~Several days earlier~

"I'm taking her to the other building." A blunt voice stated as the owner casually leaned against the wall, his bandaged foot resting against it.

The training with Jiro had already ended, meaning I successfully learned all the basics of weaponry. Of course I wasn't an inhuman beast who could shoot a needle from miles away like him, but I already defended myself pretty good with it. I was surprised when Ryuu volunteered to train me next, which had even Shin watching his every move with a wary expression, and now I clearly understand why.

There was an uncomfortable silence looming over the room, all gazes locked warily on the lilac haired boy who seemed to brush them off with ease.

"I'm sorry," Jiro cut in, an amused chuckle leaving his lips. "I thought I heard you say you were taking Emi to the other building." He finished, daring Ryuu to repeat himself. The boy in question only smirked at the blond, enjoying the act of taunting Jiro. 

"That's what I said. You got a problem with that?"

"Actually, yeah. There's no way in hell you're taking Emi there. For all we know you could try to murder her in her sleep again." Jiro said with a sweet smile, casually squaring up a few inches away from the lilac one. Ryuu pushed himself off the wall and positioned himself right in front of him.

"Tough luck, Barbie. I already got it approved by Madam." he shifted his gaze to me for a split second. "Besides, Emi has to be really stupid to fall for that again."

"Hey Shin," Jiro called out. "Can you believe what this idiot it saying?"

Shin's gaze tore off from where it had previously been, his lips pursing together. Probably because he was paying too much attention to me playing with his fingers and didn't hear half of what they were saying.

"Yep." he replied with a shrug.

"And what have you got to say about that?" Jiro asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.

I caught Shin's lips twitching up ever so slightly as he bluntly stated, "Dang."

"Dang?" I furrowed my eyes in confusion.

"Dang." He reaffirmed, trowing himself back onto the mattress. "There's not much we can do about it. Madam A did say we were allowed to do anything as long as we trained her."

"Points for Ryuu." The lilac boy's smirk widened. "Any more complaints?"

"Emi!" Jiro tried again. "Are you okay with this? You'll be alone with Ryuu for God knows how long, what if something happens to you?"

"Nothing Ryuu will do to me can compare to what Rei is going through right now. The faster I learn, the faster I get to see him, so please just let me go." I whispered.

I saw Jiro's jaw clench as he turned to Ryuu who held a victorious look.

"Well would you look at that," Ryuu mocked a gasp. "She said yes!"

"Shut up." Jiro growled as he stomped over to his mattress. "She better not be hurt when you guys get back."

"Whatever." Ryuu rolled his eyes as he turned and walked towards the door. "Let's just get this over with."

I slowly stood up from beside Shin, giving him a small smile before slowly walking towards the exit. Just as I was about to go, I turned around to face the boys. "Wish me luck guys."

"Nah, you better wish Ryuu luck if I find out he did something to you." Jiro grumbled.

"You'll do fine. That idiot is just overreacting." Shin said as he flashed me a thumbs up.

~~
~Actual time: after Ryuu's training~

The building we had moved to was connected to our original one, but this one looked like it had recently held some sort of human life not long ago. The fresh batch that had been previously here was moving to the main building, and Ryuu wanted to get away from that as much as possible. That's why he volunteered to take me to the now unused building.

The place in general was a lot like the main building, although slightly smaller. It had the same narrow hallways with mysterious doors, the faint scent of humidity and the gloomy aura emmiting from the walls.

"So, if there was a batch here, who watched over them?" I asked once we entered the bedroom we were going to stay in.

"Madam has different people running her buildings. She only stays in the main one, but her workers shift through buildings, training batches until they're ready to go to the main one." Ryuu answered as he let his body fall back onto a random mattress.

"This sure is a whole lot bigger than Mama's place." I sighed as my eyes trailed over my body. "Hey Ryuu, is there a hose or something nearby?"

I was still covered in dirt and dry blood, so much that you could barely catch a glimpse of my sickly pale skin. I ran a dirty nail along my arm, picking at the dry substance in an attempt to clean myself off a bit.

"Ryuu?"

"I'm tired." He grumbled, his arm coming up to cover his eyes. "Leave me alone."

"You're tired? I'm the one who almost died!"

