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Thanks so much!
.: Playthrough 7 :.
= Ambush =
Courage is a peculiar kind of fear
- Charles Kennedy
"A party?"
Reiyo's panting and high pitched voice came out all in one while fighting Keiko and listening to Lenalee's chat with Allen and Lavi. Said Chinese turned towards Reiyo's outburst just in time to see her fall when Keiko swept her own staff under Reiyo's feet.
"Concentrate!" Keiko bellowed tapping Reiyo's head with the staff in her hands.
Reiyo spat on the floor before getting back up while leaning on her own. Since a couple of days back when they had discovered that Reiyo's given weapon had been a staff, they'd been training her nonstop so that she would learn how to fight with it. She had come to hate this training more so than the previous one. The one before she tolerated because it worked for her. She was actually improving and getting stronger. With this new regimen, however, it was one ass-kicking after another. Keiko had no mercy and Reiyo wasn't learning any faster than before.
Reiyo stood in a stance holding near the back of staff with her left hand keeping that side low while holding with her right the other end upward and slightly across her chest while bending her elbow. Her feet were separated slightly apart, her left forth and knee slightly bent and her right a step back to keep balance. It took her literally the whole day before to learn how to hold it. Just hold it! A turtle could turn itself right side up faster than she could learn this!
"You know, this thing's not as easy as you make it seem," she grunted towards Keiko who simply snickered. This pissed her off slightly.
"No giving up. You don't have the luxury," Keiko responded taking the same stance and charging at Reiyo with another sets of attacks. She managed to bloke the first set but when the second came it took her by surprise. Keiko quickly disarmed her and stabbed Reiyo right in the gut with the front end of her staff. The blonde bent over, coughing and fell to a sit on the platform.
Keiko sighed in frustration and clicked the end of the staff on the platform. "We'll end this session here for today. I'll have to find a better way to train you than this. It's clearly not working fast enough."
"Fast enough?" Reiyo grunted getting up and picking her lost weapon. "How fast do you want me to learn this crap?!"
"Faster than you are now, that's for sure," Keiko answered her rhetorical question and gave her a helping hand to pick her up. Reiyo blew her a raspberry but took the hand to stand back up.
At jumping off the platform, she turned to the Chinese that had cost her attention from Keiko kicking her ass. "You were saying something about some party?"
"Oh yes," Lenalee replied with a smile as she followed Reiyo to the locker rooms. "You see, last month was Lavi's birthday."
"Oh really?" Reiyo inquired glancing over her shoulder to look at the American who simply gave her a wide grin and a peace sign.
"Big twenty, baby!" he snickered like a proud kid.
"You're twenty?!" Reiyo shouted amazed. He didn't look any older than eighteen!? She turned to Allen and then Lenalee and noticed that for the time that she'd spent with them she hadn't taken a slightest interest in finding anything out about them. Not even their ages or birthdays. She faced Lenalee and asked, "How old are you?"
"Turned seventeen last May," she said with a kind smile.
Reiyo glanced back at the crop of white hair who was eating a dish full of mitarashi dango. With one in his mouth he answered, "I'm sixteen."
"Damn, boy!" Reiyo exclaimed with a chuckle. "You're too damn short."
Lavi held his stomach and laughed out while smacking Allen's back a bit too hard. "Oh God, that's just too true, moyashi-chan!"
"IT'S ALLEN!" the Brit spat out with disdain.
"Whatever you say, moyashi," Reiyo repeated with a smirk of her own and kept walking. Her mind then went back to what had started the inquiry and her ass-kicking in the first place, "Isn't it a little late to be celebrating a month old birthday?"
"Hell no!" Lavi snapped with a smirk and snapping his fingers girlishly. "I've just hit my prime and I want to celebrate it as so! I'll be having my party, late and all!"
She grinned at his childishness, "Why do it so much later then?"
"The current situation at hand hasn't allowed for the Heirs to have much liberties like they had before," Keiko explained all the while they headed back to locker rooms.
Reiyo felt more nasty than ever. That practice with the staffs was pushing her body to a whole new extreme. And the constant pounding of her sore muscles was proof enough of it. She took the gym bag that had her spare clothes from her locker and headed for the showers.
She climbed inside closing the curtain behind her and undressed herself there while leaving the clothing and garments just outside in a bundle. She turned the handle and let the nice, cold water hit her muscles with a small yelp from the sudden chill it gave her. She relaxed for a bit as the water soothed her body. It wasn't until she heard the clicking of heels that she noticed she wasn't as alone in the showers as she thought.
"You know, I'm not really fond of women, which is why I'll say that I'd rather shower without a female audience present," Reiyo chided and simply went on to splash shampoo on her scalp.
"Back to the topic at hand," Keiko's voice rose above the noise from the water. "The party's being held this Saturday seeing as that's when most staff will be prepared. It's gives us just enough to time to get you the proper attire?"
"What do you mean?"
"Keiko-san means that I'm assigned to take you out shopping for clothes for the occasion," Lenalee chirped more than gladly to spend a girl's day out with another girl.
There was no response from the shower. It wasn't long before a sarcastic laugh came from the small cubicle followed by Reiyo poking her drenched head from inside. Her stoic expression didn't show an ounce of amusement, "You're both crazy." She quickly returned to the task at hand and continued showering.
"Not crazy, Reiyo-chan," Keiko countered with a smirk of her own. "Whether you want to or not, you have to attend the party. Meaning that you will need the proper attire to attend it in."
"Fuck that! I ain't going shopping," Reiyo called out loudly with a pissed off tone to her voice. The duo of girls heard the shower being turned off immediately followed by the towel that Reiyo had draped over the curtain disappearing. She came out with it wrapped around her skinny body and a glare pointed at both. "And that's that."
