Fate and Destiny

by constantdaydreamergirl

Toshiro is sent to the World of the Living to investigate Hollow-like monsters, but he is stripped of his powers when he arrives. It is here he meets Ren, a human girl who is linked to the monsters. But, the longer Toshiro stays here, the more he suspects that there is more to Ren and the monsters than meets the eye...Full summary inside. Pairing Toshiro x OC

35. The Rose and the Wolf

Well, now that the main event of my bro tying the knot has come and gone, things are looking pretty calm now. Now, I know it's been a while, but come on! I have a job! And I'm trying to find another full-time one, too. Let's face it; minimum wage pays diddly squat! But, I promised on my Twitter ( Ren_Conner) that I would update before the week was over, and I did. I will try and be more regular, but the game of life is very chaotic. I'm sure you guys get it, right? Eh heh heh. Ahem, now, without further ado, here is the next chapter! Picking up where we left off last time, Toshiro has just discovered that Katelyn is a Cielvian reincarnation during their trip to Ren's past. Let's see what Katelyn has to say about this!

Chapter 33

The Rose and the Wolf

"You're a Cielvian reincarnation!" Toshiro realised.

"I guess I am." Katelyn said calmly. "I didn't think much of my healing until this point." Katelyn indicated the three children sitting in the field. "Although, I didn't realise the reason why I could heal was otherworldly."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?!" Toshiro asked, although with his anger at Katelyn keeping this secret, it may as well have been a demand.

"I had my orders from Altair."

"Altair? Does he know about Cielvians? What about the Feathers?"

"Yeah. He knows all of that. He was the one in charge of putting the Blank Fortnight and the destruction of Redwood under the rug. He's the only one who knows what really happened that day. Well, besides my family and me. He made sure Ren knew nothing."

A village head knows about Cielvia? Toshiro thought. And he knows that Redwood was destroyed with Cielvian abilities. Could he…Could he know about White Raven, too?

"How…" Toshiro started, baffled that a human knows about another world. "How much does he know? The Blank Fortnight…Cielvia…How much does he know?" Katelyn was silent for a few seconds, pondering the answer, before looking at Toshiro seriously.

"Enough."

"…" Toshiro was struck speechless. So, not only was Altair making sure Ren forgot her past, but he also covered up what happened in Redwood. And, he knew about Cielvia's existence. This guy was more important, and more dangerous, than Ren first let on. Just who the hell was he?! Forgetting about the children talking in the field, Toshiro turned all of his attention to Katelyn.

"Who are you reincarnated from?" Toshiro asked Katelyn.

"I don't know." Katelyn shrugged. "I'm not as connected to my Cielvian self as you and Ren. I don't have any Shackles. I'm not telekinetic. I don't have that person's memories. I'm just a human who heals abnormally quickly."

So that means that the Cielvian is either older than Katelyn, or they're outside of Cielvia and fighting for White Raven. Toshiro thought as a possible theory for why Katelyn wasn't receiving any additional abilities.

"According to Altair, possessing a healing factor is a sign that you are a Cielvian reincarnation. They're rare, but not unheard of. Once the reincarnation reaches the age of that Cielvian when they died, or when they were frozen in Cielvia, then their memories and powers come through. I haven't reached that point yet. Like I said, I'm just a human who heals quickly. It's not exactly something you can hide easily, especially during the cold and flu season. But, Ren was lonely and had little to no friends, so keeping her power secret was not a problem"

"Until now." Toshiro said, remembering Ren's hair being cut and then growing back the next day.

"Yeah." Katelyn agreed, looking at the younger version of her talking with Ren and Nathan. Toshiro also turned his attention back to them when he noticed the group standing up.

"Well, this has been fun, but we need to get home." Nathan said. "My dad is ordering pizza, and he's got stuffed crust."

"Oooo, stuffed crust." Ren said, almost drooling.

"Ren, again, I'm really sorry about what I did to you."

"It's fine." Ren insisted. "I'm just glad that I'm not the only one who can regenerate. And I'm glad I have another friend."

"Friend?" Past Katelyn gasped. "You think I'm your…friend?"

"Nn." Ren nodded. "I mean…if you want to." Ren said, suddenly turning shy.

"Of course I do." Past Katelyn whispered, smiling with boundless joy.

"I knew this was a good idea." Nathan said, folding his arms with a smile.

"Ren, I know the secret knock. I can come to you whenever you need me." Past Katelyn said, getting out an old bus ticket from her pocket and a pen, and scribbled something on the back. "If you ever need to talk when we're not at school…" She handed Ren the bus ticket. "Here's my mobile number."

"Thank you." Ren gave Past Katelyn a bow.

"Uh…"

"It's a habit of hers." Nathan explained.

"Ah."

"Well, goodnight." Nathan picked up his torch and began leading Ren back through the darkness, waving at Past Katelyn, who waved back before moving aside the wooden planks keeping the tunnel hidden.

"Let's go." Toshiro said to Katelyn, and he started to follow Nathan and Ren.

"Right." Katelyn trailed behind Toshiro. Within less than a minute, Ren was now at the front door of her house.

"I'll see you later, then, twit features." Nathan said as Ren unlocked the front door and opened it, illuminating the ground in front of them with the warm light of home.

"See you later, dingbat." Ren said with a smile, entering her house and shutting the door. Nathan remained standing outside for a few seconds before turning round and walking away.

"Ah!" Nathan suddenly stopped. "I left Ren's hat at home! Damn it! How could I forget that?" Nathan continued to berate himself as he walked away from Ren's house, and soon, Katelyn and Toshiro could no longer hear him. Confident Nathan was gone, Toshiro and Katelyn walked through the door into Ren's house.

"Ren, have you seen this?" Harley asked in a panicked voice, showing Ren his phone.

"Yeah." Ren replied calmly. "Rosalie sent it to everyone in the villages. I didn't want anybody to know about my power. Well, now they know."

"You're taking this well." Harley said with a raised eyebrow.

"I've known about this picture for a while. I'm over the shock."

"Rosalie's really gonna let you have it now."

"I know." Ren said, looking away. "But I'll be fine. I can take it."

"Don't give me that! If Rosalie was bad before, she'll be even worse now! Who knows what she'll do to you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Ren said in a low, bitter voice.

"Right. Yeah." Harley looked away, a hand on his head. "But I'll be there for you. Okay?"

"I know you will." Ren said with a small smile.

I wish you didn't, though. Ren thought. God, I'm so pathetic, having other people fight my battles. I want to be able to protect myself.

"…" Hearing this, Toshiro felt some sympathy towards Ren's frustrations of being powerless, even if Ren's was different from his own.

"Let's get to the kitchen. Dinner is ready soon."

"Okay." Ren followed Harley towards the kitchen, but the doorbell stopped her.

Who could that be? Ren thought.

"I'll get it!" Ren called as she went to the front door and opened it. To her surprise, it was Tom. "Tom?"

"Hi, Ren." Tom said with a small smile.

"What are you…I mean…How do you know where I live?" Ren asked after deciding which question she should be asking first.

"You're in the head families. The better question is who doesn't know where you live." Tom answered with a little smirk.

"Oh…"

"Anyway, uh…" Tom dropped something heavy on the ground, followed by a relieved sigh from not lugging something that heavy anymore. Ren looked. It was a green rucksack with a frog face on it. It was her rucksack. Ren knelt down and unzipped it to check nothing was missing.

"You ran off during lunch. I tried to follow you, but I lost sight of you. You didn't come back to school, and I noticed you left your rucksack outside the library. So, I thought I'd return it to you." Tom explained. Ren stood up, slinging the rucksack on her back.

"Thank you, Tom." Ren bowed in gratitude.

"You're welcome." Ren and Tom stood there in an awkward silence. Tom cleared his throat and Ren looped some hair behind her ear.

"Um…" Ren said, not for the sake of starting a conversation, but for the sake of breaking the silence. She hated loud noises, but she hated silences even more, especially if they were awkward, just like this one.

"So, er…I'll see you at school tomorrow." Tom eventually said with a shy smile.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Ren said quietly. Ren slowly closed the door, and Tom never lost his smile as Ren watched him become obscured by the door. When the door clicked shut, Ren heard his footsteps leave the door.

"Who was that?" Harley asked, and he couldn't help but notice the small smile on Ren's face. It was the kind of smile that he hadn't seen his sister wear for a long time.

"A friend." Ren answered her voice just above a whisper.

"Someone's got a boyfriend!" Harley sang with a smirk.

"Uuuu! He's not my boyfriend!" Ren whined.

"Do you want me to carve your initials in a tree?" Harley teased.

"Harley, knock it off!" Ren dumped her bag and ran after Harley, who was laughing all the way to the kitchen.

"I still can't believe that you're a Cielvian reincarnation." Toshiro said to Katelyn after hearing the chatter and clinking of plates to show that Ren and her family were having dinner in the other room.

"To be honest, neither can I, especially since you and Ren are reincarnations, too. When Altair told me about them, I thought nothing of it. But then you showed up, this kooky organisation comes out of the blue, and then…well, that's when I knew that my connections with Cielvia meant much more than just being able to heal. I don't know what it is yet, but whatever it is, it's huge. Listen, I'm sorry I never spoke up about it. I was told to keep quiet about it, but even if I wasn't told, I probably wouldn't know what to do. I-I freaked out."

