Leiko hissed at the burnt skin on her back. She grabbed the icepack on the bathroom sink and whimpered when the cold of the ice came in contact with her blistering flesh. Oh, how that hurt! Quietly, as to not wake her frightening uncle, Leiko walked through the halls of the house and into her room, all the while holding the pack of ice to the small of her back and trying hard not to yelp in pain. She mistook her footing, though, and the creek of a wooden plank on the floor had her frozen in fright. When nothing happened, she opened the door to her room and walked to her bed.
Tears ran down her cheeks in a frenzy. The young woman was urging herself to spill all the tears she wouldn't allow around her uncle. Tears egged Uncle Toshi to hit and torture her more. Leiko let her hair sprawl out on her and let the cold of the ice freeze her skin before she fell asleep, dragging fear and terror into the dream world with her.
As she fell into sleep, she thought that she had seen a greenish-yellow eye, large as life, on the wall of her room. But she was too tired to care. If it was the demon, let him take her. Right now, she just wanted to sleep and cry.
:: ::
Ren glanced over at Hone, who he now realized was watching him with a keen eye. "Alright, spill it. Who're you stalking now?" she asked teasingly. She could always tell when he was watching something else.
Ren laughed. "I was caught," he said aloud, smiling slightly. He really didn't feel like giving anyone any insight into what—more specifically who—had caught his eye. The poor girl. He'd seen worse, of course, but the way the girl walked…Ren truly believed that she wouldn't take revenge if it were offered to her.
Hone nodded and lifted her sleeve girlishly to hide her grin. "Who're you stalking?" she asked again, still smiling. "Is she pretty?"
"How do you know it's a girl?" Ren asked. He slid down on the wall of the outside of Ai's house and grinned up at the bone woman. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to sit next to him on the porch. He tucked a piece of black hair away from his right eye.
"It's usually girls who require our services," the black-haired woman stated. "Are you watching our next client?"
Ren's beautiful lips turned down into a frown. "I…," he started; the frown on his face deepened and he paused for a second. "I don't know. She has all the reasons to…yet I don't think she will." His green eyes stared up at the endless sunset in confusion. Revenge was an inescapable thing that festered shallowly within the human soul; yet, as he watched the poor brown-eyed girl get beaten and burnt, he couldn't sense any hate inside the girl's heart. Only the desire to leave that place, to get help for her uncle, and to never see him again; but hate was never in her heart. Ren's brows creased, as he started into the eternal orange of the sun.
Hone shrugged. "Perhaps we should nudge her in our direction? Where did you meet the girl?"
"Just walking around the normal world, watching out for vengeful hearts," Ren shrugged. "Her scars caught my eye."
"Sc…ars?" the bone woman repeated slowly. She watched the pond at the feet of the porch as it shimmered in the infinite sundown of Ai's world.
Ren nodded. "Scars," he confirmed. "Her uncle." Ren searched the sun before standing up and stretching. "Have you seen the Mistress?" he inquired, changing the subject eagerly.
"The sakura garden most probably," Hone answered. "Shall we push the girl?" To which Ren nodded.
:: ::
Leiko bit her lip, watching as her large uncle lifted his breakfast to his lips. She let a small sigh escape her lips when Toshi didn't push it all to the floor immediately. Leiko bowed lowly and scurried away. A deep breath escaped her when she closed the door of the house behind her. She bowed her head and closed her eyes in relief, tightening her hands on her briefcase. After another deep breath, the black-haired woman walked away from the house.
The walk to school was silent. She never walked with anyone, preferring instead to think silently throughout her walk. The click of her loafers on the concrete of the sidewalk was her only companion for a long while. Until she banged into a person. Being bold, as she was, Leiko took a step back to face the poor person. "Oh," she said, looking up at the man. He looked old enough to be in high school with her. Maybe he was a new student? Leiko smiled cheerfully at the black-haired man. "Sorry, sir," she apologized.
The man's yellow-green eyes brightened for a second and he gave her a half-smile. "No, no. It was my fault. I should've kept walking."
Leiko rolled her eyes at him playfully; she tucked a piece of her layered bangs over her ear. Shaking her head, she said, "Don't take blame. It's my fault."
"Truly, miss—" the stranger started to say, but was interrupted.
"I won't have it!" Leiko told him, her chocolate brown eyes shinning teasingly. "It's my fault so deal with it."
The man nodded. "Guess I have no choice in the matter," he muttered loud enough for Leiko to hear. His artfully thin black brow was pulled together humorously. "Ren, at your services, ma'am," he said with a bow.
