What has she ever done to him?

She wished to know because as far as she could remember, she had done nothing. As far as she could remember, Kein was always like that. Prideful, easily irritable, and with a strong drive to always show his capabilities—His superiority. He didn't use to be so violent and hard to live with, at first, only giving her the occasional scowl and mockery, but as years got by, as he got stronger and stronger, his harassment toward her only got worse.

Did he hate it that much? To have the same blood as someone like... her? Or did he hate that, technically speaking, she was of higher standing than him despite being so weak? Or did he just hate 'weakness'? Was her presence so infuriating because she was the embodiment of that notion?

‘It's...not my fault...’

Rin didn't understand.

She couldn't understand.

Hating someone so much you wanted to kill them. And, all that, because of a factor they couldn't even control.

‘Was he always this... ‘warped’?’

Never, in her wildest dream, had she thought it would come to this. She knew that Kein hated her. She knew that all too well, but... this much? She always believed that even if the boy never came to like her, he'd at least leave her alone—maybe not now, but, at least in three, four, five years. He had done so for a big while, now, what prevented him from ignoring her, again?

‘Or...Was I... too naive?’

Rin finally opened her eyes, witnessing a rather... 'picturesque' view.

The burning flame of the upside-down vehicle, the black smoke coming out of it, maybe even the air as Rin could hardly notice her own breathing, and, most of all, the black floating blade heading directly towards her heart— everything was still— unmoving, like time itself had been stopped. Strange as it was, though, Rin didn't... question it.

She observed Kein, looked at his face, at the smile—the twisted smile he was wearing and the way in which he was standing, looking triumphant as though he was going accomplish something big. Rin wished she could tell what he was thinking and that all of this was just another one of his ways to scare her.

But...

Rin closed her eyes and let out a breath.

Her right hand moved just as a prickling sensation touched her chest. The black blade, however, didn't stop wriggling, fighting against her grips to pierce through her heart. ‘He's serious...’ Her expression contorted into grief, quavering and letting out a single ray of tears. This was the end of a relationship, one she couldn't and wouldn't want to salvage.

What scared her above all was that...

Kain was allowed to do this.

“W-what,” Kein's bewildered voice prompted her to open her eyes again.

At least, now the boy wasn't wearing that twisted smile anymore.

“You...!” Kein grimaced. “How?!”

All four remaining of his sphere moved back to his side, some morphing into blades while others simply hovered around him. He wasn't going to stop.

Rin gritted her teeth.

“Why?” She asked, glaring at her cousin while taking a step forward. The blade in her hand cracked.

“Hah?”

“Why are you doing this to me!?” She yelled and the black matter broke—shattered into thousand pieces.

Kein instantly winced in pain, clenched his chest, and broke eye contact.

Rin kicked the ground.

She pierced through the air and, before any of the spheres could react, punched the boy right in his guts, blowing him away straight into a wall.

“Am I really such a disgrace?!” She shouted, holding her fist. “Because I'm weak? Because I'm not the same?”

Rin clenched both of her hands, drawing blood out of them.

Kein slowly rose from his position, coughing as dust entered his lungs.

“Well... Now, I changed,” She said, her voice quavering as looked down at her cousin. “I'm stronger than you.”

Everything quieted down after that like the world had paused once again—like the only thing that existed were... her and the boy. Was Rin's statement, true? She had no idea. She just wanted to mess with him again, to see him losing his cool(if he had any, to begin with), to see him irritated, flustered—she just wanted to get back at him, even just a little. Whether that was a good idea or not...

It didn't matter anymore.

To her grand surprise, though, Kein laughed. Loudly, hysterically and for a very long moment.

“You got back your wings,” He said, not quite calming down yet. He didn't look at her, though, instead looking at the ground while putting a hand on his forehead. “Of course. Of course. Of course!” His voice kept getting louder and louder. It was with a deep that he finally looked back up. “Of course, this would happen!! It was only ever a question of time!

Oh, it all makes sense now!” Rin frowned at him, and yet, the boy simply put on another twisted smile. “But, that hardly matters anymore, Rin.”

Rin jumped out of instinct just as two of the sphere smashed into where she was standing. The third one, taking the form of a blade, headed once again for heart, which, like the first one, shouldn't have been difficult to block. The thing was, she had no foothold on the air, and, although she caught it between her palm, she couldn't stop it from advancing.

