Ch.17: Concern.

He slowly started to walk up to Rukia who unconsciously started backing up. Her senses were telling her to get as far away from his as possible. 'Idiot...' She notices several changes like his voice and how clear it was.

"Rukia..."

Using Air Walk, he was able to travel the short distance between them in a matter of seconds. He was now standing over her, Rukia becoming more terrified at what's to come.

She sort of respected him for protecting her, but seeing as he's about to kill her, the depression she felt was something worse than death.

"Why...did you make that face?"

He put the gun away and placed his hand on her head. 'Eh?' Confusion swam around in her head as her cheeks were becoming red. 'Kazemi..' He seemed menacing before but...not anymore. She saw and heard the concern in his voice and how he seemed to actually want to listen to her.

"Why did you want to save such a man? Why?"

Kazemi sat beside the shaking girl. He would have called her retarded on the spot a few minutes ago, as time in the Realm of Sigil is different from the outside world, but not anymore. He'd actually listen to her.

"W-Why..."

She didn't know it herself that she wanted to save such a man. 'What..gives him the idea..that I wanted to save him?' Kazemi rubbed her head while smiling.

"Just tell me...what you think, okay? I'm all ears.."

He gave off a light smile with his eyes closed. From her head down to her shoulder, his hand rested as he pushed her in closer. 'I already killed him, but maybe telling me how you feel will make you and I feel better..'

She rested in his chest as they both stared out. She could hear his heartbeat and she could feel the warmth he gave off. 'I..wanna stay like this..' Before she could even speak, blood came down her nose again, making her sniff and soon pass out.

'What's..happening? Did she get hurt?!'

He checked around her body, having to lift up her hoodie, only to see a thin shirt followed by a thin bra. 'She's not hurt..so what's the deal? She doesn't do drugs I assume. I hope. Maybe...the heat? Wearing black clothes in this sort of temperature could cause anyone of her age to faint or have nosebleeds.'

The little loli quietly slept in his chest as he began cleaning her nose, using his shirt as a tissue. 'Rukia...I wanna thank you..for accepting me like this. You aren't afraid of me and you only tremble in fear when I become threatening..'

He couldn't help but smile. In a sense, he saw her like a daughter. He didn't know why he did, but he did. 'I'll get us our rings, okay? You just rest..' He picked her up and placed her on his back. He held under her legs as she had her lifeless arms out on his chest from behind.

'Just Rest..'

....

Kazemi walked throughout the quite streets, scrolling through his phone. 'I have to kill in order to obtain a ring. That's fine. But, it seems that I only need one and I have 2 so far. I can just give my other one to Rukia. And wait, didn't Akari have 10 rings? That's overkill, right? Who cares..'

He was more tamed but his mentality wouldn't change just like that. He was still the cold blooded killer that killed a kid because of a lollipop. He was still him, just with more...reasoning? He wouldn't think twice to kill, but he'd atleast hear a person out if, and only if, he thinks it's the moment for that.

'In any case, I need to go find Tory and help her. She probably has a lot of rings by now, but I'd feel less concerned if I was there..' He began his search for her by calling her cellphone.

She didn't pick up however which almost made him throw his phone at a wall but he held himself back. 'I just realized that a lot of people won't survive, seeing as players like Akari take way more than one ring... Oh well..'

He then started running around, seeing dead bodies everywhere. Some had severed heads while others were voided of limbs. 'I'm invisible right now, so I-, I mean, so we should be fine..'

He looked at the sleeping Rukia by looking over his shoulder slightly. When he did, he saw her close her eyes and pretend to be asleep once again. 'You need to rest, Rukia. Nosebleeds are a serious thing...'

Just then, he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. 'Ah, this must be Tory..' Thought Kazemi as he pulled the cellphone out. She was his only contact in this phone as he deleted his other.

He went to the app to check the message and when he did, his phone dropped. 'Help.' It only took a word for his body to be pulled forward. 'Help.' He jumped and started walking on the air.

'Help.'

His eyes were moving around, trying to find the location of the emergency message she sent. 'Help.' He started floating down at an angle and perfectly into a subway. Rukia was whimpering and holding onto Kazemi tightly.

'Help.'

He stopped running as a huge wall of ice stopped him. It was the perfect size to fit the tunnel they were in. 'She's...behind this wall?' He pulled out his deagle and started blasting the wall of thick ice.

To no avail though, he wasn't able to pierce it. 'DAMN IT!' He screamed at himself while hitting the wall in frustration. 'I'm...weak...' He then took Rukia off his back which made her Yelp. Bending down to her, he gave her a light smile.

"Please go, Rukia. Go hide and I'll find you, okay?"

He put his forehead to hers and they locked eyes. 'I'll be fine, okay? Just go..' He spoke with his eyes. Rukia face started to scrunch as she felt scared. She didn't want to be alone out there, leading her to this.

"Kazemi~.."

She started to cry which surprised him a bit. He never seen her cry before and didn't know that he ever wanted to see it. 'Tears..' He gave a soft smile and whipped them away.

"I'll be out in 5 minutes, okay? I promise. I..pinky promise.."

He grabbed her small hand and connected his pinky with hers. 'I'll protect you, Rukia. Until you can feel safe, I'll...protect you..' It was a promise he made with his little brother as well. This time though, he'll keep it.

"No, don't lEAve me~..."

"You can't be here, Rukia. I'm sorry.."

From her pinky, his hand slid up her arm and to the back of her neck, only for it to receive a chop, causing her to pass out on the spot. 'I'm sorry. This..I have to...' He then carried her up the stairs, hid her in a box, and went back down

Kazemi then started to strip down until his boxers. 'I'm coming Tory..' He stepped up until he reached the ceiling. He then made a pistol and shot at the thick ice. 'The more ammunition I need, the more stamina it consumes, huh..'

The ice was a little bit thicker than a couch and was as tough as..well ice. 'Tory..' Using her as motivation was what made him try even harder than ever. 'These bullets...they aren't working!' He started to shake at the fear of her drowning and probably calling his name, only for him to no be able to get to her in time.

'Stronger..'

The gears of life started to move around in him as his rate at which his was breathing slowed. 'Stronger..' His black pistol was started to pulsate a blue color. 'Stronger..' Inside the bullet chamber, you could see them being enveloped in a blue aura.

'I'll get throught this ice..'

He felt like he could actually do it now. He felt confident in himself and in his weapon. He put the pistol back over the ice and shot. This time, the bullets went throught the ice as easily as a hot knife through butter.

'Tory..'

He shot in a circle like motion which eventually carved out a whole for him to go through. He then saw a pool of water on the other side, the ceiling area not being covered by water. 'Theres a chance..'

He went through the hole and into the cold water. It froze everything inside of him but that didn't stop him. He broke throught the next ice wall, noting that the water was slightly raised.

'Don't tell me...that it gets higher and higher..' He broke through about 5 more walls, his theory becoming true. 'If each room gets more and more filled...then the water in the previous room will seep through the hole I made and carry itself into the room before that one...'

Breaking through a wall, he then saw her. She was floating in the water, her mouth slightly open. 'As beautiful...as when I first got here..' He swam over to her, wasted no time and went throught the hole he just made. He did this for the other rooms, soon realizing he was almost out of breath.

'Whoever did this..'

He landed on the wet ground while holding Tory in a princess carry. The floor under him was filled up to his ankles, being in that area because of the stairs.

'I'll kill you.'

....