Chapter Three

Flare

"I don't understand how you can see so well at night, Yata-san!" Kamamoto mumbled from behind the brunette. Yata rolled his eyes and scowled at his partner, once again his concentration was broken. And it was beginning to tick him off. The two had been waiting for Rei's big entrance for maybe fifteen minutes. What was taking her so long?

"Shut up! I'm trying to focus!" His scolded, keeping his eyes trained at the front of the ten story apartment building. He may or may not have come to the realization that maybe there were a bunch of Yakuza because they owned the whole complex. At the front stood two guards, both holding hand guns of some sort. Yata wasn't quite familiar with guns, pistols, and all that. Everything was the same to him. It didn't take long for things to start to unsettle.

Both guards noticed something from afar and looked over, a cedar colored, wolf-like mutt stood not far away, barking at the men like any stray would do. Raised voices were heard, and the man farther behind rose his gun, but a skinny arm wrapped around his head before he could pull the trigger and slowly, brought down to his knees as the man fainted. A woman with pale, almost white hair kneeled over the man and rose slightly, keeping her ruby tinted pupils trained on the remaining guard.

A sharp whistle signaled towards Tobi and the dog dropped his stray act and lunged at the man, biting down on his arm before he could fire his gun. Reina then quickly and swiftly pulled her hand over the man's mouth and slide her favorite blade over his throat. Once again, she made sure the man dropped as silently as possible before rising to a straight posture and waving at the dog. Both quickly proceeded into the building.

"That's our cue." Yata grunted. He had to give her credit. She was clever and swift. Didn't make much of a mess. But he had to wonder if Rei had any plan at all. She didn't seem much of the strategic type. More of a instinctive person than anything else.

"What cue?" Kamamoto quipped, and once again the youngest of the two rolled his eyes and groaned. Why couldn't he just have a partner that knew how to keep up with things?

Rei groaned, leaning up against the wall. Everything was perfectly fine up until the fifth floor where her apartment was. There was a lackey at every door. She blew a strand of white hair out of her face in a sad attempt to sigh and smoothed her thumb over the small switch blade in her hand. The woman gathered just a couple more knives from her pocket and took a deep breath. She looked down at Tobi, who stood at her side, sitting down and looking up at her with a wide smile. Rei rolled her eyes.

"Why do you always have to look at me like I'm going to give you candy?" She hissed quietly at the mutt, whose smile only widened at the mention of candy. Rei shook her head and continued to plan. Not everything was as complicated as they seemed, but she presumed it would be worse once she got to her apartment room. More than likely the bastards were scouring the place for those codes. She was only ten doors away from her place, and maybe a dozen men with simple pistols stood in her path. Maybe.

Rei took in a deep breath and let the Red Aura work its magic as flames began to burn off her arms, lashing out violently as she opened her ruby eyes. She turned and threw a knife at the nearest man, flames lighting up the blade as it left her grip. Gunshots were fired and Tobi ran from Rei's side to attack another man, his cry of warning cut off by a snarling mutt.

"You're dead!" A man shouted and ran after Rei, she smirked and grabbed his arm, slamming her own in the nook of his elbow and knocking out the pistol from his hand. She stomped on the pistol, the handle adjusting to fit under the heel of her boots, and held it there, pointing away from the commotion.

"Ladies first!" She snarled and jabbed her second knife into the guy's neck, she missed the artery, but the man went down in pain nonetheless. Another bullet shot, and Rei had to think quick on a warning from Tobi, shifting her footing she barely missed a badly aimed shot. The bullet still grazed her arm and her senses went to panic. She'd ran out of knives in her hand, and she didn't have too much time to gather the next few carefully. Quickly, Rei opened the door to another apartment to block a few other bullets as she kicked up the gun and picked it up off her boot, making a blind aim as she shot from the side of the door without even looking. There was only one bullet left.

