Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.
The Dragon Chronicles
Chapter 17 - Recoup
"I've heard there are troubles of more than one kind; some come from ahead, and some come from behind. But I've brought a big bat. I'm all ready, you see; now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"
-Dr. Seuss
The next few weeks found Rei quickly learning how to live upon the streets. At first, she was not very motivated to learn to pickpocket or steal, but as soon as her rations from Soshi Shima had run out, she found herself more in favor of taking what she needed to survive. The meager portions provided at the end of the day left her hardly satisfied and she quickly learned that she needed nearly six times as much as the normal child to ward off the hunger pains that assaulted her nearly all the time now.
Kaito was kind enough to share some of his rations with her and to show her quick and easily ways to earn money without having to pickpocket or snatch food off of the food stands in market streets. She was still learning and had yet proven her skills enough to Kaito to allow her to try out in the streets alone. She was almost always with him during the day, trailing after him as he went through his patrols of the entire city. He seemed to always be checking up on someone, talking to an adult about a prospective job for another teenager, or keeping tabs on the local gangs, making sure they weren't messing with his kids. Luckily for Rei, though, he always made a habit of snatching things, especially food, and shared his spoils with her for having his back. Rei was grateful, because outside of having his back in the more dangerous areas of Water 7, she felt like she hardly contributed anything to the Mizu Mizu Tribe, regardless of what Kaito may say.
Most nights, when the little children fell asleep after she had read to them, something that had become a nightly event, Kaito would disappear for a time, not even taking her with him, which was fine by her, she spent that time alone going down to the lower level to wash. After a week or so, she was no longer blushing about how unfazed the children were about nudity and was more comfortable bathing in such a public setting as this. However, since she was a devil fruit user, she was very shaky on her legs when she walked in the waist high water, slowly wadding towards the fresh water pouring out of the pipe to wash herself and her only set of decent clothes, and didn't want the others to comment on it.
It was bad enough that some of the younger children, ones who were less aware of the unspoken taboos about personal affairs, would ask her about her jewelry or her accent (which she was losing as she continued to stay among the Mizu Mizu Tribe) or, worse, study the scars that littered her hands and ask questions about them. It always made her feel sick, memories flashing briefly in the back of her mind as to how she had obtained each one, but did her best to tell the curious little ones that she had obtained them when she had learned to hunt with her knife. It was not necessarily a complete lie, as some of her scars did come from her mishandling the blade when she had first learned to use and care for it, but she couldn't bring herself to admit the truth. She still couldn't speak of them, no matter if six years had passed or not.
Another thing that slightly bothered her was that picture. Mama, every child called the woman within the picture. Radcliffe had told her that it was quite possibly Kaito's mother, but never once did she ever see Kaito even glance at the photograph of the loving woman or ever make mention of her, then again, she was certain that the blue eyed teen's philosophy in life was 'ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies' when it came to personal things like family. Then again, she couldn't blame him. Even when the children begged her to tell them who had given her the red gem that Tatsuo had crafted into a necklace for her, she would merely smile and tell them nothing. It secretly hurt now to think of Gin, especially since she could not recall her face anymore. Rei didn't even care if she could not recall the face of her mother. It was Gin's face she longed to recall and it was because of that, she felt a twinge jealousy and anger at the Tribe's leader for possibly having a picture of his mother and yet never once casting his gaze at it.
One particular morning, as she and Kaito headed out to go on their daily patrol, the older teen led her down the more older slums of the lower tier of the city. He didn't tell her why, but Rei was use to Kaito not explaining things like their destination to her. He had the weirdest patrol routes and never had they yet taken the same route since she had begun to shadow him. She was beginning to think he made it up as the day went by, but then again, everyone on all the routes knew Kaito, so she wondered if he had the routine planned, like he had a route for every day for a whole month? Rei wouldn't put it past Kaito to have a schedule that advanced. To be honest, it would be just like him.
After a while of traveling through back alley ways and over a few roof tops, Kaito headed down an alleyway that apparently was one of their days stops. It was an underground pub, a closed one at that. And because it was still early in the day- though she wouldn't put it past some people to drink the whole day away- this pub didn't open till 5 in the evening.
"Ah, he's always open," Kaito assured her, not even having to look at her face to know what she had been thinking of. He flashed a cocky half-smile. "He's just not open to the local drunkards just yet. He's an old coot that I check in on every once in a while to make sure he's still kickin'. I doubt nobody else would notice outside of if he never opened for business for a while."
'How many people know or rely upon Kaito?' Rei thought to herself for not the first time. It felt like anywhere they went (outside of the people he stole from ironically, which were usually tourists it anyway) somebody knew Kaito, young or old, it didn't matter.
Opening the door, which was definitely open as Kaito had been confident it would be, the two of them headed inward. Rei nearly gagged at the scents that permeated the air. It smelled heavily of smokes and cigars, alcohol, sweat, a tinge of blood, and possibly urine. She wasn't very pleased with the smell at all, especially since her nose was so sensitive to such things, but Kaito seemed to be unaffected by the disgusting lingering scents of the place.
"Oi! Jiji! Old Man, you here?" He called out as he approached the bar at the other end of the room and pulled himself into one of the bar stools pushed against it. He knocked his knuckles loudly against the bar top twice. Rei sat after him in silence, still nauseous from the stench of the place. She hoped that this took little to no time or at least they would get something out of being here.
"Can't you read the sign! We're closed!" A voice groused before an old man popped his head in from the back room behind the bar. His crabby expression lightened when he recognized the teen sitting at his bar table. "Oh, Kaito, my lad, its you."
"Who else would it be? You have some other guy checking in on you now?" Kaito teased. He pulled a coin from his pocket and spunned it on the countertop. Rei was fascinated by his seeming nonchalance at this dump of a tavern.
"That's what you call this?" The old man harrumphed. "I call this my monthly shake down. Where you attempt to clean me out of this week's groceries."
So Rei's theories of him having a whole month of routes planned out might have been just proven. She wasn't as interested in that at the moment as she was at the sudden prospect of food.
Kaito skillfully stopped the coin mid-spin with his index finger without causing it to fall flat. He slowly raised his head to meet the grizzled tavern owner's gaze with mock boredom.
"Ah, come on. I saved your friggin' life and you like cooking anyways." Kaito shot back. "And since no one comes here for the food, only for the alcohol, I am doing you a favor by letting you do what you enjoy while you are doing the community a service by feeding me."
The two of them glowered at each other before the old man chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, whatever. I bought too much food this week anyways."
"Funny how you always do every time I come to visit." Kaito looked well pleased with himself.
"Yeah, yeah. I was expecting company that never showed up. I didn't buy it because of some snot nosed mooch that never gives an old man a break." He glanced over to Rei, before adding. "Your friend here as well?"
"Yeah," Kaito nodded. He gestured to Rei with his thumb. "That's why I brought her. Just to warn you though, she's a big eater as well, Jiji."
He squinted as he looked at her again. "A girlie, huh? Damn Kaito, I would have sworn she was a boy. I guess that's why it always seems that the street urchins are overpopulated with boys. Clever trick."
