Strike of Dislike, Closed

[Joshima Ken]

It wasn't so much he hated her as he really, really disliked her. It wasn't so much she was practically useless (as he often said) as he was maybe, just a bit, jealous. Just a bit.

"Stupid girl."

Ken would never really admit it to himself that maybe the reason he was such a bully to Chrome was because he was a bit on the jealous side. He had known Mukuro longer, much longer, and yet he acknowledged on the inside Chrome was more important. She was the only reason he could exist outside of that prison.

It was maddening, too, to know he and Chikusa hadn't been able to do anything to help Mukuro escape. He'd said to them they'd be burdens and told them to go on ahead and they had. He clenched his teeth at the memory. Chikusa and him should have stayed. Maybe if they had they would have all been able to escape together.

Narrowing his eyes, Ken looked to the bowling ball in his hands. He wanted to throw it, but not at the pins, just at the ground to let out some frustration. "Stupid ugly girl," he growled, getting into a position to throw it. He let his arm go back and then flung it forward, releasing the ball. It rolled down the lane crashing into the wall.

Why didn't he stay? Because he had figured "It's Mukuro-san, he'll get out." Ken didn't like doubting Mukuro in anyway, but maybe he did have too much trust. Or maybe not enough.

He stomped over to the ball and picked it up. What a horrible thought. "Stupid girl! Where are you?" he shouted, looking around the room. Mukuro had, he recalled quite clearly, sat on that couch. He looked at it for a few seconds before going feet away from the wall, readying himself to throw the ball again.

[Chrome Dokuro]

Chrome kept her eyes closed when she heard Ken-san storming about in the room. She hid herself well in the corner, and prayed that he wouldn't find her. At times, she was truly afraid of Ken-san's angry outbursts, especially when Chikusa-san wasn't there. She could never tell when he would escalate beyond only calling her names to actually hurting her. They both resented her, but tolerated her for Mukuro-sama's sake. Or maybe that just made them resent her even more.

Still, she stayed with them. After all, Mukuro-sama had wanted her to, and she was grateful to them for giving her food and shelter. They were all indebted to Mukuro-sama in one way or another. It was the kind of debt that even they could not hope to repay in a lifetime. So they did what they were told.

A particularly loud crash near her made her wince and startle to her feet. She looked at the wall and noticed Ken had thrown the ball with enough force to leave a hole. She heard Ken calling her "stupid girl" for the third time now, and ventured a timid, "Um...Ken-san...?"

[Joshima Ken]

Chikusa was much more tolerant of Chrome than Ken was, or at least he acted that way. While Ken would be berating her, he'd be the much more civil one, not the childish one. Sometimes Ken really was like a six year old, always acting like the bully to those he didn't like. He would have probably been that little kid in kindergarten pulling little girl's hair and running after them screaming "I have cooties!"
Of course, as a child, such things usually meant you liked that little girl you were being mean to. Such was not the case with Chrome and if Ken bothered to think about it, he'd more than likely be disturbed at the thought of himself liking her.

Readying to throw the ball, he was caught off guard by the maybe frightened voice of Chrome. The ball slipped from his fingers just as he prepared to release it and went crashing into the wall. He looked at it for a few seconds, noticing the bowling ball was lodged in place, and then twitched, clutching his fists. It didn't really bug him, but it was another reason to insult the poor girl.

Turning around sharply, Ken glared at Chrome. "Look what you made me did! You're so useless!" he shouted, tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog. "Stupid girl!"
It wasn't really her fault, it was more of an accident than anything. Ken knew she had been in the room, hiding like a mouse, so he shouldn't have been caught off guard. It didn't occur to him such logic both just because he wasn't all that bright and because he really did like to blame things on Chrome.

Ken imagined briefly if Chrome had been in the way of the bowling ball and twitched a bit at the thought. Sure he was a complete jerk to her, but he knew his limits of just how mean he could be. Very rarely did he lay a hand on Chrome except to slap her over the head or drag her somewhere. She was still Mukuro in a sense (without her, he couldn't exist) and to hurt her would be like hurting him. Such things were practically taboo in his mind. It did not however keep him from just intimidating her to make her think he wouldn't have too much of an issue to slam her into a wall if she got too close.

"Don't do that again, ugly girl!" he shouted, closing his mouth just enough so his tongue still hung out. Ken glared, sort of willing some mark that read 'Useless' to appear on her forehead. Maybe he'd write that on her when she was sleeping. "Get me the gum over there!" he barked, pointing to a small and beaten table. The only person who ever chided him on eating gum was Kakipi who wasn't there, unfortunately.