Ch. 6 Welcoming a New Family Member

Lavi continued to cry for many more minutes.

Eventually Junior takes his sunglasses off of her and puts it in his pocket.

"Cmon, you can cry once we get to the club" Junior tries to convince her to move.

But it's to No avail and she continues to cry and weep.

"Gods~" Junior rolls his eyes. He keeps his left arm around her back but moves his right arm to her legs and picks her up.

After he makes sure to have a hold of her he stands up. Lavi puts her arms around his neck and pushes her face further into his shoulder.

Junior then begins making his way back to the club. He walks slowly as he thinks about what he plans to do next. There are still a few hours before his club opens up, and he's got a few things to change as well.

When he gets near his building he sees a group of his men outside, basically the bouncers and their guard buddies. They see him and the girl crying on his shoulder. Without a second thought they stop screwing around and stand at attention.

"Hello boss!" They greet in unison.

It's still weird to Junior. In his past life he was never called boss. And he was rarely called sir. But he's getting more and more used to it.

"Where is Derek?" Junior asks as he continues to walk towards the doors.

One of the men open the doors. "He is currently making phone calls I believe, sir"

"Good, and how many men are inside?" Junior walks into the door.

"The ones you assigned to the club, plus a few extra stragglers, and there is a decent number in the back meeting room" The man informs.

Junior doesn't respond and continues down a winding hallway until he gets to 2 sliding automatic doors. At this point Lavi has just begun sniffling, so he gives her his handkerchief, not the one she already used but the one a man keeps in his back pocket for himself.

Inside Deadb3ar has the bear head on and is at the DJ booth with his turntables and getting some tests going. But when he sees Junior the music comes to a scratching halt.

Everyone turns towards Deadb3ar but he just points the door where Junior is and everyone sees their boss holding a red haired girl sniffling in his shoulder.

Junior walks into the room and goes to the dance floor where nobody else is. He pivots on his left heel as he looks around the entire room. "Somebody go get the men from the meeting room. NOW"

Junior stands still and faces towards the door that leads to the back. One man runs through the doors with 3 others behind him.

Not 1 minute later there's a flood of men coming out from the back. Junior takes his left arm off of Lavi while his right continues to support her. He punches the bridge of his nose, didn't he tell his men to clear out of this place? Whatever, not like the club-goers would be going to the back anyways.

About 2 minutes later his men were standing around the room and stayed off the dance floor.

Junior glares at his men. "Did anyone not hear about the little mess I had Cooper and his men clean up?"

There are some confused looks and some scratch their heads.

"Well let me tell you!" Junior shouts. "I was walking to get my fuckin hair cut. That's all fine and dandy. But not 5 gods damned blocks away from this place I hear a women scream for help! And not a single one of my men were in sight! Now I'm not expecting everyone to be vigilantes or some juiced up superhero or huntsman that goes to save a damsel in distress. But there is a reason I put patrols around my territory. So that a women won't get mugged and possibly raped by 5 bald fuckers. So I guess it's time I revamp and revise that whole fucking plan" Junior doesn't just face one direction and stand still. He walked around the dance floor and it was clear he was pissed and livid.

He points at Lavi. "This here is the girl I saved! Her name is Lavi Bole. Some of you may remember the name Bole from the time my father was in charge. She is the daughter of Earl Bole. Sure things were shaky between the old timers until the death of Earl, Jimmy, and my old man as well as a few others. But who fuckin cares. She will be working with us from today forward. Make sure she gets a warm welcome. She's had a rough day, and a damned hard life. I hear anyone treats her wrong, I'll deal with them personally" Junior lets that sink in a bit.

At this point Lavi is half listening and still half hurting.

"We will be cleaning the family up. Look nice and pretty to the public. We won't be throwing any first punches, but if we get punched. We will be sure to finish that fight. We will help those in need, everyone likes it when an organization helps the little man. We will make Vale a city where a woman can walk down the street and not need to worry about getting mugged before breakfast!" Junior takes a deep breath. "I don't care if the police are on our side. There are huntsmen that can wipe us out if they get the golden opportunity to. I've made arrangements for that not to happen but who knows, we live in Remnant after all. So we keep our skeletons in the back or in the closets. We are the Xiong Family, not some small gang trying to go from one mugging to the next. Enjoy tonight, because tomorrow things are gonna be a little different" Junior goes towards the door that leads to the various rooms. "Now get back to it"

Some guys make way for Junior and open the door for him.

As Junior walks down the hall he rubs his forehead. That's basically what he wanted to get out of his system. And it also seems that he will be busy today. He needs to update his patrols that are apparently outdated as well as move some people around. He thought it was taken care of but obviously not. He also needs to decide what Lavi will be doing.

He's unsure if she will even be able to physically train without aura. But maybe having her aura unlocked could help her. She will need to be trained to fend off Grimm, but it might save her life.

