Problematique

[xJaxx]

He had paced the entire parameter of his room nearly thirteen times—his favorite number—in the midst of his apprehension. He was battling with himself, being tossing back and forth between the tides of agitation and dismay. Finally, he retired to his bed, collapsing in a fit of exhaustion and surrender. He tugged at the visor of his hat, allowing it to rest on the bridge of his nose and eclipse his eyes, shielding him from the harsh reality of relationships.



No. Jin didn’t bend to anything! He was a strong, independent assassin and he didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘surrender’! (and not just because he wasn’t about memorizing dictionaries.)



He shot up from his bed and readjusted his hat to sit in its usual spot on his head in the same—more or less fluent—motion. It was in that moment that he realized he wasn’t about to lie down and let himself be crushed like a helpless bug under the foot of the female population. No, he was going to get his ass out of bed and do something about it like the man he was.



As he stomped his way to the door, he hesitated, hand lingering over the knob. With a sudden cry of, “What am I doing with my life?” he leaped back and held his head in agony. Taking a breath, he straightened himself and cleared his throat. It was fine; he was gonna handle the situation. It wasn’t even that big of a situation, anyway. It wasn’t like he had never gotten in trouble for looking at other girls the way he did. He was a man, it simply came with the territory. So why did it bother him so much that she took offense to it?



He sighed. He was never one to be tied down by one specific girl, so what made her so different? The way she blushed when he complimented her? The way her eyes light up when she smiled? The way she raised her eyebrows and smirked when she thought she had made a smart remark that challenged him?



No, he had to stop thinking about it that way. She was a prima donna who wanted all of his attention fixated on her and nothing else. She was a controlling, manipulative—he collapsed back on his bed. She was none of those but it was so much easier to blame her than to blame himself. He couldn’t help it if he liked to shop around with his eyes! He’d think it’d be a blessing to her to prove that he wasn’t gay!



Another sigh and an irritated groan escaped from his lips. Maybe he was the one in the wrong and maybe he should be the one to do something about it. To make it up to her and show her, “Hey, I like checking out other girls and flirting with them, but I like you the most.”
(Which was hard enough to admit in itself).

With his triumphant air returned to him, he stood up. He was definitely going to make it up to her; prove to her that he wasn’t as disloyal a jerk as she thought him to be. Once again, he marched his way to the door and dramatically opened it, letting the door fling open. He was ready to plan out his plan of conquest.



As he stepped out into the hallway, he paused. How the hell was he going to make it up to her? He didn’t know how chicks thought! Suddenly, the idea hit him. Her shadow! She knew stuff about Kat!



His feet began moving on their own and he found himself flying down the hallway, dodging past the fellow assassins that were unfortunate enough to be in his path. “Geez, get out of the way, gramps!” he bellowed, shoving past the one weird kid who wore sunglasses all the time. (Maybe he was blind?) “Alright, decapitate me later, Princess Volcano,” he shouted, after bumping into a particular blonde chick that could’ve very well killed him right then and there. (But he was definitely too intimidating for her to do anything).



After what seemed like an eternity of bumping through a sea of base members—and wondering why everyone and their sister seemed to be out and about (Literally. Both Tamaki and Tara were making their way through the hallway, a grace of their highest majesties to the scum of the base, apparently)—he reached the door he had been aiming for. Turning the knob open and using that as an opportunity to catch his breath, he flung the door open—to the inhabitant’s pleasure or not.



“Yo, Shadow,” he breathed, resting his hands on his knees. “I need your help with Kitten. Think you can help a sweaty brother out? 'Cos if not, I just physically exerted myself in public for nothing."

[Monsieur Zebra]

Silence. He needed absolute silence. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he slouched over and pressed his fingers into his temples. More than anything, he wanted to be able to think; he certainly had enough to think about. His usual state of indifference had been thoroughly disrupted. For the first time in a long while, he was rather on edge. Usually, he was able to soothe an upset mind with carving or being outside. This time around, even his usual pass-times seemed to just leave his mind bogged down.

Typically speaking, Siagyo was the sort of person to let the words of others roll off his back. He truly didn't care too much what others had to say about him--especially if they didn't particularly know him. He had a strong sense of self, so he did not have to worry about using his life to please others. Besides that, no matter how strong a first impression could be, they typically weren't dead-on. When it came to Right now, he simply longed for something to ease the whirring of the thoughts running around his head.

Jin certainly wasn't helping. His pacing was making him feel absolutely neurotic. The loon had even laid down on his bed--giving Siagyo a false sense of hope that he had finally worn himself out--only to jolt back up and stomp off toward the door. He felt like he could just pick the blue-haired nuisance up and toss him out the window. He was so desperate for escape, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave his room. Despite Jin's mutual residence, the room had become a bit of a sanctuary for him. Jin and Siagyo had two very different schedules that allowed each of them plenty of alone time in the room. Or, rather, Jin tended to find places other than the room to occupy and claim space in. Actually, being in the room at the same time as Jin (and not being asleep for the majority of their time together) was a rare enough occasion.

