*Megalovania plays intensely as me and Rock Sand are about to engage in the battle of savage insults...*

I place both hands on my hips, standing up straight and tall as I put a brave face on, praying to the Gods above that I will make it out of here alive and with Juno in my arms...
Roxanne the Maneater smirks as she was now standing 3 feet in front of me, crossing her arms as she slouched, her dark eyes staring fiercely into my soul...
I should've bought my holy water and cross, because this wasn't just any woman...this was a devil woman.
Juno holds my hand tightly as he shudders, shaking with fear as he stared at the woman, his face sweating a little.

"Juno...go to Kou, this is a fight you don't want to be in the middle of..."

I warned him as I crack my knuckles.
Juno nods before running to Kou, who then holds him by his shoulders, smiling. Kou nods to me before I nod back to him, then face Roxanne again, my blood boiling as I clench my fists.
Roxanne was the first to speak.

"So you're that boy's girlfriend...I say, you amaze me...but not in a good way~
You look like a absolute white crayon~"
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Kou and Juno both give her a thumbs down, pouting.

"That's racist!"
(ーー;)

Kou objected while Juno nods in agreement. Roxanne scoffs as I then giggle. My turn now~

"Heh, I like your approach...now let's see your departure~ If I had a face like yours, I'd sue my parents~"

"Ooooooh!"
Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Kou screams as Juno giggles with laughter. I could see Roxanne's health bar go down a little after she flinches. My savage insult was super effective!
She then clicks her tongue as she fixes her composure.

"Tch, so you want to play dirty huh? Okay then, let's play dirty~
I love what you've done with your hair, how did you get it to come out of your nostrils like that?~"
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Kou stares at her with disgust, while Juno does the same.

"Okay, that's just DISGUSTANG!"
(>_<)

"Y-Yeah...definitely."
(╯_╰)

Oof, that one did hit me hard...
I won't let her win though! I must win for myself, for Juno and most importantly, for Mr. V!

"Man, I don't know what's worse...your IQ or your hairline~ Also, you have something on your chin..."

Roxanne stares at me with confusion as she then touches her chin. I giggle as I fold my arms, smiling.

"No, the third one down~"

"Oooooh snap! Get roasted Rock Sand!"
(* >ω<)

"Go Mackenzie! Don't let the bully win!"
(*^^*)

"Oh don't worry Juno, I won't~"
（＾ｖ＾）

Roxanne's face was getting redder and redder however, grinding her teeth as she clenched her fists, stomping her heels on the carpet as she starts throwing random insults at me.
Time to unleash my power, the power of the Ultra Instinct~

"Why don't you slip into something more comfortable, like a coma!"
(>_<)

"Booooo!"
(≧σ≦)

"If you're going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty~"

"Ooooooh!"
Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

"You look like the south end side of a north bound horse!"
ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ

"Boooo!"
(≧σ≦)

"The trash gets picked up tomorrow...so get ready~"

"Oooooh!"
Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

"You...you half-chewed pencil!"
щ(ಥДಥщ)

"Awww is that all? Your family tree must be a cactus because you're all a bunch of pricks~ I was going to give you a nasty look, but I see that you've already got one~ You know what's even sadder...you're about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle~ No wonder why not many people use you either~"

"OOOOOOOOH!"
Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Roxanne the Maneater screams as she then falls to her knees, pounding the ground with her fist in anger. One victory for me; one defeat for her~
Juno and Kou then join me by my side, Juno hugging me tightly while Kou pats my back with a look of satisfaction.
Kou then gives me a thumbs up.

"You ma'am, are the ultimate savage~"

"Yep...you're so lucky Kou. The only thing that keeps me from breaking you in half is that I don't want two of you around..."

"Andddd I just got roasted by the master herself...should've seen that one coming."
(￢ε￢　)

"Yeah, better luck next time..."
(* >ω<)

"Mackenzie! That was...cool. Are you okay though? That lady really said some mean things to you...I hope she didn't hurt your feelings."
(／。＼)

I smile as I then kiss Juno's cheek, causing him to blush and hold me tighter. He was too sweet for his own good...how did I deserve him?
Can someone tell me why?

"Don't worry, my mind is a steel trap~
No one can break it~"

"Wow...you're even braver than me! I would be way too scared to face my bullies...that's why when I was younger, I always got..."

Juno's voice trails off as I then stare at him with confusion. It looked like he was deep in thought...why did his smile disappear so fast like that though?

"Juno? What were you going to say-"
(。･o･｡)

Just then, Stephano and Mr. V come back into the lobby, Stephano stomping his feet while Mr. V quietly follows him behind, his face filled with sadness and his eyes looked dull...
What happened between those two?
Stephano then grabs Roxanne's arm, linking it with his as he stares at his brother with irritation.

