Hello cuties! I'm not entirely back, but I'm hoping to slowly work my way through my "to-do writing" in an attempt to get back to that place of motivation. Now, this was a request from Mr. Falli and it's actually my first attempt at writing something that didn't have any hint of romance or fluff at all! I had a lot of fun writing this, though! I've always wanted to branch out, so thank you for requesting this! c:

Note: This is in the past, when Suzuya still went by Rei (in the CCG orphanage), slight AU.

[Stay tuned for A/N]

Enjoy~

A cool breeze blew through the evening air, the setting sun bathing their surroundings with its pinkish-red light, as Kurona and Nashiro quickly made their way back to their dorm in the CCG Orphanage.

"Hurry, Nashiro! We're going to be late for curfew!" Kurona called, grabbing Nashiro's hand to pull her along faster.

Nashiro nodded and allowed her sister to pull her towards the building, vaguely aware of her surroundings. However, just before they reached the dorm, she heard a strange sound and dug her heels to a stop. Kurona, having not heard the sound, turned towards Nashiro with a confused look.

"Shiro?" She asked, but received no response. Snapping her fingers in front of her sister's face, Kurona was finally able to get Nashiro's attention.

"Kuro... Did you hear that sound?" Nashiro whispered to her sister, eyes scanning the trees around them.

Kurona glanced around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. As she turned back towards the dorm, the noise pierced the calm evening air.

It was a shrill cry, almost as if a newborn baby was crying hysterically, filled with agony. After meeting each other's eyes, the sisters set off in the direction of the cry. As they walked towards the sound, carefully dodging branches and roots, their hands tightened together as the cry steadily got louder the closer they got. About fifty feet from the path they had been running down, they found a small clearing within the small forest. Stopping just outside the clearing, both girls bit back their screams but still gasped in horror at the sight before them.

Kneeling in the middle of the clearing surrounded by a small circle of blood, Rei was giggling maniacally as he held down a stray cat with his left hand and repeatedly brought down his right wielding a scalpel. Even over the animal's cries of agony and his own giggling, Rei heard gasps behind him. He quickly shoved the cat and scalpel out of sight before turning around, covered in the cat's blood, to see who interrupted his fun.

Kurona and Nashiro stood frozen, eyes wide with shock and fright. The light from the setting sun now had a red tint to it that enhanced the splatters of blood on the boy's clothes and face from behind. His eyes were large with glee but he had switched his mouth from a grin to a frown. Not wanting to get closer to the boy, the sisters remained at the edge of the clearing as Rei squinted his eyes, scrutinizing their faces. Suddenly, his face morphed back into his twisted grin.

"Ah, Kuro and Shiro!" He yelled, waving his hands ecstatically. "What are you doing here?"

Nashiro, the more level-headed twin, snapped out of her horror-induced stupor to glare at the boy. "We should be asking you that! What are you doing?!"

Rei blinked innocently. "What? I'm playing, isn't that obvious?"

Now Kurona came out of her shock, yelling at the boy hysterically. "THAT'S NOT PLAYING, REI! YOU ARE TORTURING AN INNOCENT ANIMAL! HOW COULD YOU CALL THAT PLAYING?!"

"Well, isn't playing doing something that you enjoy?" Rei shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "This is fun to me, so it's playing!"

The girls blinked and stared at the boy incredulously. Nashiro opened her mouth to warn Rei that they would find an adult, but closed it again as Rei suddenly perked up and clapped his hands in excitement.

"I know!" He shouted gleefully, picking up the scalpel and holding it out towards them. "Do you want to play with me? It's really fun!"

"NO!" They both shouted. Nashiro continued solemnly, "We are going to find the caretaker so she can see what you did."

Rei frowned as Nashiro turned back towards the dorm, confused and irritated. Glancing to Kurona, he noticed that she hadn't moved at all since they found him. Grinning, he leapt up and grabbed Kurona's hand, dragging her back to the barely alive cat and forcing the scalpel into her hand. Kurona's face paled but she was too terrified to move.

"Ku- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Nashiro had turned to call for her sister only to see that she had moved from her spot. Immediately, she looked towards Rei and was shocked to find her sister kneeling by the cat, scalpel held in her fist by Rei's hand.

"SHIRO! HELP ME!" Kurona screamed, flailing her arms in an attempt to get free from Rei's grip.

Nashiro sprinted towards her sister, but was fell when Rei kicked out a leg, catching her across the ankles. Picking her face up from the dirt, she winced as she tried to lift herself using her arms. Looking at her arm, she saw a large scrape already dripping blood and a large knot forming by her elbow. As she struggled to get up again, she could hear Kurona's hysterical crying and the sickening sounds of stabbing flesh.

"REI!" Nashiro screamed frantically, shuffling her way over the ground to her sister. "REI STOP IT! STOP!"

Rei kept his grip on Kurona's hand and forced her arm to move up and down quickly, stabbing the cat mercilessly. He laughed hysterically as Kurona cried and pleaded for him to stop, deaf to anything but the sounds of splattering blood and strangled wails from the cat. In the background, Nashiro continued screaming for Rei to stop, crying for her sister.

When the cat's screeching stopped, Rei released Kurona's hand and poked the animal with a stick, pouting. As soon as she was released, Kurona scrambled towards her sister, clutching her fist to her body and whimpering. Nashiro finally made it to her sister, wrapping her in her arms and mumbling assurances in her ear, as Rei ceased prodding the dead animal.

"Aw! It's dead!" Rei pouted, grabbing the mangled feline and tossing it to the side.

Nashiro flinched when the cat landed on the ground, holding onto her sister tighter. She smoothed Kurona's hair to calm her, stopping abruptly when Rei moved to stand above the two.

"Thanks for playing with me, Kuro! You should play too next time, Shiro!" He smiled brightly and tossed the bloodied scalpel towards the cat before turning and leisurely making his way to the dorms, whistling cheerfully.

"S-Shiro..." Kurona whimpered, clinging to her sister as a lifeline. "I didn't want to do it, Shiro! He made me do it!"

"Shhh..." Nashiro resumed caressing her sister's hair, looking at the massacre Rei left behind. The cat had landed in a broken and mangled heap of bones, muscles, and blood a few feet away from the sisters. Nashiro could see its entrails and internal organs, along with the bones that broke through the skin. She shuddered and closed her eyes, blocking out the sight from her memory. Slowly, she reopened them and looked down at Kurona. Softly taking her hands, covered with blood and small bits of tissue, she forced her sister to meet her eyes. "It's going to be okay, Kuro. I'm here."

Kuro wiped her eyes and nodded, trusting her sister completely. After a few minutes of deep breathing, Kurona had calmed enough to head back to the dorm. Clutching hands, the sisters silently walked back to their dorm, curfew forgotten.

Such a shitty ending, isn't it? Originally, I was going to finish it off with them meeting in the future (ya know, when they fight at Cochlea) and have Suzuya torture Kurona again or something, but I didn't want to stretch it too far. Maybe I'll add it on in the future, who knows..

Anyway! Please tell me what you think and again, thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU Mr. Falli for requesting this, it was really fun!

As always, a big thank you for putting up with my shenanigans! I promise I'll be back soon!

With love,

Lau ( ˘ ³˘)

Tschüss!