"That's because you suck at fighting." He retorted. I squinted my eyes at him before bringing my fist and connecting it with his stomach, making him gasp in surprise and double over, his hands clutching his abdomen.

"Do I?"

"Ouch." He shot me a murderous glare. "You can clean yourself tomorrow. Let me rest."

"Easy for you to say! You're not covered in blood!" I growled at him. He rolled his eyes before directing me a pointed look.

"Fine. Just don't bug me for the rest of the night."

I responded with an eye roll of my own as I waited for Ryuu to get up. The idiot was taking his sweet time, purposely moving with slow steps as he got up.

We made our way towards the door, walking across the hallway until we came upon the closest door which Ryuu pushed open with ease. He stepped inside and I quickly followed, trying to avoid being crushed by the big wooden piece.

The room was just like the one on the main building, maybe a bit smaller. Multiple hoses were connected to the walls, just enough for each batch, and the walls were a light yellow color, different from the blue tiles back at Mama's. Other than that there was nothing special about it, just an empty room with hoses.

"I'm not even that dirty." Ryuu mumbled as his hands skimmed through his purple locks.

"Stop whining." I rolled my eyes. "I'm more than capable of strangling you with the hose."

"Try it, little Emi." Ryuu gave me a playful shove.

"Hey!" I glared at him as I tried to grab his hand, but he was too fast and pulled it away just in time.

"Stop wasting time with your lame attempts to one up me." He called in a dissmisive manner as he began to peel off his clothes.

"I'm already better than you." I shot him a cocky smirk and did the same, getting out of my ruined clothes and throwing them at a random corner.

Ryuu walked over to where the hose laid on the floor and quickly picked it up, spraying me without warning. I jumped up in surprise, eyes wide and an annoyed look on my face.

"That's cold!"

"Take it like a man." He said amusedly as he opened fire, or water to be exact, at me once again.

"I'm not a man." I mumbled but braced myself as the cold water hit my body.

I stayed under the hose for a long while, watching as the water running down my body went from blood red, to a pinkish color and back to it's transparent one at a painfully slow rate. After I made sure I was completely clean, Ryuu switched places with me and I held the hose as he cleaned himself. His turn was a whole lot quicker, given the fact that he wasn't even that dirty compared to me.

Once we were all done I turned the hose off and followed Ryuu back to the dormitory, eyeing him curiously as he rummaged through the tiny closet before pulling out two sets of clothes.

"One for you," he threw the smallest things he could find at my direction. "And one for me."

The clothes were really meant for boys, considering all of Madam A's batches consisted solely on males, but I put them on nonetheless, just like I had done since I arrived here for the fisrt time.

I glanced at Ryuu, noticing his stare on me and shot him a questioning look. He just shrugged and shook his head.

"Jiro is so gonna kill me when we get back." He groaned, signaling at the purple splotches already forming on the skin all around my body.

"You won't be missed." I added.

A sly smile formed on his lips as he threw himself back against a mattress. "We'll see about that."

"So, what are your plans for tomorrow?" I questioned as I landed face first into another mattress, immediately feeling the relief on my throbbing feet.

"Why? Is little Emi asking me out on a date?" Ryuu smirked in my direction. I lifted my head just enough for him to see the scowl on my face, clearly not amused by his response.

"I would've expected that answer coming from Jiro, not you."

He simply shrugged. "I'm full of surprises."

I let my head fall back onto the mattress, a soft groan escaping my lips as I felt my body aching all over. Although it was probably not a good idea, I felt brave enough to let my mind wander around for a while.

I wondered how Rei was doing back at Mama's. If he was undergoing some kind of training like I was, or if he was still confined to that grimy cell. Was he sleeping soundly at night? Or was his throat sore from screaming in pain?

Being away from him made me feel so helpless, so disconnected from him. I could only hope Mama wasn't being so ruthless, although judging by his bloody necklace I guess it's the complete opposite.

Without processing what I was about to do, I mindlessly opened my mouth.

"Hey Ryuu," I hesitated, feeling his stare on me. "How'd you deal with being separated from your brothers?"

His quizzical look made me feel a hundred times smaller, probably because he didn't realize his gaze looked more like a glare. "Why do you ask?"

