Changeling

Chapter 7: Among Friends & Enemies

[A/N: A few certain letters in the title of this chapter give hint to a certain character making an appearance.~]
{Master and my friends really are the only thing keeping from completely losing it now.~ I've changed so much, yet stayed exactly the same. Porpora-san, I think, is really helpful. It's fun to hear what he has to say when he analyses me.~ I thank you for for being so patient this long, Reader-chan. I know my story is a long one, so I shall get back to telling you.~}
I couldn't stop crying. It was unlike myself to be this way. I was too far gone to be saved. No one could help me, no one except someone as messed up as I was. This was my line of thought. I had always been misunderstood from the start; this new side of me was no different, yet entirely disparate[A/N: NOT to be confused with "desperate"].

"It's alright, Reika-san. It's alright," Haise said soothingly, trying to calm me. He was holding me in a tight hug and stroking my hair in his attempt to comfort me. I didn't want to be comforted; I wanted to be scolded for losing myself like that, for losing myself like this. At the same time, I still craved this closeness to Haise. He'd been so nice to me from the start, to the point of defending me despite that I didn't care what others thought of me as long as those thoughts weren't as one-way prejudiced as Urie's way of thinking.

"Ah~ You're making it worse, trying to comfort her like that~," a familiar voice said in a sing-song tone. I felt a pair of arms pull me away from Haise and closer to a much smaller body. His warm breath was now in my ear. "Crying is so useless, you know.~ It's pointless to be acting this way when you can do something to make yourself useful, so it's better that you just get over whatever's making you this useless.~"

"J-Juuzou-kun....Heh~ J-just because I understand that, it doesn't mean I can c-control it," I stuttered, a wry smile forming on my lips. Despite what I said in response, Juuzou had said exactly what I'd needed to hear at the time. I felt a lot better after. An empty feeling washed over where his arms had held me as he let go.

"Are you done crying now, Rei-chan?~" Juuzou asked. I turned and hugged him.

"Thank you for saying those things. I really was useless like that, more useless than Hanbee-kun~," I said. I then looked at Haise and cracked my neck, the forming of a new habit. "Where's Uri-kun?~"

"Uh, when Mutsuki and I got here, he was unconscious, so I had Mutsuki retreat with him. Are you going to be okay, Reika-san?" Haise replied. I snapped my head to the other side to crack my neck again.

"I'll be fine.~ Heh~ I'm surprised I didn't kill her, the way I was a few minutes ago~," I mused. I was coping the only way I knew how, refusing to let myself fall apart and accepting insanity.

"Reika-san...you really are frightening sometimes," Hanbee said nervously. I would have laughed and teased him, but something caught my attention. I blinked.

"Someone else is here," I deadpanned, cracking my neck a third time. I cracked my wrists as well.

"Really? Ah! You're right!" Haise said, noticing now. I ran off toward the human scent and soon heard the sound of weak breathing. I pinpointed where the noise came from and tore down a small stretch of wall. What lay beyond was a man, just strong enough to remain alive but too weakened to attempt escape, much less fight. Juuzou's bored expression held a slight surprise.

"So Amon's still alive," he said with an air of not caring.
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"You're joking, right? This is some sort of twisted joke," Akira said in utter disbelief.

"Joking? Since when am I joking?" Juuzou said darkly, eyes narrowing.

"He's in the hospital right now. You can go see for yourself," Haise said, hoping to dissuade Juuzou from any reckless course of action since he'd been clearly irritated by Akira's words.

"It's true, then? Amon really is alive?" Akira asked in a hushed tone.

"Apparently, Black Widow was keeping him as a sort of pet. She admitted to purposely keeping him just barely alive for her own amusement after she regained consciousness," Kiomi added.

"Can we get donuts?" I interrupted. Everyone looked at me.

"Why don't we all go visit Amon in the hospital together, and get donuts on the way there?" Haise suggested.
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I ate the rest of my donuts in the lobby with Juuzou and Hanbee while the others remained with Amon for a bit longer. I really was one odd ghoul. Suddenly, Juuzou hopped to his feet.

"Hanbee, let's go visit Shinohara-san while we're here," he said, already walking off. I followed after him, curious. Hanbee looked confused for a split second before following us, actually a little glad Juuzou wanted to visit his last partner. When we arrived at the room Juuzou was headed for, I saw a comatose man in the hospital bed. "Good evening, Shinohara-san."

"I wonder if he'll ever wake up from his coma," Hanbee thought aloud. I looked between Juuzou and Shinohara, noticing that Juuzou actually seemed a little sad despite his usual carefree smile in place. If Juuzou cared about this person, then so would I. I cared about anyone that Juuzou, Kiomi, and Haise cared about. My world now revolved around the three of them, after all, especially Juuzou and Kiomi.
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When everyone else of the Quinx was asleep, I crept to Haise's room and snuck inside. I went to his bed and shook his arm.

"Hai-kun, wake up, please," I whisper-yelled. He stirred and sat up groggily.

"What is it, Reika-san? Shouldn't you be asleep right now?" he yawned.

"I can't sleep. Could you take me see Porpora-san? I want to ask him some things," I replied. Haise patted my head, something I was now used to.

"Are you sure? Why right now?" Haise asked.

"Because I don't want to wait anymore since I won't get any sleep tonight, anyhow," I answered. He sighed.

"Alright, then," he said.
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"Why don't you ask your mother? She is imprisoned here now, after all," Porpora said, amused. I giggled.

"I don't want to talk to such a horrid mother as that.~ Besides, you knew her, right? So you should know a lot about her since I get that kind of feeling from you, Porpora-san~," I said. He chuckled.

"You're an interesting kid, Reika. For now, I'll tell you this: even among friends, you're surrounded by enemies," Porpora said.

"I already knew that, Porpora-san.~ Thanks for picking up my mood. I'll visit another time~," I giggled.
[A/N: Wow, just as the action picked back up, it died right back down. Heh heh~]