Chapter Nine

Stray

Everyone seemed to be out patrolling or minding their own except for Kusanagi, Tobi, Rei, Anna and the Red King. After four hours of painting one of the blank walls in her room, Rei had changed into more suitable clothes and began to make her way quietly down the stairs. She figured that Mikoto Suoh and her sister were minding their own else were in the building, while Kusanagi must've been tending to his bar like usual and serving the occasional customer. She didn't know about that mutt, though. For all she knew, he would've ran off by now in a tantrum. While dogs are loyal, it seemed this one had a particular mind of his own. It kinda drove her nuts, but she shouldn't be so judgmental. After all, Rei tended to cause a bit of trouble herself. Okay, that was an understatement.

Rei chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes. How foolish they both were, no wonder they were good and bad partners at the same time. In a way, she liked it better when he was a dog. Ever since she found out about Tobi being a Strain, Rei had an impulse to constantly worry about the boy. She didn't know why, it was no different from before.

No, that wasn't it. She did know why. Rei wanted to prove to herself, and maybe even to Mikoto, that she's capable of taking care of and protecting someone. What if she needed protecting and taking care of, though? Isn't that why they had this equal standing before? So, why couldn't she stop herself from being such an overprotective Mother Hen? It was annoying even thinking of it. Rei really needed something to get her mind off things, and painting just made her think about it more. What she needed was a bunch of distractions so loud that she couldn't hear herself think anymore. Explosions? Fighting?

A walk around in the shopping center sounded much more effective than those.

Before she even noticed it, Rei was by the door and putting on her leather jacket, keeping the collar popped as usual to hide the majority of her face. The rack rattled in the most annoying way, and Rei could once again see those currently, non-existent ears perk up in alarm. Turns out Tobi was taking a little cat nap. For four hours. Sleepily and sluggishly, the boy sat up and his green eyes took a while to focus on his albino partner and then narrow spitefully.

"Are we gonna talk now, Rei-sempai?" Tobi's voice was cold and piercing. Though, it was not like Rei wasn't going to return the favor.

"I've still got some thinking to do. Well, less thinking, more not thinking, really." Despite her spiteful tone, the woman still had her joking and teasing ways. A habit she really needed to get over.

Tobi didn't seem too convinced, either that or he was really pissed at his partner. "Oh, yeah? Where ya' going?"

"Some place noisy."

Both partners stared at each other for the longest of times, both trying to figure each other out. Soon enough, Rei proceeded to leave, the door ringing bells as she opened it. "You're going to fight them, aren't you?" Tobi interrupted her once again, causing an exhausted and annoyed groan escape Rei's lips. "If you are, I'm coming with you."

"No." Rei bit at the boy, once again her defensive side boiling up. "It's none of your business where I'm going. Even if I was going to fight them, I still wouldn't let you go along." She explained and once again tried to leave, but Tobi had a tendency to interrupt her actions on a whim.

"What about our partnership? Our agreement?" Tobi barked at her, demanding answers as to if they were still a team.

"Yo…" Kamamoto had walked in on their little argument. Luckily, Rei had managed a greeting nod before redirecting her sharp gaze at the cedar-haired boy. She had to at least be kind to others.

"I'm not exactly sure the same partnership still even stands." She murmured before walking out, leaving Tobi looking as though Rei had stabbed him in the back.


Tobi did absolutely nothing to stop Rei from leaving Bar HOMRA, from jumping onto her bike, from speeding away without a second glance. He did nothing but stare as she did, hoping she'd look at him at least once to know that she knew they had each other's back. However, that wasn't the case here. She didn't look back. Didn't even say where she was going, and Tobi wasn't entirely convinced that she wasn't going to find those punks from Tekashi's mini-gang and fight them. He wasn't entirely sure if he was going to follow her, either. He knew that if he were to try to follow her, he wouldn't be able to catch up by then. She was on a damn motorcycle for god's sake!

"Tobi-chan? Is everything okay between you and Reina-san? You guys haven't quite been the same since she found out you were a Strain." Kusanagi Izumo's voice had carried over to the boy-Strain whose line of sight was immediately directed at the blond-haired bartender. Currently Kusanagi was taking care of a customer, but found the time to see what exactly was up with the nearest Clansmen and her partner.

