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Things have been a little rough for the Reaper as he was recovering from over stressing his body. Aside from being sore, it was just a bit easier for him to wear out at the moment... especially when he had tried to sneak in a short workout session when Mitsu wasn't keeping a close eye on him.

He didn't go overboard like last time, but Shun still probably did a little more than he should have given his current state. It was enough that when he was done that night, he decided to relax a bit on one of the benches outside before grabbing food and heading back to his room. Well, he ended up doing a little more than relaxing as not long after he sat down, he ended up dozing off on the bench.

The guy didn't look all too comfortable as he slept there, partially due to the slightly troubled expression that had shown up on his face.

The realm of the dream did not seem to be so far from reality. Tall buildings surrounded the area, with people filling the streets at the bottom. People were minding themselves for the most part, going on their way at their own pace. It was a pretty diverse city, as a number of each of the factions could be seen wandering about and doing their business.

Rushing along, one reaper child was running at top speed towards one of the buildings, hurrying on up towards his destination. He didn't stop until he practically burst through the doors of one room in particular, where an older man awaited. The room in general, looked similar to a dojo, complete with tatami mat flooring.

Seeing the boy walk in, the older man paused what he was doing and made his way over, looking far less than pleased.

"You're late," he said; the disappointment and irritation heavily coated his voice, "Did you bring it?"

Still breathing heavily from the run, the younger Reaper glanced towards the ground. At first glance, it might have looked like he was scared, but a closer look would reveal a sort of frustration in his expressing on.

"I..I'm sorry. Zarric said the package wasn't ready yet... He needs more ti-"

Cut off sharply as he was struck, the boy staggered, trying to keep his balance. There was a hint of anger in his eyes, mixed with the obvious fact that had hurt.

"Jack dammit. It was a simple task and yet you still couldn't do it right," the older Reaper sighed before turning away.

"Go continue training. I'll see if I can find someone that isn't so damn worthless for this stupid task," hissed the older Reaper as he exited the room.

Now that he was gone, there was a slight shift in the child's expression as he turned away. Frustration was definitely still there, but it also looked like he was trying to fight back some tears at this point as well. While he was trying to recover from that ordeal, he was surprised to hear someone saying 'aniki' all of the sudden.

Looking up to see Xiu there, the kid looked fairly confused and fairly worried.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he stammered out, still trying to keep himself from crying. It sounded like he was trying to stay pretty quiet too for that matter.

Young Shun still looked a bit confused and he flinched slightly when she reached out to pat him on the head, as if he was almost expecting to be smacked instead. It generally was how things went.

"You don't want to know him," he said quietly as he shifted away from Xiu when she patted him on the head again. The boy didn't flinch again but he did tense a bit just out of instinct. It looked as if he was going to say something but the older man's voice rang out from the other room.

"Shun I don't hear you working!"he shouted while peeking in, seeing the kid just standing there, looking a little nervous on his own. He could also see the look on the younger Reaper's face and quite frankly he did not appear all too happy to see that. Making his way over, he stared hard at the child before striking him down.

"Stop standing around doing nothing. And for the love of Jack, what did I say about crying?" he man hissed.

Now on the ground from that hit, young Shun let out a sort of whimper while slowly pushing himself back up. The dojo around was slowly shifting to something darker and more sinister, and the walls didn't seem to be completely solid.

"I-I'm not..." he started, trying hard to control himself, "I'm not c-crying..."

Gritting his teeth and shaking a bit as he was struggling, Shun glanced up at Xiu for a moment as she was trying to comfort him. It didn't really help all that much, especially since the older Reaper was right there, looming over him.

"Pathetic. It just so happens that my son has to be a worthless little piece of s**t," the man hissed while pushing the kid back down with his foot when he was trying to get back up.

"And don't bother trying to lie to me. I can practically see the tears in your eyes," said an identical man who suddenly appeared on the other side of the child, stepping on his back to keep him pinned down. His voice was practically dripping with venom as he spoke.

"G-get off of me," whined the young Shun. The waver in his voice made it pretty obvious that he was losing in his attempts to keep himself from crying.

"URUSAI!" boomed the second man as he took his foot back to kick the downed boy hard and swiftly, sending him a good few feet.

"Such a weakling..." the two said in unison, their voices were starting to become a little distorted as well, "Always failing. Always breaking my rules."

Whimpering on the ground, the boy looked over towards Xiu with a sort of conflicted expression.

"If I could make them disappear, I would have done that years ago," came a voice from somewhere behind Xiu. It was more mature than the voice young Shun had. If she were to turn around, she would see the Reaper in his present state, leaning against the back wall. It was hard to say long long he had been there. He appeared to be chained to the wall, which would at least explain why he hadn't done anything if he had been there the entire time.

Bits of the world around them were starting to crumble away, as the scenery continued to deteriorate. It was a little hard to tell what it was shifting to at this point.

The boy on the other side of the room was still there, huddled into a ball. Though he bit his lip to try and keep from making any noise, the tears had started to flow.

"Tck," one of the older Reapers started before a wooden weapon had suddenly appeared in his hand. It wasn't his Reaper weapon, but it certainly was something.

"Stop that," he hissed while lashing at the child. After young Shun cried out, the other man went and lifted up the boy, holding him high into the air. The ground began to break away, revealing an abyss all around. Only the area below the father(s), Xiu's, and the part of the room were the present Shun were standing remained in tact.

"I should just rid myself of this worthless waste of FEAR."

"Do it. He's no good to me anyway. He never was." the other chimed.

Whimpering, the younger Shun gripped onto his father's arms tightly, not wanting to fall into the abyss below. He looked terrified, as anyone might expect.

"Can't you see I'm tied down?" the older Shun frowned at Xiu while moving against the chains somewhat. The metal was cutting into him, suggesting he had been fighting it for a time earlier on. Glancing down, he shook his head, "There isn't anything I can do. This happens all the time anyway."

"P-please father... I'll try harder.. Don't do this.." the boy sobbed while kicking the air below.

A cruel grin formed upon the older man's face.

"Oh? You will? And how can I be certain you won't stay as some worthless whelp?" he taunted, giving the child a shake as if threatening to let go.

From the white void, the scenery began to reform. The dojo had reappeared, though it didn't seem quite the same as it was before. There were cracks here and there, and not ones that would seem normal as some light was bleeding through them. Aside from that, it was more or less the same.

Both the child and present versions of Shun had reappeared as well, with the latter against the wall as before. The father had also come back, though there was just one of him this time around. His form wasn't completely solid, however, and he seemed to almost be made of shadows.

"Why are you just standing around?" hissed the older Reaper, striking the younger one nearly immediately.