A/N: Not much to say before this chapter, other than enjoy. The tournament arc wraps up next chapter, which may be a little longer than the others.

Review Responses:

fanficlove2014, it was actually a reference to Okabe from Steins;Gate. One of his more famous lines is him trying to speak in English and he goes "I am mad scientist. It's so coooool. Sunnovabitch." Look up a YouTube video for the full version. ^^

OfAllTheShizz, glad to hear it! And I'm glad you liked Angela. I knew she would have to feature if I was going to have Mifune in here (as well as the Stein/Marie baby from the end of the manga).

AmyNChan, I replied to you via PM, but thanks again for the great review~!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.


CHAPTER TEN

Death Fest Pt. 3; A Lesson in Unkindness


The explosion rocked the stands, light flashing in the direction of the main building as several people stood up, alarmed voices filling the air as they turned in the direction of the blast. Somewhere in the colosseum's stands, Clark Greysteil slumped over, lowering his head into his hands. He pushed his glasses up with them, pressing his palms against his eyelids and letting out an exhausted sigh.

"Someone please tell me that wasn't the dojo," he muttered.

"Um…alright," said Vayne, already standing up and looking in that direction. "I—uh—could tell you that…"

"It looks like some kind of chemical blast," said Morgan, squinting to get a better view.

"Whoa, look at all those terrified people!" said Cassie, pointing.

Clark groaned, sinking down deeper. Two rows in front of him, Stein and Mifune stood up at the same time, exchanging a glance and a nod before striding purposefully in the direction of the exits, both of them wearing matching cold expressions that suggested a very bad time for whoever it was they managed to find. Clark knew that as class representative, he should be getting up to assist in whatever way he could, but he didn't really want to get up right now. A part of him hoped that if he closed his eyes long enough, the problem would just go away.

No such luck. Confusion reigned for a few moments, Rei, Ayame, Richard and Grayson blinking confusedly up at the crowd from the arena below, and then Shinigami-sama picked up a microphone and walked out onto a balcony, his voice ringing through the colosseum speakers.

"There appears to have been an incident in the main building," he said, his voice coolly professional. "While nobody appears to have been seriously injured, as a precaution, I would like to ask everyone not affiliated with the DWMA to leave the premises in a calm and orderly manner. Students in the N.O.T. class are asked to return to their dorms until further notice. E.A.T. students, please find your homeroom teachers and await further instructions. In light of this difficulty, the tournament finals are rescheduled for 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for understanding."

He walked off the stage, passing the microphone to one of his weapons without a word. Clark looked up from where he had his head in his hands, wondering if it was just his imagination, or if Shinigami-sama also looked like he was on the verge of a meltdown. The shinigami's shoulders twitched as he disappeared into the privacy of a corridor, Patty moving to follow him. Liz looked over her shoulder to watch them, a concerned look on her face before she cleared her voice and spoke into the microphone.

"Um—ahem. Class Moonless Night, meet with Maka Evans-sensei in Section C of the colosseum seating area. Class Crescent Moon, meet with Professor Franken Stein in the dojo…"


"My schoooooll…" Shinigami groaned, sitting curled up against the wall in a dark corner of the main building, his head in his hands as Liz, Patty, Maka and Soul stood around him. "It's asymmetrical garbage. How could I let this happen? What would Father say?"

Soul shrugged, one hand on the back of his neck. "I don't know. Probably 'Hi, hey, wassup, that sure is a big hole, isn't it?' or something like that."

"Soul!" said Maka, elbowing him sharply in the ribs as Shinigami let out a fresh wail.

"Ow!" said Soul. "What was that for?"

Rei pretended not to see, turning away. Somewhere off to the right, a disoriented and soot-covered Jonas was still facing down an angry Mifune and Stein, the wreckage of the dojo (and Stein's lab equipment by extension) still around him. Now that it was clear that nobody had been trapped in the dojo by the blast, the majority of the clean-up and repairs would be happening tomorrow, which Rei was grateful for. He was also grateful that he wasn't currently in Jonas's shoes, though. Shinigami's reaction to Stein and Mifune asking to be placed in charge of Jonas's 'remedial lessons' was more or less 'do what you want'.

