"Ryouko. In here."

"A church, of all places..."

Eyes slams the double doors and slides the heavy deadbolt across, nodding ever-so-slightly as his companion appears with a heavy wooden chair in each arm. "This won't hold them for long," she says, and her eyes dart around the chapel, taking in what is both a grim and mildly amusing situation. "There are other ways to get in."

"Of course." The pale-haired man looks evenly at the brunette, who has already wedged the high backs of the chairs beneath the deadbolt. "But any time earned is better than no time."

They crouch there on the floor of the church and reload their weapons. Ryouko's eyes still dart around nervously, as if she expects their pursuers to come crashing into the room at any moment. But they are lucky, this time: the chapel's stained glass windows are several meters from the ground, and the only entrance to this tiny Catholic church (excluding the one on the roof, which is completely out of the question) is through the thick wooden doors that they have bolted, locked, and barred shut. And if it is too much trouble, the brunette thinks, they may not even come in after all...

"I thought," Ryouko begins, licking her dry lips, "this was over with."

"Not yet." Eyes is reloading a small pistol, one kept hidden in his sleeve. Two other weapons are already resting on the hardwood floor, colored sunlight dancing through the windows and gleaming off their plastic and metal bodies. "Others have decided to continue the hunt."

"There are still more, eh..."

"A few." He lifts his eyes to hers. "This is why I asked you to be prepared."

Ryouko snorts as she stands, shouldering a rifle. "I leave the weapon carrying to Kousuke. That's all he's really good for."

"You would rather be killed than be able to defend - "

"I told you already, Rutherford," she interrupts, and the look she shoots over her shoulder at him is venomous. "I won't kill."

They walk up the center of the pews, advancing slowly towards the wooden altar, listening intently for the first strains of creaking wood. The sun is shining bright through the windows on the west side of the church, the colored glass painting the wooden floor a number of different colors. Ryouko tips her head to the side, squinting at the images of the men and women in the center of the glass. "What kind of people are these?" she asks, frowning.

"The Virgin Mary," Eyes murmurs, looking from one window to the other, "Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Judas - " His voice catches. " - Iscariot - "

"Oh. The Bible." The brunette stops at the end of a pew, looking up at a wide glass window. "Stupid stories."

Eyes makes a sound that is either a grunt or a chuckle. "There are some who hold a great deal of faith in these stories."

"And for what?" She leans against the wooden seat. "It's the same as us. Unless they find their saviour, they're going to hell. Isn't that it?"

"Not quite."

"Hmm." She closes her eyes. "That's how it always sounded to me."

Eyes moves up to the altar, his arms dropping to his side, a gun dangling from each hand (and another in his sleeve). For the first time he notices the blood spattered on the shoulder of his coat and the tear in his pants. He glances over his shoulder and sees that his companion's school uniform is ripped and dirty, and that there is an angry red mark on her collarbone. They have been lucky, so far, and there are no sounds from outside, but -

"Do you believe in those things?"

He looks evenly at Ryouko, who has opened her eyes and is all but examining him. "Things...?"

"God, Jesus, all that." She remains leaning against the solid wood of the pew, a rifle in one hand, but turns her head now to look at the stained glass windows over her slender shoulder. "Do you believe in God - any god?"

Eyes hasn't considered this in a while. In the scramble for his life which has lasted for several long years, he has all but forgotten to think about the religious beliefs implanted within him as a child. At one time, he would have willingly answered her, but now... He raises his eyes to the large panel above the altar, gazing quietly at the image of Jesus Christ with a lamb in his arms, and isn't sure what to say.

"I have a hard time believing that a just god would allow these things to happen to us." Ryouko seems to sense his hesitation. She returns to looking at him, her expression now blank. "A just god wouldn't have allowed the Blade Children to be created."

He frowns - he can't help himself. "Many people of the faith believe that everything happens for a reason. Our creation had a purpose, in the eyes of - "

"Bullshit." Ryouko's fist collides with the top of a pew, the angry sound of flesh on wood echoing throughout the chapel. "We have suffered from the moment we were brought into this world. We still can't rest, what with all these Hunters popping up out of nowhere. Why would someone bother creating us if we were just going to be killed right away?"

The pale-haired man is staring at the guns in his hands. "That is the mystery."

"You're no help, Rutherford." The brunette snorts. "What if you shot me, right here and now? Would that be part of God's plan?"

He looks at her wryly. "Only if God's wish were that Asazuki were to murder me immediately afterwards."

"Very funny."

"Hm." His guns disappear back into his sleeves. "He would."

She ignores him, her attention turning back to the stained glass windows. It is eerily quiet inside the church; the door is still intact and no Hunters have tried to enter through the roof. Eyes wonders if they have given up, but knows better than to make an assumption like that. They could be reforming, planning a new strategy. Or perhaps they had found the other two Blade Children...

"I never liked religion."

Eyes is unsurprised. He looks at the brunette and waits. He can tell she isn't done.

"It's like that saying. A wolf in sheep's clothing." Her voice is softer now, gentle, but there's still a hint of anger behind the words. "It looks beautiful on the outside, promises you everything you could want..." She motions with her gun to the stained glass windows. "But on the inside, it's rotten. It eats people up."

"That may be the truth."

"There are people like that, too." Ryouko turns on her heel and faces him with narrowed eyes. "Beautiful on the outside, rotten on the inside. Not even stained glass could hide the ugliness."

They stare at each other, unmoving, and the pianist wonders if she's talking about him.

Then there's a crash in a room behind the chapel and none of it matters anymore.

"Kousuke-kun... be more careful..."

"Shut up, Rio! I know!"

Eyes and Ryouko sigh and lower their weapons, visibly relaxing at the sight of a very familiar redhead sprawled out on the floor of the tiny church's hallway. Rio jumps gracefully through an opening in the roof to land, almost catlike, at Kousuke's feet, a tiny small marking her features as she catches sight of the two Blade Children standing nearby. "We're here to rescue you~!"

"We didn't need rescued." Ryouko reshoulders her gun, a grin toying with her mouth. "But thanks for trying."

"Ryouko, as soon as I can get up, so help me God I'll make you eat those words..."

"What, did you break something?" She wanders over to where her childhood friend is wincing on the floor, the grin on her face only growing wider. "You shouldn't be so clumsy."

As they begin their usual banter, Rio moves to stand beside Eyes, barely sparing a glance at the pistol in his hand. "They left," she remarks, referring to the Hunters. "Tsuchiya-san came and chased them away."

Eyes can't help but snort. "That woman..."

"She's good for some things." The gray-haired girl shrugs, then steps forward to look around the church. She immediately shivers, visibly, and closes her eyes. "It's scary in here. I don't like it."

He looks down at her, then at the stained glass window of Judas Iscariot, and is inclined to agree.