Pushed towards the ground, she barely managed to deviate the blade's course, making it pass over her ears.

“Now,” Kein spoke, taking back her attention. His last remaining sphere was above his right palm, in the process of morphing into a blade. Rin paled as she saw his blue Aura coating the black matter. “Who, exactly, is stronger than me?”

Rin's mind instantly raced.

Long ranged battle wasn't going to make her win, she needed to close the distance. However, she couldn't even take one step forward and the black blade was already in front of her eyes. Its movements seemed to suddenly go in slow motion, but, so were hers. She tried to move to the side but as the thing got closer and closer, she had the impression she wouldn't make it.

Burning pain at the side of her face was what brought time to its normal speed. An unhealthy amount of blood ran down her cheek but she hardly had the time to wince.

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She could practically feel the Aura blade, that was now behind her, flying back at her head. It didn't have as much momentum this time so by jumping to the side, she managed to avoid it. Unfortunately, the other black matter weren't so forgiving. She had momentarily forgotten about them, and as a result, one of the black blades pierced through her back and came out of her stomach.

She felt like crying.

And, in fact, she did.

She was on her knees before she realized it, and was clutching at her belly for dear life. Somehow it hurted more than being smashed by a car or having a bomb explode in her face. Or was that always how it was supposed to be? ...How was she not dead, yet? She had never felt this much pain before. Boost or no Boost, at this point, she should have at least lost her consciousness.

Tears welled up at the corner of her eyes and it was all she could to notice Kein marching toward her.

She bit her lips to stop crying. She wanted to stand up but she didn't have the power anymore—‘No,’ That was false. If she tried, if she really tried, she could probably stand up and, maybe even put up a little fight if she did her best. Would that change anything, though? She wouldn't win against Kein.

This was her limit.

Fighting so many people in less than an hour was, maybe, a little too much for one of her very first battles. Even more so since stamina was the biggest weakness of Aiden's Boost. Meanwhile, Kein, while also having fought against the same people she did, was faring much, much better than her. He was stronger, and that was a fact.

That said, it wasn't like Rin had the choice of giving up.

Kein stopped about a little more than a meter away from her, because, of course, he wasn't stupid enough to get in her range. Even though, she hardly had one at the moment. The pain was still there but it got subsided as her worries were on the boy.

Kein, on the other hand, scoffed, clearly disappointed at how quickly the fight ended. Rin hoped that was simply a facade and that he had suffered more damage from having one of his spheres destroyed than he let on on his face. In her understanding, Kein's singularity was like an extension of himself: while it may be a stretch to say losing one of them was akin to losing an arm, it should still be quite painful.

After locking eyes with her for a whole minute (who knows why, but Rin was certainly grateful for the little respite,) the boy scoffed again. “Hmph,” He raised his hand and the bloodied blade returned at his side. “Any last word?” He said, way too calm for comfort.

Rin maintained her glare. She tried to stand up and failed yet again, the pain too much to bear. Even if she could endure the pain, though, she probably won't be able to match the boy's movement anymore.

Her brain raced, desperately trying to find a solution.

Her best bet would be to get the boy closer to him but that wasn't a given, and even then, beating him close range was still easier said than done.

“Rei... will kill you.” She said, both to gain a little more time and to get some answers.

Kein smiled, surprisingly, without arrogance. “Yeah...” He said, momentarily breaking eye contact. “He'll probably get angry. But,” His blade moved in front of him, pointing directly at Rin. “Just look at your eyes. It's red.”

Rin twitched and subconsciously touched the bottom of her left eye (with the hand that wasn't clutching her belly). ‘Red...?’

“He'll understand,” Kein said. “Everyone will.”

Rin clenched her teeth. “What?” She growled. “Why?”

Kein laughed. “Except you, it seems,” He said with disdain. “Not that that's any of my concern. You shouldn't have been born in the first place. You should be dead, and I'll see to that.”

Rin clutched her stomach even further and prepared for a lot more pain(all while knowing that wasn't going to mean much). One wrong move and it was game over. Similar to when she fought against the Werewolf-like monster, she needed to predi—

“Farewell.”

