Chapter Four

Burned

Tobi waited eagerly at the door, mossy green eyes staring down the street longingly. Rei hadn't returned yet, and it was obvious that the mutt was worried. Though, the others didn't think much of it. Anna sat on the couch, staring at her hands and listening for any sign of her sister's return. The chatter in the bar was mere background noise, and the pale haired girl thought little of it. It had been five years since she'd seen her sister, and she had only seen her once before then. That was when she gave Anna up to her aunt. Rei was only seventeen when their mother died, and Anna was only six. There was no chance that Rei would be able to raise her sister, so she left her with her aunt. They never spoke to each other until now, and it seemed Rei acted as though they'd known each other for the longest time. However, the truth was, the two barely knew anything about each other. Anna knew Rei was an artist because her Aunt showed her so many of her pictures, and she knew she was pretty much raised into the Red Clan since she was ten, and Rei didn't even know her mother until she was fifteen years old. Before the Red Clan, Rei was raised off the streets.

Anna could remember the day she first met her older sister, and it was the night of the accident when their mother and Anna's father died. That was another thing about the sisters; they were only half-sisters. Rei didn't know who her father was and really couldn't care less, the only thing she ever seemed to care about is Anna and her safety. That's the reason why she left Anna to her aunt, so she could be safe. Then she was dragged into the world of the Clans, and that bothered her. Why wouldn't she be bothered, though? Anna is her only family. And she intended to keep it that way. Though, it was clear to Anna that in a way, Rei trusted Mikoto to take care of her whatever the costs. In return, he understood that.

Anna stared at the cluster of marbles in her hand and then turned her head sharply to look out the window to see Rei there, getting off a sporty-looking, black motorcycle. How'd she not hear her? It was obvious that she should've heard the engine. Ah, well. Anna watched as Rei looked up at the bar and sighed, giving the ground a worried look before collecting herself and putting on a bored expression. Leaving her bike parked on the street, Rei walked up the stairs and into the bar. Totsuka looked up from his place on the other couch and smiled.

"Rei-san!" He greeted, but she just ignored it and walked up the stairs with a slight wave of her hand.

"Night!" The albino muttered before disappearing up stairs with Tobi trailing her with a yip, leaving the others to continue their chatter. Anna stared at the stairway and sighed slightly, watching Rei's long hair leave her view. She then looked at Mikoto who was also staring in that direction. Without a word, Anna got up and walked across the bar and up the stairs, ignoring any questions thrown her way.

Anna was quick enough to catch her sister in the hallway, and instinctively she tugged on Rei's leather jacket, much like how she would to Mikoto to get his attention. Rei stopped mid-step and looked at her little sister, the misunderstood look of anger dimming from her ruby eyes as her mind registered it was her sister that dare to stop her. Tobi began to walk ahead of the two before he noticed and turned their way with a slight whimper. A small, weak half-smile made Rei's lips tilt slightly. She looked tired, and the smudges of soot on her person didn't help her battered appearance at all. Anna just stared up at her look-a-like sister, trying to read her expression. The eleven-year old had to resist the urge to reach into the pockets of her dress and use her marbles on her sister.

No words were exchanged between the two until Anna hugged her sister, not caring if Rei would be bothered. Closing her eyes Anna whispered something simple to her, but that something made everything else wither away in this world. "Thank you,"

Rei's expression was that of surprise, but as the words sank in another warm smile crept up on her face and in return she knelt down to Anna's size and hugged her little sister back, holding her tight and for a moment she regretted ever leaving her. She regretted not sharing any words with Anna before today. She regretted never knowing her sister existed until that night. Rei had to be wary of her emotions and held her breath to keep her pent up aggression and sorrow from leaving her.

Though, for the moment of holding her sister, she felt safe in a way. Which was funny, since Rei wanted to protect Anna, not the other way around. Still, she couldn't help but feel all the pain, anger, sorrow, and grief from all these years wither away, even if it was just for a moment. Rei sighed and closed her eyes before letting her sister go and standing up straight once again, regaining her confident look. She smiled down at her sister and nodded.

