"Dammit." Rui Hachiouji, also known as Code: 05, 8 Tears, or even her more masculine nickname 'Prince', slammed the glass of alcohol against the wooden bar, gritting her teeth as her sky blue hair swept past her face. Memories, from the beginning of her life as a Re:Code to that moment just a few days ago flashed through her mind as her fists clenched, pausing for just a moment to down another shot.

Her blue eyes swerved to look at the bartender, who looked unperturbed. He must have dealt with a lot of people like her: angry, frustrated, and desperate for an escape from reality. It was the evening, and the bar was mainly empty sans a table in the back with a few men who were guffawing loudly. "Another shot, now. And keep them coming."

The man, a sort of attractive one with sandy blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, nodded. But he wasn't that attractive, she preferred more manly men who smoked and had raven black ha- Rui winced at the sound of her own thoughts.

Don't think of him.

The bartender set down her third shot and she chugged it down with the grace of one who was experienced with alcohol. Before she had tried to make herself more...feminine, only he could beat her when it came to the amount of shots they could take. The only sign that she had even touched alcohol was a faint buzzing sound at the back of her ears.

She was about to motion for the bartender to hurry up and pour her another glass when someone slipped beside her. Rui turned to see amused looking blue eyes and light blonde hair, along with a smirk that could only belong to one person.

"I thought'cha quit drinking, Prince." Her companion commented idly, motioning for the bartender to pour him a glass as well.

"Toki," Rui acknowledged, her blue eyes flickering as Toki shot her a crooked grin, clearly pleased to be recognized. "Why are you here?"

He pouted. "Can't a guy just see a friend without being suspected of anything?"

Ignoring the slight warmth that grew in her chest when Toki called her a friend, Rui rolled her eyes, a tiny smile appearing on her face as she studied the blonde. She supposed that he had grown, somewhat, from the boy that she remembered him to be seven years ago when Sakura had been with them. Their memories made at the Shibuya Mansion was one of the things she treasured most. Out of the Code:Breakers, Rui supposed she was the closest to Toki.

Maybe it was because of their similar losses, or how he had once been the least friendly Code:Breaker of them all to her, or because of how actually similar they were. Rui would never really know why she felt a sense of camaraderie around the blonde: their personalities were almost like night and day. Where Toki was outgoing, she was shy. Where in the darkest moments he hated, she had loved. Even so…

"Didn't you say you'd start acting like a girl, Prince?" Toki asked casually, running a hand through his blonde hair as he propped himself up against the bar with his left hand. If it had been a month ago Rui might have scolded him for calling her by that masculine nickname, but at the moment the familiarity of the name on his lips comforted her slightly.

"Gave up," Rui said shortly, her eyes clouding for a moment before she raised her eyebrows at the Code Breaker, who had lit up a cigarette with a lighter he had pulled out of his pocket. "Weren't you going to stop smoking?"

Toki looked a little caught off guard by the sudden change of pace in the conversation, although not many would notice the subtle signs of his surprise that she had caught (a slight raise of eyebrows, pursed lips for just a moment) as his expression smoothed over to a mask of indifference. He shrugged. "Supposed it was a tribute to Pops. He wasn't...he wasn't the best of fathers," Toki admitted, "But I still admired him."

Rui studied her companion closely for a moment before coming to a conclusion. She tilted her head slightly, her blue eyes not showing any hint of emotion as she said simply, "There's something else too, isn't there?"

Toki's smile twitched minisculely as he suddenly abandoned his facade, leaning back on the stool while sighing overdramatically. "You always knew me too well."

"I would have thought that we knew each other long enough to get past the formalities," Rui said dryly. "Don't try smiling like that with me, Toki. You're not the kind of person to worry Nenene and Heike by taking up smoking again, nor coming out this late for a drink at a bar."

Toki visibly flinched before a sneer spread across his face. "Well, that's enough of me. What about you, Prince? Kouji dump you or something? 'cause I can say basically the same about you."

