Thud!  Thwack!  Slam!
Three figures were thrown out of an alley, crashing into nearby market stalls.
People surrounding the area went into a flurry of panicked Chinese.
A bluenette stepped out of the alley, growling as she narrowed her liquid-sapphire eyes at the unconscious men.
"Bastards..."
She clicked her tongue before walking away, ignoring the panic surrounding her.
She sighed, watching her breath fog up into the air.
Snow fell as she continued to walk away from the scene.
(O.D.D.- Unbolded with underline is Chinese. (^_^))
~~
"Rei-chan~!  I want to try the Chinese sweets here~!"
"Oi~me too~!"
"Pfft...don't act like spoiled children now..."
Rei chuckled as Keshet and Damian were asking her for sweets.
The Headmaster sighed before relenting to them, watching them have a mini celebration before turning the corner to see the market area.
The area was in complete chaos.
"It's those ruffians again!"
"No, I believe it's that woman's fault."
"But she protects the town from delinquents!"
"Yeah?  Well, she threw our town's so-called delinquents into my stall!"
Then there was a tap on the shoulder on one of the stall owners.
"Excuse me..."
The stall owner turned around to meet ruby-red irises.
Rei gave a small smile as she bowed her head slightly; her eyes read the man's name tag: Fan Cheng.
"May I ask what happened?"
The man, Cheng, sighed tiredly as he ran a hair through black locks.
"Well, miss, a crazy woman that lives in our town just messed up our market."
Rei quirked an eyebrow before eyeing the damage.
"Who--"
Bang!
A thug pushed himself up from the rubble, clutching a gun in one hand.
Thankfully, no one was hurt from the random shot.
Two more thugs stood up from the rubble and glared at everything.
The first thug that stood up--he had a dragon tattoo decorating his right arm--spoke and grinded his teeth together.
"Tch, that woman..."
The two other thugs slowly inched towards the buff man.
"Wha-What should we do, Jian?"
The raven glared at the thugs.
"Didn't I tell you to call me 'Boss', you worthless trash?"
The thugs jumped and nodded frantically, apologizing quickly.
Jian clicked his tongue before spotting Rei; he put on a cocky grin.
"Well, well~who's the pretty lady here?"
Rei simply eye-smiled--people couldn't tell what she was feeling at the moment.
"Do you know the name of the person that defeated you?"
Jian twitched at the reminder, but he brushed it off and continued to walk over to where Rei was; the stall owners and other citizens backed away from him.
The raven smirked arrogantly as he towered over Rei, who continued to eye-smile.
"Hey~why don't we forget about that for now?  Would you like to go out?"
Before he could touch her cheek, Rei grabbed his hand by the wrist.
The Headmaster opened her eyes and stared at him coolly.
It seemed that the already snow-filled area got a few more degrees colder.
Rei continued to keep her 'kind' smile up, but her aura said something different.
"Really...I just want to know the name of the person that defeated you.  Nothing more, nothing less."
The Headmaster released Jian's wrist before spinning around, throwing a bag of candy to Keshet and Damian; she found the bag in one of the broken stalls and gave the right amount of money to the owner.
Jian scowled before sneering, aiming his gun at the back of Rei's head as he turned the safety off.
Rei stopped walking.
Everyone, sans Keshet and Damian, stopped breathing, praying for the safety of the white-haired newcomer.
Jian smirked as he started to walk over to Rei.
"What?  Too scared to move now--?"
"Lesson number one in fightin:" Rei slowly craned her head back to look at Jian as golden compasses started to spin in her eyes. "Never, ever, underestimate your opponent."
Jian blinked dumbly and stared at her like an idiot.
That was all the time Rei needed.
In an instant, Rei jabbed the man in the throat, partially crushing the raven's windpipe.
Jian wheezed and stumbled back in shock, clutching his throat before quickly aiming his gun at Rei.
The Headmaster simply closed the distance and grabbed the hand holding the gun.
With a quick twist of the hand, the raven's wrist was snapped in an instant.
If it weren't for his nearly crushed windpipe, Jian would've been howling in pain at the moment.
Rei gazed at the raven coolly before turning around and leaving the man to his subordinates, unexpectedly tossing the gun to Jian, who grasped it with his uninjured hand.
The Headmaster slowly walked away with Keshet and Damian in tow.
But before she left the scene, she gave a few last words to Jian.
"A lesson to remember, Mister Jian.  Always be prepared." Rei turned her head slightly and gave an eye-smile. "Have a good day."
~~
A bluenette sighed once more, rubbing her hand across her face.