She went over to change and noticed that the two male companions had remained outside the lockers out of modesty. If they hadn't, she would've simply kicked their asses out by force. She began to dress in her undergarments as the two stayed a few feet behind her. She didn't mind them being there really. This reminded her of the usual high school gym scene that she'd been a part of plenty of times. Modesty, for her, wasn't a must in front of other girls. Specially ones she knew; Keiko more than Lenalee, anyways.
"You have no choice in the matter, Reiyo-chan," Keiko called with a smug smirk on her face. "You're Kanda-kun's Excell and as such you must fulfill your duties as not only that but also as his bodyguard." Reiyo clicked her tongue remembering the clause on her contract that mentioned that itty bit of information. "Since it's a big event, most defenses will be up and running but since Exailion's involved with our enemies as well it wouldn't surprise me that they could easily infiltrate unnoticed. Things have happened before and I'm not about to risk any lives Saturday. Better safe than sorry."
"Still, I can just put something together from what they've given me here for clothing. There's no need to go out and buy something," she answered her while adjusting the black, hooded vest she wore over a grayish long sleeve. She took long black jeans and knee high boots to complete the look. Yeah, she had to admit that the clothes they provided for her to wear weren't shabby. Not at all. She let her hair hang loose to dry after towel drying it herself.
"No buts or cuts. We're going out and that's final!" Lenalee called in a sing-song tone and grabbed her wrist, taking her away.
"And who the hell dragged you out of your Batcave?"
The expected click of Kanda's tongue answered Reiyo's rhetorical question.
He couldn't believe that Lenalee had actually gotten him from his meditation room and managed to drag him out on his day off. Seriously, if she hadn't been of the female species he would have kicked somebody's ass to the hospital. But Lenalee wasn't a guy so he couldn't touch her. No matter how much he wanted to strangle the petite Chinese for bringing him along in their little excursion.
Kanda stood near the entrance of the store leaning against the glass showcase with Reiyo, surprisingly enough, standing beside him with her arms crossed before her. Her bored expression and the nonchalant way that she stood by chewing gum when the trip was on her behalf told him just how much the nezumi really wanted to be there. That and the fact that this was the tenth boutique they had come to.
Reiyo couldn't stand shopping for clothes. Sure, take her out grocery shopping and she'll fine you a whole week's worth of groceries lower than you can imagine but bring her to a chic boutique and you'll lose her completely. She loathed shopping for clothes. To her it was always a show of vanity when people shopped at these stores. She only went shopping once a year for herself or even longer than that if she deemed her outfits still usable enough. And she never came to these overpriced shops. Almost most of the time, it was to thrift shops were nothing cost more than a dollar. The only times she'd entered somewhere remotely close to these kind of stores was when Gemma needed clothes and even those times were scarce.
"How about this one?" Lenalee pleaded taking a dress she had in her hands and showing it from afar to Reiyo.
Reiyo's stoic expression didn't change while she chewed her gum. Her eyes half hooded, she blew a bubble gum while taking her thumb and making a cutting motion across her throat. Lenalee puffed but sighed away her mounting anger and went back to searching for something that at least would catch the blonde's eye.
"Can we go eat? I'm hungry," Reiyo called out to the bunch that had accompanied them.
"I'm with you on that," Allen replied from the corner that he sat at with bag of chips in his hands. His head was laid against a full body mirror that was stuck up against the wall that led to the dressing rooms.
"But Lena already said that we can't go eat unless you choose something Rei-chan~" Lavi pouted sitting on a chair that was placed near the dressing rooms too.
"How about we just leave and not buy anything," Reiyo sighed hopeful at the prospect of that. But Lenalee had to dash her hopes when she stalked up to her with a deadly look on her face.
Reiyo had to admit that although the Chinese girl was her height, give or take some inches, the blonde still was quite intimidated by that death glare she was casting her way.
"If you're complaining so much about being hungry then just try a dress on and get it over with!" She forcefully grabbed Reiyo's wrist and dragged her past Lavi and Allen's spot and shoved her into one of the many dressing rooms. Quickly, she held her weight against the door to keep her from coming out.
Two bangs came to the door along with shoves to it before Reiyo shouted, "Lenalee! Let me out of here!"
"Not until you try at least something on!" Lenalee shouted from her side although she noted there was no need to raise her voice in such public place. She tossed the dress she had in her hands over the door, "Now try it on and stop whining!"
When Lenalee finally heard a definite groan from the other side of the door, she decided to let go of the door that, as she had figured, was already locked from the inside. It took a couple of minutes for the blonde to find her way outside wearing the dress that Lenalee had handed her.
At seeing her both Allen and Lavi's eyes widened; Allen's of shock and Lavi's of amazement. But it was Lavi who opened his mouth first to comment.
He cat called and stared at her with a grand grin on his face, "Damn girl! Where have you been hiding that hot bod?"
"S-Shut the hell up, Bookman!" Reiyo stuttered unable to control her tongue from the embarrassment. "This is degrading."
"How in the world is this degrading?" Lenalee asked almost insulted that she would say that. "You look great! I can't believe you've been hiding all this time, duckling."
"Oh zip it," she muttered feeling very uncomfortable in the short dress.
"No really, Reiyo-san," Lenalee assured her and took her shoulders to turn her around towards the mirror. "I mean, look at yourself. You look good."
