Taming The Demon [Arc and I, private]

"I don't know, anything interesting." Kyoko said, with nothing really on her mind. Well, there were a certain class of shops that she'd enjoy visiting, but those were best left for later... "I guess the place where you live would be useful to know. Maybe?"

Brandi gave herself a moment to think before speeding up her pace to pass Kyoko, taking lead of the direction they walked. "Not the most impressive place, but it's a place... Actually, I'm not home much. I spend a lot of time around the city. Y'know... Chupa♡Cabra's, training grounds, back streets. Lots to do here." She replied, making her way out of the school towards the residential district. As they passed, she'd point out a few places she liked to hang out, most being alleyways and back roads...

First of all, she wondered what Chubacabra's was. Did a store belong to a weird demon creature or..? She didn't ask, however, since she was distracted by Brandi then listing off two options which were totally like her. Then while walking through the various streets of the residential district with many shady looking places being pointed out to her, Kyoko became a little more worried than she had before, and showed it clearly on her face. "I can't see you not getting into fights, but you don't associate yourself with any thugs or anything, do you Brandi?"

Brandi took a moment to think about that one. "Associate is a strong term... I have...." Brandi cleared her throat and put on a more masculine sounding voice, as if quoting someone. "Like minded individuals that help eachother out sometimes." She finished, a joking grin spanning her face. "I think one of them hangs out nearby..." Brandi added, her face suddenly turning curious.

Kyoko's worry became quite a bit more pronounced when Brandi, in roundabout terms, admitted to being around questionable company. How did Kyoko know they were questionable? Well, they were like minded with Brandi. Still, Kyoko couldn't judge people she had never met. Then Brandi mentioned that one may be nearby; Kyoko ignored Brandi saying that it was one of them. "How about we go meet them, hmm?" Kyoko asked almost casually, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to see Brandi's friends for herself in order to ascertain whether they were good company or not.

Brandi gave a light shrug. "We can see if he's in." She replied, turning to head down another street. It was a little bit of a walk before Brandi stopped. There was a light smell of smoke in the air before the sound of something bursting into flames came from an alley nearby, accompanied by a quick red flash and a young man, clothes slightly blackened, scurring out of the alley and down the street, away from the girls, in fear.

A figure with long red hair walked out of the same alley, holding a baseball bat in the air and calling to the boy. "TOUCH MY STUFF AGAIN, I DARE YOU." Satisfied with this, the boy rested the bat on his shoulder and ran a hand through his mop of thick red hair.

As the scene unfolded in front of the two girls, Kyoko really didn't know how to react. She could smell a fire. She could hear a fire. She could see the fire, too. Should she call the fire service? She didn't know. Someone came running past the girls then, and Kyoko was about to ask them what happened when a red headed dude sporting a baseball bat showed himself. Made himself heard, too. The immediate thoughts that came into Kyoko's head were thug first kinda good looking second, and oh dear is this the guy Brandi knows? last. 


With that thought, Kyoko tugged on Brandi's sleeve with a questioning look. She hoped that Brandi would get it.

Brandi waved at the boy, looking over at Kyoko with a grin. "That's Yata. He's a little angry, but he's pretty cool." She assured before waving the boy over. "YATA! This is my friend Kyoko!~"

Yata sighed in annoyance and walked his way over, resting his bat on the back of his neck and draping his arms over it casually. "Friend, or associate? 'Cause I'm not taking care of another problem for you." He replied, giving Brandi an agitated glare. Now that he was closer, the smell of smoke was slightly more intense... Was it HIM?

Brandi hugged Kyoko's arm with a grin. "Nah, friend, she's cool. An' you said you were cool with last time..."

More thoughts raced through Kyoko's head as the guy got closer. First of all, this guy wasn't just a little angry; he seemed to be angry enough to be classified as a salt mine. Not that Kyoko would say that to his face. Then there was the smoky smell. It wasn't like cigarettes, those smelled different. This was definitely smoke from any different objects that were not meant to be on fire. Was he some sort of pyromaniac? Kyoko didn't approve of him, right now. Then came the matter of 'taking care of problems' which again worried the girl. As Brandi took hold of Kyoko's arm, Kyoko gave her a glare; "What sort of problem is he talking about, Brandi?" She asked rather menacingly, trying out the scary thing, though she didn't keep that up for long when the countless possibilities raced through her head. "You aren't getting in trouble with any bad people, are you!?" Kyoko asked, almost panicked. The way Kyoko's treated Brandi was more akin to that of a doting mother than a childhood friend.

