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Wèi Yīng is an enigma Lán Zhàn can never hope to understand. The vibrancy, the smiles, the laughs, the way how, despite his behavior, he’s become like a beacon to him-Lán Zhàn slams down his book, rattling the low table he sits at. Thank Lán Ān he’s the only one occupying this library, or someone would surely be on his case for that unusual breach of behavior.His mind keeps wandering to Wèi Yīng; Wèi Yīng’s absurd answers to Uncle, Wèi Yīng’s sword skills that are second to his own, Wèi Yīng’s toned arms and six pack glistening under the moon like starlight in the Cold Spring. So close to him, his own personal stars that would fit perfectly in his hands, with midnight black hair that frames his face like a perfect painting. His fingers would meld to those chiseled cheeks with just a hint of baby fat, he would gently pull the elusive boy in and-Lán Zhàn stands quickly, ears burning red as he crumbles the pages in his hands. A pity, he was actually enjoying this book. But the room is too hot, it feels like he’s going to combust, as if he’s lost his delicate control. Instinctively, he reaches up to adjust his headband. It’s still entirely in place. The boy takes a deep breath.He needs cool air. He needs to open a window. He speed walks (no, it is not running, just walking with purpose) to the nearest one, throwing it open with more force then was necessary.He’ll have to tell Uncle that he noticed that this particular window was damaged in the storm they had a few nights ago. (It’s only a white lie, there is some damage from the storm he can see.) He wouldn’t be lying, just omitting some truth, and as long as no one asked, he wouldn’t be breaking any of the 3,000 rules.(Many think he would never dare to break any of the rules that run his life. They’re right, he would not, but controlling rules raise sneaky children. Having memorized all of them just makes it easier to bend them.)He expects cool wind, and while he does get it, he also gets Wèi Yīng. Down below him on the path, messing around with his brother and the Qīnghé Niè heir. Wèi Yīng jumps up onto his brother, no doubt to annoy him, but Lán Zhàn… Lán Zhàn can’t help but long to be the one in the Yúnmèng Jiāng’s heir place, and he can’t understand why. And it’s up there, on the vantage point that is his younger brother’s shoulders, that Wèi Yīng gets a glimpse of him, quickly scrambling off Jiāng Chéng and enthusiastically waving to him.“Lán Zhàn! Lán Zhàn, come and join us! We got permission to go down to Cǎiyī Town for lunch!”“No yelling in Cloud Recesses.” It’s an automated response, one he no longer even thinks about, but Wèi Yīng doesn’t seem to care much about the bland response as he pouts, but does indeed lower his voice when he smiles and opens his mouth again. “Aw, you fuddy-duddy! Alright, well if you don’t want to go, I’ll just be sure to save you something for later today! See ya Lán Zhàn!” And then he’s pulling the other two off to the bottom of the mountain. Lán Zhàn can only stand and stare as the one he cares about most after Xīchén and his Uncle disappears into the noon sun. The wind picks up, scattering his well kempt hair as he comes to a sudden realization.Is this… is this the feeling his father gave up everything for? Love?‘Wèi Yīng… could you call my name… just one more time?’--“Wèi Wúxiàn, why would you try inviting Lán Zhàn to go out with us? We both know you plan on drinking, and I don’t think you’re keen on getting your punishment extended any further.” Today, classes had been cancelled for some kind of important meeting that couldn’t wait, so the students had a free day, the three of them using it for an afternoon on the town. Of course, even though classes were cancelled, Wèi Yīng’s punishment was decidedly not, a fact Lán Zhàn had made clear to the boy this morning when he came and personally searched him out to inform him of their unchanged schedule.“Ah, don’t be a stick in the mud Jiāng Chéng! Imagine how he would react to alcohol! Perhaps we could have snuck some into his cup-”“And give Yúnmèng Jiāng an even worse image then you’ve already presented? Really, sometimes I think you’re a glutton for punishment…”“Well, knowing Wèi-xiōng’s choice in adult entertainment books I don’t think you’re that far off-”“Hahah, you know me too well Niè-xiōng!” Wèi Yīng laughs, throwing an arm over Niè Huáisāng's shoulder, dragging the poor boy down with his weight.“AH- Wèi-xiōng-!” And they both faceplant into the dirt.“I- You’re shameless, Wèi Wúxiàn. Completely shameless.” Jiāng Chéng holds his face in his hand, cheeks burning red in secondhand embarrassment.Wèi Yīng only laughs more as he sits up, helping the poor Niè heir up, having successfully distracted them both from the topic of Lán Zhàn.‘Ah… Lán Zhàn, can’t you say my name in that beautiful way you always do?’