Reiyo took her eyes away from the shortness of the attire for the briefest seconds but that was enough to catch her own reflection. Who...the hell was that girl standing there? Sure as hell wasn't her. She's never had that tint of red on her cheeks; always had they been pale. Her legs that were always hidden by pants most of the time were now showing beneath the petticoat that gave the skirt fluff that barely reached her mid thighs. She could see the milky white of them that she missed most of the times under her jeans. Her chest was what disturbed her the most. The dress was a bateau cut that brought her small breasts together and gave her a slight cleavage. Not only that but it was sleeveless leaving her whole shoulders in the open. The whole dress was a clean cut white clothing with small, intricate swirling designs around her chest that ran down to the skirt's edge. It felt a little tight just below her chest but it wasn't literally breath taking. It was just...hell of a lot different.
"I feel...weird," Reiyo murmured standing awkwardly before her reflection, shifting her weight nervously between her feet.
"You look good though," Lavi reiterated Lenalee's earlier comment. "It's quite flattering actually. Lena has an eye for fashion really. You've chosen well, milady!" He jokingly winked and gave Lenalee a thumbs up.
The Chinese simply giggled and went back to look at Reiyo. She accommodated the dress where Reiyo had maladjusted it. "It's perfect for this. With some white or clear heels, it'll be perfect."
"You're trying to kill me or something?" Reiyo chuckled nervously.
Allen chuckled at Reiyo's clear angst on the mention of high heeled shoes. He carefully hid his laughter behind his hand while he leaned against the mirror, "By the tone of your voice I assume you would rather jump off a cliff."
"Gladly so, too," she added with a sigh against the prospect of wearing anything that mildly lifted her inches off the ground.
"Don't be so pessimistic," Lenalee gladly said giving a slap to her bare shoulder blades making a considerably loud smacking sound. "We'll be taking this one. Go ahead and take it off so we can pay for it!" she concluded and ran off to get the employer.
"No, wait!" but the girl ignored the blonde's pleas. "Ugh."
"Just take it," Lavi agreed giving the same slap to her bare back.
"I will if you just stop doing that, please," she muttered through gritted teeth. Lavi went ahead to accompany Lenalee at checkout. Reiyo simply stayed where she stood, her glance closely inspecting herself again in the mirror.
"It really doesn't suit me though," she sighed defeated at the cheerful attitude of the group.
"Sure it does," Allen interjected with his gentle smile while he stood with his arms crossed still leaning against the mirror she was looking at. "Consider it a gift from us. For all the trouble we're putting you through."
"If you're going to give me a gift make it something I actually enjoy," she corrected with a sweat drop and gave once last look at her face. She noticed that her cheeks were still tinted a slight pink color from the unexpected comments. Yet more unexpected was that through looking at her reflection she could clearly catch Kanda's eyes staring at her. Not directly at her reflected face but at her as a whole. He seemed to give her a once over, and she could have sworn she saw some kind of glint in his eyes. But before she could discern what it meant, he gave a dismissing grimace and turned away. All embarrassment that she'd felt was flushed out with that one gesture. What a prick! She grunted and was about to walk away to dress back into her clothes when something caught her attention.
From the corner of her eye she saw what captured her interest through the reflection. It was a small red glint that was reflecting back and hurting every time it met her eyes. She cringed and felt a chill down her back. Immediately, she turned around with a spin on her heels and stared outside. But all that met her was Kanda's glare by the entrance and a group of kids passing by.
Odd. Maybe she was just imaging things. She stared at the floor thinking what it could have been when Allen tapped her shoulder. This gesture alone made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and she spun fully alert. But at seeing Allen's worried expression she instantly lowered her guard.
"Is something the matter?" Allen inquired his brow furrowed worried at her sudden jumpiness.
"Uh, no!" she instantly responded faking a wry smile. "I-I'm going to go change. Be right back."
With a strange unease she couldn't quite pinpoint the source of, Reiyo made haste to change into her normal outfit. She soon came out with the white dress in her hands. Not much later, Lenalee and Lavi came for it and paid taking it with them.
"I got a dress," Reiyo muttered under her breath with her eyes suddenly wide.
"Yeah, after ten shops," Kanda scowled going ahead of the bunch followed by Lavi who chatted loudly with him, an arm draped over the Japanese's shoulders.
"Can we go eat now?" Reiyo heard Allen's inquiry and at hearing it heard her own stomach agree with the Brit's comment. She grabbed at her stomach with a grimace.
"Can we please?" Reiyo pleaded throwing her head back. She hadn't had breakfast and it was already past three in the afternoon. It was unbelievable how long she'd gone without complaining. Then again if she had opened her mouth to whine, Lenalee would have only gotten angrier at her attitude towards the shopping.
"Just two more stops and we'll go, okay?" she promised to the blonde with one of her bright smiles that could light a whole city.
"I guess," Reiyo agreed reluctantly willing her stomach to be quiet for a little while longer.
The next place they stopped at was at a hair salon. Oh hell no. Before Reiyo even had the idea of running both Lavi and Allen held onto either of her arms. She fought back with kicks and curses but nothing yielded their grips on her as they brought her inside the hairdresser's.
"Good afternoon- Ah, Lenalee-sama, it's been a while." The one that had spoken first was a man that was well past his late twenties. He had mostly black hair but a distinctive white streak of bangs that came over his face. He was pale, Reiyo noticed, and that gave even more emphasis to his hair and to his features that were rather sharp.
"It has indeed, Krory-san," Lenalee called out with glee at the older male that had greeted her at entering the establishment.
"Are you here for a trimming? Or perhaps try a different style," Krory inquired with a smile spread across his face.
"Actually-" she briefly turned towards Reiyo's gatekeepers and pointed at the usual empty chair she knew was always reserved for any of them. Both dragged the still resisting blonde into the empty chair. She quickly came back to face Krory with her smile, "I've come to get her fixed up a little."
"Mm?" he mumbled to himself while inspecting the girl through the mirror. He tried reaching his hands to take a closer look at her mane of blond curls but she literally snapped at him with a growl.