Her face twisted in pain as she recalled dark memories.
"You must kill them like this.  One quick snap of the neck."
"Shoot them already.  Isn't this what we're training you for?"
"You have no right to speak against us."
"Kill.  Kill them all--"
Bonk!
The bluenette blinked out of her memories and spotted a gray-haired man rubbing his nose, cursing softly under his breath.
Apparently, the man ran into one of the many building walls.
The bluenette sweatdropped when she found the bandages that were wrapped around his eyes.
'Is he blind?' "Er...are you alright?"
The bluenette mentally face-palmed herself.
'He probably doesn't know Japanese.' "Um--"
"Don't worry.  You don't need to switch languages."
The bluenette blinked in surprise before sweat-dropping when she saw that the man was looking at a wall.
"Okay..." The bluenette glanced around the area. "Shouldn't you have someone watching over you?  Someone traveling with you?  Are you lost?"
The man scoffed, making bird-like flapping motions with his hands by his head.
"I'm not a kid."
Then he paused--as if he realized something.
"Ah.  I lost them."
A tick mark appeared over the bluenette's head; she deadpanned to the other, resisting the urge to face-palm herself.
"You're lost."
"Yep."
This time, the bluenette face-palmed.
"Urgh...come on." The bluenette walked over to the man. "I'll help you find your friends."
The man then turned in her general direction before bowing.
"Thanks!  The name's Dedrick Damian by the way."
The bluenette sighed and rolled her eyes before letting a small smile appear on her face.
"Maki Rayn; it's nice to meet you."
~~
"Oh no!  We lost Moose!"
Keshet was looking around the area with worried, brown orbs.
Rei simply sighed and glanced around the bustling street they were currently in.
"...We might have to put a leash on that man..." The Headmaster ran a hand through her hair as she chuckled. "This is the sixth time already ever since we came here..."
Keshet's eyes then turned into a bright, sunflower-yellow as she started to laugh.
Rei also chuckled before activating her eyes, letting golden compasses spin in her eyes.
Her eyes drifted over the area, trying to find Damian's energy signature.
She then spotted a familiar white glow at the corner of her eye; she turned to it.
'There he is...oh?'
Rei's eyes zeroed on the energy signature next to the white one.
A red and blue energy signature.
The flames represented the person's magic flame, which was fire and water; Rei raised an eyebrow at this.
'A fire and water mage?  What an unexpected mix...'
Her ruby-red eyes then drifted over to the hazy-red color floating around the person, which represented their current emotions.
Rei chuckled softly as she read the mage's current mood.
'She's irritated.'
The Headmaster deactivated her eyes and started to walk over to where her History teacher was with Keshet skipping along behind her.
"Excuse me."
The bluenette beside Damian jumped slightly and turned her gaze to meet Rei's.
"Yes...?"
Rei smiled and pointed towards Damian, who was starting to eat a shared bag of candy with Keshet.
"That's our friend.  Thank you for taking care of him."
The bluenette blinked in surprise before slowly nodding, sensing no lies in the other's voice.
"I see..." Her liquid-sapphire eyes flitted to Damian before settling on Rei once more. "I'll be going then."
"HOLD IT!"
Snagged by her hoodie, the bluenette's head jerked back in surprise.
She whipped her head around and glared at Keshet.
"You nearly choked me!"
The blonde ignored the scathing glare and grinned.
"You're coming with us for a bit!"
"Hah?"
"LET'S GOOOO~!"
"WHAT?!  NO!"
Rei shook her head in amusement as she watched Keshet 'kidnap' the bluenette, who was trying her best to escape from the Art teacher.
The Headmaster then turned to Damian, who was clutching his stomach while laughing hysterically.
"Let's get going.  Keshet's probably dragging her to the inn."
~~
"You...little...crazy...brats...!"
"Oh~!  You can speak Japanese?!"
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"
"BWAHAHAHA!  You're really funny!"
Rayn massaged the temples of her head, cursing softly.
She then flitted her gaze to Rei.
"I'm guessing you're the leader?  Can you knock this crazy kid out for me?"
This caused Damian to wheeze with laughter as he collapsed on the ground.
Rei chuckled.
"Sorry.  I can't knock her out and I'm simply her friend.  I'm no leader." Rei's eyes glowed with mirth. "Why do you think that I'm a leader?"
Rayn huffed and crossed her arms, leaning against the room wall--they were currently in an inn room; she glanced out of the window, watching the snow fall.
"You have the...aura?  I don't know, but you seem to be a leader to me."
With that, the room fell into a comfortable silence--although Keshet and Damian were fighting over candy.
