When Strings Meet [Closed]

It's around evening, but the Cafe Nervosa is still subject to its usual crowd of customers. Dim lighting, black suede furniture and deep red wood, it would come to mind that Cafe Nervosa's for the more shadier crowd, but it doesn't stop a short young woman from going in.

The girl had short black hair worn in a bob, her face deathly white and an patch covering one eye. The exposed eye was a deep red and it looked around blankly, almost absent. She wore what looked like a black vest covering a white short-sleeved blouse and a red bow. She wore a school-girl skirt and odd metal boots with half-wheels lodged to the back of its legs. She looked like a school girl, really, though she was turning 20 in a few months. The youth of her appearance was heightened by the metal teddy bears hanging at her side and the metal teddy bear backpack she wore. She held a white fur teddy bear in her right arm. She walked up to the counter.

"May I take your order?" the barista asked, though unsure of why a little girl was in front of him.

"Two shots of espresso, please," the girl said. She got the order she wanted and sat down by a window, watching the rain pitter-patter outside. She took out a book from her backpack and began reading. It was about sewing, of course. She sighed, but out of satisfaction. It was dark, it was quiet, and she was alone, fortunate to get the last empty table and hopefully not have to share.

Vega walked into the small cafe with his book in hand and gave it a quick look over. "Beautiful. This is exactly what I needed to get away from the others." Ever since Ashelynne joined their team, the RV had become slightly too cramped for Vega and he began to take day trips in order to unwind. He walked up to the counter and made his order. "I'll take a coffee...black." With his order in hand Vega turned to the tables and was met with a sea of people. "I like the atmosphere but too many people." Vega began to search for a table that had at least some room. Finally he spots a table with a small girl near the back. "No other option it seems." Vega sits at the table without a word and begins to sip his coffee while he opens his book.

Shiki had been reading on a certain embroidery message when she felt the presence of someone else in the room. Her eyes widened with realization when she tried to hold onto Kuma...only realizing that she had placed him on the chair that the person was in.

The person happened to be a young man, probably her age, she guessed, though he looked much older than she did in comparison. He had dark hair and red eyes, and she found it strange that they had such alike traits. But she brushed this aside and lifted her head.

"Excuse me," she said with a monotone voice. "I believe you're sitting on my friend."

Vega suddenly realized that the chair did seem quite comfortable and stands up to see he had been sitting on a stuffed bear. "Oh I'm sorry about that." Vega looks around the room again hoping to find another seat but finds he is out of luck. "Excuse me Miss but would you mind if I sat here? The cafe seems to be full and the weather does not look very kind."

Shiki looked out the window as she took the stuffed white bear and hugged it close to her. The bear itself looked old, its white color faded and its black buttons severely scratched.

"I don't dislike the rain," Shiki murmured as if lost in thought. And then, answering the question, "Oh. You can sit here, I don't mind."

She was about to go back to reading her book, but she saw Vega's coffee.

"So you like you're coffee black..." she said. "But they're black coffee here's pretty weak. Next time, you should try espresso."

The rain began to get stronger.

"I hope it won't be hard to get back to Beacon from here..." she sighed.

Vega takes a his seat and sips his coffee once more before looking at the girl. "Thank you for the tip I'll be sure to remember it when I come back. This scenery is too good to not return to." Vega returns to his book but his eyebrow lifts in curiosity when he hears her mention Beacon. Without lifting his eyes from his book Vega responds to the young girl. "Beacon? I don't recall having met you before. You must be a first year. I didn't realize they had lowered the age limit."

Shiki's red eye shifted slowly to face Vega once again.

"No." Shiki said sharply. "I'm a third year student. And I happen to be turning twenty."

She sighed.

"I guess I can't blame you because of my height and attire," Shiki said as she petted Kuma, totally disregarding the fact that the bear might contribute to that factor as well. "So you're from Beacon as well? Yes. It is strange. We've never crossed paths in a classroom, the training areas or even the most main of halls."

Shiki had flipped to a page in her book and revealed an embroidery patch full of blood-red flowers. She took the needle with the red string on it.

"And yet the strings of fate of come and let us meet here," she said. She held up the red string, letting it glint in the dim light before tying it to her finger for some strange purpose. She then extended the same hand in a sort of handshake. "I'm Shiki Zenchi, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Vega had an enjoyable time listening to the girl speak about the red string and fate. He found it interesting enough to close his book and set it down giving her his full attention. When she extended her hand he made a small smile and did the same. "Vega Anansi, a third year as well, the feeling is mutual." As he shook her hand he looked at the Strings of Fate around his wrists. "I do have to say I'm not really one for fate. I like to think I am in control of my own destiny and weave my own fate as I live." Vega knew people who had a certain opinion on fate usually held it strong, it was not uncommon for people to walk away from him as he  revealed his own beliefs. In this situation he prepared himself for that very result.

