JACE

Upon arriving at Rai's apartment complex, the eight of us follow her up the giant pathway made of cement that has railing running along the side and resembles a stairway, but there are giant slabs of cement that stretch several feet instead of simple stairs. At the very top resides two lamp posts with round lights at the top of the posts and Rai grabs her keys out of her pocket before putting them in the door and unlocking it.

"Wow," Essence breathes out as she peers out around Reece's shoulder and into the apartment complex.

"Thanks," Rai laughs out as we enter her apartment and right away step foot on the dark grey tile floor that has splotches of black mixed in the stone here and there and several wooden bookshelves lining the dark grey walls with white trim.

She has a small table by the front door that she tosses her keys and mail on, and there's also a coat rack on the other side of the door. A few feet in the tile gets separated by a thin line of silver metal that marks the barrier between the entryway and the kitchen's light, tan, linoleum floor. Her kitchen consists of white walls, a bar with black marble for a countertop and three stools visible from the doorway, as well as counters that surround the bar that are made of black marble and cabinets that match the white wood, and a stainless steel sink. She also has a dark grey stove with black accents and a black microwave resting on one of the back counters close to the stove and her stainless steel fridge. She also has three lights hanging above the bar and a thin, see-through vase with a single rose in the center of the bar.

"I have three bedrooms and two bathrooms," Rai says, "There are two bedrooms and a bathroom to the left and the other bedroom and bathroom are over to the right. You can take your pick, but I usually stay in the one that's on the right."

"But that means there are three of us without a bed," I say.

"We can take turns sleeping," Clattonia says, "it's no big deal."

"Alright, fair enough," I say.

"I'm gonna go pick a room..." Lucian mumbles as he walks off to the left and Rai goes to the bar and stands on the side opposite to the stools so that she's facing us and she leans her elbows on the counter and rests her face in her hands.

"He really needs to lighten up," Rai sighs, "oh, and you guys can help yourselves to anything."

"I don't mean to pry," I start as I watch Rai's expression carefully, "but what's up with him?"

"He's just bummed out. I presume you know who Nightshade is? Well, Lucian wanted to become an ace detective like our father and he was well on his way to doing so, but he ended up falling for Nightshade. Obviously, Father didn't take well to it seeing as Lucian was his favorite prodigy and that Nightshade is a master thief and poison mistress. Therefore, our father disowned him. In the end, Nightshade ended up using him and left him heartbroken. He was left without a girlfriend and without a father," Rai explains, "but I'm still here for him."

"What about your mother?" I ask cautiously, fearing that it might be a sensitive topic.

"Oh," Rai waves her right hand before leaning more into her left hand and smiling lopsidedly, "she remarried whenever Lucian was five and I was eight. She really doesn't keep in contact with us, but she sends us cards every so often and presents on our birthdays. Our father was too immersed with his work and she felt neglected and stressed because she was the only one who was taking care of us, so she left him. I suppose there's a difference between being passionate about your work and living in it. Granted, he was never a bad father to us whenever we were young. I don't know if I can say the same now, but he just wants what's best in his eyes. Sadly, what he thinks is best isn't always the best. After all, he disowned his own son."

"Thank you for telling my life story," Lucian snorts as he walks back out and Rai rolls her eyes.

"He asked nicely and I respect him, so why not? Besides, he came with you, so you obviously can't mind him too much," Rai says.

"I beg to differ," Reece mumbles and Essence elbows him in the ribs as I glare at him.

"Guys, be nice," Juniper chides as she frowns slightly.

"I think it's funny," Kazuki snickers.

"You just love opening your mouth, don't you?" A feminine voice comes from the left side of the apartment and out walks a girl with long, dark violet hair that's almost magenta looking and deep blue eyes in contrast to Kazuki's icy blue ones, "I guess they were right."

"Who're you?" Kazuki narrows his eyes at the strange girl before they flicker over to a deep red haired male with brown eyes who walks up to stand beside her and suddenly Kazuki's eyes widen in realization, "Ryouichi?"

"Kazuki," Ryouichi smiles sadly, "it's good to finally see you again."

