BREATH . OF . LIFE . ~ { ReGenisis Chronicles Book I }

Chapter Four [Part 3/5]: Rejection, I hope.

                      -Griffin King-

"You have no idea what the hell you've done do you?" Rin's arms were crossed where she leant up against her door frame. "You have no idea who she is?" It had taken all of five minutes to get her to stop and talk to me. She seemed as amused as she was pissed.

I frowned towards the bathroom door. "Apparently you do, though?"

Nicodemus rested his hand down on my shoulder where he stood behind me. "Have you ever heard the expression 'the bosses daughter,' Griffin?" His hair more puff than usual, which told me he was stressed and had been pulling it up with his fingers restlessly.

"Quite simply, we're in for some trouble." Takeichi sighed, standing straight as the bathroom door opened.

Kate stood there, wet hair sticking at the prickled skin around her neck, back in Rin's dress. Her brown eyes were wide and button like as she stared across at us. The hallway was filled with uncomfortable silence as she stepped out into it. Her damp, bare feet tapping very gently against the laminate floor.

There were small droplets in her ducts, thicker than water. She was in a melancholy that her hearts thrum seemed to match in a slow beat. She approached the three of us slowly, hesitating before she reached me as the other two stood off. Her breath quickened a little, as did that beat.

She blinked back the sadness and leant her head against my chest tiredly, muttering, "I'm sorry I was so stand offish."

"Uh-I..." I stared down at her, then glanced up at Rin for guidance.

She was wearing a subtle smirk and simply looked away.

"There's nothing to forgive. You were right earlier, you have every reason not to trust me, in fact, you have every reason to be angry." I rested one hand down in her wet hair atop her head, the other on her back gently. 

She nodded sleepily, I could tell by the subtle flutter of her eyelashes against my shirt that she couldn't keep her lids open. "I was right, earlier. But I figure you can't exactly keep anything from me if you tried." Her hand rested up over my heart to steady herself up perhaps. It wasn't a calculated action so I couldn't be sure.

I felt my lips curl up into a smile, "I suppose not."

Rin cleared her throat at the same time as Nicodemus chuckled low to himself. My eyes drew up to Takeichi, a little bewildered. Kate was starting not to support herself up. She was drifting into sleep where she stood.

"You'd better put her in bed," Takeichi looked both incredulous, but entertained at the same time, pointing towards her own door. "She's in with me until further notice."

I nodded, turning Kate around, whilst she was still able to stand on her own two feet, and guided her in through Rin's door. The room was only a little less cramped than mine, and had space for two old spring beds. The kind that are barely a foot off the ground, fold open from the middle and squeak under every movement made on them. They were narrow and padded with a flimsy mattress each.

Rin had never been concerned with personal comfort, just a things effectiveness. She wasn't the type of leader to take liberties, either. She knew something that made her more powerful than most who have ever been given charge of others. She is there to serve those under her, not to be served. She calls the shots not to benefit herself, but those she works with. Collective good, she called it. So despite having a little more breathing room than Nicodemus and myself, she made other sacrifices.

Guiding Kate to the bed close to the wall, opposite the door, it was almost as if she were sleep walking. I didn't know whether to be amused or concerned with how quickly exhaustion took her though.