~~
"Here is your first target.  Don't screw up or we'll kill one of your friends."
A man is handing a folder to a small bluenette.
She gazed at the folder blankly before taking it.
The scene changes.
"Hm...good job.  But you failed in the time limit.  Say goodbye to your little friend here."
The man points a gun at a child's head, a blonde girl.
'Bang!'
The scene changes once more.
'Slap!'
The small bluenette touched her swollen cheek and looked up at a brunet boy, who had tears trailing down from his eyes.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT WE'RE DYING!  ALL YOUR FAU--!"
Liquid-sapphire orbs snapped open.
Rayn stared up at the ceiling before taking a shuddering breath.
She slowly sat up, brushing blue locks out of her eyes.
Her eyes drifted around the room seeing that Keshet was asleep--Damian had another room.
Rayn slipped out of bed before walking over to the balcony.
Snow continued to fall, and it crunched softly under the bluenette's bare feet.
"Can't sleep?"
Rayn tensed and fisted her hand as she turned to the voice.
She then relaxed when it was Rei, unclenching her fist.
Rayn scoffed and crossed arms, leaning against the rail with her back facing it.
"Don't do that.  You scared the poop out of me--appearing randomly like that."
Rei simply smiled.
The two watched the snow fall, clouds parting slightly to reveal a starry sky.
After a few second of silence, Rayn turned to look at Rei and spoke.
"What are you doing up?"
"Hmm...waiting for the sunrise."
Rayn couldn't help but give an incredulous look towards Rei.
"You'd be awake for that?"
Rei smiled.
"Well...it's a wonderful sight," The Headmaster glanced up at the sky. "A beautiful picture where the darkness recedes and light fills the entire sky."
Rayn stared at Rei with surprise.
"You'll see it someday!  Where the darkness recedes and light fills the entire sky!  It's called a sunrise!"
"Maki-san?"
Rayn snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Rei, who had concern lining her face.
The bluenette scowled before looking to the side.
"Call me Rayn--without the honorifics please."
"...Okay."
Rei continued to watch Rayn before turning the gaze back to the sky.
"Oh, look."
Rayn blinked her eyes before looking at the sky.
Slowly, the black night seeped away.
Blue and orange started to fill the sky.
Golden light reflected off of the freshly fallen snow, causing the town to have an unearthly, but beautiful, glow.
As the sun slowly spread warmth over the town, Rei and Rayn watched the sunrise in silence.
~~
"Heeeeey!  You can't leave, ya' jerk!"
A tick mark appeared on Rayn's forehead as she scowled at a teary-eyed Keshet, who was clutching her leg.
"I'm not a jerk!"
Rei chuckled before prying Keshet off of Rayn's leg.
"Keshet, Rayn needs to go now."
"Noooooo!"
Rayn sweat-dropped as Rei held Keshet in an arm lock.
Rei ignored Keshet's struggling and smiled in the bluenette's direction.
"Take care of yourself now."
Rayn quirked her lips up at that and nodded back.
"Thanks..."
With that, the bluenette left the trio and went on in her own direction.
When Rayn was gone from view, Rei released Keshet.
"Rei-chan!  We could've recruited her!"
Rei slowly shook her head.
"...She has too many shadows in her eyes right now.  Let her deal with her past first."
~~
Rayn turned the corner to enter another alley, finding a group of thugs in front of her.
She sighed exasperatedly as they slowly surrounded her.
One of the thugs walked up to her, smirking arrogantly.
"Here to get a beating?"
Rayn scoffed.
"I believe I was the one that whooped your butts."
The thugs were irked and glared at the bluenette.
BANG!
Rayn watched in surprise as one of the thugs collapsed.
A bullet.
Straight through the head.
A clean kill.
Instincts kicked in, and Rayn found cover--behind a trash bin--before a rain of bullets came down.
All of the thugs fell, a small bullet-sized hole in the head or heart.
After the barrage of bullets, silence filled the air.
Rayn held her breath as her eyes scanned the alley from her hiding spot.
Soon enough, footsteps were heard, and shadows drifted into the alley.
Slowly pulling a pocket knife out, Rayn crouched down into a ready position.
Unexpectedly, a can came rolling into view before Rayn could jump into the scene.
'What the...?'
Suddenly, smoke burst from the can, quickly spreading throughout the alley.
Rayn blinked in confusion, but it was only for a split second until realization flooded her face.
'Shoot!  This is--!'
The bluenette fell to one knee as she covered her mouth.
Rayn's vision blured as she slumped against the wall, eyes drooping.
