Author's Note!
Wow, I feel like an ass. I completely went AWOL, so I apologize for that. It was only because my AP summer project sucks up so much of my time that I almost completely forgot about everything I was writing (along with the mother of all writer's blocks). So, unfortunately, I won't be able to update again until about a month from now (once school starts). Again, I apologize for that, and especially those who have been following this story. But, if you want to see more of my work in my absence, you could check out my story "Apron", which is a GrimmUlqui yaoi oneshot that I might turn into a twoshot, and it's also my highest ranking story by far, so check it out if you'd like.
But… Surprise! I was almost done with this when I dropped off the face of the Earth, so I decided to bust my butt and finish it to make it up to my bishies! So, in hopes that you'll forgive me, I present to you Chapter 7!
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Chapter 7
Warnings: Quite a bit of angst, insults, back story glimpse
Disclaimer: See profile
Yay! Super-angsty chapter! And more flashbacks! Woo. I like this chapter because it has a lot of plot development.
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After yet another morning of running, Reino's mind felt much clearer. The vigorous work and blissful aching of her muscles helped rid her brain of any issues. Now, after her "morning marathon," she decided that it would be nice to wind down with a good book. Often times she would ask Szayel to go to the world of the living and pick up a few interesting novels, or she would just borrow some of the books that he got for himself. Books from the human world are very fascinating. The way that the primitive human mind (in comparison to that of an arrancar's) could make up such works of fictions that are so interesting, it's mesmerizing. Some human writers even wrote well enough to make one feel like they were being plunged into an entirely new world.
After starting to walk back to the lab, she finally noticed how disgusting she looked. Dirt and sand stuck to the sheen of sweat on her body as grime nearly coated her face and sleeveless arms. Before reading, she'll probably clean up. Maybe it would be nice to read book while in a relaxing warm bath. Yes, that would be very nice.
While in one of the hallways that would eventually lead her to the lab, things seemed eerily quiet. For once things were actually somewhat peaceful. Too bad that wouldn't last for long.
"Hey, kitty-cat. Wanna play a little?" A confident but feminine voice sounded behind the scientist. She slightly turns around, only enough to barely acknowledge the identity of the voice. It belongs to Loly, while Menoly stands beside her. Sometimes the pair would show up and verbally abuse her, trying to get a rise out of her. Most of the time, though, that ultimately failed, as she simply ignored them.
"Well, good morning, Loly, Menoly. A pleasure to see you as always," she said sarcastically. She turned her back to them and began to walk away from the pair. As soon as she started to leave, she heard the two pairs of feet following her.
"Oh, look Loly. She's so filthy!"
"Well of course, so befitting of a dirty rat so like herself. I bet your parents just left you on the streets when you were a child because you were so disgusting!"
That comment made Reino stop walking.
"Get out! You disgusting rat!"
A young girl was abruptly shoved out the door of her western house. Her mother threw an apple at the girl's head.
"And don't even think about ever coming back!"
"I'd suggest you watch your mouth, Loly."
"Oh, did I strike a nerve?" she said in mock concern. "*Gomenasai! I should have known how sensitive dirty street rats are! I bet your brothers didn't even bother to come after you after you got thrown onto the streets!" She scoffed loudly.
The girl's brothers were trying to push their way through the door frame, but were too small and weak to get past her mother as the apple hit her forehead, creating a faint red mark. She timidly looked down at the small apple.
"Perche, madre (1)?"
"(2)Fai schifo! You don't even deserve to be told all the things you've done wrong!" the mother of small girl yelled.
She slowly turned to the faint dirt road and began walking, still able hear her brothers' last efforts to get through the door.
The frail voice of her younger brother screamed out her name. He was crying, but still fighting, while her older brother was still staying strong, but his face was desperate and looked like he wanted to cry.
Her body and mind were slightly trembling from rage and anger. Most of the time she could ignore these feeble attempts at irritation, but if they started to bring them into this, hell was going to be raised.
"Such a shame that they must have abandoned you onto the dirty streets!"
In that very moment, Reino snapped.
She instantly Sonido'ed over to her and punched Loly square in the jaw. She skidded back a few feet, eventually landing on the ground.
"You little bitch!" Loly yelled. She got up off the floor and pulled her Zanpakuto out of its sheath. Running up to Reino, ready to attack, the Grantz raised a single dagger to block her strike. They both locked eyes for a moment; Loly sees that Reino's are filled to the brim with unmerciful fury, but also another emotion-
Regret.
If mother didn't want you, then you had no right to stay. You would leave. Run far away. You knew your brothers would probably try to sneak out to find you. You would go to a place where they couldn't. If they saw you, they would try to bring you back home and get scolded harshly by mother. Not only that, but it would be such a painful reminder of the life and family you now have to leave behind.
She used Sonido on just her arm to pull her other dagger and stab the shorter girl in her side. Loly yelled out in pain as the tip of Reino's small blade fractured her lowermost rib and she gets kneed in her abdomen, sending her flying back from the extra power added by Reino's rage and back onto the cold tiled floor. As she lands, she coughs as some blood sputters out of her mouth. The Grantz calmly walked over to her and looked down at her with cruel pity. She raised her foot and aimed her heel at Loly's sternum. She was about to slam her foot down and cause a large amount of internal damage, when a sly voice sounded.
"Now, now, girls. Is there a problem? I'm sure tha' Aizen-sama would be gettin' upset if ya went killin' each other, ne?"
Ichimaru-sama was leaning on the wall just a few feet away.
Reino moved her foot back to the ground and took a small step away from Loly. This whole time Menoly was watching the scene unfold from a safe distance.