"Thank you," Rei retorted, which only made Anna's eyes widen a little in confusion, though Rei ignored the notion and chuckled. "It's late, shouldn't you be in bed? You may not be as tired as I am, but you still have to sleep." She didn't exactly know how to do this motherly stuff, but she did know that children need their sleep. Though, she didn't want to go full blown mother on her sister. That was Mikoto's job. With an agreeing nod from her sister, Rei bit her lip and nodded back in an awkward attempt to say goodnight to her little sister before continuing her walk down the hall. She snapped her fingers at her dog, but he didn't respond.

Instead, the mutt began to walk over to Anna without as much as a glance to Rei, and he sat by her side with a pathetic huff directed towards his master. Rei's eyes narrowed in a playful way and she smirked, blowing white locks from her face. "Traitor," She bit before once again nodded at her sister with a small smile and walking down the hall. Rei bit down on her lip and sighed before forcing herself into the formidable wreck of a room. Though, instead of growling in frustrated anger at the dull, white walls, she quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out two bandage rolls, then began removing her jacket and her shirt, leaving just her black tank-top on. Rei winced at the sigh on her arms. Maybe her wounds did open.

Other than the bullet graze on her shoulder/bicep area, her arms consisted of several cuts and burns, a little dried blood here and there and a lot of fresh blood everywhere, not to mention the bruises. Rei hissed to herself, "Fuck," She said in a rather sharper tone than intended. Giving up on just replacing her former bandages, Rei decided to just take a damned shower. She needed one anyway.

Rei poked her head out of the door and made sure the coast was clear for her to sprint down the hallway and to the bathroom. Seeing the hallways empty, and made her attempt to slip through the door, quickly closing it with a faint click and then quickly make her way down the hallway and slide into the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she leaned back with a sigh. She really didn't want anyone seeing her like this; all battered, bloody, and bruised. Not only would it downgrade on her current rep for being as tough as nails; it would cause such a clamor over such a small thing. Rei could take care of herself just perfectly.

Rei began unwrapping her only bandages and throwing them away, not looking at the deep cuts they once covered and the rigid texture of the skin around them. She slid her fingers over the fabric on her back and her jaw clenched at the touch of raw flesh. She decided it wasn't such a good idea to be tending to that just yet. Ah, well. The albino turned on the hot water in the sink and began rinsing off her hands and arms, chipping away at dried blood and being careful not to nick any sensitive spots in her wounds.

Mikoto's eyes narrowed as he watched a pair of legs dart past the stairway and down the other side of the hallway. His jaw clenched. Didn't she say she was going to bed? Well, not technically, but in subtext? The Red King sighed and closed his eyes, telling himself not to be paranoid, but he still couldn't help himself but to be curious. Though, he held himself down and continued to listen to the chatter among the bar as some of the Clansmen left one at a time, leaving only those who lived in the building and/or owned it. Kusanagi shut the bar down and began clean up any leftover messes while Totsuka helped, Yata had dismissed himself from the room to finally fall asleep. They all had a long day, what with Rei's unexpected appearance.

The redhead sighed and got up without a word and walked upstairs, turning to his left and then opening the second door. He paused in the door way and his eyes narrowed at the sight. He ignored the fact that Rei was nearly undressed, all his angered focus was on the many scars and gashes on her back complimented by ridged edges on her skin. She stopped midway of taking her shirt off and looked behind her, ruby eyes wide. Mikoto didn't see anything except for her bare back and battered person. The surprised looked on her face flared into anger and she dropped her shirt for it to loosely fall back in place on her torso. The Red King saw her jaw clenched and her fist ball up as flames flared up on her arms and around her legs.

