12 Notice

"What the fuck?" Korū said incredulously.

"Which part wasn't I clear about?" Alina sassed. "I dare you to back down." She was going to regret overreacting later. But at the moment, this felt necessary. A distraction was necessary. To spread out the pain. Wallowing would do her friends no good.

"Alina, what are you doing?" Linda asked worriedly, creases appearing between her eyes. She could tell that none of them were in the right frame of mind.

"Relax, I'm just bored." was the complacent answer. Linda frowned deeper.

Hikari stayed silent, eyes fixed on her brother.

"Tch. You're on." He gritted out.

Alina grinned, "Great." and hopped down from the roof, her feet landing with a thud. "Come on, let's go to the field."

"What rules do you want to have?" Alina asked Korū, with Hikari and Linda trailing warily behind the two of them.

Silence.

"Weapons allowed?" Hikari suggested.

"Up to you." Alina quipped. Didn't matter. She could win either way, but that wasn't the point.

Korū stopped in the middle of the field, reaching for the blade hanging at his side, and drew the sword that once belonged to Takara.

Alina just stood staring at him, the grin on her face not dropping, her eyes sparkling with recklessness. "Free-for-all?"

"Come at me." He took a stance, eyes fixed on his opponent. His expression was blank, much unlike his usual wildness.

Alina cocked her head to one side, watching Korū carefully. Her body didn't have the reaction it usually had in a fight. Her heartbeat stayed normal, and there was absolutely no adrenaline rush.

Seeing that he wasn't going to make the first move, her smile grew almost unnoticeably wider. She charged him.

Just as she was about to reach him, she jumped to the side, rolling once. Her boots skidded across the grass as she crouched, her hand going to the knife sheathed in a boot. Better than crouching simply to retrieve it.

Korū focused his breathing and he lunged at her, his mouth moving slightly, barely noticeable, as though he was reciting a chant or something. His sword grazed Alina's cheek as he shot past. Alina's hand whipped out, cutting into his calf, as she pushed herself forward and put more distance between them. The pain in her cheek was predictable. Good. At least he was reacting.

Korū threw his kunai, not poisoned because he didn't have the antidote, only for them to be sliced out of the air. They stared at each other, causing Alina to raise an eyebrow. "Looks like we're at an impasse."

He slid the sword back into its sheath, laying it on the ground. Hikari rolled over on the ground, just wanting to sleep through the entire thing. Linda made herself comfortable beside her. Korū dropped his weapon-lined jacket over the sword.

Alina observed him, somewhat disdainfully. "You're not even trying." Neither was she. But at least she was trying to try. Had been, at least. She suddenly felt fatigued.

He didn't even spare her a reply, meeting her gaze with a cold one.

She shook her head disappointedly, turning her back on her opponent, her friend, who she didn't know how to help. "I'm going after them, whether you're coming or not. Revenge is long overdue, anyway." She whispered, although her three friends who were the closest to her could still hear her, while all that the people that had gathered saw was the slight movement of her lips. She stalked off without a second glance. She couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

Korū sat down, pressing his fingers to his temple in an attempt to soothe a very annoying headache. "Korū…" Hikari murmured, approaching her brother. "Let's go see Oji-san, okay?"

"Just give me a second."

Linda frowned at the shrinking silhouette of Alina's figure. "She'll calm down." She thought, turning her attention to the twins.

A vaguely familiar house came into Alina's view. Her childhood house. Never once could she consider it her home. It held no memories she wanted to keep, no people that she wanted to meet. It wasn't where she felt safe because while she hid in it to escape the jeers and taunts, she would still be oppressed by the reminder that only one person in the world cared for her, but he had other things to do, to train, to socialise, to make their parents proud. All the things she couldn't do. She didn't blame him for that. He was the only person in her world, but she wasn't the only one in his. She understood that she was inadequate. Which was why everyone else hated her in the first place.

Alina crept into her room silently, the room she only entered once after her return from training after six years. Six years where no one even questioned where she had been. She had spent the past few days with her new friends, and no one even wondered why she didn't live in the same house as her parents.

Grabbing the emergency backpack that she had left the last time she came, she crept back out. Her father was busy with the school, her mother was busy with the wounded. Hikari and Korū were grieving, and Linda had all the warriors under her to watch over with John.

Seeing the twins broken like this killed something in her too. Hikari had hardly said anything, and Korū never had much hope to spare to begin with. She had tried to make Korū care, especially about himself, considering how all his anchors were liable to disappear any moment, but who was she kidding? She didn't give two fucks about herself either.

She was too tired to care. Too tired to make anyone else care.

It wasn't her place to make others care, anyway.

Korū stood up again, picking up his things and leaving the scene with Hikari.

And no one noticed as Alina disappeared into the night, smirking. No one ever noticed.