"So much for that plan," She hissed, realizing she had missed her shot. Rei had to quickly pull her arm in as another round of shots came. She cocked the gun and tried once more to see if it really was out of amo, but to her avail; it was baren. With a growl, she threw the gun away and flinched as another wave of bullets made terrifying and nerve-racking thuds on the door. "Damn, can't they be fair and just give me some time?" The woman groaned and pulled out Hot Stuff, putting it in her mouth as she loosened from knives from her boot and grabbed a few switch blades from her pocket. She grunted and kicked the door closed before spinning around and flinging three daggers at one man. He was wearing a bullet proof vest…

Oh, come on!

Rei tch'd and ran a few feet to the man, grabbing his arm and yanking him forward before kneeing him in the gut and flipping him on the back. "And stay down," She hissed. The clansman looked ahead to see her dog in the lead and rolled her eyes, they got at least half of them down. "Six more to go," She said through clenched teeth and threw another blade at the nearest man. He managed to dodge it, but that was the intention. Diversion.

With this chance, Rei sped up her pace and ran forward at a speed that was almost blinding. In a moment's notice, she was already behind the man, dagger in hand and dripping off blood. The man fell forward without another sound. Without even a pause, Rei continued and dashed to another group, ready to perform some other stunts and she got straight in the first man's face and flipped back in a handstand, kicking her leg up to hit the man right under the chin. Stunned, the man fell back and Rei's legs were still in midair, stilled there for just a second before she spun around, knives flung from her boot and at the two remaining men. One hit a man squarely in the chest, another fell short but still managed to pierce the other's leg and cause him to fall. Flipping back up on her feet, Rei threw one last dagger at the last man standing.

She didn't want to look as the knife hit the man in the neck and he made his last, blood filled breaths and fell to his death. Rei sighed and let her hair fall infront of her face, blocking her peripheral vision so she could only see the one spot of the tiled floor that wasn't stained with the blood of the men she and Tobi had just killed. Taking a deep breath, she finally looked around. Each blood stain had a story to it. A past, a present, and now no future. No words were said, but still…

Closing her eyes again, Rei sent a silent prayer to the souls that would either remain in Limbo or move on to whatever Heaven or Hell there was.

Tobi returned to the pale haired woman's side, and looked up at her with a concerned face. A frown even. He whimpered at her, feeling the remorse and sorrow coming from her as she held her eyes closed. Another motion caused the mutt's concern to shift to curiosity as he looked over, alarmed now his ears perked and he barked over at the faint sound of a hushed argument. Rei opened her eyes and looked down at the growling dog, giving him a half smile as she flicked his head. "Hey, enough," She said sternly and looked ahead at what Tobi was looking at. Figures. "Don't think I don't fucking see you, Short Fuse and Company,"

Sure as hell, the two made her appearance known. Yata stepped out from the corner looking steamed as always, the notion caused Rei's lips to curl a little more, and Kamamoto came out from hiding, as well. "Who are you calling Short Fuse, huh, Snowy Locks?" Misaki bit back at her. Rei's jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed at the youngster, though he didn't seem to notice. Or care even. Kamamoto mumbled a warning towards him, but that seemed to only tic the vanguard off even more. Rei rolled her eyes as the two began their bickering and looked back down at Tobi.

"Thank god, you can't talk, mutt," She said sharply, but the dog just yapped at her and smiled like usual. Again, she rolled her eyes. "Do you even care about what I'm saying to you?" His bark wasn't really much of a clear answer. He smiled none the less and walked down the hall to start staring at the two bickering Red Clansmen. Watching the mutt leave her side, Rei redirected her attention to her recent wounds. She checked herself over in case any fresh wounds were reopened and then looked at her bicep where the bullet shot from earlier grazed her. What was it with wounds always hurting more when you look at them?

Rei winced and grabbed her bicep in a lame attempt to stop the flow of blood from the wound. It was small, but, hell, it hurt. A lot. Not to mention a couple bruises here and there, they were sure to ache the next day. Now that her body was in check, Rei made another sweep around to make sure anyone was alive before picking up the many blades that were either on the floor, the wall, or in someone's body. The few people that were still alive were out cold. Except for one man who stood squirming against the wall, one of Rei's knives stuck in his leg. The man was trying with shaky hands to fumble with his phone. More than likely he was trying to call for back up.

