ANOTHER ridiculously long Author's Note (only because I love you all): Thank you everyone for reviewing! I know the last two chapters have been pretty angsty, but they were necessary to the story. We're about to get into where the anime starts, so you'll notice a lot of similar scenes. I want to clarify beforehand: I'm not going to rewrite many of the anime scenes – you all have watched it so I don't feel the need to write what we already have seen – but I do plan to write a lot of scenes based on what we don't see when the anime cuts to a different character group. This isn't a rule I have set in stone – there will be the occasional scene where I rewrite the interactions to incorporate Rin – I just don't want to change too much of the original story (since it's wonderful) and would rather focus on adding my own personal details instead!

ALSO, if anyone is interested in what Rin looks like: I stumbled across a piece of artwork on tumblr of a girl who looks almost EXACTLY how I pictured her. It was crazy. It was like they drew her right out of my head. FanFiction doesn't let me post links so you will have to combine this all into a URL, but here is the post: [futureisfailed . tumblr post/ 43070251661/ moeren270958-jpg]. I couldn't find the source since the link was broken, and I cannot read Japanese so if anyone knows the original artist let me know! My own tumblr (if you feel like following) is projectkanime for all K-related things.

Chapter 18: Vengeance

Misaki could still hear that laughter ringing in his head. The man who shot Totsuka, this 'Colorless King', and his sick perverted chuckle as HOMRA's brightest clansman fell to his knees. He would never forget that voice or his chilling words before the video cut short.

I'm waiting for someone here.

That voice…it made his skin crawl and his blood boil.

A nice night you say?

His fingers twitched, desperately wishing they were strangling that monster's slim neck.

Indeed it is.

Leaning his head back against the brick wall behind him, Misaki stared out at the skyline of Shizume city. His gaze avoided a certain building only a few blocks over where yellow police tape still fluttered in the wind. The redhead gritted his teeth to keep the tears from pricking at his eyes again.

He had been out all night, scouring the city for any sign of that white haired bastard.

And he hadn't been the only one.

All of HOMRA was on the prowl now, searching every dark and derelict corner of this city for any sign of this new enemy. It was as if the neighborhood itself could sense the red clan's rage, and most kept a wide berth if they happened to cross paths with one. They combed the city until the sun rose and exhaustion pushed them reluctantly back to the bar and into their beds. Misaki had seen Bandou dragging himself up the stairs to his cot the other night, and he knew that Rin had yet to return from her own hunt throughout the city today. He no longer knew whether her disappearances were in search of Tatara or Ayami's murderer anymore.

The sound of footsteps climbing the rusty metal staircase to the rooftop drew his attention, and – speak of the devil – Rin appeared, worn and exhausted, at the landing. Glancing over his shoulder, Misaki could see the dark circles that ringed her eyes from where he sat and how her gaze softened at the sight of him.

Turning back to the skyline, Misaki listened to her footsteps approach. He'd grown accustomed to it now in the past few days – her seeking him out, checking to make sure he was all right. He no longer bothered pushing her away, and actually welcomed her warm presence beside him.

Slim arms slipped around his shoulders, and he felt her chest press up against his back as she hugged him from behind. Her cheek rested against his temple, and he felt his beanie slip from his head.

"You okay, Yata-san?" Her voice was gentle, and Misaki knew she could still feel the tension radiating from his body. He could feel her eyes on him but kept his gaze trained on the city in front of them. It wasn't until her small, thin fingers began to absentmindedly run through his hair, pushing back the soft strands with gentle strokes, that he finally began to relax into her comforting embrace.

"He's out there somewhere, Tachibana-san," He growled, his eyes searching the rooftops as if the Colorless King would suddenly appear.

He felt her warm breath against his cheek as she sighed, "No new information then, I'm guessing?"

Misaki's hands clenched into fists and he grunted in response.

He felt her hands slip from his hair as she scooted beside him, and he frowned in annoyance at the loss of contact.

"Kusanagi-san told me tomorrow's plan…"

Misaki could feel her sidelong glance, and his mouth curved into a smirk. Izumo had caught word that this new 'king' might have worked with one of the American syndicates that were located here in Shizume, and found that they were comfortably holed up in a skyscraper downtown.

Mildly put, he looked forward to ruthlessly beating out any information these little shits had.

For a while Rin was so still and quiet that Misaki worried for a moment that she had stopped breathing or fallen asleep. Peeking at her from the corner of his eye, he saw that her gaze was trained on a specific building to their left, one that he still refused to look at.

"Look, Yata-san," She said softly. "I haven't yet apologized for…that night."

Misaki's heart seemed to sink into his stomach, and he opened his mouth to interrupt but his clansman held up her hand.

"Just…let me get this out." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for taking off like that. I don't seem to handle much of anything that well these days." Rin frowned at the buildings in the distance, as if she were a little lost in her own thoughts.

"S'fine," Misaki shrugged, staring out at the opposite end of the city. He rested his elbows on his knees and paused for a moment, mulling over his next words, then murmured, "I finally understand now, by the way."