"Touch my hair and I swear you'll miss your hand," she challenged with a renewed ferocity.
"From what I can tell you have a pretty unique kind of hairstyle, Miss-"
When Reiyo refused to grant a word to the person who threatened nearing scissors anywhere close to her head, Lenalee sighed and answered for her. "Her name's Niyishima Reiyo. She's a friend of mine. I was looking to see if you could do anything to make it stand out."
"It would be quite easy," Krory commented with a smile while he continued to inspect her through the mirror's reflection and babbled his ideas aloud. "If I cut her hair and stack permed it then it would give that little, angelic face just the right complement. A slight ombre would work on her as well, just on the tips though. Her hair color brings out her eyes so we don't want it any lighter than it has to be."
"You aren't putting any sharp objects near me or my hair!" Reiyo hissed parting her hair in two and holding it strong at either side with her hands.
"It'll be a simply trim, Reiyo-san," Lenalee assured the blonde. "And the perm and ombre won't be much either. Just humor me and do this, please?"
"Go to hell," Reiyo concluded with her glare not leaving her face.
"Just fucking do it, already!" Kanda blurted out annoyed to new extremes he thought could only be broken by the usagi. Apparently not. "Fuck, you're more trouble than a shitty toddler."
"Well, fuck you too," she muttered under her breath and crossed her arms. She gave herself a glance in the mirror and touched it once. She clearly saw how damaged it was from how poorly she took care of it. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a haircut and surely by now her split ends were half way through the length of her hair. She sighed and resigned to this at last while slouching in the chair. "L-Look, as long as it's simple and doesn't change the length or color, I guess I'm okay with whatever you do."
Lenalee gasped sheepishly and clasped her hands together happy that she'd finally won a battle in this endless war with her. "Great! Now Krory, please do your magic."
"Of course, Lenalee-sama," he cheered gladly and placed the typical black cape around her neck before reaching out to grab the scissors that laid on his station just in front of Reiyo.
"C-Could you turn me around of something?" Reiyo faltered a bit as she hid her eyes behind her hands to avoid seeing as her hair was chopped off her head. "I don't want to see the atrocity happen." Krory turned with a skeptic glance to Lenalee who only sighed and shrugged. He gave the blonde a gentle smile and complied with her request.
That she wasn't directly looking at herself while it happened lessened her anxiety a bit. She calmed a little more all the while Krory sprayed water on her hair and untangled. But the instant she saw those sharp scissors close around a strand of her hair, she cringed inwardly. She instantly closed her eyes shut and yelped when she heard the first snap of the blades loud and clear.
Betraying herself, she opened her eyes wide the moment she heard the loud snap and watched as a good inch or two of her hair fell to the floor. Everything inside her told her to make it stop but another part, the one she really hated right now, told her that since she had already started it she might as well see it through. And all the while those two sides conflicted in war, Krory did his job swiftly and elegantly. In no more than twenty minutes he had finished with her haircut and took her away to the backrooms to work on her perm and ombre.
That took considerably more time than she thought it would. By the time he finished and was styling her hair as the cherry on top she could already feel her numb legs from sitting for however long she'd been there. Krory finally turned the hair dryer off with a finality that was followed by a sigh.
"Well," Krory proclaimed absolutely happy with his handy work as he removed the cape. "I can't say it's nothing short of how I envisioned. Truly, it suits Niyishima-sama."
"Oh goodness," Lenalee gasped when Reiyo finally decided to open her eyes and look at them, her chair still turned towards them. Lenalee came forth and grabbed the back of the chair and rotating it towards the mirror as she called out, "Look at you!"
Reiyo was about to make a sarcastic remark about how she only looked worse than before until she caught it in her throat at meeting her reflection. It took a few minutes to absorb the image of her hair and how it encompassed her face. Her slightly dark strawberry blonde hair had been cut straight just a few inches past her shoulder blades but the perm made them seem like they touched her shoulders. The tips of her hair were a slight lighter shade of blonde that gave contrast to her natural hair color. Her bangs cradled her face and the two distinct colors made her blue eyes stand out more than she remembered them.
She hated to admit it but...
"I like it." She instantly regretted the words coming from her mouth when she heard a distinct squeal from behind her and was instantly ambushed by a great bear hug. "Let go!" she shouted jumping up and trying to pry Lavi off from her shoulders.
"But~" the redhead cooed while rubbing their cheeks together. "Rei-chan's just too cute!"
"Goddammit, Bookman! I'll kick you where the sun don't shine if you don't let go this instant!" she growled and the threat seemed to get through for he immediately released her and took a few steps back.
She straightened her vest and turned to Krory with a sincere smile before bowing slightly in gratitude. "Thank you, Krory-san. I'm really happy with how I turned out. Sorry for doubting your skills too."
"Don't worry about it," he waved it off and smiled back. "I'm glad you liked it, Niyishima-sama." He and Lenalee walked away and paid for the haircut. The Chinese soon came to get them and grabbed Reiyo by looping their arms together and grabbed Allen's with her other free arm.
"Now, one last stop and we go to eat!" she rang triumphantly with a grand smile. "Onward, my comrades!" Both, Reiyo and Allen laughed at the girl's playfulness as she took them to their last destination before lunch.
Lavi chuckled at his friends' carefree attitude. It was moments like these that, although few they were, made him remember that he wasn't just among a bunch of kids who lived a dangerous life. It was moments like these that made him feel like he was actually part of a little, special family that only they belonged to. And it surprised him to see that Rei-chan was slowly starting to be incorporated into that same little family of theirs.
He sheepishly glanced at his side were the grouchy Japanese he called his 'best friend' walked in pace with him. His gaze went back to the teens that proceeded them, "Kinda reminds ya of the old times, doesn't it Yu?"