Brandi looked to Kyoko calmly. "It's nothing... A guy made a deal with me and didn't keep his end. I had Yata... help set him right, y'know?" She explained, turning back to Yata. "So, Mr. Flamehead, whatcha up to? You reconsidered training with me yet?" She questioned.

Yata seemed to glance away in annoyance. "Look, Kyo, I ain't been dragging her into nothin' that bad, no worries." He said before glaring at Brandi, the air around him seeming to lightly display the effects of heat shimmer. "An' I told you, I ain't interested in trainin'. I'm strong enough as is."

A DEAL!? Kyoko wasn't nearly as calm as Brandi was. Not at all. She was about to ask about the details of this so called deal, thinking of the possibilities which had already ran through her head that were related in some way to any sort of deal. She completely ignored the subject of training since that was just ordinary stuff. Well, to some people anyway. She wasn't then all too convinced that Brandi wasn't dragging Yata into her own bad stuff. She wasn't convinced that she wasn't getting up to no good. Well... She was sure that Brandi was getting up to no good, but how not good was the not good is what worried Kyoko! She did wait for Yata to finish talking before voicing her own concerns, and noted the shimmering air. A heat shimmer? In the Nevada desert? Around a dude? How's he not being cooked? She shook the thought off for the moment. "I'm worried about what she'd drag you into, Yata. She has a penchant for trouble. I always worry about her and what she's getting herself into, but I also worry about those she interacts with... Please, do tell me about this deal you two sorted out."

Brandi gave a light sigh, placing a hand on Kyoko's back. "I taught him how to fight like he asked, he didn't like the lesson so he wasn't gunna pay up... Yata here was kind enough to retrieve the money from the kid for a cut. Things work out a lot better when you pay what you say you're gunna pay." She explained, twirling her chain casually.

Yata nodded. "She's right y'know? Brand payed me my cut, and we didn't have a problem." He added, the heat seeming to fade as he calmed down. He proceeded to eye Kyoko curiously as he asked the next question. "This one of your friends from the school, Brand? She doesn't seem like the kind of person that would normally hang around you... She any good in a fight?" He seemed to walk a circle around the pair, examining them as if to look for something.

Kyoko almost instantly calmed down when the specifics of the transaction were made clear to her. For a place like the DWMA, getting training to learn to fight is totally normal; though having someone like Brandi doing it is pushing on masochism. Oh, Kyoko knew full well about that. Her entire childhood was spent honing herself in secret so she could keep up with the meister girl. "I'm glad it wasn't anything more... Illegal." Kyoko said, nodding to herself in relief. Upon being inspected by Yata, and having him ask Brandi to speak for her, Kyoko cleared her throat. "You can ask her yourself, you know. She is standing right here." She said, turning to Yata. Of course, someone like this guy wouldn't really know much about manners. Not that Kyoko really minded; she was friends with Brandi, after all.

Yata glanced up at Kyoko, stopping in front of them. His bat rolled off his shoulder and around his hand, twirling into an upright position pointed in their general direction. "I asked Brand for a reason. She's got cred, I've seen her go, I don't know ya. She's a better judge than a stranger, doncha think...?" He asked her, looking more than a bit agitated now. The heat shimmer re-appearing around him. For a brief moment, an intense heat could be felt while a quick pulse of a red-ish flaming aura appeared before fading when Brandi opened her own mouth.

"She's pretty good, at least she was when we were kids. Besides, you can TOTALLY trust Kyoko! She's like, my best friend, so it's fine." Chimed Brandi, the twirling speed of her chain quickening as she said it, just in case. There was an obvious tension for the time being...

