Tokyo
Rei gazed around the restaurant, and shifted a little. Yuu hadn't mentioned the sort of restaurant they would be going to, and so she had dressed conservatively, but not too fancy for the occasion.
She wished now she would have been given more time to plan out a better outfit, or at least worn some better jewelry or something. She would have to be annoyed at Yuu later.
"Rei Kurosawa?" it was another young man standing next to Yuu that caught her attention as the maitre d' bowed them to their seats and bid them a good dinner, after which Yuu started introductions. It snapped Rei out of her distracted reverie and she bowed to Kei in return.
"Yes, I am Rei Kurosawa," she replied, and didn't need to look at Yuu to see the sympathetic smile on his face.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Yuu speaks about you a lot. I'm Kei Amakura" Kei continued, and Rei laughed a quiet laugh, afraid to be too loud in the dim, subdued atmosphere of the higher-class restaurant.
"I hope he says good things about me," she teased, as though to lighten her own mood, and it seemed to lift a mark of seriousness from Kei's face. Did she look so severe that he was that worried about offending her?
She needed to relax. This was to be a friendly, casual dinner between coworkers and their guests, so worries about being underdressed would need to be put aside. Even if the accommodations were upscale.
"He says nothing but good things," Kei continued, and let an easygoing smile pull up his lips. Rei took a deep breath and let her worries out with it, then returned the expression.
"I'm glad," she nodded toward Kei again, and they all took their seats. There was still almost twenty minutes before the dinner officially began, so more than half the table was empty, but Rei recognized Mr. Takamine immediately, and his assistant to his left, who sat next to a man about the same age as her. Rei assumed that was his assistant's boyfriend or husband. Luckily, the other woman didn't appear to be any better dressed than she was, and it made her feel even better.
"Ah, Yuu!" Junsei Takamine stood, and he went through the greetings for Yuu and Rei, before settling back into his seat. "So is your cousin - Misaki Asou? Is she coming?"
"She said she would be here soon," Yuu stated. "Mafuyu is coming as well, but I think he called you before he called me."
"Yes, he said he was bringing his sister?" Junsei asked, and Yuu nodded.
"He's bringing her with him as his guest," Yuu said. "Which is good; I've never met her before, but Mafuyu seems very proud of her."
"Ah, speaking of them," Junsei said, and both Rei and Yuu turned toward the entrance to see two youngsters approaching. One was a kind-looking young man a couple years younger than her, and the other was a girl who looked far less mousy than Rei had imagined.
Really, there was a sharpness in her eyes that was surprising. What was more, Rei had the strange inkling she'd met the girl before.
After the introductions were done, and Rei learned the girl's name to be Miku, her thoughts of deja vu turned out to be correct.
"You were at the camera store in Jinbouchou a while back, weren't you?" Miku asked, as soon as she had Rei's attention and Takamine and his assistants were busy talking amongst themselves about work.
Rei blinked a few times, then remembered the girl she'd had a collision with a few weeks ago walking out of the store. The realization made her laugh.
"I was; I didn't think we'd run into each other again," Rei said, and tried for her best reassuring smile.
"Is your camera still doing alright?" Miku asked. Rei remembered she had looked over her camera after the collision to assure the younger woman that there was no harm done, but it hadn't been very well. Luckily, when she got home, the camera appeared to still be just fine.
"It's fine, actually. Thank you for asking," Rei said, with a nod of her head. "Are you a photographer, too?" Rei figured it was probably why the younger girl was in the camera shop, but she wasn't entirely certain.
"It's... a hobby," Miku said, looking down and away from Rei for a moment. Rei nearly apologized, then realized it was a little odd to feel the need to apologize for such a simple question.
"I'm a photographer, too," Rei continued, feeling a bit as though an icebreaker had failed, but perhaps if she shifted some of the conversation's topic a bit, it could alleviate any strange tension the girl had. "Professionally... or, that's what I'm working toward, at least."
"Really?" and some of the interest, and light, returned to the younger woman's eyes. Whatever she had done had worked, and Rei felt she could relax her look into an easier smile.
"Yes. I'm actually working as an intern right now for a small magazine company," Rei replied.
"Was it difficult getting the position?" And just like that, Rei realized she'd help the girl break out of her shell, even just a little. It was a warm sensation.
"My university works with them, so not exactly, but I might go into freelance after the internship is over," Rei said, and the girl seemed to brighten even more.
They spent the next few minutes discussing photography and some of their favorite artists. Miku seemed interested enough in it that Rei was going to ask if she planned to pursue becoming a professional photographer after high school, when suddenly Miku's eyebrows knit in concentration, and she suddenly looked to the side. She hadn't been looking that way before, hadn't even glanced that way, but suddenly something had her attention. It struck Rei as odd.