"Because," I sighed in defeat. "Rei's back there. Mama is probably doing something horrible to him as we speak. For all I know he could be at the verge of death right now and I can't do anything about it." I finished, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You should stop worrying about things you can't change. Moping about him doesn't change the fact that he could die at any moment." Ryuu answered as tactless as ever. I couldn't help cringing at the reminder.

"You didn't have to say it like that."

"I thought you knew me well enough to know I don't sugarcoat things." He answered, shoulders pulling up in a shrug.

"I've noticed." I mumbled. "But how did you deal with knowing that your brothers could be already dead? How did you cope with that feeling of desperation?"

There was a long silence, so long that I almost thought Ryuu ignored my question. After a couple of seconds I was ready to accept defeat and drop the conversation, but the delayed answer reached my ears just in time.

"I didn't." He answered, this time his voice came out softer than before, his gaze traveling towards the ceiling. "The feeling doesn't go away until you know they're dead. After that, new feelings replace them. It doesn't get much better than that." He sighed.

"What kind of feelings-"

"You're asking way too many questions." He cut me off immediately. "We came here to train, not for heart to heart conversations."

My mouth closed, unsaid words dissolving against my tongue. I thought Ryuu said he wasn't close to his family, I didn't know this was a touchy subject for him.

Attempting to lighten the mood, I gulped before opening my mouth once again.

"Don't you need an actual heart for those conversations?"

It was supposed to be a joke, trying to spite him like we usually do to each other, but the glare he shot me made the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. Even from my place I could clearly see his jaw clenched hard as his lilac eyes pierced mine.

And I thought Shin was the boss of intimidation...

"Ok, I'll shut up now." I quickly added, suddenly scared for my life.

My ears picked up the sound of a bed creaking and I noticed Ryuu had shifted position, turning his back to me. My gaze remained on him for a while, so many thoughts running through my head and all of them about the same boy.

Surprisingly enough, this time it wasn't Rei. It was Ryuu.

My curiosity sometimes got the best of me, but I could already tell he was mad and I wasn't pushing my luck, especially when I knew I could easily lose my life. There were so many unanswered questions running through my head, but I didn't dare voice them. I knew better than that.

Curious girls lose points, after all.

With no other option left, I decided to close my eyes and attempt to sleep. Maybe this time I could actually get in at least a couple of hours. I haven't slept well since I left Mama's place. The ghost of Rei always hovered above me at all times, sucking what little life I had, and the worse part was knowing I couldn't do anything about it.

You know those moments when you're ready to sleep but you get lost in thought, and suddenly realize you've unconsciously opened your eyes? Well, usually I wouldn't mind it, I'd just shut my eyes once again. This time was different, though, because even though I knew my eyes were open all I could see was pitch black.

I quickly brought my hands to my face, searching desperately for the source that was blocking my vision. Before I knew it my stomach began constricting and my breathing sped up, small puffs coming through my clenched teeth.

A horrible feeling spread deep inside me as I tried to make out my surroundings, the lack of light proving that task impossible. I already felt my heart rate increasing by the second along with the haunting images that ran through my head, everything coming down on me all at once.

This couldn't be happening now. It can't be lights out. I was here alone, with no help from Shin or Jiro to call myself down. The little sleep I got back at the main building was because I took a habit of sleeping with Shin, who had already found his way of calming me down a bit. But now he was nowhere near me, nor was Jiro who's presence alone seemed to control my fear.

Without hesitation whatsoever I opened my mouth.

"R-Ryuu?" My voice came out shaky as I squeezed my eyes tightly, trying to ignore the feeling of a thousand creatures crawling up my body and the ringing that pierced through my ears.

"Ryuu!" I called even louder after I recieved no response. Taking deep breaths, I tried to tell myself this was all product of my imagination. None of this was real, I could make it through this.

"Ryuu, please!" I tried for the last time, not being able to hide my desperateness.

"What do you want?" Came a cold response.

"I-I..." My jaw clenched tight as my fists balled up, the fire inside my chest scorching me from the inside out. "I'm scared." I weakly called out.

The room went silent once again, the only sound was my teeth chattering through my shaky breathing.

"R-Ryuu?"