"I'm sorry, I just prefer to speak for myself." Kyoko said, as she casually transformed her forearm into the blade of a chainsaw before putting it in the way of the chain, causing it to wrap around it and stop spinning. By this point she figured out why Yata smelled like burning. He could set himself on fire at will, it seemed. Well, this was Death City, and this sort of stuff was to be expected. Kyoko transformed her arm back and let Brandi's chain drop down. She could never wrap her head around how Brandi could sound so cheery while also being so very threatening. "I didn't meant to offend." She said to Yata, trying her best to diffuse the situation.

Yata looked at the pair, letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, his arm dropping to his side, holding the bat a bit more loosely. "Alright, whatever... I got more important things to do. You two lookin' to make some cash?" He asked, seeming to be trying to change the subject.

Brandi was about to complain to Kyoko that she WANTED to fight Yata, but suddenly stopped at Yata's mention of money. She looked at Kyoko with begging eyes, as if asking permission to hear him out.

Those eyes. Kyoko couldn't refuse those eyes. However much she didn't think Yata was good company, she still couldn't refuse. "Is the money making scheme illegal in any way?" Kyoko asked Yata the all important question. There was no way Kyoko would let Brandi do something illegal, but otherwise? Heck, even the more law-abiding girl might get something from this. Well, she wasn't all one hundred percent innocent either, so she amended the first question; "Also, is it something akin to the assistance you have given Brandi? I could make an exception for something like that..."

Yata's free hand moved to his neck, slightly glancing towards his alley. "Lookin' to find a book... Feel like the school might have one... Think you can use those cards they give you to snoop around and find books on witches...?" He asked, almost seeming frustrated that he was asking this question.

Brandi paused a moment before literally holding back laughter. "YOU, read a book? When did hot-head become a nerd?!~" She mocked, quite amused with the idea of Yata holding a book, let alone curled up with one.

Kyoko was quite confused as to why Yata had to ask someone else to get a book on witches. The school library was probably full of them; witches ARE an important targets for the school. Most books weren't even kept from lower ranking students, if any of her mother's explanations about how the school runs it's library were true. Wait... "Aren't you a student, Yata? Can't you just get a book yourself?" She asked, after giving Brandi a glare for making fun of someone trying to educate themselves. She didn't wait for an answer just yet, though. Giving a shrug, she kept talking. "We'll find you what you need. I wanted to take a look at the school library soon anyway."

To keep Brandi happy, she left out the fact that she wouldn't mind finding a book for Yata without being paid.

Yata shook his head. "Nah, I was supposed to go when I was old enough, but the old man croaked and I walked away from it. I got people the school ain't fond of, y'know? Plus, fightin' all the time seems like work." He answered, scratching his head in a rather embarrassed manner. "You know where to find me... And uh... I guess you ain't so bad, Kyo. Got off on the wrong foot 's all." He replied, holding the hand out to Kyoko.

Brandi had calmed down when Kyoko glared at her. "Pretty great, isn't she?" She asked as she re-wrapped her chain.

For someone who carries a baseball bat around, Yata seemed like a pretty amiable guy. Apparently he didn't like fighting as much as Kyoko thought he would. "Yeah, you don't seem all too bad, either. Definitely not as bad as I imagined." Kyoko said, shaking Yata's hand.

Yata released her hand, twirling his bat in one hand as he made his way back to the alley."Just drop it off at my spot if I'm not here. There'll be some cash in the red sweater." He called, vanishing back into the alley.

Brandi scratched her head. What had just happened? That was a very un-Yata encounter. He usually seemed less frustrated and more angry. "I wonder if he's planning to hunt a witch or somethin'...?" Brandi questioned, scratching her head.

Kyoko nodded to confirm she knew where to take the books. In answer to Brandi, she simply shrugged, before she turned around and started walking, mostly without an aim. "You know him better." She gave her answer after a moment.

Brandi shrugged, stretching her arms and yawning. "Hey, you wanna go out tonight? Got a great place we can go." She asked, following Kyoko as she placed her hands behind her head. "Great place, a little lively anymore, but fun."

"Sure. Sounds like fun." Kyoko answered, looking over her shoulder at the other girl. "What sort of place is it?"