"It's fine." Toshiro said. "I um…freaked out…when I realised I was a reincarnation, too." Toshiro mentally winced. Freaked out? Did he really just say that out loud? He couldn't blame Katelyn for panicking, though. Like he said, he did the same thing. It was only after some alone time, and from fighting White Raven and the Feathers some more, that Toshiro was able to accept his Cielvian heritage somewhat. But, this information Katelyn provided him with changed his perceptions of reincarnations entirely. The three reincarnations he had met were both completely different. One was a gloomy girl who had already surpassed her descendant. Another one was a human with no particular talents other than healing quickly. And don't even get him started on Ren; that girl was becoming more of an enigma every day. In fact, he wasn't even sure if Ren was a reincarnation or not. All he knew now was that a strong healing factor was evidence that you were a Cielvian reincarnation. Toshiro looked away to stare out of a window, deep in thought. Now that he thought about it, he was gravely wounded by Aizen's hand back in Central 46. But somehow, he recovered from it much faster than Hinamori did. He had originally passed it off as dumb luck, but now that he had heard this discovery about reincarnations from Katelyn, and now that he knew he was one of those few, maybe it wasn't just luck that let him survive that attack. Maybe he was connected to Ryuki long before he became a Soul Reaper.

"I'm glad I'm not the only reincarnation." Katelyn said, bringing Toshiro out of his train of thought. Toshiro looked away from the window and back at Katelyn. "It's a relief, you know?"

"Yeah." Toshiro agreed.

"I don't think we're going to find out anything else here." Toshiro silently agreed with a nod.

"Are you ready?" Toshiro asked, getting Ren's diary out of his pocket and opening it up on the current date.

"Let's do it." With that, Toshiro immediately turned the page, and in a flash of white light, the duo were back in Ren's form room, and the bell rang almost as soon as they arrived. Ren, her hair tied up in two plaits again but without her glasses, packed her bag, zipped it up and slung it on her back, standing up and ready to make a bolt for the door.

"Ren!"

"Huh?" Ren looked over her shoulder.

Someone from Redwood must want to bother me again. Ren thought. But, to her surprise, it was Tom who had called out her name.

"Tom?" Ren said, confused.

"What is it?" Tom asked with a friendly smile.

"Nothing, I er…I thought you were…never mind." Ren shook her head.

"Not everyone is out to get you, you know." Tom said, half joking.

"You'd be surprised." Ren muttered.

"So, er, you've got science first, haven't you?"

"…" Ren nodded.

"I've got science, too."

"…" Ren nodded again.

"We're in the same class. Maybe…We could walk together."

"…" This time, Ren didn't nod. She just stared at Tom, baffled.

"Um…" Tom said, not expecting this silence from Ren. "Would you like to walk to class with me?"

"Uh…" Ren said stupidly, her mind drawing a complete blank on what to do.

"You say yes or no." Tom gently prompted.

"Yes." Ren said eventually.

"Great." Tom's smile became even wider. "Let's go. We can follow the crowd so Rosalie doesn't see us."

"Sure." Ren walked beside Tom, and she was in such a daze, that she didn't notice the site manager going down the hall with a bucket and a mop.

"Careful there." Tom quickly pulled Ren out of the way. "You shouldn't stare into space like that."

"I'm sorry." Ren apologised quietly, looking down at the ground.

"Don't be daft. You don't have to apologise."

"I'm sorry." Ren apologised again.

"That's quite a habit you have." Tom joked.

"I know. I'm sorry." Hearing another apology from Ren, Tom couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's go." Tom made a move, but stopped after only a couple steps, his eyes wide. "Oh, no."

"?" Toshiro and Katelyn followed Tom's line of sight to find out what he was looking at. There, stuck on the wall for everyone to see, was a large A3 poster. On one side, there was a picture of Ren with hacked off hair, broken glasses and a black eye. On the other side, there was another picture of Ren with long hair and no glasses over her healed eyes, walking through the street with Harley. The pictures had the 22nd and the 23rd dates on them, proving their authenticity, and written on each picture was "Before" and "After". It didn't take long for Tom, Katelyn and Toshiro to realise who was behind this.

Rosalie… They all thought at the same time.

"…" Tom glanced at Ren, who still hadn't noticed the poster.

"Excuse me…can I just…Oh! Sorry…Please let me…Sorry…" Ren muttered, trying to join the crowd of students in the corridor, and failing each time. Tom looked left and right, and quick as a flash, he got a pen out of his pocket and dropped it in front of Ren. She heard the pen hit the ground, and bent down to pick it up, which Tom took as an opportunity to spring towards the poster, rip it down and jump back to Ren's side again as soon as she straightened up.

"Is this yours?" Ren showed Tom the pen she picked up.

"Oh, my pen! Did I drop it? I had no idea. Thanks, Ren." Tom asked, feigning surprise, taking the pen and putting it back in his blazer pocket. "Come on, science class starts any minute now." Tom took Ren's hand and slipped in the crowd of students, merging with them perfectly, and when they passed a bin, Tom took that opportunity to screw the poster up into a crumpled mess and throw it in the trash as hard as he could. Of course, being ghosts, Toshiro and Katelyn had no problems keeping up with Tom and Ren; the students just went right through them.

"How did you do that?" Ren asked.

"Do what?" Tom said, worried that Ren had spotted him throw something away.

"Get in the corridor. I can never do it."

"Oh, that!" Tom said loudly, understanding what Ren meant. "Well, that's easy. You just have to get your elbows out. Be assertive."

"Assertive?" Ren repeated slowly as though that word were part of an alien language.

"It means to be forceful or confident. And that's something you need a lot of."

"Confident?"

"Yeah. You've just got to find something you're good at." Pause "Are you good at anything?"

"No." Ren shook her head. "Everything I try to do, Rosalie joins, too, and she outshines me."

"No, she doesn't. Everyone is just too gutless to say anything negative about her. I've seen her grades; you're much smarter than her. So, I'll ask you again. What do you think you're good at?"

"Well…I can swim two lengths in one breath. Oh, but Rosalie is much faster at swimming than me." Ren hung her head.

"But can she do it underwater?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, there you go!" Tom said happily. "That's something you can do that Rosalie can't. I'll bet you can do it even longer now that your asthma's gone."

"Hey, yeah." Ren agreed, her face brightening up into a smile.

"Feel that?" Tom asked with a smirk. "That's called confidence. That's what Rosalie uses. You should use it, too. Remember that feeling, and embrace it. Do that and the crowds will part for you in no time."

Wow, that would feel nice. Ren thought, still smiling.

"Here we are." Tom and Ren, among other year seven students, entered into a science classroom, fully equipped with high desks, Bunsen burners, beakers, test tubes and other such equipment for experiments. The students all took their seats and got out their pencil cases and books. Ren went to her seat near the window and sat down on her backless high stool. Toshiro noticed that, while students were all sitting with one other person, Ren was the only one who had nobody sitting next to her. But, not for long, because as soon as Toshiro noticed Ren's loneliness, Tom proudly walked over and sat next to Ren, just as a male middle aged teacher walked into the room, carrying several sheets of paper and books.

"Alright, students, take your seats." The teacher said, laying his books on his own desk.

"Tom, this isn't your seat." Ren whispered.

"It will be." Tom whispered back.

"Eh?"

"In our correct seats, Mr Barnes." The teacher said with a frown.

"Oh, uh, sorry sir. I left my text book at home. I was hoping I could share with Ren. Is that okay?"

"Alright, you can sit next to Miss Conner for now. But next time, you will bring your own books and sit at your own desk."

"…" Ren looked down, feeling a little disappointed that she'd be alone again.

"Actually, I want to sit here from now on."

"Eh?" Ren looked up at Tom, whose gaze was focused on the science teacher.

"I am the teacher, and I decide who sits where." The teacher said forcefully, taking off his tweed jacket and slinging it on the back of his chair. As the teacher approached Tom, Toshiro noticed a golden brooch on the blazer of the jacket in the shape of a Celtic cross with a red rose in the centre.

So he's from Redwood, too. Toshiro thought, disgusted that someone in a position like this was using their authority to make one person miserable.

"But, sir, it's crowded at my desk. It's not meant to sit three people. Wouldn't it be better for one of us to sit here with Ren? There's plenty of room."

"Mr Barnes, if you answer back one last time, I'll have you on detention. Anyway, that is not a good enough reason to change a seating plan."

"Alright, I didn't want to say it out loud, but that plant…" Tom pointed at a large pot of flowers on the other side of the classroom. "…is aggravating my allergies."

"Allergies?" The teacher raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah, my allergies. I've got hay fever, and that pollen is a nightmare." After he said this, Tom sneezed. "You see?" There was a pause as the teacher thought.

"Alright, fine. You can sit here from now on."

"Thank you, sir." Tom said politely, sitting down next to Ren. The teacher wandered back to his desk, grumbling.

"I didn't know you had hay fever." Ren said as Tom unpacked his things.

"I don't."

"Eh?" Tom placed his bag down on the floor, looked at Ren and smiled at her.

"It was the only good excuse I could think of." Tom winked at Ren. "It's our secret."

"Uh…Nn." Ren nodded, stunned.

"Alright, students, let's get started with chemical reactions. Last time, we conducted an experiment with red cabbage and found…"

"Psst." Tom nudged Ren, getting her attention Ren looked at Tom. Tom slid a slip of paper towards Ren. There was a hastily scrawled message on it. Toshiro and Katelyn peered for a look.

"Is there anything else you're good at?" It read.

"…" Ren looked at Tom, who smiled at Ren and looked back at the board, writing something in his exercise book. Ren thought for a few seconds and wrote down a response while pretending she was writing notes from the whiteboard. After a few seconds, Ren slid the paper towards Tom and hastily tapped his shoulder to get his attention. Tom read the paper, and Toshiro was trying to read it, but the writing was exactly the same as the writing in the diary; awful and almost unreadable. Toshiro opened up the diary on a random page and compared the handwriting with that of the paper. Yup; still terrible. He turned his attention back to the note, and was somehow able to read it.

"Well, don't tell anyone, but I've been doing something in my free time that not even Rosalie knows about."

"What is it?" Tom whispered so as to not get the teacher's attention. Ren said nothing, but Tom saw Ren's eyes shift from the paper to his face and then back again. Tom chuckled. He scribbled on the paper and slid it back to Ren.

