Rebuilding is always a difficult process.

For the Silver Foxes, that fact was especially prominent as they struggled to move on from the trauma that they had all faced.

Even though Anten had helped to heal many of the injured, and they went on to make full recoveries, she could not get rid of the terror that still infested their minds.

Some of them had been rendered mute by the shock, and some continued to be paralyzed with fear, even though they were continually assured that the threat was over. On top of that, fixing their current states was also a challenging endeavor for even the angel to attempt by herself.

“I’m sorry,” she finally admitted after numerous failures, “there are just some things that I cannot do.”

As a result, when the remnants of the group had all settled down in a new temporary hideout a safe distance away from the now-hazardous city, both of their chiefs had something to say regarding the whole situation.

“The Silver Foxes… will be splitting up.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Everyone, even those who were close to the two of them, like Kara, were left stunned by the announcement.

It was unexpected and sudden, and on top of that, it completely ran against everything they had believed in since their respective initiations. Many of them had joined specifically to get their revenge on the forces of Paradise, and now the opportunity to work as a group to do so was going to be taken away from them.

So naturally, there were a lot of protests and arguments among the entire group as soon as the bombshell was dropped until Aleby began to clarify their decision.

“Do not misunderstand me, my dear Foxes. What we intended to say was that the old Silver Foxes will be disintegrated while my dear brother and I will start a new group by ourselves. We will not be forcing any of you to join our new group, but we promise those who want to join that our goal has not changed.”

As soon as they heard his explanation, the rowdy commotion died down, changing to quiet murmurs and whispers as they discussed the current situation with each other.

“We understand that many of you still have grudges against Paradise, and we still do too. However, times are changing. We have new allies, new enemies, new threats to face, some of which have cost us dearly.”

Aleby drew a sharp breath before continuing.

“The Foxes’ motto has always been to ‘do whatever it takes’, and perhaps we may all have a death wish, but after recent events, both of us have realized that, truthfully, we do not want any of you to die needlessly. What happened to the abandoned city is the result of me and my brother’s actions. Therefore, if you believe that we are terrible leaders for leading the group to their deaths, or you believe that you still have something else to live for besides revenge, we will give you our dearest goodbyes, and wish you well.”

The murmuring became louder, and some people had already started to move, but he was not quite done yet.

“But, if you do decide to leave, remember that your past efforts will not be in vain. The new Silver Foxes will keep fighting and protecting people, because we will always do whatever it takes to make sure everyone’s lives change for the better! That is all we are, and that is all we ever will be!”

As he finally finished speaking, the murmurs also stopped. Everyone in the crowd were looking at each other, trying to see who would be the first to respond to his offer.

“…”

Then, one of them broke free from the large mass and walked towards the two brothers.

The small boy blessed with divine sight, who had miraculously escaped the temple collapse and the subsequent battle that ensued.

Without saying a single word, Matty passed by and proceeded to stand at attention behind the two with his golden eyes staring back at the rest of the crowd.

“…”

“…”

“…”

It was as though his action had spurred the rest of them to follow, as one by one, they all wordlessly came out and stood next to him, the number growing with each new person.

One, then two, then three, then four…

A few of them, mainly honorary Foxes who had never had a significant attachment to the group in the first place, decided not to move at all, having already made their decision to leave for good.

However, soon enough, the majority of the group had all decided to stand beside the brothers, as the first members of the ‘new’ Silver Foxes.

Even despite the fact that some of them had not fully recovered from the abandoned city yet, they still chose to support their chiefs, and that fact did not go unnoticed by them.

“You guys…”

“Hmph!”

A loud, annoying voice interrupted Claine’s emotional remark. Still standing away from them and putting on a sulky face was Kara, mad for some unearthly reason.

“Apprentice…”

“You haven’t said the magic word.”

“Seriously?” he asked, and she gave another loud snort in response.

“I’m starting to think you don’t want me on your team anymore.”

“No, that’s not it,” he reassured her, “we do still need your skills and knowledge. So…”

“So… what?”

He sighed before putting on a sweet and innocently wholesome voice, “can you… please join us again?”

“…”

“Kara?”

“Ah, I’m just messing with you!” she stuck her tongue out before skipping over to the big group, “of course I would join you! After all, you guys would all be helpless without me!”

