The sound of shattered glass echoed in the air as the bottle in Illya's hands fell to the ground, his eyes widening as they captured the forms of the stunned Cunning Hares.
"I-I thought I locked the door-"
Illya scrambled to his feet, knocking over a pile of cans as he tore the headphones covering his ears off his head.
A visible flush had bled into Illya's features, though it was unknown if it was from the heat of alcohol or the burning embarrassment of getting caught in a vulnerable position.
Nicole suddenly felt incredibly guilty.
Shuffling in place uncomfortably, she sent Illya an apologetic look.
"I... Broke down the door."
Illya blinked.
Waving her hands in a fluster, Nicole quickly followed up:
"But I'll pay for it! I swear!"
Hearing the earnestness in her voice, Illya found it hard to muster up any anger.
Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Illya let out a small breath.
"It's fine. It'll probably get covered by my Hollow insurance, anyway..."
Forcing out a chuckle, Illya blinked rapidly, shifting gears from his previous state to something more sociable.
"Sorry about this... Mess. I wasn't exactly expecting any guests given the situation."
He gestured offhandedly at the black curtain blanketing the sky and flashed them a humorous smile.
Nicole snuck another look at the metal door she had kicked down, a second wave of guilt washing over her.
Seeing the effect his words unintentionally had, Illya coughed into his fist and quickly changed the topic.
"Ahem~ So, what can I do for you guys? I'm sure you didn't bust down my door for a drink... Though I wouldn't necessarily be opposed if you did."
Nicole sent a passing glance at the numerous cans of alcohol and quietly shivered.
"We'll uh, pass on the drinks. Thanks for the offer, though."
Gesturing towards her companions offhandedly, Nicole introduced herself using the same story she had told the woman.
"I'm Nicole, the other girl is Anby, and the robot is Billy. We're all a part of the H-"
Well, she tried to at least.
Before she could finish her bogus introduction, Belle, in Eous's body, began to frantically nudge Nicole, trying to catch her attention.
Nicole looked down at the bangboo, who was vigorously shaking its head, and immediately realized something was off.
"Huh? Eous??? What are you doing here????"
Illya's eyes widened as he noticed the familiar little bangboo.
Belle, who had shot out of her hiding spot behind Anby, could only stiffen as she realized that her hasty intervention had revealed her position.
Before the Cunning Hares could even react, Illya's form blurred, reappearing in a flash beside the bandana-wearing bangboo.
Worry clouded his features as he picked Eous up, checking the bangboo for any damages.
"What the hell are you doing in the Hollow?? Do Belle and Wise know you're here?"
Nicole stiffened at the name drop, her brain whirring to life as her eyes scanned the young alcoholic in front of her.
'Brown hair, brown eyes, looks like he's in his early 20s- Oh.'
Anby and Billy seemed to have reached a similar conclusion, their expressions freezing in the light of this realization.
Belle, still in Eous's body, flashed the Cunning Hares the most threatening look she could muster in a Bangboo's body as Illya tossed her around.
Finding nothing wrong with Eous, Illya let out a relieved sigh as he put the poor thing down, his eyes scanning the Cunning Hares with a complicated expression.
"... Where did you find this bangboo? He's the property of my friends, and they'd be pretty worried if he went missing."
Nicole recovered her composure quickly and flashed Illya a reassuring smile.
Belle and Wise had made it very clear that their identity as Proxies MUST be kept hidden from Illya, so Nicole adapted the narrative to fit the new situation.
"You must be Illya, right? Belle and Wise sent us."
Illya gave her a confused look.
"Why?"
"Well, they were worried for your safety when they heard that a Hollow had appeared on 16th street, and they sent us here to make sure you were safe."
Illya gave her a weird look and unconsciously repeated Nicole's words.
"They asked you to make sure I was... Safe?"
Nicole, noticing the expression on his face, continued:
"Yeah! We owe Belle and Wise quite a bit, so when they called in asking us to jump into the hollow to look for one of their friends, it's not like we could say no~"
Illya blinked, his expression torn with disbelief.
"Seriously?"
He pointed a finger at himself.
"They asked you to make sure that I was safe???"
Nicole frowned at his tone, interpreting his confusion as doubt in their capabilities.
"Hey! I'll have you know, we're VERY capable, so-"
Illya's eyes widened as he waved his arms frantically.
"Wait, wait, wait, you have the wrong idea! I'm not doubting your credibility or capability- I'm just surprised, that's all."
The young void hunter chuckled softly, a small smile on his face.
"You see, I'm not exactly used to having people be worried on my behalf, so this is a bit of a new experience for me."
Nicole gave him a weird look.
"You've never had someone worry about you? Seriously? What about your family?"
A hesitant look appeared on Illya's face, but it disappeared a beat later as he let out a good-natured chuckle.
"Huhu ~ Fair enough."
There was an odd quality in his tone that Nicole couldn't quite describe.
Illya let out a sigh as his eyes turned away from Nicole, his attention grabbed by something in the distance.
"Well, regardless, I'll have to apologize. I can't leave the Hollow just yet."
Nicole frowned.
"Huh? Why?"
"If you can, try and keep this a secret from Belle and Wise."
Illya pointed in the direction of some ruins, his palms glowing as a flash of light lit up the rooftop.
A fiery orb streaked across the sky before splitting off into smaller fragments of similarly colored beams.
The Hollow's sky was once again painted in hues of orange as the beams touched down with the ground somewhere in the distance, the roaring sound of an explosion accompanied by the dying shrieks of some rogue Ethereal ringing clearly in the ears of the gathered Hares.
A helpless smile tugged at Illya's lips.
"Right now, there are a lot of survivors within this building, many of whom have Ether Aptitudes too low to be able to leave without risking corruption. If I were to leave, the ambient Ether would probably kill off most of the survivors before the HIA could finish organizing a rescue team to enter the Hollow, and even if they were to survive in this Ether-dense area, the survivors would probably get picked off by the swarms of Ethereals wandering the Hollow."
He sighed.
"So, until the HIA's rescue team or Pubsec gets here, I'm gonna have to stay here."
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(A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter~
Comment and add this fic to your collection gng.