Naturally, Tobi bit his lip and sucked in an easy-hearing breath before speaking. "I dunno, really." The boy shrugged as he spoke. "She's been acting weird ever since she had that argument with Mikoto-sama. I'm starting to wish she hadn't found out."

Kusanagi placed his hands on his hips with a dirty rag in one. "'Mikoto-sama', eh? Heh, don't let him hear you saying that. He's not really one to like being called such formal names." He murmured and chuckled, shaking his head. The grungy old man at the bar mumbled something in which Kusanagi replied with a quick nod and then filled his glass up with whiskey before returning his conversation with Tobi. "As for you and Reina-san, I'm not exactly sure what to say. I don't know her too well. Well, I did, but that was five years ago. Really the only one here that really knows her is you, Anna-chan, and King. More namely you, though." The blond ran his hand through his hair and continued. "Sure, Anna can look through her mind and such, and Suoh has a connection because she's his Clansman, but neither of them can see into her heart that well. That's where you come in. So, what do you think?"

Tobi never really realized this. Maybe he did, but he didn't want to really think it. Such things seemed selfish; saying you know someone more than anyone else. However, now that he thought on it, he really did seem to know her more than her friends of whom she knew since childhood. After all, he could see behind her acts better than Totsuka-san. Though, the thing is, what did he think? It seemed so easy to figure her out before, but now he didn't quite now. Tobi shifted his weight uncomfortably and sighed. There was nothing hidden behind her words, really.

"I think she's telling the truth." The boy murmured, green eyes grim and almost hollow now. He had realized there was no turning back now. "Our partnership doesn't even stand anymore."


Rei decided that maybe perhaps just the downtown area of Shizume City would be noisy enough to get her mind of things, plus she'd need to start thinking of birthday present for a certain bartender, and it just so happened that her own favorite liquor store was downtown. Even though it didn't really look it, the crowd at that time wasn't all that busy, compared to other times, since it was Sunday. At that time, most people would be with their families preparing meals together. In all honesty, she wasn't exactly sure if this liquor store was open on Sundays or not. Knowing the old, stingy man who worked there, he probably was to cater to any social outcasts who think their lives mean nothing.

The noise of the crowd was unsettling but it definitely got Rei's mind off the situation with Tobi and herself. Several conversations involving work, dinner, and the latest manga releases from yesterday fluttered through the air like static. Annoying, but background noise to the albino's aimless wandering. The folds of her jacket rubbed against her cheek as she maneuvered through all the people in her way. A thought then came to her mind. Maybe she'd visit that old weaponry shop she discovered the last time she went shopping.

After maybe a half hour of just listening in on stupid conversation and wandering around, Rei had stumbled upon her liquor store. Casually she walked in and waved at the man behind the counter, who looked a bit puzzled to see her, then confused, and then realization riddled across the old man's face.

"Reina-chan! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, I haven't seen you in almost two years." Raspy voiced, the man spoke. He sounded like he'd just gone out for a smoke. Reeked of it too. "You didn't start going to someone else, did ya'?" He store owner gave Rei a narrow eyed, scary look. It was clear he took it personal when regular customers started going to some other place with cheap wine. Rei barked a laugh and shook her head.

"Nah, I've just been trying to stay a little more sober than usual. Although, a friend of mine is the owner of a bar, so I have all the whiskey and rum I need to put into my morning tea." She paused to glance back at the old man, who looked even angrier. "Not that he really has the best stuff like you do, Gakuge-san! Which is part of the reason why I'm here. His birthday's coming up, so I thought I'd give him some better drinks than those imports he gets from Europe."

"European imports? What's better than that?" Gakuge grumbled and sulked from behind the store counter.

"How about those pretties that I helped smuggle in for ya' three years back? Tell me you still have that, besides you kinda owe me anyway for that." She added that snarky remark with a tough smirk. Though, Gakuge deadpanned, his scowl reading the words "are you stupid?" out loud to her.

"That was three years ago. Most of it I sold, and even if I did still have it, they'd all be old. You really don't know your liquor well, do you, Reina-chan?" The two of them laughed together before Rei just simply asked for the best the man's got and a pack of cigarettes before leaving with a kind goodbye. Why couldn't she always be this nice? Ah, well, short tempers and all that jazz.