As she theatrically bowed to her ‘audience’, Claine rubbed his temples and chuckled sarcastically while the other ‘new’ Foxes began to laugh at her childish insult.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“So, what’s your first order… ‘new’ chiefs?” she remarked as soon as she joined back up with them.

“Well…” the two of them pondered for a moment as their ‘new’ followers waited for their answer.

“Ehh! Wrong! I’m quitting!”

“Hey!”

“Bleh! Just kidding again, right?”

“Ugh…”

Their sarcastic remarks were carried into the wind along with the continued laughs from the Foxes.

“Come on, Teach, put more effort in!”

“You little…”

“…!!!”

“…!!!”

Rebuilding is always a difficult process.

However, if one already has the tools they had when they first began, it becomes much easier to start again.

**********************

“I guess this is it, huh?”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

After everything that had gone down over the past few days, it was time for the ‘new’ Silver Foxes to say goodbye to their three visitors, and a small group had gathered at the outskirts of their new hideout to watch the departure.

“Where’s Kara?”

“Her? She’s probably still sulking somewhere,” Claine shrugged nonchalantly.

“I guess she would, seeing how our last conversation went with her.”

“Listen, are you sure you do not want to stay with us? We are still fighting the same fight as you after all,” Aleby posed the offer to the three, but Dauma immediately declined it for them.

“As tempting as that offer sounds,” he reasoned, “we have other things to do first.”

“But we’ll still keep in touch with you guys, of course!” Anten hastily added.

“Heh.”

Claine chuckled at her remark before quickly following it up with another question, this time one that was much more personal to them.

“You know, I have been wondering all this time, and before you guys leave, I just want to know. Which one of you is the leader of the group?”

“Umm…”

Dauma and Anten were stumped. It was certainly a very intriguing question; one that they did not expect to be answering, even though it brought up a very valid issue.

Now that their small band had grown, and all the members had reconciled their different opinions with each other, they needed a clear leader, one who would guide them to their next objective.

However, even after all the back-and-forths they had, neither of them were really sure who would be the most capable to lead it. There were simply quite a few problems each of the members had that would raise some eyebrows.

Given that fact, after a short, whispered discussion, they quickly settled on a compromise.

“We don’t have one,” Dauma answered as Anten confidently nodded beside him, “all of us support one another, and that’s good enough for us.”

“Mmmh…”

Upon hearing that relatively safe answer, Claine gave them a troubled look and let out an audible groan, while Aleby stepped in to speak for him.

“I do not believe that is a good idea, my dears.”

“How so?”

“To put it simply, no leader means no clear direction. You three might have a goal to accomplish, but if there is no one to guide, there will always be conflict. My dear brother and I may both have different roles, but we are both clearly still the chiefs. Therefore, I think it would be better if you guys decide on a leader soon, just a suggestion.”

“… I see.”

None of the three had expected a lecture as they were leaving, but they had nonetheless received it, and it very quickly turned their confidence into doubt as they questioningly looked at each other.

“Waittttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!”

Thankfully, a fashionably late inventor soon brought their spirits back up as she ran in before abruptly stopping right in front of them, her massive backpack nearly falling off her shoulders from the sheer momentum.

“Goddamn it…” Kara panted as she bent down to catch her breath, “…you could have… told me the time… when they’d leave…”

“I thought I did,” Claine raised his eyebrow and coldly remarked.

“I haven’t even… given them… their farewell gifts yet… so impatient…”

“Farewell gifts?”

“Of course! I’m not going to see you guys for a while, so I have to give you some stuff to remember me by first! That’s how guilt works!” she exclaimed exasperatedly as she placed her backpack down.

Violently flinging it open and tossing various stuff out of its compartments, she grabbed a handful of something before straightening back up and revealing it to them.

“What is that?”

At first glance, it looked like just a simple bundle of rags, hardly worth its label as a ‘gift’, but as she slowly unfurled it in full, they immediately recognized it.

It was one of the many shawls that the Foxes mainly wore, but unlike the usual brown, grey or black, it was painted a light reddish yellow instead, complementing the colors of the wasteland.

“Perfect for concealment and blending in, one size fits all. And,” she explained as she brought the garment closer to their faces and pointed at a small object attached close to the hood, “even though I didn’t have much time, I took the liberty of designing this for you guys as well!”

The object in question was a small metallic pin, and upon closer viewing, they could see that it was embossed with a design of what appeared to be a broom and a dustpan crossing with each other in an X symbol, completed by a human skull looming behind the two tools.

