101. Juncture

He stretched his limbs out. Cracking a few loose knuckles, Popping a few air pockets-- he turned to the white-haired man on the other hospital bed.

"Thanks," he could only say.

The man smiled, dismissing the grateful speech, "No worries. You should get going," he ushered.

Pulling on his jacket, he turned to his belongings by the bedside table. Picking up his sword, he hung it by the strap over his shoulder. His hands going towards the metal rock deformity on the desk, he held it in his hands.

For everyone, he faintly thought, And for Rei.

In Yamamoto's hand, the ore of the Vongola Rain Gear burst into blue flames.

-

Varia

"HARH??" Squalo raised his voice, "That masochistic brat got fuckin' caught?" Exasperated, his eyebrows twitching in anger, he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

Nono nodded, "It is what we've heard."

"Oh dear," Lussuria sighed, resting his chin on his palm, pouting. "What a predicament."

Levi tutted. Turning away, he secretly felt a little glad. He never really liked the kid anyways, so if he dies here, that's one big problem out of his future.

As cruel as that may sound, Ninomiya Rei didn't belong anywhere in the bloody Varia.

Here, Belphegor laughed. "Ushishishi, I wonder if he's dead." he giggled ominously, incredibly amused, "Maybe he'll be dead before he comes back."

Mammon was silent, uninterested by the turn of events. He did not particularly feel anything for the kid, so that only concern he would have to Rei's death was the amount owing.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Unexpectedly, Squalo yelled in anger,  fists banging tables and voice raised about levels of 'ear-piercing'. "He fuckin' ridiculed me! he still has the last laugh, I ain't letting him fucking die just yet!"

This made Lussuria perk up with a little amusement. Finally, someone else in this group that wants the kid to live!

"Look, this here's the deal:" Squalo decided, "If he wants my approval to join," he growled, "He better fuckin' come back alive."

-

Drew

Ducking sharply to the right, Drew lunged forward. Curling up and rolling forward, he made distance before leaping onto his feet.

No time to rest just yet.

The next chain came right at his face-- bending down back and far, he narrowly dodged it. Without another moment of hesitation he had to swerve right and leap onto the branch of a tree.

The Vindice weren't holding back, chain after chain shooting toward him and aiming to capture. The chains were coated with Night flames, so dodging them weren't easy either.

A black chain wrapped out his left wrist-- he froze for half a moment in surprise-- then everything was just enveloped all at once. Heavy chains curled around the whole of him, a gust of wind blasting past to his back-- then spinning right back around to hook onto him.

Digging his feet into earth, Drew stood firm. The tight grip on his wrist was painfully familiar, but Drew bit back the memory.

The chains were heavy and Drew found herself struggling to stand.

She internally swore.Fuck, fuck-- his foot lost hold and now he was getting closer and closer to the Vindice-- the Vendicare Prison, she recalled, trapped in that cylindrical prison, for years on end; eternity even-- is that how you want to spend the rest of your second life?

Fuck no.

Who the fuck would?

The one suffering wouldn't be me, she realized, the one suffering would be-- she whined, trying to hold back a cry, the one suffering would be Rei, not me!

And it wouldn't even be his fault.

If I wasn't here-- If I didn't have those flames, if I didn't exist-- Rei wouldn't have had to suffer so much.

It's all my fault. I'm the primary cause of Rei's suffering.

Why does Rei have to cry because of what I've gone through? He'd done nothing to deserve this. Why did I have to constantly barge in to ruin his happiness?

And suddenly Drew was filled to the brim with rage. Regret. Intense grief. Hatred and Malice. 

For who? For herself.

If Rei didn't have me, would he still exist?

If he existed even without me, would he have been miserable like so?

Or would he have lived a normal, happier life?

Drew choked back a cry. I hate it so much, she mourned, I hate my ambiguous existence.

Lifting her head with one resolved glare, her body flared up with flames that shone a deep, eerie black.

But I hate the Vindice even more, for making my Rei suffer like this.

-

Sae

"Here you go, Sae-chan." Shamal, pushing the served parfait toward the younger girl, gave her a friendly smile, "It's my treat."

"Thanks, Jamal-san!" Sae grinned back, taking it gladly.

Just about ten minutes ago, Shamal found Sae wandering about the shopping district alone, and as he approached her Shamal got to know the girl had lost her way.

"Sui was missing from the house when I woke up, so I went to find her and," she took another spoonful of cream, "Realized I didn't know where she went."

Shamal chuckled. "It's alright, I've called around and Sui-chan's headed this way now."

Sae nodded gratefully.

Shamal watched the girl as she ate, sipping on his coffee calmly as he did.

It was peaceful, and being able to sit around with a young girl was pleasant. Not only because Sae was cute, but also because Sae's cheerful demeanor could finally bring some flowers and sunshine into his gloomy day.

But today, Shamal found Sae to be dull as well.

The girl may be smiling, but it quickly died down every now and then, just to pull back up moments later. The girl seemed hesitant, her eyes darted around all over the place as if she was nervous and had something to say.

Shamal wanted to speak up, but Sae did so first.

"Shamal-san," Sae spoke up, putting her spoon down,

She had called his name correctly, Shamal realized. For some reason, having his name called correctly made his stomach drop in dread. He felt a sinister presence boil him from within.

Sae's face was stern and serious, her eyes sharp almost in anger--

"Shamal-san, are you a Mafioso, too?" Sae asked slowly, her eyes not leaving the adult. Her eyes firm and her mere words a weapon of threat--

Bloodlust...? Shamal was beyond surprised. Looking down, he realized his fingers were shaking, trembling at the words of one little girl.

He composed himself, and his eyes narrowed as well.

"Yeah," he answered casually, as he would to another adult, "I am."

Who on earth is this girl?