"What is it?"

"…" Ren wrote on the paper while Tom watched. As soon as she was done, Ren slid it back to him and rapidly tapped his shoulder again, even though he already knew Ren was done writing. He took the paper and read it.

"I play the flute."

"Wow…" Tom muttered. He wrote something down and slid it to Ren so she could read it.

"That's incredible. I know for a fact Rosalie is rubbish at music."

"Eh?" Ren blinked, confused. She wrote something down, slid it to Tom and tapped his shoulder once again.

"But I've seen her sing at village events."

"That's beca…" Tom started, but stopped himself when he saw Ren staring at the piece of paper they had been writing on, knowing that she was expecting him to use that. With a patient smile, Tom wrote down something on the paper once again and slid it across the desk to Ren.

"That's because there's someone else singing for her. She can't sing a note. She sounds like a strangled cat!"

"Pfft." Ren stifled a laugh behind her hand, and seeing this laughter made Tom smile, learning that Ren was indeed capable of being happy. At the same time, Toshiro didn't even bother resisting a smile after seeing Ren's happiness. As bleak as this time was, it was nice to see a person he cared about happy, even if it was for a moment.

"Let me guess." Tom's note continued. "You don't join the orchestra because Rosalie will join, too."

"That's right."

"Why not do it anyway? Rosalie doesn't play any instruments, and we have our own choir so singing isn't an option."

"Rosalie might put me in that place if I rebel against her."

That place? Tom and Toshiro thought at the same time. Toshiro remembered Rosalie mentioning it when talking to Ren by the school lockers right after some toy spiders had fallen out onto the floor. What was it exactly? Whatever it was, he knew that Ren was terrified of it, as evidenced by Ren's hand shaking as she clenched her green frog pen. Seeing this fear, Tom scribbled another sentence on the paper and slid it to Ren.

"Where is that place?"

"…" Ren hesitated as her pen hovered over the slip of paper. She took a deep breath and hastily wrote something down, slid the paper across the table to Tom and tapped his shoulder rapidly. She distracted herself with what the teacher was writing on the whiteboard while Tom and Toshiro read the note.

"It's the storage cupboard in the sports hall."

"What?" Tom said, looking quite shocked. Tom wrote something else down and slid the paper to Ren with a "Psst."

"You mean that small cupboard that has no lights?"

"…" Ren was about to write something down, but her pen hovered over the paper, hesitating. She couldn't bring herself to write it down, so she just looked at Tom and nodded.

"That's awful." Tom said. Ren merely turned back to the whiteboard, a sad look in her eyes.

That explains why Ren is so afraid of the dark. Toshiro thought. He remembered when he and Ren went inside the cupboard after class had ended. He knew just how cramped and dark that room was. It gave him the chills, and he wasn't talking about that carving and the voice he heard, which would probably be Ren. That room would be enough to scare anybody, especially if they were put in there regularly like Ren was.

"Ahem." Tom cleared his throat. Ren looked away from the board, and realised Tom had just written something else on the paper. Ren moved it in front of her and read it.

"Don't let Rosalie get to you. You're better than you think you are."

"…" Even after reading this, Ren still looked doubtful. Tom brought the paper back in front of him, wrote something else down for a few seconds and slid it back to Ren for her to read.

"How many people can say they take music lessons without the most powerful person in the villages realising it?

"…" Ren's face lit up a little after seeing this.

"Confidence." Tom whispered. He scribbled one more message on the paper and slid it back to Ren.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find lots of other things you can do that Rosalie can't. You just have to be patient. I'll be here to help you find it. And I know I'm not the only one who will be there for you. No matter what happens, you are not alone."

"…" Ren's eyes shone with happiness after reading this. She wrote something down, slid it to Tom and rapidly tapped his shoulder once more so he could read it.

"Thank you."

"Anytime." Tom said with a smile. Ren smiled back. And it wasn't a small smile. It was a smile that Toshiro had seen so many times. It was a smile he would recognise anywhere. It was Ren's happy smile. Toshiro finally felt reassured that, somewhere in that unhappy girl, there was the Ren he had known for so long. All she needed was a little happiness in her miserable life. And her friends were the key to finding it.

"Now, everyone turn to page 37 of your text books and answer questions 1a to 3c until the bell…hm?" The teacher was interrupted when a secretary entered the room dressed in a navy blazer and skirt with a white shirt.

"Ren Conner to the deputy head's office." The secretary said.

"?" Ren looked up from her exercise book at the sound of her name.

Oh, crudbuckets. What now? Ren thought.

"You are excused, Miss Conner." The teacher said, going back to the whiteboard. Clearly doing this before, Ren packed her things in her froggy rucksack, hopped down from her stool and slung her bag on her back. She walked through the classroom, ignoring the stares and whispers of her classmates. She left the classroom, and the secretary followed her. Almost immediately afterwards, Tom got up to leave. "And just where do you think you're going, Mr Barnes?"

"Uh…Toilet, sir." Tom said. The teacher said nothing, merely looking at the whiteboard again and waving Tom off dismissively with a "meh" sound, and Tom seemed to run out of the door (although with the teacher's attitude, Toshiro couldn't blame him for wanting out of that awful lesson).

"We're following him, aren't we?" Katelyn asked, despite already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Of course." Toshiro answered.

I knew it. Kaelyn thought, already feeling exhausted with being a ghost and following somebody around. How Toshiro had the patience to investigate the anniversary and the Blank Fortnight, she'll never know.

...

"In here." The secretary opened the door to an office so that Ren could enter. As soon as she was in, the door shut behind her abruptly and almost with a slam, making Ren jump. Katelyn and Toshiro followed shortly afterwards, entering the office through the shut door. Katelyn gave a small shiver afterwards; walking through a door was like walking through a thick waterfall.

"Ah, good. You're here."

"?" Ren turned her attention back to the desk in the centre of the small office, with shelves of old looking books behind it. Siting behind it was a middle aged man with a mop of thin brown hair and a goofy tie with multicolour books on it.

That is the stupidest tie I've ever seen. Katelyn, Toshiro and Ren thought at the same time.

"Y-You wanted to see me, sir?" Ren said with a stutter she wasn't expecting.

"Yes. Take a seat." The man gestured to the two leather chairs in front of his desk. Ren approached the chairs and tentatively sat down, placing her bag on the floor next to her and folding her hands on her lap. She looked anywhere but at the authority figure, her back slouching. "And sit up straight." Ren immediately did so. "Hm?" The man leaned forward, giving Ren a narrow eyed, scrutinising look.

"Is…something wrong?" Ren asked, confused.

"I seem to remember you with glasses."

"They…broke. I'm wearing contacts." Ren said with shifty eyes, even though she knew she was telling the truth. Sort of.

"It hardly matters." The man leaned back into his seat, producing a file from his desk drawer. "Why were you absent from school yesterday?"

"Um…" Ren started.

"Do you not care about your education at all? You are no longer in primary school. You cannot slack off in your studies. Do you not want to get into a good university? I'm starting to think that Thornton family was right about you." The man lectured, and with every second, Ren sank lower and lower into her seat, her shoulders hunching up to touch her ears. The man noticed Ren slouching. "Sit up straight, Renee!" He barked.

"Eep." Ren squeaked, immediately doing so. "Um…sir?" Ren said nervously.

"Huh?" The man glowered at Ren.

"My name isn't Renee. It's Ren." Ren corrected him feebly.

"Don't be preposterous. I've never heard of such a name as "Ren". A name as strange as that must be a nickname. That will not do at all. While in my presence, I shall call you whatever I please, Renee."

"Look in that file." Ren pointed at the file the man still held. "My name is in there." The man looked.

"Ren Conner." He read. Silence. "Obviously a mistake." He snapped the file shut and slammed it back on the desk with an audible slapping sound like a fly swatter killing an insect, making Ren flinch.

Could this guy be anymore of an ignoramus? Ren thought, clearly getting frustrated.

"My name is Ren." Ren insisted in a feeble attempt to stand up for herself. "How would you feel if I started calling you the wrong name, Mr…uh…" Ren searched the desk for something to tell her his name, realising that she had no idea who this guy was. "Mr…"

"Dungworth." The man said. Pause

That…is hilarious. Toshiro thought, while looking completely deadpan on the outside.

"What?" Ren said. "I mean, pardon?" Ren quickly corrected herself.

"My last name is Dungworth. And yes, it would be an improper sign of respect if a student calls a teacher by their name, much less the wrong one."

A stupid name to match a stupid tie. Ren thought, suppressing a snicker.

"But I am not a student…" The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Uh…N…No, you're not…" Ren said slowly.

"You are to respect my authority and not make a huge deal out of tedious things like identity. Understood?"

"Y…Yes…" Ren said, looking away. "Yes, I understand, sir."

"Consider this a verbal warning, Renee. Any further insubordination from you and you will be put on detention for a month."

"It's Re…" Ren started, but after seeing the look in Dungworth's face, Ren looked away, a sad look in her eyes. "Yes, sir."

"You are excused. I hope we don't have this discussion again, Renee."

"Thank you, sir." Ren stood up and picked up her bag, no longer having the heart to correct him on her name. She walked towards the door, and Toshiro took this moment to get a glimpse of Ren's face. It looked defeated and humiliated, and while there were no tears in Ren's eyes, it was plainly obvious that Ren was doing everything in her power to not cry. He couldn't help but admire Ren for how strong she was at such a young age. If it was him, Toshiro knew for a fact that he would have been broken beyond repair long ago after having the hatred and isolation of entire communities placed upon him for reasons he didn't understand. In fact, he wasn't sure what exactly he would do in this situation. Ren was so fragile, and yet so strong. Just how much more could she take?

"What did he want?"

