Rin: So StarFix, are you ready with that new chapter yet?

Almost Rin, now stop bothering me!

Rin: I'll bet you the readers don't even care about this part of the fic, I mean the four you do have already skipped to the actual story by now.

I have more than four readers… (Looks out to break the fourth wall) Right?

Rin: (cackling) This is revenge for the hell you're going to put me through for the next few chapters!!!!

I own nothing except for the mean Mihashi clone that insists I have no readers! (Goes to a corner to cry) Oh yeah, some of this chapter takes place before Rin called Hanai and Abe.

Chapter 8: Three days Awkwardness?

(Still Rin POV)

8:30 p.m

There was a palpable air of awkwardness in the car between Rin and Ren's grandfather. They were heading over to his home where Rin would be staying for the next three days. He was beyond furious, and Ren's Grandfather knew that.

How mad would you be if you were going away for three days to redo psychological treatment?

The bomb had been dropped on his head earlier that evening during dinner. Rin was feeling as hungry as Ren always claimed to be, but he had to be polite and eat slowly. Though eating slowly didn't stop him from nearly choking when the news was made.

xxFLASHBACKxx

Rin takes a moment to compose himself. Maybe he didn't hear right. Maybe it was just his paranoia finally setting in.

"Gomen," he apologizes. "But what did you just say?"

"Well, Ren-kun, Dr. Furumi's other patient have been regressing," the old man explains. "I already talked to your parents about this, and they agree that you should see him."

Rin weighs his options. Either have a full on meltdown the way that he would or he could clam up like Ren would. Rin knows that he should pretend to be Ren, in fact that would be the better decision.

But of course vice is the road most traveled.

"Are you completely INSANE?!?!?" he demands, standing up from the table.

"No, I'm just…"

"Worried about me? If you were really worried about me you gotten me out of Mihoshi academy when I was younger." Rin says, voice rising. "How did you not notice the scars and bruises? Did you just think-"

"Ren!" father exclaims. "Stop this right now!"

If Rin were still feeling saucy he would have said something like "Ren isn't her now, would you like to take a message?" but he just sat down and hung his head low.

xxEnd Flashbackxx

11:45 pm

That night when Rin got to the guest room in the old man's house he collapsed into bed immediately. He was tired from not only the ride, also from calling Abe and Hanai. Rin frowned; he knew that Abe probably was still awake and it was his fault. He didn't dwell on that though; he was already halfway in dreamland.

In his dreams there were nothing but swirls of color and lightning. Lots of lightning. Ren was afraid of lightning, and he was only afraid of it due to his fear of electricity. Rin marveled at how much the first psychological treatment fucked up his other half.

"Wait a second…" he murmured, remembering Ren. "Where are you anyway?"

The dancing color and lightning stopped for but a moment and morphed into a path of light. He was about to take a step out onto the path when he felt himself being shook in the real world.

***

Rin was ready for his day just in time to learn the gist of his three days before school. During the day he would go to school at Mihoshi academy (isn't nepotism grand?) then in the afternoon go to therapy session with Doctor Furumi for two and a half hours.

It wasn't what he'd rather be doing, but Rin got over himself and went along with it.

Mihoshi academy looked almost threatening to him, and he was staring rather intently in hope of it blinking first at it until a familiar voice jolted him out of his futile quest.

"Mihashi is that you?" Rin looked over his shoulder to see one Shuugo Kanou behind him looking dumbstruck.

Rin nodded, "Oh hey Shuu-chan…"

"Shuu-chan? Ren, what are you doing here?" Kanou asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain," Rin replied without stuttering. He pulled out his schedule and handed it to Kanou, "Can you help me find my way around?"

Kanou looked over the schedule. At first he didn't notice the connection and how familiar it looked, but once he did he almost gasped.

"This is Hatake's schedule," he explained. Rin blanched, but not for the reason Kanou thought he was. "It's okay… umm I could find someone else to show you around?"

"No it's fine," Rin lied. "Can you ask Hatoki-"

"Hatake,"

"Uh huh, ask Hatake to help me get to my classes?" Rin asked slowly. Kanou nodded and walked off.