Kanda only clicked his tongue and averted his gaze, "Don't compare this to then, usagi."Lavi's grand smile changed to a wry one when he realized just what he'd said without thinking. Damn did his mouth get him in some trouble sometimes.
He looked their way once more and couldn't help but smile, "Even so, it gives a light feeling seeing them have so much fun. How about we join them?"
"You're demented," Kanda replied with a scowl.
"Oh c'mon, Yu-chan," Lavi called clinging from his neck and returning to his silly mood. "We'll surely find a puppy or two that you can kick around. Maybe that'll lift your spirits some. Let's go to the bar and check out some girls, better yet!"
"Get the fuck off me, usagi!" the other yelled pushing the redhead away but only in futile attempts. Forget usagi, he was a damn octopus!
"How about these?" Lenalee asked Reiyo while the blonde sat in a stool and she brought her the pair of stilettos that were at least seven inches high.
"You want me to die, don't you?" she chuckled but the fear behind that was clear. Reiyo didn't like her current position but she wasn't desperate enough to try suicide by walking in those death traps.
"Oh please," Lenalee cried out and examined the heels. "They're not even that high!"
"Have you seen what I wear?" Reiyo questioned raising her feet slightly to show her the boots that she wore. She had a rule of thumb for footwear; so long as her whole foot touched the ground, they were a-okay. With those lethal weapons that Lenalee had offered, Reiyo knew that her toes would barely touch. "Can't I wear flats? Or better yet white converse?"
"Don't think so, Reiyo-san," Lenalee chided putting the heels away. "That dress deserves better than some sneakers."
"It deserves better?! I'm gonna be the one wearing them!" Reiyo countered but the girl was already out of sight seeking another pair that she could put on her.
Reiyo gave a long sigh and glanced over at Allen that accompanied them along. She didn't know why but the other two had fallen behind and where lost to the trio that had landed themselves in the shoe store. She gave him a droll stare, "Is she really like this all the time?"
Allen chuckled at the position Reiyo was now in. He stood beside a shelf that held some of the expensive shoes they sold. "She enjoys the outings she gets. It's been awhile since we've all gathered to simply pass time." Ever since the turmoils that shook their state of affairs, they were rare the times they got together and, just like Lenalee, he savored them. The peace was great to have back even if for an instant. He turned to her with a smile on his face, "I have to thank you for that."
"Thank me?" Reiyo repeated taken back by the sudden gratitude. "For what? Starving you to death?"
"Because we're trying to get you on track with things, we're made to gather and go out. We haven't done that...since forever it seems," Allen's last phrase came out as a small whisper. His gaze was averted and landed at the floor and he seemed suddenly very far away as if lost deep in thought.
Reiyo couldn't help but frown and wonder at the oddness of the comment itself and his actions thereafter. She didn't really comprehend that but she guessed that she could relate with that feeling. She was always happy to have a reprieve from work and everything when she would take Gemma out to eat at rare times. She reached out and gently placed her hand on his arm. This got his attention and made him glance up and see the tender smile she showed him. "Sure thing, moyashi." He snorted at her mentioning that awful nickname that broke the mood completely into a lighthearted atmosphere.
"Found them!" Lenalee's cry made them turn to the end of the aisle from which she emerged holding a pair of heels. "Here, try these on," she told the blonde handing them over. From afar Reiyo was ready to turn them down but close up the heel didn't look as lethal as the others she'd been shown.
Shrugging her shoulders, she took her boots and socks off before trying on the silver and white stilettos. "Well," Reiyo began taking a look at how they fitted her. "They fit me, alright."
"Now stand up," Lenalee chirped pulling her up. Reiyo's giddiness took her by surprise. She felt like she would tumble down if she made a wrong move. "Come on, Reiyo-san! Walk!"
"Hold your horses, woman!" Reiyo objected attempting to find her balance in those four inch shoes. "This is harder than it looks."
"Yeah, Lenalee," Allen agreed with a small chuckle. "Wait for Bambi to get used to her legs."
"I have sharp weapons under me, moyashi, and I'm not afraid to use them," Reiyo threatened with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Just one step, Bambi," the Chinese teased after the two had their share of laughs at her expense.
"I-I'm trying!" Reiyo retorted moving a step at a time, or more like a step every few minutes.
"Need help?"
"Get away, moyashi."
"You're going to hurt yourself," Allen snorted and held out his hand. "I'll walk you so you can get use to them."
"I'll bite that hand if you don't put it aw-!" But before she could finish her bluff, she felt as she gave a wrong step towards Allen's general direction. Her ankle had bent painfully with the wrong step she took and made her stumble onto Allen with her full weight dropping them both to the ground.
She would have sworn she'd heard her ankle break had it not been for the sudden screams and sound of breaking glass that came hastily behind the loud pop she had mistaken for her bone damage. She noticed how her ears rang slightly while her eyes adjusted to the scene that rapidly changed before her. Lenalee had pulled Allen up to his feet who in turn had picked Reiyo up on her own. All three stood behind the shelf that covered them.
"Are you two alright?" Lenalee asked extremely worried while the screams and panic ensued. Both nodded appeasing the girl's pounding heart. At the corner of her eye she saw the same glint of red light that she saw at the boutique. The moment her eyes fell upon the mirror that stood on the wall, she saw from where the red light came from and saw the ones responsible. "Stay here with Allen-kun, Reiyo-san. I'll go for-" But before the Chinese could finish, Reiyo had already kicked the stilettos off and ran after the brutes that had dared open fire on them in the open. Worse even among innocent bystanders. "Reiyo!" But the blonde ignored all callings to her. She ran through the entrance and felt a sharp pain on her feet that she quickly dismissed as she gave chase.