Light steps into the weaponry store were greeted by the jingling of bells on top of the door that Rei had entered through. Natakai Musi looked up from behind the glass counter, whose cases were full of several knives, daggers, and swords. A wide smile creased the middle-aged man's lips and he waved at her. Rei waved back. One of the first things she noticed was the quite radio turned onto the local news. After a while, she seemed to not notice it anymore.

"Good to see you, Sika-chan! How's that switchblade working out for you?" Musi greeted her as though she were a close friend. Kinda creepy, but Rei went along with it. Actually, at first she had no idea who this "Sika" person was until she remembered that was her alias.

"Nice to see ya' too, Musi-san," Rei nodded back at the man before flicking her rest, her modernized switch blade falling neatly into her hand. "Oh, and it's working out just finely, really. Haven't been able to sharpen it, though."

Musi waved the albino girl over, a gesture she followed and came up to the counter. "I can sharpen it up for you, won't take too long. Hell, I'll make it on the house!" He said as Rei handed him over her blade, ruby eyes widened a bit in shock. No one really offered her anything like that without charge.

"Really?" She asked, nearly jumping over the counter as Musi disappeared behind a curtain doorway. That was probably her most paranoid moment in a long time. She'd grown to very much like that knife and wasn't really favoring the idea of Musi breaking it for her refusal of his offer to buy out most of his newest products the last time she was there. Not that she really believed that he would do that.

"Yes, after all you are quite the captivating character, Ms. Maikadu." Musi called, though his voice lowered tone as he reentered the store with a small sharpener. The Sika Maikadu side of Rei bushed bright red and she choked on dry air, trying to register Musi's words. Okay- this guy was creepy.

"Um… Uh… Well, I'm flattered but-"

"I wasn't saying it like that, Sika-san!" Musi laughed. "It's just I can see the fire of a fighter in you and I envy that. Besides, I have a wife." Rei grew even a brighter shade of red. Why was this conversation making her look like such a fool? After registering that the salesman was joking, Rei laughed with him and her blush dimmed back into her usual pale complexion.

"Oh, uh, yeah…that's what I thought." Rei chuckled, ruby eyes moving over to avoid any unnerving eye contact. Well, this was awkward. It was bound to get even more awkward. Maybe it wasn't much of a good idea to come here after all, since the albino was obviously making a total fool of herself.

"Besides, I'm sure you've found yourself a nice young man to be with by now. Most young people do. I wouldn't doubt it if it was one of those men that came into my store the first time you came." Musi continued the conversation on a good note, thankfully, as he began to sharpen the knife casually, much like how Rei would on a late night that she couldn't sleep. "Am I right?"

Rei chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, totally. The one with the red hair is all mine." She claimed with a bark of laughter and sat down on one of the nearby stools set up for any lazy customers. The gleam in Musi's eyes let Rei know he could spot her sarcasm.

"Heh, good thing to hear. He looked like one of those gangsters from HOMRA." You have no idea, Rei thought with a mental fit of laughter. The swordsman's eyes and ears suddenly directed to something on the radio that, up until then, seemed like nothing. However, a certain mention of a certain group drew both their attention to the public announcement. With a swift movement the middle-aged man turned up the volume.

"This is a public announcement from Scepter 4." Said a female announcer. "Information on a local thief and possible murder assistant has been released. Suspect has been reported to be at a young age, male, green eyes and brown hair." At the sound of such news chilled Rei's blood and she froze on the spot. It felt as though her heart had lodged into her stomach. She listened intently for the last of the report, hoping that this wasn't her kid. "Suspect has been reported on several accounts of thievery and most recently a report on assist of murder. Further information has yet to be released. If you know or have seen someone matching the description, please report to your local Scepter 4 number. Thank you, this has been a public announcement from Scepter 4."

It took a while for Rei to properly scan the words she had just heard and then make sense of them. Then, slowly she moved over to meet the gaze of Musi Natakai. "I-I have to go, it was nice to see you."


