Familiar Faces [Arc and I, Private]

In a small room in the Admissions section of the DWMA, a young woman leaned against a wall. This was none other than the problem child Brandi Baudelaire, waiting rather impatiently by request of the school. The echoing tap of her sneaker against the tile filled the room as she glanced to the clock. She had been here for ten minutes on the nose. If she hadn't just been chewed out for ditching class yesterday, she would have just left. The last thing she needed right now was another detention. It wasn't like she had friends or plans or anything better to do, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend her time in a vacant classroom. Why was she even here? The teacher had mentioned something about a new student, but Brandi was hardly the type you want showing around a new kid. Especially if they asked a lot of questions.

Eventually, after only twelve minutes, Brandi's patience ran out. With a deep sigh, she pushed off the wall and grabbed her bag. She slung a strap over her shoulder and made her way for the door. If the school wanted an escort, they could call someone more fit for the job, like a nerd.

The halls of the academy that she'd heard so much about seemed much less inviting than the visions her imagination brought to her mind; they were mostly empty and allowed the timbre of her boots hitting the flooring to echo rather conspicuously. She felt out of place, really, walking along with everyone in classrooms or offices. She'd barely managed to get her stuff to where she would be staying for the foreseeable future, should the whole arrangement for which she'd for some reason been picked despite not even being a student of the academy were to work out, before an official took her up the stairs and handed her instructions to a particular classroom. It didn't help her feel any better about the situation, no better than her being told next to nothing about what was going to be going on, and she sighed as she saw that the time on the sheet had come and gone. The academy really was a maze. Still, she did manage to find the room described on her little slip in the end. 

Ten or so minutes late, she took hold of the door handle and opened the door. Her expectations really weren't to come face to face with someone that looked awfully familiar even when dressed in a fashion somewhat different from what she remembered. She reached up to adjust her glasses, dropping the piece of paper to the floor, while blinking at this familiar person. She also had a bit of a goldfish look going on. She couldn't quite believe it, really.

As Brandi was about to make her exit, the door opened before her to reveal a familiar face. But familiar how? Brandi didn't really have any friends or relatives to speak of, so who was this brunet chick before her. When the shocked expression wore off, a puzzled look took it's place. She began wracking her brain as to where she may have seen this girl before. The training grounds, maybe? No, she would have challenged her to a fight. Finally, tired of guessing, Brandi just let it out.

"I seen you before, yeah? I feel like I beat you up or somethin'..."

Brandi cocked her hip to the side and rested a hand on it, looking the girl up and down one last time. She felt a small wave of nostalgia well up in the back of her mind, but brushed it off.

"Eh, whatever. Name's Brandi, like the drink. Teacher had me waitin' on you. Know why?"

Kyoko thought for a minute that there might have been a mistake, but it was unmistakable that such a line would probably only come from the friend she had in her childhood. It was certain when she introduced herself. She wasn't going to mention how the assumption that Brandi made was more or less correct, but her gaping soon turned into a large smile. She was going to go in for a hug before she remembered how it might be a bad idea. "It is you!" she exclaimed, then pointed to herself, "I'm Kyoko! Remember?" she asked. The fact that she was picked out suddenly made more sense, and she wondered if they didn't say anything in case she wouldn't be willing to meet. Of course, that wasn't an issue, but if Brandi hadn't changed all that much Kyoko could see how it could be.

Brandi took a minute to process the information.

"Kyo-ko..." Foreign names always gave her trouble. But she could sense that she knew this one. Suddenly her two brain cells aligned and something seemed to click. "Wait, my mom's weapon's kid?! I haven't heard from you since shit went bad back home!"

Brandi's puzzled look quickly turned to excitement as she moved swiftly to put her arm over the other girl's shoulder and pull her into a rough side-hug of sorts. "The fuck you doin' here?"

Kyoko patiently waited for Brandi to figure it out, anticipating the eventual eureka moment. When it came, she nodded her head to affirm her realisation. "I-... Were you attacked too?" Kyoko asked, a little worried, clearly unaware of whatever it was that Brandi was talking about, besides her guess that the attack on her family was related. Still, she shook her head even before Brandi managed to grab her. That didn't matter for now. After Brandi took hold of her, though, Kyoko couldn't help herself from turning that half-hug into a full, proper one. She was so happy to see her friend again, after all that time. "I have no idea! The school called me out specifically, and I have a feeling it has to do with you," she said, before letting Brandi go.

