A new neighbor moves in next door to the Forgers! She's young with good manners, and a seemingly clean background. Perhaps to clean...
Suspicion surrounds her image but she's also the perfect neighbor. What more could anybody possibly need?
_______
Working for the SSS has now been leveled up. You used to work remotely on the country side and now, you've been posted in the capital city of Ostania, Berlint!
What happens when you move in next door to the Forgers and get to know your new acquaintances?
Content Warnings:
Right now, there are no current warnings due to its early development! There might be slight gore or suggestive talk, but we’ll see if that actually happens!
It didn’t typically take much to make a good impression on people, but to make a great impression was an extraordinary achievement. It is an important milestone for a person who craves validation and appreciation…
Good thing you were too distracted by the lack of notes for Mission Labyrinth to even notice whether you’d made a great impression.
You knew for sure that you had made a good impression whenever Hera, the married colleague, would come by and chat about the latest work drama or even marriage problems (as if you’d know what to do anyway, you did not have a ring on your finger). Or whenever Mr. Falan would secretly clean up your space during lunch.
But the most obvious sign would be when Ben would be too distracted by whatever was on your face (or asking if you wanted him to make your coffee) and would accidentally leave an important file on your desk—an intern’s mistake, but you would never call him out on it.
Still, the hardest one to decipher was your manager, who never really left his office unless it was for a “bathroom break”. Everybody knew it was a smoke break after he returned and left a tobacco smell trail, but no one called him out on it.
Anyway, as mentioned though, you were grasping at sand grains to even catch any suspicious activities in this office. There was nothing truly suspicious about your coworkers unless you include the times where Mr. Falan would slip away to “go out to eat at a nearby restaurant” but really, he always ate a baloney sandwich in his car while writing in his “secret journal”.
Truly though, you just thought he was an old man who secretly wrote adventure stories—you could tell in the way he spoke about topics as if they were a whole fictional world with great exaggerations.
He was a good guy though, truly. Just a little unique at times.
Only a week had passed where you went to work each week day, going to brief meetings with the SSS, and you were right back in the office on a Monday morning, the chill from the ending-autumn winds coming in to give you a taste of what season was to come really soon.
You walk in, beginning to tug at your coat as the heat from inside the building brushed your figure when you heard the voice of a familiar someone. You turn, brows furrowed when you catch the gaze of a certain man.
Yuri Briar.
What was he doing here? He wasn’t in uniform, of course, since SSS officers weren’t supposed to just be wandering around without any true purpose. Though, maybe he did have a purpose to be here.
Finally, he comes up to you and begins with “Good morning, ma’am—“
“Good morning…” you raise a brow, your steps slowing as you gave him the questioning gaze.
“If I may ask, do you know where the finance department is?” He insists, coming up to you. He’s close enough to where you can see those red-ruby eyes once more.
“What are you doing?” You couldn’t help but whisper, continuing your walk up to the front desk.
He furrows his brows though, and you continue the act.
“I’m heading there. You may need to check in with the front desk though,” you say, gesturing to the front desk as you pull out your employee badge to show it off to the receptionist.
Yuri returns your gaze, sighing before showing off a badge he had inside of his coat. “I work for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,” he says, looking over at the receptionist who nods. “We have an appointment today.”
You give him a subtle glare, walking past him but he quickly catches up. “So they put you in the finance department?” He asks.
“Yes, what about it?”
“Nothing,” he sighs. “I just thought—“
“[Name], who is this?” Hera says from behind you, a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Hera, good morning,” you smile, which she returns—but with a glance between you and Yuri. “This is my new boyfriend.”
“What—?!” Yuri begins, causing you to laugh.
“I’m kidding,” you sigh, entering the elevator. “A guy from the Minisrry for Foreign Affairs.”
“Interesting,” she hums, sipping on her coffee.
A silence falls among you as you all wait for the elevator to reach the designated floor. Your gaze lowered, knowing that Hera was staring at you and Yuri as if you truly knew each other but really, you’d only known him for a little bit more than a week.
You haven’t even started training with him… which begged the question of when you’d begin. That was a discussion for another time though, a time where I wasn’t in the same vicinity as the most gossipy person in the department.
Yuri tried catching your eye, as if to send you a secret message but that quickly fell through whenever the doors opened.
“Is he coming with us?” Hera looks at Yuri.
“He needs to talk to our manager,” you subtly smirk. “Karen..”
“What?” Hera raises a brow.
You look away, “nothing.”
“Kids and their new references,” Hera sighs, shaking her head before taking her place at her cubicle.
Yuri continues to follow close behind you. You throw your coat off, placing it on your chair as you walk past it. You were still confused as to why he was here, but you knew it would have something to do with the SSS if he was here.
“Here’s the manager’s office,” you gesture to the door. You knock on it a few times before opening the door, “sir, an employee from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is here.”
Mr. Lester looks up from his black coffee, a newspaper in his hand. “Are you my new secretary?”
“No, sir?” You raise a brow.
“I know,” he sighs with a dry humored smile. “Let him in.”
“Yes, sir,” you nod, backing away from the door just enough to let Yuri in. As his back was to you, you couldn’t help but notice the way his suit hugged his figure well, maybe too well.
You would never admit that though.
You cross your arms as the door is shut before you, taking a place on one of the seats in front of the office.
It didn’t take long for the door to open, Yuri and Mr. Lester coming out. The manager looked around the office before his eyes landed on you, “what are you doing here?”
“I finished the project from last week and I—“
“Then you should be free to escort this man to the files room,” Mr. Lester raised his brows.
“The files room,” you couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes, Miss,” your manager sighs. “I need to go take a bathroom break.”
“Of course, sir,” you sigh but manage a smile. You turn to Yuri, “come with me then.”
Yuri follows you but not before letting out a deprecating sigh.
“You don’t have to act as if following me is truly a devastating experience,” you hum, continuing on your way. You bring your voice to a whisper once far away from the main parts of the department. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“We’re doing inspections,” Yuri murmurs, crossing his arms. “The Ministry for Foreign Affairs wishes to see if this company isn’t doing anything suspicious.”
“I’m sure,” you nod. “And you really did not know that I worked here.”
“Not a clue.”
“I’m sure.”
“No, really,” he sighs, adjusting his coat off of his suit and to hang it over his arm. “When are you going to believe me?”
“I believe you,” you hum, stopping abruptly in front of a room. You watch as he flails for structure, his hand grasping at the nearby wall. “Here’s the very important files room, and what specifically are you looking for?”
“Possibly the last two weeks’ projects,” he walks into the room, acting as if his disaster show hadn’t just happened but you brush it off.
You walk in behind him, looking at the cabinets of files. You glance at the names, already knowing how these cabinets were organized by Ben showing you how they went.
“Here,” you crouch down, pulling out a metal cabinet and hearing the scrape of metal and a rolling wheel inside make a sound.
“Last week’s project had to deal with the cost of making an explosive,” you explain, grabbing two file folders before standing up. “The week before, well… I only started working last week.”
“And they already have you as an errand girl,” Yuri hums with a smile.
“Funny,” you hand him the files. “I’m sure they’re up for hire for a jester at a faraway castle.”
He gives you a subtle glare before looking back down at files, “how’s it going with Yor?”
“They’ve invited me for a few dinners over the last week,” you say, leaning against one of the filing cabinets.
“How’s Yor?” He insists, brows furrowed.
“She’s.. good, we’ve gotten close,” you narrow your eyes at him.
Yuri finally nods, looking back down at the papers inside of the folder. You sigh, looking off and wondering if you should just leave him in here.
“Come here,” he speaks up.
Your gaze hardens, “what?”
“Just.. come take a look at these,” he sighs. You step closer to him, faintly smelling whatever subtle cologne he was wearing before looking over at the papers. “Have you seen anything suspicious in these reports?”
“Not that I can see right away,” you murmur, crossing your arms. You continue looking though, seeing that one suspicious activity from last week and a few more which you’ve already reported to the SSS.
