To Be A Scrapper (Suzuya Juuzou)

Chapter 28

"Watch out." A soft voice called out as a hand curled around my arm, pulling me out of the way just in time. A passing car completely drenched the sidewalk I'd been previously walking on.

We were once again walking down the familiar streets of the underworld as a number of images I saw each time we went here flashed before me. There was the group of children on top of a small stage with someone calling out numbers and prices. The familiar street trucks selling that foul-smelling meat. The people with glowing red eyes surrounded by black, eyeing us up and down as they licked their lips.

There were also the ones who cowered in fear when they found out that the one who was holding our chains was none other than Mama, Big Madam herself. But there was also Rei's hand around mine, keeping me from trying to yank myself free and run away. I squeezed his hand tighter each time I caught the familiar look in his eyes, knowing he was close to lashing out at everyone who was staring.

The dark streets were flooded with water that came through huge pipes found every now and then. My guess was that it was raining on the streets above us, those that held fresh air, happy people and a big bright sun. The water must come here as some sort of sewer system, which didn't quite help the appearance of this place at all.

"Come along darlings. We can't be late." Mama called in front of us as we hurried our pace, being pulled forward by the chains around our necks.

Soon we were standing in front of a building, it's dark grimy walls were moist from the water as the rusty door stood in front of us.

"Well, you're gonna have to wait a couple of minutes. Wouldn't want anyone inside trying to hurt my babies." She cooed as she tied our chains to a lamppost at the edge of the sidewalk, right in front of the building. With a short pat to both our heads she spun around.

My eyes followed her as she pushed the old door open, strutting inside and leaving us alone. Finally I felt the grip around my hand loostening until there was nothing but air to keep it company.

"I don't like being here." My voice came out as a mumble. The entire place just gave me the creeps. "What do you think Mama is doing inside?" I asked, but the response never came.

"Rei?" I turned to face him only to find out he was no longer at my side. I found him seconds later, his gaze glued on the car parked in front of us.

"They're racing." I heard him whisper as he got closer to the car.

"No they're not. The car is parked, silly." I cracked a smile as I walked beside him.

"No, not the cars. The rain drops." He responded as he placed a finger against one of the windows of the dirty grey car. He slowly began tracing same route a raindrop was following, his finger just behind the drop.

"What are you doing?" I said, curiosity laced in my features at I eyed the boy.

Rei kept silent, tracing every droplet of water down the window.

"A raindrop's life is short, you know." He whispered to himself, a barely there chuckle escaping his lips. "Maybe if we're lucky enough we can be like them. Right Emi?" he turned to face me, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I don't think I understand." I replied honestly. He smiled as he slowly reached for my hand, grabbing it between his before lowering all my fingers until the index one was the last standing.

"It's simple. Look at this raindrop." he said putting his finger against the window, just behind a drop of water.

He then took my finger, gently placing it behind another drop. I watched as both drops raced down the window glass, him in front of mine.

"See. Your drop is slower than mine and is heading to the right. My drop is faster than yours and going left. I'll reach reach the end sooner than you will. " he paused, flickering his gaze toward me before continuing.

"But look down there, where all the drops are collecting. Maybe my drop was faster than yours, but it's still just a drop. And when we meet we become even bigger, stronger and faster." His eyes lit up as he squeezed my hand lightly, a big grin on his face.

"With even more drops we can create a puddle, or we could become the whole ocean!" He finished and I couldn't hide the surprised look on my features.

"Rei, you've never seen an ocean before. They're way too big-"

"I don't need to see it to know we can do it. Emi, can you believe how far we've survived until now? What's a simple ocean compared to our everyday lives?" He asked.

"Well, oceans are very dangerous."

"So are we." A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

"You can die in an ocean." I continued.

"We've fought death before, we can totally do it." He countered. "Have faith in us, Emi. If we say we can be an ocean, then I'm one hundred percent sure we can do it. Nothing can beat us." He finished.

"Mama can."

Rei flinched at my sudden response, his smile dropping just a bit as his expression changed.

"Then it's decided." He whispered a his shoulders came up to a small shrug.

"What?" I questioned.

"In order to become an ocean, we first have to become a river." His smile widened once again, every trace of it previously dropping was long gone.

"Really?" I couldn't hold back the laughter bubbling inside me as I asked why.

"Because we need to drown Mama in it. Then we can be an ocean." He responded, a light chuckle coming from him too.

The idea was impossible, stupid and near crazy. The realization of those factors made us both burst into a fit of laughter once again. We covered our mouths to muffle the chuckles as we looked at each other.

That's when I saw it, the spark in Rei's blood red eyes. The spark that silently told me his words weren't entirely a joke. There was a truth, although maybe faint, to them.

And I smiled, because I knew my eyes held the same spark.

___________

What?! Another update? Yolo must be sick.

Kidding, I really enjoyed writing this, and since you already reached the goal I decided to post it today!

Thank you so much, I don't know how many times I have to say this, but each one of your votes and comments gives me life. They inspire me so much. Thank you guys :)