Chapter 2: Chaotic Culture II

Emily had been done with school that day. Done enough, in fact, she did not even bother to start a single one of her assignments, which were about one or two for each of the numerous subjects she took in highschool, one less useful for her than the next.
She did not even attempt to start a single one of them, even though she had headed right away for Seagate City's largest library for the afternoon just as classes finished. That was, of course, not because she was particularly interested in any of the stuff the library had on display or getting that vapid, yet unexplainably laborious paperwork done. She went there because it was the start of April in Seagate, one of the Western District's hottest cities, and because that was the only place nearby with proper air conditioning, and not to mention, some pretty nice couches she could lie and take a nap on.
Thus the pale girl had gone there and taken one of the many empty spots right around one of the place's deepest corners, with the intention of snoring off into dreamland without being bothered by anyone, because obviously nobody likes going to the library anywhere. That was where she was wrong.
She dozed off for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes exactly, and no more. By that minute mark she had felt cold hands wrap over her face as if to choke her and woke into a panic, flailing her arms around like windsocks in a storm trying to fight off the enemy...
“Gotchaaaa!”
“... Armetta?”
“Right answer!”

... only to realize it was just some idiot covering her eyes with disturbingly cold hands for such a hot day.
Finally releasing her, the newcomer had started laughing as a frowning Emily turned around to look at her, unsure of whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Standing behind her had been a girl of rather short stature, flashing a frisky, puerile grin, along with an overall appearance that didn’t seem quite sure of what it wanted to be.
The short sleeved white shirt and the black pleated skirt seemed to aim for some kind of specific effect, but then the dusty-looking field boots, messy shoelaces, the cluttered wrist bracelets and the chains hanging from her waist just threw it out the window. Melding mess to clutter, her overly neat chestnut hair had been tied with two small ribbons on each side of her head, adding to the overall bizarreness and making her look too young to be in highschool, although they were both the same age (she thought).
“You’re making too much noise! As someone working on the library, of all people, you should try and be more mindful about it.” Emily whispered impatiently. “What do you want, anyhow?”
“Well, I was just taking a little break from work, but then I saw you and thought you might want to chat for a bit!”
Maya Armetta was a part-time library assistant who worked there a few days during the week. She'd been an acquaintance of Emily, and they had occasionally spoken to each other a few times during the past year. They weren’t friends or anything similar, but Armetta was the kind of weirdo who could strike a conversation with just about anyone to pass the time.
“I don’t.” replied the white-haired girl blinking her ghoulish red eyes several times as if to momentarily fight off the drowsiness. “Please go away.”
“Aww, c’mon! Don’t be so moody. You shouldn’t treat your friends like that!”
That girl had a noticeable habit of acting closer than she actually was to patrons, maybe in order to figure out what they were looking for more easily, or just to be annoying, she guessed. But once again:
“We aren’t friends, and you’re not on break. Judging from last week, and the one before that where you didn’t bother me, I’d say you’re probably right in the middle of a shift. Aren’t you?”
“What!? You figured out my shifts? Impossible! Have you been stalking me, Emmy?”
“Wai… No! I just said… Don’t make stuff up! And stop calling me that!!”
“I see, I see. So you really have been following me around! Sneaky Emmy!” accused the ribbon girl, making no effort to hide her laughter.

