37. Stand

Drew Cite

"What the-" a girl, M.M, opened the door to the room, "Mukuro-sama, the guy's awake!" she called for someone on the other side of the room.

When Mukuro followed into the room, he eyes me amusedly.

"Did you enjoy that dream?" he mocks, a taunting smile on his face.

I eyed him. And instantly-- I flipped. My hands in support, I swung my feet into the air. I brought the heel of my foot towards Mukuro's face--

Mukuro's eyes widened for a moment, but he stepped back just enough to dodge it.

Tutting, I swerved back into a crouching position. Mukuro's smile grew slightly. He was getting increasingly excited now.

"What a surprise," he muses, "You still have the ability to move?" he wonders. He contemplates and he observes, but can't seem to put a finger on how I did it.

I stood up calmly.

"How did you escape the illusion?" Mukuro decided to ask.

I groaned. He was acting careless because he did not feel any bloodlust and hostility from me. However, he was actually on full guard, and would react immediately if I did anything else suspicious. That was the correct and wiser choice.

And so, I returned the smile like Ninomiya Rei would.

"Thinking about it realistically. Hell's just a place where you experience the pain of death over and over again." My answer came our surprisingly fluid and honest. "That does sound scary, actually."

Who was speaking? Drew? Rei?

What am I saying? We're one, and at the same time, we're not. When paradoxes like that occur-- it's fine to just leave it alone, no?

"But it's probably.. Convenient, I could say." I grinned, happily. "I've gotten a greater view of who exactly you are, and let's just say I've probably grown to like you."

Mukuro eyed me weirdly.

I chuckled in response. "I haven't been to hell either, so I'm sorry to say that I still can't sympathize with you." My smile drooped a little sadly, "but if we're talking about experiencing the pain of death,"

Black flames enveloped me.

Then I grinned. I could almost feel the temperature in the room drop a little. I grin a closed-eyed grin, wide and toothy; a Cheshire grin that almost wanted to eat everyone up rather than say hello.

Mukuro's eyes went wide, taken aback by the change in the male before him.

"You're... not Ninomiya Rei, are you?"

I dismissed his question.

"If we're talking about experiencing the pain of death," I repeated, delightedly, "I'm pretty sure I've got my fair share of that."

--------

Miura Haru

Miura Haru was an outgoing and nosy girl. They may be considered bad traits, but it was just another part of her charm.

So when she spotted a young girl ducking around like she's on a stalking mission, Haru gets curious. Even more so if the young girl was a familiar face.

The girl, around twelve years of age, her long, black hair sprawled around messily unlike her usual half-ponytail hairstyle-- she looked around frantically, as if she was worried about something around her.

But Haru decided to call her out.

"Hm? Oh, Sui-chan!" she smiled, approaching the girl, "What are you doing here?" she questions innocently.

Sui jumps, letting out a soft shriek in surprise. She snaps back and sighs in relief as she notices who had spoke to her.

"Ha-Haru-san," she greets nervously, "I'm- not particularly... Doing anything at the moment..." she avoided her eyes, not liking eye contact or social contact in general, "Wh-What about you, Haru-san?"

Haru swooned. She's cute!

"I was just running an errand for my mother." she explained, crouching down to eye level, "Sui-chan, are you perhaps lost?"

Haru's expressions fell into a sad one as she thought about it. She had heard about Rei going missing just the day before, so it was worrying to know that Sui wasn't with Kyoko.

It was probably luck that Haru managed to find her.

"I..." Sui spoke up hesitantly, "I wanna go home." she admitted, looking as if she was gonna cry just speaking.

"Home?" Haru asked, keeping up her curious facade, "Why? Do you not like Kyoko-chan's house?"

At that, Sui frantically shook her head, "No, It's not that!" Sui said in a loud tone Haru didn't know she had.

"Then, why?" Haru smiled softly now.

"I..." a tear slipped out of her eye, and she sniffles, "I thought that Rei-chan might be at home by now..." she mumbled, rubbing another tear away, "Rei-chan promised..."

And what followed was full blown crying. Haru didn't know what to do.  Sae was nowhere to be seen and Kyoko was definitely worried about Sui's disappearance.

And so, Haru took action.

"Then, Sui-chan," she beamed, pumping a fist, "Wanna follow Haru on a quest to search for Rei-san?" she suggested in a dramatic tone.

Sui perked up curiously. "Quest...?" she questions the unfamiliar word.

"Let's go look for Rei-san together!" Haru extended a hand, a bright, friendly smile on her face.

Sui wiped her tears away again. Search for Rei together. She had wanted to do it herself-- because Sae would have told her not to go.

Sae would definitely tell Sui not to go, because Sae was the smarter one and Sae always knew better. Sui knew that all the older people she knew would tell her to go back to Kyoko's house too.

But Haru was different.

Haru was nice.

Haru was kind.

Haru did not tell her to turn back.

And so, Sui hesitantly reached out for the offered hand.

"I wanna go with Haru..."

-------

Rokudo Mukuro

Mukuro knew that the entity called Ninomiya Rei was abnormal, like him. He smelled of death, and his-- aura-- was much like someone who has gone past hell.

But this-- was a little out of expectations.

The child changed. Changed... into someone else. And now that Mukuro thought about it, that aura came from this side of Ninomiya Rei.

A pitch black aura... Much like those prison guards he was stuck with before. And this was not the aura he wanted to see.

Rough fighting was never Mukuro's Forte. However, this child was a ball of nothing but reflexes. Mukuro could win even without illusions.

He landed a hard kick right into Ninomiya Rei's rib.

The boy gasped in pain, doubling over in what seemed like agony. He coughed and coughed, as if he had choked on something--

Until Mukuro realized Ninomiya Rei was hacking out a particularly familiar, thick, red liquid.

It's over, Mukuro thought. That guy's not in any state to fight anymore.

Sighing, Mukuro turned away in light disappointment. He had expected something interesting, but it seems he did not have the opportunity to witness it.

"Hehe,"

Mukuro heard soft laughter. The coughing had ceased, and in place of it was the dry, dead chuckle, coming from the boy.

Ninomiya Rei was chuckling. He began to giggle, he began to laugh. He staggered but lifted himself up, trembling and broken like a mannequin on strings--

"What on earth are you, actually?" Mukuro decided to ask, half in disgust and half in amusement.

Ninomiya Rei smiled. An innocent, angelic smile that emitted rays of purity.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Drew Cite."

...what?

He chuckled again. "Well, are we gonna keep fighting?"