"Is she coming to? I think she's finally waking up!"

She would never forget Shalnark's eager voice as she lay on the ground, feeling bleary and exhausted.

Her head throbbed with every single pulse, and his high-pitched, energetic shouting wasn't helping. Groaning, she'd opened her eyes, only to close them immediately. She didn't want to move, or turn to the light. She felt like doing nothing but curling up, maybe kicking the shouting person before drifting off to sleep again. Only six, she did not feel like waking up at all.

Unfortunately, he grabbed her wrists and forcefully pulled her up into a sitting position.

She'd glared as hard as she could in his direction with a squint. She ran a hand down her face and rubbed at her eyes.

"You're finally awake!" the blond exclaimed, earning himself another sleepy glare. "You've been out cold for a while."

She blinked. "Who are you?"

His eyebrows shot up, and his hand brushed his own cheek briefly before reaching out toward hers. "You don't remember who I am?"

She ducked and scurried back. "No." Freezing, she finally peered at her surroundings. A hard, wooden floor, with hard, wooden walls to match. Something on the ceiling spun, but she didn't know what that was. Some reed-like things decorated the opposite wall, but she didn't know what they were either. And the people, the person in front of her... she didn't know him. She tried to think back, but hit a blank wall. A single instruction of how to brush her teeth came to mind, but she brushed that aside. She may have been clueless, but she doubted cleaning her teeth would be of help in any way at the moment.

"Oh," he breathed, suddenly quiet.

"So she's lost her memory." Another man entered the room, raven black hair swishing to the side as he took a step forward. His bangs had a small bounce near the front, giving off a warm feeling. Wearing a simple yet dignified shirt and slacks, he came to a hesitant stop in front of her. He smiled, but his eyes seemed to droop. "I suppose you don't know who I am either?" His earrings glinted from late sunlight streaming through the window as he dipped down, questioning.

"No," she said, and jolted at a man staring spitefully at her behind a winged skull marking, who had suddenly appeared next to him.

"Feitan, I believe your presence is scaring her," the man with earrings said, gently pushing him away. "Go wait with the others, and let them know she's awake. Training should come after the girl is comfortable with her surroundings."

"Tch." He left as soon as he had come, which meant she saw nothing. One moment he was there, and in the blink of an eye, he'd vanished.

She must have gaped, because the next thing he said was: "She seems to have forgotten everything, even our abilities."

"Who are you?" she repeated, rubbing again at her bleary, itching eyes.

He smiled. Brushing his dark bangs out of his eyes first, he then took her small hands in his own, giving them a firm squeeze. It would have been a comforting move if he hadn't been a stranger in her mind. Realizing it was making her uncomfortable, he let go and took a step back. "I am Chrollo."

The blond who had been shouting before sat down carefully next to her, but at a distance so the girl wouldn't be alarmed. "I'm Shalnark," he said, extending his hand. This just earned him a puzzled look. "Oh, she forgot that too. Heh. I guess we missed that point." Not giving her much time to ask about what he'd just said, Shalnark gingerly took her hand and placed in in his own. He gently pumped his arm up and down. "You're supposed to shake it. It's a way of saying hi, or hello, or greetings."

"O-okay." She kept pumping her arm up and down. "When do I stop?"

Shalnark laughed, letting go to clutch his stomach while he succumbed to giggling. "Whenever you want."

She nodded. "Chrollo and..." She paused. "Shawl-nork."

"Shalnark," he corrected, running the syllables together.

"Shalnark."

"There you go!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "So, do you remember anything else? I know you're probably confused, but think really hard, 'kay? What do you remember?"

She tried to remember, she tried to. But anything more than the mere minutes that had passed here, nothing came. Her memories weren't blurry, they were straight-up gone. Even if she didn't have any memories, she could tell this condition wasn't normal for a person her—she looked down—size. Age? Whatever, either way, she knew this was off. People were born, started out as infants, and gradually grew into children, then adults. Suddenly being at this stage in life without memories was odd, but she did seem to know basic words, and how to do certain things.

"People are born as babies and I can brush my teeth," she blurted.

Shalnark laughed again, the bubbly sound ringing in the stark air. "We got a good one, Danchou!"

Chrollo nodded.

"Aren't you Chrollo?" she asked, pointing a finger. "Who is Danchou? Or is it a thing?"

Chrollo sat down on the other side of her, close enough that she could feel his warmth. "It is a title. Danchou means boss, or leader. We're part of a group, and we were training you to be a part of it, but you slipped and hit your head." He bit the inside of his cheek, pondering. "I believe you have a case of selective amnesia."

She blinked. Thankfully, Shalnark leaned toward her ear and whispered a simpler translation: "You forgot some things, but not all things."

"Ah. Okay." She cocked her head. "Will I remember again?"

