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Zanka never really thought of himself as strong, sure he could hold his own in a fight but when it came to everyone else, he could never compare. He was mediocre at best, his family made sure he was aware of that fact growing up. "Zanka you ought' to think more like Goka." His mother would say whenever he'd make a foolish decision. "Zanka you need to fight more like Kyouka." His father would scold him with whenever he'd mess up on his sparring. Since he turned 6, he was made aware of such a fact. His family doesn't celebrate the birthdays of mediocrities and neither does Zanka.
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The day started out like any other, people waking and roaming to the dining hall of Cleaner HQ. Zanka hadn't been particularly hungry that morning so he ate lightly, just a small yogurt bowl with granola and fruit and his coffee. It should have been a normal day, with Rudo running around HQ with Enjin and Riyo or Dear and Guita. It should've just been one of those days where you almost forget that being a Cleaner is a hard job in the first place and you being to feel a sense of normalcy from it all. It wasn't however, honestly, it was probably one of the worst days Zanka's had in awhile.
The cleaners got a mission in a small town over, nothing serious just a couple small trash beats causing a ruckus to the towns barriers. It should've been an easy job, they'd dealt with worse on a day to day basis so what's a few small trash beasts, right? Well, not quite. When they'd first arrived, nothing seemed out of order, no people acting funny, no random sinkholes in the ground. They'd just talked to the mayor, been alerted to where the trash beasts were, and went about to go get rid of them. Seems simple enough right? It was as first, they'd easily torn through the couple trash beasts that had been lingering, making easy work of them. Afterwards, they took a moment to talk and relax before they had to head back.
That's when everything went downhill. You see, there was one variable that the Cleaners hadn't planned on worrying about and that was the likelihood that the Raiders would show up. They had no reason to, really. It was a simple job with a simple town and simple trash beasts, nothing interesting about it; and yet, the Raiders still decided to make an appearance. It annoyed the hell out of Zanka, out of all days, why today? It was supposed to be a good day, it was supposed to be a simple job but I guess they could never have anything nice.
Stupid Zodyl had to make his stupid speech and had to show up with his stupid group, well not all of them were stupid but still! It irritated Zanka, could they ever catch a freaking break!? He huffed, he didn't have time to deal with Zodyl's bullshit today. He was always spouting some nonsense about destroying the sphere and always trying to get Rudo to join him! If you asked Zanka about it, he'd tell you it was plain stupid. However, he hated that Jabber was there the most, at least he's pretty sure that's what he was feeling. He'd felt hatred for people before, don't get him wrong, it's just, it felt different this time. Maybe it wasn't hatred? He erased the thought from his mind, he needed to focus right now.
He zoned back into Zodyl's boring ass spiel as everyone looked like they were getting ready to start fighting. By now, everyone had their own Raider they fought time after time and so it wasn't a random thing for them. He'd fight Jabber, Enjin would fight... actually Zanka doesn't really know who Enjin usually fights. Come to think about it, he's never really paid too much mind to who the other Cleaners fought, just as long as they all got out alive. It was a bit weird to think about but right now he needed to focus. He needed to fix his mind onto the fight at hand, otherwise, he stood no chance and that's exactly what he did.
He wasn't really sure how the fight actually got initiated but nonetheless, a fight was a fight. Block after block, hit after hit, dodge after dodge, fighting with Jabber was almost like a dance for Zanka. He assumed it was the same for Jabber too, because even as intense and destructive as their fights together could be, they could almost predict each other's next move. It was like that for awhile, the constant rhythm of their fight but somewhere along the way, it got out of hand. It wasn't necessarily anything him or Jabber had done, but somewhere, someone in the two groups had messed up the rhythm. And without rhythm, there was no dance, just a pure unadulterated need to win and be the best.
He couldn't help it, Jabber had felt the disruption too, he was sure because now, neither one of them was backing down. It wasn't just Jabber he was defending himself from anymore, he didn't care enough about the raider to know their name but he was aware they'd become a sore in his side quickly. Though, he wondered, who lost? Someone had have to if he's fighting multiple opponents so who? He really could've cared less, he had no time to because if he hesitated now, he'd be a goner. He could hear his team yelling at him from off in the distance, telling him to stop, to retreat, that it was too dangerous to keep fighting the way he was. He didn't care though, he couldn't stand the thought of loosing to Jabber again, he had to do this, he had to prove himself.
He kept fighting, continued to swing and attack and block and dodge and do everything to keep moving, to keep surviving. It was stupid and he could die, he knew this but for some reason, some strange unforgiveable reason, he liked the fight and adrenaline too much now to back down. He couldn't help but want to fight more each time he saw his opponent hurt, he wasn't really sure why but it just felt right. Eventually, he'd managed to break down the stupid fucking thorn in his side. It'd been harder to do because his main focus was on Jabber but eventually, he'd managed to render the other Raider useless, unable to fight anymore and though he didn't quite understand why, it made him feel powerful. All he needed to do was beat Jabber and that in itself was easier said than done. If he had to be honest, this wasn't just a random thing for him because even though he'd never tell the other Cleaners, he sparred with Jabber in secret. And sometimes maybe it wasn't sparring maybe sometimes they just talked or hung out but in moments like these, they never brought it up; he honestly preferred it better that way.