"Well... after Cleo got..." Kaito cleared his throat. It was a brief falter, but a noticeable one to Rei. "It seemed that we needed to rethink our methods of keeping our female denizens safe."
Rei didn't have to ponder what happened to Cleo to know what had to the poor girl. As Kaito said, parentless boys were not as desirable parentless girls.
"I get it, I get it." The old man chanted. "Gotta keep them safe somehow, I suppose." He turned to look at her once more with a kind smile. "What's your name, girlie?"
"Rei." She told him, not very inclined to say more since she was still feeling quite sick with all the smells in the room.
"Wow. Shortest conversation I've ever seen her have." Kaito nearly laughed, before grinning wryly at her. "She's probably too sick off the smell in here to say much else. Don't worry, you'll get use to it."
"Smell? What smell?" The old man seemed puzzled, causing Kaito to snigger even more at the predicament that had befallen her. Rei only felt more embarrassed as she slowly slumped against the bar table, resting her face in the cradle of her arms as she tried to count backwards to distract her. She chose to start with a million and work her way down.
Soon the old man and Kaito's conversation became nothing but background noise as she concentrated on her counting and dulling the stench that burned her nose and made her stomach twist violently. Soon the smell of cooking overtook the other smells, alleviating Rei a bit and allowing her to do more than just count backwards. Her stomach growled a bit, much to her surprise since not even a moment ago she felt that at any second she would vomit the little her stomach had within it.
Sitting up a bit, she noted that Kaito had glanced her way, making sure that she was doing better now that the old man was cooking while the old man hummed a merry old tune as he cooked over the underused stove in the other room, which happened to be the kitchen. Rei made sure to give the other teen a quick smile, to let him know how much better she was feeling as she finally began to look around the place.
Yes, it smelled, but the place had a unique character. She could see a lot of wanted posters and articles about particular pirates pinned to a cork-board behind the bar of perhaps his favorite pirates while the rest of the room had brick walls that had been used to post up posters. Some of them were merely smudges now, on pieces of paper, leaving Rei to believe that the only ones that were always taken down during the time of Aqua Laguna were the ones on the cork-board. She turned her attention once more to the board, interested in seeing which pirates the man seemed to be a fan of when something caught her attention. Squinting a bit, she realized it was an old article from nearly six years ago. She couldn't quite read it from there, no matter how amazing her eyesight was, so she hopped off her seat to get closer to the article.
Kaito watched her in mild interest, but she paid no mind as she focused on the article.
'World Government Announce Kaneko Gin's Death.' Read the headlines. Rei quickly checked the date, noting how it was a few months after her time with the Marines (Rei wasn't too sure, but she remembered being abducted in the month of June and the article read December. There was no way she had been there on either ship that long).
Rei continued reading, curious to see what had been said of the details of her death. Wondering how accurate the information was. Would they even mention her? She hoped not. It wouldn't do for her name to be anywhere next to Gin's in these circumstances.
'An end of an era has finally come with Fleet Admiral Sengoku's announcement of one of the most influential members of the Roger Pirates finally having been brought down. With her death, perhaps the new era will herald in a time of peace for the citizens of the World Government. Only time will tell.'
Rei continued to read in great interest, only to frown as she got to the section of the retelling of how she had come to have died. Rage burned within her as she continued to read.
'...shot down in an attempt to flee from Marine officers... had killed the first officer who had identified her by breaking his neck... during her attempted escape, had managed to gravely injure other marines before...'
"It's all a bunch of lies." Rei muttered under her breath as she reached up to pull the article out of the shadow of another one, only to pause as she caught glimpse of what was hidden underneath.
"What are you doing!" The old man nearly shouted, looking mildly alarmed at what she was looking at.
Rei didn't hear him. She was too entranced by the pair of golden eyes that peaked out at her underneath all the other clippings that covered up the rest of the image. Rei didn't hear the man as he shouted at her to stop as she quickly unpinned the other papers and pulled them away from the image.
"It's her..." She breathed out as she took in the image before her. The golden eyes held that mischievous gleam, even then as she seemed to have caught sight of the camera in a near candid shot. Her lips quirked with that playful grin as she rested her head in one of her hands, giving away that she had been sitting when they had caught her image with their camera.
The man stopped his shouted when he realized the that girl staring so entranced like was shedding tears as her lip quivered. Even Kaito looked mildly alarmed at Rei's reaction, especially since he hadn't expected someone like her to cry at all.
"Gin..." she murmured pathetically as she blinked and used her sleeves to wipe away her tears. "Gin!"
Rei didn't care if she had an audience, she didn't care if she was crying like a big baby. She couldn't help but cry! She was so happy! At last, she could remember Gin's face and it felt as if all her memories of the woman became that much more vibrant now that she could place those wry smiles on her lips, those playful gleaming eyes, and giving her memories back an important face she had feared she'd never recall again.
"Gin!" She was slowly lowering herself towards the ground as she dropped the other articles she was still holding onto and crying into her palms.
Both males had no clue what to do. The old man gave Kaito this look of 'do something' while Kaito shot him a returning look of 'I have no clue what's gotten into her. YOU do something! You're the adult here!'. The old man sighed as he swallowed and came closer to the girl who was now bawling into her hands as she squatted in front of his cork-board with the uncovered image of Kaneko Gin.
He was about to say something, but a glimmer of red caught his attention and suddenly he was gawking at the pendant the girl was wearing around her neck. He glanced up at his only wanted poster of Kaneko Gin and quickly back at the necklace before looking up at the poster once more. Though it was slightly different, the gem was no doubt the same as the one worn around the neck of Kaneko Gin in her wanted poster.
"Where did... where in the four blues did you find that?" The old man was at her side in a matter of seconds, pulling the pendant of her necklace closer to him so he could gaze at it with a thunderstruck look of awe upon his face.
"Wh-what?" Rei looked up at him in confusion. Her red eyes in full view now since she had unconsciously pushed her sunglasses up her head when she had begun to cry.
"This... this gem!" He shoved his hand close to her face to show her her own possession. "Where did you get this!"
"It was a gift." Rei sniffled, still happy and yet so very sad as she spoke. "She gave it to me as a gift for being brave."
"Sh-sh-she? As... as... as in..."
"Gin." Rei told him. "Gin gave it to me after she had saved my life for the second time..."
"Kaneko Gin. The Kaneko Gin, the Dowager Queen, gave you her first treasure ever given to her by Gol D. Roger? The one they say he had stolen from the heavens themselves?" The old man gawked at such an idea.
"Well she stole my family's heirloom, so I guess she and I are even." Rei couldn't help but laugh at that. "Stole it without anyone realizing it till it was too late. Not that it mattered. I'd rather of had her than that silly hairpin."
"You... you actually met Kaneko Gin." The old man was still dumbfounded at the idea that the child could have possibly met one of his heroes. "But you're so young! You couldn't have possibly been older than-"
"Eight?" Rei finished for him. "Yeah. I was only eight." She didn't know why, but she felt like she had to say it at least once in her life. "I met her on the Marine ship that was suppose to take her to Marine Ford."
