Riri: So, just a short message before you read. I have not died! Nor have I forgotten about you all! I've been incredibly and ridiculously swamped in my work. My life took a very sudden turn and life threw me a curve ball. Details omitted I have come out and I'm back stronger than ever to finish this glorious story we've started. Thank you to my readers that had stuck with me so long, that still come to read this story even after my abrupt leave. In order to prevent this from happening in the future feel free to stalk my twitter Ririkutai or hit me up on Quotev at Ririkuto
This way we can always have contact but updates are back as of now!
Chapter 46
As Rin raced to the door, she noticed two things, first that somone all too familiar guarded the door and secondly, that she had absolutely no alternative plans other than running. How was she supposed to get out? How would she find her way back without Yuma coming after her? She'd panicked when Teto had told her to simply behave. Yet, Teto had also told her to trust her brother, and it was all too easy to see how that turned out. Fresh tears blurred Rin's sight as she remembered Ted's betrayal; Ted of all people.
Luki rose calmly from his chair as Rin approached. It was obvious that he guarded the agency front door. Rin slowed to a walk as she drew nearer to him. Luki watched her with indifference and with a glance around Rin noticed that they were alone; only the two of them stood in the lobby. Despite that, Rin knew he was there to stop her.
"Luki," Rin pleaded. "Please, just let me go. I don't belong here."
"Where are you going, Rin?" he asked with no particular malice.
"I-I can't stay here anymore," Rin choked. "They, Ted-Please, just let me go. I'm not this anymore Luki," Rin said gesturing over herself, "I don't want to hurt anyone." But Luki didn't budge, he continued to watch her.
"Why did you come back here?" Luki asked simply. Rin stopped moving.
"I came back to get Teto and her brother out of here..." Rin took in a breath to calm herself but she kept trembling. Luki's eyes remained on her like a hawk's.
"And despite coming back here with such a noble notion, you're still leaving by yourself." Rin's breath stopped. "How then can you say that this is not a place for you?"
"I-"
"You cared and have only cared about getting out of here yourself no matter who suffered for it." Rin shook her head.
"That's not true. Before I-"
"Left alone."
"That was because-"
"How can you say you know the reason if you don't remember? Unless you're lying."
"Just let me go, Luki!" Rin shouted. Her voice shook the lobby and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
"If you'd like to leave this time," Luki started as he took a few steps towards her, "you're going through me."
"I don't want to hurt anyone. Why can't you understand that?" Rin cried.
"Why can't you understand?" Luki spat acidly. Rin flinched. "You keep going on about noble causes and saving people but it's all a lie. You only care about yourself."
"That's not true!"
"Then why are you leaving by yourself again!" Luki shouted. Rin shook her head and took a few steps back from him. She couldn't calm her trembling.
"I'm not going to fight you. I'm not a monster!" Laughter so cold that it chilled Rin's skin filled the air.
"Is that what you think I am?" Luki chuckled. "Is that why you left me the first time?"
The room came to a frosty halt around Rin as she met Luki's gaze and her trembling stopped. She felt the sharp stab of his pain in her own chest as she continued to look at him. It hurt so much. Just when she thought she'd reached her capacity for pain, that nothing could sting more than Ted's betrayal, the realization of Luki's words struck her deeper and harder than Ted's had; it stole her breath and she clutched at her chest. Each beat of her heart sent a new shock level of pain through her.
"L-Left..." Rin choked out. "If you'd wanted to leave, I wouldn't have..." But Rin felt it. Felt her own deep agony of betrayal the way Luki felt it. She tried to deny it in her mind but the hot shame her other self felt was the final stinging strike of reality. Rin prodded her other self for answers but she received none like always.
"Luki..." Rin whispered. "I'm...I-" It was then that Luki looked away. Yet, it didn't stop Rin from seeing the flicker of hurt that went through his gaze; indifference set in again.
"If you're planning on leaving to go see that Kagamine, you'll have to go through me."
"Luki, I'm sorry," Rin rasped..
"I'm not letting you leave again."
"Please Luki..."
"It's not happening," he gritted out.
"Don't you care about what happens to me here?" Rin pleaded. "I want to make my own choices." Luki drew his sword and with an easy toss another one flipped across the lobby to Rin. Rin jumped back a step as the sword sank easily into the marble floor in front of her hilt up.
"And so I shall also make my own choices," he clarified, "You're not leaving."
"I won't leave you behind this time," Rin promised, but Luki either didn't hear or didn't care. He glanced from her to the sword.
"I'm not going to fight you, Luki."
"If you want to leave here, you'll fight me and win."
"What is wrong with you?" Rin stated in an accusatory tone as she glared at Luki. "I don't want this life anymore! Why are you doing this to me!"
"Where are you going to go, Rin!" Luki shouted at her. "You can't fit out there," he added bluntly.
"And how do you know?" Rin shot back.
"Did you fit when you went out there before? Did they ever really accept you?"
"And so keeping me here is a form of acceptance? There is no acceptance here, Luki." Rin felt sick.