He stands still in the hall while he contemplates the pros and cons.

In the end, he decides not to. He doesn't think Lavi will be able to handle it. If she asks him he will reconsider it. He also is curious about her semblance. And based on her name and hair color, he wonders if she could potentially be candidate for a maiden. He knows the Fall, Spring, and winter maidens thanks to the show. It's just the Summer maiden he doesn't know. He guessed that Summer Rose was the Spring Maiden, but she already died so it doesn't really matter.

So Lavi might be a possible candidate, he just doesn't know if a candidate needs to have their aura unlocked or not.

"J-Junior…"

Lavi's soft voice brings him out of his thoughts.

"What is it Lavi?" Junior asks. He looks down and sees her tail slightly moving around.

Lavi rubs her forehead on his shoulder and mover her head to his neck and slightly under his chin. "Are you a bad man…?"

"I certainly wouldn't describe myself as good" Junior says and pats Lavi's back. "But I also wouldn't say I'm bad or evil either. There is a method to my madness. A goal way far off that is so giant it's bigger than any mountain. I can't be tripping over anthills like trying to make everyone happy. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette after all"

*sniff* "you use way too many metaphors…" Lavi tightens her grip on his neck. She can barely remember how they got in this strange and dark place.

Junior ignores her criticism. "Does this change anything? I still won't make you do anything you don't want to do. Your old man made my Family a lot of money a while back. If you want to leave-"

"No!" She adamantly denies. "I… I don't want to be alone again!"

Junior looks up at the ceiling and takes a deep breath. "So you don't care if I am the boss of a crime family?"

At this point he is just testing the waters. He didn't know it was this easy to gain someone's trust, although Lavi is a special case. A little kindness goes a long way.

"You… you say mean things. And you act mean. You hurt people. But you're also kind. You're patient. You walked at my pace. You are the only person that actually saw me and helped me… I… I want to stay. I don't want to be alone again! I don't want to be abandoned and left in the dark! I'm a good girl! I'll work hard! I want to be a part of your family!!!" Lavi begins crying again and shouting.

Junior can feel the tears on his neck and the loud but soft and quiet voice in his ear. If she was a slightly louder talker his ear would be ringing.

He pats her head. "Careful what you say Lavi. If I was a lesser man I would take advantage of you and your body. You don't even know me. It hasn't been a day yet. I think you need some sleep. And I won't ditch you. I'll show you to your room"

Junior walks down the hall and gets to where his old room was. He opens the door and there's a large bed but almost nothing else inside. "This used to be my old room, you can use it for now until we get you an actual room"

Lavi looks around and sees the giant bed. "Are we sleeping?"

Junior shakes his head. "Not we. You"

"But… the bed is too big" Lavi says as she continues to cling to Junior.

"What are you? A child?" Junior moves his right arm from beneath her to let her fall but she has a right hold around his neck so she ends up dangling.

"No!" Lavi shouts. "I don't wanna!"

Junior clenches his teeth. "Stop saying weird shit!"

If he hadn't sound proofed the rooms this would definitely impact his reputation. Why does Lavi have to sound like he's attacking her.

Junior grabs Lavi's hands from behind his neck and pries them apart and holds them out in front of him.

Now Lavi is dangling with her arms outstretched above her head. Her feet and tail just dangling. A frown on her face as she puts with her red eyes.

Junior just lightly tosses her back and she lands on the bed and it's silk sheets.

Lavi goes flying back and bounces on the bed a few times before slightly sinking down into it. She sits up and pushes her hand into the mattress in various spots. "What is this? Magic?"

"Take your shoes off Lavi" Junior fixes his collar.

Lavi unties her sneaker and takes off her ankle socks. She goes on all fours and runs around on the bed like an animal.

As Junior watches this he can't help but remember those videos of Foxes in his last life. Especially when Lavi jumps up and tries to dive into the bed like how the snow foxes hunt for rodents under the snow.

"Owie~!" Lavi rubs her face after trying to attack the mattress or something. But she quickly brushes it off and goes back to running over and across the bed.

It's rather large. Mainly because it was made for Junior himself. He was 6'9 and still growing. Not many beds are large enough so his father had to special order them, or more like forced someone else to do that.

And Junior's current bed is even bigger. He is still growing and isn't sure if he will actually stop growing at 6'11" like he thinks he will. And even if you custom order a large bed, they don't just make it long while keeping the width short. So his bed takes up a large portion of his room, Sorta similar to this one.

Junior watches Lavi's tail basically freak the fuck out as she plays with the mattress. "What type of bed did you have before?"

Lavi stops moving just before she was about to jump to the other side. "I didn't have a bed. I had a pillow and blanket though. And the floor was kinda soft. But is this really a bed? It's so… weird"

"It's a memory foam bed, it's special" Junior watches as Lavi begins to army crawl across the bed. Her eyes are dilated as she crawls around. Then she finds that she can go under the sheets. And that's when it gets rather amusing.

