Two of the Same Kind - The Fox and the Wolf

03. Is It Wrong to be a Tsundere in the Dungeon?

Author's Note

Soo... after re-reading the first chapters I decided to give them a makeover. I felt that back when I wrote them, I couldn't get things across the way I wanted to due to my somewhat rusty English skills. Now that I'm writing more fluently again (although still not perfect), the first chapters don't harmonize with the ones I'm currently working on.
Another big reason for the makeover is that I got the feeling I introduced my main character in the first chapters far too one-dimensionally. I improved that a little, but the first chapter is still mostly a chapter where everyone throws insults at everyone else - but I guess that's okay. After all, it's a fic that revolves around Bete and his female counterpart... so that's kind of what you guys came for, right?
In the course of rewriting, I adjusted some of the ages and levels, it's not really a big deal but if you begin to wonder as to why there is suddenly another age stated as you had in mind: well, that's the reason for it. I also settled on longer, coherent chapters and thus deleted the subchapters and combined them into one large chapter each. I also got rid of the preface, incorporating the background facts more consistently into the progressing story.

When Rana arrives at her brother's place, a dim light is still shining through one of the dirty windows of the small and somewhat shabby workshop.

The emblem of Hephaestus Familia is displayed at the front door, right next to a hand-carved, wooden sign saying 'Jun's Armor and Accessories'.

Seeing the illuminated window, indicating that her brother was thankfully still up, causes Rana's anger to evaporate in an instant. The frown vanishes from her face and gives way to an unstudied and blithe smile one rarely sees on her.

"Yooohooooo, Jun-oniisan!" she chirps in an uncharacteristically sweet voice while knocking at the front door.

"Huh-what? ...Rana?" Jun looks up from his book, surprised at the sudden visitor.

"Gosh, at this hour? I'm suspecting bad things..." he sighs remembering the many times Rana has already escaped from the Amaterasu shrine before.

The young smith sluggishly trudges towards the door and stifles a yawn while absentmindedly scratching an itch behind his perfectly human ear.

Jun wears his usual dark grey harem pants and a black, hooded zipper-vest. A white, close fitting tank top peeks out of his vest while his tousled reddish brown hair is mostly covered by his hood.

He yawns loudly and stretches his arms.

"Oi, sis. Giving Sora a hard time again? What nonsense did you pull this-" he says somewhat bored as he opens the door - only to be greeted by his half-naked little sister, smiling at him.

"W-what the fuck, Rana?!" he shouts, flushed. "I already told you a thousand times that you can't run around town like this! You aren't a freaking amazon!" he yells and grabs her wrist, pulling her inside the workshop.

"Tch, I'm also happy to see ya!" Rana says in a sulk, obviously annoyed by the fact she receives an instant lecture on clothing politics instead of a warm welcome.

"Geez, honestly. I thought we were past the point where you show up in the middle of the night because you are in trouble yet again and need to crash at my place." he says as he grasps another hooded vest that lays around his workshop and chucks it to the fox girl.

Rana catches the garment and reluctantly slips into it, closing the zipper only to a bare minimum to express her annoyance at his scolding.

"I would feel better if you closed it completely... but I guess, this is way better than before... Sit down, I'll get you a glass of water." he says, still a bit flushed as he whirls around to search for a clean glass.