The black blade moved before she could finish her thought. This one wasn't endowed with Aura, but, she knew she couldn't avoid it all the same. Which was why she didn't plan to. Her left hand moved in front of her heart—where she knew Kein would aim— and got instantly pierced by the blade. It hurted. It hurted like hell but it was better than dying. She bit her lips before she could cry and moved before the pain could disable her.

Stuck inside her hand, she clutched the blade(which wasn't evident but she did it anyway. Success or not, put aside) and smashed it on the ground with all the power she had and could muster. What she wanted was for the blade to, at least, crack, all while hoping the ground itself would crumble a little.

Who knows by what miracle, both happened. Terribly well.

The ground caved in, a small screen of dust arose and she heard Kein wince. She lost her balance, of course, winced in pain as well but was a little bit thankful when she felt something pass by her previous position at high speed. She was reduced on all four, her blood painting the destroyed ground. She was losing too much of them but didn't have enough time to care.

Suppressing a scream, she moved her right hand to the impaled one, and, without daring to hesitate, removed the blade in one quick movement. She couldn't contain her cry, which attracted the other floating blade. The cloud of dust, small as it was, was probably to thank for the blade's slightly off aim, while the crack on the one she was holding for the lack of speed. Injured as she was, Rin managed to swing her blade.

The two collided, and hers almost instantly broke into a thousand pieces, though, not without seeing the other further off course. The blade grazed her thigh before crashing into the ground right next to her. It was too close for comfort but, Rin knew it wasn't going to move for a few seconds— For a few precious seconds.

Slowly, though not hesitatingly, she clenched and unclenched her bloodied hand, doing her best to bear with the pain, all the while moving from all four to just her knees. With the black blade at the left corner of her eyes, she loosely took it with her injured hand and roughly threw it to where she heard Kein wince with all the power she could muster.

Part of the dust got cleared away, showing Rin a full view of her cousin. It was too much to hope for the blade to pierce through his Aura but, at the very least, it was enough to damage him, and therefore, lessen his focus.

Rin inhaled with her mouth and closed it shut as their eyes met each other.

There wasn't that much distance between them, but Rin knew that if Kein just so much as take a step back...

She moved before that could happen. She put all her strength in her feet and lept forward. That was all she could do. She could barely stand if she tried to so running and dashing were impossible. Which was why she could only hope that one momentum could carry her body all the way to the boy. (She was practically jumping at him, in other words.)

Kein barely reacted by thickening his Aura, but that didn't matter. Her hands extended outward, she roughly caught the boy around his waist, got her feet firmly on the ground for a second, and used that as support to slam herself and the boy both on the ground, with the latter taking most of the hit with his back.

“You—!”

Rin could hear one of the blades piercing through the air but it was way off mark so she ignored it.

She coughed blood, had a split-second thought about why she wasn't unconscious yet, and hastily moved atop the boy.

“I've thought about it...” She said, speaking from her heart, yet also to indirectly keep the boy from instantly throwing her off. “Over and over and over and Over Again!!” She clenched the boy's collar with her injured hand, her vision starting to blur. “But... I-I can't... no matter how Many Times I spin it, I fucking can't understand!”

Kein glared at her all the same. She didn't even need to look or to hear to know that one of the spheres was already moving. A stupid and repetitive motion. Why he hadn't used his enhanced strength instead was his downfall. His target was always either the heart or the head and Rin knew exactly which one he choose this time.

She moved her head back a little and, with her good hand, caught the blade without hesitation. It didn't pierce through it this time but her fingers still bled from clenching on it.

“Why!” She shouted and didn't think twice before instantly swinging the point of the blade at the boy's head.

His blue Aura flared and sparks flew around his forehead. Rin put more strength but, aside from a growl, nothing changed. The blade didn't pierce through.

“Why do you want to kill me !?” She raised the blade and slammed it down again. Same result. If anything, she felt more resistance from the blade itself. “What did I ever do to you?!!” This time, she clenched the blade with both of her hands and brought it down again. “Why do you hate me so much!!?” The blade cracked but she continued without mercy, again, “Why!?” and again and again and Again without ever stopping.

“Why! Why, Why, why,

“WHY!!!”

The blade finally shattered, and Rin lost her balance, falling on all four with her cousin's head directly beneath hers. It was bleeding now, but, the angry, disapproving look on it didn't change. Now, though, she couldn't say the expression she had was any better. Her eyes were already blurred by the water forming around them, but surprisingly, the tears never fell.