'Tch!  Sleeping gas!'
Footsteps were heard once more, and a figure appeared in front of her.
Rayn struggled to keep her eyes open as the figure spoke.
When she heard the voice, her blood went cold.
"Hello again, Kōu."
(O.D.D.- 'Kōu' means 'Rainfall'.  This is pretty much Rayn's code name. (｡-_-｡))
~~
"Rei-chan?  What's wrong?"
"..."
Rei had paused in eating her bowl of noodles and gazed at the sky distantly.
Her eyes activated as she slowly stood up, setting her lunch down with a few bills on the side.
"Thanks for the food."
"Please come again!"
Keshet and Damian quickly finished their bowls as they also set a few bills on the side, following the Headmaster out of the small restaurant.
As the trio walked away from the restaurant, Rei called over her shoulder to her companions.
"Well, Keshet, Damian...we can pick Rayn up now."
In return, Keshet and Damian grinned.
~~
"Ugh...."
Liquid-sapphire slowly fluttered open before snapping to attention.
Rayn narrowed her eyes when she realized that she was in a jail cell of sorts.
She sat up and tried to walk to the bars of the cell.
Clank!
Rayn blinked in surprise before looking down at her hands; she sighed exasperatedly.
'Tch, handcuffs.'
The shiny 'bracelets' also had a long chain connected to the wall she was leaning against before.
Rayn tugged at her chain before raising an eyebrow.
'This chain...is pretty weak.'
Rayn stepped back slightly and glanced out of her cell.
The hall was clear.
Rayn smirked before looking at her handcuffs.
'Okay...one, two...three.'
She tugged her hands swiftly, detaching the chain from the wall.
Rayn then tested her handcuffs.
'Hm...these are weak too.  Are they underestimating me?'
The bluenette frowned before breaking the handcuffs by yanking her hands apart.
Rayn rubbed her wrists before glancing out of her cell again.
Still clear.
Rayn was about to touch her cell bars before a considering look appeared on her face.
She glanced back at her broken handcuffs on the floor before grabbing a piece of it.
The bluenette inspected the small piece of metal for a moment before flicking it at the bars.
BZZZT!
Just as she had expected--the bars released a large amount of electricity once the piece of metal made contact with the bars.
Rayn sighed before channeling fire magic to her hands.
She ignored the slight tingle in her hands when they made contact with bars.
The bluenette narrowed her eyes as she gripped the bars, melting them slightly.
She pulled the bars apart to make enough space for her to exit through.
Clunk!
Rayn slowly blinked her eyes before craning her head to the right as she stopped midway out of the cell, hands still on the bars.
A cup of coffee was rolling on the ground, contents spilled on the concrete floor.
Her eyes then trailed upwards.
A fat man, trembling, stared at her with disbelief.
"H-How did you get o-out?!"
Rayn smirked before fully exiting her cell, she cracked her knuckles as she 'smiled' at her apparent 'babysitter'.
"Oh~it didn't take much." Rayn's 'smile' widened. "Now, I need you to take a small 'nap', 'Kay?"
~~
Rayn drifted through the halls, staying close to the shadows.
Her thoughts drifted back to the man that spoke when she was knocked out; she grit her teeth.
'It's that bastard!'
Her hands shook slightly as she recalled dark memories.
An assassin.
That's what Rayn was.
She was captured as a child, forced to be trained as an assassin...or someone precious to her would die.
Rayn took a shuddering breath.
Her parents have already suffered the punishment of her failure.
~~
"Heehee~!  I haven't done this much sneaking around for a while!"
"Keshet..."
"Hai, hai~I'll keep quiet, Rei-chan~!"
Rei chuckled softly before glancing down the hallways.
Sneaking in was quite easy.
The security was pretty low, so the enemy must be either cocky, strong, or stupid.
Rei looked around a corner and spotted a camera.
Luckily, it was looking in a different direction at the moment.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
Rei blinked in surprise.
'I'm positive we're out of the camera's sight...'
She looked back at her companions.
Keshet and Damian were midway in eating their candies.
"It's just a coincidence!"
Rei's eyes twinkled in amusement at Keshet's response.
Soon enough, a speaker came on as a gravelly voice spoke.
"Attention.  Kōu has escaped.  Capture her alive."
Footsteps were heard, and guards came dashing into view.
Then they spotted our trio; they froze.
"Who are you?!"
Rei sighed, about to pull a dagger out of her sleeve, but she was stopped by her Art teacher.
Keshet clapped a hand on the Headmaster's shoulder, grinning as she jerked a thumb at Damian and herself.