"Suppose to? Girlie, she died resisting capture. The marines never brought her in to be tried. She got killed by a stray bullet."
"She did not!" Rei was suddenly full of rage at the thought of such a horrible lie. "Gin died on that Marine ship! She let herself fall off the side of the ship into the water before Akainu or Aokiji could push her off the ship! She died because she protected me from them."
Kaito sat in his spot in silent wonder. Though he had been young, he too had heard of Kaneko Gin and remembered the celebrations that had overtaken the city at the news of her death. Some mourned the loss of a beautiful she-devil that she had been while few delighted in the World Government's triumph, while most celebrated the hope of the pirate era at last being put to rest. At least, here on Water 7 that rang true, Kaito wasn't sure elsewhere.
The old man too was silent for a while before finally speaking. "That'd makes more sense." He muttered under his breath as he rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Silver was never the sort to die without a cause or at least a final act of deviance. A stray bullet would have been too tame to take her." He looked at her with a sparkle in his old eyes. "I am inclined to believe you, but answer me one thing."
"What is it?"
"Before she died, did she, you know, do something, well... different than what you'd think a condemned woman would do?"
Rei nearly cried again as she nodded. "Yeah. She sang Bink's Sake. At the end of the song, she gave one last big smile before she fell backwards into the ocean and sinking into its depths." That smile had always struck her as strange. Smiling in spite of her death, fearless and at peace with the decision.
The old man couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Ah, now that sounds like the Longjohn Silver I knew."
"Wait, you met her old man?" Kaito finally spoke, curious as to when someone like this old man would have met such a woman as Kaneko Gin.
"Of course I met her!" The old man fumed, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "She came here with Roger and the other Roger pirates a long time ago! Tom-san built Roger's ship, if you do recall! They came to my bar and celebrated! The woman sang like a siren! And her dances! Oh, I've never seen a woman dance like that since..."
"Hey, Jiji," Rei pulled his attention back at her as she slowly stood back up. "Please, let me have her poster!"
"Eh?" The old man was surprised, but he could see the determination in her eyes. She wanted that poster. She wanted to keep the image of the woman that had saved her life over and over. However, he was hard pressed to give up such a possession. "I've had that poster for years. It's one of the last of her wanted posters for some reason, 'cause I've never crossed another one."
"Please!" Rei begged, "I'll give you damn near anything for it!"
The old man didn't need to guess that the pendant was one of the few things she wouldn't trade for the poster. He didn't want to lose it, personally, but he was getting up there in age and had no children to inherit his things. However, he wasn't going to let her have it for free either. "You'll have to give me something of equal value. So that means, something that had once belonged to her."
Rei nodded, understanding his condition before dropping her backpack from her back and began to dig through it furiously. Both Kaito and the old man watched in mild shock as she pulled out some things that had no right fitting into that old rugsack, like those furs that she had been carrying around the first day.
"The hell..." Kaito couldn't help but watch as she continued to dig more things out of it. Was this some sort of magical bag? Pft. It'd be just like her to have something like this, given her history with odd objects, like those gloves she used to scale the sides of buildings with.
"How about this?" She pulled out a silk cloth, undoing it to reveal the contents hidden inside its cloth. The old man stared at it before sputtering once more.
"By Davy Jones! It's... how do you have these things? First her necklace, now her grappling hook?"
"She left them to me." Rei didn't divulge anymore information to the old man. "Would this be a fair trade?"
"No!" The old man told her with a shaky hand grabbing onto the bar table. "I'm getting the better end of this deal, girlie, if you trade me that for her poster!"
"I don't care. I don't use it." She wanted that poster. She wanted that picture!
"How about this. I trade you the poster for the grappling hook. However, when I die, you take it back, alright? That hook is an important part of history. It's damn near priceless, girlie!"
"So is that poster to me." Rei confessed. "You have a deal, old man."
Kaito watched in silence as the two made their trade and Rei returned to sitting next to him after putting away her things (the fur pelt magically disappeared as well back into the leather bag as well) as the old man resumed making their breakfast. Her eyes were still slightly bloodshot from crying, but he doubted that there was anything in the world at this moment that would wipe that smile off of her face as she studied the image of the pirate woman.
She had met Kaneko Gin on a Marine ship six years ago and had been saved by the woman more than once, from what he gleaned, even witnessing how the woman truly died. With a song and a smile. But, Kaito frowned, what had she been doing on a Marine ship? Especially the one carrying the Longjohn Silver, the Dowager Queen of the Pirates?
Kaito nearly muttered a few curses under his breath as he tried to unravel it all in his head. Damn it. Just when one mystery had been solved, two, possibly three more sprung up to take its place. Rei remained an enigma, despite how long he had been studying her habits and listening to her explanations to the children he had put up to ask her those taboo questions.
Suddenly he gave up. If it was something important, she'd come to tell him in her own time when she decided that she trusted him. Until then, it was the waiting game.
Also, it would probably be beneficial to her if he taught her how to haggle, since that had been the worst display of bartering he had ever seen in his life. It was just another of the many skills he had to teach her, but at least she was doing better with her accent, though sometimes it still slipped through when she was really, really mad.
The food came soon after that and both teens forgot everything else except the large breakfast that would sate their large appetites at least until lunch.
"Kaito-kun, I'm serious." He sighed as he listened to yet another of his older members of his tribe talk to him about their new favorite subject. "You need to find her somewhere to live or at least a job that pays decent wages. She's wasting away and I'm not sure how much longer she'll last."
Agatha, or Aggie as everyone called her, was one of the few members of the Mizu Mizu tribe that was older that Kaito. Her days here were numbered, but she never seemed to let that affect her. She was the motherly type from day one of living her and she would continue to mother these children till they cast her out for being too old. Kaito felt bad for her, knowing how much she cared for the younger members, but he knew his days were numbered too.
"She's not here as a permanent resident, Aggie, there is no point trying to tie her down if she's not interested in staying." Kaito told her yet again.
Rei had been here for maybe a month, but it was obvious that she wasn't doing too well. She could pickpocket alright now, Kaito had seen to that, and she was slowly getting use to their way of living, including that, though they were a community of orphans, it was each for themselves, despite Kaito's wishes for it to be otherwise. Her nature was kind and caring, something the children craved, but Rei could never seem to get enough food, even with his attempts to feed himself and her when he could. However, his role as leader also reminded him that he had to take care of himself first and foremost so that he could continue to watch out for his band of homeless children.
"I heard her mention that she's looking for a sword teacher." Aggie told him. "I bet you know where to find one that could take her in!"
"A swordsmaster, Aggie." Kaito corrected, he too had also overheard that conversation. "And while there are a few in Water 7 most are stuck up snobs that think themselves better than the common filth that walks about in the lower tiers of Water 7."
He had little love for the higher society of Water 7, all the children knew that, but his reasons for his huge disregard for them, none had yet to discover.
"But not all of them are." Aggie argued. "You just said so yourself Kaito-kun."