Chrollo sucked in a breath, and she could see Shalnark wince. Chrollo put a hand around her shoulder, unable to look her in the eye. "It's impossible to say. You were unconscious for so long, and the effects from the head injury cannot be calculated. You could start recalling memories in a few weeks, or the effects could linger for decades. The brain is a wonderful yet tricky organ."

"Oh." She too, brought her gaze to the ground. They sat in a stiff silence for a while before she started back up. "So you're the Danchou. Which means you're the boss, who's in charge."

"Yes, and you're part of our group as well. Well, we are training you to be, anyway," Chrollo stayed, finally meeting her brown eyes with his impossibly black ones.

"So..." She crossed her legs and held her ankles, looking rather like a sitting cat. "Do I have a family?"

Chrollo shook his head.

"Not even a brother?" She wasn't too sure why she'd said that.

He smiled, and leaned back, spinning words that seemed to be rehearsed. "You don't have a family, you have us. The Phantom Troupe. The Spiders. Family may betray you, or die, but we will be ever present, and we will last forever, to protect you and help you if need be. Our bonds are thicker than blood."

She blanked for another moment before Shalnark once again whispered in her ear to explain. "We are better than family."

"Ah," she said again, unsure of how to respond. It wasn't just that she couldn't follow Chrollo's words. His words sounded foreign to her. She didn't feel them. Perhaps it was another effect of the selection a-knee-sma or something. Would she be like this for the rest of her life?

"Do you have any other questions?" Shalnark sat with his hands tucked under his thighs, and scrunched up his shoulders in a soft manner. "If you have any questions at all, don't be afraid to ask. We know it's a difficult time for you."

You. Her. Me.

Me?

"Who am I?"

Chrollo gave a small, controlled chuckle. "You are a girl who will become one of us, the Phantom Troupe. Until then, you are our trainee, and we will attempt to raise you. You will—"

"No, not that. I mean, yes, that too, but that's not what I meant..." She bit her lip and looked away, a bit embarrassed that she had to interrupt him. "What's my name?"

Chrollo's mouth formed a small 'o' shape as he brought his head to rest in his hand. He hesitated longer than he should have. "Your name is Rein."

"Oh." She thought of midnight thunderstorms, the crisp smell of the world in the calm morning, a pattering sound hitting the rooftops. How she knew what those was without any memory, she didn't quite know. "Like raindrops."

"No, not that rain."

She furrowed her brows, perplexed. "Like... the... kingdom type of reign?"

"No, your name is Rein, spelled R-E-I-N," Chrollo affirmed.

This time, she took the initiative and leaned toward Shalnark herself, who smiled before explaining, "Like the things you use on a horse."

"Oh," she said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Why do I have such a difficult name to figure out?"

"True, the word 'rein' does have many homonyms," Chrollo began. "But your version of the word means the ability to control or restrain, a key feature in becoming a refined adult one day. It will be crucial for your future."

Tired of having to rely on Shalnark to understand anything this man said, Rein nodded in mock comprehension.

Sure the girl was satisfied at least for a bit, Chrollo stood up, gesturing the two to do the same. "The rest of the Troupe will want to see you, Rein."

Shaking to stand, Rein had to grasp Shalnark's arm a bit to haul herself to her feet, and even then, her legs quivered. Taking a deep breath, she forced them to still. Slowly letting go of his arm, she straightened, starting to take short, careful steps to Chrollo, who  silently watched her movements with an amusement sparkling in his dull eyes.

"Are you okay?" Shalnark asked. "You shouldn't push it too much. It might cause you to black out again..." He shot Chrollo an urgent look, who returned it with a knowing, curt nod. She couldn't become unconscious again. She just couldn't, or else all their hard work would go to waste.

"It's okay," she breathed, almost stumbling. "I got this."

Finally, she made it to Chrollo, who offered his elbow to her. Shalnark did the same on her other side, and she took them both, tired after her short walk. Drooping in their arms, she was half-carried down the hallway to another door. Shalnark let go of her to open it, revealing other people.

"Hey, guys," Shalnark spoke up. "Take care. She's finally awake, but she doesn't remember anything. Not who we are, or who she is."

"Yeah, we know, we heard the entire thing," a man from the corner moaned, irritated. He tucked his hands into his large sleeves. "Man, guess we have to start over from scratch now."

"Oh, Nobunaga," Shalnark laughed. Pulling Rein forward, he observed carefully as she took her next steps into the room without any support, shakily at first but gaining strength in her stance in mere seconds. Had the effects worn off already? To test, he placed her hands on her shoulders. She stayed steady. "Let me introduce you. Again, I mean." He pointed to each of them, giving a short description.