Rin waited until Ren's childhood friend walked away until he let himself collapse onto a pillar. He clutched his head in confusion. In his mind he knew that he was supposed to know Hatake from somewhere, but for some reason the memories were being blocked.

How was that possible? He was Ren and Ren was he, so there could be no secrets between them. It didn't hurt matters that Ren was completely gone somehow.

Ren!

What if… but Rin couldn't bring himself to think it. He had to make a phone call. He'd have to get Abe as soon as possible to break the hypnotic spell and fix everything before it was all too late.

Rin reached for his phone when he felt a presence behind him. He jumped a foot in the air a la Ren, and turned to face the person. He was round almost fat, but not really. It seemed to be more like hard muscle.

"I can't believe it, what are you doing here?" he demanded. Rin reasoned that this had to be Hatake.

"Hatake," he said just to be sure. The boy fumed with rage.

"So your new team wasn't good enough for you?" he growled, pushing Rin against the pillar. Rin could feel the fat-but-not-really-fat-boy's breath against his cheek. His voice was so low that the people only inches away couldn't hear. "You had to come back here to take Kanou's spot again, didn't you?"

Rin blanched at the way Hatake said "again". That hinted that Ren had done something like that before, which was another memory being blocked from his mind.

"I didn't come here to take anything," Rin responded, imitating Hatake's low growl. "I'm only here for three days, and then I'm out of your hair." Rin stepped forward so that he was only breath away from the bigger boy's face. "I would rather that you not mess with me, or I'll repay every threat that you ever gave Ren tenfold, you got that?"

Hatake was too surprised and scared of the sudden BAMF (Bad-Ass Mother-Fucker)-ness to notice the disassociation. He nodded quickly, eager to get the kid he thought he knew out of his space.

***

Later that day at break Rin tried to call Abe, but he kept getting a busy signal. He tried calling Hanai and everyone else, but the same result occurred.

In the end he just found Kanou and the rest of the Mihoshi team. Rin felt a twinge of recognition when it came to some of them, but he realized that they were also blocked memories.

"Hey Ren, so how was your first day here?" Kanou beamed.

"It wouldn't have gone as well if Hatake-kun wasn't helping me around," Rin said simply with a huge grin. He looked over his shoulder at his guide, but Hatake could only avert eye contact; he didn't want to have his soul eaten.

Rin talked the entire time with the rival team straining to remember something any of the nameless faces. By the time it was over he was no closer to remembering than he was when he started.

Everyone filed out of the room one by one except for the tall transfer student, who stopped Rin for a moment.

"Umm yes Oda-san?" Rin asked.

"Y'all don't hafta call me 'Oda-san'," the cleanup shrugged. "Ah was just wonderin' who you are."

Rin was confused, "Huh?"

"Ah mean, you don' have the same… Ah dunno, aura as the guy from the practice match," Oda explained. "You're a completely different person."

Rin looked at his feet. He was kind of surprised that someone who didn't even know Ren figured it out. Especially with auras or something like that…

"Wait a second, can you sense his aura anywhere?" Rin asked.

Oda shrugged, "It's really faint around you, kinda like it's leaking out."

Rin exhaled sharply and thanked the somehow psychic cleanup, "I have to call my friends,"

Rin turned to exit the room, but once more Oda stopped him. He seemed to be worried for some reason.

"Yer not gonna tell are you?"

"Are you?" Rin replied. Even with his above average strength Oda was a pretty big guy, and if he were to try hard enough Rin would lose a fight.

"Naw, but at my last school they weren't too keen on having someone like me around," he sighed.

"Yeah, and who would believe me anyway?" Rin chuckled. "I mean I barely believe it."

Oda nodded and made his way to the door. He was almost out when he stopped.

"By the way," he said pointing at Rin's temples. "You should be careful of what you say today, or those scars healed for nothing."

"How did you…" Rin began to ask, but he knew the answer already. There was no use hiding things from a psychic.