"Tom?" Katelyn recognised the voice, as did Toshiro. They looked at one another, and in silent agreement, they walked back through the door to the deputy's office, and was met with the sight of Tom talking with Ren. Toshiro noticed how there were small bits of paper sticking out of the pockets of Tom's blazer. Considering what happened that morning, he could only assume they were more posters of Ren`s hacked off hair and unexplained recovery.

So that's why he left. Toshiro thought.

"Oh, it was nothing. He wanted to talk about my missing school yesterday." Ren said dismissively.

"I see." Tom glared at the door. "I hate him."

"Why? He's not from Redwood. Besides, he's a jerk to everyone."

"I still hate him."

"Um…let's go back to class." Ren quickly diverted Tom's attention, not liking the angry look on his face.

"Sure." Tom said reluctantly, which Ren noticed.

"Don't tell me you hate Mr Ozwood, too."

"Don't you?"

"No, I…Okay, maybe I have a little resentment towards him, but it's only because he's from Redwood. We all have to live amongst enemies, like it or not."

"I'll choose not."

"Yeah, me too." Ren agreed, a frustrated look on her face. With that, the two kids walked off back in the direction of the science block.

"Yikes." Katelyn said while Toshiro opened Ren's diary to the current page. "I had no idea Dungworth was such a jerk."

"With a name like that, who wouldn't?" Toshiro said, turning the page and turning the scene white.

"Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous." Katelyn said with a snicker, and Toshiro tried extremely hard to suppress his own. How can anyone take the deputy head seriously with a name like Dungworth?! And that stupid tie wasn't helping, either. Toshiro looked up as soon as he noticed the scene change to the cafeteria in the middle of the lunch rush. Or, it would be a rush if everyone wasn't gathered around one of the serving stations.

"But I got what you ordered." A woman's voice protested.

"Oh, boy." Katelyn said with a sigh. "I think I know what this is."

"…" Ignoring Katelyn, Toshiro approached the crowd and walked through the students to see what was causing the commotion. Rosalie was stood in front of two female cooks, and she was looking like she was in a very bad mood.

Rosalie… Toshiro thought. Why am I not surprised?

"What, this?!" Rosalie said with disgust, glaring at the plate of curry presented to her by one of the cooks. "Hmph." Rosalie swatted it away, making it flip over and land squarely on the cooks head, covering her with rice and curry that quickly stained her clothing. "I wouldn't feed it to a dog. I want a fresh one. And I want it brought to me in less than five minutes.

"But…" The second cook started while the first one was still cleaning the curry off of herself.

"Do you want me to call my father and have you kicked out faster than you can say "soup's on"?! Because I will!" Rosalie yelled. She turned around, flicking some blonde hair over her shoulder. "Now make with the lunch. Chop chop." Rosalie clapped her hands twice to emphasise the last sentence and took her seat at a table, taking her phone out and tapping away at the buttons.

"She's even worse than before." Toshiro remarked, walking out of the crowd to stand back at Katelyn's side.

"Actually, she's always been like this." Katelyn said. "Rosalie just loved to make people sweat around her. I guess it made her feel more powerful."

"So she's just being horrible..."

"For the sake of being horrible, yes." Katelyn finished for Toshiro.

"Don't tell me; nobody could stop her because of her status." Toshiro said, sensing a pattern. When Katelyn nodded, Toshiro was both angry and frustrated that he was right.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Katelyn said. "Just wait until Ren comes in." As if on cue, Ren entered the canteen, and immediately noticed Rosalie sitting at a table, while also seeing how a member of staff was cleaning themselves up, trying to regain their dignity. It didn't take her long to draw her own conclusions about what had just happened.

I should go. Ren thought, slowly backing away, but stopped when her back hit something. She turned around to meet the eyes of Tom, and she looked away, uncomfortable with this level of eye contact, as well as how close together they were.

"You can't let Rosalie's presence control you." Tom said gently.

"But…But…" Ren stammered, her fear preventing her from forming a plausible excuse.

"Besides, I'm here if anything happens, and I know Katelyn and Harley aren't too far behind." Ren still looked doubtful. "Come on. Let's grab a sandwich. We'll be in and out before Rosalie even knows we're here." Tom suggested, not realising how much he was tempting fate.

"O…Okay." Ren nodded. Ren briskly walked towards the queue leading to the food, looking away from Rosalie and even pulling her school blazer up over her ears to hide her face. As soon as she reached the queue, she let go of her blazer, confident that Rosalie didn't spot her. But, she was still there. She couldn't see Rosalie, but she knew she was there. It was like a sixth sense was warning that she had to leave right now.

No. Tom is right. I can't let Rosalie intimidate me. Ren thought, shaking her head so hard, her plaits flew around her head and almost hit another student. She stopped shaking her head when she felt dizzy. She's doing a good job, though.

"Why did she shake her head like that?" Katelyn wondered, being unable to hear Ren's thoughts like Toshiro could, and being the genius that he is, Toshiro immediately realised this. It seems telepathy wasn't something that Katelyn knew, either.

"Ren doesn't say what she thinks in this time. Put your hand on me and you should hear what Ren thinks."

"Like this?" Katelyn placed her hand on Toshiro's shoulder.

Go in, grab lunch and get out. Go in, grab lunch and get out. Ren thought in a mantra.

"Hey, it worked!" Katelyn said happily. She looked around with shifty eyes. "So er…do I have to keep my hand here?"

"No. You can listen in whenever you feel like it."

"Okay." Katelyn took her hand off Toshiro's shoulder. "How did you do that just now?"

"It's been acting on its own for a few days now. I don't know how to control my telepathy properly, and the only person who can tell me how is ignoring me. All I can do is choose which mind I can read and project my thoughts into another person's mind."

"It must give you a headache." Katelyn said sympathetically.

"Not really. I've had a few days to practice this ability so it doesn't take a toll on me. Unfortunately, this is all I can do right now. If I overdo it, then I get a headache."

"Can you overdo telepathy?"

"Yes. One mind, I can do easily. But reading more than one mind at once is a stretch."

"It is?"

"I'm sure you'd get a headache if you heard two people talking at once." Toshiro retorted, getting annoyed at all these questions Katelyn was asking him. Granted, she was just curious, but he had bigger things to focus on, namely finding out what led to the destruction of Redwood.

"Sorry." Katelyn apologised sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it." Toshiro said dismissively, approaching the queue Ren was standing in, and Katelyn followed him. When they reached the crowd, Toshiro noticed several things at once. One; Ren and Tom had grabbed a packet of sandwiches each, and Ren was almost jogging on the spot, eager to get out of the room and uttering her trademark "Uuuu" sound. Two; a member of the kitchen staff had left the counter with another plate of curry that looked identical to the one Rosalie had so callously tossed away. This member of staff reached Rosalie as she was finished checking herself in a little vanity mirror. When she looked up, Rosalie's eyes passed over the crowd, and Toshiro saw how a wicked glint appeared in them. She smirked. She waved at the crowd. Two students, one girl with short blonde hair and a boy with black hair and both wearing the Redwood brooch, looked towards Rosalie. She pointed at something subtly. They nodded, and started muttering behind them at a few more students wearing the Redwood brooch.

What's she pointing at? Toshiro thought, following Rosalie's finger. It went past the salad bar, past the tills and towards a fidgety girl with long dark blonde plaits about to pay for…

"Oh, God." Toshiro said flatly and with dread, getting a bad feeling about what might happen next.

"Thanks." Ren muttered, taking back her student card and pocketing it, along with her sandwiches. She sighed, starting to feel relieved that things were going well.

"Now, let's go." Tom had a hand on Ren's shoulder as he led Ren away from the students. But, a middle school student of around fifteen years old stood back and Tom crashed into him, causing him to stagger.

"Hey, watch it." The student said with a scowl.

"You watch it!" Tom snapped back, not noticing the golden brooch on his blazer. But, Ren saw it, and looking around quickly, she saw several other students with the brooch started to surround them.

"Um…Tom…" Ren said quietly, tugging on Tom's sleeve.

"You stepped in front of us!" Tom continued, getting irked at being kept in this room in a pointless argument. "Now if you…" Tom moved to go around him, but the student followed him, blocking his path. Tom stepped to his right. The student side stepped in his way again. "Move."

"I am moving." The male student said, clearly enjoying himself.

"I meant move out the way." Tom stepped left and right, but the student just kept blocking him. "Rrrr!" Tom growled, getting frustrated.

"Tom…" Ren tugged on his sleeve more furiously.

"…" Rosalie watched the scene, smirking. "Why are you still here?" Rosalie snapped impatiently at the dinner lady, who was still holding the plate of curry and clearly expecting Rosalie to throw it on her like she did with the other unfortunate woman. "Oh, yes. Silly me." Rosalie stood up and inspected the meal. "Hmmm." She smiled. Seeing this smile, the dinner lady relaxed. "That's much better. Why couldn't you do this before?" Rosalie took the plate from her hands, and the dinner lady looked visibly relieved. "Now this is worthy of being fed to a dog." She looked at Ren, who was still trying to get Tom's attention. "Speaking of which…"

"What?" The dinner lady followed Rosalie's gaze, confused.

"I never said this was for me." Rosalie snarled at the cook. "I would never eat the slop you serve here. Now, if you'll excuse me." Rosalie walked slowly and menacingly towards Tom and Ren.

"Tom!" Ren shouted.

"Eh?" This sudden rise in the volume of Ren's voice got Tom's attention. "Ren, what is it?"

"We're surrounded." Ren said, her voice becoming quiet once again. Tom looked around, and realised too late that they had become surrounded by members of the Redwood village while he was distracted.

"I'm sorry, Ren." Tom apologised, disappointed in himself that he had brought them into this situation.