And if Zanka had to be completely honest, Jabber wasn't wrong that one time when he told him that he'd been holding back. He hadn't realized it yet but he really had and now, it was finally the chance to prove what he could really do. It was beautiful honestly, seeing the way Lovely Assisstaff changed and glowed, she'd never looked better, more powerful. Jabber didn't give up either, both of them fighting without any bit of restraint. This came to an end after a while though however because he ended up distracted by Rudo shouting his name just as he was about to drive Lovely Assisstaff in to Jabber's ribs and-
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He wasn't sure what happened after he lost consciousness but when he woke up, he was in the medical bay of HQ. His head hurt and he was covered in bandages, what he was sure of though was that he lost the fight, again and it's all because he lost his focus. He was supposed to be better than that. He couldn't believe it, no matter how hard he tried to get better, to get stronger, he still failed.
He lay in his bed thinking for awhile before the others come in, Riyo, Rudo, and Eishia. He turned his head towards them a bit before turning it back, they looked pissed. Riyo and Rudo were bandaged up too, it made sense, they fought the Raiders too; however, he'd gone overboard with it. He was sure that Riyo wouldn't let him forget it either. He stared up at the ceiling, his ears ringing as she rested her arm on his bed, Rudo standing behind her. Her face was one of anger, "I don't get it, Zanka. Do you just not care?" He did his best to listen to her but the ringing only really got worse. "What were you trying to do? What were you trying to prove?" He blinked, looking over at her and Rudo before looking at Eishia who sat next to his heart monitor, her face sad and pitying. "We're supposed to be a team! Did you even think about that?" Her voice sounded so angry but the ringing didn't subside and his eyes felt heavy. He blinked a few times, still trying to listen to her but ultimately fell back asleep.
It was nice being asleep, he didn't dream about anything while he was. It was just him alone, the ringing in his ears gone and Riyo's angry voice blocked out. He felt at peace for the first time that day and it was a relief. While he slept, the others left his room and Eishia put a "Do Not Enter, Patient: Zanka Nijiku" on the door to keep others from entering. Eishia was the last one to leave however, she was there when he woke up but left shortly after per his request.
After Eishia left though, he received an unexpected visitor via his window, which was open. It was none other than... Jabber? He was a bit shocked but not too much since they'd hung out in secret plenty times before then. If anything, he'd kinda hoped Jabber would show up. He put on his best annoyed face as Jabber climbed through the window and to the side of his bed but he didn't truly mind him being there, it was nice. Jabber had this stupidly large grin on his face as he climbed onto Zanka's bed and Zanka made room for him to sit, propping himself up into a sitting position in the process. Jabber still had that stupid grin on his face, when he got settled and he looked at Zanka a moment before lifting his shirt & hoodie up to which Zanka protested a bit.
"Calm down, Zan-zan, it's nothing but bandages." Jabber said with a stupid laugh, which made Zanka roll his eyes, "Unless you were hoping it wasn't?" Jabber said, the stupid grin on his face getting wider. "What I no!" Zanka said, looking away with his hands over his face to hide to stupid redness on his cheeks. After about a minute, Zanka finally looked back at Jabber, kicking him with one of his legs. Jabber laughed before showing Zanka the bandages, "Look!" Jabber said with a smile as Zanka looked down at the bandages covering his torso curiously. Jabber told him all about how Zanka had managed to break his ribs yet again but this time on the opposite side. Zanka happily listened to Jabber rant, it was fun to hear him talk like this, about all he was joyful about even if it was kinda odd to others. Not to Zanka, not ever to him. If there was one person in the world who could ever understand Jabber, it was him.
After Jabber finished ranting, he adjusted himself on Zanka's bed to where he was laying down. "So how's everything hanging with you, Zan-zan?" Jabber asked propping his head up with his arm. Zanka sighed, remembering the talk with Riyo and how mad they'd all seemed. "I think you already know the answer, Jabs." He said looking a bit deadpanned at Jabber which only made him grin. "Do I?" Jabber questioned playfully. Zanka sighed and pushed his head over off his hand, to which Jabber rolled over playfully, feigning hurt. Zanka began to tell Jabber what happened as Jabber readjusted himself to be resting on his hand again. Zanka used his hand almost like a puppet, mocking Riyo and the others to which Jabber followed suit in. That got Zanka laughing and quickly, enough Jabber started laughing too; both of them were laughing hard, faces a bit red.
Eishia thought she'd heard something from inside the room from where she'd been outside the room. She got up from where she was at her desk and walked into Zanka's room. When she entered, it was just Zanka who was up and reading a book, his room window still open. "Is there something you need, Eishia?" Zanka asked, formally and kindly to the healer. "No, I just... Never mind, I thought I heard something..." She explained before looking around the room one more time before leaving. Zanka sighed in relief, that was close. Jabber grabbed onto the windowsill and peered his head over, making sure the coast was clear before looking back over at Zanka and smiling, mischievously. This made Zanka's heart flutter a bit, maybe Jabber wasn't as bad as everyone else though him out to be. "Please stay a bit longer, okay?" Zanka asked and Jabber agreed. Maybe the feeling between them wasn't hate, maybe Jabber had realized that too. Either way, Zanka had a feeling that it was better that way.