To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

Chapter 16

"Emi?" A soft voice rang through my ears. The loud thumping in my head made me clench my eyes in pain. I could feel my jaw crushing my teeth so strong it felt like I was pushing them into my brain. My toes were curled tightly and my body was stiff, waves of pain coursing intensely throughout my whole frame. The cell still reeked with the smell of burnt flesh, and there was this high pitched sound stuck in my left ear that was driving me crazy.

"Hey Emi?" I heard the voice again.

My eyes shot open, immediately adjusting to he darkness of the grimy cell. They skimmed around the area, not recognizing anything until they landed on a familiar pair of crimson ones. Only then did I manage to remember where I was.

"Rei?" I croaked, my throat burning from dehydration.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I could see his figure clutching the bars of his cell, his eyes trained on me. His naked body was littered with ugly red marks, making me cringe and look down at myself, only to notice I had the same appearance. Pieces of my clothes were scattered messily around the cell, leaving a clear view of the blood red splotches.

I refrained from answering. We both knew the answer to that question anyway.

Instead I swallowed as much saliva as I could gather, attempting to soothe my throat before speaking.

"I had a dream, Rei," I whispered. "I dreamed about you and I, about both of us. That we managed to escape. It was just us. Without Mama, without good girl and good boy points, without suffering, without the circus or the restaurant. We were actually happy."

The ghost of a smile appeared on my lips as I remembered every detail with clarity.

"You were smiling so bright," I whispered, my voice almost cracking at the end.

"It just makes me so sad. While I had everything, you never had parents, you never had love, you never got to play with kids your age, you never had a place to call home. You had nothing from the start, Rei," I mumbled.

"But it's because I had nothing, that I'm able to be happy now," he replied, a small smile stretching across his face.

"I don't like it when you dream. You always think too deep about things afterwards," he laughed lightly.

"Sorry for actually enjoying my little escapes from reality," I said, a small laugh escaping my throat.

"Do you know that saying about losing a love? And not losing a love? I can't really remember how it goes..." he said, sliding down against the wall until he had his knees against his chest.

"The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost?" I asked, gathering as much energy as possible and pushing myself up into a sitting position, ignoring the blaring pain spreading across my whole body.

"No, not that one."

"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late?"

"No," he shook his head lightly, pieces of hair falling in front of his eyes.

"Love can sometimes be magic, but magic can sometimes be an illusion?" I asked.

"How many of these do you know?" he huffed.

"My father is a true romantic," I giggled, a warm feeling growing in my stomach at the memories.

"Clearly, " he rolled his eyes.

"It's better to have loved and lost, than-"

"To never have loved at all! Yeah, that one!" he nodded.

"Well, I think it's just the opposite, at least in my case. Because I can't feel sad about something I never had in the first place," he said, his index finger tapping rhythmically against the cell bars.

"And I do have a parent, even if Mama's not the best one. This is my home. It may not be the greatest, but it's all I've ever known, and all I'll ever need. "

"But don't you want to leave this place? Rei, Mama hurts you a lot! You can't possibly like living here!" I said, my heart clenching a bit.

"I never said that," he laughed half-heartedly, his gaze dropping to his feet. His snowy hair covered his face from view, making it impossible to read him.

"Emi, I have nothing waiting for me out there. This is all I have."

"That's not true, Rei! You have me now. I'm not leaving you behind," I whispered.

"That's nice, I guess. But I honestly don't think we'll ever get out of here. Alive, that is."

"Mom and Dad will come for me soon. And when they do you can come with us."

"You've been here for four years already. Do you really believe they're still coming?" he shook his head. "You're so naive."

"Of course they are!" I said, my heart shrinking at his comment. I suddenly felt anger bubbling up inside me. "You know, just because you don't have parents doesn't mean I don't either!"

Rei laughed dryly, his leyes finding mine as he raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk gracing his lips.

"Were you expecting to hurt me with that?"

"No," I grumbled, though uncertainty was clear in my voice. I didn't know myself what my intentions were, but I immediately regretted those words when I saw his smirk widen.

"You've been here for a long time, but don't forget that I've been here for way longer that you could ever imagine. There's nothing you can possibly say that would leave the slightest scratch on me," he replied.

I remained silent, my head lung low at the reminder of just how long Rei has been suffering.

"You know, a smart girl would've already realized by now that her parents are long gone."

"Shut up. You don't know that," I growled, my fists clenched at my sides. A mixture of pain and anger set my body ablaze.

"You know it too, Emi. They're not coming back for you-"

"Rei," I warned, my fingers moving on their own as I reached around blindly.

"Wanna know why? Because they're dead-"

"I said shut up!" I screamed, flinging the knife I grabbed. It whistled through the air before encrusting itself on Rei's leg.

Rei looked in confusion at his leg, finding the foreign item and staring blankly at it before pulling it out.

"So this is what you used, huh? I was wondering why Mama was screaming something about you damaging your 'babydoll' skin..." he hummed, turning the blade around in his hand and wiping the blood off his leg, only to have more come out.

"She does it all the time, and when I do it its bad?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Potentially. That's why I'm not giving this back."

"But why? What difference does it make?" I huffed.

"Because," Rei said, his eyes leaving the knife and meeting with mine as a sick smile appeared on his face.

"If anyone's going to hurt you, it's gonna be me."

___________

Cue NSYNC's 'It's gonna be me' song xD

So here's another chapter. Because for the first time in forever I finally updated.

And at last I posted an update, and it's like the fog has lifted.

Congratulations guys! You've passed my singing test. [If you didn't even feel like singing when you read those lines then you're truly a heartless beast. ]

So I had a very rough day, but I hope you guys had a very nice one. Don't follow my example. Life is beautiful.

Just open your eyes and see that life is beautiful - Sixx a.m.

So many lyrics on this author's note. Sorry c;

Well guys. Goal is the same. Six votes and comments!