Of course this would be the day Jin decided to stay home and make a bother out of himself: the one day that he specifically wanted to be alone.

“What am I doing with my life?”

The remark certainly wasn't directed toward him, but he couldn't help but grumble a sarcastic "Being a pain in my ass, apparently."

Apparently, Jin was too into whatever he was freaking out about to hear him. Not that Siagyo minded. It was probably for the best that he didn't hear him. With the state they were both in, an argument probably would have ended with punches being thrown. He really wasn't in the mood to have to repair any furniture. Repairing wood was usually an easy task but with his head already throbbing, he knew that any use of his power tonight would result in a week of migraines.

When Jin left, Siagyo did something he would never do on a usual basis. He opened his window, pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and began to feel into his pocket for his lighter. He hated smoking indoors, but he couldn't help himself. Plus, he hoped that the breeze from outside would be enough to prevent the smell of the smoke from staining into his and his roommate's possessions.

He needed a cigarette. He really needed a cigarette. He hated when he needed a cigarette, but he knew that nothing else would calm him down quickly enough. The fix of nicotine would chill him out just enough to get him thinking straight. It wouldn't take more than one, but it was definitely necessary. Finally figuring out which pocket his lighter was in, he set it down on the dresser in front of him. Hitting the pack of cigarettes off his hand in order to "pack" the tobacco, he popped the pack open when he felt he had done a sufficient job.

Pulling out one of the cigarettes, he put it in his mouth and reached for his lighter.

[Rina]

An odd feeling had settled in her stomach, causing her to sprawl out on her bed and refuse to move from the confines of her room until the feeling subsided. Oftentimes, Rina’s intuition would cause her to feel like something was awry and she swore that she had some type of sixth sense—based on the insufficient evidence that she was a good judge of people’s auras and of dreams where she was the only one able to sense danger. She believed that when she got one of her “feelings”, things could only go terribly wrong. Currently, she felt a knot in her stomach and she laid on her back, tilting her head back to warily stare at the same spot on the wall she had picked hours prior.

Eventually, all the blood rushed to her head and she flipped over, propping her chin up on a pillow, still fixated on the same spot. She hadn’t eaten breakfast and her stomach was yelling at her to feed it before it devoured itself. She took sips from a water bottle that she had placed in her room the night prior to quench her thirst if she woke up during the late hours of the night—considering she didn’t like walking around base around midnight—to hold her over. For awhile it did the trick, but her stomach protested and she groaned, stuffing her face into the pillow. She would have to get up.

Contrary to popular belief, Rina ate about every two hours. If she failed to do so, she’d become ill and irritable—two aliments that didn’t mix well together. She wasn’t irritable often, but when she was, she wasn’t pleasant company to have. Oftentimes she’d end up making a rude comment that she’d regret hours later and apologize profusely to the one who received the brunt of her agitation. A hungry Rina never resulted in a happy Rina.

She debated on calling Kat to see if she could run her up something from the kitchen, but she had escaped early on. It was odd for one of them to be without the other—sure they enjoyed their privacy and alone time every now and again—but for the most part they stuck together. However, when Rina woke up, Kat was missing and she refused to leave the safety of her room to go look for her. As much as Rina loved her friend, when her intuition told her to stay in, she stayed in.

She reluctantly stood up and took careful steps toward the door that was securely locked. As she turned the latch, the door simultaneously flung open, causing her to jump back in surprise. Unfortunately, her bare feet caught on the floor whilst stepping back and she stumbled, eventually toppling over onto the floor. She sat up on her knees and blew her bangs out of her eyes in defeat.

“Yo, Shadow,” a voice called. Looking up, a familiar assassin stood in the open door way, hands on his knees and breathing sporadically. “I need your help with Kitten. Think you can help a sweaty brother out? 'Cos if not, I just physically exerted myself in public for nothing."


Ah, yes. Only one person could cause such a ruckus besides her and Kat: Jin. The blue-haired, hat wearing, dog tag sporting, loon that Kat was crazy about. Rina had nothing against the guy—actually, despite his occasional bouts of insanity, she quite liked him—but after being knocked over, she wasn’t exactly thrilled about his presence in the time being.

Standing up, she dusted off her nightgown. She still had yet to change into actual clothes.  “Well, since you’re here,” she murmured more to herself, wiping her hands off on each other. She knew something was bound to go awry; she just didn’t figure it’d be boyfriend-girlfriend issues.

“Just a warning,” she piped up, furrowing her eyebrows and crossing her arms against her chest, “I don’t know a darn thing about relationships so I’m probably not the best person to ask.” After all, she had no luck with guys—except for the occasional creepy kid that was too weird for her comfort. The only thing she had going in her favor in the situation at hand was that she knew Kat like the back of her hand. “But since I kinda like you, I guess I’ll help to the best of my abilities.” Somehow she knew she was going to regret saying that.