"Out!" She screamed as loud as she could and Mikoto had to rush to close the door for any of her flames of rage and embarrassment to escape the bathroom. The Red King blinked a couple of times before huffing out a breath and running his hand through his crimson locks. Tired eyes darkened; he really didn't have to patience for that woman. Though, he knew someone who would. Mikoto tch'd and decided he'd get onto her another time before walking down the hallway and back into to bar.

"King?" Totsuka said, looking up from helping Kusanagi clean. Both veterans were alarmed off Rei's shriek, and the latter of the two seemed a bit on edge. He probably could tell that more than likely the albino had lit something on fire. "Is everything okay?" The dirty blond tilted his head, causing some of his messy hair to fall infront of his face.

"Reina-san needs help tending to her wounds," The King said bluntly, sitting back down on a bar stool, folding his arms over the counter and laying his head down.

"Wounds?" Totsuka mumbled questioningly, but waved it away with a thoughtful sigh. "Alright then, I'm guessing she's in the bathroom, hmm?" No response from the Red King. Totsuka took it as a yes and quickly exited the bar and went upstairs mumbling something about both the King and the newest Clansman. Mikoto grunted halfheartedly when his friend's voice faded away and closed his eyes, nearly giving into his sub-consciousness les the bartender to his left hadn't spoken up.

"Please tell me she didn't try to burn up the bathroom because you walked in on her…" The blond sighed with a frustrated and angry edge to his tone of voice. Mikoto turned his head slightly to peek at the veteran and scoffed, though it only looked like he shrugged his shoulders. Kusanagi's jaw clenched and the King realized he'd have to settle this with his own words instead of just trying to imply that yes, she did just try to burn the place down.

"Maybe. I'm sure she'll clean it up." The redhead sat up and stared blankly at the wall infront of him, half of his mindset elsewhere. "I didn't technically walk in on her; all I saw was her back and all those damn scars,"

Now Kusanagi looked really concerned as he straightened up from scrubbing down the bar counter. The blond pushed up his glasses to take a clearer look at his King and he smirked slightly. "Well, you seem a bit off edge about that, Mikoto-san," He said in a slightly teasing way, all his attention now on the redheaded King.

Irritated now, Mikoto stood up and began walking up the stairs. "Not in your wildest dreams," He muttered under his breath before disappearing from the bar.

Rei winced, her fists clenching tighter as Totsuka tugged on the bandages wrapped around her torso. It was awkward having him help her, but it sure as hell was better than her lame attempts at patching herself up. Within a little over half an hour, Totsuka helped clean and treat all her wounds and then even helped her wrap her torso in bandages to keep the many scars and cuts on her back from bleeding anymore or opening up. Her arms she could handle, the few wounds on her legs were fine, but her back was the main problem. And it was awkward for Rei to be completely topless infront of Totsuka, not that he saw anything. It was also hard to hold up all her alabaster locks with one hand while helping Totsuka wind the bandage roll around her chest and stomach with the other. Several times she had to resist the urge to yip in pain as her middle-school friend would tighten the bonds.

Let's just say it wasn't the most comfortable thing to have her breasts bound up like this.

Rei could barely breathe.

"Do you think you could make the bandages looser?" The albino wheezed, looking back and causing a bundle of hair to fall from her grip. She bit down on her lip, nearly letting all her pent up frustration out on that single bite, and growled. "Mother fucker…" Rei glared at the stands before using both hands to gather it all back together.

"Such foul language," Totsuka tsked and shook his head at her in a playful way before chuckling a little. "If you were uncomfortable, you should've just said so!"

Rei dead panned. I've been uncomfortable ever since Hothead walked in on me. The woman wasn't looking forward to having any type of encounters with her newest King, be it accidental or inevitable. She didn't want to be questioned by him; it was annoying enough to convince Totsuka not to talk about the many scars on her body that he hadn't noticed before when he first tended to her. It was going to be a pain in the ass if she had to explain to Mikoto, and more than likely he'd be persistent about it.

