#garbage.update

Enjin is currently wrapping Rudo in long chains while you sit to the side waiting for him to finish. The amount of anxiety you currently have right now from meeting Enjin of all people, is indescribable. You feel like you're about to explode from the tension inside of you.

'Should I be letting him do this…?'

You sweat as Enjin finishes tying Rudo up, and he turns to look at you. "Hey. Why aren't you yelling at me for tying your friend up here?" Enjin's flat tone makes you dart your eyes to the floor.

"I'm terrified of you." You deadpan at him as you make eye contact with him. The surrounding silence is deafening as you both stare at each other.

Enjin bursts out laughing, "Seriously? Aha, that's hilarious, you've just been sitting here in suspense as I tie up your friend? Man Sphereites are really something~…"

You feel a vein pop on your forehead as your anxiety vanishes from Enijn's blunt laughter at your situation. You stand up and dust yourself off, huffing at him, "Well, I'm sorry but you're a little fucking scary after you straight up obliterated those monsters!"

He drops Rudo, you wince at the thump he makes face planting into the ground. Enjin walks over to you with a dead glare on his face. He points his umbrella at your chest, "Hey. Don't give me attitude, I'll still tie you up with your friend here."

He attempts to poke you in the chest, although it doesn't happen the way you both expect it to.

His umbrella goes through your chest in a flame of black and red.

You both scream.

Enjin drops his umbrella, you jump back and trip onto your back.

You both stare at each other with your jaws dropped.

"…Hm…. Maybe there is a use for you…." He grins.

------

Enjin is a complete asshole, you decide.

Enjin, after witnessing his umbrella go straight through your chest in a burst of energy, has decided 'Yes, this girl is indeed a threat!' and now has you also tied up. You're numb with embarrassment and can feel the heat radiating from your face.

You're currently thrown over his shoulder, while his umbrella is on his other. You feel his hand on the back of your knee to make sure you don't fall over him. You feel a bit of envy at Rudo, as you wish you were unconscious right now. Although you can't decide which situation would be better, because although this might be more comfortable, it's most definitely much more embarrassing for you.

"Are you being serious right now? This is so degrading-" You squirm a bit, and Enjin slaps the back of your knee. Yelping at the strike, "Hey! What the f-"

"Be quiet and stop moving, you're lucky I'm not dragging you along like your friend here."

"You just slapped me! You pervert-"

"Shut up."

'I hope you never find a woman you ugly interrupting self-centered piece of shit-' Your thoughts of cursing out Enjin are interrupted by Rudo waking up finally.

You see him wiggle and groan in confusion, "..Ugh… What- What the hell is this-"

"Oh hey~.. Enjoy your nap?"

He notices your current predicament over Enjin's shoulder and starts screaming, "You're that scumbag from earlier! What are you doing with [Name] you shithead? Put [Name] down right now!"

"First, it's Enjin. Second, that's not how you talk to someone who saved both of your lives, you brats."

"Oh, you saved us? Is that why you put us in chains? Just how fucked up are you-!"

"Just enough to bring an unconscious stranger and his push-over girlfriend with me-"

You can see Rudo turn crimson red as you process what he just said.

"… What the hell are you talking about?? I'm not his girlfriend or a push-over!" You yell at him as you try and get out of his tight grip.

"Jeez, now you decide to stop being quiet like I told you? Stop moving around too! I'll seriously drop you!-"

Rudo gapes at his threat of dropping you, "Let us go you deranged asshole! I don't have time for this! I have to get back up to the city-"

Enjin stops and turns to look down at Rudo, "Oof… Yeah, sorry, that's not possible. The place, the City, we call it the Sphere… and it never stays in one place for too long.."

He nods up to the dim and dust filled sky, "Also kinda hard to get to.. the sky… from here."

Enjin turns back around, which means you're facing Rudo again, hooray!

"There are other factors too, but I don't wanna beat the point to death."

"The lesson here is… Hush up, because for now… You're stuck…" Enjin begins to walk again at Rudo's silence.

"Screw your lesson." Rudo seethes at Enjin as he pauses.

"I'm going back… I don't care what you say! Also, you just said it's impossible right now, you know something don't you? You know how to get back up to the Sphere."

"I have to know. I need to know, because when I get back, I'm gonna take all the shit from this place and use it to beat those shitheads to death! and I'm not gonna shut up till you tell me what I need to know!"

Enjin stares at Rudo.

He takes off the upper portion of his mask and tosses it to the side, "Blah, blah, blah… Man, when that mouth of yours gets going it doesn't stop, does it? If you're that desperate for an education…" Enjin turns to face Rudo, "Fine, I'll show you what kind of place the ground is."

-------------

'This is so much more dramatic seeing this in real life.' You think to yourself.

"Hey!- He- Don't play games with me asshole!" Enjin roughly throws Rudo towards a clearing with a couple trucks and a building that's oddly reminiscent of a gas station.

'Please don't throw me too- PleaseDON'TTHROWMETOO.' You're praying you don't have to deal with the traffickers that Rudo's most definitely going to beat the crap out of. You still have no idea what the black and red flames that came bursting out of you when Enjin poked you with his Vital instrument. It completely went through you, and you don't wanna test if that'll happen again without any consequences for you.

Rudo grunts at being thrown to the ground so roughly, and you wince at how he's been dragged the entire time you've been walking.

"What the hell..?" Rudo looks around at the clearing he's been thrown into.

"Good luck~ and remember… Learning's fun!" Enjin thankfully turns back around without throwing you to the ground with Rudo.

"Wait- Enjin, we can't just leave him there?"

"Shut up and let your friend here learn a very important lesson!" You feel Enjin speeding up to leave Rudo.

"Hey- Wait! Where are you going with [Name]! You can't just take her!" Rudo desperately screams at Enjin.

"Bye—bye!~"

As the two of you leave Rudo, you hear him screaming in the distance about how he's going to kill Enjin.

'I really hope Rudo doesn't hold a grudge against Enjin for this…?'

-----------------

[Name] was taken.

[Name] was taken from him.