Leiko gave a joyous laugh; as her laughter died, she swore she saw a confused frown on the beautiful man's face… Leiko shrugged it off; must have been a trick of the eye. "Leiko, at yours," she grinned. Her grin slipped off, transforming into a frown, when she saw the stranger's eyes zero in on her leg. There was a healing pink burn mark where he was staring. Her teasing chocolate eyes stoned into brown suspicion. "What're you looking at?" she growled, scowling fiercely.
Ren's eyes lifted from her leg, traveling the way of her uniform skirt and shirt and stopping when he reached her angry brunette orbs. "Have you heard of the Hell Correspondence?" he asked instead.
"Yeah," Leiko said sternly, glaring daggers at the man. The nerve—watching her scars and not even answering her question! Of course, maybe she was overreacting; she was very aware of the self-conciseness that she had when it came to her scars. "It appears at midnight, blah blah blah, type in the person's name, more blah, and the Hell Girl will get revenge for you. What of it?"
Ren's beautiful thick lips turned into a confused frown. "Nothing," he said, scowling with a fury to match Leiko's, "just thought you should use it."
Leiko's big brown eyes narrowed hatefully. "What makes you think I have anyone to get revenge on, Ren?" she spat, slacking her shoulders and lowering her eyes to glare at him through her long lashes. She crossed her arms, tightening her grip on her schoolbag. She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently.
Ren took a deep breath and gave a half-grin to the girl. "What person would purposely burn themselves?"
Leiko frowned. "Goodbye, Ren," she said, glaring death. "Good luck with your life." She walked away, crossing the street to her school without a glance back.
"That went well," Hone said from her hiding place near a building. She walked to her confused friend, placing a hand on his shoulder as he watched the girl walk away. "I thought you said she wasn't vengeful," Hone wondered, though she could very much feel the soul of the girl, and, no, it wasn't bitter in the least bit.
Ren glared at the bouncing ponytail that stared at him now instead of the girl's amazing chocolate eyes. "Humans confuse me," he stated, then continued the thought with, "and women are scary."
Hone laughed, "Hell hath no wrath like that of a woman scorned. Shall we go tell the Mistress that we may have found her next client?"
"You go, I'm staying."
Hone's amused laugh echoed through the streets. "Haven't you had enough flirting?"
Ren's right eye twitched. "I was not!" he shouted.
"Whatever you say, mister it's-my-fault," Hone teased. "Just remember: If you keep bugging her, she's going to hit you where you don't want to be hit." She meaningfully eyed the dormant place between his legs. "One of the downsides of being a human male."
Ren glared at the bone woman as she disappeared. "Flirting my ass…" he muttered stubbornly as he sat on the sidewalk, ready to wait all day
:: ::
Leiko frowned. It was time to go home. Tears lined her eyes, barely escaping falling over her lashes. It was time to make dinner for Toshi, lest he come home to beat her again. The unenthusiastic shuffle of her shoes on the grassed ground of the schoolyard echoed in her ears. Leiko licked her lips; her fear was such that it dried out her lips. She shook her head and ran the back of her hands over her eyes in an attempt to rid herself of the tears.
She had once again refused to walk with her friends. If Toshi was already home and he saw her with friends… Leiko shuddered at the thought. Back erect, Leiko fought the urge to cry and walked out the schoolyard. She crossed the street silently. "Hey, Leiko," she heard a familiar voice call. She paused for a second, watching in shocked silence as the strange green-eyed man walked over to her.
When the man in the green and white hoodie stopped next to her, Leiko gave a gentle smile. "Ren," she greeted. Then she paused for a second. "That is your name, right? I don't want to get it wrong." He nodded. "Listen, I'm sorry about this morning… I just got a bit defensive. I guess it was out of line. Sorry."
"I shouldn't have expected you to be okay with my prodding," Ren said, his own silent apology.
Leiko nodded. She started to walk again, welcoming Ren's company. "It's okay. You were right." When she said this, she sounded almost ashamed. "I did not burn myself. I'm a bit self-conscious about it."
"Then I won't pry," Ren told her. Besides, he already knew the reason those burns were there. He wondered how she was faring with the newest one on her back. He was shocked when the feeling of worry overcame him. Mayhap it was better if she didn't contact Ai.
Leiko nodded her thanks to her tall friend. "Hey, Ren?" Ren grunted to show her he was listening. "Why did you wait? What could you possibly want with a stranger who all but flipped you off?"