Totsuka lightly tugged tight the bandages again before taking a safety pin and pinning it all together. With a satisfied chuckle, the pacifist stepped to the side for Rei to retrieve her clothes. Though, instead she sat down on the toilet seat and began tearing at her jeans. She yanked on the denim and tore off most of what was once her favorite pair of jeans, creating shorts, and then grabbed her hoodie, only to frown to see the thin fabric with a large gash right up the side. She glared at in in dread of having to go shopping. "Great," She grumbled and threw the shirt aside, with a huff she elbowed her knee and rested her head on her fist, glaring at the floor. Rei wasn't much of a shopping girl. In fact, she hated it. The crowds, the prices, the judgmental employees. They all yanked her chain the wrong way.

Totsuka, on the other hand, had a different idea. The twenty-two-year-old chuckled and waved away her anger. "How about we go shopping tomorrow?" He didn't wait for Rei's protest. "Until then, I'll get a shirt for you to sleep in," And without another word, Totsuka slipped through the door way to get Rei something to sleep in. Again, she huffed an angered breath. Shopping was probably the stupidest idea in the world. All it ever did for Rei was just made her feel bad about her sense of style and the way she looked.

As if she wasn't bothered enough by the color of her hair. In all honest, she hated her hair; it was a dull color- white. Ever since she was little she believed this, even though others told her it was a pretty color, she'd accept their compliments but sooner or later forget about it. There was no way in hell she was going to dye it…all the stuff with hair dye scared the shit out of her. What if her hair ended up falling out?! Rei would rather have dull hair than no hair. Ah, well.

Now that Rei had time to herself, she took in the condition of the bathroom. Everything was the same except for the singe marks on the walls and doors, the burned up shower curtain and towels. She'd have to remind herself to buy new ones when she went shopping the next day just to keep Kusanagi-san from freaking out too much. If she had to, she'd even volunteer to repaint the walls…Maybe not. Knowing herself, she'd bill Izumo in a heartbeat if that were the case.

"Here we go!" Totsuka quipped as he quietly walked back into the bathroom, closing the door as silently as he could and breaking Rei's thoughts. It became clear to Rei that maybe the other Clansmen were asleep by now. She caught glimpse of a white blur and quickly caught the piece of fabric that Totsuka had tossed at her. Man, her attention span was lowering. She must really be tired. Rei looked at the white shirt and sighed, looking down at it like it was one of the biggest disappointments in her life. That was another thing about herself; she hated having to depend on people. Ever since Rei was little the albino was constantly trying to be independent. Such a thing was impossible until she met a certain person who told her to just fight back.

"I know it's not the best fit, but…it'll work," Once again, Tatara knocked Rei from her thoughts and she looked up at him, forcing a smile on her lips and she chuckled before throwing on the shirt. It held loosely on her torso and pooled at her waist, the wide V-neck fell at her shoulders and made part of the bandages visible. The white haired woman scowled at the sight, but accepted it none the less. She stood up and slightly bowed to Totsuka. Rei then noticed the shirt was a long-sleeve as the sleeves slipped from her biceps and hung off her hands an inch or two.

"Thanks…" She examined the large, long-sleeve shirt with a tilt of her head. "Whose is this exactly?"

Totsuka gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Dunno, just found it in the dryer." Rei gave him a look, one of which he waved away with a slightly nervous laugh. "Don't worry! It's clean!"

"Thanks," She repeated, standing up and brushing past the blond to exit the bathroom, letting out a long yawn. "Going to bed…" The albino mumbled with tired eyes, her mind already shutting down for the day. She didn't hear any response from Totsuka as she walked down the hallway and back to her room. After entering, she closed her eyes, took two steps forward, and fell on the bed that stood side-by-side with the window, a soft comforter cushioning her fall. Alabaster strands of hair pooled around her upper body and she curled up, tugging the covers close to her as she peeked her eyes open to barely stare at the white walls. She turned her body, folding the covers over her person, and now stared at the window. The blinds were open and she could clearly see the city lights…and no stars. Light pollution was another thing she hated. How could she ever marvel at the silver beauty of the stars with light pollution?

