To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

Chapter 13

Two years, it's been two years...

"Focus!"

My heavy pants matched rhythmically with the erratic beating of my heart. Every muscle in my body was tense, some even spazzing once in a while as I picked myself off the ground. Despite my current state, my smirk never faltered.

I lunged forward, pushing off the ground with as much force as I could manage. Without hesitation I slammed the heel of my foot against the incoming opponent, sending him stumbling back.

His momentary hold up only lasted a few seconds. Once he regained composture he charged at me. My first thought was to swing my leg at him, a bad idea. He stopped my leg in it's tracks, holding it with one hand. I swung my other leg over but he jabbed his elbow in the previous leg, twisting the other one and pushing it away, sending me flying back.

I flipped in the air and landed on my feet, only realizing the pain shooting up my leg when I tumbled to the ground. It felt like a million needles hitting me all at once.

"Ah, ouch!" I panted.

"Did I hurt'ya?" the boy in front of me smirked. I gritted my teeth and stood up once again.

"Nothing I can't handle," I answered with a strong glare. The boy shot me a curious look as I dug my hand into my pocket, taking out a knife. "...although I can't say the same for you!"

I lunged at him again, my aim straight on his chest. After all, we did fight to kill.

He grabbed my hand before I could jab the knife in his chest. I flicked my wrist to the side, sticking it in his hand instead. He let go of me and jumped back, his playful stare replaced with a hard look. He shook his bloody hand, letting a trickle of blood land next to him on the floor.

"Did I hurt'ya?" I smirked, repeating his own line. He gritted his teeth and took three knives out of his own pocket as I took a ready stance.

He charged at me, the knives lined perfectly between his fingers. My eyes narrowed as he threw a knife at my feet. I jumped back in time, only to be hit by another knife in the shoulder. Immediately I felt a dampness on the area, knowing full well it was my own blood. I pulled it out as fast as I could trying not to focus on the pain, only realizing how close he was when I looked up and saw him right in front of me. Too late to do anything else, I jabbed the knife from my shoulder on his arm as he was reaching out to me.

His arm recoiled back but his leg slid between mine and curled around my left leg. He shoved his elbow against my chest and I tumbled back, not able to catch my balance thanks to his leg around mine. I fell to the floor with a groan, him landing on top of me with his knee against my stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. A smirk spread across his face as he brought his last knife down, aiming right at my neck.

"That's enough." a voice called out, making him freeze in his tracks. He stuck the knife in the ground right next to my head.

"I won." he laughed as he got up and reached a hand out to me. I gladly took it and pulled myself up. I brought my hand to cover my mouth as I tried to regain the breath that was stolen from me, emitting strong coughs every now and then.

"Like always." I pouted and he smirked at me.

"Hey, maybe next time." he patted my head.

"Stop it Rei. I'm not a little girl." I grumbled. I brought my hand up to the wound on my shoulder, looking at my fingers and noticing the all too familiar substance in them.

"Right." he laughed, wincing for a moment as he pulled out the knife out of his arm.

"Well my pretty dolls, good job! You've come a very long way." Mama sang. We both smiled wide at the praise as she walked towards us and stuck her hand out. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the knives I had, putting them in her hand at the same time Rei did.

"Now, Mama's very tired and hungry. I'm going out in a couple of minutes. you'll stay put until I get back, right?"

We nodded immediately, putting a grin on her face.

"Wonderful. Now let's go." she said, pushing us inside and through the grimy hallways until we reached our cells. I entered mine while Rei entered his, both of us waiting for Mama to close us in and leave. After she did, I was the first one to speak up.

"How's your arm?"

"Fine. And your shoulder?"

"It'll be okay." I laughed.

"Think you're ready for tomorrow?"

I smiled as I reached over, blindly searching for something with my hands. When I felt my hand hit something I curled my fingers around it, bringing it towards my lap. It was the small windmill Rei had gotten me for my seventh birthday four years ago.

I cranked the music box under the windmill and closed my eyes as the beautiful melody rang through my ears.

"Definitely." I answered while facing him.

"Hm," Rei smirked as he leaned against the wall of his cell. "To think, just a couple of years ago all you did was cry. Who knew you'd turn out to be so strong..."

"Well, I did learn from you." I laughed.

The music box slowed down until there was no longer any sound emitted. I was about to crank it again when I remembered something.

"Hey Rei, guess what I have." I whispered. He turned his head toward me while I dug a hand in my pocket and retrieved what was looking for. I held it up for him to see, a small smile laced on my face.

"Emi, what are you doing with that?" he whispered, his voice was hard, his eyes widened a bit.

"Dunno. I just wanted to keep it." I said twirling the knife in my hand. "Maybe I'll even use it when mom and dad come to get me. Maybe I'll get to finish Mama once and for all."

"Emi, it's not safe to keep that. Mama will find out eventually-"

"She has a ton of these! I'm sure she won't miss one, alright?" I sighed.

"What are you going to do with that anyway?" he grumbled.

"Nothin'... Just keeping it to entertain myself." I shrugged.

"You better wish Mama doesn't find out-"

"She won't. I promise." I smiled at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You're so irritating." He smirked.

"You've been stuck with me for two years now. I thought you'd get used to it." I answered, mimicking his smirk.

"No, I don't think I'm used to it yet. Sometimes I really want to drive my fingers inside your throat and pull it out of your body." He laughed, his eyes sparking with an unreadable glint.

"Well look who's got the knife. Might as well watch your back Rei, 'cause I'll be one holding your bloody throat in my hands." I said, a strange feeling coursing through me at the thought.

We both laughed, my hand somehow reaching over and unconsciously cranking the music box again while the other held the knife.

We kept on laughing, not because of anything specific, but because we both knew that our jokingly threats held at least a little bit of sincerity. I already knew how to tell when Rei was joking and when he was being serious, even if he was laughing to cover it up.

After all, it's been two years.

----
I'm so sorry for taking so long! I've been sick these days. I know this chapter is a short one but hopefully I'll update soon!

Emi is 9 now and Rei is 11. Did you guys notice the little change in personality? Comment what you thought about it!

Goal is still the same!

-Yolo