"And that means that," Kazuki's eyes drift over to the strange girl, "you're Mitsuko..."

"That is correct," Mitsuko nods.

"Hell no," Kazuki shakes his head and he takes a few steps backwards only to bump into Caliber who watches him blankly and pushes him forwards towards Ryouichi and Mitsuko.

"You will talk to them," Caliber says authoritatively and something in Kazuki's eyes seems to shift around and he swallows before turning to look back at Ryouichi and Mitsuko before flickering back to Caliber and scanning her over.

"Damn..." Kazuki mutters under his breath and scans down her black combat dress with black thigh-highs and tall black boots as she stands there with her hands on her hips and a firm expression on her face, "fine."

Reece raises a brow at the spectacle and I exchange a glance with Clattonia, who simply shrugs.

Ryouichi motions for Kazuki to come over to them and he reluctantly complies, following the two of them into Rai's bedroom with the door shutting behind them.

"Well," Rai says and breaks the silence, "now that that's over, you guys can do whatever you want. You might want to go pick rooms and unpack first though."

"Right," Clattonia nods and heads off to the left to choose a room.

"I chose the room with blue walls," Lucian calls out to Clattonia and the others who follow her, being Reece, Essence, and Juniper, "by the way."

"Thanks," Reece says and waves his right hand sharply as he continues walking.

I sigh as Caliber walks over to one of the stools and sits down, placing her bag on the floor beside her in the process, and Lucian takes another one of the three stools. I walk over to the bar and take the last empty stool, which is the middle one, and Rai smiles at me.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why is it that you respect me?" I ask Rai.

"Oh, that's an easy one," Rai says and smiles brightly, "you work in White Rabbit with your father, yet your opinion is extremely different than his, at least, it should be if you're with my brother and his friends. I work with my father too, and while he may be Supernatural like me, the rest of my department isn't. It's extremely difficult to work with people when you can't be yourself all the time. And sometimes I overhear things that make me feel uneasy inside because of the opinions of some of my coworkers. Thankfully, I have Daemon. Daemon isn't Supernatural, but he knows what I am and he respects me and doesn't judge me. He cares for me, well, for me. His father left them whenever he was little and ever since he was able to he took care of his mom. His mom is Supernatural, but he didn't inherit any abilities from her, so I suppose he has Supernatural blood, but otherwise that's it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I respect you for remaining true to your own values and realizing what they are and still managing to work in a place like that. Although, I don't see why you don't just leave."

"But, my father--"

"Hm?" Rai tilts her head slightly, "who cares what your father thinks as long as you're happy and doing what you believe is right and not hurting anyone? I'm sure that my father doesn't approve of me having contact with Lucian, but I love him, so I'm not going to abandon him just because my father wants me to."

"I suppose you have a point..." I trail off and become lost in thought as Lucian smiles sadly at Rai.

"Excuse me," Caliber starts, "but...can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Rai asks.

"Do you think that Kazuki is capable of being like he once was?" Caliber asks quietly.

"I'm sorry?" Rai blinks and appears taken aback for a few seconds.

"It is just," Caliber frowns slightly, "you're the profiler, the analyst, and the detective. I was perhaps wondering what your thoughts are on him."

"Oh," Rai says and pauses for a few moments, "well, I don't know what he used to be like, but, I can tell that he hurt you, regardless. Kazuki Rin has...hurt...a lot of people, but I believe that a part of him still resides within him that is the part of him that you loved. However, people and things change. Sometimes the people we love become people that are hard to recognize in comparison to who they once were, whether good or bad. It's best to cherish the memories that were spent together whenever the bad happens, but to not give up on them either. I don't believe in giving up on people, but sometimes you have to learn when enough is enough and that you've done all that you can possibly do. Which is often hard for me because I refuse to ever give up or think that things are impossible. But, either way, I hope that helps you and gives you some guidance."

"Thank you..." Caliber trails off and smiles slightly, "that was very wise and indeed helpful."

As I gaze over at Caliber, I wonder if Kazuki really knows just what he let go of all those years ago, and if he does, then I hope he regrets it.