Rudo's mind is racing, his heart is pounding, and his entire body hurts like hell. He can't breathe, [Name] was taken by that strange man, she's gone.

He can feel the bile in the back of his throat. Barely processing how that fucker just ran off with [Name]. He's going to kill that bastard if it's the last thing he fucking does.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you asshole! I'll find you and [Name] if it's the last thing I do-!"

Rudo hears a clanking noise behind him, he whips around to see what exactly that noise was.

"A kid?"

"It's a kid.."

"What's he yelling about?"

"There was another with him…"

"His clothes…"

"No.. I don't believe it…"

"Are you… a Sphereite?"

Rudo blinks at the group of men looking down on him.

"Hey- Where did you come from…"

"… I fell from the… Sphere…? Hold on-" Rudo sputters.

The group of men cheer, and Rudo is left speechless from their reaction.

----------------

You and Enjin, who now has binoculars, have been watching Rudo and the smugglers for the past minute. The chains Enjin still has on you dig into your arms, and you shift from Enjin's current grasp. In response to your shifting, he grabs you and pulls you a little closer to him.

'Is Rudo going to be okay this time?…"

Rudo is clearly panicked from what you can make out, you see the group of smugglers drag him into a truck. He's quickly yelling at the men, but you can't make out what he's currently saying.

"…Rudo's going to be okay, right?"

Enjin doesn't respond and keeps looking at the truck where Rudo disappeared.

"…. Enjin..?"

You hear a loud scream and a man stumbles out of the truck, clutching his hand. "Yeah, yeah… calm down… just keep quiet.." Enjin sighs.

A loud boom echoes throughout the air, and you jump from the sound. Rock and trash fly out from the truck, and a familiar red and black flame covers the ground.

Enjin grins, "Ha-ha! Look at all that energy…"

"I knew it, I was spot on about that kid…" Enjin lowers his binoculars. You stare at him incredulously.

'Is this guy serious right now?… I knew this was going to happen, but I didn't realize how messed up this situation was.' You curse at him in your mind.

You and Enjin watch as Rudo uses his gloves to fight the smugglers. Each of the loud thundering noises from the fight makes you flinch, you see Enjin roll his eyes at you.

"In case you were wondering… that energy your friend's making, that makes him a Giver, which makes him very useful to me and my organization…" His eyes widen as he witnesses Rudo turn a tire into another weapon.

'Asshole!'

"Alright. Better go stop him before he actually kills someone!" Enjin jumps up and grabs you, and leaps from the cliff.

You scream in horror as you both fall down, Enjin manages to land with you in tow. Shoving you onto his shoulder again, he runs towards Rudo and grabs his arm, who's about to smash the leader's head in with the tire.

"Oookay… Woah, that's enough, down boy…"

"No need to take this any further.." Enjin gestures to you, "Me and your friend are here…"

Rudo looks like he's snapped out of something, his nose drips with blood,"..[Name]..? En…jin? or whatever your name is…"

"Yup."

Rudo breathes heavily as the tire crumbles to dust in his hands, "What did.. I do?"

"You used up a lot of power. I'm not surprised that your body can't hold up…"

Rudo wipes at his nose as he stares at you.

"Sorry 'bout that, I wanted to see if you really had powers."

"I'll give you answers, about this world and it's powers, but in exchange.." Enjin holds out his hand.

"Join the cleaners, we need talent like you."

Rudo stares at Enjin, then back at you.

"I…" Rudo's face grimaces.

"I don't wanna."

-----------------

Rudo winces at the old, wrinkly doctor bandaging him. You're sitting on the ground next to Enjin, who's currently calling Zanka. Thankfully, aside from a couple scratches and a major headache, you don't need to be treated by Dr. Stilza.

You can lightly hear Zanka's voice from the choker on Enjin, a small smile grows on your face.

'I'll meet Zanka soon!' You can't find it in yourself to hold a grudge against Enjin anymore knowing that information.

"Yeah, yeah, I just picked them up in a Forbidden zone… The guy's got a lot of potential…" Enjin looks at you, "… Not sure about the girl though," Enjin looks away with a sly grin as your eyebrow twitches.

"Asshole…" You grumble.

'Never-fucking-mind… Should've hit you with a brick…' It's comforting to imagine an image of you throwing a brick at Enjin's face.

Enjin glares at you, but waves you off as you silently seethe at him.

Rudo yelps when the doctor finally pins the bandage around his arm, he looks to you with a panicked expression.

"Yep… Believe it or not, they both have unusual abilities, that's why I'm bringing them both in as Cleaners." Rudo side-eyes Enjin at the latter half of his remark.

"… Yeah, see you later,"

"Hey. When did I ever say anything about joining your gang of weirdos?" Rudo exclaims at Enjin.

"Well, it's cute you think you got other options-"

"I told you I need to get back up there!"

"You're lucky to be alive young man! Only a complete idiot would go wandering around in No-man's land! If you'd breathed a little more of the air there you'd be dead!" Dr. Stilza croak-yells at Rudo.

She stands up with a metal dish, "And then you get kidnapped on top of that! Talk about rotten luck! You better thank this nice man for keeping you together!"

Enjin crosses his arms and grins at Rudo, "Doctor's orders Rudo~"

You feel a wave of nausea wash over you as you witness Enjin's smugness over Rudo getting scolded for Enjin's lies.

'Actually, is it because of that? Damn, my head hurts bad right now.' You space out at the ensuing conversation between the three. Your mind drifts to the past few days, and that masked man. Trying to recall everything you know about that masked man is, apparently, extremely difficult when you get decked in the head three different times.

You know that they're probably a guy, guessing by his voice,and you know that he now has some weird fascination with 'passionate' people.

'Was he trying to be funny? What the hell was his goal in asking me that weird question?-'

"[Name]~… Time to go?" Enjin nods to the door, then walks out, Rudo is waiting next to the door and stares at you with a blank expression.

"Oh! Sorry… I'm coming." You push yourself up from the floor, joining them as Rudo now follows Enjin.