"That one with the sword who just talked, that's Nobunaga. Don't get on his bad side. The pretty blond lady over there is Pakunoda, and she's a really good shot. The giant guy with muscles is Uvogin, he's amazingly strong. The skinny gray dude with long hair is Omokage. Don't meet his eyes. The one with pink hair is Machi, she's easier to remember. The other giant guy with the long earlobes which kind of look like scarves at first glance until you realize they're too skinny in both senses of the word to ever be a scarf but then makes you question why his ears are so stretched out but he'll never give you a satisfactory answer as to why no matter how many times you ask or how politely you do it or how much you try to bribe him and it's so annoying—" Shalnark took a long breath. "He's Franklin." He rubbed the back of his head and stuck his tongue out playfully before continuing. "The man with no eyebrows is Phinks, no other description necessary. And this guy right next to you—"

Rein jumped back. S... stars, had he been there the entire time? She didn't even notice until Shalnark had pointed him out. He blended in perfectly with the shadows as if he was one of them, but the way he was glaring at the world—or at her presence specifically—gave a fire to his character.

Shalnark chuckled at her startled face. "He's Feitan. Don't worry, he's like that to most everyone. You'll get used to it."

Used to this constant glaring? Somehow she thought getting her memories back would be a faster route than getting used to his small, angry eyes. Which were trained on her. And boring into her very soul.

"Well, I guess that's it for introductions." Shalnark placed his hands on his hips. "Danchou, should-"

"Wait," she said, tugging on the hem of his tunic. "You didn't do mine."

"Yours? Your what?"

Shaking her head, she took a step forward so she could see them all properly without Shalnark in her line of view to obscure them from sight. "I'm Rein." She looked back at Shalnark, who gave an encouraging thumbs-up. "Like the things you use on a horse," she remembered. She turned to Feitan, who was closest to her. Ignoring his gaze, she stuck out her hand with her elbow locked, and her fingers stiff. Her extended hand only earned her a face which she deemed as confused. "You're supposed to shake it," she informed him. "It's a way of saying hi, or hello, or greetings."

*     *     *

Chrollo watched from the doorway as the girl started to interact with the other Troupe members. Rocky, but it was a start. He knew none of them would slip up what they were supposed to say, and even if they did mess up, the girl most likely wouldn't catch it. She seemed smart, and she remembered a lot of what Shalnark had told her in the minutes they talked to her, but she didn't seem like one to brood in a topic for long. At least, not yet. If he trained her properly, then both her physical and mental ability would be stronger.

He was grateful she hadn't passed out again. The memory remover's ability came with a lot of conditions, one of which stating that once awake, she had to stay awake for the next 24 hours, or else she would regain her memories again. She would also be significantly weaker during that time, increasing the difficulty of keeping her awake. As she seemed to be walking nearly like a normal person now, Chrollo deemed this a good thing. She was recovering from the induced amnesia quickly.

The girl was now with Uvogin, awing at how her hand and wrist disappeared completely in his grip.

The girl, dubbed "Rein". Rein, which meant to keep under control, to restrain. He hoped his choice in her name would influence how child-rearing would go for the next years. It would surely help him. He could control her, and maybe she would even make her name her own one day. She would learn control and restraint for herself so Chrollo would not need to practice it on her. Control was a key part in fighting, manipulation, deceit, revenge, loyalty, and more skills needed to be successful as a Spider. Restraint was important as well, as she would need to dial back her childish tendencies and emotional outbursts during times when they were far from appropriate. Looking around, Chrollo knew many in the Troupe needed to work on these two aspects, both of others and themselves. In these points, they were nowhere near perfect.

But if Chrollo raised her correctly, Rein would master these two points, and become strong.

Chrollo had never raised a child before. But this experiment had the potential to keep him entertained for years. And the fact that she was Kurta made it all the more interesting. How would he deal with her Scarlet Eyes? Would she change into them at all? Was there an evolutionary reason behind it, and if so, how would he use it to make her more powerful? Would she even comply? Perhaps her stubbornness would be another possible roadblock to defeat.

His lips curled up calmly. This experiment had so many risky factors, factors of unknown things he could only tackle when the time came. Children were unpredictable; naive and wise, stupid and smart, caring and stoic. They cried over the silliest of things, and laughed at such. An idea that made absolute sense in their heads would be an incredibly dumb one to anyone else.

So many obstacles to raising a child, each more complicated than the next. He was looking forward to conquering them all. And the ideal product from his experiment?

A top-notch Spider he had raised from scratch.

(Rein having to rely on Shalnark to understand what Chrollo says is my jam)
it's my headcanon that Rein forgot all phrases so everything she hears for the first few months she takes literally, which means every lesson with a troupe member ends up like this:

Excuse my poorly drawn Uvo.
Share, support, and comment!