The train glides along it's track, sending the world scrolling past. Modern technology certainly is convenient… The train ride is so smooth, if you closed your eyes it would almost feel like you were sitting in place…
Rei sits quietly in her seat. It's warm, but her eyes are focused on the frigid scene outside. A pristine and white city, beautiful and clean. Each building stands out as a sort of testament to the bright hopes that make up this future world. The scenery blurs into the snow that whirls and dances across the city, becoming the metaphorical static on the screen that is the train's window.
But… Rei isn't looking at the city before her. She's looking elsewhere… Somewhere just beyond it.
She knows it's coming up. The imagery that she would so love to tear her eyes from… It lasts but a second, but it's always the strongest, most painful moment of her daily morning commute.
The point where the train turns the corner, and for the briefest of seconds she can almost see it. It goes by many names… The hellhole, Hell, The Pit… The slums quietly tucked away behind a rusted chain link fence. Dirt, filth and sewage litter the ashen remains of what used to be the Old Tokyo. But now… It's just a pile of waste.
The hideous gash in the civilised Pure Tokyo always goes by too fast for Rei to ever "truly" see, but she subconsciously tenses up every time she goes past it. Truth be told, it might not be as bad as she sees it in her mind. More than half of the image is her own imagination. But, still, it terrifies her.
"You okay?"
Saber interrupts Rei's thoughts. Not expecting his voice, she almost jumps out of her seat.
"Huh? Yeah. I'm perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"
Saber pauses, thinking his words through.
"You seemed… distraught."
"Nah, I'm just… You know… Thinking about stuff. It's mainly nerves, you know? Like... Thinking about… the war and… you know… things…"
She trails off as she becomes aware of the other passengers looking at her. Staring at what, for all intents and purposes, looks like a girl talking to herself.
"Ah…"
Rei chuckles nervously as she palms her mobile phone and holds it up for the other patrons to see. Mouthing sorry, she places it against her ear, pretending that she's speaking to someone on the other line and praying that no-one noticed that the screen was off.
"Asshole…" She grumbles. "Now everyone thinks I'm talking to a voice in my head…"
"...You are."
"Yeah, but I mean… Like… A non-existent voice."
If shrugging made a sound, Rei could surely hear that sound in her mind at that moment.
"Fair enough, I guess. As far as I can tell, I do exist…"
"..."
She sits in silence, letting the train draw ever closer to it's destination.
"You know… You didn't have to follow me to school. It's not like anyone's gonna attack me there. It's a pretty secure building."
"You told me that this morning. Still not buying it."
"What do you mean?"
"Nowhere's 'secure'. Well, not perfectly. Enemies can attack from anywhere, you know?"
"You're paranoid, Saber."
"I prefer the term 'genre-savvy.' It makes me sound intelligent."
Saber chuckles, the laughter buzzing through the pathways of Rei's brain.
"You don't really strike me as the book smarts type."
"And you don't strike me as a good judge of character."
This caused Rei to pout, as was honestly rather typical for her. She was that sort of person. So, pout she did, trying to think of a good retort. Something better than her initial "no, you" idea. But nothing came.
And, soon enough, the train stopped at it's destination. "Pure Tokyo Senior High." The most prestigious school in Tokyo for the development of magical abilities.
Rei grimaced at the thought, as she exited the train.
Yeah… Prestigious… If it was so prestigious, why the hell am I going here? I can barely do basic reinforcement magic...
Well. That's not really a fair question. I know why I'm here. It's because Mom and Dad were great mages. But, even then-
"Oh… Uh… It's Rei. Um… Hello."
Rei's train of thought was broken by a familiar stilted, stumbling mumble.
"Oh! Morning, Katekiyo-san!"
Akira Katekiyo enters the scene. Hair messy and uniform jacket open, the typical look of your average slob. He looks away from Rei almost guiltily. But, then again, that was typical for him. He didn't do… the whole interacting with people thing very well. He opens his satchel and, after flipping through a few books (80% manga, 15% light novels, 5% school books), he produces a video game and holds it out to Rei with a sheepish grin.