The school had quieted down in the two hours since the explosion, most of the crowd being Death City residents that didn't do much more than shake their heads and head home when strange things happened at the school. Clark's family had made a few phone calls, ones that Clark had tried to answer in an increasingly exhausted voice for the first hour before he finally gave up and turned his phone off.

Now, a stillness hung over the place, a hush that hadn't been there since the doors first opened this morning. It was strange. It felt almost like the Death Festival should be over, except it wasn't, not really. Tomorrow morning, he and Ayame would be coming back here, and he would have to go through that whole getting himself ready to fight Grayson and Richard all over again.

But that would be tomorrow. Tonight, he felt tired and oddly pleased with himself, despite the fact that there was a hole in the dojo ceiling and he hadn't finished with the tournament yet. It was a good feeling, not pride, not quite, but he felt good about what he had done today.

He turned away from studying the dojo, looking back at his friends. They stood clustered together behind him, varying levels of exhaustion on their faces. The staff had enlisted the students' help to clean up after the explosion, and while the blast hadn't been as bad as it had initially looked, some of the Class Moonless Night students had been running all day. Clark in particular looked about ready to drop. Ayame was speaking, and he realized he had tuned back in in the middle of a conversation.

"I'm starving," Ayame said. "We should go grab something to eat."

"Pizza?" Cassie asked. She was still dressed all in black from her role as a backstage worker in the haunted house, flitting from room to room before each group and using her illusions to set the scene. "There's a place open near our apartment that's open late. It's pretty cheap too."

"I could really go for some pizza right now," said Vayne, rubbing at a crick in his neck. "Clark?"

Clark looked up suddenly, his eyelids drooping as if he was about to sleep. "Huh?" he asked. "What? Oh—pizza. Uh…sure."

"You sure, man?" asked Vayne, frowning in concern. "I mean, if you want to head home…"

"No, no." Clark shook his head stubbornly, taking a deep breath and straightening up by sheer force of will. "I'm alright. Don't worry about me." He gave Cassie a tired smile. "Pizza sounds wonderful, Cassie, especially with someone as lovely as you are."

But Cassie was already turned away from Clark, stepping forward towards the ruins of the haunted house. "I wonder where Morgan is," she said out loud. "I'm going to go look for her. Don't leave without us."

She stepped forward, moving lightly around Stein and Mifune and, Rei noticed, also studiously ignoring Shinigami's meltdown as she disappeared into the wreckage. Clark slumped forward, looking crestfallen, and Vayne reluctantly patted him on the shoulder.

"There, there."

"So," Ayame said, and Rei noticed that this time she was talking to him, a grin on her face. "Pizza?"

Rei thought about it. He was hungry, yes, practically starving, but he was also bone tired and there was plenty of food at home. As much as he liked hanging out with the others, he had to admit, the prospect of having the apartment all to himself for a few hours was tempting. He decided to take it.

"Thanks," he said. "But I'm wiped. I think I'm just gonna head home."

Ayame's face fell slightly at that. "Aw, alright," she said. "But tomorrow, after we win…"

Rei figured he could give her that. "Yeah," he said, offering her a smile. "We'll celebrate then."

"Great," said Vayne, stretching. "So we just wait for Morgan and Cassie to get back out here and then we can head out. You heading back now, Rei?"

Rei shrugged. "Might as well," he said.

"Uh—wait a minute," Ayame said, stepping forward. "Can we talk for a second?"

Rei blinked at her, confused. "Sure, Ayame," he said. "What's up?"

She paused, shooting Vayne a furtive glance, then reached out and grabbed his wrist, guiding him back down the hall. That surprised him, and Rei couldn't help but glance back at Vayne and Clark as Ayame pulled him forward. Clark was staring down at the ground, dead to the world, but Vayne was grinning, his fingers laced together at the back of his neck as he turned away. He started whistling.