"This whole business deal will continue next week! And don't think you can change Father's mind, because it's too late for that now! Me and my girlfriend Roxanne will be living in the penthouse from now on and there's nothing you can do about it, Elias! Enjoy the rest of your party because after I become the new landlord of this apartment complex, there won't be anymore stupid parties! Let's go Roxanne...I've had enough fun for one night."

"Yes...me too..."

Roxanne mutters as the two then leave, everyone in the room now silent and staring right at Mr. V, who shrugs his shoulders.

"Party's over everyone...go back to your rooms, please..."

Everyone whispers to each other before they all leave the lobby, except me, Kou, Juno and Mr. V.
Mr. V sighs deeply as he rubs the back of his neck, quietly paying the orchestra before showing them the way out.
Me and the other's stare at each other before I take a deep breath.

"I'm going to go talk to him..."

"Good idea..."

"Something must've happened between him and his brother...something really bad. What does his brother mean that he's going to become the new landlord of this building?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to go see what's going on with Mr. V...you two go back to your homes. Juno, I'll come back afterwards, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Mackenzie...be careful."

"I think Mr. V needs the warning more than me..."

I replied as me and Juno kiss before parting. I then go outside in the front, searching for Mr. V.
Where could he have gone off to?
Wait...the Zen garden!
I then rush to the side of the apartment complex and there he was, sitting by the small bridge that overlaps the small river that Mr. V had made himself.
I then take a seat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. V...? Is everything okay?"

"...Oh Mrs. Huntington...it's awful, just awful...my brother, he...he's going to become the assistant manager of this building...I cannot believe it..."

"Who gave him the permission to be the assistant manager?"

"Our father...he even has proof that he can be the assistant manager...he might even become the landlord too if he does a better job than me!"

"Hey hey, Elias, don't think negative things like that! You're doing a great job maintaining this place-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME!"

Mr. V screamed, causing me to flinch from the sound of his voice. He takes a few deep breaths before sighing, placing his face in his hands.

"Please...don't call me that name...every time I hear it, it hurts me, a lot. You see...me and Stephano, we weren't always enemies...we used to love each other very much when we were younger. I remember when we would go on imaginary adventures and we would always prank our parents...we both had good laughs and a fun time. Then I met her, Roxanne...a girl from my high school, who I loved very much...we stayed together for a few years and then I asked her to marry me...I thought that it was a dream come true...but then, one day...she became very distant for some reason...she would always come home late, saying that she had late work...and I got sad, really sad and lonely to the point where I did something that I still regret to this very day..."

"What did you do...?"

I asked Mr. V as he blankly stared at the starry night sky.

"...I cheated on her..."

"No..."

"Yes...after that, I was consumed by the guilt of doing it, I was consumed by the lies I told her everyday...so one day I snapped and decided to tell her...but when I got home that night...I found her in bed with someone else...it was my own brother."

"..."

"Stephano...my own flesh and blood, a brother whom I trusted my whole life...was sleeping with my wife...after that, I had divorced her immediately and kicked her out of our home...and I told my brother that I never wanted to see him again...
Then I became the landlord of this building and I felt happy, meeting nice people like yourself...
And now he's back and he brought her, a woman who I thought loved only me...but this whole time, she was cheating on me, even when we first dated...I kept thinking to myself, is this my punishment for cheating on her...? Maybe...but I deserve it. I'm just glad Stephano showed me the consequences to my actions..."

I then see tears fall down his cheeks as he clenched his fists in his lap, the wind slowly howling as it blew the hair out of his eyes.
I then embrace him, hearing him cry in my chest as he held me tightly.
I rub his back in reassurance, hearing him cry even more.
Who knew that behind a smiling person you see everyday, had a dark and sad past that still affects them to this day?
I didn't and now I knew Mr. V even more than I knew him before.
After a few minutes of him sobbing, Mr. V wipes his nose with a handkerchief, rubbing his temple with his fingers as he continues speaking to me.

"Mrs. Huntington...I don't mean to pry but...are you cheating on him? Juno?"

"No, no of course not...I wouldn't live with myself if I ever did that to him."

"Good, because there's one thing I know about him and it's that he doesn't look like a guy who would ever cheat on the girl he loves...and if he ever did, he would be very honest about it. So please...please don't ever hurt each other. Otherwise, you two will end up broken like me...and my brother."

Mr. V said before getting up from his seat and going back to the apartment in complete silence as the crickets chirp and the water softly trickles down the stream.
He was right however, if me and Juno ever get into a huge fight or a situation that cannot be fixed...then we will end up shattered into millions of pieces, never knowing how we'll ever get those pieces back together again...

I was never going to cheat on Juno, I just hope that he'll think the same.