Your eyes track back to the week before your arrival though. Everything seems normal until your gaze lands on a particular activity:
“Product A successfully paid. Delivery status: ________”
“Huh?” You cross your arms. “Remember last week how I had found something similar to this.. a payment delivered but no product delivery was marked…”
“Yes, these statements alone could be seen as coincidental but…” Yuri whispers. “Together, it’s quite suspicious.”
You nod in agreement, eyes trailing down the paper but before anyone can say anything more, a knock comes from the doorway. There stands Ben, who glances between you and Yuri.
“Hey [Name]…” his brows furrow together in confusion. “Who’s this?”
“I’m Yuri Briar, here for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,” Yuri gives him a greeting nod.
You hum, putting some distance between you and Yuri. “Yes, I was just showing him around the room.”
“In the file room?” Ben asks. “What for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Yuri gives you a glance before sighing, “well, keep it on the low but it’s just for an inspection.”
“Inspection? For—“
“Oh, [Name]!” Mr. Falan comes near the doorway, standing beside Ben. “Woah, aren’t you two close?”
A blush creeps up your cheeks, finally fully separating yourself from Yuri (and for a moment you thought you heard Ben let out a sigh of relief). You turn to look at Mr. Falan, “I was just showing this gentleman around.”
“I’m sure you were,” Mr. Falan laughs.
You shake your head, your shoulders slightly tensed up at the thought of so many people in here. If Yuri was here on SSS orders, then he must need some privacy and the employees aren’t supposed to know that anyone with the SSS is in the building.
You let out a sigh, uncrossing your arms. “I need a serious bathroom break,” you say, turning to the men in the doorway. “If I may?”
“Yes,” both Ben and Mr. Falan hum, making way for you to pass, which you do.
“Oh, [Name]?” Hera comes up to you, glancing behind you where Mr. Falan and Ben were following right behind. “Where’s the young man you were walking around with?”
“He—“
“Isn’t it lunch break already?” Mr. Lester’s voice sounded, glancing at the small group of his employees gathered together. “Stop pestering the young Miss about nonsense.”
“Yes sir,” a chorus of voices sounded, the other three employees walking away happily to take their lunch breaks.
“And [Name],” the manager starts up again. “Aren’t you supposed to be attending to the young man?”
“Oh!” You blush in slight embarrassment. “Yes, sir."
With that, you quickly scurry back to the file room and you find that Yuri is still looking through the papers in the files.
“And why are you looking through these files specifically?” You come up, leaning against a cabinet.
“To..” he trails off, tilting his head up to look at you. “To find any weird activities. Isn’t that what you’re also supposed to be doing?”
“Well yes but…” you sigh, shaking your head. “There’s barely anything around here. There’s only the occasional thing but never anything more.”
Yuri scoffs softly, “you’re going to have to find another way to gain information then, or else…”
“Or else what?”
“Well,” Yuri hums. “I don’t know. They might replace you on the mission.”
“No, they wouldn’t,” your gaze hardens, crossing your arms.
The whole reason why you agreed to this mission was because maybe it could’ve brought you a bit closer to why your old mentor had disappeared. He’d come here on a case then vanished. It wasn’t normal, but there were no clues in sight as to what might’ve happened.
“I’ll find a way,” you say with a hint of determination. “Pushing that aside though—for now—didn't the First Lieutenant say that I’d have to train under you?”
Yuri pauses, letting out a sigh. He runs a hand through his hair, “I don’t understand why Lieutenant would feel the need to have you trained?”
“Me either,” you shrug. “Though maybe, it’s because I’m now closer to the SSS. Aren’t all SSS officers supposed to be trained in combat, or at least self defense?”
“Yes but..” the man sighs, glancing at the doorway before continuing. “It isn’t just physical training, but also with your brain… though, that may not be the hardest thing to train you in.”
“So you’re saying that I’m smart?”
“I’m saying that you’re not dumb,” he shakes his head. “But you definitely need training in the physical part…”
Your gaze hardens, a subtle glare being sent his way but you know he’s right. You could endure some things but not as long or as hard as the SSS officers.
“So what does that mean?” You lean in closer, brows furrowed. “Are you going to train me or not?”
Yuri turns to look at you, about to say something but he pauses for a moment. You wonder why he paused but before long, he nods, “boss’ orders.”
“Good,” you hum, leaning back to your original spot.
Yuri simply stares at you momentarily before clearing his throat. He stretches, bringing his hand up but as he does, he hits a shelf above the cabinet files and there comes down some files.
“Oh, god,” you gasp, crouching down to grab the scattered files.
As you gather them up, a gasp comes from the doorway once more and you turn around with a bit of a sour mood, about to ask who the hell could be peeking in here.
“My, how scandalous,” Hera gasps, peeling her head through the doorway. “I didn’t know that this is what the manager meant by attending to the young man?”
You quickly stand up, files in your hand. “It’s not what it looks like!”
“I kid, [Name],” Hera laughs, glancing between you and Yuri. “It’s a joke, hm?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be having lunch?”
“I thought i was but I’ve seen to have left my.. pen here,” the married woman says, grabbing a pen that just so happened to be on top of a filing cabinet by the doorway.
“How coincidental,” you cross your arms. “Hey, I heard that there was a woman from the inspection department possibly having a scandal with one of the men in her department…”
“And apparently, there’s a possibility that she’s gotten pregnant from it.. while having a boyfriend at home,” you raise your brows, lips softly quirking up in amusement.
“Don’t lie to me, [Name].”
“I’m not lying,” you shrug, coming closer to her. “It’s true.”
“…” Hera stares at you for a moment, eyes narrowed but you could see the massive intrigue she was enduring. She huffed, “if you’re lying, you’re going to get it.”
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” You murmur, and just like that, she’s gone.
You turn, sighing before glancing down at the files in your hand. They weren’t labeled with anything, they weren’t even in a filing cabinet and just on a shelf.
“Impressive,” Yuri says.
“Even I surprised myself,” you respond, placing the files on top of a table.
You open the file, skimming through the pages. You pause, finding a envelope unopened. You turn it around in your fingers, “Labyrinth.”
You look over at Yuri, showing him the envelope. “Coincident?” You whisper. “Possibly, but I think not.”
“Let’s not look at this just yet though,” Yuri hums, grabbing the envelope. He stuffs it into his coat, “we’ll look at it at headquarters.”
“Sure,” you sigh. “It’s my lunch break though and I’m starving, so I think I’ll go…”
“Before you go,” Yuri starts. “Tell me, was that story even true?”
You smile and shrug, “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
________
After the long day at work, you were back at your apartment complex, coming up the stairs with a tired expression. You didn’t even get to read the envelope and that was really bugging you.
Anyway, that thought quickly went away as you were opening your door and you heard a voice from behind you. Why is everyone always sneaking up behind me? You thought before turning.
“Anya,” you smile, looking down at the smiling child. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be inside of your apartment?”
“I wanted to tell Miss [Name] something as soon as you got home!”
“And what is it, sweetie?” You smile, leaning against the doorway into your apartment.
“I got a Stella today!” She pointed to her clothing which had a sparkling star on it. It seemed like she was still in her uniform, even this late.
“Really? What for?” You hum.
“I go to Eden Academy so whenever you do really good on a test, you get a star,” Anya explains happily.
“That’s so good,” you smile. You place your hand into your pocket and coincidentally, find another peanut packet in there. “Here you go!”
“Yay!” Anya celebrates, happily taking the peanut packet. “Thank you!”
“Okay, now, go to sleep or else you won’t be able to wake up bright and early in the morning.”
“Okayyy,” Anya sighs for a prolonged time before going up to her apartment door. “Goodnight, Miss [Name].”
“Goodnight,” you smile, watching as she walks into the apartment before the door closes behind her. You finally go into your own apartment, closing the door behind you.
You stretch your arms high up, yawning. What a day…
:BONUS
Yuri walks into his apartment, shutting the door behind him. He practically throws himself onto his couch, smacking his head into his pillow.
