:| Before the End |: [Latisha]

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

Scrambling, Shiori collected her books and crammed them into her bag. She had been given a message to meet someone at one of the research facilities, most likely an interview, and she was already running late. The new issue to her secret obsession had just been released, and she spent the whole afternoon reading it, losing track of time. It wasn’t until her brother knocked on her door—or rather had his robot knocking on the door for him—that she saw the time and flew around the room, putting on nice clothes. Unfortunately, they were still a little wrinkled, but Shiori didn’t have time to handle that.

Hopping over the bot her brother had called Boru, she was out the door in record time, pausing only for a quick second to grab the toasted bread that was left on a small plate by her mother. How could I have been so distracted? Mother will definitely have a talk with me, especially about my tardiness. No! I won’t be tardy! Determined, Shiori pumped her legs until they were burning and she couldn’t feel them anymore. How often was it that she could have this chance?

When she reached the general area of the research facilities, she stumbled as she made a full stop and looked at the buildings with confusion. In her haste, she had forgotten to look at the map of the buildings. She knew she had to be at building C—the letter in her hand confirmed that—but which one was C? She walked around slowly, looking up and down to find any indicator that the building in front of her was C or A or B or D. Who was the genius who decided to leave out the labels?! Frustrated, Shiori made several circles around the buildings before deciding it was better to just ask someone.

Without hesitation, she approached the first person she saw. “Excuse me, do you know which one is building C?” She looked back down at the letter to confirm that building C was indeed the one she needed to be in. Her gaze then quickly moved to the time keeper on her wrist. Her scramble had given her a nice buffer, but she wanted to be there earlier rather than on-time. Feeling impatient, she started to bounce where she was standing. How difficult could it be to point to a building? "I'm in rather a hurry so if you could just point..."

[Deleted]

Hades did know why he was here, standing outside the research facility. A deep dark anger had risen to the surface and now it wanted to break free and take control. He felt himself shake with rage and he knew it was all because of that stupid kid who was in the same room as him. He lived in the orphanage which means he didn’t get a break from young stupid kids. As soon as he turned eighteen he was out of there. He knew he could leave now but then he would have nowhere to go, no roof over his head. Anyway this stupid kid was teasing him and he knew he could be harsh and beat this kid to a pulp but he couldn’t do it. So he was, standing outside of a building, this rage trying to push through his barrier. Hades tried to take deep calming breaths but he couldn’t shove this emotion down. No matter how hard he tried this anger fought back, wanting to be free and take over. Breath, just breath; in through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Ugh, it wasn’t helping!

The research facility was made up of different rooms and he wanted to cause some trouble, maybe if he did the dark monster inside of him would calm down. He needed to think of a plan, something that would take the edge of people. Hades tapped a finger thoughtfully against his lip and let his mind reel with different plans and ideas. Burn the place down? No that would cause to much of a scene, he thought to himself. Knock and run? Nah that’s boring. Break the windows and run? I’m liking the sound of that. A mischievous smile speard across his face and he rubbed his hands together in delight. He looked around for something that was hard and he could swing to break the windows with. But all he saw was pale brick walls and a cement path. He felt a slight flicker of annoyance in his mind but shook his head and walked around the corner to look for anything. But all he found was the same as he did be for. Shaking his head he walked around the other corner and there it was. A white long pipe sat on the ground and so he quickly grabbed it grasping it with both hands. Another smile was painted on his face except it was mean and nasty.

A voice called out to hades as he rounded the corner, “Excuse me, do you know which one is building C?” The voice sounded feminine and young with quite a high pitch. He turned around and glared at the girl, hiding the pipe behind him. The girl had hair that was slightly lighter than her brown eyes and she stood up straight like she was trying to look tall. She looked like she was in a rush and her cheeks had spots of red and her cheekbones were nowhere to be seen. Oh, this could be real fun he thought to himself and he changed his grip on the pipe to get a better hold. The girl started bouncing up and down like she was in a big hurry and his thoughts were confirmed by her next statement, "I'm in rather a hurry so if you could just point..." He gave her sneer and let out a low throaty laugh. “and why exactly would I care,” he paused dramatically for effect and leaned forward, “Little girl. Maybe you should run home to your mummy and ask her for directions.” He roared with laughter and pounded his leg. Hades could still feel the anger swirling inside of him and it was waiting like a predator for it’s prey.

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

Shiori recoiled as the other boy sneered at her. He looked dangerous—even his laugh sounded menacing. What is his problem? Well, the question he asked was a reasonable one; there was no profit for him by telling her where the facility was. In fact, if he was her competitor and she was in his position, she would have misled him so that she could give herself a better chance. Anyone who did otherwise was unintelligent and did not understand basic strategy. No longer off-put by his demeanor, she shrugged. “That is a fair point. I was merely asking for your assistance, but if you do not see any value in it, then I understand why you would not care.”

But then he leaned into her and fear coursed through Shiori’s body until anger replaced the fear. Little girl?! He couldn’t be much older than me! She was aware that she looked younger than her age, but the fury swelling in her body wasn’t rational and her following words were even less so. “Little girl? You must mistake me for someone else for I am not so young that I have to cry for my mother when some idiot is badgering at me.” Not to mention that Shiori would much rather face this boy than tell her mother that she had gotten lost and missed her interview. “You are an idiot who would rather spend his time terrorizing bystanders than do something actually productive.” She nodded at the arm that was holding something behind his back. “I’m pretty sure whatever’s behind there isn’t flowers. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it’s a weapon.” Why else would he be hiding it? Then again, he seemed like the type of person who would brandish a weapon regardless.

Fuming, Shiori pushed past him, unafraid to shoulder him despite his obvious size advantage. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a building to find. I hope I never have to see you again.”