurked below the surface before had diminished somewhat in wake of her breakdown during which she nearly killed a man. She was still quiet, nervous, and she didn't like people, but she was able to talk to them. She didn't scream and huddle down when she brushed shoulders with a stranger. She could look Yoshino in the eyes when speaking, though she was still working on Shikaku. She was... she was getting better.

The house, the one Miss Himiko ran, as in tip-top shape. It looked like new. The carpeting had been stripped out and replaced, the tile redone, and the walls re-plastered and painted. A lot of the furniture had been replaced, and the bedrooms were revamped to make them more comfortable for more people. The amount of beds they had doubled; though it wasn't uncomfortable to have so many people in one home. The designer and his crew Arron had hired, whoever the fuck they were, had done wonders.

"Miss Yuuta runs the home over here." Miss Himiko told Arron and Ino, circling a place on the map. The girl had revamped this one and placed Skronk here as protection, and was now asking for the locations of other homes. Ino was all for it, honestly. If this was what Arron needed to do to cope, then so be it. Plus, it was helping a lot of people. Miss Himiko continued, "They really need help over there."

"Sounds good. What do you think, Arron?" Ino asked, grinning down at her friend. The dark-haired girl offered a small smile, hands clasped behind her back. She glanced back at Trexx, who nodded in agreement, so Arron nodded too. If Miss Himiko said they needed help, she didn't doubt they did. 

"Let's go." Arron murmured with a small smile. Ino took the map and bounced towards the door, already pointing down the street and rambling about all the turns they'd need to make, and the places they'd pass. Arron nodded along, only somewhat listening. She saw a lump moving about beneath the grass in the yard, and she was Skronk pop up. He gave a sort of warm growl before burrowing back into the soil again. Arron waved a little.

It was cool outside, and Arron found herself missing Shikamaru again. She wished he could come with her, but knew his training was important. She just didn't like being apart from him was all. She could remember clearly when she couldn't stand being apart from him. Him going to school would set her mind a whirl. She'd sweat buckets, hyperventilate, and clutch that walkie talkie like it was her life line. At the time, she supposed it was.