You lightly trail behind them as Rudo tries to ask Enjin for information again, "All I want from you is information. I don't have time for all that 'Cleaners' crap…"

Enjin keeps walking towards the exit of the hallway.

He starts to speak, "Getting kidnapped should've shown you how they treat Sphereites down here.." He tilts his head to the side, "You can go around asking about stuff, but they'll figure out where you're from, and then it'll be game over for you."

Enjin's eyes flit to Rudo and you, "Guess what I'm tryin' to say is, this place isn't so kind as to give away information for free. So once again, just shut up and follow me."

------------------------------------------

Enjin, Rudo, and you are now sitting at a restaurant outside, which allows you to stare at the towering stacked buildings that fill the city. The burgers now in front of you and Rudo smell delicious and you feel saliva pooling in your mouth at the hot food.

Compared to where you were a couple of hours ago, this is heaven.

Rudo dives straight into the burger and takes a massive bite out of the burger, you join him in devouring the food in front of you.

'Oh my god. This burger is the best thing I've ever tasted.'

"Wow, you both have a good appetite… Guess you're both starving after vomiting all that blood and trash…" Enjin laughs as he pulls out a cigarette and a lighter.

Rudo turns towards you, and looks around at the surrounding area. You make eye contact with him as you take another bite and give him a grin. He quickly looks down shyly and munches on his burger again.

"By the way, what's your name again? [Name] mentioned it but.." Enjin shrugs and flicks the lighter, leaning back in his chair.

"…Rudo."

"Rudo… Huh." Enjin attempts to flick the lighter again, successfully lighting his cigarette. "That's a good name,"

Rudo blankly stares at Enjin, "Y..Yeah..?"

"Alright! Well, let's begin with the lecture on Ground stories!" Enjin picks up a spoon with some kind of dark liquid on it, dripping it into a glass of clear water.

"Here on the ground, trash accumulates quickly… And so do feelings and emotions.. Anima. Sometimes that gets converted into energy, which causes a variety of unusual phenomena." The dark liquid oozes and mixes into the water, while Enjin continues.

"One of these is the birth of Trash beasts. They always attack humans on sight. Generally, they live in the garbage dumps outside of town… but every so often, they'll invade the cities."

Rudo raises an eyebrow while you continue to eat your food. "So shouldn't you just fortify the place?"

Enjin takes a long drag of his cigarette, "Humans aren't cut out for long term confinement." You see Rudo look down in thought, "True…"

"Like I told you before, normal weapons don't work on Trash beasts. Since their cores are made of Anima." He gestures to Rudo's gloves, "But you can beat them with those gloves…"

Rudo looks down at his gloves, "With these..?"

You've already read all of this information before, so you don't really need to pay attention to Enjin's teaching of this, although it is still nice to listen to them talk. But you find yourself tuning them out again, your thoughts once again drifting to the future and the past.

And that damn masked guy.

And Regto.

The loud crash from him toppling Regto, thrusting that sword straight into Regto while you watched him do it. You can still smell the blood, the way it oozed into the floor.

The hacking from Regto coughing up blood.

"What!? You totally made it seem like you did!" Rudo slams his hands on the table, clattering the dishes on the table.

You take a deep breath, maybe it's not a good idea to think too hard about him right now.

"I never said I did." Enjin blows smoke out of his mouth as he speaks, "But my Boss knows a lot, they might know somethin',"

"Agh… So in the end, I won't get anywhere unless I meet your boss?" Rudo puts his head in his hand, running it through his hair. Enjin looks at Rudo, and tilts his head.

"Those gloves… Who gave em' to you?" Enjin nods his head to the gloves.

"My Father…" Rudo folds his gloved hands together, "To me, these are… The only memento I have left of him…"

Enjin takes his cigarette out of his mouth, "I see… At a glance, they might seem old and beat up, but its obvious they've been well loved. 'Consistently take care of the things you care about'… There are a lot of people who can't do even that."

Enjin gives a small smile to Rudo, "They're nice gloves. They've got soul."

"Always take good care of them."

You look over to Rudo, who looks down quickly and clenches his jaw. Enjin pushes his chair out, scraping against the outside floor. "Hup! Well, that concludes the basic lecture on the Ground… So wait here while I call-"

"Enjin."

Rudo shifts from side to side on the balls of his feet, "Um… I shoulda' said this earlier… But, thanks. For everything… If you can tell me how to go up.. and um, how to help [Name], I'll help out the cleaners for a little while…"

Enjin gives Rudo a small smile, then looks over to you, "Speaking of you, [Name]… What exactly is the deal with you?"

You look to Rudo, "Err…"

"She fell through her floor." Rudo states blankly.

Enjin stares at the two of you like you both grew 3 heads.

"Excuse me?"

This feels oddly familiar as you both explain exactly what 'falling through your bedroom floor' entails.

After explaining, Enjin rubs his chin, then takes a long drag from his 3rd cigarette. "Jesus christ…"

He sighs and puts out his cigarette, "Well, not much we can do now, we'll just have to wait for the boss…"

He tosses the two of you a brown bag, it clinks as it makes sound on the table.

Enjin smiles,"Here's your funds for the time being. Spend wisely."

Rudo gapes at the money, "Even money..!? Are you sure!?" Enjin walks away, waving Rudo off, "It's fine, yeah…"

"Since… that's the money I got from selling off your clothes…"

Rudo looks down at himself, you look between the two of them slowly backing away from Rudo.

"The doctor and the food came from that, too, so you don't haft-a worry about aaa—nything."

"I mean seriously!" Enjin laughs.

Rudo screeches, "I'm gonna kick your ass dammit!! Unforgivable! Especially with the [Name] shit you pulled!" Rudo's forehead vein pops again.

"Not like you can wear Sphereite clothes down here anyway, so what's the problem? And it took you long enough!"

"Seriously! Are you always like this!?" Rudo curses at Enjin, you let out a small laugh at the scene.

Enjin keeps walking away, "Mkay. Now I'm gonna go meet up with your teacher… You both wait right here."

"I swear [Name], the second I find out how to back up above, we are out of here!" Rudo slams his hands on the table.