Shizume City wasn't all that bad with light pollution; once in a blue moon, Rei could be lucky enough to see the dim lights of stars. However, they were few. Very few.

Rei reached out a pale hand and grabbed the line, tugging it so the blinds would slide down and cover the window, leaving the room dark and cold. If it weren't for the fine lines shown through the blinds, Rei wouldn't be able to tell if her eyes were closed or not. Though, after a while, Rei's ruby eyes began to droop and soon enough she left herself to her sub-consciousness once again. This time in hopes of gaining some real sleep.

Nightmare

There was a quiet whispering noise; nothing more than background to Rei as she wondered about. Stumbling, she clutched her side and slid along the wall before attempting to walk right and failing once again. Blood smeared on the metal walls as the girl pressed on, breath heavy against the air that seemed thin. With each breath, another tight squeeze on her lungs greeted a series of coughs. This time, the violent shakes of her body caused her ankles to fail her and her knees to buckle. The albino slipped down fell on the hard concrete. The motion greeted a change of scenery. The ground was wet with rain and the wall against her back wasn't of cold metal, but now it was rough brick, wet from the rain that caused alabaster locks to cling to Rei's neck and face.

Struggling to sit up, Rei leaned against the wall and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Laying across from her was a boy, black, short, messy hair scattered all over his face so she couldn't see who it was, but that didn't stop her memory from recognizing him. Blood pooled around the boy and touched the tips of Rei's bare feet. It was at this moment she realized she was trembling and the whispers go louder.

"Monster! Murderer! Killer! Heartless!" They screamed at her and the dreaming personification of Rei cried out, covering her ears, closing her eyes tight and shaking her head violently as the horrible words were thrown her way.

"I'm sorry…" Rei nearly mistook the voice for her own and opened her eyes to see if what she had once seen disappeared, only to find out the it had worsened. Rei was now on her knees, cradling the body of someone she had encountered quiet recently, shaking her body and sobbing as the girl in her arms whispered soft nothings to her.

"I'm sorry…this is all my fault." The girl whispered and pulled out the familiar black bladed knife from her abdomen. Rei could feel the girl leave in her very arms. In a way, her body felt lighter and empty of the burden of carrying a soul. Her own voice was blocked out as Rei watched from her sub-consciousness. Her dream-self shook the girl's body over and over again, shouting blank words of regret.

Once the scene changed only a little to see the metal walls once again. Enclosed, bloody and in pain, Rei's dream-self screamed, the noise echoing and engraving itself into the deepest corridors of her mind.

"No!" Rei cried out, jolting away and sitting up, the motion so sudden it caused her body to ache and she winced, clutching her abdomen where she was punched the previous day. Out of impulse, the woman coughed; careful not to be too loud as the recap of her surroundings registered clearly. After the tedious motion of hacking out something revolting, Rei pursed her lips, a bit paranoid that she may have woken up a few unhappy Clansmen of hers with her outcry. The albino waited for a few minutes to make sure that the building, or at least the hallways, were still silent and motionless. Then, she got up, walking aimlessly for the door. It took a couple moments for her eyes to adapt to the darkness around her and to find the doorknob, but it was a success none the less. As quietly as she could, Rei stepped out of her room and closed to door with a soft click! Then she quickly and silently rushed down the hallway, remembering where she saw the shaft to the stairwell that would lead up to the roof and finding that same door quickly.

With more noise than intended, Rei opened the door and began a short walk up the stairs and to the roof top. The night wasn't as cold as she expected; either that or her body temperature was a complete match to the temperature outside. The latter probably wouldn't be a good sign of her health, but…oh, well. Still trembling a little, Rei made her way to a place on the roof top where she could see the city clearly, it's liveliness and bright lights somewhat comforting her. It was a reassurance that she wasn't alone in this world and she was once again in the plane of Reality.