The snipers couldn't have gotten far, specially in the open where there were so many witnesses. Turning up to a fork and seeing no one, she cussed under her shallow breath and panting while trying to decide which was the logical way that they would have taken.
"Rei-chan!"
She glanced behind her shoulder and could see from a distance Lavi and Kanda running towards her. She scowled, if she stayed behind and waited, she'd lose the ones responsible! Instead, she chose a way and before heading down, she turned to the two older males, "Get to Lenalee and Allen! I'm after those bastards!" She ran towards where she thought the miscreants had gone.
When she finally reached the emergency staff exit, she knew she'd chosen well. Specially when once she opened the door there she found two figures in dark clothes and sunglasses trying to escape through the staff exit.
"Hold it, right there!" she yelled ready to kick their asses if they resisted.
She heard a low profanity before the shorter figure turned to face the taller one and placed a tiny hand upon their chest. "So was it vowed, so shall it be!" It took Reiyo an instant to recognize the words that the now recognizable female had uttered. From the man's chest a dark red energy came out and took shape in the girl's hands. The seconds it took Reiyo to recognize that the girl was an Excell were enough for the girl to point, single-handed, the double barrel shotgun that she'd pulled out and shoot.
Reiyo managed to roll away a good distance but didn't totally evade the range of the scattering bullets. That much was clear the moment she felt the sharp pain on her right shoulder and she gave a loud cry from the pain. Instinctively she held it with her left hand but was amazed when she felt nothing oozing from the wound.
'That's right,' she thought to herself for the briefest of moments. 'It's not real.'
But it damn sure felt like it. It still hurt like hell and she sure didn't want to feel that again. But an armed enemy, even if virtually armed, was going to be hard to fight against without a weapon herself.
The girl that held the shotgun lifted it up again and shot at her. Reiyo hated virtual weapons. She just hated how they didn't have to reload. She ran away trying to not stay put but was caught by surprise when the girl shot aimlessly anywhere close to Reiyo. The blonde tried to avoid it but before she could jump out of its trajectory, a firm hand gripped her wrist pulling her back and hiding her against the narrow hallway that led back into the mall. Panting and still putting pressure on her right arm to alleviate the pain however she could, she looked back at who had grabbed her and was met by cobalt irises.
"Let's go." She turned around at hearing a hoarse voice she had never heard before and assumed it was the man that accompanied the Excell; her owner. She didn't dare to take a peek over the edge of the hall in case the girl still had the shotgun ready to shoot at her head. But when she heard footsteps rapidly getting further away, she took a chance and peeked over the edge. No one was there. She sighed and leaned against the wall and slid down. Finally some peace. Her panting became slower within seconds and it was then that she noticed she wasn't the only one whose breathing was shallow. She turned her head up to see Kanda leaning against the same wall while holding his right shoulder and grimacing painfully. Her eyes widened but before she could ask if he'd been hurt, she heard a loud voice that took her attention.
"Yu-chan! Rei-chan!" Reiyo turned at the call of her name to find Lavi with Lenalee and Allen at his heels running towards them.
"La-Ugh!"
Reiyo tried standing to go and meet them half way but that thought died instantly the moment she placed pressure on the soles of her feet. Almost as soon as she had risen did her legs give way and let her fall onto the floor face first. Another cry rose to her throat that she muffled from the pain that still coursed through her right shoulder.
It hurt. It hurt a lot.
"Reiyo," Lenalee's voice came concerned as she sat beside the older girl. She tried helping her sit up but the instant Lenalee touched her 'injured' shoulder Reiyo winced and hitched it away from her."I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"My arm," she muttered. "That woman, she..." Reiyo didn't end the sentence as her eyes landed upon her right shoulder. Her brain was going crazy. She felt the pain, it was unbearable how the ricochet of the bullets hit her. Yet she saw nothing. No blood, no open flesh. Nothing. It wasn't making sense in her brain and it made her head hurt. Her nerves firing at the pain in both her shoulder and feet.
Feet? That's right. They hurt too. She forced herself to sit straight and gaze at her injured soles of her feet.
They...were bleeding. Blood was spread all across them. It was from the countless smaller cuts that were on them from where the blood itself came from. Smaller cuts that had some glass shards protruding from them.
Then it hit her. The constant sting and pain from her feet were from those cuts. She had ran barefooted when she heard the shooting take place. But she ignored all other sounds. The screaming of people, their worried cries, as well as the shattering of the glass display windows.
The glass that she had, inadvertently, ran over.
"Tell us later," Lavi's voice grounded Reiyo's train wrecked mind to solid ground. The redhead had knelt before her and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her a little."Right now, it isn't safe here. We have to go back." He turned quickly to Lenalee, "Go ahead with Allen, Lena." The Chinese nodded and took Allen's wrist running away towards the parking lot. He looked up to see Kanda, who was still breathing shallowly and holding his right shoulder, and called out to him, "Yu, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he growled through gritted teeth and stood straight from leaning against the wall. "Let's go."
The redhead nodded in agreement and faced Reiyo. "I'm sorry about this," he sincerely apologized and placed his hands underneath her knees and on her back. Lifting her up, he carried her along as Kanda followed suit beside them. The moment they surfaced from the staff room, they could see just how much in a mayhem the mall was in. All security was in a rush to get everybody outside and into safety.
"Red!" Lavi turned his head at hearing Lenalee's voice and found her near a different exit that led to the parking lot. Both heirs ran up to her and noticed her alone.
"And Allen?" the redhead asked.
"With Marie," Lenalee assured him. "We've got to get out of here before anything else happens." The two agreed and were about to leave had it not been for the sudden outburst that Reiyo gave.