Brandi let the hug go on, letting it sink in that this really was her friend. All the other kids would avoid her as soon as she got too rough, but the little brunette girl would always approach her when her parents brought Kyo with them. She then let Kyoko back off after the hug, resting her hands behind her head and thinking back. "Yeah. We were attacked in our sleep. They got all but two cousins 'nd me. That's what I was told. I heard sis yell and snuck up on the thing..." She shuddered gently before shaking it off and trying to move on.

"Could be. Dunno what though. I figured they'd be lookin' to kick me out soon, seein' as I get into so many fights. Isn' that the point of this place though?" Brandi sighed as she leaned back against the wall behind her. It was pretty frustrating. "They won't even let me go huntin'. I'm damn good at it, but apparently accidentally bustin' up the window to a sandwich shop and makin' myself a midnight snack in the middle of a hunt is unnecessary damage an' I have to be reprimanded." She mocked, playfully.

Kyoko listened to Brandi recount what happened to her family, and felt rather bad for even bringing it up in the first place. Her family was attacked, sure, but everyone managed to defend themselves. She'd respect that Brandi didn't want to talk about it. The issues that have to do with Brandi's behaviour, though, those were something that shed a little light on why they might have had Kyoko come along. "No, I don't think that's the point of it, not exactly," Kyoko disagreed gently, and listening to the little snippet of her conduct, she couldn't help but sigh. "I think I have a good idea about why I'm here, now."

She was totally a leash.

"Hey, Brandi... I need to go get enrolled, first, but, the reason the school told me to come over was to arrange a partnership. I think that might be with you."

Brandi raised an eyebrow, opening the door to exit. "Oh yeah, you're a weapon, huh. You couldn't do it when we were kids though. You get the hang of that?" She asked, motioning Kyoko out the door. "Let's get the school shit outa the way an' go kick it somewhere." She added while waiting for the response. Brandi hadn't been assigned a weapon yet, and the school wouldn't let her pick her own. They were probably afraid of what she could do with something that wasn't scissors or a chain. Cowards.

Kyoko nodded first in affirmation and then gave Brandi a single polite nod in thanks as she exited through the door she was holding open. "Don't you have any classes?" Kyoko asked, though really, somehow she didn't think that it mattered much to her. "Ah, right... Lead the way?" Kyoko asked, gesturing down the corridor. Brandi had to have a better grasp of where everything was than the new girl, and Kyoko already mentioned having to enrol; she could predict no issues.

Brandi let the door swing shut behind them, then began walking towards the office. She spent a lot of time there, so she knew where she was going no problem. "Unfortunately. Was asleep in one about fifteen minutes ago. They pulled me to come wait in an empty room." She responded as she walked down the halls, running her hand gently along the wall as she passed. She felt a certain ease in her step. Was she in a good mood? It had been awhile since she'd had a good day. Probably since the incident with the sandwich shop.

"Mmmhm..." Kyoko hummed, pursing her lips briefly in displeasure at hearing that Brandi had been asleep in her lessons rather than actually learning. Even after all this time, she really couldn't help but care. "And after?" she asked. She couldn't do anything about what happened before, but even if she would love to catch up with Brandi some more, she wouldn't want to be the excuse that Brandi used to skip. She did sort of hope that whoever was going to be taking care of whatever process it was that would get her enrolled offered to let them spend some time together; she could be fine with things, then.

"I dunno. They might try to send me back, but that'd be lame. I'm SUPPOSED to go straight home after class, according to the Professor, but I never do." Brandi noted, thinking about where she'd take Kyoko in the process. "If they make me go back I won't have long left. Maybe we can meet after?"

"Of course. I'll wait, if they don't let you go," Kyoko said, giving Brandi a smile. Really, though... It had been minutes since they met again and she already heard so much about Brandi not doing as she was told. It was obvious to find that to be the case, but she wondered how nobody seemed to try not mandating everything that Brandi did? It seemed like that was the case, so far.

Stopping in front of the office, Brandi leaned against the wall beside the door. "This is it." She noted, motioning her hand to the door. "You should go in first. They uh... don't like me much." She added, avoiding Kyoko's glance a bit. With that, she waited for Kyoko to go in and handle her papers.

