Chapter 30: All Things Left Unsaid

It was another week before Rin was allowed to leave the hospital. Injuries that would have easily killed the average citizen had slowly begun to mend, causing her bones and muscles to ache from the rapid regrowth. It was only under the promise of taking easy for a while that her doctors finally relented to her release. However, it was an empty promise, and everyone knew it. The medical staff was familiar with the Red Clan's healing ability, and they doubted they could have kept her there much longer even if they wanted to.

But Rin was itching to go home. Her continued absence from HOMRA left the impression that they were picking up the mess she had made, and their recent silence and lack of communication left her feeling paranoid and uneasy.

So that was how Rin found herself just outside Moda's bar, ribcage still bandaged and a fresh batch of stitches sewing up the last of the lacerations on her back. Snow had fallen the night before - the first snow of the season – and the cool air soothed her skin like an ice pack.

HOMRA was still under construction, having had the front wall blown completely out from the explosion, so the Red clan regularly gathered at Moda's. Ever since Niaka's retaliation, local patrons knew to avoid HOMRA's temporary residence until remodeling was completed.

Murmured voices could be heard from outside the front door, and Rin wondered for a split second if she should even go in. Her clansmen had not known she would be checking herself out today, but the lack of communication from them had made her suspicious.

Before she lost her nerve, Rin stepped inside, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dimness before closing the door behind her. After a moment though, confusion replaced her nerves, as she saw not a single HOMRA member inside the bar. Instead, the one television in the establishment was turned on and almost all the local patrons had returned to their favorite haunt to discuss and argue about whatever event had transpired on the screen. No one spared her a glance, not even the bartender who was absentmindedly drying a glass, eyes never leaving the TV despite having wiped any traces of dish soap and water away long ago.

Rin took another step forward, hoping to break the bartender from her trance and ask her where the hell her clansmen had disappeared off to when a voice from the TV caught her attention.

"As of now, the Island of Ashinaka High School is under HOMRA's control."

Her eyes snapped towards the screen, watching as news reporters from around the city gathered behind the SCEPTER 4 vehicles. They played the same cell phone footage on a loop – a group of men and one small child with alabaster hair canvassing the school grounds, a destroyed clocktower, students running in every direction, and the image of the silver haired man who killed Tatara plastered on every school and student screen alike. The footage was from yesterday afternoon. HOMRA had already taken control of the island the day before.

And they hadn't even told her.

The bartender at Moda seemed to break from her trance, sensing a new customer in their midst. But, with nothing but a few wisps of blonde hair swishing out of sight, the woman could not be sure her eyes hadn't been playing tricks on her.

Rin charged down the street, searching for a taxi to hail while simultaneously dialing the number for HOMRA's strategist.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Tachibana-san, good to hear-"

"YOU WENT INTO ASHINAKA WITHOUT ME?" She had snagged a cab and was already on her way. The driver had briefly mentioned something about being warned not to enter that area, but she shoved some extra cash into his cup holder and he sped off without another word. No doubt not wanting to test her patience. Her shock and irritation was palpable.

Kusanagi, unruffled, continued, "The Colorless King taunted Mikoto-san once more. This time, we managed to find his location. Mikoto wanted to waste no more time on this-"

"Why didn't you call me?" Rin interrupted, her annoyance outweighing her respect and politeness for their second-in-command.

Kusanagi paused for a moment before responding, and Rin could imagine the cigarette dangling from his lips. "Do you really think that would have been wise?"

Rin's snark remark stuck in her throat. She could hear his unspoken words loud and clear.

Hadn't she already done enough?

His tone wasn't angry or resentful. More of a concerned parent reminding a child of the facts at hand. Rin let out a long breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Kusanagi must have heard, as he asked, "Where are you? Are you at the hospital still?"

Rin glanced around at the buildings passing by. She didn't recognize them.

"No, I left a few hours ago. I'm in a cab now on my way to the school. Try to save some of the action for me."

She could hear the amusement in his voice. "Should you be seeing any action right now?"

"It's nature's best remedy." Rin could sense they were about to hang up, but she had to ask. "Where's Mikoto-san?"

"He had walked out of here not too long ago. Hadn't said a word. You know how he is…" She could hear the mild concern in his voice and could imagine the frown creasing his forehead.

Rin nodded, but then realized he couldn't' see her. "Right. Well…. If you see him, let him know I'm coming."

Kusanagi clucked his tongue. "You're going to have quite the time getting in here, you know. The Blues are swarming this place. Are you sure you're up for this?"

Rin examined her reflection in the backseat window. All signs of previous injuries were hidden beneath her clothing. However, it wasn't any of those trivials that caused for her to worry. There, just above the bridge of her nose, was a frown of concern she hadn't managed to shake since listening to the news report at the bar. Some unspoken fear that hung like a hidden weight between her brows that she couldn't shake free. It nagged at the back of her mind, itching and tugging but not quite allowing itself to come to light, so she pushed it back.