“Just leave me alone. And don't call me Emmy!! Also, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?”
"Hmph! Sleeping during the day is no good, dummy. Then when night comes you won't be able to fall asleep when you should! If you're coming here, at least do some homework or read something... or something." frowned Armetta, like a worried mother looking after a small child.
"I'm too busy for that, stupid!"
"Busy...? During the night...?? Busy with what?"
***
It felt vaguely painful, but those fifteen doses of haema she’d taken five minutes back helped quell the sensation somewhat. The leader of the Dragons was far bigger and stronger already, undoubtedly the most skilled and experienced fighter of the two.
That wasn’t all that mattered there, though. With little difficulty she quickly stood back up.
The Phantom’s leader could not lose in that environment. She had only just arrived at the scene a few minutes prior, having taken in her remaining enhancer units in the meantime, and was still in perfect shape and well-rested at the moment. He, on the other hand, was tired and wounded after all that mindless battle, and not in condition of making sound decisions, given his beast-like behaviour just now. Easy target.
“What’s the matter? You look scared!” he roared, as if to prove himself he still had a hand to play.
Laughing drunkenly, he pressed his feet against the gravel, in mere seconds propelling himself several meters into the air.
“...?”
Travelling at high speed, he approached her position in an arched trajectory, aiming his right foot towards her. Figuring out his movement, the hooded opponent rolled to the side to avoid him, leaving the Dragons’ leader to crash through one of the warehouse’s walls two meters behind instead, his kick powerful enough to blow through a large chunk of it in the process.
She frowned. Move looked nice, but he was wasting what little energy he still had left right from the get go. It would be over quick.
The girl stepped back, trying to gain some distance, while the dust that escaped through the breached wall slowly vanished over her head to reveal that night’s lone moon once again, little to no stars to be seen.
She turned around to see her opponent beyond the broken wall, rising out of a messy pile of broken wooden boxes and loose bricks. Part of the feeble structure had fallen on top of him, crushing a portion of his left arm. Adding to that, he was covered in other heavy wounds from top to bottom. He didn’t seem to be feeling them entirely, however, so she could only assume he had consumed a considerable dose of haema somewhere during the previous conflict. The initial adrenaline rush provided by it was the only thing she knew capable of such an effect while still allowing him to move properly. Said effect usually didn’t last very long, though, especially for fast-acting, emergency-tailored varieties, which also wore off fast, so depending on how far ago he had made use of it, it shouldn’t take too much time for him to lose it. As long as she prevented him from taking another dose…
He let out a dry cough to the side and once again started towards the pale Phantom. She caved her foot a few millimeters through the feeble surface they stood on, feeling the uneven material.
Once again evading his strike, she skipped right, while he kept swinging, faster and faster.
“Damnit! Stop moving, you-“
Focusing her strength on her right foot, she once again dug into the floor, kicking upwards countless pieces of gravel, and as his wrinkled face was repeatedly hit by the hard material, his vision blurred, causing him to lose his balance.
Hurriedly, he tried to stop himself from stumbling, blindly stepping forward amidst the darkness, only to be met with a small closed fist under his chest, which forced all the air out of his lungs, followed by a heel to his right knee and yet another fist onto his face, taking all feeling away from his nose.
He doubled down and fell sideways towards the hard surface, only barely supporting himself with his left hand, as he held onto his bloodied head with the right.
A rageful growl escaped his throat. The badly wounded street thug now looked more like a dying beast. And yet, he mustered up what little strength he had left in his knees and shot forward, trying to grab her.
He was able to barely arch his two arms in front of her before a straight blow to his gut sent him flying in the opposite direction, violently cracking that fragile floor with his back.
In the end, it didn’t really matter how strong he was, while facing an opponent considerably faster and better prepared.
Twisting his head unnaturally, the exhausted Dragon-King looked the girl in the eyes, weakly babbling something in her direction. Probably another insult. She sighed.

