Continuity: Volume six, Tokyopop translation.
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Reach Out-
"Say hi to Rei for me," he smiled, softly though the emotion did not seem to flow fully into his eyes. Cold, mesmerizing depths, but all she could see was the quiet melancholy he projected. He tilted his head, fair hair curling around his face as he waved, a small motion of his delicate hand at her; something chill resided in his movements, while he twirled his teacup idly and fixed his gaze on the tab, shifting slightly and lowering his chin to watch the tally carefully.
Kira hesitated, pale red hair sliding around her slender shoulders as she paused. She was reluctant to leave the effeminate boy, able to empathize with the small, overwhelming pangs of unrequited affection and loneliness; Rei, though, would hardly share the same opinion on the matter, and she pressed her knuckles gently to her mouth, glancing worriedly back at Masao as she took a small step, thinking.
I'm sorry, he whispered in her mind, voice sad but layered deep within by ice. I didn't mean any harm.
She could feel the overwhelming need to reassure him rising in her chest again as she watched him touch his slim thumb to the total. Finally, hesitantly, she stepped quietly back to the table, sliding her hands at her back, fingers playing with one another – she could not leave him, not when she could see her own weaknesses in him, not when she saw him sitting alone in sunlight.
Hadn't she been alone in the light once?
S-someone like Kira.
"Um," she started cautiously, smiling kindly, "do you want to come?"
The ice shattered briefly, true and complete surprise washing over his dainty features, as though the mere offer of kindness was something he was wholly unprepared for. A faint warmth suffused him, scratching his cheeks with pink and eyes with something dark, and then he smiled, oddly and subtly unsettling. "I'd like that," he said quietly, and she had the sensation of tripping into an obsession, earning a twisted affection--
But she ignored it, still smiling kindly. "Let's go, then."
Masao smiled cutely, lowering his long eyelashes as he stood gracefully, and he gave her a strange, fascinated look. "It's not hard to see why Rei likes you so much." His smile deepened, eerily.
The god of war, right?
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