"I'll be there."

There was a small pause before the line went dead. Kusanagi had more than enough to focus on. He didn't waste time on goodbyes.

Rin dialed one more number. She held her breath until the line picked up.

Nothing.

"M-Mikoto?" Her lips seemed to stick together, as if she had forgotten how to use them. She wet them with her tongue and tried once more. "Mikoto?"

She was lucky she knew his trademark grunt, or else Rin might not have heard his reply.

But… what was there to say next? They hadn't spoken much since that night in the hospital. A few brief visits now and then with other red clan members tagging along, but no one-on-one time since he had dropped that unsavory bikini top in her lap. She had no idea where they stood, on both on her actions as a clansman and their relationship. An awkwardness hung about them, and she had never been the type to navigate these sorts of situations with ease.

So, Rin did what she did best. She avoided it. Now was not the time.

"I'm on my way to Ashinaka now."

Another grunt.

"Why didn't you tell me you found the Colorless King?"

The sound of an explosion blasted through her speaker, and Rin's fingers dug into the seat cushion, leaving half-moon shaped indents in the leather. The line was quiet for a while and Rin worried they had been disconnected, but after a moment Mikoto's voice rumbled like distant thunder across the line.

"Why didn't you tell me about Seventh Heaven?"

"That's low." Her voice was quiet.

They were getting closer now. She could feel it, like some feather-light energy that tickled her skin. Flashes of water were beginning to peak through gaps between the building, and she willed the driver to go faster.

Mikoto's voice held a tinge of softness. "Same reason. No wasted time. He called me out, so here I am."

Rin hesitated to ask the next question, but as the bridge to the island rose into view she had to ask. "Do you know where he is?"

Once again, she received only a grunt in reply, and her heart sunk in her chest.

There was so much more she wanted to say. About her, about them, about their past and future.

Later…later...

Rin nodded to herself, staring out the window of her cab. The taxi had begun to slow as it approached the SCEPTER 4 blockade. It looked as if almost the entirety of SCEPTER 4 had advanced onto the island, leaving the vehicles minimally staffed and guarded. She would have no trouble breaking through and making a run for it.

"Mikoto-" She started, not quite sure how she wanted to finish that sentence. "Don't …don't be stupid."

It was the first time she sensed his amusement in a while.

"I'll leave that to you."

Breaking through the blockade hadn't been as easy as Rin had predicted, but she managed to make it out without being completely detained. One SCEPTER 4 agent had managed a well-placed blow at her back, ripping open some of the newly healed skin and causing her to grimace. She had sent a rope of flames in his direction as a response, leaving singe marks across his crisp uniform and singeing off locks of hair in the process.

The length of the bridge to the Island had surprised her, though, and her annoyance grew at how much time she was wasting just in crossing the giant overpass. She could see clouds of dust and debris rise high into the sky as explosion after explosion rocked the very ground upon which she stood, causing her to stumble and lose her footing from time to time. With each tremor, her heartbeat skittered and jumped, and still that nagging feeling would not dissipate.

As she reached the entrance of the school, a few students approached, fleeing in terror and trying to make an escape before their entire campus crumbled to the ground. Jostling shoulders knocked her sideways and elbows landed piercing blows to her ribs, knocking the wind out from her. Wild eyes and frightened voices rushed past, paying her no mind. It wasn't until the majority had cleared that she was able to see what lay beyond.

Much of the school had been reduced to rubble. Splatters of blood mixed with the dust and debris, and areas that had been trampled by hordes of students or clansmen had been churned into a grayish mud. The beautiful green spaces that had decorated the campus were now singed or burnt away altogether. Trees had been split down the middle, a telltale sign of a SCEPTER 4 sabre strike.

Half expecting there to be some sort of battle taking place, she was surprised to see many of the SCEPTER 4 agents and HOMRA clansmen working together, doing their best to calmly evacuate groups of students.

Rin could understand their terror because, dominating the sky above the forest only a few hundred meters to their right, were two swords of Damocles. Searing heat and red and blue lightening flared around the two. The blue sword looked austere and commanding, glinting in the sunlight as if the ground it hovered above was it's own rightful property. The red sword, though flickering with just as much heat and power as its companion, was crumbling to pieces. With every flash of power bursting out wildly from its core, a crack appeared along its surface, accelerating the decay.

Mikoto.

She took off running in the direction of the forest, passing a stunned Rikio on the way. Her head tilted in confusion at the sight of Misaki and the SCEPTER 4 agent, Fushimi, tossed over his broad shoulders like sacks of potatoes, but that was all the thought she could spare towards her comrades before putting on another burst of speed. There was a sense of urgency in her strides, some unnamed fear that clung to her heart and tried to rip open her chest. It was clawing its way forward, threatening to expose itself for what it was. She could hear Rikio's voice shouting back to her, warning her of the danger that lay ahead.

One should not come between a fight of Kings. It was suicide.