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“Still not giving up, huh? I expected as much.” she remarked, now in a contrastingly low tone “I'd rather you did and saved me the time, but sure, this way is still much more fun, isn't it?"
Compared to his, her own two eyes were motionless, devoid of feeling, as if they had been slowly frozen over in a blizzard. It was a sight he had not been a witness to ever before. That frustration dominated his whole being, and froze him in place as well.
“Guh… uh…rfhhff…”
Even though his limbs would barely work anymore... Even though he could barely eve form words by now, chocking on his own blood, the leader of the Dragons, still got up again. His pride did not allow him to stay fallen.
“You don’t need to say anything. I understand. You won’t ever admit defeat, will you? So long as you can stand, you’ll still keep going, won’t you?”
Defying the blizzard, however, the girl’s face contorted once more, revealing an unusual expression which ultimately startled him. It was distilled viciousness in the form of two, glowing crimson eyes. Pure poison staring into his soul.
“Let’s rectify that.” she whispered, amused.
***
"I-It's not during the night...! Schoolday's just tiring... or whatever... I got a lot on my mind. Nothing you need to know, so go away..."
"Mmmm... It's that bad, huh?" muttered Armetta, giving her an odd squint. "Mmmmm..."
"... Shuddup... Mind your own business. I know you just get off getting on people's nerves." whined Emmy, trying to hide about as she turned back on Armetta, trying and failing to doze off again.
“I... I mean, you're not wrong..." Armetta admitted, her face flushing just a bit. "You make the best faces when you get thrown off, Emmy... Hehehehehe... You look super hilarious!”
'Just great. Did I just wake up something weird in her I shouldn't have?', the pale girl thought, pulling her baggy hoodie back over her head again, hiding her pure-white hair inside it. It was very unruly and clearly overgrown from lack of care and effort.
“Sure, whatever…” she sighed, giving up on the argument. “Anyway, did you want to ask anything? Or are you here just to bother me?”
“Who do you think I am?? Of course it's just to bother you! I'll just keep you some company.”
“Nope. Go away. And also, you should stop using acquaintances as an excuse to laze around.”
“Geez, don’t paint me like some no-good just like that. I’ll have you know I work real hard during my shifts every day! I only stopped today because it’s you, you know?”
“But that just makes it worse, stupid.” Emily sighed once again. “I don’t have time for your little games right now, so could you cut the crap already and leave me alone, please?”
“So mean! You really are the baddest of the bad. The pale witch! The snow-white ice queen!! The-“
“Also, if you keep yelling so much, they’ll notice you’re dodging work.”
“Ahh… Right…”
“Moron.”
Didn’t take very long for her to bounce back, however.
“Ohh, so you do care about me! I’m so touched. There is actually a warm heart underneath all that ice-“
“I don't care, I don't wanna hear it. Now, shoo!”
“Hahaha! You look too cute when you’re in denial, you know!”
Half-opening her mouth for a second, Emily intended to answer the goad, but for some odd reason, she instead turned her head around and buried it further in her hood, away from her acquaintance, her normally pale ears gaining a pink tint.
“…? Emmy? What is it? Was it something I said?”
“I-It’s nothing… Anyway, is your library s-stuff going well…?”
“Sure it is. How about your homework?” she responded, puzzled by the sudden change of topic.
“O-Obviously! Unlike you, I take m-my responsibilities seriously…” mumbled the no longer pale girl.
"... Then why aren't you doing anything...?"
"...I'll... do it later... or whatever..."
Armetta squinted, as if scanning the other girl for lies, but before she could say any more, a third voice was then heard from the other side of the room.
“Maya! What are you doing?” it inquired.
Recognizing the elderly chief librarian, Maya fell into a brief panic.
“Ah… Uh... I-I-I’m just helping a customer over here! Hehe…” she half-managed to stutter out loud, “Do you need me, Mr. Farkas?”
“Why, yes, there was an accident in the children’s books aisle, and a large amount of books ended up falling from the shelves. Could you go help the others pick them up?”
“Y-Yeah… Of course! I’m coming right away!” she answered, unnaturally stiff.
“Thank you. Keeping those kids still ain't no east task, you know?” he finished, returning to where he had come from.
Making sure he couldn’t see her anymore, the ribbon girl then turned back to her acquaintance.
“Alright, then. Guess I’ll have to leave you alone now, Emmy! But if you need anything, just ask, okay?”
“Right… Thanks, Armetta.” she answered, her face still turned away.
Before long, she was dozing off again. She wasn't sleepy, yet she felt like sleeping. For her, it had been far too long a night.

As one should expect, the pure joy felt during the mad nights of Seagate City wasn't nearly as pleasurable the day after.

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