No response. The walls were slowly inching closer together, I could feel it. The ringing in my ears got louder and louder. My hands were clutched against my head, squeezing my skull with every bit of strength I had. Without even realizing I began humming, soon discovering the sound was actually the one my windmill played.

Tears burned at my eyes, but I continued whispering the tune, hoping to distract myself with the sound. I didn't last long, a couple of mintues into it and my hums had morphed into sobs, no longer able to hold back the tears. My chest jumped with every breath I took, my body shaking uncontrollably as I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

The feeling was there, so palbable and real. My demons were slowly seeping through my pores, devouring me from the inside out and I could only cry.

I managed to hear a pair of footsteps at the distance, steadily increasing one by one until the whole room rang with the haunting sound. I pulled at my hair, yanking away the strands in a desperate attempt at distracting myself from the deafening noise.

Suddenly my mattress dipped, a squeak leaving my lips as I felt a pair of hands on me.

A blood curdling scream reached my ears, which I soon realized belonged to me. I couldn't take it anymore. I was going insane.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm here." I heard a soft whisper, my eyes immediately widening even though I could see nothing. It was him, Ryuu was here with me.

Without thinking it twice my body lurched forward, shaky limbs wrapping around his torso as I pressed myself against him. I didn't care if he reacted badly and pushed me away, I just wanted some sort of relief from this horrible nightmare I was stuck in.

"Make them go away!" I cried, unable to hide my sobbing. "Please!"

Tears slipped from my eyes as I burried my face into his chest. His body was rigid, not moving a single inch. I could hear the sound of his own breathing picking up its pace as he hesitantly lifted an arm, wrapping it lightly around my frame.

"I..." He whispered, surprise clear in his voice. "Uh, it's alright. I'm here." He repeated once again. 

I squeezed him even tighter as I felt my tears soaking through his shirt. Gasping for breath, I clenched my eyes shut and pursed my lips together.

"M-Make them go away." I whispered weakly, to which he sighed in defeat and responded.

"I will."

Laying down on his side, Ryuu pulled me closer until my small frame was against his. His arms were wrapped hesitantly around my body as I burried my face against his chest once again.

I could tell from a mile away that Ryuu had no idea what to do, probably because he'd never had the job of comforting someone, especially someone who he'd try to kill several times. Part of me was beyond thankful that he was trying to, but the other part asked why he was doing it.

Ignoring my thoughts, I felt my body relaxing slightly, his presence calming. My heart rate started slowing down just a bit along with my breathing as I let out all my emotions against his chest. He focused on repeating the same words to me over and over again, which were the exact ones I wanted to hear.

"I'm here."

I don't know how long we remained like that. It was clear as day to me that I wasn't going to sleep tonight, though, so I just concentrated on stabilizing my breathing and calming down. Ryuu's body heat had a soothing effect on me, making it much easier for me to do so. I made sure to leave my body completely still, not wanting to prive him of his sleep. I knew how horrible it was and I certaintly didn't wish it upon anyone.

The room was dead silent as the minutes ticked by, giving me the impression that Ryuu had finally fallen asleep. I was just about to speak so I could find out, just a simple 'are you awake', but I immediately stopped when I felt his chest vibrating, his soft voice ringing through my ears.

"Why does little Emi want to go back to him." He whispered, his tone cold. "Are we not good enough for her?"

I knew he thought I was asleep, because those were the kind of words he would never want me to hear. I tried not to react, not to move, not to do anything.

It wasn't because of his words, not because I knew he was referring to Rei when he said 'him'. I didn't dare say anything, because I also knew that by 'we' he didn't mean Shin and Jiro.

-------
Hello! Reposting because apparently none of you could see the new update :"D

So... Ryuu.... What do you guys think about this side of him?

Guyzez, let me just say Rei is close to us now. Beware of the next couple of chapters ;)

This chapter was unbearably hard to write. I've been drowning in school and dance class so I barely had time. I already had this chapter written but I had to redo it because I hated how it turned out, and it's been hard these past days to get my words flowing. So I'm very sorry for the wait guys ×_×

Anyways I hope you at least enjoyed this chapter more than I did ;-; and thank you for all the support my story is receiving! It really means a lot to me :)

The goal is the same! 30 votes and 7 comments! And I'll be catching you guys outside, howbow dah ;)