Kaito groaned as he got up from where he had been lounging, trying to get a little sleep before having to run through his routes with his ever faithful, yet waning shadow. He already felt bad for her, wasn't it enough that he was trying to do what he could? He merely had yet to find a reason why anyone, outside her exotic looks, would take a risk training a girl in the art of swords. The handful that weren't stuck up weren't keen on taking in girls as apprentices because of the stereotype that girls were weaker than men.
"Aggie. Go away." Kaito finally moaned as he started to walk away, only for her to follow.
"I will not, Kaito-kun! Not until you promise to deal with it!"
"I promise, I promise!" Kaito chanted insincerely. "Now go away and stop bothering me about it!"
Aggie looked ready to argue more if she had too, so Kaito heaved a heavy sigh as he actually looked at her with a sincere look. "I promise, I am working on it."
Aggie pursed her lips a bit as she put her hands on her hips and gauged the level of earnestness within his words. When she had decided that was the best she could get out of him, because it truly was a honest declaration. She nodded and went on her way, no doubt to find her morning's breakfast and no doubt gossip with Darjaleen at the theater house for a while now that she was satisfied her work here was done for now.
Kaito on the other hand still had a ton of work left to do, including trying to find a home for Rei, if that was at all possible. Despite the girl's waning disposition, it was obvious that she had settled quite well into their group. The younger children adored her because she almost always had a story or a song ready upon her lips at their request, she would sew up their clothes, play with them, and now, even take baths with them, which the younger children adored, even though Kaito could see she seemed uneasy about being in the water. He simply thought she was still not use to how open they were about nudity and didn't think more about it.
He found Rei on the roof, much like he had expected. There was something about this girl and heights. Unlike most people, she was without fear about perching in the highest spots she could find. Yes, he called it perching. The way she sat upon the roof reminded him of a bird roosting in the nest. Nobody bothered her this high up, giving her privacy that he felt she longed for at times despite her willingness to play with the younger children. For as well as she got along with the others, she also seemed like a lonely child to him. He was sure that she didn't consider a single one of those children, not even Aggie or Matthias or Juniper or any of the older kids who had come to him with concerns, as an actual friend. He knew he didn't. Those kids were his responsibility, not his friends.
Kaito nearly laughed at his revelation. He was just as solitary as she was, which was probably why they got along so well. These last few weeks had been refreshing, having someone with him that didn't slow him down. However, did she consider him a friend? That was the real question, because he already knew his answer. She had wormed her way into his heart, even with all the hitting and shoving of hers, and yes, he considered her to be one of the few people he trusted with his friendship.
"Oi! Oh Mighty Huntress!" Kaito called up to her, too lazy to expend any more energy to fetch her. "We're going, get your shit and let's go."
There was a few moments where he knew she was quickly tucking away that damn wanted poster of Kaneko Gin back into that weird, bottomless backpack of hers before she hopped off the higher section of the roof to land near where he was standing. "I have been waiting for you, dear Pauper Prince, since you're the one that's always reluctant to pull yourself from your bed in the morning."
"Says the girl who practically conks out by the time the moon is over the horizon and is slowly making its way up into the night sky." Kaito quipped back at her. "I'm surprised you didn't drown the first few times you bathed at night."
Rei shot him a warning glare, not amused by his words. There had been a reason she started bathing with the little kids and it wasn't because she liked being jumped upon as she tried to bathe, especially since her legs where already so shaky in the water. It was because of the problem Kureha had mentioned long ago about Kasai dragons and sudden temperature drops. Water 7 was naturally a warm island, but when it turned into night, the sudden drop in temperature seemed to be enough to knock her out if she wasn't prepared. She was able to concentrate enough at first, but the less food she had, the harder it was to manipulate Qi. She'd be surprised if she could even breath out a single taroth flame anymore, let alone shift some of her more dragon features into being.
It wasn't like she hadn't accepted the fact that in her constant state of hunger she couldn't do such things any longer. However, that fact still greatly perturbed her and mention of the issue agitated the crimson eyed girl to no end. "Shut up, Kaito."
Kaito laughed a bit at her expense, wincing when she slugged him hard in the arm for the umpteenth time before demanding that they get a move on it. She had already figured out that he didn't take the same route for at least a month. He use to have the same weekly route pattern, but then there had been some... people who had figured out his pattern, so he extended it so that it was a monthly route pattern. Nobody had yet seemed to figure out his system either, which was nice for him. Having to change his pattern every damn time someone figured it out was bothersome, even if he already had a different route already planned out if someone did figure it out.
As the two of them set out, their morning was pretty relaxed, something Kaito tried hard to achieve so that Rei didn't wear out too early in the day. After scoring a few beli coins, the two of them managed to eat a bento or two before going their way again, Rei now in a much more amiable mood since her stomach wasn't twisting in hunger as badly. Kaito even let her drink from his canteen. A rare treat for anyone since Kaito always seemed the have the sweetest tasting water. Where he got his supply, no one knew, but the other kids swore up and down to Rei that Kaito had a nose for finding clean, good tasting water. She believed them without the slightest of doubts. As they carried on, now currently hopping from roof top to rooftop while Kaito peered below into the alleyways to make sure all was well, Rei caught sight of something rather... peculiar.
"Oi, Kaito," Rei muttered as she tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. He was currently peering into one the alleyways and observing in quiet contemplation what Zambai was doing in this stretch of the city. His territory was on the lower tier, not the higher tier. He went to ignore his companion for a bit before she started tugging on his wrist rather hard.
"Kaito." She emphasized her need to garner his attentions, causing him to snap at her as he locked his gaze with hers.
"What?" He spoke in a low, harsh tone, making sure Zambai didn't catch wind that the two of them were up here. He and Rei had had a few run ins with the thug and his gang and he prefer not to have another one anytime soon. Rei had been exhausted by the time they had given them the slip and, if he were being honest with himself, so had he.
She didn't give him a response, only pointed with a nervous laugh, not quite sure what to say or think about what she was witnessing. Kaito felt his stomach drop as he watched silent disbelief of who they had managed to run across on a day as fine as this. Really, Kaito believed, the weather was too nice and his luck had been so good to have to deal with shit like this.
On a few rooftops over, there was the most peculiar sight of a man running from a large group of men in nontraditional colored, like yellow, business suits with sun glasses, briefcases, and fedora hats as well. The young man was shouting profanities at the men behind him while running at full speed away from them. The clothes he wore were rather vibrant and wacky, but the blonde haired man seemed a little odd himself.
"Ummm..." Rei wasn't sure how to even approach this as the two teens watched him run about in an attempt to shake the pack of men in colorful suits. She felt a trickle of sweat drip down her neck, almost betting that the scene before her was not completely new to the cerulean eyed teen beside her. "Does... he... need help?"
"...Paulie..." Kaito muttered under his breath as the two of them watched as the scene ran past their eyes once more.
"Wh-what?" Rei couldn't pull her eyes away from the spectacle, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to believe that Kaito had just called this man by name.