"No, Ichimaru-sama, there is no problem here." She put both of your daggers back into their holsters. She began to walk down the hallway on her original route, when she stopped for just a moment. She shot Loly a hateful glare. If looks could kill, then she would have spontaneously combusted by now.
"And I'm sure that Aizen-sama wouldn't lift a finger for the likes of that." She continued her trek down the hallway at a brisk pace, as your coattails swayed gently behind her.
After walking a distance away from the group, you slow down a bit. Some things were just too painful to think about, but memories of your human life began to rape your thoughts.
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The 1800's in Rome, Italy. There was a war currently occurring. Sickness and unsanitation began to run rampant, so young Reino and her clean mother, healthy father, and 2 loving brothers left to follow the trend of people going to America. IlForte was 12 at the time, she was 9, and Szayel was 7.
In America, the area was much more rural. At the time, winter had just passed. Her family owned a small plantation that had a few crops. It was tended by her father, IlForte, and Szayel, while she and her mother did the cooking, cleaning, and other house chores.
But don't get the wrong idea. Just because she helped her mother with those things, didn't mean she was good at them. She often times burned food, sewed clothes incorrectly, and left dirt stains while cleaning; Reino simply wasn't meant to be a housewife. But her mother was usually a patient woman. She would stay calm, help her with whatever she did wrong, and show her how to do it properly.
Things started out well, but after winter passed, things started to fall apart. The crops were dead, there was barely enough food for the winter, and nearly no money to buy food from the small organized town market place over a mile away. Her father developed pneumonia in both his lungs from the insufficient heating and insulation, and eventually died, leaving his sons to tend to the fields in the autumn and IlForte as the man of the house. The stress of losing her husband turned mother into an alcoholic, using the little money they had so she could buy alcohol. Now, whenever Reino did something poorly, mother would get mad and throw tantrums. She would often times hit the young girl and send her to bed with no supper, which mother usually ended up making for herself and her brothers. During her tantrums, if Szayel was in the room, IlForte would lead the little boy away from mother, trying to shield him from the hard truth. At supper when she was sent away, IlForte usually tried to sneak something like a small piece of bread from the table and give it to his sister later. Then, he would often try to comfort her in his arms. She told herself constantly that she wouldn't cry after father died, but she was always weakest in her older brother's arms. She tried to be strong, especially for little Szayel, but it was too hard when around IlForte, who could always tell when something was wrong with her.
Around mid-fall, was when things truly boiled over. Reino was taking another attempt at cooking supper, and things seemed to be going well, until the flame suddenly rose and nearly caught the whole kitchen on fire. Mother and her brothers rushed into the room as mother put the flames out before they spread too far. After everything settled down, her mother looked very angry with Reino; she could tell that she had quite a bit to drink before. She calmly put her hand on her daughter's back as she lead her to the front of their small home, opened the door, and abruptly shoved he through it. She looked up at her, confused.
"Get out! You disgusting rat!"
She was abruptly shoved out the door of her family's western house. Her mother threw an apple at her head.
"And don't even think about ever coming back!"
Her brothers were trying to push their way through the door frame, but were too small and weak to get past their mother as the apple hit Reino's forehead, creating a faint red mark. She quietly looked down at the small apple.
"Perchè, madre?"
"Fai schifo! You don't deserve to be told all the things you've done wrong!" She yelled.
She slowly and quietly turned to the faint dirt road and began walking. She could still hear her brothers' last efforts to get through the door.
"Rei-nee!" the frail voice of her younger brother screamed. He was crying but still fighting, while IlForte was still staying strong, but his face seemed desperate and looked like he wanted to cry.
She began to walk down the dirt trail, leaving the apple on the ground.
If mother didn't want her, then she had no right to stay. She would leave. Go far away. She that knew her brothers would probably try to sneak out to find their sister. She would go to a place where they couldn't. If they saw her, they would try to bring her back home. She could never imagine saying no to them, especially little Szayel in his innocent and frail young voice, and they would get scolded harshly by mother. Not only that, but it would be such a painful reminder of the life and family she now have to leave behind.
She didn't notice that she arrived at the lab until she distractedly ran straight into the large double doors. She opened the left door slowly and stepped through. A little distressed from her mind's replay of her past, she idly traveled the halls of her section of the lab, nearly forgetting why she came here in the first place. Then, Reino felt a presence in her main computer room, and peeked through the door to see who it was.
She saw IlForte staring intensely at one of her anatomy books, trying to understand what most of it means (not knowing that it was upside-down). He looked up from his intense thinking and saw his little sister in the doorway. He smiled and stood up.
"Hey, Rei'."
Without greeting him or changing her expression, she calmly walked over and hugged him. After only a few seconds she began to gently sob into his chest. He held and comforted her the way that he did when they were little.
"Did something happen? What's wrong?" he says in a soothing voice. She nodded, but didn't give him answer. After a while she said only one thing-
"Please, never leave me again IlForte."
Knowing exactly what she meant, he closed his eyes and hugged his sister tighter.
"Never again. I got you back once, and I'm never going to let you go again, Reino."
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Yay for drama! How did IlForte get her back once? What was the rest of their childhood like? All will be answered in the future! There's definitely going to be a lot more of her back story, so be sure to look out for that!
Please review, because it makes me very happy and it makes me feel appreciated!
*Gomenasai- I'm very sorry (I imagined her saying this the way that see did to Orihime in the anime. Did you too?)
(1)Perche, madre? - Why, mother?
(2)Fai schifo- You are so disgusting! (This is an extremely Italian phrase)