Itsy Bitsy Spider

62. A Closer Look

Chuckling dryly, Rein lay back down on her bed with a hand to her forehead.

This was her life now.

Somehow, seeing the entire thing twice brought her a morbid sort of peace. Not a tranquility, just... nothing. Instead of that sick to her stomach feeling she'd come to dread, there was only a slow aching in her chest, eating away at the layers of her heart with a burning acid while she sat back and couldn't do anything to ease that pain.

Only her second time and she was already exhausted. Rein lifted her fingers to her ear. The bandage from Machi was there, meaning that while the day reset, she did not. Her memories stayed intact, as did every injury she acquired.

The padding of feet came down the hall as the scent of smoke started to dissipate.

Rein sunk into the blankets for just a tad bit longer. So her Specialist ability created a loop in time, one that was probably activated when her eyes turned scarlet. It brought a relief to her, knowing that if she failed, she could always try her hand at it again. At the thought, she scorned herself. What was with her carefree attitude, as if their lives didn't matter? As long as she could try again, was she fine with letting them go through that? Some savior she would make.

The clock ticked forward, and Rein brought herself upright, going to head out to start the day all over again.

The kitchen floor was already covered in milk, and Machi's bedhead was already pulled into a ponytail. When she entered, all their eyes drew to her, unable to hide their surprise.

"What..." Gon dropped the curtain he'd been pulling open, "...happened to you?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "Just a bad night. Bad dream." She knew everything had happened, but she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. She knew she was just making excuses. She knew that logically, she should tell them. But she didn't want to, didn't want to make things any further of a reality. She should tell them, she should, then maybe they could be spared with warning. But she was afraid, and her tongue swelled, and she could only mutter, "I'm fine."

Even if she notified them on what she knew would happen, what good would it do? She could tell Machi to take care of her hands because at some point, somehow, they would be useless and she wouldn't be able to use her Nen. She could warn Lucky that he would be shot. She could inform Phinks that he would die too. Then what? Would it change anything? Would just the information somehow magically keep it from happening?

Machi's brows were raised. "You three clean up the mess," she ordered, shooing them around the corner and into the kitchen, leaving Rein out of their line of sight. She turned back to the girl with a pursed frown.

Killua walked in with a yawn, his eyes pausing on Rein before casting his gaze casually off to the side and sitting down.

With no leverage to send the boy away with, Machi simply ignored him and brought her attention to Rein for an evaluation. She sat her down and brought antiseptic. With a damp cotton, she started to dab at Rein's scratched arms, face, and her bleeding head, an unsightly bruise forming on it.

As soon as Rein remembered her tumble down the rocky hillside, her head started to hurt, and she winced. As soon as she'd set out early to go save Phinks at least, the fall had knocked her unconscious. Was it just misfortune, or would time only set everything to the way it was? She didn't want to imagine a world where she would never be able to change the future no matter how she tried.

"So," Killua said with his hands behind his head, his look sliding over to her. "Care to explain?"

She didn't answer, only clenching her teeth when the disinfectant stung.