Rei turned to follow Miku's line of sight, just as some sort of presence hit her mind. She wasn't even sure she could describe the sensation, just that it grabbed her attention.
A young woman, and an older woman were being led across the restaurant floor by an oddly flustered maitre d'. Rei couldn't tell if the younger woman looked older than Miku, or if it was just her expression. Something about it was pinched, and serious. Miku seemed like an observant, aloof teenager, but it was a type of curiosity mixed with a fear of getting too close to something, content more to observe than to interact. This girl looked colder, more calculating, closed off and distant, but on purpose.
Except, Rei knew it wasn't the girl that had caught Miku's attention, and as she looked to the last of the three walking toward their table, she found herself caught as well.
It wasn't that the woman was beautiful - she was, but Rei would be surprised if that was anything but the last thing anyone could notice. There was just something about her that caught the eye, the mind, and forced attention on her. She wasn't dressed flamboyantly, though she seemed to favor accenting things in red.
It was too difficult to explain. All Rei knew, she couldn't look away.
"Misaki," Yuu said, and he had an odd tone in his voice. He stood to greet his cousin.
"Yuu. Everyone," Misaki nodded, but her cold, disinterested look remained. "I am Misaki Asou, and this is Sakuya Haibara."
Sakuya inclined her head with a mysterious sort of smile that had Rei sitting further forward in her seat, and she saw the other woman's eyes track around the table. When they landed on her, some part of the magic was broken, and some other part was strengthened all the same. The expression, the light in her eye, the way she looked at Rei, it made her want to squirm like a child caught doing something wrong. It wasn't like Miku and Misaki, looking sharp and observant. This went beyond that; Rei had a feeling like all of her secrets were exposed and she was being read like an open book. It was terrifying and interesting, uncomfortable and awe striking all at once. What was particularly strange, though, was there was not an ounce of malice to it. The only discomfort came from just how knowing the look was, but try as she might, Rei could not find herself suspicious that even if the other woman knew her secrets she would tell them to anyone.
"Greetings, Miss Haibara. I am Junsei Takamine," Junsei said, and even he sounded a little ruffled. The tone was enough to get Rei to pry her eyes away from Sakuya, and the first person whose gaze she caught was Miku, sitting across from her. A look of understanding passed between them, then Rei turned to look at the rest of the table as Miku went back to observing Sakuya. Mafuyu looked a little uncomfortable, as did Yuu, Junsei had regained his composure, but the rest of the staff at the table looked only somewhat confused that there was a sudden air of tension just at the arrival of the newcomers.
As more introductions were going around, Yuu leaned closer to Rei. "I should have mentioned Miss Haibara is a bit surprising to meet for the first time. I know I've told you Misaki can be hard to talk to, but I guess I never thought you'd meet her 'big sister'."
Rei just nodded, silently, her gaze once again drawn to the older woman, who sat near the other end of the table with a polite, yet still mysterious smile to her face.
Maybe that was the worst part, Rei thought. Even though this Miss Haibara had a look like she could read someone's every thought and wish and deep, dark secret, there was almost nothing discernible about her in turn, nothing that gave deep insight to her life: She, perhaps, liked red. She, perhaps, liked to smile, and that smile was patient but neutral, and never open enough to read real intent. She had a striking eye color, something pale brown that Rei with her artistic background just knew in the right light would probably shine a gorgeous honey-gold color. She had this indescribable, otherworldly aura about her.
Rei doubted she'd ever forget her.
Dinner was a strange affair, tense and stilted, and while no one mentioned it, everyone knew what the cause was. Rei tried to keep up amicable conversation with Miku, and even tried to get Misaki in on things, but the other girl seemed more interested in speaking with Yuu. It came down to him involving all of them in conversation.
Misaki, Rei found, was just as cold and distant as her disinterested gaze told. However there was something about her being near Sakuya that every time the woman spoke, lit up her eyes. It was a curious sort of fawning, but Rei didn't question it, especially since the way Sakuya seemed to smile at Misaki was the same kind of smile that she gave everyone. It was maddening how much Sakuya seemed to know, and what was worse, her very presence made something in the back of Rei's mind feel open, exposed, like there was a long, open tunnel behind her that anyone walking down could see her every thought. When Rei looked to Miku, she found the younger girl almost constantly peering at Sakuya with a strange kind of interest, and it unless she was being directly addressed, that was where the younger girl's gaze remained.
The feeling of exposure made concentrating on conversation very difficult, but Rei managed it. Sakuya, counterpoint to Misaki, seemed rather friendly and easy to talk to. Her voice was soft and soothing, and she always seemed to be smiling, willing to laugh, but softly. Still, she was as hard to read as she seemed to make everyone feel as easy. It wasn't that she was hiding everything, but her emotions seemed to change, quickly, easily, as fast as she swapped topics and people whom she was addressing directly. It was unsettling to say the least, but Rei could at least appreciate the woman for her kindness, and the longer they talked, the more apparent that kindness became.