Steadying her breath and her trembling, Rei took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she inhaled and opening them as she exhaled. "I fucking hate nightmares…" She growled, her eyes narrowing into a glare at the city. Her body tensed and her fists clenched only for a moment and then relaxed again as the albino took another deep breath. Soft gusts of wind calmed her nerves and her eyes drooped again as she stared at the bright city before her. She rolled her shoulders back, allowing long strands of white hair to fall infront of her, and Rei didn't even care to blow the inconvenience out of her face like she would usually do. The very faint, barely audible pit-pat, pit-pat sound from behind her made the albino tense up and she glared back behind her.

"Didn't you once say Nightmares can be mistaken for a recollection of memories?" Mikoto couldn't sound any less interested. Rei didn't want his presence to be true, but judging by his deep voice, his figure behind her, and the fiery aura burning and radiating from him proved it more than true. It was irritatingly true.

The woman tch'd and looked back at the city, ignoring her King with a scowl on her face. Though, despite her best efforts, her know-it-all side couldn't contain itself. "You're right," The words stung. "A nightmare is called a subconscious stage, but that's only a recollection of memories. A true nightmare is like a network. The Fourth Plane, to be exact," The knowledge of the Seven Planes was…confusing, but simple in Rei's eyes. Most of the time, though, she just discarded the knowledge. It was a part of her she never wanted. "But what are nightmares to you, King?" She taunted, sitting straight and looking back at her King who didn't make eye contact with her. Instead Suoh Mikoto stared at the city, hands in his pockets.

"Troublesome," The redhead stated bluntly with a grunt causing Rei to scoff at him and shake her head. She looked back at the city and closed her eyes, trying to forget Mikoto was even there in hopes that he'd just fade away. It only took another two minutes for the King to speak up again. "Is it because of nightmares you're awake at three o'clock in the morning?"

Rei didn't waver, but still didn't make eye contact with her King. Though, she was pretty sure he knew the right answer. "Insomnia. The shit works wonders," She grumbled and stood up, finally blowing the hair out of her face before brushing past her King. Before heading back down the shaft and to her bedroom, Rei turned around and curtsied, pulling at the large shirt as if it were a skirt and her hair fell over her shoulder as she bowed her head. Once again, the albino put on a completely girlish tone just to irritate her most hated friend. "Have a good evening, my dearest King," Rei couldn't help her giggle, and as quickly as it came out she pursed her lips and spun on her heel before rushing back to the door and down the shaft of stairs.

A/N: And there you have it…I wish I would've wrote something better now that my battle with writers block has subsided…I planned to write this chapter because I had an aching feeling that I'd still be lack-literate, but, nope! Ah well, next couple chapters will be hopefully full of comedic relief and more backstory on Reina… Just a little though; pour in too much then I'll probably spoil some future stuff.

Hope you liked the chapter and thanks for the reviews! :D I updated early because I felt kinda bad since my last two chapters weren't my best…hopefully I'll be updating early again sometime this weekend. Wanna know why? Snow days! *Squeal.* I practically a have a five day weekend that I can dedicate to writing and planning. EventhoughIreallyshoulddomyh omework,butohwell!

Seriously, though, don't be like me; a no-life that really should do her homework.

I'm rambling…ONTO THE REVIEW REPLIES! (Gasp! There's only two?!)

MaskedBeauty09~ The wait is over! Though…this is more filler than anything…ah, well. Teehee, once again I say: I'll be teasing that subject just to torture- I mean, entertain you guys. xD Thanks for the review, much appreciated.

Miechan-ish~ I did as soon as possible! Order up! We got a hot and ready update! Thanks for the review!

There ya' have it folks! Leave a review and I'll get back to you! Also, feel free to drop a follow and a favorite if ya' liked the story! I don't think I'll be taking down this story for a long while!

Ciao!

-Bartrice