Junior watches her figure underneath the bedsheets as she randomly and suddenly moves to and fro. He walks to the side where Lavi is going towards and waits.

A few seconds later and:

"Gwaahhhh!" Lavi screams as she falls over the edge of the bed face first.

Junior puts his right hand down and catches her face before she hits the ground. He uses his left hand to help her sit back on the bed.

He pinches her face with his right hand. Lavi's cheeks get squished and her lips are forced into looking like a fish's.

Junior brings his face down to her level. "As amusing as you are, do try not to hurt yourself. The bathroom is over there. You may use it as you wish just don't make a mess. We don't have extra clothes for you, that'll be taken care of tomorrow. Do you need me to show you how to use the sink and shower?"

"Yesh" Lavi says without any shame.

Junior let's go of her face and stands back up and goes towards the bathroom. Lavi follows him and rubs her face. It didn't exactly feel good, but it didn't feel bad. Just weird.

Lavi watches as Junior shows her how to use the shower and the sink. And for safe measures, he shows her everything else in the room. The shampoo, the toilet, hand soap, hair drier, anything and everything.

"Do you understand everything?" Junior asks.

"Yes boss Junior sir!" Lavi brings her left hand to her head as she salutes.

Junior squeezes his eyes shut for a few seconds. "Just… call me Junior"

"Got it!" Lavi gives him a thumbs up and a smile. Her eyes seemingly fine even after how much she cried.

Junior furrows his brows. "Why does it feel like I've just adopted a kid?" He asks himself.

"Hey!" Lavi stomps her foot on the tile floor. "I am not a kid!"

She places her right hand on her chest and lifts her chin up in the air. "I am 18! I'm an adult now! A fully grown woman!"

"Right" Junior looks at her in all her 5'1" glory. She gives off the energy of a kid at most.

"Hey! Just because I'm not as tall as my mom was or I can't fill out her clothes… it doesn't mean I'm a kid!" Lavi kinda lost steam midway through, but she finishes strong.

"Whatever, Ms. Lavi" Junior jokes. He walks towards the door. "I've got some work to do. My room is at the end of the hall on the left. The very last door. You literally can't miss it. It says Junior on it. Stick to the left wall and don't go down any branching hallways or you will get lost. Now repeat it to me"

Lavi pokes her head out of the bathroom. Her expression clearly sad. "You're leaving?"

"Yes, now repeat back to me where my room is" Junior puts his hand on the door handle.

"Follow the left wall until the end and the door will say Junior" Lavi looks down at the ground.

Junior slumps his shoulders. "Take a damn shower. Get some sleep. Relax. You are safe here, you know where I'll be. Lock the door behind me if you want to be extra safe"

Lavi looks up just in time to see the door close. She looks around the big empty room and closes the bathroom door and goes to the shower and curls up in it. Her knees to her chest and her tail around herself.

——————

Junior walks down the hall and goes to his room. He can hear Deadb3ar testing out some things with his turntables but it gets quieter the further he goes.

When he gets to his room he takes his suit jacket off and looks at it. It's a bit dirty from Lavi's tears, but you'd have to look close to see them. He changes into shorts and a tshirt as he grabs some paper and goes towards the computer in his room. He turns it on and the holographic screen flickers to life.

He spends a decent amount of time mapping out Vale. He wants to know the entire place inside and out. His information network is impressive. But it's not good enough, and he doubts it will ever be.

But he will continue to expand it. He wants people on other continents keeping tabs on important people and important events.

There is still a lot of time. But it'll be too late when he finds out he's not prepared enough. Maybe he can strike a deal with the White Fang? Ghira is still leader so it's better sooner rather than later at this point. He's already got some of his family in their ranks, but they aren't high enough to give him much info at this point.

Then there's his plan to try and change the Cross Continental Transmit System. Why would you make the system fail completely if one tower goes down?

Sure it makes the continents HAVE to play friendly, but in the end there are better ways to do that.

Basically, the Xiong family will be doing some expanding across Remnant in the coming years. He might even visit some orphanages to have some students in various years at the Huntsmen Academies.

Too many things to do. Junior's mind is racing and it's going faster than he can type or even write down. His notebook of ideas seems to be getting longer way too fast in comparison to the rate at which he crosses off the completed or stupid ideas.

After an hour he's practically done and he's feeling rather tired. It's mostly from dealing with Lavi, or rather her weird mood swings. She might have a concussion from the whiplash. And that reminds Junior, he should have her get a checkup. She likely hasn't been to a proper doctor in a while.

Junior stands up and takes a quick shower. He puts on his shirt and shorts and flips onto his bed.

Things will only be uphill the longer he lives. Might as well enjoy the small things.