***

That afternoon Rin's planning kept him from remembering his unbridled rage towards Ren's grandfather. He had to get a call out to his friends soon or, if his theory was right, Ren would be gone forever.

"Ren," the old man boomed. "I would prefer it if you answered Dr. Furumi's question's honestly, okay?"

"Sure," he grunted since he felt that there was no choice anyway.

The old man led Rin up the stairs into the clod and metallic office. He couldn't help but wonder why anyone would want to spill their guts in a place like it. The rooms were so cold and uninviting, not to mention the most drab paint jobs on that side of the Mississippi (A/N: oops, American figure of speech!).

Rin sat in the waiting room for half an hour before a receptionist motioned for him to follow her. He obliged even though he was debating on running out of the office at top speed. Rin rubbed his temples that were normally covered by his hair and remembered what Oda had said.

"You should be careful of what you say today, or those scars healed for nothing."

Rin shivered if he hadn't been convinced of Oda being psychic, he definitely was after he said that. No one knew about the scars, not even Ren's grandfather.

"Well hello Ren-kun," a booming voice chuckled. Rin froze; he could remember the voice, but not who it belonged to. He could only believe that his hypothesis was right; Ren was somehow trying to block out hurtful memories from his life.

"Um, hello doctor?" Rin asked shaking the hand of a burly man from whom the voice came from.

"Well, Ren I can't believe how much you grew up," he beamed, but he noticed the confused look on Rin's face. "I guess you wouldn't remember me, Doctor Kabuki Furumi at your service."

Rin nodded and followed the man to into another room. Oddly enough it was the complete opposite of the rest of the building. Painted in a bold blue and decorated in pictures of various clients Rin almost felt at ease.

The doctor motioned from him to take a seat on the couch across form his big red chair. Rin resisted the desire to lay on it like in all the cartoons and begin his therapy. When he finally sat down, the questions began.

"Have you ever had a problem controlling your emotions?"

Rin shook his head, "Other than how your average sixteen year old can? No"

"Do you accept responsibility for your actions?"

Rin nodded, "Who else can I blame what I do on?"

Rin chuckled at that because he could see where the doctor was going. He was trying to find out if Ren still had "Dissociative identities". The doctor couldn't ask directly, because it's easier to lie to a direct question than in indirect one.

The inquiry continued like that for a while before the doctor finally asked, "What do you find funny Ren?"

Rin let himself laugh a little harder, "This, all of this is funny. I'm only here because your other patients have 'relapsed' and the old man is too afraid to sue you for malpractice!"

Dr. Furumi paused, "Why do you call him 'the old man' instead of Grandpa or my grandpa?"

Rin bristled; he left a bread crumb for the doctor to follow back to the truth. If he timed it right Furumi would have to back down without question.

"What was my original diagnosis doc?"

"I'm the one asking questions Ren," Furumi said soothingly.

"Your answer is a part of mine," Rin shrugged. The doctor relented and said exactly what he knew to be true.

"So what does that have to do with your grandfather?" Furumi asked, pen trembling with anticipation.

"I was admitted to you because of my imaginary friend in a way," Rin began. "I was your average kid who thought his friend was real, and he thought I was crazy."

"We don't use that word-"

"I do," Rin interrupted. "That you 'treated' me based on the assumption that he was right. I don't remember much Doc, but I do remember these." Rin paused and showed circular scars on his temples. They looked like old burns.

"Th-those?" the doctor stammered. Rin knew that he had caught something.

"I also remember that electroshock therapy is illegal, so to answer your question; he isn't my grandfather anymore," Rin sighed. "He lost that right to be called my family after he sent me to you."

Rin: Wow StarFix, you really let me get him. Am I going to sue him?

I don't think you can; statute of limitations and such.

Rin: Damn! I could be one rich bitch right now!!!!

Just tell the nice readers to review.

Rin: Review please, you know you wanna… Hey StarFix?

What is it Rin?

Rin: Well, do you think that any of the readers have figured out what's going on with Ren and me yet?

Gosh, I hope so! I mean it's so obvious (breaks the fourth wall again). Isn't it?