Ch. 5 Touring Vale

"Why is that spinning?" Lavi asks as she watches the barber pole rotate. Her eyes are big and her tail swishes side to side with enthusiasm.

Junior scratches his temple. "That's a barber pole. The pole it self and the red, white, and blue have different meanings. Mainly in the past. The pole represents the stick patients would hold and squeeze to make their veins stand out more. The red represents that the barber as ready to bleed their patients. The white is for pulling teeth or setting broken bones that aren't aligned properly. And the blue, well. The blue is to give a shave. Back in the day barbers used to be pseudo doctors you can say. But as time passed things changed. And now it just is there for looks" Junior had to reach far back in the library in his head for this info.

Lavi looks at Junior with a horrified expression and holds her tail to her chest as she hugs herself.

"What?" Junior looks down at the clearly disturbed and scared girl.

Lavi quickly glances between Junior and the evil barbers poke many times before staring at Junior. "Y-You can go in by yourself! I'll stay out here! Away from this evil torture building!"

Junior watches as Lavi slowly backs away and nearly falls into the street. "Lavi"

The red head stops moving and looks at Junior with no small amount of fear in her expression.

"That was all in the past. Barbers don't do anything but cut hair nowadays. This place is safe, I even know the barber. He is a kind guy. He can even cut your hair and tail. Not off, but just a trim. He's very good at his job" Junior watches as Lavi calms down considerably, but she still looks afraid of the torture dungeon. "You will be alone out here if you don't come in with me"

Lavi is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But she decides that if she is with Junior he will protect her if the Barber tries to take her blood or teeth. "I… will go with you"

"Good" Junior walks to the door and opens it.

*Chime~*

The bell rings when he opens the door.

Lavi walks in very close behind Junior. She looks around the place and sees many chairs that have a place to set your feet. And there are various torture tools like scissors and blades of various lengths and sharpness. And there are even mirrors so the one being tortured can watch themselves be tortured.

Junior is a bit surprised when Lavi grabs onto his back. He can even feels her hands tremble slightly.

From the back comes a man in his late 20s. He has light brown hair and a burly beard. His beard and hair are neatly trimmed. It's just a shame he has a ln intense widows peak for his hairline. He's wearing gray jeans and a dress shirt.

"Samone-" (pronounced Suh-moan) "- I'm here for a cut" Junior informs the man.

"Junior! Finally stopped by for more than-" he spits Lavi. "More than a friendly chat. I'd be honored to cut your hair. And who is this?"

"This is Lavi. I'm showing her around Vale. I scared her a bit when I told her the past about barbers and the barber pole. After you cut my hair you'll give her a trim if she calms down enough" Junior points towards some chairs off to the side for Lavi to go to.

But in response Lavi just holds his vest tighter.

"Okay, enough. You can sit next to me in one of the chairs and watch. Just let go of me before you wrinkle my suit to hell and back" Junior says with mild annoyance.

Lavi let's go and goes back to holding her tail and hides the lower portion of her tail in the fur.

"Awe~. Isn't she just precious" Samone comments. "Come, come. You came at the perfect time, I've got no other customers scheduled for about an hour or so"

Junior walks in and sits at a chair where Samone is standing. He then points at the seat next to him. "You sit there. You can talk, just don't shout or surprise Samone" Junior really didn't want to get his throat slit. Even with aura it would hurt. The cut might not be deep but the experience won't be good for himself or Lavi.

The small girl jumps into the chair while she keeps her eyes on Samone like he's gonna actually hurt her.

"You really scared her good boss" Samone whispers while he gets his tools ready.

"It wasn't my intention" Junior shakes his head. "Anyway. I want a few inches off the top and the sides tapered. I trust you know what I'm going for"

"Of course sir, leave it to me" Samone puts the barber cape around Junior's neck after putting the neck strip on him.

Junior looks forward at the mirror and admires his looks a bit before he gets his haircut. "Lavi, Samone here is the best barber in Vale. So stop being scared"

Lavi pouts. "Easy for you to say…"

Samone takes his scissors and comb out and gets to work.

About 15 minutes later he's finished.

"Vwala!" Samone shakes his hands around Juniors hair before holding up a mirror so Junior can check the back of his head. "Now what did you want done with your beard?"

"Just clean it up a bit. It's a pain in the ass to do it myself" Junior hates shaving, it's a complete waste of his time.

"I'll get to it then" Samone puts the mirror down.

Around 7 minutes later he wipes the leftover shaving cream off of Junior's face.

"Like a new man sir!" Samone admires his own work.