What the hell is wrong with me?
He thinks back to all incidents that had happened in the morning: the moments where you leaned in really close, or the boyfriend joke, or even the time where you’d both been in a very misleading position.
A hand runs through his hair, hugging the pillow closer to himself.
[Name]…
What a strange girl.
Hello everyone, I’m back again with another chapterrr. The plot is progressing very slow but surelyyy, I hope you’re enjoying this book so far and look forward for the next upcoming chaptersss!!
Goodbye :)))
(also, my arms and hands are so tired from writing and all that, but idk, I’m lowkey still brainstorming what else to write about since I do sort of have an overall plot in mind but also, I’m still thinking of how it’s supposed to go… anyway, yuri mentioned, finally)
No headaches were diagnosed but your back was definitely failing you this morning. It hurt like a sore dog. Perhaps it was from how you'd fallen asleep on the ground last night, or maybe even--
Who are you kidding? It was obviously the sleep on the floor.
At the moment it felt good, but the consequences followed.
"Ugh..." you sigh, dragging a hand down your neck.
You move to pat down your coat, watching as rain begins to softly patter down the concrete sidewalks. There was a chill in the air, and you’d come to notice that the leaves of trees were slowly transforming from vibrant greens to warmer tones.
"Thank goodness I brought a coat."
You tug the hood over your head. Luckily, you were right outside of the Blackbell Company. It was large, probably larger than the SSS building. There were windows as large as the floors themselves, probably taller than yourself and many others.
Blackbell Heavy Industries is known as a military manufacturer, one of the major—if not the major—companies in Ostania. They’ve also been the ones to supply Ostania’s army during previous wars. If one didn’t know by now, the Blackbell family is very well known and influential in Ostania.
Anyhow, you sigh. First day of work, here you come.
You enter, showing your badge to the front desk and you’re quickly shown to the finance department, your eyes instantly taking a look around the department. There were a few offices and rooms to the sides away from the cubicles in the middle.
The cubicles weren't large, and instead they were made from wood and with walls low enough that you could catch a coworker's eye. There were computers though with sheets spread across the desks. Some neater than others, some simply.. monstrous.
You look around once more before peeking at the office at the end of the department. The manager's office seemed empty.
"You've come early," a tired voice says, followed by a yawn.
You turn around only to be met with the sight of a very exhausted-looking man. He appeared to be in his late-fifties, grey hairs sprinkling his dark hair, and a coffee in his hand. Black coffee.
"Yes, sir," you smile. "I didn't want to be late on my first day."
He hums, glancing down at the badge that hung from your lanyard before nodding. "I'm the manager of this place, Mr. Lester," he explains, bringing his cup up to take a sip. "Welcome."
"Thank you, sir," you give him a respectful nod.
Mr. Lester begins to walk around the cubicles, glancing every now and then as a few employees start filling in. He walks up to an empty cubicle, no papers and pens in sight.
"This one must be yours," he gestures. "And once again, welcome. You'll be made aware of your assignments soon enough."
With that, he finally leaves and the faint smell of tobacco lingers. You softly scrunch your nose, holding back a sneeze. He must take his smoke breaks seriously, you think.
You shrug it off though, along with your coat, placing it over the seat at your not-so-personal cubicle. Well, at least nothing crazy was going on.
As you set your bag down, a few thoughts flooded through your brain: observe, blend in, and don't cause any big scenes. Trouble on your first day would be troublesome, not just for you, but for the mission.
All of a sudden, you hear a throat clear from behind you. You turn around, hair swishing as your heels click at your turn.
"Hello," you smile, tucking a strand behind your ear.
"Hey, you must be new," a lady said. She appeared maybe in her thirties, a ring on her finger indicating that she was married. She looked put together, good for office work.
"And cute.." another person came up behind the first lady, but this one was a young male. He looked to be about your age with brown hair.
Good for future bribes, you think, your eyes trailing down his figure. He seemed more of the easily persuaded type.
"Sorry, what was that?" You raise your brows, hoping that you'd heard him wrong though.
The male quickly stammered out, "I-I meant—"
"Ignore him," the first lady pushed past him. She held her hand out, "my name is Hera. If you ever need to know anything about anyone, you know just who to go to."
"Hera," you smile. You shake her hand, telling her your name.
"And I'm Ben," the guy comes up.
"The intern," Hera says, pulling her hand back to her side. "I've worked here for a few years now."
"And I've worked here for about 17 years," an aged voice pipes up from the side. You look over, brows raised to find a man around his late-fifties (maybe sixties) as well, except this one was more older fashioned compared to the manager. "I'm Falan, and you wouldn’t know the things I’ve seen in this place.”
"It's nice to meet everyone," you smile, putting on a normal show of a normal girl at her normal job. Completely normal. "I hope we can all get along, haha."
"Alright, alright," a familiar voice comes from the manager's office, and it's the manager himself, Mr. Lester. "Leave the poor girl alone and get to work. We have a new project coming up."
A collective sigh sounds around the room, "yes sir."
________
Your public project was to work out the finance problems for a new and upcoming launch of a military item for the Blackbell Company. It was an upcoming launch for Ostania's military to see if they'd like it (a product to do with an explosive), and your department was simply seeing the potential cost of it if it really went off.
Though, your true mission was to find any weird patterns in the pages.
And at the moment, your only mission was to eat lunch. It was finally lunch break, your back and bottom hurting from how much you'd been sitting and writing down numbers along with names (and mentally jotting down notes of any suspicious activity you might’ve encountered, which was.. crumbs to say the least).
It was a lot of work but not exactly hard, one could suppose.
The SSS hadn't sent notice of any upcoming meetings or a want for debriefs, you just assumed that meant that you'd have to analyze any information you'd sought out today at work.
Which meant you could eat your lunch in peace...
Right after you put these files up.
As you were doing that—heels clicking against the marble floors and the occasional chatter with the employees to keep appearances up—you heard a few distinct voices in the background. Something that sounded childlike... familiar...
You close the file cabinet, letting the metal clank against metal as you close it shut. You creep around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse of where the voices could be coming from when you hear something suspiciously familiar from behind you.
"[Name]!" Anya calls out, catching you by surprise. You jump, turning around to see the pink haired girl skipping towards you. "Why are you being a creep?"
"What?!" You whisper-shout, bringing your hands up to your mouth. "I'm not being a creep..."
Or am I? You think, eyes widening for a fraction of a second before it's gone. You watch as the little girl stares at you, feeling as if she was trying to decipher a really hard puzzle.
"What are you doing here?" You slide a hand into your pocket, feeling a mysterious packet in there. You furrow your brows, pulling out the unknown bag only to be found with a bag of peanuts.
Why do I always seem to have these? You raise a brow before glancing at Anya whose eyes have grown twice the size.
You hand the packet to Anya and she exclaims happily, bouncing momentarily. "Oh!" She turns, looking behind her. "Becky!"
"This is [Name]," Anya smiles happily as she eats her precious peanuts. "My new neighbor!"
You turn to see a dark haired girl staring right at you with an older lady behind her. Your eyes widen a fraction, surprised that you didn't see them come.
Damn, your instincts have decreased... as if you had any anyway.
You smile, "hello, you must be Becky. Are you and Anya friends?"
"W-we're best friends," Becky stammers out and for a moment, you wonder what could be making her so nervous when she looks up at you once more. "You're very pretty, Miss."
"Oh, aren't you a sweetie?" You gasp, placing a hand on your heart.
Wait, Becky? As in… Becky Blackbell. Of course you would know that name, she was the daughter of the Blackbell family. The daughter of the CEO at your public job.
"Hello, I'm Martha," the lady from behind Becky says, holding out a hand which you shake. "I'm Becky's caretaker."
"Well, it's good to meet you," you smile, giving her hand a final shake before pulling away. You smile at the small crowd of people right in front of you before saying, "I'm sorry, girls. It's my lunch break and—"
"Maybe we could eat with you!" Becky interjects, a blush coating her cheeks at her own sudden eagerness .