"No, wait!" she shouted hysterically as she attempted to release herself from Lavi's grasp.
"H-Hey! Calm down! I might drop you if you don't calm down!" Lavi urged her while trying to keep his grasp on her shoulders and thrashing legs.
"No! She's-She's there! She's right there!" she kept shouting and reaching out her hands while kicking.
"Let's just fucking get out of here," Kanda growled pulling Lavi's collar and hauling him along after Lenalee. Reiyo kept thrashing despite Kanda's words and Lavi's attempts to calm her down. Soon they reached the parking lot were a crowd had already gathered and were panicking over leaving the premises.
"Marie's over here!" Lenalee hurried them outside the parking lot and found the familiar black Hummer parked not too far away. Reaching to open the door for Lavi, Lenalee let him in first while still cradling Reiyo and closed it after Kanda entered. She went up to the passenger's sit and told Marie to make a run for it.
"Is everyone alright?" he inquired once they had departed and were some good miles away from the whole ruckus.
"Yeah," Allen assured him from behind his sit. "Nothing wrong with me or Lavi."
"Kanda?" Marie asked knowing that the boy's words implied something had happened with his younger 'foster' brother.
"I-I'm fine," the Japanese grunting once he started getting over the pain.
"Rei-chan, are you okay?" Lavi asked at the girl on his lap. The Hummer truck itself was only for five passengers so the back was pretty cramped as it was. The girl didn't respond but only held a glare of contempt and her lips pursed in a scowl while holding something through her shirt.
"Her feet," Lenalee murmured finally seeing the red-stained soles of her feet.
"Dumbass nezumi must have stepped on the glass barefooted," Kanda posed. Suddenly the car went over a bump rather fast making them all jump a bit in their sits. The sudden movement made both Reiyo and Kanda grabbed at their right shoulders. "She also got herself fucking shot."
"Shot!?" Lenalee and Allen reiterated with a severe tone of concern in their voices.
"By the way your holding yours too, I take it was an Excell's weapon," Lavi explained glancing at his friend who only turned away.
"We heard the shot though," Allen countered glancing down at Reiyo. "It sounded real." They would know, after all they lived among mountains of weapons in either of their households. The firing of a gun wasn't something one mistook for much.
"It's designed to be real," Lavi elaborated his point further. "To look real, to sound real-" he sneaked a peek at his friend who still held his shoulder in mild pain. "And to feel real."
"I've avoided injuries for Allen-kun's sake so I've never quite gotten injured in battle either. I wouldn't really know how it feels," Lenalee muttered thinking to herself.
"Are you sure you're okay, Yu?" Lavi asked once more to reassure himself.
"It's going away," the other answered but refused to explain any further. And by the way he kept his face away from them, Lavi knew that Kanda was trying not to show them how much it actually did hurt. That man and his pride always bested him out of anyone else's pity.
"And yours?" the redhead asked the girl still in his arms. But no matter how much he asked she remained silent with the same hateful look on her face.
"For now we need to get back home and safeguard ourselves," Marie assured them all. "I'll be taking Lenalee and Allen-kun back to the Walker Estate. Lavi-"
"I'm staying with Yu-chan and Rei-chan," Lavi interjected before Marie could say that he would be taking him back to the Bookman Estate as well. Marie began to argue against it and told him that his family would be concerned for his well being but he quickly dismissed him. "I'll call Gramps and tell him I'm fine. That should put him at ease." Marie was still unsure but headed towards the Walker's Estate first.
"Be careful," Lavi reminded them both once they got to the front of the mansion.
"We will," Lenalee promised and headed quickly inside with Allen in front of her. No sooner had they left that they arrived at Kanda's own abode. Marie parked the car in the underground lot and let the two others leave to attend to their own issues.
"I'll be telling Master about this Kanda," Marie warned him. "Don't complain when he comes to you and try to lay low for now."
Kanda simply clicked his tongue and dragged Lavi to the infirmary that they had in the mansion. The white room was empty and only their heavy footsteps rang in the room. Kanda went ahead and grabbed an ice pack from the nearby cabinets to place it upon his throbbing shoulder. Lavi took the time to sit Reiyo onto an empty bed.
"Does your shoulder still hurt?" he gently asked her. But her face was staring down making strands of her hair shadow her face, so he couldn't quite catch her expressions for any sign of pain.
"It's stopped, hasn't it?" Kanda's sudden outburst made Lavi turn to look at him. "Mine just got worse so it means hers must be gone."
"Injuries dealt by Excell's to one another transfer to their owners," Lavi muttered under his breath. So that explained why Reiyo wasn't holding her own shoulder since they got here. His gaze fell to her tiny feet that were still stained red. No wonder she wasn't able to walk. Who could with glass shards in their feet?
He rose and went on to collect utensils to clean her wounds. Once he got everything he needed, he approached her and sat across from her in a chair. He reached for her right foot but Reiyo quickly retreated it and clung both her feet under the bed.
"We have to take them out, Rei-chan," he emphasized keeping a gentle smile to his features. "If not the wounds won't close. It'll keep hurting." She pursed her lips to a line and refused to talk but she reluctantly let her feet dangle again. "Don't worry, I'll be careful," Lavi assured her as he took her dainty right foot first and begin picking out the shards of glass with a pair of sterilized tweezers. Reiyo grimaced each time he pulled a shard off but didn't cry out once. Almost twenty minutes in, Lavi finished with both her feet and was just looking over to see if he missed any. "That should be good," he murmured to himself and began cleaning them with peroxide. Reiyo cringed a bit at the stinging but it soon eased up and felt cool against the little cuts. Lavi finished by cleaning the remnants away and carefully bandaging them up. "Alright!" he called getting everything together. "All done."
