Albino Squad

Shu woke up in his bed, and the blankets were all incinerated.

Lovely. This was the third time he'd accidentally set everything on fire. Probably a part of Requiem messing with him still. He thought he'd carved all of that spirit out of himself already.

He sighed, brushing the ashes off him and standing up, only to step on something squishy.

"HELLO WORLD!!"

"Hartes?"

The albino blinked and squinted up. Shu immediately jumped back onto the bed and covered his bare chest with a pillow, face flushing. He did have muscles and was much stronger than the others, but it was still embarrassing. You try having someone stare up at you from under your foot?"G-GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"Oh, good morning!" He stood up, battle armor on. "Why am I in here?"

"I'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT TOO!"

He shrugged. "Guess it's probably Phi. He wanted my Oreos, and after he woke up, he dragged me out of my house. Probably why. Wanna battle?"

Scatterbrained Hartes.

"No."

He threw on a sweatshirt and a random pair of shorts, then marched out the door while dragging Hartes by the hair. "I'm going to do the exact same thi-"

"Oh, good morning, Shu~"

Nooooooo.

He was not starting every single morning like this.

"Have fun fighting zombies? Next time, I suppose I should buy you something flame-resistant, especially after Lui shot you in the head with a firebal-"

"One more word and I will gut you."

Phi sighed dramatically, pushing himself off the wall. He took out his earbuds. "Well, I guess I'll just take your Oreos and go, the-"

Shu's eyes flashed. "Stay away from my Oreos."

He lazily tipped his head at Shu, coat flaring. Anger boiled in the pit of his stomach, and his hands burned. Fire flashed up his wrists into his bones and shit that hurt. "Make me~"

With a roar, he lashed out, nearly clipping the bastard's jaw with a punch. Phi watched him as he struck again and again. Any one hit would be enough to put him on his knees, or more accurately, knock him out. He wasn't as fast as other people up close, but pretty damn accurate still.

But Phi kept dodging, weaving between the blows and barely moving from that spot. Realizing how ineffective that was, Shu tried to hit from the side, then ducked the other way and kneed him in the balls.

He hissed and threw himself into a roll, black armor doing a fairly good job of keeping him alive. Otherwise Shu would have stabbed him.

"See?" Phi panted. "You're fast and strong, but not as fast as me. I'm faster." He settled into a defensive stance. "You don't play stat-based games, do you?"

Shu growled. The sudden pain in his arms flashed on and off. Calm down. Calm down.

Calm down!

"Assassin-types are fast," Phi recited. "They do lots of damage, but only if you don't see it coming. You-" he panted. "Kill with the first hit. But if you can't land any attacks, you can't win."

Shu glared. "But I did hit you!"

"Barely. And if you don't hit me again by the time I get to that cabinet, those Oreos are mine~"