Junior looks at the mirror and runs his right hand through his hair from front to back. His hair flows in that direction and it feels really nice as well. His sideburns also transition from his hair to his beard that is still growing out nicely.

After making sure he's all set Junior looks at Lavi who looks like her soul left her body.

Samone winces. "Oh dear"

Junior reaches over and taps her cheek a few times. "Lavi! Oy! Wake up! He didn't actually slit my throat"

She slowly stirs awake and sees Junior still alive. "I-I thought after he put the whip cream on your face…."

"No. He just… fuck it" Junior gives up explaining. "He didn't hurt me and just cut my hair. Do you want him to do the same to you?"

Lavi looks at Samone who smiles and waves at her. "I d-don't thi-"

Samone points towards a jar on the counter towards the front of the barber shop. "If you're good I'll give you a sucker or 3"

"5" Lavi negotiates.

Samone shrugs. "If that's the price, I'll make you look nice and pretty"

Lavi frowns. "Do I not look nice and pretty now?"

Junior internally smirks. Samone stepped right into that one.

"Even more so than now is what I meant" Samone preps to cut her hair first. "Now do your best to sit still alright. I'll be very careful"

Lavi sits as stiff as a board as she holds the armrests as tightly as she possibly can.

Junior takes his scroll out and goes through the lists of things he has to do. He also double checks his message that was sent out in mass. It basically tells his people to spread the word that his club is open tonight and it's called Junior's Club.

——————

25 minutes later and Samone is done cutting Lavi's hair and tail.

"Tada!" Samone takes off the barber cape. "You're all done miss Lavi"

Lavi holds her tail and runs her fingers through it. "It's never been so soft before" She admires.

Junior puts his scroll away and stands up. "Told you he's the best in Vale"

"Thank you both for letting me cut your hair" Samone walks to the counter and opens the jar before taking out 6 suckers.

Junior walks to the front of the counter and waits for Lavi.

The girl is admiring how her hair and tail feels. She looks at Junior. "Does your hair feel the same?"

"Probably not. A woman's hair is different from a guy's hair" Junior shrugs and turns towards Samone. "I trust that your soreading word and that the cleanup from the last mishap is taken care of?"

Samone hands the 6 suckers to Lavi. "An extra since you were extra good"

"Thank you" Lavi takes the suckers and stuffs them into her hoodie's pouch.

Samone nods to Junior. "They're taken care of, those pretentious basta- people won't undermine you again"

"Good work then" Junior says before turning around. Samone doesn't just cut hair, his basement has a few unique items that helps with the side business. If Junior wants someone to disappear for whatever reason this is one of the few places he will send them. "Let's go Lavi"

"Bye Mr. Samone" Lavi waves goodbye.

Junior walks out into the street and contemplates what to do next.

Lavi takes the wrapper off a sucker and pops it into her mouth. "What are we doing next?"

Junior closes his eyes. "I've already taken care of what I need to. Guess I'll show you around a bit before going back to the club"

"Sightseeing?" Lavi asks with wonder in her voice.

"Yes" Junior nods. He already did his business on his scroll while he was waiting.

Lavi looks around. "Where are we going to sightsee?" Her tail erratically moves behind her.

Junior begins walking down the street. "You'll just have to wait and see"

Lavi quickly runs up to Junior's side and puts her hands in her hoodie's pouch. "I do not like waiting very much"

"Nor do I. But patience is a virtue" Junior says seriously. He still has 6 years until canon starts. And his plans are moving along nicely. He still is a little stumped on how to stop Salem, but he can try a few things. And depending on what his semblance is it might be easier or harder.

"Whatever" Lavi looks up and down the street. She sees many humans and a few Faunus. Everything looks so advanced here it's amazing.

Junior shows Lavi a dust shop. Lavi didn't much care but she just liked the various pretty colors.

Along their sightseeing trip he showed her some bakeries, some clothes shops, restaurants, book stores, banks, the Vale City Library, Vale City Square, and he takes her to some coin operated binoculars to view Beacon Academy.

"What is this place~" Lavi inquires.

"That is Beacon Academy. It's where Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained to defeat Grimm and protect people" Junior chooses to look at the others around him. People apparently like to look at Beacon as there is only one other binocular not in use out of 9.

"Why didn't you go there? Aren't you very strong?" Lavi asks and as she finishes talking the binoculars close, signifying her time is up.