Rei knelt down to the man, and her appearance sent the man in another fit. She groaned and thought for a moment. Did everyone have to fear her like this? Then, she yanked out her knife from the lackey's leg and wiped it clean before shoving it back into her boot. She looked at the man and sighed, shaking her head. With a calm movement, Rei took the phone from the man and turned it off. "Get out of here. You don't want to be with these assholes, believe me. Take this chance and run, got it? More than likely whatever reinforcements that come will take you back only to have yourself killed because you failed to retrieve the codes. So, get the fuck out of here," Despite the kind notion to warn the guy, her voice still held a sharp, aggressive, and stern tone as she spoke to him. The man was shaky, but nodded none the less. Rei dropped the phone and rose to her feet, stomping on the device just to make sure the guy wasn't going to make any stupid moves and then looking away as the man rose to his feet and fled. Yata and Kamamoto stepped aside as the man came through. Kamamoto's jaw dropped, and Yata looked at Rei with wide eyes.

Who knew she had a little mercy in her?

"Don't look at me like that." Rei huffed, turning to look at the two HOMRA boys. "What? Did you think I was heartless?" Slowly turning her head, her ruby gaze saddened as she stared down the hall where bodies lay. "No one deserves to die, unless Fate deems it so,"

Both men were amazed to see this side of Rei. They found it hard to believe her, split between her words being truth or this just being another act she put up. A typical reaction to her more colored side. Rei scoffed and rolled her eyes. Yata wiped clean his widened gaze and tch'd. "So, what does that make you? Fate?"

"The rebel." Rei said simply and sheathed her favorite blade. "Nothing more, but maybe a little less. Deception is my greatest skill, and I use it to my advantage," She gave up, and groaned. Ever since she was young she hated herself for going into poetic speeches. "Screw it, I regret taking those damn Drama lessons. Messing up my way of talking," She grumbled and walked down the hall to room 510. Rei had to wonder how the Yakuza lackeys didn't notice the commotion. Maybe they were too engaged in their search to even care if she was coming or not.

Flashback

Rain dribbled down her chin and the white haired girl sighed, looking down on her latest kill. Rei shook her head sympathetically and pulled her hood over her head. How many times would she have to do this until her life debt would be square? Rei didn't want to do this, but…it felt like she had no other choice. This was the bidding of the Red King, and she owed her life to that man. But still…Rei couldn't help feeling the weight of so many lost souls on her shoulders.

Feeling somewhat watched, the albino teen turned around to glare across the rooftop of the building at a certain redhead. Of course, her King had sent someone to keep an eye on her. As usual, it was always him. That red-headed teen stared at her and then the man on the ground, his amber gaze darkening slightly. Rei was getting a little annoyed that her King didn't trust her after all of these years, but even more ticked that of all people he sent, it had to be her best friend.

"Can I help you?" She bit at the red head and he looked back over at her. Without a word, he just shrugged and dug his hands in his pockets. He walked over to her, and Rei had to resist the urge to turn and walk away. "I don't understand why the King has to send lackeys out here to watch me. I'm sure at least you have something better to do than to keep my ass in check. Right, Suoh-kun?" Rei tried her best to keep her shaky edge out of her tone of voice as she spoke steadily. The teen crossed her arms and stared bluntly at the other as he approached her. Once again, his gaze shifted to the body of the man Rei was assigned to kill. "I don't know his name, but he was a business man. Had two sons, they're both in college, and his wife died some years ago. I met him before, but it was brief."

Mikoto glanced over at her with a solemn look. "There was another on the list that you could've taken, she was a complete stranger. She wasn't even in Shizume." Rei shot a glare at the redhead, her rubied eyes turned sharp and angry with a slight hint of hurt. Instead of looking intimidated by his long-time friend, he just smirked and rolled his shoulders back as the two began to walk back to stairwell that exited from the roof of the building. "That's right, you vowed not to kill women or children,"

Rei huffed and opened the door to the stairwell, allowing her redheaded accomplice to go before her and then stepping in, closing the door silently. "The term child speaking literally and figuratively." She grunted halfheartedly. With each blunt step down the winding stairs, water dripped from the tips of her white, bland hair. Silence over took the two teens, and younger of the two took the silence to think for a moment. Why didn't she just leave if she didn't want to do this for the rest of her life? Or at least until the old man died. Simple answer- Reina always kept her promises, and thus expected for others' promises to be kept as well.