Rei couldn't help it. He felt the heat rise to his face as Ayame stopped at the end of the hallway, well out of earshot of Vayne, or the Jonas-Mifune-Stein disaster, or the people around Shinigami.

"What's up?" he asked as Ayame released his arm. She didn't look up at him immediately and his heart rate sped up of its own accord. His tie felt uncomfortably tight, and he resisted the urge to loosen it.

Ayame didn't meet his eyes and he thought—he hoped he wasn't imagining this, although he didn't know what it could mean—that there was a flush on her cheeks as well. It was difficult to tell in this light. One of her hands, the one that hadn't grabbed him, was clenched tightly into a fist.

"I was gonna give this to you after the finals tonight," she said, "You know, after we won and all that…but the fights got rescheduled and I figured now was as good a time as any, and…"

She held her hand out in front of her and opened it, still not meeting his eyes. Inside it was a small pin, the sort he could fix to his collar, or his tie, or the lapel of his uniform jacket. It was in the shape of a gold five-pointed star.

"Because we're partners, you know," Ayame said, clearly feeling like someone explanation was warranted. "When my mom and dad were in school, my mom wore a lot of little star things too. Not that I'm saying we're gonna be like my mom and dad—," she added hastily, her eyes widening as she looked up at him. Her flush deepened, becoming noticeable even in this light. "—because I'm not saying that at all, but just—we're partners."

Her eyes dropped from his at that last statement and she fell silent, the star held between them.

Rei exhaled, feeling something tighten up inside of him, his heart or his throat or somewhere that wasn't actually physical, something he didn't quite understand. He reached out, his fingertips brushing her palm lightly as he picked up the pin, holding it carefully in his hand.

"Thanks, Ayame," he said, fixing it to his uniform jacket. He didn't know what else to say. "It…uh…means a lot."

"Really?" Ayame asked, looking up at him now, meeting his eyes again. "You don't think it's weird?"

"No," said Rei. "I mean, we're partners, right?"

She blinked and then smiled. "Yeah, she said. "We are." Her smile was brilliant, the sort of smile that made her eyes light up, and Rei had to look away, his tie feeling uncomfortably tight again. Her eyes were violet, he realized, a deep violet like the irises she was named for, and he wondered how he ever thought they were gray.

He cleared his throat, looking back at Vayne. Vayne was watching them without making it look like he was watching them, but there was a smirk on his face that told Rei he'd be in for it as soon as he came back within earshot. He wasn't honestly sure he could deal with Vayne teasing him now, so he looked back at Ayame. "I'm—uh—gonna head out," he said. "See you later?"

"Yeah," said Ayame. "Don't wait up, though. Get some sleep."

"I'll try," he said. "No promises, though," he added with a smile.

She shoved him playfully, then turned, walking back towards Vayne and Clark. Rei ducked his head to hide his smile as he walked away, reaching up to touch the place where the little star pin gleamed in the lamplight. He walked down the stairs that led away from the main building, disappearing into the night.


"I don't understand how we could possibly get lost in a haunted house we made ourselves," Morgan said, her nose wrinkling up in distaste as she walked around several scorched and soaked pieces of paper that had once been banners and had now been dragged out into the main hallway and left there. "A ruined one at that."

"Well, I was following you," said Cassie, walking beside her as they stepped out of the exit and into the night air. Just not apparently the same exit that they had walked in through. Their route through what was left of the dojo had taken them out the small fire door in the back of the room, into one of DWMA's smaller corridors, then back through the main building until things started looking familiar again and they had found an exit.

Morgan looked back at her partner incredulously. "I was following you," she said.

"Well, there's your problem," said Cassie. "Morgan sweetie, you know I'm not always paying attention."