With ragged breathing, she looked down in silence, calming down a little as her adrenaline slowly began to subside. The fact that her cousin choose now, of all time, to stay silent as well, however, pissed her off to no end. Where did all his snarky, abusive, and arrogant remarks go to? Why the fuck wasn't he answering her!?

“Were you always...” She said, her glare intensifying. “Just this despicable?”

Kein didn't say anything and just scoffed.

Rin clenched her teeth before grabbing the boy's collar. She wanted to punch him. She wanted to punch him so much, but,...

She hang her head even lower, broke eye contact, and closed her eyes. Finally, one bead of tears caressed her cheeks.

“I...” She said. “I never wished to be powerless, you know?”

Kein laughed at that.

“ 'Powerless', she said,” His voice was thick with amusement, his body trembling along with his laugh. “Isn't that a good one? Because you think, that's it? You're still so out of the loop, huh. Pathetic.” Rin opened her eyes, increased her grip strength on his collar, and glared at him. “Yeah, that's the look. The naive look that stills think we're the bad guy.”

Rin clenched her right hand in a fist, her face contorting further into rage.

“No one touched your memories. No one fucking asked you to forget, Heiress.”

Her entire body loosened like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulder. She recoiled back a little and her eyes widened. ‘What?’

Kein laughed even more.

“You want to know why?” He said. “Why I hate you—Why Everyone hate you?” He looked back at her with a smile. “You just have to remember. Are you so stupid you haven't even remarked years of your life are missing? Or did you already know that but still just choose to ignore everything?”

Rin frowned again. “What... are you talking about?”

Kein scoffed again. “Either way, you can't, can you?” He said, prompting Rin to clench his collar again. “No, better yet, you won't.” He shook his head mockingly. “You won't remember. Because you're weak.”

Rin bit her lips. “As I said, I don't understand.”

Kein laughed again, only this time, she could feel his last remaining sphere floating somewhere behind her.

“Really?” He said. “That just proves my point. Just like you said, Trash remains Trash, no matter what.”

Rin's vision finally swayed, his grip on the boy lessening naturally. Anemia (and more) caught up to her, slowly but surely taking away her consciousness. She bit blood out of her lips (again) as a last effort to stay awake, but, no matter how she saw it, that only gained her a few seconds at best. Worst was, she couldn't even feel a sense of panic or danger anymore.

Although blurred, Kein smirked at her.

‘Was this... his aim?’ She thought, now reduced to using the boy's chest as support.

If she lost it here, would she ever wake up again?

Rin gritted her teeth at her cousin, struggling to stay awake.

“It's not that you don't understand,” He said. “It's that you don't want to. Because you're weak. Because you can't accept reality. You never did. You prefer running away so that you don't have to face the fact that you lost your power— That now or ever will you be allowed to be an Elite and that, no matter what you do,

It's always going to be You Against Us.”

Rin swayed in her place. “Shu..t up...” She lost her balance and finally fell to her left side. “Wh...at...do...you know... ab..o..t.” That was as far as she could convey. Her eyes were still open, glued to the boy, but she couldn't move anymore.

Kein rose from his place, not even looking at her anymore.

Was he going to kill her now? Or would he just go and leave her here, trusting fate to end her life? What could she possibly do now? Would someone show up and save her? No, that wasn't possible, was it? Kein was supposed to be on the good guy's side so if he deemed her as an enemy...

What about Aiden and the others? Would being rescued by them be a good thing, though? Law said he was going to use her against her brother, which would be another worst-case scenario for Rin. In that way, alone, Kein's decision to kill her had some sense. ‘Wait, since he killed them...’

In the first place, were Aiden and Law really on the same team? As far as Rin knew, the former was never sighted wreaking havoc with a monster at his side— Then again, if Ursa constantly used her power, then maybe... Was that possible, though? And that monster, where did it— ‘Oh...’ Now that she thought about it, it kinda makes sense why Kein associated Law with the Fanatics.

Only the cult of Remnant would...

The cult of Remnant...

Didn't she have some plan to go meet them? If Law had some connection with them, maybe it won't be so bad to follow...

But, he's dead.

Dead.

‘Ah,’ Rin thought. ‘What was I talking about, again?’