At this, Rin looked over at him, and was surprised when his hazel eyes met her golden gaze.

"Why you're so hell-bent on getting this Takashi Yamaken guy," He clarified. "At first I thought you were a little too crazy, all fired up on revenge and shit-"

He could see her lips twitch in a smirk.

"But now… Now I get it."

As he spoke, Misaki couldn't help the flare of heat that escaped or the way his hands tightened into fists.

Rin's hair fluttered for a moment from the heat wave, but she made no comment about his loss of control. Instead, Misaki watched as she bit the inside of her cheek while the corners of her mouth tugged down into a frown.

"Lately I feel as if I have been avenging too many deaths." Her voice was soft, and Misaki could still see the raw pain that mirrored his own reflecting in her eyes. As if realizing this, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and forced a tight smile. In a hard voice she added, "I feel as if I've been burning on pure vengeance for a while now."

He could tell she had already closed herself off again – her jaw set firmly and her gaze shuttered. Still, Misaki pushed for more.

"Want me to see if they know anything more about your sister?" He nudged her sneaker with the tip of his bat, and could see her eyes flick to the gleaming aluminum near her feet. He certainly wouldn't mind another reason to sink his bat into their flesh.

However, she shook her head. "I know where Niaka's at now. Any more information I'll get on my own. HOMRA already has enough to deal with, and this is something I'd like to take care of on my own anyway." Glancing over at him once more, she laid a hand on his knee. "No need to dirty your hands with that."

They both knew their hands were far from clean to begin with.

Whatever moment they had been sharing was broken by the sound of Misaki's stomach rumbling, and both froze at the sound. Rin raised an eyebrow.

"You should eat something, Yata-san."

He gave her a lazy grin in return. "You're not really in any place to be scolding anyone." Truthfully, she seemed to have grown smaller these past few days, but the hypocrisy was lost on Rin as she continued to frown at him. He waved her off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Satisfied, she nodded her head and pushed herself to her feet, stretching to work the stiffness from her limbs.

"Where you going?"

Rin glanced at him as she dusted the dirt from her jeans. "I'm thinking of taking Anna out for a bit. We hardly did anything to celebrate for her birthday, and I don't think this atmosphere is good for her. At least not every minute of every day." She shrugged. "She's still a child, after all."

Turning on her heel, she raised a hand in farewell as she made her way back to the rickety metal fire escape stairs. Misaki watched her go –hands in her back pockets, long blonde hair swishing back and forth despite the absence of a breeze.

For the first time, he finally felt as if he was beginning to understand that girl. It was true, what he said about how he had thought she was a little drunk on revenge when they first met. But now…

Was this what she felt like every day? Misaki could still see Tatara's blood staining his hands; could feel the warmth seep from it as it cooled against his skin. It haunted his nightmares and had him waking up in cold sweats, trying the reach his clansman in time but showing up too late.

Always too late.

Was this what it was like for her every night and day? Being haunted by Ayami? A never-ending loop of her sister lying dead in her arms – limp and cold. Lifeless. Not to mention, then having to see her face reflected every day when she looked at Anna?

But she was right about one thing. The images that haunted him and made his body burn with fury filled him with enough adrenaline and energy to push him back to his feet. Vengeance now fueled his fire. Vengeance for the man who had died in his arms. Vengeance for the pain it now caused his the people he considered to be his family.

And it would continue to blaze until this colorless king was burned off the map.

No blood. No bone. No ash.

To My Reviewers Without Accounts:

Swirlspill: Since I couldn't respond to your review, I figured I'd leave you a personal note here! : First off, thank you for such a kind review. It made me fangirl all over the place with happiness. Second, I figured I'd answer your question! When it comes to Chitose I'm hoping most of my readers will realize it's purely platonic between the two. I really like Chitose's character because he reminds me of one of my best friends – handsome, a flirt, but deeply loyal, caring, and outrageously protective when it comes to his best girl friend. I think what's great about Chitose and Rin's relationships is that despite his flirtatious and teasing ways with women (and even sometimes Rin herself) he truly just cares about her and will protect her like any of his other clansman. Don't worry, I'm going to be working on developing those two even more just because I think his character is so much fun!

Miechan-ish, dfsdfsd, xxtoushirou, Pra, elevens: Believe me, I know. Tatara's death was so difficult to write! We all just love that man way too much! Thank you all for reviewing and for such kind words!

To the Guest Reviewer: Thank you for informing me of the other story on here that seemed very similar to "Red" (along with the other two people who messaged me about the same thing), however, I contacted the author directly about it and was assured that it was completely unintentional, and the similarities would end there! We had a nice conversation, and concluded that we'll look forward to seeing how their story will develop and differ from my own.

Sarah404: Big thank you for introducing me to the Project K Radio Dramas. You deserve a shout out for being so awesome.

I'm sorry if I missed anyone! I try to respond to all my reviewers but sometimes I miss a couple so if you didn't get a response from me I apologize! I appreciate every single review that I get. THANK YOU ALL!