"Afternoon, Ren." Rosalie said in mock politeness. She noticed the sandwiches in Ren's pocket. "I see you've already got food. And here I was, about to give you some out of the kindness of my heart." Rosalie brandished the plate of curry in front of Ren's face, letting her catch the scent of spices and feel the heat of freshly cooked food.

Eurgh, I hate spicy food! Ren thought, recoiling away from the curry, which Rosalie noticed.

"Don't like it? Is this the way you repay my generosity?" Rosalie demanded in a low voice leaning closer towards Ren face. Tom stepped in front of Ren, protecting her from Rosalie's glare, while giving Rosalie one of his own. Rosalie stood up straight and smirked. "Well, look who's grown a pair." She raised an elegant hand up to head height. "Pity it won't do any good." She snapped her fingers. On cue, two male members of Redwood grabbed one of Tom's arms each.

"Hey!" Tom protested. "Let go!" Tom continued to protest and resist as the boys led Tom aside, and after reaching a distance of around two metres, they stood in the circle watching the scene, keeping their arms hooked under Tom's to immobilise him. Seeing this, Toshiro's feeling of dread grew even more. What exactly was Rosalie planning?

"I bought you lunch out of goodwill. After all, a good person takes good care of their pets. Now…" Rosalie's smile grew. "Eat up!" She said happily, tossing the plate at Ren, and the meal landed squarely on Ren's chest. The plate fell off right away and shattered on the ground, with the rice and curry following shortly afterwards, clump by clump, and the canteen becoming silent after hearing the sound of a plate breaking. Ren and Rosalie had everybody's attention. Ren's front was now covered with the lunch, and some of the sauce had even splattered onto her face. Ren blinked frantically to prevent the spicy fumes of the curry from getting into her eyes, ignoring the big, brown stain on her white school blouse and barely registering what had just happened.

"!" Toshiro went wide eyed at what Rosalie did, and instinctively moved to Ren to protect her, but stopped himself after remembering that he couldn't do anything. So, he stayed where he was, steaming with anger.

"Oh, no!" Rosalie gasped in mock horror, with a hand dramatically on her mouth. "Just look at the mess you've made." Rosalie shook her head in disappointment. "This is what happens when I get you nice things."

"Leave her alone!" Tom yelled, struggling in the grasp of the older boys.

"Could you shut him up?" Rosalie ordered, clearly getting annoyed. Immediately, the two middle schoolers holding Tom used their free arms to punch him in the stomach with such force, Tom felt his breath leave his body. The boys released Tom, and he collapsed onto his knees, completely winded and his arms around his stomach. "Thank you." Rosalie said sweetly.

"Tom, are you alright?" Toshiro reached out to Tom, but his hand went straight through his shoulder. Usually, Toshiro was smart enough to remember that he wasn't real here. But, this was different. He was surrounded by people that he spent every day with, that he cared about, be they past or present. When they were sad or in pain, it was hard not to feel something for them, and it was equally as easy to forget that he couldn't do a thing about it. He couldn't comfort them. He couldn't protect them. All Toshiro could do was watch, helpless. And if there was one thing Toshiro couldn't stand, it was feeling helpless.

"Uuuu…" Ren whined, seeing Tom in pain, and then she felt something warm on her chest. That was when she remembered the stain on her shirt, and she took her blazer off so that she could properly inspect the stain, holding the shirt a few inches from her skin before it could soak through to her skin and really do some damage.

"Oh, what a clever idea, Ren!" Rosalie praised. "Take off your clothes before they stain!" Rosalie wandered behind Ren as she spoke. "Here…" Rosalie clenched the fabric of Ren's white school blouse into her fist. "Allow me." With a malicious smile, Rosalie pushed Ren with all of her strength. Ren staggered forward from the push with a gasp, followed by the ugly sound of fabric being torn. Rosalie yanked Ren's shirt from her body, holding the tattered, stained remains in her hand with a smirk, while Ren fell onto her knees, wearing nothing but a white vest, staring blankly ahead of her as shirt buttons fell around her.

"Ren!" Toshiro yelled. "Rrrr!" Toshiro glared at Rosalie with clenched teeth, wishing now more than ever for looks to kill.

"…" Katelyn said nothing, looking at the scene with silent horror. She remembered this day, even though she wanted to forget. It was only now that she was an observer that she saw all the little details. She noticed how students wearing the Redwood brooch were watching what happened with glee and sick satisfaction. The other students however, were in a shocked silence, thinking that this time, Rosalie was going too far. But, they were too afraid to make any attempts of defending Ren. Toshiro, on the other hand, was looking as though he were willing Rosalie to drop dead right there and then. He was too angry at what had just happened to notice how the room had grown incredibly quiet and tense. Katelyn didn't know Toshiro that well, but she could only assume that an angry Toshiro was not a good Toshiro.

"It was no problem for me to get rid of these rags." Rosalie said, dropping the shirt on the ground at arm's length while Ren tried to cover herself with her arms. "Dogs shouldn't wear clothes, especially those tacky outfits. Can you imagine anything more humiliating?"

Oh, I dunno. How about not wearing anything at all?! Ren mentally snarked, her face staying expressionless and her eyes shining with anger and humiliation.

"Don't just think it; say it!" Toshiro shouted in frustration, even though he knew only Katelyn could hear him, and even she looked confused.

"Oh, that's right. He's telepathic." Katelyn muttered to herself as a reminder.

"You've always been a good little pet, Ren. Do you really want to change that now?" Rosalie continued in her gloating, twirling a blonde curl around her finger.

"Ren…" Tom wheezed, still recovering from the punches in his gut.

"So, why don't you be a good dog and eat your food?" Rosalie said, walking in front of Ren and crouching down to look her in the eye. "Okaaaaay?" She said in a sickeningly sweet voice with a sickeningly sweet smile to match.

"…" Ren looked down at the spilt dinner, still emitting hot steam. Ren dared to stick her finger in her rice. It was still hot and she quickly drew it away, shaking her hand until the burning feeling went away.

She isn't seriously going to do it, is she? Toshiro thought.

"Hey, do it properly!" Rosalie yelled, slamming her hand on the back of Ren's head and shoving it down with such force, Ren could feel the rice on the tip of her nose, and she had to plant her hands on the cold, hard ground so that her face didn't go all the way into the food.. "Remember; you are a dog. And dog's don't have hands."

"…" Ren looked to her right after hearing a groan. Tom was sitting up on one knee in an attempt to save Ren and still too winded to form a sentence. Ren gave him a look that made him stop, giving her head a little shake left and right. She was obviously in need of help, but she didn't want Tom to get involved.

Please get the message, Tom. Ren thought desperately. I don't want you hurt any more than you already were.

"…" Tom could tell Ren didn't want him to intervene, and with a lot of reluctance, Tom shrank back.

"Wait…"

"?" Ren realised Rosalie had taken her hand off her head. She looked back at Rosalie. She was looking at something behind Ren, her expression both confused and curious.

"What's that?" Rosalie stood up and went behind Ren, placing her hands on her knees for a better look. "There's something…"

"!" Ren gasped with wide eyes, realising what Rosalie has spotted.

"Oh, my God." Rosalie said with a smile. She burst out laughing, clutching her sides. Tom took this opportunity to crawl over to Ren's side, placing a hand on her shoulder. He still couldn't talk, but Ren could clearly tell what he was thinking. He wanted to know if she was okay. Ren nodded, even though she knew this was far from the truth. "That's hilarious! I always knew you were a freak, but God, this really takes the cake!"

"?" Tom looked at Ren, confused. Ren shrugged her shoulders, trying to pretend that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Hey! Hey, everyone, look at this!" Still smiling, Rosalie grabbed Ren's arm and forced her to stand up. "You remember how I kept saying that Ren is a freak? Now I've got proof. Look!" Rosalie spun Ren around, showing her back to everybody. Through the straps of her vest, everybody could clearly see two brown teardrop shapes positioned over Ren's shoulder blades.

Her birthmarks… Toshiro thought.

"…" Ren said nothing, holding her arms as she listened to all the students whisper amongst themselves.

"So that's why you wore those weird costumes at swimming class. You didn't want me to see these things." Rosalie poked at the birthmarks to emphasise her point, and Ren flinched at her cold touch. "Oh, well." Rosalie shrugged. "It was all for nothing. I know you're a freak already. In fact…you're a monster." Rosalie reached into her pocket and unfolded a sheet of paper. "See for yourself!" She yelled at the crowd, showing them the paper. This prompted more gasps and the whispers turned into loud mutters. Tom and the time travellers craned their necks for a better look. It was one of the posters that Tom had been trying so hard to hide from everybody.

She had another one with her? Tom thought in disbelief.

"…" Ren looked left and right at the students, Redwood or not, who were looking at her with judging eyes, even though a lot of them looked very sympathetic.

"Her hair is back."

"And she's not injured."

"Why does she have those marks?"

"Is she wearing a wig?"

"Ha! What a freak!"

"She's a monster!"

"She's creepy, too."

"A robot."

"A monster!"

"!" Ren's eyes went wide after she heard all these things the students were saying amongst themselves, the comments from the Redwood citizens being the harshest. Ren clenched the skin of her bare arms, shivering a little from the cold, but also from resisting the urge to burst into tears. Instead, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, wishing for this all to be over.

"That's enough!"

"!" Everyone turned towards the source of this voice. On cue, Harley barged his way through the students and into the blank space occupied by Ren, Rosalie and Tom.

"Oh, hello, Harley." Rosalie said with fake politeness. But, Harley ignored her greeting, and slammed her against a wall with his hand on her throat, making Rosalie let out a little squeak of fear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Harley demanded in a low whisper that only Rosalie and Toshiro heard.

"Ren, are you alright?" Past Katelyn squeezed through the crowd and was immediately by Ren's side.

