Two months after the umbrella gate incident.
Aubrey had made up a big decision in her life: a dramatic hair transformation. She was hesitant about dyeing her hair red at first because her stupid reason for going through this was due to the bodyguard who only saw her as a source of income. After weeks of reflection though, she finally decided to dye her hair as the last words she left Hayden sank deep within her core.
~"You're the biggest jerk, Hayden! I don't wanna see your stupid face ever again. I hope you die there!!" It went exactly like that. Although she had spoken out of anger, wishing someone's death sparks conscience in her harsh nature. And so, she's taking this action for the clout—red hair was the trend that time.
She's certainly not doing it for Hayden—or at least, that's what she told her sister about.
"If you're going through depression, you can vent out on me," Grace said, worried about Aubrey suddenly wanting a hair transformation.
It was only a day ago when Aubrey asked for her twin's assistance to dye her hair. Grace agreed to help her out, and now they're both in the spacious bathroom, prepared with the marble vanity top cluttered with cosmetics and equipment such as gloves, a shower cap, a hair dryer, and a timer.
"I've told you, it's not like that," Aubrey reassured, quite annoyed as it's literally the fifth time Grace said that. "If you open your Insta like right now, you'd find a girl with red hair in a few scrolls."
"Just a warning, red is hard to maintain," Grace cautioned.
"It's just hair. If I don't like it, it will grow back," Aubrey said. A sudden wariness rippled across her face. "Are you sure you know how to dye?" she asked.
When Aubrey asked for Grace's assistance the day before, Grace assured her that she knew how to dye hair and that she was actually quite skilled at it.
"I've actually dyed my hair blonde once before—so trust me, I can already picture your new look and it's making me blush," Grace said excitedly.
Aubrey raised an eyebrow. "You dyed your hair blonde?" she repeated. "But blonde is your natural hair color."
Grace grinned mischievously, "Yep," she said.
Aubrey became even more doubtful, thinking that Grace might mess up her hair in the process. But since the equipment was all prepared, she can't chicken out now. Aubrey knew a little about the steps on dyeing a hair, so if at any point Grace sucks at her job, she could instruct her on how to properly do it.
"Shall we begin?" Grace asked with a smile, confident that she can make her twin satisfied by her work.
They then began and surprisingly, Grace was doing well. She's gentle and meticulous from washing the hair to applying the dye. Aubrey was speechless on her seat as Grace babble about cute nonsense just like a real hair stylist.
Once the dye was applied, Grace gathered Aubrey's hair in a neat bundle and covered it with a shower cap. "Now we let it process," Grace said, setting a timer.
It was then that a voice called out to them from just outside the bathroom door. "Lady Aubrey and Grace, your father has returned." It was Jace. He was standing there since the ladies began. It was necessary for him to guard them even indoors as you can never trust Aubrey with whatever she was doing. She must be monitored 24/7 as Froilan instructed.
Since the girls have to wait before rinsing out the dye, they went out to have a chat with their busy father. With Aubrey's hair still wrapped in a shower cap and their bathrobes inked with red dye, they walked out the bathroom and found Jace looking at them in perplexity.
"Is that blood?" Jace asked, looking at the red stains on the bathroom floor.
"No," Aubrey replied. "Where's dad?" she asked.
'Then that must be menstruation,' Jace thought to himself before answering, "He's looking for a certain document in his room. It seems that his stay would be brief"
Aubrey has something to discuss with her father, so the girls hurried upstairs and into their dad's room. Froilan hadn't been home for a couple of weeks as his plate was full with a plethora of responsibilities.
What Aubrey wanted to discuss isn't about the permission to color her hair. Quite frankly, Froilan wouldn't care even if she gets a tattoo. Her true agenda is about the drive that causes her to dye her hair—that 'bodyguard'.
The twins made it upstairs and Aubrey banged the door open. There they found Froilan sitting at the edge of the bed as mountains of miscellaneous papers were scattered across the bed sheet. Froilan was holding a document in each hand and he's shaking his head upon scrutinizing the papers. He looks stressed out as if something terrible has happened.
"Dad! I have a request to ask," Aubrey said, neglecting his father's current state.
Grace on the other hand was concerned. "You look miserable, Dad. Is everything okay?"
Froilan didn't bother looking at them and kept his eyes on the papers as he replied, "Not today, bitches. Can't you see I'm busy?"
Aubrey took no notice of what Froilan just said. She thumped towards him and arrogantly snatched the paper away. "I said I have a request to make!" she raised her voice.
"Huh?!" Triggered by that overbearing demeanor, Froilan glared his eyes and looked up at her daughter. But when he saw Aubrey's red hair bundled in a shower cap, Froilan paused in shock for a second.
Realizing that arguing with the arrogant woman before him would only waste his time, Froilan sighed, turned away, and searched for a different paper on the bed. "Get yourself bald, I don't care. Will you stop bothering me now?"
"I want a bodyguard," she said.
Froilan glanced back at Aubrey, surprised.