Reiyo took her knees up to her chest and carefully cradled her feet in her hands and began to rub at them gently. It felt warm. His hands and the care he gave to her wounds. She'd forgotten just how nice it was for someone to take care of her. Somewhat like how their mother used to.
"Thanks, Lavi," she mumbled under her breath.
The redhead simply smiled, "No problem." He gave a little glimpse at Kanda and went back to his usual playfulness, "Yu-chan! Want me to kiss your boo boos too?"
"Get the fuck away from me!" Kanda growled at the redhead while trying to push him away from his hurting shoulder. "Shouldn't you fucking go to your own place?!"
"But Yu-chan~" Lavi cooed to the other's disgust. "We haven't had a sleepover in sooooo long!"
Reiyo couldn't help herself and giggled at the scene before her. Her anger subsided a bit and she smiled at their usual conflict. "You two really are good friends, aren't you?"
"Of course!" "Hell no!"
Reiyo busted up laughing a bit louder when they both contradicted each other at the same time. Just then the door to the infirmary slammed open letting Keiko's slim figure trot inside with a concerned expression on her face.
"Kanda-kun! Lavi-kun! Reiyo-chan! Are you all alright?" she cried out worried sick.
Reiyo glanced up and showed Keiko a smile, "We're fine. Kanda's shoulder just got the repercussions, that's all."
"Does it hurt too much?" Keiko asked referring to Kanda. The pride he stuck to wouldn't let him admit that it hurt but it wasn't as bad as before.
He simply replied, "It'll go away."
Keiko sighed and came up to Reiyo, her face full of relief and a small smile adorning her face. She clearly was worried about them. "Thank goodness," she sighed and out of nowhere her arms embraced Reiyo's small form. "Thank goodness nothing happen to any of you."
'Warm,' Reiyo thought again as her hands languidly reached out to hug Keiko back. 'Mom, used to be the same way. Worried sick about us when I would take Gemma out to play but smiled in the end of her scolding saying those same words. Thanks goodness you're alright.' She couldn't help but be happy that she still had people who cared about her well being. 'Gemma,' Reiyo's thoughts when back to her and to that afternoon just a few hours ago in the mall.
"Keiko-san," Reiyo whispered to her, a smile faintly on her face. "I saw her today."
"You saw..." Keiko repeated holding Reiyo at arms length to look at her properly. "Who did you see?"
"Gemma," Reiyo answered a bit out of it. "She was with her friends. They ran out of the mall before I could reach her though." Her smile suddenly twisted into a grimace, "That's right. I saw her hands and wrists too. They were bandaged." She gasped and bit her bottom lip and out of nowhere sprung to her feet ignoring the stinging pain that came with putting pressure on them. "That bitch!" Lavi flinched a bit at her use of profanity.
"Reiyo-chan, relax!" Keiko called pulling her by the shoulders to keep her from running off.
"I'm going to kill that bitch! I swear to God when I get my hands on Grace-"
"She's not with Grace!" Keiko shouted at Reiyo's face making her stop in her tracks. "She's with me." Her expression was dumbfounded but quickly changed to a euphoric one.
"Then..." Reiyo claimed with a smile. "I can see her! You can let me see Gemma!"
"I can't, Reiyo-can." These words cut any happiness that Reiyo felt and it only hurt Keiko more to see her like that.
"W-What do you mean?" Reiyo wasn't even coherent to speak or understand. Her mind was so mushed by the misconception of psychological and physiological pain that she could barely understand her.
"I can't allow you to meet Gemma-chan, not anymore," Keiko explained soothingly.
"Why the hell not!?" she shouted shaking herself from Keiko's grasp. "Forget it. I don't care. I'm going to see her."
"Do you want to put her in danger?!" Keiko cried making her stop in her rant. "Because that's all you'd be doing by linking her to you now. In case you didn't notice, you just went through a public shooting aimed at Allen-kun. You got into a fight unarmed with an Excell, hastily. If they know you and her are related, they'll target her too to get to you, Kanda-kun's Excell."
Reiyo grabbed at the doorknob tightly and bit her bottom lip. She hated to admit it, but now that her conscious was working better, she understood why Keiko-san didn't want her to meet Gemma again. "Fine," she grumbled and exited the infirmary.
Once she was gone, Lavi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "She's quiet sensitive about that topic, ain't she?"
"They've only had each other for as long as I've known them," Keiko related with a sigh. "But I don't think she's stupid enough to go to her now that she knows what's at stake for them."
"I believe she is," Kanda interjected finally feeling the throbbing ebbing away. He had to admit that the frantic way Reiyo had acted when she'd supposedly seen her sister in the mall was hectic and problematic. It had taken Lavi a lot of effort to calm her even the slightest down. "The way she acted wasn't normal. It was imprudent and she could have gotten herself and us killed in the process."
"I agree," Lavi voiced his opinion. "We need to get Reiyo's mind set on our objective. Now that they publicly aimed at us, we'll have to be even more careful."
"I still say we should cancel your dumbass party," Kanda scowled with a click of his tongue.
"We can't," Keiko proclaimed. "It was Bookman-sama's and Marian's plan. We need to continue with it as ordered."
"I hope it works as they say it will," Lavi sighed knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"So do I. Because if it does, we'll be able to find out more about who's after you all."
Just got three words.
Long. Ass. Chapter.
It took me two days to right this -w- I was thinking about cutting it in half but I couldn't find a place to properly cut it off without breaking the fluency of the chapter. It ended being up almost 10K of words -w-
I actually proofread this so hope its better. Be free to tell me if there's any mistakes I ran over :3
Hopefully you enjoyed the length of it :D