"I wasn't exactly an exemplary citizen in my youth. But after my father died a year ago I decided to take over the family business so o got my act together. I may be strong, but I'm not exactly Huntsmen material. They get told what to do, and if they make a slight mistake their world comes crashing down on them. Too much responsibility with too little a reward. Sure they get special privileges and some decent Lien, but their life expectancy is very short. Some don't even survive the landing strategy" Junior would definitely not go to Beacon. Unless it's for a few specific things. And he does plan on paying a visit in about 6 and a half years or so.

"Oh…" Lavi gets off her tippy toes and looks down at the ground. "But aren't they protectors? And super strong?"

"Listen. Not everyone is good. There are some huntsmen that would rather let Grimm devour an entire Faunus village than put their neck on the line. There are some that misuse their Huntsman license and do very bad things. Like attack ladies in dark allies. Not all are bad, but not all are good" Junior wonders where Ozpin falls on that line since he forces young adults barely 17 years old to fight for not only their lives but those of others as well.

"When you put it like that…" Lavi unwraps another sucker since the first one has been done a while ago.

"Don't worry about it too much. Most of the time they're too busy to be here in Vale. It's mostly just the students coming down here on the weekends or whatever. Huntsmen are busy on missions or living in villages or towns to protect them. Let's get going, the port is the last spot" Junior waves Lavi on.

"No! I'm not going back!" She stomps her foot and her fox tail stands straight up.

"I'm not gonna force you to go back. I don't even know where you came from. And are you really 18? You're acting younger than what I thought you were" Junior puts his hands in his pockets and relaxes his shoulders.

Lavi shakes her head and closes her eyes. "I turned 18 a few days ago! And…" She looks straight into Junior's eyes with a large amount of determination. "… I'll work for you! Just don't send me back!"

Junior looks around. He's getting some weird stares from the people around. "Lavi, don't put it like that. You're making me sound like a pimp. That's one of the businesses I despise the most. Now quiet down, I'm not sending you anywhere"

"You really won't?" Lavi feels her nails dig into her palms.

Junior looks at his red sunglasses on her small head. "Yes. You have my word. And if you don't want to go to the port let's go back to the dry cleaners. I wanna pick up my jacket"

Lavi narrows her eyes. "Will you let me work for you?"

"For the love of…" Junior takes a deep breath. "Yes. I will find a place for you to work, you have my word. Now let's get out of here before the police get called" Junior doesn't want the police involved, even if they are in his back pocket.

"Okay then…" Lavi puts her hands behind her just above her tail that lowers down but doesn't move around. She then follows Junior at his side.

Junior makes his way to the dry cleaners and picks his jacket and glove up and puts them on.

After that he walks back to his club with Lavi oddly silent at his side.

"Ok, why are you quiet all of a sudden?" Junior asks. He can't stand the awkward atmosphere Lavi is giving off.

Lavi walks forward while looking down at her feet. "What will I do when I work for you? Will have to do what momma did? I don't want to get hurt…"

Junior tries to think what that implies. "What did your mom do?"

Lavi can feel tears start to form at the corner of her eyes and her vision gets blurry. "She… would take men… into one of the back rooms… and then there would be sounds…. like when you beat up those bad men in the alley…" Lavi sniffles and stops walking as she covers her eyes with the back of her hand.

Junior gets the idea. And he knows that Lavi blocked out what actually happened and chooses not to acknowledge her moms line of work. He goes up to Lavi and kneels down. And even when he kneels he's still just about her height. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. And I'm sorry you had to witness that. It's something a son or daughter shouldn't see their parent do"

And he's speaking from a bit of experience. There's a reason he immediately replaced his fathers bed and other things in the 'boss' bedroom. He just wonders why his old man made the office soundproof but not the bedrooms. It's something he changed when he made the renovations.

Lavi continues to cry and after a few seconds she jumps forward, but it's more like falls forward onto Junior and cries on his shoulder.

Junior is slightly annoyed, he did JUST have his jacket dry cleaned. But he lets Lavi get this out of her system. To him it seems like it has just been her and her mom. And now both her parents are dead and she's all alone. His heart might be cold, but man does this break the ice real quick.

"Don't worry Lavi. You're life changed when you met me. Me and my boys will protect you" He wraps his arms around Lavi. She is crying on his right shoulder. His right hand gently strokes her hair while his left arm is wrapped around her back.

Lavi continues to cry for some time and Junior is unsure if she even heard him talk. He didn't know how much she was holding back, but it seems like she's letting it all out now. 18 years of whatever shithole she was living in. And he doesn't even know if any bastard went for the mother-daughter special. But he doesn't think so, Lavi seems to innocent, and it also seems like her mother did too good of a job protecting her.