Ren shrugged. "You look like you need someone to talk to. Sometimes its easier to talk to a complete stranger about your problems than a friend." He paused for a moment. "Plus, I didn't like the way we left things. Sorry I mentioned Hell Girl. Don't contact her, please."
Leiko laughed. "You believe that myth?" she asked between her laughter. "Ren, the Hell Correspondence is a story told to those with bitter feelings in order to make them feel as if they can do something about their tormentor." Her voice, lively in the beginning of the conversation, turned solemn. "You can never do anything about tormentors. Just suffer through it and wait until it's over. Survive—that's all you can ever do, survive. Some just survive better than others." Leiko sighed. "Although, even if she were real, I wouldn't contact her. Don't the stories say that the tormentor is sent to hell?"
Ren didn't look at her. Instead, he watched the scenery before him, tracing the leaves on the bushes near the yellow house with his eyes as he drank in her words. If only she knew. "Yeah," he said after a moment of silence. "They end up in hell."
"I don't want to do that to anyone, no matter how they act. If they have a chance at heaven, I want them to have a fair shot at getting there," Leiko said solemnly. Then she smiled up at Ren, who she reached only his shoulders. "Would you send anyone to hell?"
How to answer that question? He had sent people to hell, both when a sword and when taking a human appearance. But, if he had a choice, if he wasn't helping the Mistress, would he do it? "Probably," he admitted.
Leiko nodded. "You look like the type of guy to, if the person was bad enough," she agreed silently. For a long while, the only sound was the scraping of Leiko's loafers and Ren's sneakers. Leiko pulled a key from inside her white shirt and frowned at it. "I shouldn't be talking to strangers," she muttered at the key, "much less should I be inviting that stranger into my house…" Leiko trailed off, thinking of the possibilities. Ren could come in, maybe stay for lunch or later, divert Toshi from his usual beatings…of course, the beating would be much harder when Ren did leave; but if she didn't invite Ren, the beating would be much longer. Leiko chose the former. "But," she said cheerfully as she pulled the red thread that the key dangled from over her head, "oh well. Would you like to come in, Ren?"
A chance to spy on the abuser? Why not? Shake things up a bit from the usual way of spying. Ren shrugged, answering, "Sure." He hadn't noticed they were at her house already; which was a good thing, considering that he "didn't" know what her house looked like. "Where's it at?" Leiko ignored his question, instead walking up the stairs to her lawn and pushing the key into the lock. "Nice place," Ren commented. He already knew what the house looked like, but pretended to be impressed by the obvious wealth.
Leiko popped her briefcase onto a hook near the door and dropped to take off her shoes. Ren speedily pulled his shoelaces and stepped out of his black sneakers. "What would you like for dinner?" the girl asked, hurrying to get inside. Ren walked slowly in after her.
Ren's thin eyebrows pushed together. Had he ever really eaten? He didn't think so. "Anything's fine," he told her, following her into the large expanse of the kitchen.
Leiko pulled her hair out of its ponytail; it fell on her shoulders in loose, layered curls. She hurried to fill a pot with water and set it over the stove. "Are you sure?" she asked, almost running to the refrigerator.
Ren saw that she was already cooking and didn't honor that silly question with a response. He sat on a chair at the head of the rectangle table. "With who do you live?" Ren asked, watching as Leiko ran her fingers through her short hair.
Leiko scratched the crown of her head. "With my uncle," she answered. She heightened the flame of the stove and disappeared into the bathroom that was attached to the kitchen. She reappeared, dressed in shorts that hardly reached her mid-thigh and a sleeveless green shirt instead of her white schoolgirl's uniform. Ren hid an impressed smile. "How about you?"
Every bone in his handsome body screeched for him to lie his ass off. So Ren did. "With my grandfather," he said, thinking of Wanyūdō, "and my older sister, Hone, along with my little sisters, Ai and Kikuri, and brother, Huang." Why'd he just give her their names? Actually, when he thought about it…that was the way he viewed his companions, as siblings and grandfather; one big family with a less than normal family occupation. Ren leaned back on the sturdy chair.
Leiko smiled, tossing in a handful of dried noodles. "Big family," she commented. "What happened to your parents? Mine…mine went camping and…well, they found their bodies three weeks later…"
Ren watched while Leiko trailed off in thought as he tried to think of a good lie; she walked to the pantry to grab three cups of rice. She had already readied the pot for it. "I've never really known my father. He came around but never stayed," he lied, making it general. Many children didn't know their fathers in this day and age. It was such a weird thing; of course, what would he know, being a sword and everything? "Our mother died of old age."