"The others wouldn't believe you thought like that, what with the way you act around them," Mikoto interrupted her small thoughts and she looked back up at the redhead. She smirked and shook her head, laughing slightly. It was almost like he knew what she was thinking. Kinda scary, if you thought on it deeply.

"It's called being a good actress,"

Rei swung open the door and to her surprise, no one was there. Ruby eyes narrowed in an aggravated way and the albino slowly walked in, cautious of anyone who might be hiding. "What?" Her voice held a tone of confusion and a ticked off edge. She looked around, it truly did look like this place was ransacked by junkies looking for any type of pill or pills they could find. Wild junkies at that. But where were all the lackeys? The brutes and smartasses? Where were they? Rei glanced over at the two HOMRA boys who stood with empty expressions at the doorway. It hit her like a glass door. "How many guys got away when you…" She had to bite her lip to say it. "Saved me...?" The words tasted like poison.

Yata looked at Kamamoto and then at the ceiling, scratching his head as the youngest of the group thought. "Uh…." He stalled, and glanced back at Rei, He made a one symbol with his finger and confirmed his claim with a tight nod. "One,"

Rei grunted. "Figures," She stated, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "The bastard that got away must've known if he said he failed and I got away he would've been killed on the spot, so instead he lied and said that I killed the others and he was the one that killed me, possibly in a way that would cause him to be unable to retrieve my body. So, given that information, they sent a smaller group of lackeys instead of a whole fucking armada to scope out my apartment. And that group that we just passed was the search party," She spoke her thoughts outright as they came, not wanting to waste time by thinking over her claim. Rei made a quick motion at Tobi, sending him to his scouting business, while she turned to bodily face the other two. It'd been so long since she hid those codes, she forgot where they were so she decided to just let the hound take the job of searching.

"Great deductions," Kamamoto muttered. Once again, Rei broke through her serious mood and snickered with a shrug, causing her pale locks to fall over her shoulder in a loop.

"Just a theory, besides there's a great chance that the guy that I let go has my codes and we'll have to track him down or something, not that I intend to rest until I get those codes," She said bluntly in a sing-song kind of way as she scratched the back of her neck and turned, following her dog as he trailed around with his nose to the ground, leaving the two men behind her gaping and looking exhausted.

"So, what are these codes anyway?" Yata growled, walking more into the apartment and setting his skateboard against the wall and looking around as Rei disappeared into her bedroom.

"Oh, just some passcodes to cellphones and computers." She called, waving at them from the door, then she poked her head out, a slight pout on her face. "I told you I played a hacker, didn't I?" The two gave her a confused look, and she just scoffed and rolled her eyes, disappearing again from the door to continue her search for the codes.

"What does that even mean?" Yata asked, walking over to her, only to stop at the door frame with one of Rei's switch blades pointed towards his ankles. Hazel eyes looked dully at the blade and then at the girl who was seated not far away on the floor, there was a small blade in her other hand, tracing the corner where the two walls met, and Hot Stuff was stuffed in her mouth. Her focus was trained on the wall, yet she still had the time to glance over at Misaki with a mischievous gleam in her ruby eyes.

"It means I'm an actress, simple as that, Misaki," Rei purred his name as she looked back at her work. She could only figure that he hated his first name, after all it did sound pretty girl-ish. Maybe it was worse than Short Fuse…Ah, only time could tell. Discarding any rude comments from the boy, Rei watched the blade as it slid down the corner until its sharp edge hit a split in the wall and halted with a slight jolt. The albino's lips curled and she slipped the flick-blade in her other hand back into her sleeve and grabbed Hot Stuff from her mouth, placing its curved tip in place of her other blade. She quickly stuffed her last blade into her pocket and took a deep breath before flames engulfed her whole hand and moved to coat the black blade of her favorite weapon of choice, then she went to work at sawing away at the wall with smooth movements, the heat of the flames working through the plaster like butter.