"Never mind," said Morgan, shaking her head and stepping out through the doors into the courtyard. She swept her hat off her head and held it in her hand, glad to be rid of it. She wasn't sure she would breathe right until she was out of this dress, and not just because of the corset. "Let's just find the others before they leave without us. And if we're going to that place anyway, let's stop by the flat. I want to change."

"But Morgan, it's Halloween," said Cassie. "And you look beautiful—."

She cut off suddenly as Morgan stopped at the top of the stairs, holding her hand up for silence. From where she stood, at the top of the main steps, she could see Rei walking off of the DWMA's grounds, his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he disappeared into the city, but that wasn't specifically what had caught her attention. It was Grayson and Richard, loitering in the shadows of one of the buildings closest to the stairs, the way they peeled out of the shadows to follow Rei.

She didn't like the look of that.

"Morgan?" Cassie asked, looking back at her with some concern.

Morgan frowned, her eyes on Grayson and Richard's retreating backs. "It's nothing," she said, shaking her head at Cassie. "Let's find the others."

"Okay," Cassie said, stepping forward. "I think they were over here…Oh, this is taking too long. A line appeared on the ground, connecting Cassie and Morgan with Vayne, Clark, and Ayame."

A glowing white line stretched outwards from Cassie, spreading across the ground. The grimoire hummed as she followed it, walking alongside it with a proud look on her face. Morgan followed her, but paused as Cassie moved ahead to look back at Death City stretched in front of her. At Rei, not visible now, and at Grayson and Richard, who were still tailing him.

She reached out with a thought, feeling for the presences that were still waiting there, that had been waiting there since she arrived at Death City.

Somewhere on the rooftops of Death City, an unkindness of ravens took flight, dark wings rising into the night.


It was about twenty more minutes before Soul came to the realization that this was going to be one of Kid's extended freak outs, and Liz and Patty managed to pack him up and escort him home. He walked back from the staff lounge to where Maka was waiting, thankful that the Thompson sisters were still around after all these years to babysit Kid. He wasn't sure he could have handled it without snapping. He passed one of the little paper cups of coffee he was holding to his partner—fifteen years and three kids and it still felt odd calling her his wife, because they were so much more than that—and leaned against a pillar, taking a sip of his own cup. It was awful instant DWMA coffee, but there wasn't much more available in this part of town at ten o'clock at night.

She nodded in thanks, holding her cup in both hands and leaning against the pillar opposite his. The school was quiet now, most of the students having gone home, but since there was still work being done, it looked like neither of them were going to be able to leave. Soul because as Death Scythe he was technically in command when Kid wasn't around to give instructions and Maka because he'd never really known her to be able to go home when other people were still working—at least not without worrying about it all night and not getting any sleep anyway.

He didn't really mind, though. Spirit had taken Annie and Cori home hours ago, almost as soon as the finals had been cancelled. The school was quiet now, the kids were probably in bed, nobody was attacking anybody (which had, even after over two decades of relative peace, been Soul's first thought the moment the explosion struck and he and Maka had both dived down into the space between the bleachers, each of them pulling one of the twins under themselves without having to tell the other to do it), and the problem would probably be cleared up in about a week (it wasn't like DWMA wasn't used to students tearing things apart).

He took another sip of his coffee, raising his cup to Maka, who looked preoccupied as usual, and smiled. "Nice night," he said, taking a sip.

Maka smiled at him over her cup of coffee, steam rising from the opening in the plastic lid. "Are you still trying to sound cool?" she asked. Soul frowned, because he didn't think he needed to try, but Maka simply raised a hand to her mouth and giggled, gesturing with her cup. "You have plaster and soot all over your jacket."

Soul looked down at himself in dismay, tugging at his collar. "Just had to ruin it for me, didn't you?" he asked as he took a sip, but he wasn't really mad. Not if it was Maka and she was smiling at him like that.