Leiko nodded. She stirred the limping noodles and then took her seat across Ren. "Sorry," she said, offering condolences for his mother. "How old are they, your siblings?"
"Not very old, though Ai is beyond her years." Ren tried to not laugh—and succeeded, to his surprise—at the fact that, while Ai looked very young, she was the oldest of them all. "Well, excepting Hone. She's in her mid-twenties." What a believable lie. Should the girl ever meet his "family," she would think he was telling nothing but the truth. "We call her old lady." Ren listened, stunned into silence, to Leiko's airy laugh. If he didn't know better, he'd say this girl led a too-cheerful life. He wondered how she could keep up such a believable act. "Ai's very serious. She doesn't like to show emotion. She misses our mom I guess. She's fourteen." Leiko's head tipped to the side as she considered this, then she let the thought go and allowed Ren to continue his talk of his family. "Huang is very gentle. He likes to be quite. He's ten." Ren had to hand it to himself: he was good with guessing ages. He himself had no idea how old any of them were taking the appearance to be; but he'd seen humans around those ages and how they'd looked similarly youthful to how his friends looked. "And the littlest one!" he complained. "Kikuri's such a brat. She looks like a doll, I swear"—inside joke, Ren laughed internally—"and she's the most childishly evil little girl."
Leiko laughed. "And how old is she?"
Grinning, Ren threw himself into the conversation with more enthusiasm. For the first time, he was glad to know someone outside the whole Hell Correspondence thing—someone to complain to, to let out all his childish annoyance, even if it was behind the pretence of it being family. "Seven…eight. I don't even know."
"She annoys you that much that you won't bother to remember her age?" Leiko asked, grinning.
Ren shrugged. "It's not me she bugs, because I'll all but hit her"—Leiko flinched at this comment, and Ren made a mental note to never mention hitting someone ever—"but she bugs Hone and Wanyūdō and forces Huang to call her Princess Kikuri. And, since I'm a bit faster than her, when she does try to bug me she ends up hitting someone else and it's just a big mess. We were all calm and quite before…" He was about to say before Ai had Kikuri join us, but remembered: they were a family. His pause was so brief the human didn't notice it. "Mom adopted Kikuri," he finished.
Leiko smiled, lifting out of her seat to sir the rice, put a lid on it, and lowered the flame. "Adopted, is she? Well that explains why she's such a brat. When you're adopted, you don't want to go back to the life you had so you live it up as much as you can before its gone, and you don't care if you're mean or not," she clarified.
But before she was done, Ren was already shaking his head. "Nah, I think she's just a brat."
The black-haired young woman laughed. "Give her some time," she suggested, turning to pay attention to the spaghetti.
Ren cocked his head curiously as he watched Leiko. "You talk as if you know a lot about adoptions."
"I should," she said, and Ren could hear the semi-happiness in her voice. "I am, after all, an adoptee. I can sympathize. I was just like your sister when I first came to my parents. It took me all of one year to stop being bratty."
Ren nodded understandingly. "You should see them, though. You'd be shocked that we're at all related." He sighed. "I mean, I'm so handsome and they're so…not."
Leiko laughed. She twisted her neck as to look over her shoulder. Moving her eyes up and down Ren's frame, she teased, "If you say so…"
Shocked, Ren almost jumped out of his seat. "I am!" he shouted, his green-yellow eyes wide with vain anger.
The scratch of Leiko's metal spoon against the pot seemed extremely loud for a moment as the schoolgirl looked over Ren again. "Whatever you say, Ren, whatever you say…" she murmured.
"Leiko!" Ren chastened. The girl in question jumped, fearing her uncle though the voice was very different. "Stop lying!"
The layered hair that faced him now jiggled with the moving laughter of the short girl. "I'm only agreeing!" she said defensively, her laughter coating the words. She dropped her spoon for a second, turning to face the offended man with a grinning face. "You, Ren whatever-your-surname-is," Leiko started sarcastically, "are the most enticing man that has ever walked the face of the Earth and I am honored to be in your presence, milord." At the sound of Ren's annoyed growl, Leiko laughed again and turned to the stove.
When Ren heard the jolly sound of the young woman's laughter, he decided to let it go. He leaned back into his chair and said a word he'd normally never say in the presence of a lady, "Damn straight."