You raise your brows in surprise. I was actually planning on eating alone to look over my notes but...
"Okay," you nod. "I don't mean to intrude though. Where were you girls planning on going?"
"We were in Becky's dad's office," Anya explains, munching on her peanuts once again. "But then we saw you and we wanted to say hi!"
"Well, where do you two want to go eat?"
"Hmm…” they both began to hum. The girls look at each other before gasping, “we know!”
“What do you mean.. that you know?” You whisper, staring in bewilderment at their interlinked minds.
Before any of the two can speak up, a crash sounds from across the hall. Everybody turns and there is the male intern from earlier, Ben, and another employee from another department (probably). They had been carrying a stack of papers in their hands before the two crashed into one another.
Not only did the stack of papers scatter around them, but there was a water dispenser nearby that they’d also knocked over. Luckily none of the papers had been splashed on but the employee was.
“I-I’m so sorry!” Ben exclaimed, immediately trying to help pick up the papers but the employee simply glared at him.
They glanced down at Ben’s badge, “stupid intern, don’t you see that I’m walking here?!”
Ben frowned, a sad look on his face and for a moment you truly felt bad for him. Still, he tried to help even then.
The other employee continued to insult Ben, which caused whispers to stir up around them. You could only watch as Ben sat there, embarrassed, while nobody was doing anything about it—even if they all knew that the other employee was going a bit too far.
You sigh, really not wanting to involve yourself in the situation but your feet were moving before you could even think twice about it.
You crouched down, helping Ben pick up the papers and placing them in the neat stack that he was already building in his arms.
“Who are you?” The other employee stammered out, rows still furrowed in a dampened fury.
“…” you sat silent for a moment before giving them a glance. “Where are you dropping these off to?”
The employee was taken aback, frozen as if their brain was still processing what you’d just asked. They look up, “..to the manager’s office…”
“We’ll help you,” you nudge Ben, watching as his eyes dart between you and the other employee before rapidly answering. “Y-yes, we’ll take you there.”
“Y-you don’t have to—“
“No, it’s okay,” you smile. “And we’ll dry you up as well, don’t worry.”
“…” the employee stared at you in silence, suddenly aware of what they’d just done a few moments ago. Their face flushed in embarrassment before nodding, “okay.”
“Okay,” you nod, and you turn, about to ask for help with the cleanup but you stop.
“I’ve got it,” Mr. Falan gave you all a nod, a mop already in his hand. A quiet squelch sounded as he placed the mop on the floor, already mopping away. “You kids just go ahead.”
“Thank you,” you say before turning to catch up with Ben and the employee.
Becky and Anya stand to the side, a soft frown on their faces as they watch you walk away. Martha places a hand on each of their shoulders, “we’ll talk to her soon, girls. Let her be for this moment though.”
Both the girls let out a sigh but nod, “okayyyy.”
___________
Everything was resolved in the end and it turns out that the employee was only having a bad day already before the crash had happened—and the crash had only been the tipping point of their strong mood.
You sigh, stretching yourself in your chair after a long day’s work. First day and already exhausted, but for the mission.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow!” You say, eager to leave back to your house to write down every mental note you’d jotted down into a piece of paper for the SSS.
Everybody greets you goodbye and like that, you’re gone.
Almost everybody lingers and it isn’t until you’re fully gone that Hera starts, peeking up from her mini cubicle to say, “so, what did you guys think about her?”
“…” there’s silence for a moment, as if everybody was processing what to think about the new employee.
“I think she’ll be a good fit,” the manager says, coming out of his office with an unlit cigarette.
“Yeah, what she did earlier was really…” Mr. Falan hums, twirling his beard.
“Kind,” Ben sighs.
“…”
“What?” The intern looks down. “She really helped me out there.”
“…” Hera glances between her coworkers. “I like her.. I think.”
Everybody hums in agreement, nodding.
___________
You have a pen in your hand and a notebook on your lap, making sure to sit on the couch rather than on the carpet—just in case you feel exhausted by the end of the writing session.
Everything seems normal so far. Normal transactions, fair trades between companies…
Still, you feel as if there’s more behind it than just that. You squeeze your eyes, bringing your hands up to tug at your hair as if that would help any.
What about that one transaction? There had been a file claiming that money was received for a particular product—an explosive of some kind. Though, there had never been any confirmation that an explosive was sent out.
You hum, quickly jotting that down. It probably wasn’t a good idea to write this down, in case someone found the notebook, but it was easier to keep track of said notes if you wrote them down.
Maybe I’ll begin leaving this at the SSS headquarters.
At the same time though, the thought of going to the Blackbell Co. building, then to SSS hq, only to go back to your apartment sounded like a lot of walking and was already exhausting your brain.
You sigh, shutting the notebook close. Where could I place this? Maybe my office, or would that be too obvious…
You frown, looking down at the notebook before grabbing the pen and on the cover, you write down “private diary!!” Making sure to underline the ‘private’ word many times.
You wonder if that would only make someone want to read it even more but you shrug, sleepiness beginning to consume your being. This time though, you head over to your bedroom and tuck the notebook into your undergarments’ drawer.
author’s note:
hello everyone, how ya doing? we finally got to meet our new coworkers and potentially useful people in the future for our missionnnn >:)
I will say that this was probably the hardest chapter so far to write, mostly because I didn’t know how to go about it at first, so it’s somewhat filler buttt also kind of important to showcase how the MC (you guys) is.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, I don’t really have much else to say except to look forward for more updates soonnnnn!!!
(tumblr note because you guys are a special case, but i finally figured out how to transfer the formats all correctly to tumblr so now the bolds and italics are where theyre supposed to be, phew)
cross posted on wattpad -> quotev -> ao3 -> tumblr
You've only been to the SSS headquarters very few times that the grandeur of it takes you by surprise each and every time. It was a building disguised as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, a place where only diplomatic business could ever take place and absolutely no violence.
But that was so wrong.
Even though the building was massive with large windows to let the natural light in and a strong structure, truly, the most devastating parts were hidden in the interior. If you were being honest, you didn't quite agree with the ways of the SSS—but you weren't in a position to have any say in their violent ways.
Anyway, you were finally at the SSS headquarters and you stepped foot into the building. You wore a casual attire for the office, casual enough that the outsiders wouldn't find the building suspicious of any malicious activities. Though, of course, you were still in disguise—somewhat.
You didn't quite have the time for such an elusive disguise but it was simple enough that you wouldn't be easily detected. You wore a wig that was a completely different color than your typical hair, glasses which for some reason had a strong gleam on the outside (strong enough to hide yours eyes, and a coat that hid your true body figure.
It was simple and easy to take off because truly, you couldn't be bothered to do such grand gestures.
As you walk into the building, you flash the receptionist a smile. Your footsteps are soft with a small click from your heels and you finally arrive at the front desk.
"Hello, I have a letter I need advice on," you say with a smile. You bring out the letter that had been in your move-in boxes, hidden between the folds of your clothing. "Something to do with a foreign cultural program."
The receptionist looks up, staring momentarily before speaking, "name?"
"[Full Name]," you say, handing over the letter.
The male receptionist merely glimpses at it before handing it back and giving you a nod. "Go down the black door and..." he trails off. "You'll be able to find your way down, right?"
"Of course," you nod, giving him one last smile before heading off.
There weren't many doors in the lobby, a few but enough that a newcomer would be confused on where to go. You weren't completely knew and your memory wasn't trash, so you could find your way there—to the meeting spot.
You didn't quite know where to go but there would be hints along the way that only SSS members knew.
Like right now, as you walked down the hall after entering the black door, there were 'employees' walking down the hallway, though I could tell that one of them was an SSS member with a gold clip on the edge of his suit's fold.
You caught their gaze and they gave you a single nod.
The west wing. Ironic since Ostania is up against Westalis...
What if that meant that you were meant to go to the east wing? You thought momentarily before deciding to go to the east wing of the building...