Shiki let off a small smirk. She let go of his hand and pulled on the red string once again, letting it free.

"I believe you misinterpreted what I said," she said softly. She held up the thread, it's long end dangling and just an inch from the surface table. "The string of fate does not control what we do. It is simply the element we can bend."

She then raised the thread with both her hands.

"For example," Shiki said. "The thread of fate for today is drawn so that you'd go to this cafe. However..."

She knotted the end and then began making a triangular pattern.

"It could've gone many ways to the bending of your decision," she said. "You could have, perhaps, seeing too many full tables, decided to have taken out your coffee instead. Or perhaps, you'd have drunk your coffee at the counter."

She began to fiddle with the thread again and this time made a star pattern.

"But you sat here," Shiki said. "As for my end, I could have not placed Kuma in your seat hence interrupting you. Perhaps I could have made it so that'd we'd never talk. But here we are."

She had revealed the final pattern on the thread.

"The red string of fate works in many ways. You just need to know how to weave it. Sew it. And produce your fabric."

Vega was not expecting such an answer from the girl before him. Her response was incredibly well thought out and left him slightly speechless. Bringing his own hand back he reached for his coffee and take a sip but from the corner of his mouth a small smirk was visible. First Sylvian now this girl. I seem to be developing an ability to find interesting women. Vega drink takes his drink and brings it back down. "Yes, interesting indeed. I have to say I'm a tad bit disappointed I could not have acquainted myself with you earlier Shiki." 

"Disappointed meaning you enjoy my company now or perhaps amuse you?" Shiki said. There was still not much expression on her face, but she looked the slightest bit pleased with the statement. Her white hands had gone and undone the thread, neatly putting it back in the needle and tucking into the embroidery patch and the pages of the book. "I find that strange. Most people would have given me a questioning look as I talked about strings of fate. Thread, in particular. But people will have their interests and disinterests, Mr. Vega."

She had already finished her two espresso shots and the rain outside was getting lighter as it got darker outside.

"But since the threads have intersected here, let's carry on with the weaving," she said calmly. "Care to tell me more about yourself? The team you're from? Hobbies? Perhaps that book you have."

She placed Kuma in her back waiting patiently for a reply.

Unlike Shiki Vega still had a bit of coffee left to enjoy and as he spoke he occasionally stopped to sip it. "Myself you ask. Well a little exchange of information does seem like a good way to pass the time. As for hobbies, I fancy myself a biologist with a specialization on arthropods." Vega looked down at Shiki's book and the thread. "I assume you have an interest in sewing." Vega manipulates his wires and wraps them around his coffee cup. He pulls the cup toward him and takes a drink, "I do have to say the use of thread is quite interesting."

Shiki nodded.

"Yes, I'm very interested in sewing," Shiki said. "It's something...I grew up with, really."

Her legs had been crossed and now one of her feet began tapping in thought.

"Thread has always fascinated me," Shiki said. "At first glance it is nothing more than an insignificant strand. A boring straight line that means nothing. But on the other hand, it is quite the opposite really. A thread can create so many things. It's like an atom in its own way, creating things by only taking into consideration the quantity and structure."

She took up Kuma and began lifting parts of his fur.

"Kuma's hair, for instance," Shiki said. "Each strand is made of more strands. The filaments all coming from the threads of a certain kind of material. See his sides, sewn together by only a yard, but had it not been for that yard, he'd have no limbs, no eyes, in fact, he would barely exist."

When she spoke, she was calm, but there was something animated in her eyes. An enthusiasm.

"Thread's use is interesting, indeed," she said as she pet Kuma.

The rain was pouring harder outside now and pattered on the glass like fingers on a thin drum.

"Now that I think of it," Shiki said. "Thread...can relate to a certain arthropod. The spider. It's a beautiful creature. One that produces some of the thinnest, finest of threads. A thread so fragile and yet they manage to create webs from it of the most intricate pattern. This also goes back to the legend of the Arachne, who was said to be the beginning of spiders.

"Arachne was a weaver and she boasted she could weave threads better than even Athena. Athena appeared before her and a contest was held. Athena weaved a piece that showed the mortals being punished by the gods for considering them equals and insulting them. Arachne made one showing the gods being abusive. Insulted, Athena tore Arachne's piece and later after that Arachne hung herself and died. Athena, merciful as she was, brought her back to life...but only to punish her and her descendants to become spiders...and to weave threads forever more."

When she finished, she looked back at Vega with a small smile.

"Thread...strings...are fascinating indeed."

Hearing the talk of spiders greatly interests Vega and his hand moves to his hourglass pendant which he unconsciously starts to play with. "Ah yes spiders, a personal favorite. They've had a great deal of influence in who I am. So much efficiency with never a wasted movement. Their tragic reputation as feared killers yet they are merely doing what they must to survive." Vega looks down at his coffee seeing a small bit of his reflection and whispers, "Just doing what is needed for survival." Vega's thoughts begin to drift to his previous life before Beacon but he quickly sets those thoughts aside and finishes his coffee. "Well Ms. Zenchi I said a little about myself how about you do the same?"