Kyoko nodded her head at Brandi as she went inside the office, though only doing so after a quick knock. Never hurt to announce yourself. A few minutes later Kyoko opened the door again and peeked her head out. "Come in," she said, beckoning Brandi inside before disappearing inside herself again.

Brandi popped inside, setting her bag on a chair and waving to the person at the desk. "So, what's the plan?" She asked, taking a seat beside her bag and crossing her legs. She leaned the chair back as far as she could without it touching the wall, looking a bit too much at home.

Kyoko was already sitting in a chair, though properly, looking towards the one who was taking care of their paperwork. Brandi, though familiar with the office, would likely only have seen this man a few times and in passing. A casually dishevelled suited gent with messy black hair and similarly black eyes. With the way he was reading through the papers, it seemed like he didn't do enrolments all that often. While he scanned the paper, he spoke. "You may have guessed at this point that you were told ta' come here so ya' could be Brandi's partner. The Academy is findin' that she's been... Restless, of late, and that wastin' her talents wouldn't be the greatest a' choices. An' as such, of recent, we found out ya' were just about the only person who'd come back f'more, back when y'two were kids," He explained the situation with a lazy sort of way of speaking, and then put down the paper, apparently done with it. "I'm jus' here t'check that you two won't be rejectin' each other, and then Kyoko can sign her papers and you two can get'ta know each other again while we sort out ya' new lesson plans. So get to it. I want to be done with this..."

At that, Kyoko, looking a little confused as to why someone like this was doing this job, stood up. She turned to Brandi, and smiled, holding her hand out, ready to transform into her chainsaw form should Brandi decide to take it.

Brandi stood back up after hearing the man speak. She didn't really recognize him, but he was giving them the day off, so he couldn't be that bad. "I'm a bit rusty at meister stuff, but I'll give it a go." She cracked her knuckles and held out her hand. "Show me what we're working with, Kyo." With that, Brandi anticipated what form Kyoko might take. Swords were useful, but an axe or a club would be more her style. Maybe some kind of chain weapon? She was pretty good with a chain.

Chain, though only partially. Kyoko took hold of her hand and transformed, in the slightly more sword-like configuration of her top-handle. The red body of her weapon form and the white and chrome checkered pattern on either side of the chainsaw blade were rather eye catching. "Seems fine," Kyoko said.

"Death damn it, she's a damn chainsaw..." the man muttered, though went to fill in something or other on the papers nonetheless.

Brandi brandished what at first seemed to be a great-sword, but as the transformation finished revealed itself to be what equated to a chainsaw with a skewed handle. It had a slight weight to it, but aside from that the link seemed fine. Giving it a testing swing, and almost whacking the wall in the process, Brandi's eyes glinted. "What the FUCK is this, Kyo? Like I love it, but what the FUCK? Like a big sword is scary enough, but when a witch sees me comin' with this?" Her tone sounded almost too excited.

The man in attendance seemed to wince when Brandi almost added property damage to her repertoire, but seeing that she did in fact stop in time he sighed in relief and spoke. "Please transform back and sign this, please."

"It's-... I'm..." Kyoko tried to answer the question, but Brandi kept on going with her impressions. By the end, she realised that maybe she wasn't just asking what she was in her own way, but still answered. "It's a chainsaw... I'm a chainsaw," she finally managed, before she did as the man said. She turned back and signed the papers.

Brandi seemed almost disappointed that her new toy was taken from her, but she'd have plenty of time to acquaint herself with it some other time. For now, she got a day off to hang out with Kyoko. "Whatcha wanna do with the rest've the day? We could go clubbin', whack some mailboxes, pick a fight in the training grounds..." These all seemed like a normal activity when they came out of of Brandi's mouth, and she seemed genuine about the suggestions to boot.

"Uhm... Why don't we grab some food, first of all? I wasn't given a chance to eat," Kyoko said, though by the way she thought about it for a moment it seemed like she was just thinking up something or other that would steer Brandi away from violence and degeneracy. Before she could answer, Kyoko was already making her way out of the office.

Not wanting to get left behind, Brandi slung her bag back over her shoulder and made way for the door. "Yeah, I could eat." She responded, trailing behind Kyoko. "In the mood for anything?" She hadn't really gone out anywhere with someone else in a long time. Most people avoided her due to her reputation of having a quick fuse.