________
"I'm so sorry for arriving late," you bow down in front of the first lieutenant of bureau 2, division 1. You stood in the west wing, which could only mean that you'd gone the wrong way.
Chadwick Curtis, a man of high status. He was blond and with a strong figure, scars on his face from his years of experience as an officer, or maybe even a soldier.
One couldn't know with the mix of timelines. Anyway, it was just best to assume that he received those during his current work: SSS assignments.
The man stood there before you, dressed in the SSS uniform and his insignias on display. You quietly stood back up, feeling the awkwardness of his silence stretch much further.
"Sir-?"
"You're lucky the director isn't here today," he suddenly says, voice deep and aged with experience. Your eyes slightly widen, watching as he exhales.
"And... [Name]?" Curtis murmurs.
"Yes, first lieutenant?"
"Take off that wig, will you?" He looks at you, face dry but a flicker of amusement flashes in his eyes. "It's just.. not right."
You squeeze your eyes for a moment, biting down on your lip to hold back any laughter and to display your professionalism.
Your hand comes up, grabbing the fake hair and slowly pulling it down. "My apologies, sir—"
"And those glasses.. and might as well just take your coat off too," he sighs, a hand dragging down his face.
A small snicker leaves your lips before you can stop it — and quickly, all the things are off and in your arms. Once off, it's revealed that your hair was up in a casual-do, business attire, and heels because.. what lady doesn't need heels at the office?
It really brings the vibes together.
"[Full Name], ready to begin my work today," you flash a smile, fixing your posture.
"And remind me what you work in?"
".. analyst, sir.." your face drops into a blank expression. "Weren't you the one who recruited me—?"
"Shh, sh," Curtis sighs, bringing a hand up. "That does not matter at this moment..."
You deadpan, looking off to the imaginary camera before nodding. "Alright, well what should my first assignment be—?"
"[Name]?!" A voice calls out. Shock, surprise... bewilderment. That is all the emotions you feel hit you all at once.
You turn to look at the voice's owner, only to find a familiar dark haired man whom you'd met just last night.
"You know him?" Curtis whispers.
"Something like that.." you sigh, voice low. You pitch your voice louder, just enough for Yuri himself to hear. "We got to know each other over food and drinks."
"That sounds suspiciously like a date—"
"That was not a date!" Yuri gasps, quickly coming up to you.
You give him a sideways glance, raising a brow at his volume. "I never said it was.." you hum, raising your chin up in a pompous manner.
"It is true though that I know him," you look at the first lieutenant. A smirk forms on your lips, lowering your voice to a conspiratorial level, "I even got to meet his sister."
"Now, that's interesting," Curtis crosses his arms, glancing over at Yuri, whom is currently fuming with anger.
You laugh, "coincidentally, I get to be neighbors with his sister. Quite a grand opportunity, don't you think?"
"I think that's a grand opportunity-!" Yuri starts but is interrupted.
"Of course you would," you and Curtis chime up at the same time.
You bite down to hide your giggles, crossing your arms.
"I thought you said you..." Yuri clears his throat, glaring at you as if you've just cursed his own death. "Did office work."
"I do," you hum, raising your brows. "In here.. and at my apartment. I work remotely sometimes."
"Urgh, and at first I didn't believe it was you but..." he trails off, his eyes trailing over you. "It is you."
You cross your arms even tighter to your chest, sending him a glare that was to the same intensity of his.
"Are my subordinates having.. problems?" Curtis sighs heavily, glancing between you and Yuri.
"..."
"No.." you clear your throat, picking up the professionalism once more.
"No, sir," Yuri follows, gaze lowered.
"And I think that perfectly brings us to your first assignment, [Name]," Curtis says. "The first assignment will be for you to be trained under Briar's hand."
"What?!" Yuri scrambles while you just stare dumbfounded.
"Merely because we don't have many officers available for the training," the first lieutenant explains. "And Yuri is one of the best."
"What about paperwork?" You ask. "It's what I was recruited for, no?"
"Yes, of course," the lieutenant sighs. He looks around at the large room they stood in, employees of the SSS walking every once in a while. "Walk with me.. you too, Yuri."
"There's a new case that's been opened," Curtis says, reaching an office of which you assume is his. He opens the door, gesturing for you two—the younger employees—to enter. "It has to do with a lack of evidence but many suspicious activities that seem to be loosely linked to one another."
Your eyes widen.
"This is the first I've heard of this," Yuri murmurs, closing the office door behind him.
"Actually, you may have heard of it... but in smaller parts," Curtis goes around to the desk, facing the both of you. "The activities have been spread out throughout the city of Berlint, some near the outer border of Berlint, but most have been happening here."
"What sorts of activities?" You question.
"Most happening with the elite, mostly rumors we've heard and less action," the lieutenant explains. "Talk of a war happening again.."
"War?" You gasp. "But—"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he sighs. A hand drags down his face, stress clear on his face. "They're only rumors at the moment..."
"But that's why we're having you on this case, [Name]," the lieutenant starts again. "It's something of low stakes at the moment but..."
"If the rumors are true, it could quickly turn into something higher.. more dangerous," he says, turning to give Yuri a look. "That's why you're on this case as well..."
There's this sudden seriousness in the room. A small thing could later turn into a big ginormous thing that will not only affect the people involved, but now the whole country. Many countries.
A war.
Even after all of this time of trying to cultivate peace between Westalis and Ostania, there are still talks of war.
"And with your brain, [Name]," Curtis clears his throat. "We could quickly start to piece the parts together."
"And that brings me to your final assignment," he continues. He comes up to you, pulling something out of his uniform pocket. "You're going to work under Blackbell Heavy Industries."
You look down, only to be met with what seems like an employee badge, access into Blackbell Heavy Industries. And you know exactly why he put you there...
Because the Blackbell company is the one who people will go to first if a war starts.
"Make use of your time there," Curtis says, handing you the badge. "Because it will be really useful.. and important."
You stare at the badge for a moment, taking it all in. It made you wonder how they were able to pull a job for me so quickly and you look down, reading the words on the badge.
Finance department. The money is where it's all going to connect.
"Now, Briar will not be working there but since you two already seem to be acquainted with the other," Curtis sighs. "You will report to each other, and if any physical missions come up for you [Name], Yuri will join you.."
"But sir-" Yuri starts, clearly frustrated by the situation. It was unknown to you why he was so against working with you but the look that the lieutenant gave to Yuri made the dark haired male pause. "Yes, sir."
"Good," the lieutenant nodded. He reached over onto his desk, where a white folder sat, before grabbing it. "You two can begin skimming through the pages, since you're not busy today."
"Yes sir," you and Yuri chorused, giving a curt nod.
"And don't cause any trouble," Curtis sighed. He looked at you, "and good luck. You start work at Blackbell Heavy Industries tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir," you flashed him a small smile.
"Okay, now get out of here you two.." he waved you off. Before you exited his office, you swore you heard him mutter something along the lines of "I need a cigar.."
Yuri and you swiftly found yourselves out of the lieutenant's office, stopping right outside of it.
"Okay, look.." he paused, turning towards you. "[Name]."
"Yuri Briar.."
Yuri's face deadpanned, making you want to roll your eyes but you held back. "Not one for a little bit of fun, huh?"
"We're at work," he sighed, glancing down at the folder in your hands before he looked back up at you. And what unique eyes he had, ruby red, just like his sister--except his had a darker side to them hidden deep in there. "You better not do anything stupid."
"..." You narrowed your eyes at him. "Like what? Tell your sister you're part of the SSS."
"Exactly," Yuri glared at you. "And she can't be knowing that you're part of the SSS either."
"I know--"
"My dear sister is too precious for this world," He interrupts you. His hands come up to his chest, "I'll do anything to protect her."
"..." You stare at him with a hint of shock. "You know that she has a husband, right?"
"Fuckk," Yuri's whole face darkened, and for a moment, you thought you saw a dark aura form around him. What the helll-- "Stupid Loid-y.”