"I don't know." Ren answered honestly. Tom, who could move again, picked up Ren's blazer and placed it around her shoulders, hiding her birthmarks and her missing school shirt. Although, Tom couldn't help but see the birthmarks on Ren's back. They were very difficult to miss, and they were too symmetrical and too identical to be ordinary birthmarks. He could understand why Ren didn't want Rosalie to see them.

"Let's go." Tom said, his voice still hoarse.

"Are you okay?" Ren asked with concern, the hoarse voice not going unnoticed.

"Forget about me. It's you we should be worried about." Tom insisted, giving Ren a reassuring smile.

"So you were the one putting those posters up!" Harley continued, raising his voice a little while restraining himself from punching Rosalie so hard, no make-up could cover up the damage.

"That's right." Rosalie said smugly. "Unfortunately, a certain someone has been taking them down." Rosalie turned a narrow eyed glare Tom's way. "Tom." She said firmly like she was talking to a young child who needed discipline. Tom responded with a stare full of hate.

"And what's this?" Harley cocked his head towards the shredded school shirt and ruined lunch.

"Oh, just some food and a shirt." Rosalie answered truthfully. "I've always hated that uniform, and Ren was so ungrateful for the food I got her. I try to treat my pets nicely, and this is the thanks I get?"

"Pets?!" Harley exclaimed. "Alright, that's it!" Harley pulled a fist back.

"Leave it!" Ren cried, making Harley stop. "She's not worth it." Ren said, going back to her quiet voice.

"…" Harley looked between Ren and Rosalie, who still looked confident. "Tch." Harley reluctantly let go of Rosalie, and she didn't even look phased that somebody had a death grip on her throat a few seconds earlier.

"Let's go to the lost property office. I'm sure they've got some shirts." Past Katelyn and Tom helped Ren to her feet, and they led her out of the canteen, with Ren unable to do anything but hold onto the edges of her blazer to prevent it from sliding off her shoulders. Harley shot one last glare at Rosalie before following the kids, his stare making other students back away from them and clear the way towards the exit. Toshiro allowed himself to relax for a moment, thinking it was over.

"Hold it!" Rosalie commanded. Two Redwood students stood in front of the doors and folded their arms like they were bouncers in front of an entrance to an exclusive club, and the kids stopped. Toshiro almost groaned in exasperation. This was really getting old!

"I didn't give you permission to leave." Rosalie continued, a hand on her hip.

"We don't need permission from you." Harley spat back, a protective arm in front of Ren.

"Oh, but that is where I must correct you." Rosalie insisted, waggling her finger left and right. "You see, my family is the Thornton family, one of the six head families of the villages. And as the strongest, we are the leaders." Rosalie pointed her finger at the Conner siblings. "You are mere Conner's. You are beneath me. I am the beautiful rose that leads and outshines everybody else. You, on the other hand, are nothing more than mutts whose only purpose is to obey their masters"

Our symbol is a wolf, not a dog. Ren thought. Although, they're not that different…

"A rose and a wolf. A beautiful contradiction, is it not?" Rosalie asked, approaching Harley. She picked up a wooden lunch tray while sauntering towards the older brother. "Wolves are unable to protect themselves from the deadly thorns of a rose. And mine are sharpened and ready to strike." Rosalie smirked, giving Harley a bad feeling and making him gently push Ren further back. Immediately after this, Rosalie swung the dinner tray and hit Harley across the head with it as hard as she could, which considering her age, was quite hard. It was hard enough to knock Harley off his feet and make him land on the ground with a loud thud. And, it was hard enough for Harley to draw a little blood on his head. Harley groaned, unable to react to getting hit across the head so suddenly.

"Harley!" Ren and the time travellers yelled at the same time.

"You like that, big brother?" Rosalie asked as Harley looked at the blood that had appeared on his hand as he rubbed his head. "But, wait! There's more!" Rosalie announced like the ringmaster of a circus.

"…" Ren gritted her teeth, her eyes filling up with hot anger.

You're wrong about me Rosalie. Ren thought.

"?" Toshiro turned his attention to Ren, her unexpected thought confusing him, along with the fact that his back was starting to get warm.

You're wrong. Ren thought. I can feel emotions. And you've taught me a new one. Ren clenched her fists, and Toshiro noticed how there were little orange flecks dancing around her knuckles.

"Fire?" Toshiro said. "Is she…?"

"Here comes the final blow!" Rosalie said triumphantly, picking up a plastic chair and holding it above her head, ready to strike Harley with it. Harley's eyes widened, and he covered himself with his arm, bracing himself for the impact. But, it never came. He dared to look back at Rosalie to see what was delaying the inevitable. It was Ren. She was standing between him and Rosalie.

"Er…What's going on?" Rosalie asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Leave. Him. Alone." Ren said slowly and threateningly, giving Rosalie her best glare, which wasn't as good as anything Harley could do, but it was making Rosalie stop, and that was good enough for her.

"Or what?" Rosalie challenged, lowering the chair and slamming it back on all four of its legs.

"Or you'll regret it." Ren answered angrily.

"Well, well, well." Rosalie said with an amused smile. "It seems the robot has learnt emotions. Is my little toy puppy angry?" She asked, leaning down to look Ren in her eyes, but she was so angry and so determined to stand up for herself, Ren didn't even try to look away from the eye contact. "Hm?" When Rosalie was this close to Ren, she noticed something different. There was a silver chain around Ren's neck, with a little stone shaped like a teardrop hanging from it. "And what's this little trinket? Is this your collar, doggy?" Rosalie reached out to touch the necklace.

"!" Ren's eyes went wide. She was suddenly overcome with the urge to protect this necklace, and not let Rosalie's filthy hands taint it. Without warning, she grabbed Rosalie's wrist and held it as tightly as she could, while looking at Rosalie with eyes that burned with rage.

"H…Hey…What are you doing?" Rosalie demanded, feeling intimidated by this sudden rebellion from Ren, of all people, especially since she had no idea Ren had such a strong grip. "Let go of me!" Rosalie tried to pull free, but Ren was having none of it, and Rosalie didn't move an inch. "Get off! Didn't you hear me?!" Then, Rosalie felt her arm get hot. Looking at Ren's grip, she could have sworn she saw steam rise from her fingers. "Let go of me right now!"

"!" Ren gasped, the anger vanishing from her eyes, and she let go of Rosalie. Rosalie, who was not expecting this, stumbled and fell over flat on her butt, rubbing her arm.

"Ow…" Rosalie whined. Hearing this whine from the mighty Rosalie, some of the students who weren't from Redwood couldn't resist snickering. Even Katelyn and Toshiro were feeling very satisfied after seeing Rosalie look like she was about to brick it. But this satisfaction quickly went away when Toshiro noticed something unusual on Rosalie's arm. Her wrist looked red, and it had the same imprint on it as though someone had been holding it.

Did Ren burn Rosalie? Toshiro thought, glancing at Ren, who was back to being her shy self and staring at Rosalie like she couldn't quite believe what had happened.

"What?" Now it was Rosalie's turn to notice the burn. "You…You burned me!" Rosalie said angrily. Ren blinked a couple times, clasping her hands.

"I did?" She said, looking at her hands.

"Are you blind?!" Rosalie yelled. "Yes! Look at this!" Rosalie stood up and showed Ren her burnt wrist. "Look at it! You did this! You!"

"…" Tom and Past Katelyn looked at each other, puzzled.

"Ren?" Harley said. Ren closed her eyes.

"You deserved it." Ren said with no remorse.

"What?" Rosalie said. And it wasn't a "what?" that asked someone to repeat what they said. It was the kind of "what?" that served as a warning for somebody to take back or change what they said. Ren opened her eyes and looked Rosalie straight in the face.

"If you want me…" Ren started calmly. "…then that's fine. You can hurt me and punish me to your heart's content. But I won't let you hurt my brother or my friends."

"Oh, I'm going to punish you, alright." Rosalie grabbed Ren by her arm. "Come with me." She dragged Ren towards the exit, but Ren was feeling much more confident now, and she wasn't going to be told what to do by the likes of her.

"No." Ren pulled herself free from Rosalie's grip. "I'm not finished yet." She continued, sliding her arms into her blazer so that it didn't fall off her shoulders and leave her exposed again.

"Go on." Rosalie folded her arms, frowning at the nerve of a child disobeying her while also curious about what Ren had to say.

"You will not hurt my brother. You will not hurt my friends." Ren said clearly. "And you will leave my family alone. If you do, then you can be as evil to me as you wish, and I won't oppose you."

"Are you trying to be a martyr, Ren?" Rosalie asked confused at what Ren was saying. It was just so unlike her. "If so, it's pathetic."

"It's not pathetic!" Ren retorted, her voice getting louder. "I know that fear is not something you use as a tool to make everyone obey! It takes trust! It takes compassion! It takes respect! And these are traits you certainly don't have, Rosalie!"

"Are you telling me how to be a leader?!" Rosalie demanded.

"As a matter of fact, I am!"

"What could an insect like you possibly know about being village head?!"

"I know a great deal more than you!" Ren shouted, her face starting to flush with anger, finally letting out her pent up emotions that she had accumulated for all these years. "And I am sick and tired of submitting to you, you…you…" Ren stammered in her rage, trying to think of the best way to wound Rosalie's pride. "BITCH!" Ren screamed at the top of the lungs right in Rosalie's face, saying the biggest insult she could think of.

"!" Everyone in the room, visible or not, felt their jaws drop as Ren's insult echoed through the silent canteen. Each for different reasons. The students and dinner ladies because someone had stood up to Rosalie. Rosalie because somebody defied her AND insulted her to her face. Harley, the kids and the time travellers for the fact that shy, quiet, meek, wouldn't-say-boo-to-a-goose Ren just yelled at one of the most powerful people in the villages. And Ren for yelling a swear word.

I can't believe I just did that. Ren thought, sweat dropping.

"You…" Rosalie growled, her disbelief overshadowed by her rage.