Rui's form stiffened as she gritted her teeth, trying not to break the glass in her hands as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before drinking another gulp. She banged the glass against the table, smile now turned into a furious scowl as her eyes flashed, turning to her somewhat startled companion. "And if that's true?"

Toki quieted and his expression turned solemn for a moment as the conversation drifted into silence. Rui fingered the edge of her leather jacket. She was once again wearing her more androgynous outfit consisting of her white t-shirt, jeans, and black leather jacket. The only change was a silver bracelet around her wrist that Kouji had given to her for her birthday.

She should have burned or trashed it, just like all of the other belongings that had been given to her by Kouji, but in the end Rui couldn't part with it. There had been a lot of happy memories attached to the accessory, and just because their relationship had ended didn't mean that all of the memories of their relationship had turned sour.

"I'm sorry, Rui. But I really can't see you as anything but my little sister, or even a daughter. Yukihina and I...we understand each other. We're happy. I know this is selfish, but I don't think that this relationship would have worked. But I have just one request…"

"Look, Rui…" Toki started, still staring off into space as she started, somewhat shocked that he called her by her given name. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up unwanted topics-"

"Prince," Rui said roughly as Toki looked at her with confusion. She elaborated, knowing that he would understand as she looked away from his piercing gaze. "Just...please continue calling me Prince. Please."

"Okay, Prince." Toki's eyes were cool, but there was a more sympathetic tone in his voice. He understood the need for stability as much as she did. "Let's just change the subject and pretend I never said that. That way we can continue the conversation normally. Agreed?"

"No," Rui said quietly. "It's fine. The information was bound to leak out to everyone anyways: nothing can stay a secret among Code:Breakers. Sakura and Rei are a prime example of that." Ogami Rei had officially 'retired' from being a Code:Breaker, claiming that Sakura had beaten him at his own game after the announcement about the hospital business typhoon Sakura Sakuraoji had reached them. Eden, of course, wouldn't have let him go so easily had it not been for all of the Code:Breakers and their associates (don't think of Kouji, don'tthinkofhim) had threatened to resign as well.

In exchange for Rei's freedom, Kouji had stepped up to the plate, claiming that he was better for the job anyways. ("Besides, either way we'll have each other. From one nonexistent person to the other, I guess.")

Now, Rui wasn't sure if he'd even want the job as a Code:Breaker anymore. Not when he had Yukihina.

"Kouji broke up with me," Rui said slowly and carefully with an even tone, although there was a slight tremor to her voice as she elaborated, "Because he loved Yukihina."

"Wait, but isn't Yukihina a-oh." It was sort of amusing to see the realization register in Toki's face, Rui supposed.

"Well, technically his Lost Form is a girl, but either way I don't think it matters much to Kouji," Rui said dryly, and to her surprise it was slightly easier to speak Kouji's name out loud compared to right after the break up. Talking to Toki must have helped it sink it a lot more, and a more peaceful smile settled on her face. "They're happy. I let him go, so it's not really Kouji's fault in the slightest."

Toki had the strangest look on his face, something between astonishment and confusion. "Y-you allowed him to leave you?"

"Yeah. He's not happy with me, he's happy with Yukihina, so I let him go."

"...you're strange, Prince." The blonde laughed sardonically, a somewhat bitter expression overcoming his face. "You willingly let him go. Yet I…" His face turned dark.

"Toki?" Rui asked, a little concerned at the sudden change of tone as the flirt sat unusually silent.

"...Nee-chan and Heike finally got together." Toki finally said, his face overshadowed with his bangs as Rui took in a sharp breath. "I should have seen it coming, considering how he took care of her for all this time, but I just...don't want my sister to be taken away again." He casted a glance at her, and seeing her worried face he sighed. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this, Prince. Don't worry about me, you have your own problems."

"But Toki-"

"You know," Toki continued as he ignored her protest. "You're too nice sometimes, Prince. You should be a little less sympathetic and worry about yourself for a change. People can take advantage of that kind of attitude, and we've both seen enough of the bad side of humans to know that my statement is at least somewhat true."