It was about the only thing Rei learned about Sakuya the entire time they spoke. By the time dinner was done and everyone was saying their goodbyes, slowly filtering out, Rei had learned only a few things about where Misaki and Sakuya were from - a curious island where the moon was all but worshipped as the chief deity, that was said to be a gate to the Underworld. Yuu spoke excitedly about wanting to go there someday, and Mr. Takamine seemed to agree with the sentiment, though he had several other trips lined up beforehand, as well as more books to write, so it would be several years yet before they would be able to go. Rei and Yuu left at the same time as Misaki and Sakuya, but after Miku and Mafuyu and before Mr. Takamine, somewhere at the middle of the pack, and Rei bid Mr. Takamine a good night and good luck on his next assignment before they left.
The door to the apartment swung open without sound as Yuu and Rei entered, both in a contemplative silence. The dinner party had gone well, and Rei left feeling far better than she had arrived. She had told Miku they would have to meet up for lunch sometime to discuss photography, before the end of the school year, and the younger woman seemed happy to agree. So, Rei figured, she may have made a new friend. On the tail end of that, however, she found herself thinking about being looked at like she could hide literally nothing.
Late as it was, neither Rei nor Yuu spent much time getting ready for bed before they both tucked in for the night.
For once, Rei didn't dream about Yuu dying.
She dreamed about a crescent moon glowing gold and drifting in and out of visibility with clouds blowing across the sky. She dreamed of a hospital that should have smelled of sterility, but instead was musky and dusty. Walking down the hallway, windows were shattered, the paint was peeling from the cracked walls, and Rei had the feeling she was being followed.
It was silent, though. So silent it was eerie. There should have been doctors and nurses around, or some beeping from various medical machines, but there was nothing but the silence and Rei. Even her footsteps didn't make a noise.
She approached a door she did not know the destination of, and opened it, to find a huge open room on the other side, apparently in the center of an old-style Japanese mansion. Being a dream, she did not question crossing that threshold and seeing the crowd of people around her. Music sounded, and it seemed to be coming from something at the center of the crowd she could not see. She bumped into a few people as she tried to fight the crowd to the center, but even though she should have discovered it, the crowd was endless.
Finally, she turned, frustrated, back toward the door, only to find it closed. She reached to open it, but it stuck, and the sound of her rattling the doorknob seemed to cut through the rest of the noise of the crowd.
Suddenly, she was the center of attention, and dozens of people watched her. They were all wearing masks. Blank, expressionless masks.
She couldn't see their eyes.
Rei pressed her back against the door, pushing against it in futile hope that it would open for her.
As though to get a better look at her, one of the dozens of people in the crowd pulled their mask off, but instead of a recognizable face underneath, it was as though someone had lifted a cover from a smoke vent, and a wavering blur was all that marked the person's features.
Rei turned and opened the door, finally able to get it open, and on the other side was a hallway, long, nearly endless. She ran for her life toward the far end, feet sluggish and not taking her as fast as they need to. There was a sound behind her, and she could hear it getting louder and louder, closer and closer.
A mirror at the far end of the hall proved no exit, but it did make something scream from behind her, and she was able to duck to the side, through a door that hadn't been there when she was running down the hallway, and into a room full of dressers and personal effects. The room seemed mirrored; whatever existed in place on one side was also on the other, but as Rei crossed through the center of the room, things were not as exact as it seemed, and when she looked back over the center of the room to where she had come from, it was cold and blue and everything was in shambles.
A door behind her clacked open.
Rei didn't bother to see what it was before she was running again.
Every door she went through led to a different place, and through it all, she could only think of the faceless person chasing her.
It wasn't until she ran nearly smack-dab into a woman whose eyes were covered in a strip of bloody cloth, the world becoming loud with moaning about eyes being violently gouged out, that Rei realized everything in here was after her. Faceless people, a woman with no eyes, and-
Something grabbed her. She screamed, fought against it, pushed as hard as she could...
... And awoke sobbing in the real world to a confused Yuu looking up at her from where he'd ended up, sprawled on the ground. She was too distracted by her terror to realize she'd shoved him off the bed.
"Rei!" but he was up as soon as the shock had worn off, arms wrapping around her, pulling her against his chest and mumbling soothing words to her, though most of them went right through her ears without sticking in her mind.
What was that? Who were those faceless people? Why did that woman have her eyes ripped out?
Rei didn't realize she mumbled all those questions aloud.
A/N: I know I don't say much via author's notes, but thank everyone who takes the time to read this, and any who would take the time to review, as well. I do appreciate everyone, and I hope, even if it's not perfect, you still enjoy the story.