Maka smiled, raising her cup to her lips with both hands and taking a sip. Soul let his attention wander as he looked out over the courtyard, then looked back at her as he noticed Ayame and Vayne walking down the steps, Morgan, Clark and Cassie with them but not Rei. "All your kids accounted for?" he asked, meaning her students in this case. He at least knew Rei hadn't been anywhere near the blast.

"They're all alright," Maka said. "A few are a little shaken up, but they're more annoyed than anything. I don't know if Jonas is going to be alright though." She frowned back in the direction of the haunted house, where the conference was still going on.

"He'll be fine," Soul said. "Black Star managed to survive till graduation."

"Yeah," Maka said. "But you know, Black Star."

"True," said Soul. He looked past Maka at the ruin of the dojo, then raised his cup towards her. "To DWMA brats," he said.

"May they never change," said Maka with a tired smile, touching her disposable coffee cup to his. She took a sip of her coffee at the same time as he did.

"You hear from your dad yet?" Soul asked after a while as they stood there in the silence, watching the moon.

"A little while ago," said Maka. "He texted to say that the girls are in bed."

"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Soul asked. "Only having to worry about the twins?"

"A little," Maka admitted. "I'm sure Rei is fine, though. You saw him today."

"Yeah," said Soul, feeling a touch of pride as he looked up at the sky. "The kid's growing up."

"Yeah," Maka added. "He is."

Soul wasn't sure what alerted him to the change, probably the ease of long familiarity, but he knew something was wrong before Maka even spoke, knew it in the way she suddenly went still. He looked over at her, frowning, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking out at the city, her eyes wide and distant in a way that told him she was using her Soul Perception, easily one of the best in the DWMA at this point.

"Maka?" Soul asked, feeling a chill, because he couldn't help but feel a little scared whenever Maka was so obviously afraid.

Maka didn't respond, but all the color drained from her face, her coffee spilling from nerveless fingers as it crashed to the ground.


It was almost 10:30 by the time Rei left the school and started walking through Death City, and the streets on the way back to his apartment were quiet, not quite deserted but very nearly there. He walked with his hands in his pockets—the coming of autumn always brought a chill at night—and thought about the fact that he had been living in this city for all of his life, that his mother before him had done pretty much the same thing. There were days when that thought frustrated him, days when he thought he wanted to get away, but tonight the thought just left him with an odd feeling of peace.

He made the turn to his parents' house by mistake, got a few feet down the road before he realized that he didn't live there anymore, stopped and turned around. He wondered who was watching the twins at this hour and realized that it was probably Spirit, since both of his parents had been at the DWMA when he left them. Rei thought about stopping by, but decided against it. He hadn't been lying when he said to Ayame that he was tired, and Annie and Cori would probably be asleep by now anyway. He found the path that led to his apartment and started walking down it, reaching up and touching the star pinned to his jacket to make sure that it was still there.

He had made it a couple more blocks before he first realized that something was wrong.

Rei drew to a stop, feeling a chill wash over him that had nothing to do with the cold. He was standing on a somewhat deserted street corner, the only light coming from the streetlight just over his head and the convenience store open across the street. There wasn't anyone around him that he could see, but when he closed his eyes briefly and activated his Soul Perception, he felt it. Two presences lingering somewhere behind him. He turned and caught sight of Grayson and Richard, skulking in a nearby alley.

Grayson blinked as Rei met his eyes, apparently surprised at having been caught. Richard slunk along behind him, looking strangely guilty in the dim light from the streetlamp. Rei felt a flash of fear, and then as soon as it had come, it was replaced by anger. What was Grayson doing, following him in the middle of the night?

"Can I help you?" he asked. The cold tone his voice adopted surprised even him.

Grayson stared at him and then recovered, drawing himself up to his full height and puffing up his chest in a gesture that reminded Rei very much of a gorilla. He scowled at Rei, striding over to him. Rei had to fight the urge to step back, but it occurred to him that he wasn't really afraid, not the way he once had been. He was nervous, because he knew that his chances didn't look good. He was unarmed and he was really starting to wish that he had stayed with Ayame, but now that he thought about it, this was just pathetic. Sneaking around in the dead of night? And for what?