Dial tone ringing went on until the voicemail picked up. Rei bit down on her lip and tapped the side of her earpiece to shut it off. There was no point in leaving a message if she was this close to home. Either way, she couldn't help but feel a little empty when she turned off her Bluetooth. She continued speeding through the street and made a sharp left turn before slowing down to the curb and parking. Quickly and swiftly, she leap off her bike and threw her helmet to the side, not even bothering hanging it on the handle of her bike. The albino hurried up the stairs, nearly stumbling on one of the steps and then burst through the door. Though when she spoke, she was actually quite calm.

"Hey, where's Tobi?" Though, her voice wavered on edge, she approached rather calmly, not really wanting to strike as a crazy, deluded albino woman with knives. Ruby eyes scanned the room for any sign of red-brown hair, but there was nothing except the stares from a few of the HOMRA boys, Totsuka taking his general nap, and two girls at one of the tables staring at Rei like she was crazy. Quickly, the girl straightened up and brushed her hair into better shape than it was. No one liked helmet hair.

"You two came to the same decision, right?" Kusanagi asked cautiously, he set down his phone. Probably just realized Rei had tried to call him. Though, she didn't seem to notice that, instead she just looked a bit confused and puzzled by the blonde's words.

"What do you mean, 'same decision?'" She asked just as cautiously, eyeing the bartender as he moved quite uncomfortably to a different position, away from eye contact.

"The kid left. Said something about you saying your partnership doesn't stand anymore." Unfortunately, in more ways than one, someone Rei did not want to talk to at all talked. Mikoto stared at her for a while before moving infront of her, to look down on her with a dull scowl. "Seems, in a way, you still left him. How does it feel to fail to protect someone you think you care about?" He shook his head. "How troublesome."

Rei couldn't take any more of his pestering. With a swift movement, she slapped her own King across the face before turning quickly and rushing out the door and back on her bike. She didn't even utter a single word to the man, she didn't even stay long enough to see the expression on his face. She didn't care, she had to find a stupid dog of hers.


Things is, Rei had no idea where to start on finding the damn thing. She should've stayed, maybe if she did, she'd be able to get Anna to help her again. No, not even that worked out. Rei remembered seeing how worn out the little albino was after her hard work looking. She didn't want to push the poor dear. Though, the Scepter 4 Head Quarters wouldn't be a bad place to start, even if the place did give her a very bad and vulgar mood. Rei really didn't want to seek their help, but they were looking for him too, plus they probably had better leads.

"Please, wait here, Ms. Maikadu," Said the Scepter 4 officer by the name of Akiyama. The kid was rather slim, dark hair swooped down over one of his black colored eyes. He didn't seem to be much of an interesting character. Too formal for Rei to be comfortable around. Then again, she was already tense to be in one of the consulting offices of the Scepter 4 HQ, it was natural to be on edge when around people she knew could detect her. Akiyama got up from behind a desk and exited the room.

While the officer was away, Rei couldn't help but feel a little curious to look around. Something kept irking her about the place. Something Red Aura wise. Though, she wouldn't be surprised if Mikoto had a spy here. Okay, maybe a little, but it did cross her mind a couple of times. She was also curious as to what kind of King they have, but she wouldn't dare venture that far. Actually, she was too on edge to venture anywhere beyond this room. She wasn't even able to move to keep from misbalancing her calm. Though, she couldn't help but let something catch her eye. That Akiyama character had left his PDA right on the desk. What a fool.

Slowly and quietly, Rei swiped to phone to herself and began to decode the password and put her own codes in it. This is where her four years of playing a hacker came in handy. The code she had put into the device was a simple syncing system with her own Bluetooth headpiece, this way if things weren't to go well and they found out where Tobi was, she could track them down using her maps. Quickly after syncing both devices which took no longer than half a minute, the placed the PDA down on the table, attempting to return it to the same place and position it was before.

"Tch," A rather curt noise came from someone behind her. Rei flinched very subtly, and the grip on one of her knives in her pocket tightened. Instinctively and quickly, she snatched back her free hand that still levitated over the desk in front of her. It seemed her heart-rate had sped up ten times. "What's a Red Clansman doing here?" A male voice said quietly and smugly. Rei was really on edge now. How did they figure her out that fast?

"Did you say something, Fushimi-san?" The same person from before, Akiyama, questioned as he crossed over back behind the desk. The boy sat down and eyed whoever was behind Rei.