"There goes Paulie..." Kaito muttered once more with a slight venom in his utterance of the name. As the two of them watched, Rei watched in mild disbelief while Kaito did so in mild irritation. "Damn him. Can he not gamble every damn free second he gets? Doesn't he get that he sucks at it!" The teen whined as he ran his hand back over his hair, sighing in defeat. He rolled his shoulders lazily and popped his neck to the left, then to the right. "Guess I'll go save his ass. Again."
Rei did her best to ignore idea that Kaito had saved this man more than once and that this was a scene she'd come to expect if she continued to reside in Water 7. Kaito told her to wait there, quickly making mention of Zambai below before taking off to go help the young blonde man elude his chasers. Rei watched Kaito go but quickly turned her attentions to Zambai, knowing the the ruffian must not be up to any good if he was this far up into Water 7.
Rei felt like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw a smartly dressed young boy walk down the entrance of the alleyway, staring quite studiously at the paper in his grasp and unaware of the danger that lay down that path. She almost mistook him for Kaito from that distance, but knew the Mizu Mizu Tribe's leader didn't own anything more than the scavenged clothes he wore on a daily basis and nothing near as nice as the young boy's.
Rei's mind quickly raced as she thought of what to do. Kaito was too far away now to call back without tipping of Zambai of their presence, nor would he make it back in time to be much assistance at this point. She knew she couldn't simply throw something down at the boy in case she accidentally spooked him into shouting out or even call down to him, if enough noise was made, Zambai again would be tipped off. She would need to go down there and stop him herself.
Rei quickly slid off her backpack as she pulled out the long pelt that kept her naked blades in. She figured that if she went down there, she should be at least armed with something to swing at them and, though she loathed the idea of using her blades in such an informal fashion, her hunting knife and her clawed gloves would not give her the needed distance to protect herself. After pulling out the pelt protected blades, she slung her backpack securely back on her back before hefting the blades' makeshift container over her shoulder as well and making a mad dash for the other end of the building before using her acrobatic skills and experience in landing from high falls, Rei managed to get to the bottom of the building in a matter of a few seconds, scooping up a rock as she did and throwing it down the alleyway opposite of the direction she was about to head.
She figured that if Zambai's men heard some sort of noise, they might go investigate and give her the chance to at least remove a man or two from the equation if she failed to get to the boy in time. She was already sprinting down the street, dodging and weaving between a few pedestrians before making a fast, hard turn down the alleyway she had seen the boy walk into. She nearly sighed in relief that he had not gone too far in just yet, his attempts to read while walking had slowed his pace significantly.
Rei quickly approached him, well prepared to pull him out of harm's way, but she was too used to how experienced street kids reacted to being startled; how they would jump into a defensive position without a sound. Because of that, she hadn't expected him to give out a loud shout when she grabbed him and harshly dragged him away from his intended direction. She winced when she heard the men at the end of the alley respond to the sound the boy had made.
She quickly yanked at him, trying to get him to leave the alleyway and enter the safety of the public area behind them. Still, the boy was not from the streets and probably didn't know why some crazy street urchin was tugging at his sleeve. He looked equal parts confused and terrified as he tried to make conversation with her, but she was too interested in trying to get him away from the unknown danger that she could sense was approaching.
"Well, well, well." Zambai chanted as he took in the view before him. Rei quickly managed to situate the boy behind her as she assumed a defensive posture. Still, it was too late to realistically make a run for it with this boy- whose athleticism she highly questioned- in this less than advantageous position.
"If it isn't the little bastard's shadow!" Zambai smirked. "Strange to run into you and not the little water rat himself. He usually never lets you leave his side, little kage."
"He needs someone to watch his back when there's people like you running around in dark crevices of the city's filth," Rei spat at him.
She knew better than to egg on someone as dangerous as Zambai, but one thing that Kaito had taught her about circumstances like this was that Zambai did stupid things when he was blinded with anger. That's why Kaito always thoroughly pissed him off when they did get into an encounter with the man. It always made it easier to elude the man.
Zambai bristled at her words, his face turning red as he sputtered angrily at her. "You little shit! You and that hoard of street trash think you're all better than the rest of us!"
"Well yeah," Rei responded, feigning a calm demeanor. She was buying time and weighing her options; quickly, she spotted the best exit to take. A small opening between two mounds of trash. Small enough for two smaller children to squeeze through… but should someone of Zambai's stature make the attempt, they would find themselves the in the bottom rung of a heap of trash. Rei couldn't help but smile at the thought. Kaito was certainly rubbing off on her.
"Of course we're better. We still remember what baths are and utilize them regularly, oppose to you and yours." Rei wrinkled her nose mockingly at him before grabbing the boy's hand and tugging him into a run towards her chosen exit, not even waiting to see what Zambai's reaction would be to her barb.
"You little bastard!" She heard him roar as she pulled the lad to run in front of her and quickly used her covered blades to knock a few trash cans and wooden crates into the men's way before taking hold of the boy's hand once more and pulling him along in her escape. She could hear a few of them yelp as they failed to dodge her obstacles. As they dashed, they heard a loud crash as her intended trap claimed its victim.
She didn't stop once they were out of the alleyway, despite the boy's protests to slow down. Instead, she led them towards where she had last seen Kaito running off to in order to assist his blonde acquaintance from his own pursuers. She was used to running away from Zambai and his men enough now to know that they wouldn't stop chasing until they lost them. She continued to drag the boy along, ignoring his protests as she contemplated her next moves. She knew that they would be severely restricted because of the boy's understandable hesitation at being dragged behind a girl he didn't know. He didn't have the mobility that she had become accustomed to rolling with Kaito; rooftop hopping was completely out of the question. She briefly considered prompting him onto her back and piggyback carrying him as she fled, but dismissed the thought quickly as she knew she wouldn't have the energy to keep it up for long. She needed all the stamina she could coax from her muscles. Her best option was to hold out till Kaito could rescue them.
Blegh, she hated being a damsel in distress, considering she had learned to fend for herself long ago. However, there wasn't much else that she could do without exposing herself as some sort of freak of nature to the people of Water 7. She'd rather be a damsel than a spectacle. Call it paranoia, call it what you like, but she refused to entertain this as an option.
Rei didn't know how long Zambai continued to chase after them, but the crimson eyed girl wasn't paying attention to that; she kept her eyes glued to the rooftops for any sign of Kaito. She nearly shouted his name in relief as she spotted the raven-haired boy, no doubt chewing out the obviously much older blonde about responsibility (knowing Kaito as she did). Instead of shouting, knowing he might not catch on to who was in danger, especially since he was probably shouting, she put two fingers in her mouth and let out a strong, clear whistle, just as Kaito had taught her to do.
Immediately their eyes met and Rei could tell Kaito could see the predicament she found herself in. He quickly signed for her to duck into the alleyway coming up on her right. There, the two parties could regroup to deal with the Zambai situation. Rei did her best to get as close as she could, knowing that Zambai had been rapidly making up ground as the boy's energy bottomed out. She was practically dragging him at this point.