"Yeah, you can help me," Grayson said, drawing to a stop just a little too close.

He towered over Rei, and Rei caught himself bending his knees slightly, getting ready to move in case he had to. He glanced left and right, but there was still nobody on the street, no Soul Responses except the ones safe in their beds. He could run to either side of him and maybe get away from Grayson and Richard, but he stood his ground instead, meeting Grayson's eyes.

"We need to talk, Evans," the older boy said, jerking his head in the direction of the alley. "Back there."

I don't think so, Rei thought, eyeing the alleyway. "Whatever you want to say to me, you can say here," he said.

Grayson scowled at him, inching closer, and there was a moment where Rei was sure the other boy would grab him and drag him into the alley, but instead Grayson just glared at him, and Rei held his ground.

"Fine," he said, after a while. "Have it your way. See, here's the thing. Somehow, you and little miss Star found your way into the finals."

Yeah. And water is wet. Rei glared at him, waiting for him to continue, but Grayson apparently felt that some response from him was expected. "If you want to talk about that," he said. "We'll have plenty of time tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Grayson. "Here's the thing about that. That match tomorrow? I'd rather it didn't happen."

Something cold dropped into Rei's stomach at that, understanding striking him. Grayson glared at him, a promise of pain in his eyes, and that made Rei afraid, but it also made him angrier. "I don't know what you mean," he said, his voice growing colder. His eyes darted back to the streets around him, half-hoping for Ayame or one of his friends to round the corner. No one came.

"I think you know exactly what I mean, Evans," said Grayson, taking a step closer towards him. "I want you to forfeit the match. Give up, and no one gets hurt."

He knew that that was what Grayson wanted, but it still surprised him to hear it spoken out loud. He gaped at Grayson, but the larger boy simply glared at him, as if he couldn't understand the irony in essentially saying 'I could beat you up at any time, but please forfeit the very public fight we're going to be having in a few hours.'

"Why?" he asked. It was the only response he could muster, and it left him in a rush.

"Why?" Grayson asked, the intimidating mask he was wearing cracking as he took another step forward towards Rei. "Because I own this school. Because I've owned it since I first set foot in it, and I don't care who your parents are or who your partner's parents are or whatever. I'm the strongest person in this school and that's not gonna change!" There was anger on his face now, something very close to pure rage. Rei blinked up at him with wide eyes, more confused than scared now.

"So what?" asked Rei, "If you're so convinced that you're the strongest, you'll prove it tomorrow."

"I can!" said Grayson, snarling at him. "I will. I can beat you and that little Star brat any day of the week, but on the off-chance that you pull something stupid like you did with Xiao, on the off-chance that you get lucky—." He shook his head. "I'm not risking that, Evans. Forfeit. Now."

Rei stared up at Grayson as the other boy loomed over him, meeting his eyes. He felt scared, he realized, but there was something in Grayson's eyes that he hadn't noticed before. Fear.

The realization floored him, because it was a complete reversal of everything he had known about Grayson so far, everything he had believed. Grayson was afraid of him. Grayson seriously thought he might win, otherwise why do this? Why come out all this way to threaten him to forfeit? His mind raced, putting the pieces together.

Grayson had always been afraid of him. Otherwise why spend so much time trying to put him down?

The thought lent him strength, enough strength to straighten up and look Grayson in the eye.

"No."

Grayson's eyes widened and then narrowed, all in the same breath. He reached forward, grabbing Rei by his shirt. Rei reached up, trying to pull his hand free, but he held fast.

"What did you say?" Grayson asked, his tone dangerous.

"I said no."

The star glinted in the lamplight, reminding Rei of Ayame, reminding him of his promise to her, that he would compete in the tournament with her. He couldn't betray that, he realized. And he was done, he was so done letting a bully like Grayson run his life.