A cat suddenly jumps from the sky and grabs the bag full of money on the table, quickly dashing away into the alley behind you both.

You and Rudo whip around, "The money! Our money!" Rudo quickly chases after the cat, leaving you behind.

"Wait! Rudo!! Hold on-" You tip over the chair and over yourself trying to dash after Rudo.

"Wait! Come back! You mangy cat!" Rudo yells while sprinting after the small thief.

You see him running down the alleyway, and grab Zanka's Assistaff. You cringe at whats to come.

"Wait! Rudo! No!" You yell after him, you're much slower then Rudo, so you can't catch up to him that fast.

And you finally see him.

Zanka.

You could squeal with how cool he looks. Although you now realize you need to stop the two from fighting, as Zanka is now stalking behind Rudo, who now has the thieving cat pinned. You manage to hear the last bits of their conversation when you catch up.

"-I'll give ya a taste… of my Lovely Assistaff." Zanka grips his staff as energy that looks like blue smoke surrounds it. The wooden staff turning into a blue and white spiked version of itself with rope and bandages wrapped around it. He smashes it into ground, near missing Rudo's head as Rudo dodges backwards.

"Waa-it! That's his. The stick. Rudo!" You're out of breath by the time you manage to interrupt the two.

Zanka turns to you, with a blank frown on his face.

'Oh.. my god. Wow… Zanka is pretty in real life…' You're a bit speechless at the sight of him, and not because you're totally out of shape and out of breath from running.

"Um.. Err.. Sorry, Mr. Z- Sir…" You gasp for breath, "That was your, um, Staff, right?"

"Who're you apologizing for? If your friend, Mr. Exceptional Talent Rudo here, is gonna go around taking people's treasures.. I presume it's because you're askin' for someone to kick your ass." Zanka spits at the two of you.

"Huh? How'd you know my.." Rudo gasps, "So you're with the cleaners?"

Zanka narrows his eyes, "Yeah, Enjin told me a little about ya two."

"I'm with the Akuta Cleaners. Name's Zanka Nijiku, and Enjin himself put me in charge of showing ya the ropes." Zanka plants his staff on the ground, "'Course, I never figured on havin' to start from the most basic of common courtesy. Hasn't anyone ever taught you that if ya take people's stuff, ya gonna get stuffed?"

Rudo struggles to find the words to respond, "I didn't.. I.. I was trying to catch the stupid cat that took our money, so I grabbed the stick and-"

Zanka tches at Rudo's explanation"Tell your mom and dad they didn't teach ya good enough."

You look at Rudo, who's face is contorted into shock and anger. You see him open and close his jaw, grinding his teeth together, looking towards the ground.

"…I didn't mean to steal it, I didn't know it was important to you… I'm sorry." Rudo scrunches his face up, clearly expecting another hit.

"Oh. That so?" Zanka's staff turns back to it's normal wooden version, fizzing out with white smoke. "Then ya weren't tryin'a take anything from me. I was wrong, too." Zanka rubs his neck and looks down, "I was jus' got a little freaked cuz' this baby's my treasure. Sorry for scarin' ya."

Zanka looks back at you, "And you're [Name], Right? Nice to meet you." He crouches down and extends a hand to Rudo, "You're joinin' the Cleaners, yeah? We might've started off on the wrong foot, but it's a pleasure to make both of your acquaintances."

Rudo's jaw is dropped, clearly surprised that apologizing worked. "Um. Yeah!"

"So, what's your vital instrument, Rudo? What kinda power do ya got?" Zanka pulls Rudo up from the floor, smiling.

Rudo looks down at his hands. "Um. I think it's these gloves, and um… I don't know?"

"Your gloves, huh? Those gloves are mad cool." Zanka peers down at Rudo's gloves. "If I may ask, you both… What made ya decide to join the Cleaners?"

Realizing what's about to happen, you quickly dash over and cover Rudo's mouth with your hand.

"Um! Haha.. We don't really have anywhere else to go for the moment! We are so excited to be joining! Especially with you! You seem super understanding…" You give Zanka a smile while keeping your hand over Rudo's mouth.

"Mphm-" Rudo pries your hand off of his mouth, "[Name]! What was that for!?" You whisper in his ear, "No offense, Rudo, but whatever you were about to say was probably super offensive to this guy!"

He whisper-shouts back to you, "[Name]! How is a smile offensive!?"

You grimace at him, Rudo sighs.

"What're you two whispering about? Are you hiding something from me…?" Zanka deadpans at the two of you.

"No!-" You quickly say, "Let's go meet Enjin you guys!"

You grab Rudo's hand, and smile at Zanka, who gives you a light smile back. The three of you walk towards the opening of the alleyway.

You can't see it, as you're pulling Rudo along by the hand as he trails behind you, but Rudo has now turned a shade of red so crimson it would rival a ruby. You all reach the main street as the humming of Enjin's car pulls up with a loud screech.

"Hey lovebirds. You start a polycule yet?"

Your jaw drops.

"Excuse me!?"

-----------------------------

"Listen. I don't know what the hell is your problem, but me and Rudo aren't like that! Also we all just met!" You yell at him.

You're currently in between Zanka and Rudo, who both are extremely flushed and avoiding eye contact with you.

Enjin lets out a bellowing laugh at your fuming, "Does Rudo know that? He's red! and so is Zanka! Bwahahaha!"

Zanka has his head in his hands and Rudo is staring blankly into nothingness.

"Please… Enjin… stop laughin'…"

"Yeah! Stop laughing you dick! What is wrong with you? Why would you even suggest that?" You see Rudo notice something behind you, a pair of boots.

"It's a bit funny considering how you all met… I didn't expect your introduction to be quite so hilarious… But this is your new trainer Rudo, and we're gonna figure out why the hell my vital instrument went through you, [Name]" Enjin glances towards you and the two boys next to you, "Of all the Cleaners, Zanka's the giver who's the best at handling vital instruments, learn all you can from him."

Zanka raises his head from his hands with a shocked look on his face, starting to sniffle.

"So… When did you get here, Riyo?"