Shiki tilted her head and pressed a finger on her chin.

"Not much to say," Shiki said, the smallest crease on her forehead forming. "I'm...an orphan. For sometime, I wandered around the city as a vagrant, but I eventually pulled in a job as a seamstress for a dollmaker who needed clothes for her dolls. Aside from sewing, I like to work on weaponry and that got me a scholarship. Now I'm here at Beacon Academy."

She turned back to Vega.

"That is all, really."

She realized that if she spent more time, she might say more than she needed to. With her drink gone, she began putting things back in her bag and held Kuma in one arm and an umbrella in another.

"I'm afraid it's time for me to leave, Mr. Anansi," Shiki said. "But I enjoyed the company. Enjoy the rest of your time here."

She stood up and began to walk away, but she stopped and turned back.

"Perhaps the thread of fate shall make its way for us to see each other again."

She left through the door, but mysteriously as she left, two men in trenchcoats stood up, their drinks not even halfway through and followed.

"She's left," one of them said. "We better see where she's going."

Vega eyed the men as they left with one hand on his book, his index finger tapping on the cover, and his other hand at his cheek in thought. After a few moments Vega sighs and stand up from his seat making sure to throw way his coffee. "Why can't I just let people worry about their own problems, caring about others takes up so much time." Vega walked out the door and followed behind the two men and Shiki making sure to keep his distance but keeping an eye on them in case they did anything suspicious.

Shiki had gotten a relative distance from the cafe and she had kept her umbrella up.

"I don't dislike the rain," Shiki seemed to be saying to Kuma. "But at the same time, I dislike you getting soaked out here."

She had sensed the two men following her and she made a slow turn to an alleyway to get a glimpse of them. Two men in trench coats and wearing shades in the middle of the night...with a symbol patched on their chest pockets.

Thought so...

Just as she reached the end of the alleyway that lead to two more areas, she stopped so that they could reach her, focusing on gathering her aura. She casually put Kuma back inside her backpack and closed the umbrella, letting herself get soaked. The men stopped just a few feet away from her.

"Zenchi...am I correct?" one of the men said with a gruff voice.

"I don't recall introducing myself to you..."

"Don't play coy," the other man sneered. "We know who you are. Now..."

Shiki heard the sound of cocking guns. Her eye shifted to the side to look at them and saw they had weapons.

"Come over here or we shoot you."

"Bite me."

"Why you little..."

The gun fired a bullet, aimed for her leg in hopes to immobilize her, but something lashed out at that precise moment and a flurry of electric currents shot out filling a five meter radius, the water conducting it and electrocuting the men. Shiki turned and saw them fall but her ears caught onto the sound of more them some left and some right.

"Bear claws and bear hug," she said.

Steam released from the two metal teddy bears hanging at both sides and the white metal backpack of hers wrapped around her chest. Her hands slipped into the two at her side until they formed two black cannons.

"Time to fight..." she said calmly.

A light tapping of footsteos could be heard despite the rain from the direction which Shiki had come from earlier. The tapping seemed to increase with each passing moment until Vega appeared from behind a corner with his wires dancing wildly around him. With the rain pouring down, Vega's hair was draping over his face and he would constantly have to push it back to retain his usual hairstyle. "That's quite a weapon Ms. Zenchi, not exactly what I was expecting to be honest." Vega continued to walk toward her peering into the directions where the sound of people approaching could be heard. Vega sighed and shook his head with a smile. "Maybe someday I'll learn to mind my own business and leave people to their own devices." Vega stopped moving only a few feet from Shiki and took a casual stance which he used when fighting. "But that day is most certainly not today."

Shiki had been more than surprised to see Vega had followed her, but what had absorbed more of her attention was his weapon.

"String..." Shiki muttered. She then shook her head, letting off a small smug expression and turned her direction to where the footsteps were coming around. "Very well. I'll let you interrupt. But don't get yourself hurt now."

At that very moment, more men in trench coats with the same symbol appeared. Large guns in their hands.

"There she is!" one of them said. "Remember, don't kill her!"

Shiki's eyes sharpened as one of them shot an electric round and she moved closer, letting her semblance lash out to absorb the attack.

"Fools..." Shiki addressed the two near her. "I'm the one with fingers on the golden threads!"

Her charged cannon glowed and shot an electric ball in their direction, instantly taking them down.

On Vega's side, more appeared, three that were still five feet away. They fired their weapons, shooting out what looked like ice blasts this time towards him.