"You're weird--"
"And you," his dark gaze was now upon you. "You get to live next door to her.. what next? A-"
"I'm going to stop you right here," you put your hand on his arm, which he can only look at in shock and a hint of disgust. You pull your hand back, sighing. "We need to focus on the more important things."
"Like Yor—?"
"Look, I get that Yor is important to you and I respect that," you slap the folder against his arm. "But we need to be looking at these pages, okay?"
Yuri merely stares at you for a few moments before nodding with a heavy sigh. His shoulders practically slump forward but either way, he follows you as you walk down a hall but soon enough, you realize you don't know the building that well to be the leader.
You pause, turning to give Yuri a nervous smile. "Is there like a private space we could discuss these, haha?"
Yuri only sighs, shaking his head but immediately taking the lead.
____________
Soon enough, you both find yourselves in a small meeting room. It's large enough to be walkable but only a small table and a few chairs are in the middle of the room. The room is well-lit, a bright fluorescent light that could be the start of a headache.
You look away from the artificial lighting and get to looking at the folder immediately.
You place the folder down on the table, and open it up. Inside, there are pictures. There are actually a lot of pictures and in the very back there is only one paper with words on it.
You tug at it, aware of the fact that Yuri had shut the door but this was a confidential mission. Something only you and very few have been entrusted with.
"Why the collection of photos?" You sigh, brain noggins already moving to think of any possible connections.
"There's only one page of words," Yuri hums grabbing the page. On the front, there's strings of words that you can read but as Yuri grabs the paper into his hands, your eyes widen.
"The back," you gasp, pointing at it.
Yuri raises a brow, a sudden seriousness falling onto the room. "It's redacted.." he says, and it's true. There are streaks of black covering the words... or what we can assume, are words, on the back.
"Why would anyone do that?" You murmur.
And did the first lieutenant already know of this?
"I suppose it's all we know at the moment," Yuri sighs, glancing up at you before looking back down at the paper.
You nod, thinking that maybe that is true. Maybe it is all that the SSS knows...
Or...
"Or maybe," you cross your arms. "Maybe it's all this mysterious group wants us to know."
Yuri's face is full of surprise at your statement, glancing up at you once more. "What's this case called again?"
You sigh, moving to close the folder. On it, it reads: Mission Labyrinth.
You look up, catching Yuri's eyes and you two simply stare at each other because you're thinking the same thing. A fitting name for such a complicated and messy mission. It hasn't even started yet and there is no solid evidence to what the motive is here...
____________
You're back at your apartment after that debrief with Yuri. And by now, you would've been thinking about how strange that man truly is but no... your mind is elsewhere.
The case, Mission Labyrinth, seems harmless on the outside. Just rumors among the elite about weird occurrences.
But it's never anything small among the elite. There has to be something going on.
And if it goes wrong, then this whole country could be doomed.
You wish to slump over on your couch but you don't even do that. You simply throw yourself onto your carpet, pushing your heels away from you as you stare up at the ceiling.
You weren't allowed to take the folder home, even if you tried, it was extremely classified information for you to take. Still, all of the information was processing in your head.
Now, you weren't even thinking about just the mission but a memory that it had sparked.
As mentioned, you'd lived in the countryside where mountains were your walking spaces and the forests your friends. There, all you saw was green and other vibrant colors aside from the mute colors of the city.
There were no stars here, or at least barely. It made you somewhat miss the countryside.
But what you truly missed was your friend. Well, maybe not friends. He was your mentor, the one who'd even convinced you to think about taking a job in the city.
He'd taught you the ways to think properly. How to see patterns and how to quickly decipher problems.
One day he'd been talking about going back to the city, to Berlint. He'd said: "I'm taking on a new case. It seems interesting.. something on the low..."
But nothing was ever that low-risk with that man. Then, he'd disappeared.
You tried looking for him but to no avail, you never found him again. That had only been a few years ago, and now you're here in the city, taking on a case that seems of low stakes.
If it got out of hand though, that would be a different story...
And even after all the times that you tried to deny it, you were still searching for him.
author's note:
another chapter done!! and new characters introduced too!! I hope you're enjoying this book so far because soon enough, trouble will come ;)
(I lowkey am so tired of writing today that I don't feel like writing a long ahh note 😭 but I still love all my readers!!!!)
(ALSO NOTEE FOR TUMBLRR—and Google Docs but not as important—I HATE HOW.. wow, let me call me down. I hate how it doesn’t keep the formatting such as bolds and italics from my copy and pastes… I originally write on Wattpad, then Quotev, then ao3, and lastly tumblr but dear goodness, so tiring, anyway, love you guys :)))))))
cross posted on Wattpad, ao3, tumblr, and Quotev :)
"The SSS sure works fast," you sigh, gazing at your newly assigned car with few boxes in the back. You don't need much, especially in this field of work.
All you need is a pen and paper, and you are set to go.
Though of course, a normal girl can't go with just a pen and paper, not even a normal person.
You sigh once more, letting your head drag forward until you muster the mental strength to approach the car and open the back door. It lifts up and you reach for the first box, a huff of air escaping past your lips at the singular weight of it. You then grab another box...
The SSS overestimates my strength.
You weren't meant for such heavy work, you weren't even an agent assigned to physically infiltrate scenes. You are merely an analyst for the SSS, though of course, the normal everyday person does not know that—only the SSS.
Your work primarily consists of the behind the scenes of SSS assignments—and the SSS is a feared intelligence agency that oversees matters of Ostania. Whether it be suspicious people, or suspicious situations—they're all going to be dealt with.
One doesn't want to be targeted by the SSS—otherwise known as the State Security Service. They are known as a ruthless and dangerous secret police of Ostania, a rep that is useful for such a powerful organization.
You breathe out, thinking about how many more stairs you're going to have to take—much more intimidating compared to the SSS—but... whatever this job takes. You should've taken the help whenever the SSS had asked if you wanted any.
Damn it, [Name].
It's a nice day outside, warm with a cool breeze. Parents walked with their children on the sidewalks, holding their hand, while couples held the other's hands. Meanwhile, you stood alone, wondering if you'd ever had a romance life before shaking yourself out of those thoughts.
Romance is stupid (kind of). It is a distraction to what you were here for—work.
You finally start going upstairs, wondering if carrying two boxes at once was the right choice, when all of a sudden, you take a wrong step and you stumble.
A gasp pushes past your lips and you feel gravity—that stupid science thing—begin to pull you down when all of a sudden, you stop midway your fall. The air stops around you, a static ringing sounding in your ear.
"Oh thank goodness," you hear a feminine voice, pretty, mutter. You look up and there stands a lady with ruby eyes and dark hair. One hand is wrapped around your wrist and the other has caught your boxes—which have nothing valuable to you but she doesn't know that.
"Woah.." you can't help but stare in awe.
"O-oh!" The lady gasps, helping you up and rapidly thrashing her hands in the air while simultaneously holding the boxes in her arms. "N-no! I just carry lots of groceries—!"
"No, that was awesome," you gasp, sparkles practically forming in your eyes as you lean forward. You give her a quick and profound bow, "thank you.. for saving my life."
"Oh," she sighs, her panic spiking down. "It's no biggie. Are these boxes yours?"
"Hm?" You look up, straightening up and give her a simple nod. "Yes, I was just moving into my new apartment. I got a new job here in Berlint, how lucky of me..."
The lady laughs, nodding. "Really? So you aren't from here?"
You shake your head, leaning against the rail of the stairs. "Nope, new here," you shrug mindlessly, mind swirling at the amount of times you've said 'new'.
And that was truth, you were really new to Berlint—capital of Ostania—but you've been here a few times, very few to not be so familiar with the city though. For work only. Still, it was a wonder you didn't get lost on your first move-in day.
It was much busier compared to the small city outside of it. There were plenty more people here, bigger buildings, and more alleyways for bad people to hide in and make secret dealings that will only add to the stack of evilness this world already has. At your old house, you worked remotely for the SSS but you've been posted closer for work purposes.