But… what kind of clansman would she be if she would not lay down her life for her King, if only to save him from himself?

The tattoo on her neck began to burn without warning, searing her in a way she had never felt before. A low rumble came from above, and she watched as another chunk of metal and stone broke apart and disintegrated from Mikoto's sword.

His Weismann level was out of control.

Rin darted up the path towards the forest, noting the trees that had been ripped completely from their roots. Charred branches and slashed, misshapen tree trunks littered the ground beside the path, as if some giant meteor had blasted its way through the beautiful grove.

Lightening lit up the sky above her in brilliant shades of cobalt and crimson, and the ground beneath her shook once more. Rin put on a bit of speed as she neared the crest of the hill-

Suddenly, she threw all her weight to her left side and careened off the path and into the dirt, rolling end-over-end, hips and elbows tearing in the gravel before finally coming to rest on her stomach.

As she had reached the very top of the hill, a haughty familiar face had appeared directly in front of her, catching sight of her too at the very last second and dodging in the opposite direction to avoid a head-on collision.

Rin rolled to her hands and knees, panting slightly as she took in the man opposite her. He had managed to remain on his feet, which was impressive considering the girl he held in both of his arms. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rin recognized her from some moment in time in her past, but when their meeting occurred bore no importance to her so she quickly pushed that train of thought from her mind. The man, however, was impossible to forget. His long dark hair looked a little more tussled since the last time she had seen him, but his stern, flashing grey eyes remained the same.

Yatogami Kuroh.

"Oi-" He started, but Rin had already gotten to her feet, moving swiftly in the direction of the tree line ahead of her. The clashing sounds from the battle ahead echoed like claps of thunder, and the ground shook as if the two Kings were mountains instead of men. The shockwaves emitting from the trees rattled the very bones in her body. She couldn't hear her sneakers slapping against the pavement or the sound of her breathing as she gulped down oxygen to push her forward. Faster… Faster….

Without warning, the Earth disappeared from beneath her feet and Rin was thrust high into the air by the collar of her shirt. She shrieked into the wind as she plummeted back towards earth, but the invisible hand slowed her momentum just before she could hit the ground. The distance between her and the tree line had grown about fifty meters. She was going backwards. Dragged, to be more accurate.

She didn't have to turn to know who it was that was towing her back, although she wasn't exactly sure the reason why. They were by no means friends. Yatogami Kuroh had a hand extended in her direction, and the pale, silvery hand that was still attached to her collar faded into the tips of his fingertips.

God, she hated aura warping.

"Let me go!" She snarled at him, digging her sneakers into the pavement. Loose gravel and pebbles rattled and bounced along the cobblestones as another blast rocked the entire forest. A glimmer of light caught her eyes, and Rin looked up to see two new Swords hanging in the air beside the red and blue, neither of which she recognized.

She glanced back at the Black Dog, who looked unsurprised at the sight of the new arrivals. He shook his head and shouted back to her, "It's not your fight."

Ignoring these words, Rin let out a huff and strained against the translucent hand, but the Black Dog held firm. Just as Misaki could not fight this hand back in Shizume City, so was Rin no match for its power now.

Tossing the unconscious girl he had been carrying over one shoulder, Yatogami Kuroh continued to drag Rin back towards the school and away from the four swords floating above the forest. She watched, helplessly, as the distance from the tree line grew further and further away. Another burst of lightening flared out from the red and blue swords, and chunks of stone and metal rained down from the sky. Mikoto's sword was rapidly starting to decay.

He was losing control.

It was in that moment that Rin felt a knowing panic come over her. There was a reason he had not told her about the raid, a reason the school had been evacuated by a combined effort from SCEPTER 4 and HOMRA. It was as if she realized some terrible secret she had known all along. Rin's nails raked the ground, trying to find some leverage to pull herself from the Black Dog's grip. Finding none, she let out a scream of desperation.

She needed to see him one more time. To apologize to him. To thank him. To tell him how much she loves him. To stop him from going any further. It wasn't worth the cost.

Her last desperate attempt to break free – sending flames to wrap around the translucent fingertips of hand that grasped her neck – must have been the last straw for the Black Dog. His eyes twitched in annoyance and, with a flick of his wrist, sent her tumbling head over heels into a batch of trees to their right.

Rin had just enough sense about her to throw her hands in front of her face before her vision went black.

Author's Note: Not sure if anyone is still reading this story or not! ^^ It's been a long time, right? I've moved to 3 different countries on 2 different continents, and have been very busy these past few years, so life has kind of taken priority. But I rewatched Project K last night and found some last bit of inspiration for this. I know this might not have been the way you wanted Rin's story to come to a close, but it really was how I always originally planned it. I just needed to find the inspiration to write it. Thank you to all those who reviewed and messaged me, encouraging me to finish this. It's because of you I made the time to bring Rin's story to a close. All we have left is the epilogue! I promise it won't take 3 more years.