After carving out a…rather janky looking square, Rei tilted the blade upward and pulled at the block until it slid out to reveal that only that single block in the entire wall was hollowed out, and in it stowed away was a necklace with three dog tags hanging from it. She picked up the necklace and smirked, shoving the block back into the wall. "Perfect," Rei quipped and stood up. Tobi was still by her side, and the whole time the look of concentration was on his maw until that moment, then he just looked up at his pale haired owner with a smile. Brushing her pale hair from her face, Rei let out a breath and looked at the two before walking by them and towards the exit. "Alright, you guys gotta scram somehow," She muttered, not needing to look back to know the two were following her. She stepped out of the room and across the hall to the fire alarm.

"Can't we just walk out?" Yata questioned from behind as Rei place her hand on the fire alarm switch. She winced a little and then grinned slightly, glancing back at the younger Clansman. He watched her with an irritated look and she had to hold back a scoff. He was nearly like the King, only with a bigger mouth. It was kinda funny. So funny, it made her slip up her control on herself and giggle. Only, it was stopped half way and the albino pursed her lips and turned back at the fire alarm before reclaiming her former expression.

"Well…I don't want to leave any traces, so…I'll have to burn the place down to make sure the Yakuza group that's looking for these fucking codes don't get any ideas…" Rei ignored any glares or confused looks the two gave her, obviously saying that if she were to burn the place down more than likely the group would assume it was her. "So, you'll have to scram while I get a few things packed. Kay?" Without giving them time to answer, Rei pulled the lever down and braced herself for the screeching of the fire alarms and the brought lights flashing down the hall. The sound was ear-splitting, but the woman adjusted to it soon enough and she turned to the two, waving her hands at them. "What are you waiting for, get the hell out of here, dumbasses!" She snapped, quickly moving back to her room as the hall began to flood with people.

Yata and Rikio tried to protest, but Rei just blocked out any outbursts from them until they gave up and left, blending in with the panicked crowd. Rei walked back into her apartment and into her room, her face fell as she found all the scattered items on the floor. It would take forever to pick out each article of clothing through the mess. Rei eighty-sixed the idea and scowled, snapping her fingers at the cedar colored mutt that stopped to scratch himself near the door way. "Get out of here, stupid!" She shouted at the dog. "Follow Short Fuse and Kamamoto-san!" She snapped, gnashing her teeth at Tobi when he didn't respond and just tilted his head. Rei glanced over at the wall and groaned, covering her face with her hand. "And take that skateboard with you," She grumbled the last command, glaring at the mutt through her hand and her hair.

Finally understanding, the beast got up and walked over to the skateboard, clasped his jaws around its body, and then left with a dash. Rei rolled her eyes. Of all the things she managed to put up with, that pup was probably the strangest. Tobi had a responsive personality, as though he understood her words. He was also a little thief too. The first she met the mutt was an occurrence of his thievery. He had managed broken into a high-class restaurant and stole a whole meals worth of food. Rei was just walking down the street when he was making his big escape, and…naturally she helped with the chase and pinned Tobi down. Bastard had some fight in him for a one-year-old. Respecting him, Rei gave him some of her food, which was only half of her sandwich, and he hasn't left her side. At first it was annoying, but she got used to it and made use of his company.

Smiling at her memories, Rei saw the glint of light against leather and turned to grab at least one thing; her favorite jacket. It was only a necessity. After slipping on the hood-less jacket, she wondered out of her room, walking closely to the wall and sliding her hand against the plaster leaving a trail of flames. Every step she took greeted a new flare on the floor. "Time to split," She muttered under her breath with a slight smirk.

Yata groaned, remembering his left his skateboard back at Rei apartment. "Fuck!" He hissed, his jaw clenched and he tch'd, looking the other way. "She better not burn that," The chestnut-haired boy grumbled, glaring ahead as he continued his walk down the street.