At the last minute, she dove into the alleyway. She was fairly certain she gave the boy whiplash with how rapidly she altered his direction. His remaining forward momentum nearly caused him to topple head over heels. But Rei didn't have time to worry about that.
It didn't take her as long as she thought it would for their two allies to jump into action. The blonde- Paulie if she remembered correctly- landed in the alleyway after dropping from the roof, something not even she could do successfully yet without hurting her joints. Paulie averted possible damaged by masterfully rolling forward leading with his shoulder before rising to his feet in the same swift motion. Kaito jumped off the roof, but worked his way down as she had, falling at an angle so he could buffer his fall by bouncing between the walls of the alleyway till he reached as safe enough distance to drop the rest of the way. Rei shoved the completely rattled boy towards Kaito who stepped in front of him, prepared to defend.
It wasn't long till Zambai came into the alley, his men right behind him, all of them panting heavily. In contrast, Rei was hardly winded, though she could hear the loud gasping of the little boy she had dragged about behind her.
"Outta shape there Zambai? Or is my companion just a little too quick for ya?" Kaito mocked, already taunting the other leader of a different group. He kept his voice in control, but Rei could sense that he was almost laughing.
The gritting of Zambai's teeth was practically audible. "That little shit of yers came into our territory, pickin' a fight with us!" The older leader accused as he pointed his thick finger at Rei. "He even brought back-up to aid him in his attack!"
"Tch," Kaito clicked his tongue in a disgusted manner. "There are so many issues with those sentences, I'm not even going to bother mentioning all the grammatical errors in it." Zambai's face turned red again in his anger, but he didn't manage to lash out before Kaito spoke again. Kaito's wandering eyes came upon an old discarded cane in the heaps of rubble in the alleyway. He flipped it into his hands with a flick of his foot, and rested it upon his shoulders, with his arms resting above it.
"First off, this is not your territory, unless Galley-La grounds suddenly became your backyard, which, in knowing Iceburg-san, he would never allow thugs like you to bully people within his territories without... consequences." In a showman-like way, he flipped the cane around his neck before resolutely slamming the end of it it to the ground, as he rested forward on it with two hands. "Paulie here is good testament to how strict and tough Galley-La shipwrights are on these subjects."
Kaito could see that Zambai was losing his nerve to continue pushing the issue. The idea that Paulie was a Galley-La shipwright was enough of an incentive to stop. It was well known that Iceburg had some of the burliest, toughest men working for him and they didn't take shit from weaklings like Zambai. However, he needed to prove a few points about his own people, so that the thug leader would get the hint that messing with his group was also a bad idea.
"Secondly," Kaito continued, gesturing with the cane towards Rei, "My friend here wouldn't need backup if she were to attack you. She's strong enough to probably wipe you all out if she actually wanted to waste her time and energy doing so. However, if it is a demonstration you seek..."
He began flipping the curved end of the cane around his finger as he glanced over to Rei with a wink. She nodded in understanding with a mischievous smirk, pushing her her sunglasses onto her forehead to reveal her brilliant red as she gave her fiercest, guttural growl and taking up a mock stance with her pelt.
"She's always happy to oblige if she must," Kaito grinned feral as he threw the cane in the air and grabbed it half-way down all the while still conversing in a sadistic tone. "Gotta be honest though, I'm not sure what will happen if she starts. She was raised in the wilds and well... I'm not sure about how bloodthirsty she truly is. But hey, good luck all the same, friend."
Kaito threw the cane aside and rested his shoulder on the alley wall as he observed the blood draining from the men's faces. Rei snarled viciously once more. Kaito couldn't help but chuckle. What could he say? He's seen her retell Little Red Riding Hood, acting out the wolf's character much like this. She had a lot of children in tears by the time she got to the moral of the story- don't trust suspicious strangers, no matter how polite. They might just try to eat you and your grandma.
He nearly lost his cool when he noticed Paulie giving her an apprehensive look. He had to bite his tongue and cheeks in order to not burst out laughing at this particular moment. Instead, he decided it was time to wrap things up.
"But~" He drawled, stepping forward in an exaggerated swagger, "Seeing as I really don't want to have to find hiding places for your soon to be corpses, I'm going to let you shitheads off the hook." Giving them a dark look, Kaito spoke in a rather serious tone. "But if I ever see you messing with either my kids or even random kids on the street... I can't guarantee your... survival next time." Catching Kaito's drift, Rei snarled once more and pulled out her hunting knife, twirling it around her body like a baton of death before letting it fly towards them, hitting the ground not two inches from the opposing leader's foot. He jumped back with a dog-like yelp.
The men were too fear stricken to think rationally, Rei had gone on to showing them how sharp her teeth and nails were as she licked her chops as if contemplating how good their blood would taste if she were to tear into them. If they had been thinking more clearly, they might have remembered how many times they had run into Kaito and Rei before and never once had she attempted to kill, maim, or eat them, instead choosing to flee from having to battle their much larger forces.
Rei flicked down her sunglasses after the men turned tail to run while Kaito nearly collapsed on the ground from laughing so hard. He was holding his stomach as he tried to catch his breath, but tears were coming from his eyes as he rolled around on the ground in his fit of laughter.
"Oh... mhmhmh, ah, oh Kami, it hurts... Haha, did you... did you see their faces! Mhmhmhaahaahahaha"
"You mean you made that all up!" Paulie shouted, realizing why the younger boy was laughing so hard. "But what about all those snarls and the- and the-"
"What can I say? The people I knew growing up made sounds like that." Rei shrugged, trying hard not to smile so smugly, but damn, they really fell for that. All she was doing as snarling, growling, and making stupid faces and gestures at them. "It was part of their language, I guess you could say." She stepped forward and retrieved her knife, putting it away now that she was done.
"So..." Paulie looked at her skeptically. "You aren't as deadly as Kaito made you seem?"
Rei rolled her eyes, kicking Kaito hard with her foot to get him to regain his composure. "OW~" He whined, but instantly sobered from his laughter.
"I wouldn't say that he was exaggerating entirely."
"Great. I'm going to have a friggin' matching set of bruises now." Kaito complained as he slowly got up, rubbing his other arm where she had managed to land her hit.
When he got up, he sent a scowl Rei's direction before his eyes quickly shifted over to the kid that she had rescued. The girl now too paying attention to him since she had not gotten a good look at him before. Rei blinked as Kaito swore under his breath.
"Kaito..." Rei whispered as she glanced over at Kaito's souring expression.
Her leader didn't even look her way as he turned to Paulie. "Thanks for your help, Paulie, but aren't you gonna be late for work if you don't hurry?"
"Ah shit!" The older man cussed as he looked at his watch and realized how late it was. "You can wrap this up yourself, right Kaito?"
"Yeah, yeah." Kaito sighed, running a hand through his hair again as he tried not to look as exhausted as he suddenly felt. "I can handle this. Get lost or you'll get fired, idiot."
The blonde shouted his thanks to the younger male before taking off like a bullet to try to get to his shipyard before he got penalized for tardiness, never once taking notice of what seemed to be going on. He was too worried about his job to pay attention to much else at this point.