You quickly turn behind you, 'Holy shit! It's Riyo! I completely forgot!'

"Mmm, I wanted to see the new cleaners…" Riyo rests her crossed arms on top of your seats, "So… You're Rudo… and I assume you're [Name]?"

"… Uh. Yeah…" Rudo stiffly replies.

Riyo reaches towards Rudo's hair, "Your hair is something else!! Did you dye it?- No, you don't! This is natural!" She runs her hands through his hair, rubbing it through her fingers. Her eyes flit over to you, and gasps at you.

"Wow! Your hair is cute too!" She reaches towards you and combs her hands through your hair, rubbing a spot behind your ear. "How did you cut it? Wow.. so cute, so soft too… Do you use any hair product?" She trails her hand down to the baby hairs at the base of your neck.

Rudo gives you both a nasty glare, enough to kill.

You give him a shrug and a nervous smile.

'Is he jealous of me?… Sorry Rudo… I'll make it up to you later.'

"Well, you ready to get going? We're heading home." Enjin revs the car.

"To Cleaner HQ."

--------------------------

The desolate surrounding landscape passes by as the five of you drive to the headquarters of the Cleaners. Throughout the drive, Enjin has managed to hit every single bump, sharp turn, and crack in the road. You think you're going to throw up or cry, or maybe both.

It's honestly a toss up of which happens first.

You find yourself griping onto Rudo's arm as the car flies off another short ledge, throwing everyone in the back seat into the air.

"Hey Enjin?"

"What is it this time, [Name]."

You can feel the eye roll from the backseat, lightly smiling at Enjin,"Has anyone ever told you how bad your driving is?"

"Yes, several times." Enjin tightens his grip on the steering wheel.

As Enjin responds to you, the car swerves left and Zanka and you are thrown into Rudo. Riyo, who has been playing with your hair the entire time, is also flung into the side of the car, yanking your hair along with her.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Riyo! My hair!" You yelp at the sudden violent tug on your hair.

"Oops! Sorry!" Riyo quickly, and sheepishly, lets go of your hair, while Rudo gives a nasty glare to her, his hand twitching. Zanka quickly backing away from you, pink with embarrassment.

"Ha! Serves you right," Enjin cackles at your pain, while you scowl at him.

'Asshole!'

-------------------------------------

Luckily for you, and your poor scalp, it's generally a straight shot from the city to the HQ.

Which means Riyo also finds her hands in your hair once again, Rudo however, seems to have a very large problem with Riyo touching you now.

"You yanked on her hair! How is that okay? [Name]! Stop letting her touch your hair goddammit!" Rudo is fully turned to face you and Riyo now.

"Why are you so protective of her hair?" Riyo retorts with a large grin, twirling a lock of your hair around her finger. She rests her other hand on the curve of your neck, drawing small circles into the crook of it. Rudo turns a more defined shade of red seeing the intimate action.

"I'm not! It's just!- Well- um.. Who knows when this asshole will swerve again!" Rudo points accusingly at Enjin, Riyo and Enjin laugh loudly.

Rudo looks to you for some defense for his honor.

Unfortunately for you, and Rudo's confidence, your brain is fried from having Riyo touch you so much. You're struggling to find a way to interject in this argument when Riyo keeps dragging her fingers up and down your scalp. Her hands are slender and soft, although you can feel the callouses on her palms. You feel like your face is about to melt, and the heart palpitations you're having aren't helping your case in trying to seem normal. Has your scalp always been this sensitive? Are you just touch starved?

You pray to god Riyo doesn't feel the heat radiating off your face.

…And that no one, especially that asshole driving the damned car, comments on if you're blushing or not…

"[Name]! C'mon, back me up here!" Rudo whines at you, still glaring at Riyo. You make eye contact with him, trying to focus on him, not the delicate stroking of your hair.

"Um… I think, it's…." You struggle to find the words while Riyo rubs a particularly sensitive spot behind your ear, "Uh… It's fine… I think, yep…" You stutter through the rest of your sentence, while Riyo flings her arms around your neck.

"Yay! Thank you [Name]!~" Riyo cheers while rubbing her face onto yours.

Rudo looks aghast as you quickly look over to the other side of the car to avoid his piercing, judging stare.

Your eyes meet Zanka's, who is furiously blushing, as he blinks at the obvious affection Riyo is showing you. He quickly breaks eye contact with you to look out the window.

His silence speaks volumes.

'Can I catch a break..?'

You slump back into the middle seat of the car. Riyo is still caressing your hair. Rudo glares at the two of you the entire time.

------------------------------------

The car slows to a stop as you pull up to the front of the Cleaner's HQ.

It's a wide towering building, the pathway leading to it is lined with bent lampposts. It almost reminds you of a school, but the outer walls covered with rusty scrap metal are absolutely covered with graffiti.

Zanka and Riyo get out of the car quickly, and start heading towards the main entrance, a large pillar connected to the main building with a snake-like tube wrapping around it.

You manage to stumble out of the car behind Rudo, who's huffing and grumbling under his breath. You can faintly hear the words "Stupid" and several other curse words from him. As soon as both of your feet are on the ground, Rudo grabs your hand roughly. He starts to drag you across the stone pathway to catch up with the 3 ahead.

'Man… At least I'm meeting Semiu…' You sigh internally after you trip over your feet because of Rudo's tight grip on your hand.

"See you two later!" Riyo cheerfully waves to Rudo and you. Zanka, still lightly blushing, awkwardly smiles at you then speed walks away.

Rudo grips your hand a little tighter while you wave goodbye.

Semiu is leisurely flipping through some sort of Ground version of "Playboy" when Enjin, Rudo, and you walk up to her.

'She's even cooler in person…' You feel dizzy as you stop slightly behind Rudo.

"Rudo, [Name], this is Semiu, our receptionist." Enjin gestures to her, "Whenever someone new joins, she gives them a look over, Semiu's power-"

Semiu waves her fork, "Yeah, yeah… Nice to meet you rookies, we have high hopes for you."