"I, um… I found my copy of the HD-remake of ExiStory so, uh… I figured… I should probably return this. Don't worry! I didn't scratch it or anything. I actually got it specially cleaned to make sure it's perfect..."
"Oh. Thanks! You didn't have to do that." Rei smiles and takes the game from him, placing it in her bag.
"...Mm….."
An awkward silence hangs in the air as Akira tries to muster up the nerve to say something. He coughs and turns around, looking at the sky.
"Uh… Pretty snowy today."
"Yeah. Just like every day."
"...Y-Yeah. That's what I meant. Today is very everyday."
"Everyday isn't an adjective, Katekiyo-san."
"Oh."
The awkward silence, like the tendrils of some kind of lovecraftian horror, worm their way back into the atmosphere. Akira scratches his head and mumbles something apologetic, before turning back to Rei with a sheepish grin on his face.
"So, uh… I have something really important to tell you. After school, could you… Like… Only if you want to… Um… But could you meet me back at the classroom?"
"Sure!" Rei grinned and gave him a thumbs up, before tilting her head in confusion. "But… Why can't you tell me now?"
"Uh… Well… There are too many people around and this is… you know. Secret."
"Secret?"
"Secret."
"Oh…" Rei pauses. "Okay, then!"
"Alright. I'll… I guess I'll see you there, then! B-Bye."
With a wave, Akira slowly runs off into the school building. Rei waves cheerily behind him.
"You're not going to meet up with him, are you?"
Saber interjects, a stern edge to his voice.
"Huh? Of course I am."
"He couldn't have been more suspicious if he was accompanied by a big, blaring warning siren blaring behind him."
"Psssssh…" Rei waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head.
"I've known Akira for years now. He's always been like that. But there's nothing bad about him. He's a cool guy."
"Cool… That doesn't sound accurate, for some reason."
"...Yeah. You'd probably say that."
Rei speaks the words with venom. Almost spitting them out.
"But, you know what? He's one of my only friends. And, more than that, he's good at magic but he doesn't brag about it… Honestly, most people don't get just how cool he is. I bet he's one of the best in my class… If not the whole school. But people are quick to dismiss him just because he doesn't look the part."
"I see…"
"Good."
"So, what you're saying is that he's an incredibly strong foe?"
"What!? No! No, no, no! He's harmless! He wouldn't even hurt a fly! He wouldn't hurt a mosquito!"
~•~
She sits alone at her table. A rolled up newspaper before her. A sheet of incantations before her. She prods the paper as if it was a particularly unappealing dish.
It unravels.
She picks it up again and looks around the room. Everyone's already done.
She looks at the clock. She has barely any time left.
Maybe if I just hold it really hard… It'll seem like I've completed the task.
So, that's what she does. She grips it tightly. As hard as she can. Crushing the paper. Trying to make it as hard as steel.
But it's still only paper.
She looks back to the clock. Barely any time is left.
She sighs and half heartedly rolls the newspaper to it's original position.
She sighs and picks it up, muttering monotone incantations. She feels her magic circuits weakly shooting off a few sparks…
Nothing.
Shit. It didn't work. What kind of mage am I if I can't even do basic alteration?
She slumps over and places her head on the table. She's resigned. She's done. She's given up.
A soft light appears, and she turns her head upward.
Looking around nervously, a portly figure pretends to lean on her desk while performing an alteration spell on the newspaper with his other hand.
He's… really not that good at looking unsuspicious. Actually, he looks incredibly obvious. He meekly turns to Rei as the light subsides.
"Um… Sorry."
"About what?"
"Well, uh… Time was running out and… I mean, I shouldn't have just done it for you… But, like, you looked like you needed some help so…"
He stutters and swallows, looking to the side guiltily.
"It's… It's pretty tricky. But, you know, if you just keep at it… It's do-able. So, um… Don't get discouraged, I guess…"
He looks at his shoes and coughs awkwardly before shuffling away back to his own desk.
He sits alone at his table. A hardened newspaper sits before him. He's been done almost since the very start. He looks at it and prods it, as if he's almost upset that he's finished with it.