I called her a bi…a b-word. Ren thought, still lamenting on what she just did.

"Oh, you're in for it now!" Rosalie threatened, wearing a terrifying smile on her face that instantly made all of Ren's courage and confidence vanish. "You wanna be punished?! Fine! Your wish is my command!" Rosalie signalled two Redwood students to grab Ren by the arms.

"Ah. No!" Ren cried, looking at her captors and dreading what may come next.

"Let's go!" Rosalie stomped out of the doors and the two Redwood students followed her, dragging a now scared Ren with them.

"Hey!" Tom stood up and followed Rosalie to the doors, but he ended up doubling over in pain, clutching his stomach. "I shouldn't have moved so quickly." He said with a grimace.

"Are you okay?" Past Katelyn asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Those guys are strong, but I'll be fine."

"Where is Rosalie going?" Harley stood up with a stumble, still dizzy from being hit across the head with a tray.

"Wherever it is, you're not following." The bouncer students kept their position firm and strong. "You're staying right here."

"Like Hell we are." Harley growled. "Get out my way!" With little effort, Harley pushed away the students that were heads taller and years older than him and shoved the doors open. He looked left and right and decided to go left.

"I know where she's heading!" Tom yelled out to Harley, running to catch up with his rapid pace, followed by Past Katelyn after she barely avoided getting hit on the face by the swinging doors, which didn't even bother Toshiro as he went through the doors, along with Katelyn.

"Lead the way!" Harley all but ordered, still power walking down the corridor, Rosalie and her lackeys coming into view along with a struggling Ren. Rosalie turned to open the exit of the school, but when she spotted the boys approaching her with furious expressions, she smiled.

"Boys!" She cried in a whiney tone to the students restraining Ren. "Harley's picking on me!"

"…" The male students immediately let go of Ren and made their way to Harley.

"Oh, you want some too?" Harley bared his fists at them, showing no signs of backing down.

"Go for the blonde!" Rosalie ordered, grabbing Ren's arm before she could consider running off.

"Eh?" Tom blinked, baffled. But, he quickly began to get scared when the older students advanced on him.

"Leave him alone!" Harley yelled, punching one of them across the face with a strong right hook.

"HARLEY CONNER!"

"Oh, snap." Tom said, recognising that voice. It was Dungworth, standing in the corridor with his arms folded.

"Let's get outta here!" The Redwood students scrambled to their feet, desperate to get away, but when they passed the line of sight of the teacher, Toshiro noticed how they all wore smirks on their faces and hid around the corner, watching the scene take place.

"Do my eyes deceive me, or did you attack an innocent student?" Dungworth demanded, approaching Harley.

"They're not innocent!" Harley protested, still steaming with anger. "They took my sister and-"

"I've heard enough!" Dungworth interrupted, grabbing Harley by the scruff of his school blazer. "Come with me." Dungworth led Harley down the corridor, and Harley was smart enough to not fight back.

"Harley!" Tom could only watch Harley get taken away. So much for the muscle. He turned to Rosalie…but she was gone. Great.

"Tom!" Past Katelyn finally caught up with Tom. "What's going on? Why is Mr Dungworth with Harley?"

"Katelyn, we've got to find Ren. Rosalie is taking her-"

"Don't think we've forgotten you." The two Redwood students returned, a hand on each of Tom's shoulders, making him flinch.

"You're about to find out what we do to traitors."

"…" Tom let out an audible gulp.

"Leave him alone!" Past Katelyn yelled at the students. "I'm the real traitor!"

"…" The students looked at each other, contemplating this. "Nah!" They said in unison, making it clear they had no interest in Katelyn.

"Katelyn, go to Ren!" Tom yelled quickly, knowing he wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. "They're heading for the-Mhmph!" One of the boys covered Tom's mouth with his hand.

"Ah-Ah-Aaaaaah!" He said in a sing-song voice.

"No spoiling the fun."

"Then forgive me for doing this!" Past Katelyn drew her leg back and kicked boy's right where it hurts. The student let out a strangled gasp, letting go of Tom and collapsing on the ground, holding his groin while shaking with pain.

"!" Toshiro gave off a visible flinch, while Katelyn looked on with a rather proud expression.

"What? Do you want some, too?" Past Katelyn asked, drawing her foot back to attack the other student.

"No way! I'm out!" The student ran away, and so did the second one, albeit with a limp.

"Heh heh heh." Katelyn snickered, seeing the limp, and this prompted a scornful look from Toshiro. "What? It worked, didn't it?" She said defensively.

"Heh." Past Katelyn let out a small, nervous laugh. "I've always wanted to do that."

"What's wrong with you?!" Tom and Toshiro exclaimed at the same time, both to different Katelyn's.

"This isn't the time to be civil." Past Katelyn retorted. "Rosalie's got Ren, and these thugs have just stalled us from stopping her. I think I know where they're heading. But, we'll need the keys. The caretaker has some in his office. Come on." Katelyn dashed through the corridor and past the time travellers

"Fine, but we're gonna talk about what happened later!" Tom yelled after Katelyn, running after her.

"So are we!" Toshiro said to Katelyn, running through the exit and outside.

"Wait, you don't know where Ren is!" Katelyn protested, stopping just outside the exit.

"The school gym!" Toshiro yelled in response, turning the corner and vanishing from sight.

"Oh, he's good." Katelyn murmured, marvelling at the level of Toshiro's intelligence right before following him to the gym.

…

"Let me out! Please! Let me out!" Ren pleaded, banging on the door in front of her. She was locked in the small storage cupboard of the gym, and Rosalie was standing outside, leaning on the wall while tossing the keys in her hand.

"Yell all you want! Ain't nobody here but me." Rosalie said smugly. She picked up a blazer that was on the ground and rifled through the pockets. "I'm taking your sandwiches by the way. You don't mind, do you? Great! Thanks!" Without waiting for a response, Rosalie ripped open the packet and got out a sandwich while ignoring Ren's protests, dropping the blazer back on the ground. "Cheese and ham?! Eurgh! Only you would go for something this boring." Rosalie said with disgust before taking a bite out of it anyway. "By the way, you better not try any tricks like last time."

"What?" Ren's voice said, ceasing her banging.

"Yeah." Rosalie continued after swallowing. "I saw the chicken scratch on the shelves. I don't know what it means, but you need to cut it out. If you don't, I might keep you in there even longer."

"No! Don't! Please!" Ren carried on banging on the door, but this time, it was with a lot more strength. The door rattled and shook with each pound, and Rosalie found herself backing away from the door a little.

"Let me guess." Rosalie said with her mouth full of bread, cheese and ham. "It's Japanese." There was no response except for more pounding and pleas. "I'll take that as a yes, shall I? I'll bet you wrote 'Oh, woe is me, please help me.'" Rosalie said dramatically, complete with a hand against her forehead. "Or something along those lines." Rosalie shrugged, leaning on the wall again and taking a few more bites out of the sandwich.

"Rosalie, open the door! This isn't funny!" Ren's pleas started to turn into demands.

"Yeah, it's not funny." Rosalie agreed. "It's hilarious!" Rosalie burst out laughing, sending some stray bread crumbs flying out of her mouth.

"In here." Toshiro ran through the door leading to the storage space, and there he saw Rosalie laughing while standing next to another door that was rattling on the hinges from somebody pounding on it.

"How did you know to come here?" Katelyn asked, arriving after Toshiro.

"Call it a hunch." Toshiro answered gravely, remembering once again when he saw the carving, and all of the emotions that came with it.

"Open the door! Let me out! Let me out!"

"…" Hearing those pleas and demands brought those emotions back to Toshiro full circle. His eyes stung and his vision went wavy. Knowing what this meant, Toshiro wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before Katelyn had a chance to see this vulnerability. This Cielvian empathy was not one of his favourite side effects. In fact, he actually preferred the burning back over them. Speaking of which, why was it getting warm now?

"Yeesh, enough with the yelling. You're putting me off your food." Rosalie complained, moving on to the next sandwich.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

"…" Toshiro approached the door slowly, and he felt his back get even warmer.

"LET ME OUT!"

CRACK!

"!" With that one pound, the door let out a loud cracking sound that made both Ren and Rosalie back away from the door with a little squeal. Toshiro also found himself stumbling back, not expecting that loud noise. Then, the burning on his back went as quickly as it came. Just like he suspected, Ren's powers had acted out and that was how the crack appeared on the door.

"Huh?" Ren stared at the new spots of light coming through the door, just barely illuminating the ugly, new crack on the door. "What?" Ren moved on to looking at her hands, which she could barely see after adjusting her eyes to the dark.

"…" Rosalie was shocked speechless at what had just happened. She may not be able to see the crack, but she saw the gaps, and she knew what had happened. She dropped her sandwich on the ground, but she was too terrified to notice. She slowly walked up to the door, inspecting the cracks as though she were convinced this was a hallucination. Rosalie peeked through a hole, and just about managed to see Ren, who was staring at her hands and looking very confused.

"This isn't real…" Rosalie muttered to herself, recoiling from the door. "This isn't real…" Rosalie said again, trying to convince herself that his wasn't happening. But it was. She spun around and ran, but she slipped on the sandwich and landed flat on her face, but she was so terrified that she paid no attention to her fall, scrambling back onto her feet and high tailing it out of the room, out of the hall and out of the building.

"She's gone." Katelyn said, seeing Rosalie run out of the sports hall and vanish, followed shortly by the sound of a door opening and slamming shut.

"But Ren's still here." Toshiro added, looking through the new gaps in the door like Rosalie had done. He saw Ren listen carefully by the door for any sound. Nothing. Ren turned around and sat by the shelves at the back of the small room, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She stayed in this position, unmoving, with a vacant look in her eyes, clearly used to this. She was waiting. She was waiting for somebody to come. Somebody she loathed. Somebody she knew would be her only chance for freedom, only to give her more Hell afterwards. Somebody who had just ran out of the building with no signs of returning.