"Enjin has me up to speed about you, I want to know everything about you two," She adjusts her glasses, "Let me see for myself… You first, Rudo."

Rudo squeezes your hand as a burst of golden yellow smokey Anima seep from Semiu's glasses.

"Those glasses are her vital instrument, they enhance her kinetic vision and they even let her see what you're made of when she focuses." Enjin explains.

You see her eyes glow and brighten as she stares intently at Rudo. It's only for a second, but as soon as the wisps of energy disappear, Semiu gasps with a startled expression.

Enjin quirks an eyebrow at her shock, "What's wrong?"

Semiu pauses for a second, "Right… His physical abilities are already excellent, so you won't need to build them from the ground up. His compatibility with his Vital Instrument is way above average, but his use of it is still unstable, he'll need training."

"… Is that is?" Enjin asks.

"Well…"

"Does he always hold his friend's hand so tight? It's cutting her blood circulation off."

Rudo's soul crushing grip on your hand loosens as Enjin bursts out in laughter.

"Pfft- Holy crap, Haha- Is your hand okay? Why didn't you say anything?" Enjin wheezes as Rudo whips his head to face you.

A sting in your hand makes you wince, "Um… Haha, It's fine…" You awkwardly smile at Rudo.

Rudo looks like he wants to die a slow and painful death.

"Sorry…" Rudo sputtered as he looked down at your hand.

"Ignoring that fact, time to look at you [Name]," Semiu touches her glasses again, and a similar burst of golden energy sparks from her glasses.

Semiu grimaces as the energy fades quickly, "Just as I thought, I can't look into you… Not much else to say other then you look pretty weak, you'll probably need to be trained. We'll need to wait for the Boss to know what to do with you, seems like Vital instruments just… don't effect you at all."

Enjin sighs, "Well, that's what I thought. Thanks Semiu, I'm just gonna take em' to the Boss."

You don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but you're starting to get pretty concerned at the notion of Vital instruments not affecting you. What does that even mean? Physical objects like Enjin's umbrella go through you, Semiu's glasses can't read you, is there a limit to your 'cancelling' of Jinki?

What about the kidnapping of Amo? There's no clear answer to exactly who did that to her, you didn't really read that far anyways. It's hard to exactly remember everything that happened in the manga, and what you could do to prevent anything bad.

You know the person who killed Regto visited Amo, and went to the Sphere. They went to Amo's tower because 'it was the closest'. You really want to help Rudo, but will they even let you go with Rudo on missions? Will you be too much of a hindrance to help them?

You exhale, this is becoming way more complicated for you to handle. You'll think about it later.

"There are about 100 cleaners, including combatants, sentinels, and supporters. But we all stay at other bases depending on where we're cleaning, so it's rare for everyone to be here at HQ." Enjin explains as you and Rudo follow him. Rudo listens intently to him, but you're honestly more interested in the doors that you all pass.

"You wanna do a quick meet-and-greet?" Enjin smiles at the both of you.

"A meet and greet!?" Rudo pulls you a little closer, "Err-.."

Enjin throws open a pair of double doors before Rudo can protest, and purses his lips. You can slightly see behind Rudo, a ton of people are in the room. Bookcases line the room, and you accidentally make eye-contact with Tamsy. The eye-contact with the white and blue haired man doesn't last long before Enjin slams the door shut.

'Wow!' You're secretly gushing about seeing Tamsy, while Enjin awkwardly smiles.

"So the gang's all here. We'll save that for later…" Enjin moves on quickly.

-------------------------------

"This is the Boss's room."

"Then let's ask how to get up-"

"Woah, woah, hold your horses there." Enjin grips onto Rudo's shoulder, "You think you can just march in there and demand the Boss tell you how to get up to the Sphere?"

Rudo winces and furrows his brows, your eyes dart between the two.

Enjin continues, "Information is a valuable commodity everywhere. I told ya, the world's not kind enough to give it for free. You have to offer to pay for it, say with your own words that you're gonna work here."

Enjin lets go of Rudo's shoulder and stuffs his hand into his pocket, "I told ya some stuff back there 'cause you needed to hear it, but don't ask about the Boss's vital instrument. None of us know what it is, or what it does. But we follow him anyway, 'cause he's got real skills, obviously, and he's someone we can trust."

Rudo takes a deep breath and pulls you along to open the door. He grips the door handle and pushes it open while squeezing your hand once again.

Only to reveal an empty office, with absolutely no signs of life.

"Huh?" Rudo and Enjin blankly stare at the vacant desk.

'Ah, that's right… He isn't here yet…' You turn around to see Semiu with her arms crossed.

"Enjin! I forgot to tell you, the Boss is away on business and won't be back for awhile."

Enjin presses his lips together, while Rudo flusters, "What!?"

"Oh, he's doing that again… Sorry 'bout that Rudo, looks like the Boss is out-" Enjin rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I heard! What do we do!?"

"Did he tell you when he'd be back?" Semiu shrugs at Enjin, "Man, that guy is hard to pin down for being the head honcho, sounds like it'll be some time before he comes back…"

A hand reaches around the edge of the door.

"I have an idea!" Riyo peaks out from the door.

"How about we take our two new hopeful rookies on a observation trip?" Riyo bounds up to you and Rudo, "They can't officially join the Cleaners with the boss gone anyways, so for now, let's call them a trainee and take them to work with us!"

Riyo tilts her head and leans into Rudo's face, "Besides… I want to get to know you two better… Right you guys… Please?" Rudo freezes at her closeness.

Enjin deadpans at Riyo, "No way are you taking [Name] on a mission, Semiu said she's way too weak for that."

She leans back from the frozen Rudo and pouts, "Damn, seriously? Fine, I guess… Lucky you Rudo!"

Rudo pales at the idea of leaving you here alone, "Wait- What? I don't wanna leave [Name] alone with you guys!"

"It'll be fine, I'll watch over her!" Enjin cheekily responds, you visibly slump at the notion of hanging out with Enjin.

'Damn it. Fuck my life. Seriously.'

Rudo bites his lip and looks down at your connected hands. He really doesn't want to leave you, but this might be a good opportunity to get anything about the Ground.