Akira Katekiyo sighs and continues reading manga under the table, killing those last few seconds until the teacher inspects all their handiwork.
~•~
The school day ends as evening descends. And in the musky orange haze of the end of the day, Rei finds herself walking through the empty halls of the school. Somehow, during this time, everything feels so… ominous. Maybe it's the way the light flickers through the windows, maybe it's the crisp air that blows through the area. Maybe it's the silence. The indicator that one has passed through a passage into a realm that they were not meant to enter.
Rei finds herself listening to the rhythm of her own footsteps, trying to find something to focus on besides the eeriness that hangs over the abandoned school. Shouldn't the clubs be practicing today? What happened to that?
"You said there was nothing to worry about."
Saber chimes in with his typical smug tone.
"There isn't. But that doesn't make the school feel any less… spooky."
Rei snaps at him and then stops to look out one of the windows. Her eyes skimming across the field, to the building on the left, and then to the right. Up to the school clock, and then to...
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"...Nothing. I was just seeing things."
"Tell me anyway."
"Why? It's nothing."
"Trust me. These things tend not to end up as 'nothing.' Not in my experience, anyway."
"Sheesh. You really are paranoid."
Rei continues to walk, no longer focused on the window.
Yet, she can't get rid of the feeling that she saw something. Someone, for a split second, was standing on the building opposite her's.
Well, it was less someone. More she saw something glint, and just assumed it came from a person. But, well, it could have easily just been a piece of metal left on the roof. Or, say, a particularly shiny cat. In any case, it wasn't necessarily human. And it was there for less than the time of the blink of an eye. Yeah. Probably nothing.
Rei opens the door to her classroom. It slides aside easily and noiselessly. Inside, Akira paces across the room. His face scrunched up and his eyes closed, he rubs his temples. He looks… scared. Yet, he gives off an aura that he's never given off before.
A determined aura.
As Rei enters, he bolts to attention, before falling back into his usual dejected slouch.
"Oh… It's you. H-Hi, Rei."
He stammers and regains his typical breathing pace.
"I, um… I'm surprised you came. I thought you'd, you know, head home or something."
"Why'd you think that?" Rei questions, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. She leans on the desk, resting her head on her hand.
"Ah… Reasons. I guess."
He makes a pained expression. It looks like he's trying to smile, but it looks more like a grimace.
"So, um… Nice- Nice weather we've been having, huh?"
He begins the conversation as he always does.
Awkwardly.
"We discussed the weather this morning, remember?" Rei teases.
"Oh. Right. Yeah… I, uh, I guess we did. Snowy and all that…"
"Mm… So, hey. What's this important thing you had to talk to me about?"
He shoots up and his face pulls further inwards, as if the center of his face were a black hole.
"Oh… Uh… Yes. It's important. I wanted to tell you… That… The thing…"
He stumbles over words, stalling for time, looking for something to say. Eventually, he sighs and sits down on a desk next to the window.
"Hey, Rei. Um… I'm really sorry about how much of a bother I've been over these past few years. I've… uh… I've probably been a big pain in the ass. I've asked a lot of your patience and, well… Um… I just wanted you to know I'm sorry about all of that. I just felt I should say that. Yeah."
He sticks his hands in his pockets and looks away from his subject. But Rei doesn't do the same, instead she looks directly at him, her eyes following his movement.
"What do you mean, Katekiyo-san? You haven't been a bother. In fact, it's been fun having you around."
"Sure…" He mumbles it.
"Though, uh… Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"
Akira draws a breath through his nose. His heartbeat is so loud, you could hear it in the total silence of the classroom.
"Well, I needed to apologise before I could ask you something…"
"What is it?"
"I.. It's a favour. It's a really big one. I sort of don't want to ask you it…"
"Don't worry, I'm up for anything! What do you need?"
He sighs and looks directly at her.
"Rei…
I really need you to…
Could you please…"
He swallows, and musters up his strength. He clears his mind and his voice.
"Rei, right now, I really need you to die."
And as he said the last word, the window erupted inwards in a flurry of glass and bullets, bathing Akira in a stream of orange light, the bullets tear towards Rei's body.