"Oh and I'm sorry, what's your name?" You laugh nervously, a hand coming up to scratch at the back of your neck.
"My name?" The lady whispers in surprise. She then smiles, "Yor Forger. And if you want, I can help you move these boxes inside."
"I wouldn't want to impose—"
"I insist," Yor nods, smiling softly. "I was coming upstairs anyway."
You smile back, "I'm [Name], and I live just right up here." You walk up a few steps before arriving to the right floor.
Your feet hit the wooden floors, footsteps soft as you approach your door. Even though the SSS insisted this was a good apartment complex, you did your own research. Just some small fact checking.
"Right here," you hum, gesturing to a door. It made one wonder who their neighbors would be with the amount of doors there were in this hallway.
About five other doors...
Then a little girl comes running out of the apartment right across yours just as you're grabbing your key to unlock your apartment. The little girl comes bouncing right up to you, looking straight at the woman beside you.. then at you.
She gasps, making you raise an eyebrow. "Hello—?"
"New neighbor!" the little girl exclaims, staring at you.
Who could this girl be? You think to yourself, a small laugh leaving your lips. Such unique features too...
"Anya," Yor sighs with a smile. "Don't run down the halls, okay?"
"I want to help!" Anya exclaims, her pink hair softly bouncing as she goes to bounce on the tips of her toes. It's an adorable scene, truly, endearing even.
"My name is Anya Forger. This is my mama," Anya exclaims proudly before deeply bowing. "Appeased to meet you!"
"Oh my, you're adorable," you gasp, hands going up to your heart.
"Yes, she is," Yor smiles, placing a free hand—how the hell could she carry those two boxes in one hand—on Anya's head and ruffling the girl's hair.
"Sorry, I don't want you to get too tired," you grin at Yor, quickly opening your door and stepping aside to let her in.
The apartment was quite grand for a single woman. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, an office, and of course, a living room and kitchen. There were a few closets in the hallway, the pantry, and in the bedrooms but that was about it.
Not too bad you nod to yourself. I will make a note to buy a lock or something secure for my work. Can't have anyone knowing I work for the SSS...
You glimpse over and see Anya staring in complete awe, her green eyes flicking back and forth between Yor and you. You raise a brow but shrug it off, assuming it was merely because you were new.
_________
It doesn't take long to move in the boxes with Yor's surprisingly strong arms, despite the fact that she looks rather lean. I trust her word though, since she never seems to have any malice in her eyes.
Best to just mind my own business you sigh, looking around your apartment and glad that the boxes are all inside. Though unpacking them is a problem for tomorrow.
You turn to face Yor and Anya: Yor smiling with no sweat dripping down her forehead and Anya with a look of exhaustion (even though she barely lifted anything).
"I think Anya deserves a reward for being a big help!" Anya grins, coming up to you.
"Anya, no, it's okay," Yor laughs. "Sorry."
"No, no," you smile. "I must insist, what would you guys like in return for being such a big help..?"
"Perhaps.." you start once more, breaking their train of thoughts. You glance down at the pink-haired girl, and pull out a small pack of peanuts. "A snack for the little miss?"
Anya begins to bounce up and down in excitement, eagerly snatching the pack of peanuts up before wrapping her arms around your legs. "I like this new pretty neighbor!"
"Then I must invite you for dinner," Yor smiles, humming happily at the sight of Anya already taking a liking to you. "Please?"
"Please?" Anya pouts, holding you tighter.
You glance at both mother and daughter before sighing, "alright, fine. If you'll have me."
Anya does a little celebratory dance while Yor smiles, eagerly grabbing onto your hand and gently tugging you outside of your apartment and right into theirs--which was right across from yours.
You enter and your eyes widen at the homey feel of it. It looked good, smelled good, and as you looked over at the TV to see that there was a show of spies going on at that moment.
Anya happily skips over in front of the TV, "Spy Wars!"
"Oh, I remember that show," I come over and stand beside her. "Except it wasn't a show and instead they were books at the time.."
"You know Spy Wars?" Anya's eyes practically sparkle. You giggle and nod.
Just then, you hear the door click open. You spot Yor behind you subtly shift and wonder who it could be. Maybe a cop, an intruder, or a loser. Either way, for some reason, you're ready to protect them... with whatever power you have. Which isn't a lot but hey, the effort is there.
It's a man of blond hair with a coat loosely buttoned up. He looks.. exhausted.
"Loid!" Yor smiles, and you see her slightly light up at his presence. "Welcome home! Did you bring the food?"
"Yes, Yor, I did," he hums, his eyes instantly tracking you with a subtle hint of surprise. "Who is this?"
"[Name], she's our new neighbor!" Anya exclaims happily, throwing a peanut into her mouth. "She gave me these."
You laugh, "I don't mean to intrude, it's nice to meet you though."
"Ah, well, it's nice to meet you too. My name's Loid Forger," he smiles, placing his coat on the coatrack near the door. "Is she going to join us for dinner, Yor?"
"Oh, yes! I hope that's okay," Yor says, suddenly becoming shy, which was quite endearing.
"It's alright, and that's perfect then!" Loid says, suddenly lighting up ever so slightly. "The food should be ready now, I had left it on the stove to just lightly cook while I was away."
"Yay!" Anya cheers, jumping up from her spot. She then coms up to you, gesturing for you to lean down as she whispers, "don't tell mama this... but her cooking is bad."
"Anya, you cheeky little girl," you gasp, a smile spreading across your face. You bring a finger up to your lips, "don't worry, I won't tell though.."
"Oh, we haven't introduced you to one last family member," Yor comes up with a smile as she watched both you and Anya interact. She turns, her dark hair softly swishing down her back, "Bond!"
All of a sudden, a big dog comes running from the hallway of the apartment. You jump in surprise as it comes up to you and gently sniffs you. You stare at its white fur, eyes widening before you bring your hand near his nose to sniff you. He barks.
"Does that mean he likes me?" I glance around at the family members.
Yor giggles, nodding, "Oh yes."
"Oh good," you sigh, giving Bond gentle scratches in the back of his ear.
"Okay, why don't we go ahead and eat?" Loid says, suddenly coming out of the kitchen with a few plates of food in his hand. He places some on the table and a small food bowl for Bond, whom barks in delight.
"Yes! Let's go," Anya jumps once more, grabbing your wrist and practically dragging you to their table. It's adorable, really.
"Okay, okay," you laugh, sitting in the chair that she pats on. You glance over at all of the options of food, taken by surprise at the delightful smell. "Wow, this is making me really hungry.."
"Have you not eaten today?" Yor softly asks, brows tilted up in concern.
You nervously laugh, "busy day, heh..."
"Well, luckily you've got us," Loid smiles, placing down more dishes on the table along with plates. "And hey, if you need any more help in the future, you know where to look."
"Oh, thank you," you say. "You've all already been a good help to me.."
"No problem-o!" Anya grins, making you laugh.
Then once again, the door is being knocked on. Your mind instantly thinks of the worst: maybe an intruder, a robber, an evil cop—and for a moment you did truly think it was an evil figure with the way the door was slammed open.
"Yor!" the new character screams. It was a man with dark hair and ruby eyes—just like Yor. Except he was a man. "I thought I'd drop by since i was nearby-"
He pauses at the sight of you though. His hands dropping down from the air, "who..?"
"Oh, Yuri!" Yor gasps, an embarrassed blush creeping up on her cheeks—probably from how he'd suddenly barged into their home. "You can't just-"
"Yuri, welcome," Loid says, coming up to the man supposedly called Yuri. "This is our new neighbor, [Name]."
"Hi, I'm [Name]," you send him a wave and a smile, which he doesn't seem to take so well. It makes you let out a small laugh to ward off the awkwardness of the situation.
"So I've heard.." he murmurs, glancing between you and Yor.
"Oh, Yuri, don't be like that," Yor smiles, coming up to Yuri. She grabs him by his arm, pulling him to a chair at the table--right beside yours. "Since you're here already, why don't you eat with us?"