"There's nothing out there, Rin."
"I'm not going to fight you."
"Then stay." The comment came with such tenderness, such plea, that Rin could've touched the vulnerbility. It was the briefest second but Luki's voice was raw with emotion even if his facial features never relayed it. Rin saw his grip slacken on his weapon before he gripped it with renewed vigor. "Please."
"I can't stay here, Luki," Rin stated sadly, "and I won't fight you."
"Then don't." Rin met Luki's gaze.
"You don't want to fight me...do you?"
"I will if I have to."
"Having to and wanting to are two seperate things." Luki didn't look at her. "I won't leave you this time, Luki." And this time Luki did look at her.
Words didn't pass between them but Rin's heart throbbed; she clutched at her chest with a trembling hand. Her heart ached.
"You two can't fight!" Came Yuzuki's panicked cry. She landed gracefully in front of them and rose just as gracefully. It still unsettled Rin that Yuzuki didn't make a sound as she moved or interacted with things. It was if her entire being lived on mute.
"You two just can't fight! We all get along so well." Yuzuki set both her hands on her hips before she scowled at Luki. " And you, Mister, are in enough trouble with me as it is." Yuzuki ran her fingers through her startling sort hair. "I mean look what you've reduced this to! I suppose I feel lighter but it gets cold when the wind blows...Though it doesn't get as frizzy."
Rin blinked absently and Luki sheathed his sword. Rin stuttered for words, she couldn't think of a plausible way to deal with the situation. Yuzuki was an expert at rattling people. Yuzuki blew her bangs out of her face.
"I apologize," Luki said. "Though I did warn you."
"You really never do things by halves," Yuzuki sighed. Then she turned to face Rin. "So, why don't we stop fighting among ourselves and start getting aqquianted again?" Yuzuki gestured over her shoulder. "I'm sure you've found out what a pain Luki can be." And before Rin got in another word, she was being pulled along after Yuzuki and Luki was walking calmly behind them.
...
Yuzuki's room was like Yuzuki; It was very, very, unnervingly purple. No other colors existed in her room, but there were a million different shades and hues of purple. Yuzuki sat next to Rin and Luki took the seat across from them. On the way there Yuzuki had informed Rin on quite a few things, one of those things being that while Rin had escaped, she'd escaped without Luki. Rin couldn't bring herself to look in his direction, she knew he was watching her and though she wondered about him, she didn't dare take a glance. This too was something that she had to fix.
Yuzuki had informed Rin of all the violent details of her escape. Luki had wreaked havoc on the agency with information that most of his powers had no longer been locked away. Staff had panicked and all the alarms had been rung. Security personnel had attempted to stop her only to become a trail of bloody limbs behind her. However, even Yuzuki couldn't explain how Rin had gotten outside or how she'd fled without being able to be see or traced. Rin knew it was true, Ted had been forcing her to watch some of it. Rin shuddered.
"We can't stay here," Rin said. Yuzuki stopped speaking.
"And when you left, Rin, you really broke a lot of things. You used your power in a way that nobody had ever seen before."
"Then we can easily leave together this time."
"Do you have any idea how much punishment everyone here received for losing you?" Yuzuki stated. Rin saw Yuzuki's hands tremble and a flash of nightmarish pain flicked through Rin's conscience at the rememberance of porcelain dolls and their breaking.
"We can't keep living in fear like this, Yuzuki," Rin said.
"And if you'd been here then you'd understand," Yuzuki whispered. "Yuma's plotting something and I've no clue what it is." Yuzuki cast a glance in Luki's direction.
"What if we call the police?" Rin suggested.
"And what chance would the police stand?" Luki spoke slowly, as if Rin had gotten amazingly stupid after she'd escaped. "If you hadn't left and ditched all your memories then perhaps you'd get that that idea is useless."
"I get it okay," Rin glared at Luki. "I left for a few-"
"You left." Luki's voice was colder than ice and his features remained impassive.
Warm, delicate hands settled over Rin's and Rin knew they were Yuzuki's and she forced herself to focus upon Yuzuki.
"Even if we did call the police, Rin, Yuma has them under his thumb. And even if he didn't, how would you get them to find this place?" Rin stopped to think about it for a moment.
"Don't you guys remember the directions?" Rin asked.
"That's another thing," Yuzuki added, "The directions to this place change all the time." Rin's eyes widened.
"How is that-"
"Possible?" Luki broke in. "We don't know as well as you do, Rin."
"Which is another startlingly fact about how you managed to escape," Yuzuki sighed.
"I saw Teto come in through a shorter passage when she was bringing me back here!" Rin protested.
"But do you actually remember the way you came in?" Yuzuki inquired doubtfully.
After a moments reflection Rin shook her head, "Well, no. However that's because I wasn't paying attention."
"The way was reforging itself even as you were driving along it, Rin," Yuzuki informed tiredly.
"That can't be..." Rin couldn't believe that, she couldn't accept that. "Then how did Teto get me back here?"