Vega looked toward the men who had come from his direction and kept a calm expression as they fired. Vega began moving his hands in complex orders, weaving the wires together into thicker sets until he made a shield. Placing the shield in front of him he let the ice blasts hit, as they hit the ice would freeze the strands  that were now covered in rain water making a large mass of ice. Vega gritted his teeth and he began to move the mass of ice that were now his wires toward the men. "Thank you for the weapon." In a swift motion Vega sent the block toward the men hitting them with great force and bringing them down. With a small grunt of effort, Vega managed to unweave his wires back into the small sets which were now capable of slicing their way out of the ice and did so.

From Shiki's end, two more men were coming at her. She shot electric rounds from her cannons simultaneously and electrifying the men. The rain was getting worse and if Shiki wasn't careful, she'd end up electrocuting Vega. With the men pacified, Shiki shut off her semblance and ran over to Vega, letting Dark Orson detach and hook back the belt on her waist. She touched his arm.

"We need to leave. Now."

Shiki grabbed Vega by the wrist as she heard more running footsteps. The two were now both soaked. Shiki eventually led Vega to a street with a two-story building. Eglantine's Doll Studio it said. But instead of going through the front, she went to the back and opened the door with a key.

"Let's go in here," Shiki said.

The two were now inside a narrow hallway with stairs leading upwards.

"Shiki?" the voice of an old woman said. "Shiki, is that you?"

"Yes and please give me towels! My guest and I are soaked!" Shiki said. She turned to Vega. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt or anything?"

The question was already a bit late, Shiki knew, but she couldn't have risked more people having ambushed them earlier.

With a calm expression Vega pulled his hair back trying to ring out some of the water. "I'm perfectly fine. If something of that level were enough to stop me I would never have made it to this country." With his hair now a little more dry Vega reaches into his jacket and checks his pocket watch. Bringing it next to his ear he listens for the familiar ticking but hears nothing. "Damn I'll need to make repairs." Vega puts the pocket watch away and turns to Shiki. "A few questions Ms. Shiki if you don't mind. First who were those men, why did they attack you, and where are we?" Vega looked around the room but but couldn't make anything out except for a stairway.

Shiki was ringing her own clothes and hair, letting it the water fall onto the floor. She looked at Kuma who was drenched and frowned. She then turned back to Vega.

"Oh, yes, this is where I work," Shiki said. "It's also been my home for the past years. I live here with my boss and guardian, Eglantine."

As if on cue, an old lady with short gray hair and round spectacles solemnly came down the stairs with towels.

"A friend of yours?" the woman said in a monotone, dry fashion. Shiki nodded.

"Yes, Amanee," Shiki said as they were offered towels. She handed a gray one to Vega as she dried herself with a red one.

The woman called Amanee looked at Vega blankly, her eyes unseen past the thick round glasses.

"You should see the dolls," Amanee said. "You might not be interested, but you should see them all the same."

"He's not a customer," Shiki said. "I had to deal with some Canters[ earlier."

"Ah. Very well. Go upstairs. There is tea if you two would like. It is quite cold. I will get you both spare clothes."

Amanee disappeared through a nearby door as Shiki headed up to lead Vega. There was a wooden long chair and she motioned to Vega to sit.

"Sorry about everything," Shiki said in a still even tone.
"And thank you for helping. However, I do not believe I have to disclose anything to you just yet. Those people were after me and that's that. It's a solved problem."

She hovered her hand over a pot on the coffee table and motioned to Vega.

"Care for some to warm you up?"[/color]

Vega let the towel drape over his head as he took his glasses and began to wipe them. His gloves had become soaked and was forced to remove them. "Yes I would, thank you." Vega reached down at the coffee pot and poured a cup for Shiki and himself. Vega brought his hand to Shiki's and placed one over them. "Based on your hands you really need this." He wrapped his hands around the cup and let it warm them a bit before he took a sip. "I have to say this is much better than the coffee at the cafe. About the question I completely understand, everyone has their own reasons for keeping things to themselves. I'm sorry for asking it was rude of me."

"No offense taken," Shiki said bluntly. "No one in their right mind would not ask. But trust me, it's better you don't know."

She took her own cup and began sipping it. She breathed out, pleased of the taste.

"Amanee knows how to make good coffee," Shiki said. "Anyhow, thank you for trying to help me earlier. Your weapon...looked absolutely brilliant. I've never seen strings used in such a method."

The old woman known as Amanee came up the stairs with a stack of clothes. She handed a large white shirt (which would probably fit Vega just right) and a long pair of pajamas. She then went over to Shiki and gave her her own clothes.

"Young man," Amanee said. "You can change in that small room over there and lend me your clothes. I'll have them washed and warm dry in fifteen minutes. Shiki you'll change in your own room obviously."

Shiki nodded.

"Thank you, Amanee," Shiki said. She looked at Vega and jerked her head towards the room. "Go on ahead. Once your clothes dry I'll see to it you get back to Beacon."