"Okay!" Yuri suddenly brightens up. You catch a glimpse of Anya's face, seeing the dumbfounded look on her face and you have to bite down on your lip to stop your laughter.
What a strange man.
"Wow , did you make this food, Yor?" Yuri grins, rubbing his belly. "Making my stomach rumble.."
Yor laughs, "no, Loid did."
The blond man laughs, nodding as he sits down, followed by his wife. "I'm flattered you like it, Yuri," he says.
This only makes Yuri frown. He crosses his arms, looking away from Loid, muttering something under his breath that sounded something like "stupid Loid-y.."
Yuri looking away only causes him to look over at your direction, and at Anya, but you feel his eyes mainly on you. "So... you're neighbors with my sister, hm?"
"Ah, you're Yor's brother-"
"Yes, did she mention me?"
"..." You stare at him, quite surprised by his enthusiasm. "No.."
Yuri gives you a blank expression before sighing, "So, where are you from?"
"Not Berlint," you couldn't help but tease. All he does is give you a blank expression though, which makes you sigh, not amused, huh? "Nielsberg."
"A big change it must be for you to come to Berlint then, no?"
"It is. Have you been there any?" You ask, glancing down at your plate of food and pushing your fork down into sliced potatoes.
"Can't say I have," he murmurs, eyes narrowed in your direction. "Why have you come here though?"
"Work," you smile, raising your brows. "Office work."
"And-"
"Yuri," Yor laughs nervously. "Let her eat, please."
Yuri glances between you and Yor's pleading eyes before nodding, "alright.."
Yor smiles, looking at you and you can only smile back at her in thanks. My savior.
_________
Soon enough, you have to leave to your own apartment. After a goodbye from everybody, you're back at your own abode, still awake though.
"I shouldn't have eaten that much," you sigh, rubbing your hand against your belly. "I feel so bloated."
You look around the place, the boxes catching your attention. Maybe some unpacking will help me.
You approach the cardboard boxes, hand caressing the edge of a box that had letters on it. It read, "Clothes."
Probably the easiest one to carry, but it also made you wonder what clothes it could possibly have inside. You didn't pack anything personal in the boxes, not that you had anything personal to take anywhere.
You only had stories and the leftover memories in your head.
You open it up, hearing the scrape of cardboard against each other. Inside, you touch the clothes which is some casual and some for more business attires.
You feel the cotton beneath your fingertips, soft and good quality. The SSS really knew how to treat their employees.
Though as you're caressing the clothing, you feel something beneath it. No... more like in it.
Your fingers move, rummaging through the folds and crevices of the clothing when you finally feel a different texture. It feels more paper-like.
You grab it, pulling it out to get a good glimpse of it. An envelope with words on it.
The envelope reads:
Headquarters.
Tomorrow evening.
___________
___BONUS___
Yuri sighs, exasperated by the exhausting dinner. The only thing that he couldn't find exhausting was his dear sister, Yor.
Even though he tried to think happy thoughts, even thinking about his beloved sister—he couldn't help but think about the new neighbor.
First, Loid and Anya. Next, Bond. Now, you?!
Was the universe after him or what? It seemed as if it just wanted to flip him off at any chance it got.
"[Name]..." he sighed, slumping onto his couch. "Stupid [Name]."
author's notes:
hellooo everyone, i havent written in so long and this is lowkey my redebut as a fanfic writer... boring summer, and I've had some ideas in my mind, so here i am!!
anyway, i hope you enjoy and i also hope im able to continue this story so be forewarned: slow updates (dun dun dunnnnn)
if you're reading this, i hope you have an amazing day and that you continue to read more of spy x family content ;)
(i did loads of research but mostly about the geography since I've read a lot of the manga, all that's out at least, and I just need to get more knowledge about the political aspects of the story since those are the parts I mostly skip in my rereads 😩 but anyway, hope you enjoyed!!)
(alsoooo, if you have any suggestions, pls comment them because i really love hearing people's ideas!! you are all so loved and beautiful!!!! and if you were looking forward to hearing this, DISCLAIMER: english is not my first language... fun fact: spanish is!!)
word count: 3142 words
(cross posted on ao3, wattpad, quotev, and tumblr)
Just found this Ninjago Lloyd x reader fic made by @samseaaa and I am so in love with it!!! I finished reading all 65 chapters (before it got updated to 66) in like under a week and like the person I am when I became in love with a fanfic for an x reader I made an oc based of the reader in the story (disclaimer this is just my interpretation on reader in the story not how reader looks like in the story cause reader is based off of ourselves or in this case an oc made up being part of the story)
I gave the OC for this fic the name Connie Nagant when I search up first names that has the meaning curious and also for her last name I wanted to give her a name of a gun for her last name because of her relationship with guns in the fic. And mostly I gave her like a peach pink color scheme for her to relate to her powers in the story but also to have that specific color coded thing that the ninjas have going on and honestly I just gave her like a not so harsh color palettes cause I wanted her to have that contrast with Lloyd of him being in a world of dangers, actions and adventures and such while when she starts out she's living a normal life thrusted into a magical world, to put it simply I gave her the aesthetic of a magical shojo girl meeting her soulmate that's from a shounen. And since she's a bookworm and a traight A student I have this idea of her wearing something that sort of resemble uniforms eluding to her academic ambitions but I also try to sort of made her have that hint of detective look to point at her interests in history and her knowledge hungry personality. And i gave her bandages since in the story atleast in the first few chapters she’s really clumbsy but mellows out in future chapters but i thought it’ll be a fun charcter thing if she’s competant in serious scenario but is clumbsy in everyday life like she can survive falling from a 20 floors high building but she’ll be tripping on stones when in her average day (and also please don't point out about the dragon necklace and also the yin yang medallion for not being detailed cause I seriously have no skills to make such a detail piece and I'm already beating myself up cause I can't do the pendant and medallion justice with how it's described in the fic ( ；∀；)) (also if anyone can read and write kanji, just a question, did I wrote Connie Nagant right cause I wanted to write her name in kanji as a homage to what happened in the fic even tho I don't actually know how to do it so I just sorta eyeballing it ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭)
All and all I just want to just gush about this fic cause like it's so good and still have some more drawings that I want to do for this fic! Still trying to finish up my Lloyd darwings for this fic and also an reader's best friend in the fic!
And so to those who want to read this fic here's the link!
[being rewritten for the 1938473th time]
Sometimes love stories don't start with lingering stares and flirting. Sometimes it starts with th
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Give them some love Kay! This work their made is amazing so give them those encouragements!
"Lightning cracks, so white it's almost blue, and I throw up my hand to shield my eyes as it strikes the iron chest as though drawn to it. Sparks shower the arena..." Chapter 42, Iron Flame
Heyyy everyone! Dropping the latest Sketch-a-Wish, voted on by my lovely Patreon members for the month of December! Featuring Celia and Marco from The Night Circus @erinmorgenstern
My Patreon members have been getting a bit kiss-crazy with these SAWs. 😂 For this piece, I wanted to take my time to re-read The Night Circus over the holiday break to prep for this. It's been several years since I listened to it for the first time (back when I designed the Build Me Dreams papercraft) and I was really put off by the audiobook and the story comprehension suffered because of it. I love Jim Dale (who read the US audiobooks for Harry Potter), who has multiple but very distinct voices and accents. I kept getting distracted recognizing and comparing every Night Circus character to their HP counterpart which completely took me out of the story at times. Some of the characters were really goofy sounding, which works well for HP, but not for the ethereal cast of TNC.
I can wholeheartedly say that I much more enjoyed this white-noise re-read of TNC and was able to experience it without all the distractions. There were even several scenes I've pinned that I'm eager to illustrate / papercraft beyond the one chosen for this SAW. Please look forward to those!
This is arguably the most colorful scene in the book (everyone is wearing a bright variety of colors), the ballroom is gold and both Celia and Marco wear a deep green. A stark contrast to the book's signature black, white and red color scheme. I offered my Patreon members a handful of color keys to choose from and the one shown here won the most votes!