Leiko's laughter died down with the sound of a car's door slamming shut. Ren saw her muscles tense. The stirring became ridged. Sweat glimmered on the back of her long, pale neck. "Please," she said, her voice cracking, "please get out of that chair. Please, move to another one." She ran to the cupboard and grabbed a plate, serving her uncle and setting it on the table where Ren sat. Ren suddenly noticed that he wasn't here to talk and that he was at the head of the table. Speedily, he moved from the seat to the next. He watched as Leiko, terrified, served him spaghetti. She set the plate before him. Her russet eyes seemed to beg him not to eat yet.
If he hadn't been distracted by the girl's panic, Ren would've said that the food smelled…well, good.
The stomp of large feet on the wooden planks echoed throughout the wealthy house. With a shaking hand, Leiko put a cup in front of both plates of food and hurried to lid the foods. Toshi shouted her name; she jumped. "In—in the kitchen, Uncle," she stuttered. Ren felt the sudden need to keep a brick wall that no one could cross between the shivering young girl and her abuser.
"Did you make food?" the man's booming voice called. His voice had the undertone of horror and dread, as if he was something to fear. "Because if you didn't…" he trailed off suggestively. Leiko's big eyes widened in alarm and she moved her shoulders as if suddenly remembering the burn on her shoulder. The burn rested on her shoulder bone, just within her reach. The tall man entered the kitchen; his small blue eyes widened at the sight of company. He smiled, though Ren could tell the smile was a strained act. "We'll just have to order out," he finished, changing the way his ominous threat had gone.
Leiko seemed skilled at hiding her fear, for she controlled her eyes' wideness and stilled her shaking. "Yes, Uncle. Would you like tea, Uncle?"
"No," he said sternly, almost ruining his façade of niceness. "Would you like to tell me who this…fine young man is?"
"Nonsense," Ren interrupted, giving the tall man a fake smile of his own. The chair made an odd scraping sound as it moved against the wood floor. "I can introduce myself," he said, bowing. "Ichimoku Ren. Pleased to meet you, sir."
Toshi nodded, his slim face holding just small reminders of his unhappiness. Skilled as Ren was, he could pick them out. He decided he would stay as long as Leiko would let him, to save her from the horrible man's burns. "Suzuki Toshi," he said warily. "Are you one of Leiko's friends?"
Ren gave a one-sided smile. "Yeah," he answered. "I wasn't invited though," he said. If he could save this girl from any of Toshi's belt lashes, he would. "I let myself in."
Again, Toshi nodded; he went to take his seat at the head of the table. Leiko hurried to serve his tea. "Black, just the way you like it, Uncle," she said, keeping her eyes downcast and her voice low. Ren scowled. He didn't like this. After giving Ren his tea, she scurried off into the shadows of the kitchen, leaving Ren and Toshi to eat.
"So, my boy," Toshi began the dinnertime conversation. "Why've you followed my dear niece like a lost pup? Are you smitten?" His deep voice laughed at the thought.
Ren grabbed his chopsticks, amazed at how hard it was to hold them properly. How did humans do this? After a few good tries, he managed to get more than seven spaghetti strands; he answered before stuffing the godly smelling food in his mouth. "I bumped into her by accident." If Leiko wasn't so deathly afraid of the man he spoke to now, Ren was sure she'd counter his accusation. He had no idea how he knew that. "I figured I'd apologize correctly at dinner. But she isn't eating."
It was a silent question for Toshi to explain, although his tone had the smallest undertone of worry. Did Leiko ever eat? Is that why her skin was so pale? Her skin looked almost sickly, if she were a shade or two lighter. Did this hell-bound prick keep her just inches from death's door?
"Oh," Toshi said, as if he had just noticed his niece's absence. "No, she prefers to serve me and our guests before eating."
Lies, Ren almost spat. He kept himself in check, making sure his pretense of ignorance didn't veer off course. "Hn," he muttered instead. He took another mouthful of the sauced noodles in his mouth, amazed at their taste. Why had he never eaten before?
"Leiko!" Toshi suddenly shouted. The girl appeared out of nowhere, carrying a mug of tea. She hurried in serving her uncle. When she disappeared again, he muttered to Ren, "Yes. She is old-fashioned."
More lies! a voice inside Ren shouted. He realized it was his own consciousness. The Ichimoku watched the movement of the shadows, knowing that Leiko was trying her best not to make any noise incase it vexed her uncle. "She doesn't seem so to me," he muttered, thinking of how she hadn't cared at his curses. He almost laughed, the remembered the person he sat next to now. He scowled instead.
"Well," Toshi said, after slurping down orange noodles. "She's only like that with dinners and the like."
"Yeah," Ren muttered, and he stomached the rest of the meal in angered silence.