"Nothing." This so-called Fushimi said. Rei wanted so bad to look behind her to see whoever found her out, but she was more curious as to why the guy didn't rat her out.

"Anyway. So, from the information you gave us we've managed to get a name and behavior. Though, we still have no idea how to find this, um…?" Akiyama stalled for a name, it took a little while for the albino to realize what he was saying.

"To- I mean, Nomurda Toshiyuki." Rei suggested in an over girly tone, that, thankfully, seemed to work. Though, she didn't really favor it.

"Yes," The officer eyed her before continuing. "We've no idea how to locate this Toshiyuki. No leads what so ever, no card registers, ATM deposits or anything. We need a little more information than that,"

Rei took a deep breath, she'd have to be very selective about the details she would give out. "Umm," She stalled. "Well, he used to live in the slums, I've no idea where he stays now, though." She hated sounding this innocent, but it'd only last for a few moments until she could bolt out of that place. The dark haired kid sighed and looked down, shaking his head.

"Alright, I'll see if we can work with that." Dark eyes looked above the albino with a rather bored and dull expression. "If you think you need to ask anything else, you do it. I'm going to report in and I don't have time for your random questions." Akiyama said spitefully, surprisingly while sounding professional, before leaving the room again with a file and his PDA. As he left, Rei eyed the saber strapped to his hip, cautious enough to make sure the kid didn't make any moves. After he left, the other finally showed his face. The kid was young, obviously, yet still rather tall. He had a laidback appearance with his collar popped and messy hair, unlike the other officer in uniform he didn't exactly button up his jacket. Though, there was a strange glint in his eyes that sparked a fierceness in Rei. Something about this Fushimi wasn't quite right.

"So, what? Did the infamous Red King finally decide to put up a spy in here? Tch, I don't quite exactly know your face, so you've got to be new." Fushimi's tone was a bit smartass and lazy. Like he didn't seem to give a damn that a Red Clansman was in the headquarters of his Clan.

"I'm not spying, just using my resources to find a friend," Immediately, she dropped her act and reclaimed her smug attitude, in fact it was almost equivalent to his own smartass tone. Rei got up and flipped her hair back with a sigh. "Just know that if you draw your swords against my dog, I won't pay your hospital bills." She hissed before leaving on a very spiteful tone, though she couldn't shrug off Fushimi's own last remark.

"I won't need you to cover any bills of any sort, though I will enjoy the event."


Rei had stayed close to the Scepter 4 building, waiting for any teams to be sent out to retrieve her cedar-furred friend. While doing that, she busied herself with asking people now and then if they've seen this dog and show them a picture of Tobi, either that or throwing knives into the dirt or carving out sketches into the cement that was drying nearby. Though, from past experiences, she knew if she kept that up she'd end up getting in trouble with either one of the automatic road cleaners or a real person that probably should've stayed at their work area in the first place. If felt like she waited a century as dark clouds came back into the city and the time of twilight faded away into that of night. It was starting to rain lightly when she noticed some commotion in the stone front of the building. Finally, something to check out.

Rei stood up and looked ahead, realizing one important thing. She was too damn short to see over the large walls that blocked off Scepter 4 from all of society. Literally and figuratively. So, as subtly as she could, Rei climbed on the seat of her bike and tried to balance herself as she looked over the ledge to see a good amount of Scepter 4 boys lined up and ready to go, including that Fushimi character of whom she kept on getting a bad vibe from. The kid looked uninterested in his higher-ups commands, and as Rei looked over at said higher-up, she was a little surprised to see who was there. She knew of Miss Awashima Seri from being in the Blue Clan before when they had their old King and Scepter 4 was still fairly new, but then the girl was merely a simple officer. According to her unique outfit, of which was a bit too showy for Reina's own tastes, the albino guessed she was second in command.

The blond woman looked serious and sharp as she barked commands at her lower ranks, commands that Rei didn't quite catch, not that they matter anyway. Seri had left the scene with a few other comrades in a van while Fushimi had taken the other part of their group on foot. That was Rei's cue to leave. The albino had leapt down to land harmlessly in the seat of her bike, she turned the key and revved the engine for a familiar purr and tone that the motorcycle had given off. She waited patiently for the front gates of the HQ to open, first came out the van, going in one direction, then Fushimi's group taking another. Who to follow? Rei figured she'd be less noticed if she were to follow the van, but in the case that they weren't going to find Tobi and Fushimi would, there was really no telling if that creeping guy would have such 'pure' motives as the rest of Scepter 4 seemed to have.