His eyes narrowed, meeting Grayson's, and he felt fire run through him, something that he hadn't felt since that night in the red house, when he was fighting the witch's ghost. Putting someone down because you were scared of them? How pathetically stupid was that? And how pathetically stupid had he been for going along with it for so long? "What are you going to do about it?" he asked.

Grayson stared at him, uncomprehending, and then something broke behind his eyes and the only thing Rei saw in them was fury. He clenched his free hand into a fist, swinging it at Rei's head.

Rei ducked, digging his thumbs into the sensitive webbing between Grayson's finger and thumb as he moved. Grayson let out a yelp of pain, releasing his hold on his shirt, and Rei quickly ducked to the side before Grayson could grab him again, twisting his body around and kicking at the back of Grayson's knee. Unarmed combat wasn't his thing, but he had picked up a few things in Naigus's class, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration as Grayson's leg buckled, as he dropped to a knee with a cry of outrage. It felt good, not so much that he was fighting, but that he was fighting back.

"I'll say it one more time," Rei said, circling back onto the sidewalk. "Back off, Grayson."

Grayson picked himself up off the ground, the look he gave Rei so full of hatred and rage that he almost didn't look human anymore. He stretched out his hand towards his partner and said something that made Rei's blood run cold. "Richard."

Richard stared at him with wide eyes from the alley, looking between his partner and Rei. "Grayson," he said. "Come on, man. He's not worth it. He doesn't even have a weapon."

"Richard," said Grayson again, more forcefully.

"Gray, come on…" Richard said, a note of pleading in his voice. "This is taking it too far."

"Either you transform right this goddamn second, Richard, or you're next!" Grayson said, practically screaming it.

Richard blinked, then met Rei's eyes, his own expression helpless and apologetic. He shook his head, closing his eyes.

And then he transformed in a flash of light, becoming a gauntlet that covered Grayson's right arm up to his elbow, a mailed fist with ridged knuckles gleaming in the lamplight. Rei reached for a discarded glass bottle at his feet, holding it in his hand as he watched Grayson and Richard, his eyes narrowed and his heart beating fast. He'd inched towards it hoping that he could use it against Grayson if he had to, but it wouldn't help him at all in an unarmed fight against a meister and weapon. He knew that, but the other option was backing down. And for the second time in his life, that option sickened him more than anything else, more than losing, more than pain.

Grayson charged at him, screaming like an animal, and Rei moved just fast enough to bring the bottle down, breaking it over Grayson's head before Grayson's gauntlet hit him with the force of a train, slamming him into the stone wall behind him so hard that the world tilted on its axis.

He felt the first blow. He thankfully didn't feel any of the ones after that.

Later, when Grayson finally walked away, leaving him sprawled out on the street beneath the streetlight, disoriented and fading in and out of consciousness, he saw Richard transform beside Grayson in a flash of light, saw him give Rei a look that was nothing short of guilty. Grayson had something in his hand that made Rei feel angry, despite the fact that his vision was blurring at the edges and he was in too much pain to really feel much of anything at all.

The star. Ayame's star. He was tossing it up and down like it was a baseball, the pin gleaming in the light. His eyes narrowed and he reached forward, his hand trembling as he stretched it out in the space between them.

Give that back…he wanted to say, but it came out as a gurgle instead. Richard was watching him, white as a sheet. He looked like he was going to throw up.

"Come on, Rich," Grayson was saying, walking away. "Let's get out of here."

"We're so dead," Richard muttered under his breath, turning away from Rei. "Shinigami's going to find out, and we're gonna be so dead…"

"Shut up, stupid. No one's finding out anything. Do you see any cameras around? Any witnesses…"

Their voices faded away, out of the range of Rei's hearing. Rei tried to turn onto his side—something about his position was making it hard to breathe—tried to reach for his phone, but his head spun.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a dark shape landing in front of him. A raven. It tilted its head inquisitively, letting out a soft 'caw'.