To Be A Dove (TBAS Sequel)

Chapter 10

"I've entered both of you in the next circus event." she said.

"You're going inside a lion's cage."

~~~~~

"So what you're saying, Mr. Cookie Man, is that I'm in trouble?" A very confused Rei spoke, feeling out every word as if hinting that the older man was somehow incorrect.

Shinohara scratched the back of his head, letting out a frustrated sigh before speaking.

"You attacked officers of the CCG." He explained.

"Yeah..." Rei intervened, and proceeded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "...But they attacked me first."

"I understand you were confused during the raid. I'm trying to get you out of this." Shinohara agreed silently with the boy. "However, I need your help. Come to the meeting with me, and show the higher ups that you're not a threat."

"You guys are really weird." Rei giggled, pushing the front legs of his chair in the air and balancing himself on the remaining two. "You try so hard to look like strong people, but you're scared of me."

Shinohara remained silent, completely exhausted from trying to get Rei to focus on the matter at hand. They were in dangerous territory; Rei was being seen as a threat, and frankly, his attitude made him distasteful to work with. It was as if Rei saw the world from a completely different point of view.

Shinohara acknowledged that. They could both be staring at the same sky, however Rei's was painted green while Shinohara's was blue. Despite this, the older was the only one to understand that Rei was not to blame for this, someone had forcefully painted his sky green, and it was Shinohara's goal to help Rei paint his own.

"Will you come to the meeting?" Shinohara asked, to which the younger offered a bright, innocent smile.

"Only because it's important to you."

Rei had completely missed the point. The purpose of the meeting was to clear Rei's name. However, at least he agreed to go. Now, Shinohara just had to make sure the boy could behave.

"Where's Emi?" The older asked, knowing it was the only way of getting the boy's attention.

He watched Rei's eyebrows furrow ever so slightly, the ghost of annoyance flashing across his face for a split second as his last recollection of Emi danced across his memory.

"Well, she said she was going to visit Jiro again. She's been going every day." The boy replied, keeping it miraculously short. Shinohara was used to Rei going on a tangent every time he mentioned the girl.

"Why the long face?" Curiosity bit at the older.

"Jiro's dead, Mr. Cookie Man." The boy replied, finally showing the bits of antipathy laced in his words. "I don't really get why she needs to go every day. She just stares at a block of stone until she cries, and I don't like seeing her cry. It makes me angry." Rei mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

He was partially telling the truth. Although he failed to mention the main reason for his discomfort. A teal haired boy always seemed to be lurking the cemetery close to where Jiro was. Emi had failed to notice him all this time, since she was too focused on mourning the death of her best friend. Rei had warned the girl and tried to keep her from going. However, Emi had just disregarded his concerns until she prohibited him from accompanying her altogether.

"Well, its okay for her to be sad right now." Shinohara intervened, spinning a pen between his fingers as his eyes locked on the ephemeral boy in front of him. "She lost someone close to her."

"People die all the time..." the boy stated, a strangely blank expression dressing his face as he tipped his chair all the way back, letting himself fall, his back hitting the floor. With his eyes locked on the ceiling, an indecipherable tint glittering within them, he continued his thought.

"That's the fun part."

~~~~
"He's not responding to the medication anymore. This is worrisome."

"Should we switch to another?" A nurse looked nervously at the patient laid across the bed, tracking the slow rise and fall of his chest.

The doctor shook his head, reading the information on the machines, then going back to the clipboard of the patient's information.

Ryuu Sakamaki, age 13

"His organs are high risk. Any more strain on them and they could fail. Right now, the only thing we can do is try to keep him functioning a little longer. Waking up is completely up to him."

Nurses rushed in and out of the otherwise empty room, orders being called out one over the other as time slid by with the drops of perspiration lining the sleeping boy's forehead.

Sleeping...

"His heart rate is increasing too quickly! We need to stabilize him!"

"This isn't working! Bring the blockers!"

Even the birds outside had fallen silent, holding their breath as the strings of Ryuu's life were being pulled every which way. He laid there, his hollow eyelids folded atop his cheeks. Even on the brink of death he looked ethereal, a unique sort of beauty shimmering over him as his last couple of breaths itched their way down his trachea.

The one who once had carried the name of elite proudly on his shoulders, ripping away countless lives, now found himself moments away from letting his own slip away.

He looked like he was merely sleeping.

Until that very second when time stopped. The screaming of the nurses came to a halt, the beeping of the machines, the sound of traffic outside the window, the puff of air retained in Ryuu's lungs.

A twitch of a finger.

A fluttering of an eyelid.

A pair of bloodshot lilac eyes snapping open.

_______

It's been a while! I apologize to everyone. I didn't realize how much time had passed.

Thank you to all who are still reading and supporting me despite the wait. Things have been hard for a while, but I know better things will come <3