"Okay…" Rudo frowns and lets go of your hand finally.

"Great! Let's go! See you later [Name]! Promise I'll bring him back!" Riyo cheers and pulls Rudo along to follow Semiu back to her desk. Leaving you and Enjin behind in the office, you lightly smile at the two.

"… Ah, I just realized I didn't sell your clothes, you mind giving them to me?" Enijn holds out his hand with a cheeky grin.

"You just realized this?"

You're severely unimpressed with Enjin.

CW - THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING TO READ UP TO CH. 92 FOR THE MANGA. MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD.

---------------------------

'Piece of shit.'

You're fuming.

You can't even begin to wrap your head around how angry you are right now. Rudo is now gone, and you're stuck with the piece of shit that, out of every single name in this universe, named itself 'Enjin'.

Before Rudo left you with The Asshole, you were both given a change of clothing. Rudo was given a dark blue hoodie, it covers the baggy white Spherite pants he still has on.

Since you were wearing a dress, you were given a tank top, a zip up jacket, and a baggy pair of sweats. You wonder about your old clothing up in the Sphere, did the guards that arrested you and Rudo find them? Did they question where they come from? You wish you could've asked Regto more questions about the upper-class side.

After you exited the bathroom, somehow, Enjin managed to procure the funds from selling your clothing when you were changing.

"How did you even sell it that fast? How is that even possible?"

Enjin drops the bag of money into your hands, "I have my ways [Name]… Maybe if you'd be a little nicer I'd tell you." Enjin gives you a cheeky smile as you gape at the small bag of money now in your hands.

'As if I'd be nice to you after that shit-show with Rudo earlier!'

The two of you start walking down the hallway, Enjin stops at a familiar pair of doors, the room full of the other cleaners.

"I'm going to go see Semiu to explain the little field trip that Rudo's going on, okay? So I'm going to have the others babysit you for a very short while, make some new friends!"

You feel bile creep up your throat.

You're going to puke, you aren't prepared at all for any sort of social interaction with any more people today. It's only been, what? Three days since you traveled universes? You've talked to more people in the last three days then you have in years.

As much as you hate Enjin, at least you've been familiar with him. A familiar irritation that you can pick at when you find yourself lost.

You weren't exactly the most social when you were back in your world, you were a shut-in who didn't talk to anyone. Too scared of what others might think of you, you spent your days in bed reading and sleeping. You really aren't used to the whole "talking to others first" thing.

Plus, you wanted to say goodbye to Rudo. He seemed so upset when Riyo dragged him away from you.

You feel your stomach drop as he turns to leave, and before you can comprehend what you're doing, you grab his sleeve.

"… [Name]…?"

Your mind blanks, "Enjin! Um, Can't I come with you? I want to say goodbye to Rudo! -before he leaves…"

"… Why? You said goodbye earlier." Enjin quirks an eyebrow at you.

Enjin and you hear a door creak, and you turn around to see Tamsy walk out of the room.

"Oh, hey Tamsy! Mind doing me a favor?" Enjin waves at the blonde-blue man.

'Oh thank god, it's just Tamsy,' You breathe a sigh of relief, you can handle Tamsy.

But an entire group of people that you've read and know about? No way, that's a special kind of hell for you. You can pretend like you don't know shit about Tamsy because you don't!

"Hi Enjin," Tamsy's eyes flit over to you. "Who's this?"

Enjin sighs dramatically as he shakes your forgotten hand off his sleeve, "She's a new, weak, recruit. [Name] meet Tamsy. Anyways, that favor? I'll owe you one?"

Tamsy gives you a light smile, "Of course, what is it?"

"Stay with her? For like… 10… minutes… Yeah. I'm gonna go do something really quick."

You fiddle with the sleeve of your jacket, you can't bring yourself to make eye contact with Tamsy.

You feel picked apart as Tamsy gazes at you.

"Sure," Tamsy shrugs.

"Great!- Thanks Tamsy! Bye!" Enjin runs away, leaving you and Tamsy alone in the hallway.

Tamsy smiles again at you and holds out his hand, "It's nice to meet you, [Name]."

"Er… Nice to meet you too! Haha.. He really just left me here…." You shake his hand.

"Want to go on a walk?" He offers.

You nod.

'He's so pretty up close…'

You and Tamsy walk down the long hallways while waiting for Enjin to finish up with Rudo.

He doesn't speak to you, and you feel yourself getting more and more nervous as time goes on. Does he think you're weird? What if he's secretly judging you?

---------------------------

Tamsy is fucking giddy.

You and Rudo are finally here.

Down on the Ground with him, down on his level.

He can see that you clearly aren't taking it as well as Rudo is.

Which is disappointing, but expected. It just forces him to think about what to do next to fuel Rudo.

His next act of love, how beautiful.

But maybe Rudo isn't taking it that well, he only managed to get a small glimpse after all. He knows Rudo will have probably trauma-bonded or some shit like that with you now.

You've been hit in the head several times now, from the look on your face, he doesn't think you recognize him or his voice at all.

Which is perfect, he can keep up the charade of a good, kind, and supportive Tamsy for awhile longer.

He does hope he didn't give you some sort of brain damage, but hey, he needed to make sure you got knocked out while he killed Regto. He didn't expect you to wake up again hanging over the Pit, but that just forced Rudo's hand earlier then he thought.

"Um… So…"

Ah yes, you, you're walking, more like shuffling, beside him right now.

How cute!

"Yes, [Name]?" He tilts his head at you, you seem extremely nervous.

Do you know? Or is this just how you are in general?

He can't wait to find out.

You purse your lips, "Er… how's the… weather, down here?"

Tamsy rubs his chin, "Aside from the trash storms that kill several people… Okay, I suppose."

You cringe at his words.

Ha. You're seriously cute! Do you know that? Are you playing dumb? At him?

He can barely hold back the smile on his face, he hopes you don't notice the way his mouth twitches.

"… Sorry…" You can barely hold yourself together.

"Well, it's not your fault, you're only one person of course."