A smile spread across his lips. "Did you hit your head or something?"
Even Grace was taken aback. Aubrey had never mentioned wanting a bodyguard to Grace before, so when Grace heard Aubrey utter those words, she was surprised too.
Aubrey is the one who always refuses to have a bodyguard, hence the sudden change of mind came like a curveball. However, Aubrey's follow up request sweeps the smile on Froilan's face, making him disappointed instead.
"To be specific, I want it to be Hayden," she clarified.
"So you did hit your head," Froilan moaned. "Anyone but that guy! Do you know how much that muffinhead took from me after being your bodyguard?!" Froilan's frustration built up even higher. "He ambushed me after the conference and demanded everything I had at that time! He basically robbed me!" Froilan kept on ranting. "He took my wallet, my phone, and literally everything! I had to beg him to leave the car key so I could drive home! That's the only point in my life where I felt like a beggar."
The twins just looked at Froilan like, 'What the heck?'
"Forget about that," Froilan added. "Starting next month, you bitches will go to a demon hunting school. Whether you're 'awakened' or not, you'll study there, as per my command."
[Note: Awakened means Awaken their Blessings (Powers)]
~~~~~~~~~~
Five months after the umbrella gate incident.
"Wolf and Kangaroo were in a dilapidated underground facility where illegal experiments took place. Dressed in doctor getups, their lab gowns were stained with fresh blood.
"AAAGGHHH!!!" a scientist groaned in pain, his scream echoing in the dead silent facility.
The scientist lay on a hospital bed, his left hand and both ankles knotted by stethoscope tubing to the bed railing.
Where was his right hand? Wolf had amputated it.
Meanwhile, Kangaroo sat on the head of another dead scientist, occupied with his phone, scrolling through Instagram using the amputated arm of the scientist on the bed. He held the arm by the wrist, pressing the nailless fingers on the screen for his self-entertainment.
"Yo, Wolf, seems like your former VIPs no longer need protection," Kangaroo chatted upon seeing a post.
Wolf paused on wrenching the scientist's nails on the left hand and replied, "VIP who?"
"GRHHHHH!!!" the scientist kept screaming through the excruciating pain.
"The Esperanza twins. Check out this post—they just awakened," Kangaroo said as he held his phone facing Wolf. "It's posted an hour ago and it's already at 10 million likes. I wonder if I'll be that famous if I upload the shit out of these dead scientists on the internet—just like what Cat does."
Wolf easily forgets things as he's getting new missions weekly, but give him one little detail and he will freshly remember.
Wolf glanced on the phone and nodded, "Ah, them."
Kangaroo was actually sitting a couple meters away from him so Wolf couldn't clearly see the image on the screen.
"You think they'll turn out to be SSS-rankers just like their shit-ass father?" Kangaroo asked.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
Wolf was interrupted by the sound behind him. The scientist was relentlessly banging his head on the bed headboard out of desperation.
Wolf then went closer to him and laid his gentle hand under the scientist's bleeding head.
"JUST END ME ALREADY!!!" he pleaded as teardrops rolled down his cheeks.
Wolf clicked his tongue. "You can't die," he said in a soft, psychopathic tone. "You haven't answered my questions yet."
"I'VE ALREADY SAID," raspiness resounded in his cracking voice. "THERE WAS A MIDDLEMAN DURING THE TRANSACTION, I DON'T KNOW WHO ON THE 'WHITE HAWKS' GUILD IS THE CULPRIT."
"I believed you the first time you said that," Wolf said. "What you haven't answered yet is the other question."
"SECOND FLOOR, ROOM 207. THAT'S WHERE WE KEEP OUR FUNDS."
Wolf smiled behind his wolf mask, "Good."
"I just received a message from Boss," Kangaroo chimed.
"What he said," Wolf asked.
"A new mission. Let's tidy up the shits we left here and head back to HQ."
Wolf then grabbed the scientist by the neck, catching a grip on the Adam's apple and gushing it out, leaving the scientist dead with a fountain leaking from his neck.
"Wait for me a moment," Hayden said.
"Headed to the second floor?" Kangaroo chuckled. "Y'know, robbing these shits isn't part of the mission."
"It 'is' a part of my personal mission. And in case you forgot, playing with your phone the entire time is also not a part of the mission."
The two chatted as they both took the elevator on their way to the second floor.
"Those shits don't have blessings, you can handle them even if this was a solo mission."
"Speaking of missions, what's the new mission Franky has for us?" Hayden asked.
Kangaroo ripped off his lab gown, revealing his buff physique, and proceeded to take off his kangaroo mask. "Listen carefully, my shit, this joke is phenomenal."
"That better be funny."
"Let's resign being doctors and become teachers instead!" Kangaroo's energy was overflowing.
"Ah, I get it," Hayden deadpanned. "So we'll be disguising as teachers on our next mission?"
"No, we'll be real teachers," Kangaroo laughed.
"You've got to be joking. I'm not fucking doing that!"