"Yuma had already planned on betraying her as they shook on that deal, Rin," Luki stated. "He specifically gave her one route to follow and another route specifically to get back. That's how." Then Luki was silent again. Rin's head throbbed with confusion at the information she was receiving.
"Don't we have the authority to go and leave as we please as Dolls?" Rin asked. Yuzuki shrugged.
"It depends but there is no one definite way out."
"Then there is also no one definite way to keep us in," Rin declared.
"We just wouldn't get very far, Rin," Yuzuki prompted gently.
"How can you say that before you've even tried!"
"He'd break one of the porcelain dolls and stop us cold. He'd break multiple if we kept trying to run."
"Then all we have to do is take them from him, right? We can all leave together and escape."
That's when Luki laughed. He laughed a harsh almost vicious noise that raised the hairs on Rin's arms before he settled down again. "I doubt that."
Rin shot Luki a hard glare. "What makes you so sure?"
"He lost you once, do you really think he'll go for it again?" All the laughter was gone from Luki's voice as he spoke. Rin shook her head.
"All we need to do is grab the porcelain dolls and then he won't have any power over us!" Luki simply closed his eyes and Yuzuki frowned till her lip quivered. Rin squeezed Yuzuki's hand gently because she seemed on the verge of tears. Yuzuki smiled sadly but greatfully at her.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, Rin..." Yuzuki stated solemnly.
"Why?" Rin felt like a fool all of a sudden. She felt so much apart from this circle she used to be so close in.
"If we touch them...it'll burn us," Yuzuki finally replied.
"What? We've been through so much worse than just a few simple burns," Rin argued.
"It won't be any regular burn, Rin," Luki said, Rin shuddered. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten what it's like to have him break one. Now imagine willingly touching one and see if you can still tell me taking them is such a good idea." Rin dropped her head back on to the couch.
"Well we can't just stay here."
"And your alternative?" Luki stated mockingly. Rin's anger flared as he face remained calmm despite his arrogant tone. "If you're such a know-it-all then why don't you toss out some suggestions if I'm such an idiot!"
Luki's gaze met hers again and Rin froze; her breath stopped. When Luki really focused on her it felt like a sucker punch of his awareness of her; all of her. Every breath, every blink, every shift, every tiny little motion or switch of her emotions mapped out clearly for him to see. She felt open; she felt viciously vulnerable. She wanted to flee and yet stay to see what else about him would sneak up on her. She couldn't classify him in the same category as Yuma because she knew there was something different about him. She couldn't tell herself that he was a vicious monster to be feared because there was an emotion smoldering in his gaze that managed to cut off her supply to air.
When she brought herself to direct her gaze elsewhere she was feeling lightheaded.
"How about we simply stay here and not attempt anything that stupid again," Luki said, but it wasn't a suggestion; it was an order.
"I get that you're upset with me okay, Luki!" Rin shouted suddenly from the pressure she could no longer accept. "I understand."
"Do you?" He answered back easily before he was up and walking swifly out of the room. He left without casting Yuzuki or her so much as a second glance. Rin clenched her fists tightly but she didn't know when her tears had started. She only knew her tears as they dripped onto her hands.
"What's wrong with him?" Rin cried softly. "Why does he hate me so much? Why is he so determined to be upset with me?" Yuzu smiled weakly.
"Anyone would be upset that you've forgotten them," Yuzu admitted. Rin made a useless effort to wipe hear tears away.
"You're not still mad at me, Yuzuki, so why?"
"I'm not the one who was originally a part of your plan and got left behind."
"Him and Ted...it's just too much. I don't want everyone to hate me." Yuzuki tensed beside Rin.
"Ted?" she repeated, "What happened with Ted?"
"He tried to turn me in what I used to be...He tried to force a phase change. Ted's finally lost it..." Yuzuki shook her head in disbelief.
"That's not true, Rin."
"I know what happened to me, Yuzuki!"
"No!" Yuzuki shouted back. "As long as Teto is alive Ted isn't losing it anytime soon."
"Then why did he say all those things? Why did he inject me with something? I was chained up? He laughed like a madman!" Yuzuki pinched Rin so hard that she yelped and flinched.
"Keep your voice down."
"But Ted-"
"Hasn't betrayed you." Rin managed to blink as she rubbed her arm.
"What?"
"How did you feel when you were in the container?"
"I was in nightmarish agony."
"Of the most unfathomable kind?" Rin nodded.
"He made me so angry, Yuzuki. He said that I would forget Len."
"How did you feel just now after staring at Luki for so long, Rin?" Rin blushed.
"Erm...lightheaded." Yuzuki smiled broadly.
"Ted Kasane, that invaluable genius..."
"I don't understand, Yuzuki." Rin shuddered. "What has he done?"
It was then that Yuzuki leaned in and whispered to Rin just what Ted had really done to her. By the time Rin truly understood, she couldn't help but smiling herself. Ted Kasane hadn't really betrayed her after all.