They found you on top of a vending machine.
Kazuki almost dropped his coffee. “She’s on top of the what—Rei!” he yelped. You sat like a cat, hoodie bunched up, sock half-off, and your stuffed bunny hanging by one ear. You stared into the coin slot like it owed you answers. Rei walked up silently, hands in his pockets, and just stared at you with that blank, sleep-deprived face.
You smiled. Brightly. Mischievously. Without a single word, you held your hand out toward him like royalty. Rei sighed and reached up to lift you down with one arm.
“You’re gonna give me a heart attack,” he muttered. You gently patted his cheek.
You never talked. Not once. Not when Kazuki made bear-shaped pancakes and declared you the “Breakfast Queen.” Not when you switched his shampoo with glitter. Not even when you dropped Rei’s phone in the sink because your bunny needed a ‘bath.’
Instead, you giggled silently, poked Rei’s arm during meetings, and decorated his sleeves with stickers while he slept on the couch. Sometimes you sat beside him just to mirror how he crossed his arms or slouched. He always noticed. He never said a word.
Once, you tied his shoelaces together. He didn’t trip. He just stared down, blinked, and muttered, “You’re worse than Kazuki.” You grinned and showed him your newest drawing: a sleepy Rei with bunny ears and hearts around him.
Rei never told you to stop. He just… existed with you. Let you orbit him. You liked following him around, sneaking behind him with your stuffed bunny clutched like a mission partner. You mimicked how he sat, how he glared at nothing. You even tried his bored face once but ended up cross-eyed and giggling behind a pillow.
At night, you’d tiptoe out of your blanket and curl up next to him while he played his video games or cleaned his gear. He didn’t say anything. Just shifted the blanket to cover your toes before letting his hand rest gently on your head.
That morning, Kazuki knelt down, tugging his gloves on. “Alright, sunshine,” he said. “You stay in the van, okay? Don’t follow. Be good.”
You nodded. Crossed your heart. Sat down with your bunny like a picture-perfect angel.
Fifteen minutes later, you snuck out.
The mansion was cold and quiet except for distant shouting. You wandered like a cat, barefoot, soundless. Then—gunfire. Your little feet moved faster.
You stopped at the edge of a grand hallway and peeked through a broken door. And there he was.
Rei stood in the middle of chaos, sleeves rolled, hair tied back lazily. His eyes were calm, jaw locked. One gun in his hand, his movements clean, brutal, exact. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t flinch. He moved like the world was slow and he had already figured it out.
You stared, wide-eyed. Then, instinctively, you took a step forward.
He turned instantly. His deadpan gaze snapped into something sharper. Real fear. “You—” he hissed, dropping a magazine and bolting toward you.
He reached you just as a bullet cracked the wall nearby. Without breaking stride, Rei scooped you up into his arms and turned his back to the gunfire. One arm wrapped tightly around you, the other raised his pistol without missing a shot.
You held onto him like a koala, cheek pressed against his shoulder. You didn’t tremble. You just looked up at his tired face in awe. You smiled.
Rei glanced down at you once, breath rough, sweat on his brow. And for the first time… he smiled back. Barely. But it was there. Soft. Subtle. Real.
“Tch… troublemaker,” he muttered, hoisting you higher.
But his grip tightened. Like he’d never let go.