"?" Toshiro looked away from the door, hearing footsteps coming from outside.

"This way."

"!" Ren sat up straight after hearing voices, barely avoiding hitting her head on the shelf behind her. She gripped her bare arms, not sure who to expect.

"Ren, are you in here?"

"Tom?" Ren said in a quiet voice, unable to believe who she just heard. "Tom, is that you?" Ren asked, her voice louder.

"Katelyn, she's in here."

"Right. I think it's…" There was a click sound. "There!" The door swung open, and Ren shielded herself from the light flooding into the room.

"Ren, are you alright?" Tom asked, darting into the room and straight to Ren's side.

"Uh…I…I, er…" Ren stammered, unable to find the words she wanted to say.

"Come on; let's get you out of here." Tom helped Ren stand up and lead her out of the room.

"Where's Rosalie?" Past Katelyn asked.

"She ran away." Ren answered.

"Why?" Past Katelyn started to close the door, but stopped when she saw the crack. "Oooo." She inspected the crack, curious.

"She stood on your lunch." Tom noticed the squished sandwich.

"No." Ren shook her head. "She ate the other one. She slipped on that when she left."

"Why would she run?" Tom wondered, confused.

"I think I know." Past Katelyn opened the storage door all the way, revealing the crack.

"How did…" Tom started, but was too baffled to finish.

"Yeah…Funny story…" Ren said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I did that."

"What?" Tom said, while Past Katelyn looked away, knowing where this is heading.

"I don't know how to explain it, but it's true. It's like I've got this…gift." Ren said after finding the right word. She looked at her hands again. "I did it before in the canteen. I burnt Rosalie."

"You did?" Past Katelyn gasped. "But that's impossible."

"I know, but it happened." Ren agreed.

"What's happening here?" Tom asked in disbelief. The three children stood in the room in silence.

"…" Still silent, Ren walked towards her blazer and pulled it on, hiding her vest from view.

"At least we got you out of there when we did." Tom said, lightening the mood.

"It was fine. I could have been in there for a while easily." Ren approached the closet and kneeled down, shuffling through a basket of volleyballs before producing a packet of crisps from it and showing Katelyn and Tom.

"You hide food in here?" Katelyn asked, amazed that Ren had kept this secret from Rosalie.

"Yeah. Rosalie never searches the baskets. Sometimes, she leaves me in there for hours, so I thought I might as well stock it up for when those times come."

"Ren, you can't live like this." Tom said, gripping Ren by the shoulders to make his words heard.

"I know, but I have to. I have no choice."

"Of course you have a choice. There's always a choice." Tom insisted. "You know there's another choice. Why else would you stand up to Rosalie like that in the canteen?"

"…" Ren said nothing, Tom's words starting to sink in.

"I'll go get a shirt." Katelyn said, deciding to do something about Ren's lack of clothing.

"There's a spare shirt behind the second mirror of the girls changing rooms." Ren called after Katelyn.

"Why there?" Tom asked.

"Rosalie and I are part of the swimming team here." Ren answered, looking away from Tom and at the ground with vacant eyes, retelling what she went through. "After each class, Rosalie would hold my head underwater while nobody was looking. She'd only bring me up when I ran out of air, and as soon as I had more, she'd dunk me again and again until she got bored."

"!" Toshiro's eyes widened. That would explain the bubbles he saw in the vision of the past, and the sensation of his lungs filling with water. So that's what caused it.

"When Rosalie stopped, I'd come back to the changing rooms to find all my clothes soaking wet from being in the showers. So, I hide some clothes behind a mirror."

"That's awful." Tom said sympathetically.

"Hey, you were right. There were some clothes hidden behind the bathroom mirror." Katelyn said, holding a shirt in her arms as she came back into the room. "Here." Katelyn handed it to Ren.

"Thank you."

"There you are."

"!" Everyone in the room turned to the source of the voice. It was Dungworth.

Great. This guy again. Toshiro thought

"Why are you here, Renee?"

"…" Ren said nothing, knowing first hand that it was pointless telling him what was really happening.

"Her name is Ren." Tom retorted angrily.

"I'll call her whatever I please." Dungworth barked at Tom. "Renee. With me. Now."

"Yes, sir." Ren stood up and went towards the teacher without question.

"And for goodness sake, put some clothes on!"

"!" Ren wrapped her blazer around herself to hide her vest, her cheeks turning pink.

"I think we're done here." Toshiro said, seeing no reason to stay in the storage room.

"Dungworth?"

"Dungworth." After that mutual agreement, Toshiro and Katelyn walked out of the storage room and followed Ren and Dungworth, leaving Past Katelyn and Tom behind.

…

"I warned you about what would happen, Renee." Dungworth said, sitting behind his desk while glowering at Ren, who was now wearing a new school shirt. Toshiro and Katelyn were already in the room, watching the scene unfold.

"It's Ren." Ren corrected him in a mutter.

"Your behaviour has been inexcusable." Dungworth continued, ignoring Ren's correction.

"I didn't do anything." Ren insisted.

"Then why am I hearing reports of you insulting and bullying a student?"

"She was the one bullying me." Ren said through clenched teeth.

"?" Toshiro glanced behind him, sensing his back getting warm. What was going to happen this time?

"It's a month's detention for you, Renee." Dungworth said, keeping true to his promise.

"Ren. My name is Ren Conner." Ren growled. She was seriously NOT in the mood for this conversation. "And where is my brother?"

"He is with the headmaster in lunchtime detention for attacking another student. He needs to learn that actions have consequences; a lesson that you should take to heart as well. Swearing and taking your uniform off in public is inexcusable."

"I didn't take it off. My shirt was ripped off me!" Ren voice was louder this time, and Toshiro could hear the windows of the office rattle, and he could have sworn he saw orange lights dance around Ren's balled up fists.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me, Renee." After hearing the wrong name one too many times, something inside Ren snapped.

"MY NAME IS REN!" Ren screamed at Dungworth. Suddenly, the windows in the office flung open and all of the books in the office fell off the shelves. Dungworth immediately got under his desk to shield himself from the hardback and paperback books, whilst Ren looked on in confusion, but also with astonishment.

"Whoa." Katelyn said in quiet amazement. Toshiro said nothing, noticing how the windows and books all had white, shining stars surrounding them. Telekinesis. There was a silence after a few seconds, and the stars vanished, along with the burning sensation on Toshiro's back.

"…" A hand slammed on top of the desk, followed by another, until Dungworth's head was visible over the top of the desk. He saw Ren sitting in exactly the same spot, and angry snarl on her face.

What is this girl? Dungworth thought.

"Well…Somebody's had a bad day…" Dungworth said in a shaky voice, standing up slowly and straightening his clothes. "Perhaps…Perhaps you should go home early today…Ren."

"…" Ren stood up, gave a small bow, picked up her school bag and left the office briskly without another word.

"What was that?" Katelyn asked Toshiro while Dungworth marvelled at the mess he was left to clean up.

"That was telekinesis." Toshiro answered, walking through the office door with Katelyn following him. "One of the three basic Cielvian powers."

"What are the others?"

"Flight and telepathy."

"Oh." Pause. "What about the healing?"

"That is less ability and more a part of a Cielvian's body structure. Everyone has it. The three Cielvian powers are something that can be trained and strengthened. Healing is inherent."

"I see." Katelyn said thoughtfully while the two of them continued to follow Ren out of the school grounds. "How do you know so much about this?"

"When you've been involved with Cielvians like I have, you pick up on these things."

"You don't suppose I'll get these abilities, do you?" Katelyn asked, sounding worried.

"Relax. You're not the same age as the Cielvian you're reincarnated from. You won't get those abilities for a long time."

"Phew." Katelyn sighed.

"Wait." Toshiro placed an arm in front of Katelyn, noticing how Ren had stopped in the middle of an empty street lined with houses.

"…" Ren stared off into space, remembering the events that had taken place that day.

"I know a great deal more than you! And I am sick and tired of submitting to you, you…you…BITCH!"

"I can't believe I just did that!" Ren exclaimed, her hands going to her head. "Rosalie's really mad at me now! And I burned her to boot! I'm gonna have to look into that later." Ren added the last part as an aloud note to self. "Nyahahaha!" Ren laughed triumphantly to herself. "But I stood up to Rosalie! And I called her a bitch right to her face!" Pause. "I called her a bitch right to her face." Ren muttered despairingly. "Aaaaaaahhhh!" Ren yelled in frustration, clawing at her head. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this! I've been humiliated and locked away and treated like a second class insect all in one day! Gah!" Ren kicked an empty can away from her, picturing it as Rosalie's face. It made her feel better. For about a millisecond. "Seriously!" Ren yelled, starting to stomp down the road. "This day cannot get any worse!"

Rmbl…

"?" Katelyn and Tom turned their heads to the sound of that rumbling.

"What was that?" Katelyn asked, getting a bad feeling about this.

"Oh, great!" Ren yelled, hearing the rumbling also and including it as part of her rant. "Now another building has blown up! What is with this city and explosions?! Nothing ever works in this crappy-"

RAAAAAAAAAWR!

"!" Ren stopped ranting, her eyes wide.

"No…" Toshiro said, recognising that roaring sound. Suddenly, the ground in front of the time travellers exploded, creating a dust crowd that obscured the cause from view.

"Ah!" Ren staggered, trying to regain her balance after that sudden explosion. It was closer than the last one. "What the hell is that?" Ren wondered, looking over her shoulder. She slowly turned all the way around, her eyes blank with a combination of fear and horror.

"What the hell is that?"

Dun dun dun! Ren has had the day from Hell, and now something else has come along to make it worse! How will she make it out of this one? Find out next time!