"True enough," Rui allowed. "But there's nothing wrong with spreading just a little more goodness in the world."

They both grew quiet at that, silently drinking their beer as they allowed the permeating silence to overtake them once more. Time passed, the clock ticking and once the hour hand hit twelve Rui patted Toki on his back lightly. "Toki, let's go."

"Don't wanna…" Toki murmured, laying his head against the table. Rui started slightly in surprise as she realized that sometime between re-encountering him and now, he had gotten completely drunk. She groaned as she came to the realization that the bar was nearly deserted sans several shady people who she wouldn't trust to bring Toki back home.

Rui could hold her liquor fairly well, so at the most there was just a slight ache in her head as she lugged her fellow Code Breaker out of the bar, silently putting down several bills and nodding towards the bartender before setting off into the darkness of the night.

It was cold outside. The wind blew past her ears, a hollow sound that suited the quiet emptiness of the snowy street. The frost nipped at her ears, and if her hands were not occupied by dragging an intoxicated Toki she would have moved to cover them. A scarf would have been nice, she thought wistfully. At least she had the jacket. It wasn't snowing, thankfully, so the leather would be fine.

"You're a real handful, you know." She grumbled, glancing through her blue bangs at Code:04. He always had been, though. That was just one normal part of having Toki in her life, and she honestly was used to it after years as one of his associates.

Toki groaned, wanting to move, but she kept her grip on his shoulder stable as she guided him through the street. " 'm not a child…"

"You are, in mind and sometimes body," Rui remarked dryly.

" 'm not," he protested weakly.

"You are."

"Not." He countered.

Rui shook her head exasperatedly as she wondered why she even bothered to try reasoning with her intoxicated coworker. Toki himself was already hard to reason with when he was sober, and his drunk form couldn't be that different.

"How…" Toki murmured, and this caught her attention as she looked at him curiously.

"How what?"

"How can I convince ya' I'm not a child?" The sentence was slightly more coherent this time, and Rui snorted. They were now cutting through an alleyway that would lead to her apartment. Even after Kouji left, Rui was careful to make sure that the apartment seldom smelled like liquor. She hated dirty places, which was probably why she had made everyone clean the Shibuya Mansion so much before.

"Trust me, I won't be convinced."

There was a sudden movement, and Rui found herself pinned to a wall. She blinked for a moment in sheer surprise, not comprehending what had just occurred, before her eyes narrowed and she was about to ask whatever the hell Toki was doing.

Her words were silenced by a kiss, swift and chaste. There was no romantic implications behind it: no, both of them knew that they were far from in love with each other, but their lips still locked as she moved to respond, deepening it, desperately hungering for physical attention. The struggle, the battle of wills, went on for at least another minute before she broke it off, sputtering, "W-what the hell was that?"

"Language, Prince," he said breathily, leaning his head against her shoulder as she realized that he was still drunk.

"God," she rolled her eyes. "I'm taking you home. We'll never speak of this again and pretend it never happened, got that? Well, if you even remember tomorrow…"

He shot her a grin, just as cocky and arrogant as she remembered it to be, as he said, "Well, we'll have ta' see about that, then."

As she guided him home, his arms slung around her shoulders, Rui couldn't help but think that this might be a new chance for her to move forward.

...of course, she'd never admit that aloud to Code:04. Ever.

A/N: About two or three months ago, I happened to stumble upon this manga, a gem in the rough I never even noticed before. I fell in love with all the characters, especially Toki and Rui, and this was born. As much as I do ship Kouji and Rui (don't get me wrong, I really do love them), I have yet to find a fanfiction that really displays a lot of Toki and Rui's dynamics. Their similarities are uncanny in some ways, like their idolization of Nenene and Kouji, or even Rui's brother. So this one-shot's mainly a shoutout to this fandom and particularly these characters with such deep and complex personalities that I can't really describe. ;)

Thanks for reading, and please do drop a review. I appreciate every single one. :)