Rei watched Kaito out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the quiet boy she had rescued. If she hadn't known better, she would have easily mistaken him for Kaito. However, there were a few difference that she could see, especially since they were standing side by side. This boy had the same ebony hair with the pretty blue eyes (though Kaito's were more...vivid comparatively, in Rei's personal observations), but his face was slightly rounder and he seemed to be younger than Kaito, yet barely an inch shorter. He too had long enough hair to tie into a short ponytail at the nap of his neck, but he lacked Kaito's silver clasp and instead had a regular hair band to hold it in place. His clothes were way nicer than Kaito's as well, nary a tear or a stitch to be found on the pristine uniform. Even his way of standing always lacked Kaito's confidence and discipline, the boy practically shrinking under their watchful gazes as his eyes watered a little as he bit his bottom lip as apart of a nervous habit. If anything, this was the kind of child Rei knew Kaito disliked: unconfident, unaware, and undisciplined.
Kaito's rules of the street began with those three attributes. One had to take himself seriously before he could expect others to, despite talent. If one didn't respect himself, how could he expect others to do so? One had to be confident in their abilities, aware of their surroundings and limitations, and be self-disciplined enough in resisting temptations and not shirking their obligations to survive on the street.
Perhaps that is why it surprised her so much when he finally broke eye contact with the boy, pulling out his water canteen with a heavy sigh and tossed it at him. "Drink. You look like shit." The boy nearly fumbled the canteen, but narrowly caught it before it hit the ground. Regardless, his spotless garb was splashed with water.
"Thank you..." the boy murmured bashfully as he took small sips of the sweet tasting water. He would shyly glance up at Rei, meeting her eyes for but an instant before looking back at the older boy.
"Kaito... he-" Rei tried to talk again but Kaito cut her off.
"Quiet." The command in his clipped tone was not missed and Rei knew better than to usurp his authority when he took this tone. He let the boy take a few more sips before holding out his hand for his canteen, which the boy quickly returned, and interrogating the boy himself. "What are you doing here. This is much too far near the edge of the upper city for you to be wandering about like this."
The boy looked down at his feet and muttered something, something even Rei couldn't catch. Kaito stared at him harshly for a while longer before heaving another sigh and forcing his shoulders to relax. "You're trying to get to the docks?"
How he had guessed that, Rei didn't know, but the look alike boy nodded, blushing as he peered up at the older boy.
Kaito sighed, something that he seemed to be doing a lot of suddenly, before proffering a hand to the younger boy. "Come on. You'll never get there by yourself if your navigation skills lead you into an alleyway."
Rei was so confused at his sudden hospitality. Kaito did not like the higher class, which included the children. AT ALL. The amount of times he had curled his lips into a look of disgust when they ran through the areas the upper class resigned in was countless, as were the unkind words spoken of their nature. Rei had heard him speak few good words towards the rich and it was always either aimed at Iceburg-san or other similar Iceburg-san, like the one time he spoke of the man with the green patch of Water 7. Though Kaito did like children and was happy to help the less fortunate ones, she had seen him ignore the rich children who got lost on the lower levels of Water 7.
So what made this one so different? Was it the uncanny resemblance? Or something more? Was it possible that this boy was.…
Rei wanted to ask, but before she could open her mouth and vocalize her confusion, Kaito sent her that commanding look to keep silent, and, because he was her alpha, she obeyed and kept quiet.
The younger boy took his hand and Kaito began to lead them to the lower level of Water 7 in absolute silence. Rei didn't speak, Kaito didn't speak, neither did the slightly younger boy. The trek to the docks was filled with a thick tension that could not be escaped until the boy was escorted to his desired destination and Rei, personally, couldn't wait till she felt like she could breathe again. The longer these two were together, the more their feelings dampened the air around them.
Rei felt that if she didn't have such good control of her telepathic abilities and keeping her mind fortified from receiving any of their thoughts then the emotions swirling around these two would have given her a horrible migraine. Half of her wanted to peek, to open up her mind just enough to capture the raging thoughts of the humans beside her, but her more instinctual half knew better than to do so. It would not only put her relations with Kaito at risk, but she would also be opening a floodgate of thoughts, feelings, and images she'd likely regret opening herself up to.
The crimson eyed girl nearly wept at the sight of the ocean coming into view as well as the docks where they would be dropping off the nameless child, hopefully to never see again. Whatever made Kaito like this was bad for her mental health and she was prepared to avoid doing this ever again.
It wasn't til they got to the docks did Kaito let go of the boy's hand, finally allowing the youngest of the party venture off on his own. Red eyes watched from the corner of the rounded sunglasses, peeking over at her companion.
"It's been eating at you this whole time, hasn't it?" Kaito didn't even look at her, watching as the boy wandered from spot to spot as if looking for something.
"Oh, talking now, are we? Am I allowed to speak finally, or would you rather I remain quiet." In her annoyance, she picked up and threw a pebble at Kaito that had been resting on the walkway. Without looking, Kaito caught it with no effort and let it drop into the bay with a plunk. Rei wasn't about to admit that he was right. She found herself quite irritated with him at the moment.
Everything about Kaito seemed to be a contradiction. He was too educated and innovative to have been on the streets his whole life, despite being the leader of the Mizu Mizu Tribe. None of the children even knew where he came from. He had just showed up one day among them and not too long after that took the place of their previous leader. They had never seen him on the lower tier of Water 7 before then. Then again, there was that picture of his - the one that the children called Mama- that was assumed to be his mother's image; the one he never even looked at. Then there was this younger boy. He couldn't have been much younger than her... only by a few months at most. But that was still confusing since Kaito would have still been but an infant when the boy was born….
"Don't hurt yourself thinking about it." Kaito's voice broke her out of her musings. His eyes were finally drawing away from the other boy's form to look her in the eyes.
Crimson and cerulean clashed as the two of them observed each other. Rei wanted to ask him, but she knew, just by looking at how sad his eyes had suddenly become that this subject was still an open wound for him. One that hurt at the mere reminder of the events that were involved. Much like how she still ached when she remembered Gin's death... and those people... or her.
"I won't ask." Rei finally looked away. She felt like standing down was a sign of weakness, but she was exhausted from the day's events. This stalemate wouldn't gain her anything. Besides, whatever was eating away at Kaito was certainly none of her business.
"You'll tell me when you feel like it."
"Same to you." Kaito replied flatly. He turned his sights back onto the boy in the distance, freezing painfully like a deer suddenly realizing the predator before it.
Rei caught how rigid he had become and turned her gaze towards the boy as well, eyes widening as she looked at the sight not even fifty feet away. There was a man now, stooping to the child's level, talking to him in a concerned tone as he cupped the boy's face in one hand and rested the other hand on the child's shoulder. He was a well groomed man in a captain's uniform with long ebony hair tied at the nape of his neck. Even from a distance, Rei could tell that his eyes were a startling blue color, much like Kaito's (though there was something about Kaito's eyes that always seemed much more vibrant in comparison to others) and much like the boy's.