"Well, I mean… It's polite to say you're sorry."

Oh, so you're polite now. He can feel his heart beat out of his chest, what a weird feeling. You weren't that polite when he first met you, but then again…

Why were you so angry towards him? He had saved you. His true love hadn't shown until the morning after.

You must know something. You armed yourself with a brick before that random man even attacked you. You couldn't have known that man would attack you.

He can't wait to crack you open, and expose your insides for him to see.

---------------------------

"Ow! Damn! Don't hit me that hard!"

Your right arm stings from how hard Enjin hit you with his untransformed umbrella, you rub your arm.

"Interesting… I'm going to try that again," Enjin readies his umbrella like a baseball bat, "Hold still for me, 3… 2…"

"Wait! Wait- Please we already know when it isn't transformed it won't go through me!" You sputter as you back away from the encroaching Enjin.

"1!" Enjin jabs you in the left arm this time as you flail your arms at him. The sharp poke makes your arm ache.

"Asshole! You're a complete asshole! I hate you!"

Enjin laughs, "C'mon [Name], we're experimenting! What if it went through your left but not your right arm?"

"You just want an excuse to hit me!"

"Psh- No way sweetheart! I'm kind and benevolent! I'm helping you discover your potential!"

"Discover my potential without fucking stabbing me!"

"This is good practice for dodging too!"

You're tired of Enjin, and both your arms hurt like a bitch. You wish Rudo would come back, you hope he's having fun with Riyo.

For the time being, at least, you'll comfort him when he comes home. You know he was pretty depressed at his welcome party because he didn't know how to use his Jinki.

The 3 of you, including Tamsy, are in some sort of courtyard for this 'experiment'. Tamsy watches the two of you with a small smile, he catches you staring at him and gives a little wave.

'I totally embarrassed myself in front of him earlier….' You wish you could crawl under the floor and never come back out.

A transformed umbrella is now suddenly in your stomach, through you. Tamsy's thick eyebrows are raised now.

You gasp, Enjin waves his instrument through you.

"Yeah, exactly what I thought. Goes straight through ya, doesn't it?"

You feel a little violated, "Don't just stick your umbrella through me!"

"We found stuff out though!" Enjin swings his umbrella over his arm.

"Screw you!" You point at him.

Enjin laughs loudly, while you hear Tamsy sigh audibly. God really does hate you, huh?

"C'mon [Name]! Now we know vital instruments can't hurt you! You should be ecstatic! They're basically the most dangerous thing down here! Aside from trash beasts, trash storms, and guns!"

"What if she's not immune to vital instruments? Just the Anima?" Tamsy pipes up as he leans back in his bench.

Enjin rubs his chin, "Good idea… Hey [Name]! Wanna see if you're immune to trash beasts too?"

"No way! You're crazy!"

Tamsy lets out a chuckle, "Sorry for giving him the idea, [Name]."

Enjin grips your shoulder and pulls you in for a side hug. "Don't apologize! We need to try this!"

"You're just trying to make me angry!" You jab Enjin in his rib, "Stop doing that, all I've been trying to be is nice to you!"

"Sorry, you're just too fun to tease," Enjin ruffles your hair. "I'll stop… I'll stop, don't get all angry at me…"

You huff, 'This guy has no shame.'

Tamsy suddenly stands up, "Enjin, I think Semiu is calling for you. It's getting towards dinner-time, [Name], wanna get something?"

You can't read Tamsy's tone or face due to Enjin practically having you in a headlock at this point, but Enjin suddenly pulls away from you.

"I should be going! I don't want to get another job from her… See you two later!"

Enjin speeds away, leaving you and Tamsy alone.

"…So?" Tamsy tilts his head with that same gentle smile he always has.

"Alright," You smooth out your messy hair.

'Better then being hit by an umbrella…'

---------------------------

You smile at Tamsy as the two of you eat dinner together.

You both share a pizza together, although you both aren't eating much. Rudo still isn't back yet, and the sun is about to set. You look towards the door for any sign of Rudo, but there still isn't any.

Tamsy reaches over the table and touches your hand, "I'm sure Rudo is fine, they're near the city outskirts after all, it'll be awhile."

Enjin left after his 'experiment', and Tamsy offered to show you the canteen.

'He's so nice… I never got to read far enough to know him….'

"Yeah, I guess so. Thank you Tamsy…" You give his hand a squeeze.

He squeezes it back.

"You should eat more, I'm sure you're tired after today. I can show you to your room, when Rudo arrives, I'll take him to you." Tamsy interlaces his fingers with yours.

You can't help yourself from blushing, his hands are soft, and cold.

"Thank you, Tamsy."

"Of course, it's really no trouble at all for me."

Tamsy doesn't let go of your hand while you pick up another slice, his eyes are intense when he looks at you. You bite into the warm cheese as he starts to speak again.

"Do you feel awkward around me, [Name]?"

You choke, and cough. You still manage to swallow before responding.

"What?" You cough some more, "Of course not! You're so nice, I just…"

"Just…?" He tilts his head.

"Just, I don't really know how to act around you really…"

Tamsy pulls your hand towards him, "Why is that?"

You're speechless, is he always this direct?

You try to put your finger on why you're so awkward around Tamsy, why you feel off when around him and his stare.

"Your stare? It… reminds me of something? I can't remember…"

His grin is wide, "Really? Thank you, [Name]. I'll remember that."

'Why is he smiling like that?'

Your brown knit, you don't know why, but…

Tamsy just feels a bit off to you.

-------------------------------------

a/n:

i was listening to a minecraft horror mod while writing this so i really felt the fear of god when writing tamsy. been waiting to write him for SO long, such a fun guy to inner dialog for. more enjin soon yall… sorry theres so much tamsy haha……

my heart is still racing and i feel it beating out of my chest, maybe that celcius with like, 300 mg of caffeine wasnt a good idea. hope yall enjoyed the chapter! and the bi weekly updates (SLIGHTLYLATEIN TERMS OF TIMING.. sorry tumblr users.) instead of 1 every 2 months haha. thanks for all the love, I read every comment!