Luckily, the Akiyama from before had went with Fushimi's group, and he still hasn't noticed that his PDA was hacked. Perfect. With a swift movement, Rei clicked on her headpiece that activated the projector camera. It showed a map of the entire city, there were two dots within the streets of said city. One was her own, then other was the one she was looking for. Now with a direction in sight, Rei new exactly how to track the back roads, follow these guys, and not get caught. Hopefully.


Kusanagi had finally sat down for the day after a couple of guys had left, possibly drunk. Ah, well. The bartender was a bit exhausted, but managed a well conducted farewell to the three before lazily checking his phone. A missed call from Miss Reina, however that was before she had come by and had a little mess of things with the King. In all honesty, it was pretty damn gutsy for her to slap him like that. What surprised Izumo even more was how Mikoto reacted. He couldn't tell if his longtime friend was surprised, pissed, or appeased. Maybe all three. After Rei had left, the King had just scoffed and shook his head as he made his way upstairs. Probably to nap or something.

Of course, Totsuka had eventually woken up from his deep slumber, and somehow the kid knew something was wrong. So, Kusanagi explained the deal to him and then Totsuka calmly went upstairs. That was maybe an hour ago. Now, Kusanagi was all alone in his bar in the peace and quiet. While it was a bit unusual for the place to be dead, usually there would be a customer or one of the usual HOMRA boys here, it was still a good moment to revel in. this way his bar was nice and safe. For now at least. He knew it would only take a second for this place to burst up in hell, or for one of the Clansmen to come in, get drunk, and start one hell of a night. Of course, Kusanagi didn't really mind the latter.

"Oi, Kusanagi-san!" Totsuka said called from the stairwell as he stepped down. "Rei's about to do something really stupid, so we better go get her." He explained a bit too cheerily as he walked over to the double doors and retrieved his jacket, tossing the King his own in the process. Kusanagi pushed himself out of the seat, a bit taken back of this sudden move.

"Wait, how do you know that?" He asked, standing up and walking to his friend's side. Totsuka pulled out his phone and showed a report from Scepter 4.

"Seems the Blues are after a certain Strain."


It was dark and raining when Rei had finally caught up with Scepter 4. They seemed to be cornering Tobi in a large courtyard, no swords were drawn, however, by the look on his face he wasn't going to surrender easily. Rain soaked his auburn hair, clinging to his face as he glared at the approaching officer. His green eyes were puffy and red, it looked like he'd been crying. If Rei weren't so damn eager to find this kid, she would've deadpanned and spoken her thoughts on how the boy was a crybaby.

"Toshiyuki Nomurda, come quietly and you will face a fair trial of your accused crimes." A brown haired officer called over to the boy, and his head snapped to face him with a deadly, dog-like snarl.

"If you want me, come and get me!" Like the idiot he was, Tobi shouted his intimidating phrases. The albino's fists clenched into balls and she glared over at him, angry that'd he'd be reckless enough to do this. From across the street, Rei began to walk over to the courtyard in a hurried stride.

"Get away!" Tobi's voice snapped, causing Rei to stop at the sidewalk, her eyes wide to watch as Tobi transformed from human to canine. He lunged himself at the officer who stepped back and turned just in time to evade the attack, he then shouldered Tobi mid-air and shoved him to the side. The mutt rolled on the ground and quickly regained his standing position, body and head low. The officer looked tense and he stood straight.

"I don't want to use force, but at this point it seems there is no choice,"


A/N: Sorry guys about not updating in so damn long. Summer got me carried away and for a short while the only muse I had was to draw…so I drew a bunch of my characters including Reina and Tobi. I might just scan it and put it up on dA…or use it as a cover photo. I need one of those anyway…

Hmm. Now I have an idea.

Well, guys. I am tired. Sorry for the late update, but at least it's here! :D Reviews are appreciated! Feel free to drop a favorite and a follow as well if ya' want! Yay!

Ciao!

~DreamColors