Neatly encircling the entire illustration were three simple words, although two of them were not the type that anyone would normally connect as one single phrase.

“The Apocalypse Cleaners…”

It was not offensive by any means, but it was sending mixed messages to the three of them as they struggled to find anything to say about it that was either positive or negative.

“Cool, huh? I figured that you guys could use a name and, while I was working on that, a logo too. Now we all know what to call you! Isn’t it great>” Kara excitedly remarked, seemingly oblivious to their confused reactions.

“… are you serious?” Anten finally spoke after a moment of stunned silence.

“Huh?”

“What is with that ridiculous name? It’s like we’re running some kind of service!”

“Ue he he, but isn’t that what you guys do?” the inventor witfully countered, “going around the wasteland cleaning up all the messes left by the apocalypse, it’s a perfect name to describe you guys!”

“In the first place, that’s not what we—”

“Come on. Please just give it a shot, for me.”

Her face suddenly darkened, and she began to shake as she clasped her hands together in front of her, before giving them a sad and pouty face with an innocent look in her blue eyes.

“… ughhhhh…”

Throwing her head up into the sky and groaning, Anten quickly gave in as she strode towards her and forcefully grabbed the shawl.

“Excellent!” Kara beamed again as she went back to her backpack and pulled out two more, before motioning for Dauma and Yuu to take them as well.

“…”

None of them had any complaints as they held their new shawls in their hands, but they still could not hide their skepticism as they slowly tried to wear it.

To their amazement, the claim that it really did fit all was true, as they could all easily wrap it around themselves despite their different sizes. However, considering they had never worn these types of garments before, they had all just draped it loosely around their torsos and called it a day, much to Kara’s apparent displeasure.

“Well, I guess that’s fine too, you guys do you. Or perhaps I should say, you Cleaners do you. I’m not the judge of wearing clothes after all.”

However, with all things in consideration, despite the sloppy presentation, the shawls were surprisingly comfortable and breezy. As they moved around to test them out, they found it did not hinder their movements at all, save for Anten, who had to shift most of the cloth to the front for her wings to fully deploy and flap freely without any issues.

Much to Kara’s delight after a while, they had all accepted and adjusted well to their new outfits without any major doubts.

“Thank you, Kara. These are great.”

“… I’m not done yet.”

Immediately waving off the group’s appreciation, she rummaged through her backpack again before pulling another thing out, this time one that was much flatter and smaller than the shawls.

“Here you go, Miss Yuu.”

“Ah…”

Glancing quickly around at everyone who was curious as to what the other ‘gift’ was, Yuu lowered her head and shuffled towards her before taking the thing she was holding and hiding it in her arms without pause.

“What is that now?”

“Nothing too fancy,” Kara dusted off her hands before waving it aside, “she came to me and asked for one of my keepsakes, and seeing as how I never use it, I figured she could have it. That’s all.”

That was all she said about it, and even as everyone present hopefully gazed at both her and Yuu, none of them wanted to elaborate, bringing their curiosity to an unremarkable stop.

“Well, that’s all the gifts I have for you guys,” she declared as soon as the unsuccessful probe was concluded, before slyly adding, “apart from the information I gave you three a few days ago.”

“Oh,” Anten shifted uncomfortably as she responded to her snarky remark, “you aren’t still mad at us for what happened?”

“Water under the bridge. Besides, it was my fault anyway, not yours. Just me being petty again.”

As she deprecated herself, Aleby stepped forward and spoke to the three one last time.

“My dear… Cleaners…”

Even he hesitated as he said the name, with some of the other Foxes chuckling to themselves before he continued, “I wish you all the best in your journey. Do reach out to us if you ever need our help, we will be around.”

“Same for you guys as well. If you need our help, we will respond,” Anten confidently replied.

“We look forward to it.”

And so, the newly minted Apocalypse Cleaners hit the road once again, leaving their new acquaintances for the time being.

“Will we ever see them again though?” Claine mused as the Foxes watched the three figures get smaller and smaller in the distance.

“Of course we will, dear brother.”

With a reassuring response and a quick pat on his shoulder, the two brothers slowly began walking back to their new hideout, with Kara and the others following closely behind them.

There was no time to dwell on unknown possibilities. It was time for them to get back to work.

Even if they had to go back to the drawing board, the Silver Foxes had to remain committed to their mission after all.