"You left your skateboard?" Kamamoto asked with a cautious look. Misaki gave him a curt nod and ground his teeth together, pondering on whether or not she'd purposely leave it there to burn or not. "I'm sure Reina-san will bring it back," The other of the two reassured the younger, but he didn't feel convinced.

"Whatever," Yata grunted and crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back a little. A familiar, high –pitched bark alerted the HOMRA lackeys and the two slowly turned around to face a cedar colored mutt. With Misaki's skateboard in his mouth. As much as the nineteen-year-old was displeased with who was handling his skateboard, and how…at least Reina had the sense to send it back to him. With a slight growl and shuffling his feet, the youngest of the two began to walk after Tobi, and that's when hell began. Tobi got in a playing position and looked at Yata was a mischievous gleam in his mossy-green eyes. "Don't. You. Dare." Misaki growled, intending to intimidate the mutt, but that only riled him up more. With a sharp bark, Tobi darted off around the two and ahead.

Both men turned around, frozen as the mutt ran down the street like a bat out of hell. Kamamoto had his hand partially raised in a failed attempt to tell Tobi to stop. "Uh…" The other was steaming, and with a scowl on his face he punched his partner in the back of the neck, shouting at him.

"Don't just let him get the fuck away, dammit!" Yata roared.

A/N: Gah! I'm soo sorry my writing hasn't been up to snap; I've been battling the enemy of all writers; Writers Block. Oh, and the Blocker of Writers has been a worthy opponent, however…I don't like fighting it day after day. Also…I haven't been updating on time! I wanted to update on Valentine's Day with a lovey-dovey One-Shot that I've been working on…but Writers Block won that battle, and I wasn't finished with this chapter then…And then I wanted to update Friday or Saturday but I was without internet. Finally I can update this chapter! Just kill me now.

Anyway, Happy Late Valentine's Day! Did you have a Sweetheart this year? …I may or may not have had one…*Cough-cough.*

Like I said; this chapter, and the last, aren't up to my writing skills. I hate it. I'm sorry if you get lost somewhere in the fighting scene…I had a hard time writing it and ended up using repetitive words and moves…Again…I. Hated. It. Guh…

Onto my review replies;

Miechan-ish~Nya! I'm glad you liked the bonding! I was kinda nervous, it took me forever to write it. And- O.o Well then...*Cough-cough.* Well, about Rei and Mikoto...Hehehehe...You'll see...I have plans. *Evil grin.*

Kyoichi Amaya~ Glad you liked it, and your wait it over! *Sings.*

Guest~ In a way, I agree with you. Thank you for making your critic kindly, I really appreiciate it. Onto the subject of my OC, I understand what you mean about the killing, and I didn't want to put it in the way that she didn't care about it, and hopefully this chapter cleared it up a bit more. I plan to use character developement to bring out her more "inner" thoughts and emotions. And along the lines of my opening; I wanted to put in something that will relate to the beginnings of Rei's plot, so I decided with some sort of chase, and since I didn't know of any other Japanese gangs, nor did I have the patience to come up with one, so I went with the Yakuza...I agree, it is cliche...but...I'm not going to say I did my best, so...I put it bluntly; I was a tad bit lazy.

Painted Notes~ Gah! *Eyetwitch.* Milo read my fanfiction? He doesn't even know of the fandom!...Creepy...Tell him I said hi, as well. Thanks for the review, see ya'!

Ergelina~ Ha! I don't plan to stop updating. Glad you liked the story! And I'll be teasing the subject of Rei and Mikoto's relationship bit by bit just to torture you guys. Hehehe...Mwahahahahahaha!

MaskedBeauty09~ Glad you like the story so far, hope you like this chapter! And you no longer have to wait!

Well, that sums it up for today! If you liked what ya' saw or have something to help my writing skills; leave a review! And if you loved the story, then feel free to drop a favorite and if you really liked it; by all means click that follow button and stalk my story! :D Hopefully by the time I update my long and seemingly endless battle with the Blocker of Writing will come to successful conclusion and I will regain my place of being the lord of my muse and keyboard! But until then...

Ciao!

-Bartrice