Reflection of God (Pein Story)

Chapter 15.

Kyo didn’t know what to do about the training session today.

Not after what happened yesterday.

She lay in bed, staring at the sun slowly rising over the horizon, and contemplated all the options she had on offer for her. She could say that she was ill and couldn’t do it today; that it was best for her to stay in bed and for no one to interrupt her—but it’s not like anyone would believe that kind of ‘coincidence’ after all that had occurred. She could leave the Akatsuki completely in order to not have to deal with the suggestion at all; but that was a little extreme, and Kyo wasn’t about to give up everything that had been given to her even with the problem she faced. The most obvious answer, of course, was to simply turn up at the training session and say yes; that she would call him Pein and that they could go on as normal. But somehow every time she considered it…it didn’t feel right.

Sighing, Kyo finally pushed herself up and got out of bed, neatly tidying it once she had done so through force of habit. With that, she turned and went into the bathroom, peeling off her clothes to step into the shower, leaving the temperature of the water cold. She needed something jolt her mind awake and help her focus, and allowed it to wash over her completely. Sleep hadn’t been particularly easy last night, after all, with all that had been running through Kyo's mind and all that she was concerned about. What if Konan—or just any of the other Akatsuki members—turned up at her door and told her that there would be no training session today—that Pein didn’t want to see her? Being the leader of an organization and having someone bluntly refuse to do something you’d asked wasn’t a situation most would be happy with, and Kyo could understand if he was angry.

But she didn’t want him to be; a sudden feeling shot through her the moment she considered it, feeling willing to do so much in order to stop that from happening. Frowning as she showered, closing her eyes in the onslaught of water, Kyo gritted her teeth and tried to push away what she was feeling. Back where she had used to work, though she had had colleagues and teammates, they had never truly meant anything to her, and had just been people she worked with, and nothing more. She had never cared about their opinions or shed a tear if something happened to one of them—it wasn’t as if they were close. Kyo wasn’t close to anyone. But now as she thought it over, she wanted to make things right. The concept of not having that same relationship with Pein as they had had before seemed horrible to her when she thought about it now, and she felt almost compelled to do something about it.

Though at the same time, the idea of calling Pein by his first name was something she winced at, having never dreamed of doing so to a leader before. It wasn’t something she should even be contemplating, and shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts, Kyo finally turned off the shower and stepped out to get re-dressed. Why was she even feeling like this and having to think it over so much? It was that irritating urge to see Pein as more than just her boss—an urge that wouldn’t go away, even with all that was happening at the moment between them.

Sighing, Kyo simply got ready for the day, wanting to get through it one way or another.

Pein was contemplating this training session, too. He was willing to turn up without a doubt; not only was it his own personal mission to train Kyo, but by having her there, he could try and get her to talk. She had stated yesterday that she wasn’t about to call him by his first name; but having walked off straight afterwards, there had been no chance for him to ask why exactly she was so against it—even though he had a good idea what was influencing this whole thing. Her former bosses had already affected enough about Kyo's life as it was—was there anything about her they hadn’t tried to destroy?

The more he dealt with it, the more frustrated he got. He felt a connection with Kyo and was able to see many similarities between them when it came down to beliefs, interests and general topics—but only when she was relaxed in herself. In the moments when they sat eating lunch together and pausing during training, or even just watching the sunset…Pein felt close to Kyo in a way he wasn’t with anyone else. He knew he could understand her and comprehend the way she was with so many things. But at other times she was blunt and dismissive, nodding and obeying him without a protest, acting like a simple soldier talking to his leader. Every time Pein caught a glimpse of the true Kyo—her real, full identity—he wanted to know more; to get closer. But she kept him at arm’s length. He’d thought by asking her to call him something other than ‘Leader-sama’, she could start seeing him in a different way.

Though it was clear the after-effects of her old life were still evident.

Would Kyo even turn up at the session? She had seemed shocked at it all yesterday, and hadn’t appeared from her room for the rest of the night. What if she felt it was too awkward—or was concerned about how he would react after what she had done? It wasn’t as if she cared about most people’s opinions—she’d been alone for the majority of her life, anyway, and as such had gone on with missions and her job as a ninja as normal. But when it came down to working—to obeying someone’s orders—then Kyo did care; and care a lot. Then again, it made sense; it was her boss who would pay her and give her missions, so making sure she did things well and kept them happy was an obvious thing to do.

But shaking his head, Pein picked up his cloak and put it on, knowing Kyo would show up, regardless of how she was feeling. Yes, she cared about the opinion of whoever was her leader, but it overwhelmed her to the point where she wouldn’t disobey an order to be trained by him. He had told her she would have to train with him to control the Rinnegan, and there was no way Kyo would go back on that. As such, he wasn’t going to stand there staring out the window forlornly, becoming shy and subdued. He wanted Kyo to call him by his first name, and he didn’t want her to feel as if she had to run away from him. He wanted her to talk—and the only way to do that was to confront her.

While eating breakfast, he’d tried to make himself eat slower to pass the time, thinking deeply as he did so, but even when he wandered down to their normal training spot Kyo was nowhere to be found. A slight hesitation at the idea she wouldn’t show up at all, Pein brushed it aside to lean against a tree on the edge of the clearing, opting to wait a while. If she didn’t arrive soon, then he’d leave—but he’d been trying to slow himself down before he got here—it was possible Kyo had been trying to do the same thing too. It didn’t stop him from glancing around constantly to check if she was there, but he tried to focus on what he was planning to say.

Though he’d need to know how she would react, first.

A few minutes later, however, and Kyo finally arrived, looking down as she spotted Pein already there and not meeting his eye as she nodded simply in greeting. Responding with a more vocal greeting, to begin with Pein decided to try and forget about what had happened yesterday—to get back into the usual routine before he started up with his suggestion once more, and as such suggested the kind of thing she could train with during the morning. Only Kyo's reaction wasn’t one he was particularly happy with, as she glanced up at him quickly and looked away once more, stating dismissively that it was up to him; nothing more. With that, she walked towards the centre of the clearing and started stretching, leaving Pein standing observing as she did so.

This was going to be more difficult than he had thought…