Understanding the message, Rei disappeared in a glow of icy-blue flames, leaving the fight to her friends.
Keshet and Damian wore similar grins as they turned to look at their opponents.
"Let's go wild, Moose!"
"Sure thing!"
~~
"Oh, there you are."
"Gah!"
Rayn clutched the area where her heart was as she glared at Rei, who was looking at her cheerfully.
"Didn't I tell you to stop doing that?!"
Rei simply smiled before walking over to her, frowning slightly with concern.
"Are you alright?"
Rayn froze at the question.
'When was the last time someone asked me that...?'  "Yeah, I'm alright."
Rei smiled brightly before walking ahead of the bluenette.
"Good.  Let's go beat up that man now."
"Eh?"
Rei eye-smiled at Rayn as a dark aura surrounded her.
"I can see that that man has also tormented you." The Headmaster opened her eyes to reveal golden compasses. "That man is a leader of an illegal assassin-raising group.  I've heard of him before and I am...furious with his actions."
Rei eye-smiled once more as Rayn sweat-dropped.
'I can't read her at all...'
~~
"You haven't found her yet?!"
"We're sorry, sir!  It seems that Kōu has a few accomplices!"
"'Accomplices'?  Just kill them!"
"Yes--ARGH!"
"Oi!"
"....Hey~Moose!  I found a phone!"
"Really?  Let me see it."
"...."
"Oh~Mr. Bad-guy is on the phone."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Oh........HEY YOU BUTT-HEAD!  WE'RE GONNA KICK YOUR ARSE FOR KIDNAPPING ONE OF OUR FRIENDS!  YOU BETTER GET READY CUZ' WE'RE GOING TO--!"
'Mr. Bad-guy' shut off his phone, glaring at it harshly as he rubbed his abused ear.
~~
Rei and Rayn quickly headed to the main control room of the building.
When they reached the door, Rei let Rayn kick the door down.
Bang!
The startled 'Mr. Bad-guy' looked at Rayn with surprise before flitting his gaze to Rei for a millisecond.
"H-How-?!"
"Shut your trap, Osamu."
The man, Osamu, trembled and scrambled backwards.
Rayn stepped towards the man behind the desk as Rei stood at the doorway.
Suddenly, Osamu smirked.
Click.
Rayn widened her eyes as she  spun around to look behind her.
"Don't move, Kōu!  Or your friend's head gets blown off!"
A brunet was currently aiming a gun at the side of Rei's head; he was glaring at Rayn.
Rayn's eyes filled up with pain.
"...Junichi..."
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT--!"
The brunet sneered.
Rayn sighed before fully turning around to face the other.
"You actually decided to join them?"
"Shut up!  It's because of you that all of our friends died!"
Rayn flinched as Junichi smirked darkly.
"...And I'll do the same to this one here."
Rayn widened her eyes as the safety was turned off.
"STOP--!"
BANG!
Everyone blinked with surprise as the shot phased right through Rei's head.
"Hm...you're not very sharp, are you?"
Junichi widened his eyes in surprise and spun around to face the Headmaster.
Rei was twirling a pistol on her index finger.
It was then that Junichi noticed that his gun was gone.
"H-How?"
Rei made a very bland smile.
"Simple.  You're just too slow."
'She's fast enough to create an afterimage of herself?!'
Rei then gazed at the brunet cooly, causing the two enemies in the room to shiver.
"I rather not have you blame one of my new teachers for something she hasn't done.  It wouldn't make me very happy."
In a flash, Rei knocked Junichi out with a heavy punch to the gut.
The brunet was out in an instant.
Rei then crushed the pistol in her hand before tossing it to the side, she smiled towards Rayn.
"I believe you can handle the rest of this.  I'll be waiting outside with the others."
Rei waved over her shoulder as she exited the room.
Rayn blinked in surprise before a small smile slowly spread across her face.
"Thanks."
Rayn then turned to Osamu, who looked like he pooped his pants.
The bluenette cracked her knuckles as she slowly walked towards the man.
"I'm not gonna kill you, but I'll give you quite the beating~!"
The Osamu wished he could've fainted right then and there.
~~
"Come with us."
"Eh?"
Rei smiled softly at Rayn dumbfounded expression.
"I need more teachers, so I want you to come with us."
Rayn's mouth opened and closed repeatedly before her lips slowly formed an amused smile.
"Sure.  Why not."
"Yaaaaaaay!  Rayn-chan's coming with us!"
"Woo-hoooo!  Fist-bump, Keshet."
"Heck yeah, Moose!"
"SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU CRAZY IDIOTS!"