But that wasn't what made Rei pause to stare. No. What made her stare as she did was how utterly familiar this man was to her. She recognized this man from long ago. No way... It couldn't be, but-
The man suddenly looked their way, his eyes locking onto Kaito's form. His eyes widened in his discovery as he stood up and slowly started to approach them with a confused look.
"Kaito?" It was like his name released him from his stupor and the raven haired teen grabbed harshly at Rei's shoulder as he pulled her to move.
"Run." He told her as he began to turn tail and flee from the man that called out to him.
"Wha-" Rei was finding herself in her own sort of stupor, still staring at the man as she started turning to follow orders unconsciously.
"Run." Kaito said more urgently through tightly gritted teeth. They picked up the pace, with Rei right behind him now that she wasn't frozen to her spot in awe.
The young teenage girl didn't need to glance behind to know that the man was now giving chase. He shouted Kaito's name a few more times before quitting so he could focus on trying to catch them, the other boy temporarily forgotten in their wake. The two of them only had a few paces head start on him and, unlike most people they fled from, Rei could tell that this man was going to be hard to shake.
She didn't try to make her own route, instead following Kaito's movements since the other teen knew the ins and outs of the city at a level far higher than she had yet attained and knew best at how to shake a tail. She started to get nervous when the man proved to be unshakeable by normal methods.
She wasn't sure how long they had fled, longer than usual, but no longer than when Zambai really had his heart set on trying to catch them. However, what was becoming apparent was that their pursuer was agile and nimble enough to follow them even up the side of a building. They hadn't used their usual means of climbing because it took too long to scale the wall. Not to mention the man in uniform was tall enough that he could have caught them if they did. Instead, they found enough crates and boxes and other items to make their way up to the rooftops of Water 7. Rei felt her panic level spike, however, when he had accomplished the same thing.
"He's not giving up!" Rei told him as they rooftop hopped, only to have him continue his pursuit. "And he's gaining!"
"I know, I know. Shut up! I'm thinking!" Kaito snapped at her, ignoring another stern shout of his name from the man he was avoiding. His veneer of cool was non-existent now. Rage found itself front and center in Kaito's thoughts and actions.
Rei clutch tightly to the strap on her fur pelt. She had not been able to put it away since pulling it out and she was almost fearful that she'd lose it at the reckless rate they were running away. "Think of something!" she growled, growing irritated.
"I'm thinking!" Kaito shot back as his eyes darted about. Rei saw his eyes fasten on something. He finally had an idea. His eyes had widened in his revelation and her stomach dropped as she put together his intentions.
"Okay, I thought of something." He grabbed onto her waist as he suddenly redirected them towards the edge of the building overlooking one of Water 7's many canals.
"I know," Rei replied. "And now that you know that I know, you now know, if we survive this, why I'm going to kill you." Even in the midst of Kaito's obvious anger, his roguish half-smile spread across his face, though only for a second.
Now there were not a lot of things that truly terrified Rei, but she had a mighty fear of drowning since the incident with that particular Aqua Laguna and the fact that she had lost her ability to swim had not helped quell that fear.
"Kaito~" Rei clutched onto him as she squealed out in fear, they were now free falling downward into the middle an intersection within the canal. She mentally considered the many wonderful ways she was capable of killing Kaito.
"Just hold your breath and be ready to swim." He told her assuringly as he tried to make her loosen her grip. Kaito quickly peered over to see that their pursuer was not following suit. He smirked, knowing that if they played their cards right, they were about to make their escape.
"KAITO!" Rei's frightened tone brought his attention back to her as she tightened her grip around his neck with her arms, yelling into his ear rather girlishly. "I can't SWWIIIIIM!"
Kaito gave her a shocked look as he suddenly tightened his grip on her. "Wait, what?!"
He didn't get any sort of response since the next thing he knew, they hit the water with a loud splash and Rei nearly sank the both of them like a rock. He was grateful enough that she had enough foresight to wrap herself around him as tightly as she had. He quickly adjusted her onto his back, her legs wrapped around his waist as her arms still around his neck. She was nearly frozen into that position, which was just as well.
Knowing now that she couldn't swim and that it might take a while for her to recover from the sudden shock, allowing the man the chance to catch them, Kaito knew he had to swim underwater for a while to make the trail completely cold. He only hoped that Rei had taken a good long, deep breath before they hit the water. He wasted no time, quickly swimming at a well-practiced speed through the canal and even under the streets, which were once the lower floors of the buildings that had flooded due to Aqua Laguna. He didn't realize he had been pushing her air supply until her arms squeezed tightly around his neck and he knew, regardless of if the man found them, he had to go up for air- for Rei's sake.
The first thing he could hear was her coughing and sputtering as she gasped for air. He didn't stay up for long, just long enough to let her catch her breath before diving under for a while longer. He finally let them up in a secluded area of Water 7, a place that had long lost its access through any means but swimming and Yagura Bull. It was the perfect area to regroup and no doubt answer some questions.
He owed her that much, he knew.
Though there was one thing he wanted to know.
"How can you not swim?" He was the first one to talk, seeing as he wasn't like Rei, who sorta looked like a half drowned cat at the moment, clawing her way over to the steps that lead out of the water.
"Because I can't, okay?" Rei snapped between coughs, vomiting some sea water back into the canal as she tried to regain her breath. She was still breathless from their escape and feeling sick from the sea water, but there was one thing she was still in a stupor about and, before Kaito had the chance to ask her about it again, she spoke up.
"That man... that man was Captain Mizushima Roka!" She told Kaito, still looking rather spooked about it. She had never expected to see Roka again...
"How do you know his name?" Kaito was shocked that she would even know his name. The girl was a complete foreigner to their island. She should not have known his name.
"Why was Mizushima-san chasing us?" She demanded to know, slipping back into formalities long since used.
"How do you know my da-" Kaito cut himself off, wincing as he did so because he caught himself too late. The look in Rei's eyes told him that she knew what he had been going to say. She had put the pieces together, and her pitched tone of disbelief made it quite obvious.
"Captain Mizushima Roka is your FATHER!?"
Jiji-Old Man
Kage-Shadow
Kami-God
A/N:With most of the chaos of life being put back to order, we have updated again! We again cannot express enough how grateful for your support and patience in enjoying our story.
Now onto the chapter. Rei finding Gin's poster was a compelling and emotional scene we wanted recapitulate how important Gin is in her life like how we find our family and friends important to us. Since we are in the prequel before canon, we thought Paulie would make a cameo appearance, showing his chasing days started way back. And for the last scene, were you surprised by the connection between Kaito and Roka? Raise your hand if you saw that coming! *Puts Volleys-chan's hands down* Not you, you wrote it. *Volleys-chan sulks in corner*
Kaito's relation to Roka has been a long time coming. We have had that planned since the beginning and we left you hints throughout the chapters, if you want to go look. It all starts when Mizushima Roka was first introduced and when Kaito was introduced as well.
An Omake for the 100th review is still up for grabs and don't forget Volleys-chan's promise to draw something (It's turning out really good), so don't wait too long and good luck.
See you in the next chapter.