--Wèi Yīng kept his word. He did indeed bring back food for Lán Zhàn; dumplings, congee, tofu and noodles (all vegetarian for him, of course), more then he could ever hope to eat on his own. Which seemed to be Wèi Yīng’s exact plan, who almost immediately offered to help Lán Zhàn eat the food. Food must not be wasted, and that is the exact reason Lán Zhàn agreed so quickly. No other reason. There’s nothing behind being able to share a meal with Wèi Yīng like this.There was only one issue with the food… it was all so incredibly spicy. He’s never had food with a spiciness of this level, though for Wèi Yīng, this seems completely normal. Though, that little playful smirk on his face must mean he’s waiting for Lán Zhàn to break and say the food is much too hot for him to eat.Well, Lán Zhàn has never been one to decline a challenge. So, he swallows despite the burning, and goes back for more each time.The look of surprise on Wèi Yīng’s face makes it all worth it. Though being able to eat together with him like this would have made it worth it either way.Of course, this does not mean that Wèi Yīng gets out of punishment, and he continues to make Wèi Yīng copy down all the rules. But this time, he only pretends to read, instead watching Wèi Yīng. Watches as ink gathers on his fingers where he absentmindedly twirls the brush, how that ink gathers on the edges of his face when his head collapses onto his head, the little huffs as Wèi Yīng inevitably gets bored…“… Wèi Yīng.”His head shoots up, blinking at Lán Zhàn before he smiles. “Something wrong, Lán Zhàn? You’ve got that look on your face.”What look? But more importantly, Lán Zhàn hadn’t meant to call out Wèi Yīng’s name. What is he doing? He should just say that there’s ink near his lips-“Do you know what our headbands represent?” Why is he saying these things?!Wèi Yīng blinks twice, confused. “No?”“Yes, you do. It’s in the notes. Find it.” He uses his no-nonsense tone that he uses on the juniors when they get a bit too rowdy, and it seems to work on Wèi Y ī ng too, as he goes flipping through his notebook.Wèi Yīng is looking down. Slowly, Lán Zhàn reaches up to his headband. His hands reach the knot. He pauses. Does he… does he really want this? Is this what his heart is telling him?He only has to look at Wèi Yīng again for him to come to his decision.His fingers deftly undo the knot.It falls into his waiting hand.“Headband, headband… Aha! It says… represents the wearer’s restraint? To hold onto regulations? Haha, you fudy-duddy Lán Zhàn, is that why you never take it off-” Wèi Yīng’s breath is suddenly stolen from his lungs as he looks back up, to the sight of Lán Zhàn’s headband in his hands, the delicate thread of gold idly catching the evening sunset through the open window. “L-Lán Zhàn…” It’s barely a whisper.“Our headbands… represents our will to become better. To be above human want. But it does not mean those things are bad.” It almost sounds like he’s talking to himself, but then his gaze meets Wèi Yīng’s, and something seems to settle in his gaze. Slowly, ever so slowly, his hand reaches out for Wèi Yīng’s head, waiting for Wèi Yīng to pull away with a laugh, for the rejection that is sure to come, for anything. But it never comes. Wèi Yīng doesn’t try to pull away when his hand finally meets his cheek. So, he pulls Wèi Yīng forward slowly, willing his arm to stop trembling, and he moves his head forward too. Their foreheads meet in the middle, Lán Zhàn will a serious face and Wèi Yīng with a red one.“Wèi Yīng… only two groups of people can touch our headband. Close family, and…” he brings the headband forward with his right hand, reaching for Wèi Yīng’s left. Wèi Yīng immediately brings his own forward, and both close around each other and the headband. “Our lovers.”Wèi Yīng drags in a quick breath, eyes glowing with an emotion Lán Zhàn can’t identify at the moment. It was now or never. “… Wèi Wúxiàn, Wèi Yīng, would you-”He doesn’t get the chance to finish before lips are pushed on his, and a hand is pulling his own head impossibly closer. The kiss only lasts for a few seconds, before Wèi Yīng pulls away… only to jump onto the table and then into Lán Zhàn’s unexpecting arms. Lán Zhàn only just barely manages to keep them both upright as arms close around his upper body.“Yes, yes, a hundred times yes! No, a thousand- no, a million-!”Lán Zhàn is only frozen for a second before his arms are around Wèi Yīng just the same, tightly as if his love could just disappear.“Did you plan this out, Lán Zhàn? You must have, I had only just finished the headband rules when you asked.”Lying is prohibited. “… no. I… wasn’t going to ask. I was afraid…” he’s unable to finish the sentence.Wèi Yīng pulls back from where his head was buried in Lán Zhàn’s neck and hair, giving the boy below him a quick peck on the lips. “You don’t have to explain. I get it.” He then gives a happy sigh, nuzzling up to Lán Zhàn’s chest.Both sit in silence for a few minutes, Lán Zhàn idly petting Wèi Yīng’s hair.“Mm… Lán Zhàn, could you say my name?” A sleepy Wèi Yīng asks from his chest.Lán Zhàn is confused, but obliges. “Wèi Yīng.”“Mmm… again.”“Wèi Yīng.” He says it more firmly this time.“Once more!”“Wèi Yīng.” He could hear the smile in his own voice.“Mm… I love when you say my name, Lán Zhàn.”Well, such a secret deserved its own, right? “… Me too.”Wèi Yīng immediately perks up. “Yeah, really? You love it when I call you Lán Zhàn? Lán Zhàn. Lán Zhàn! Lán Zhàn?” He says it in different tones each time, purely to see how Lán Zhàn would react to each one. “Well, if you love it that much, I’ll be sure to say it all the time now, alright! That’s a promise!”“Mm. A promise.” He gives a small smile and is met with an even brighter one before lips cover his own again, a tongue swiping over his own lips before his own open in reciprocation.There would be time for talking later. Right now, he wants to savor Wei Yīng's sweet taste on his own.
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“Woah… this is a human beach, Luz? It’s so…”“Beautiful? Amazing?” Luz smiles as she walks out of the overhang where one of the new portals was settled, taking off her shoes as she walks closer to Amity.“Perfect!” And it’s because she’s taking off her shoes that when Amity rush hugs her, both crash down into the sand.“Woah- you ok, Amity?” Luz sits them both up, helping to brush the sand out of her girlfriend’s hair.“Yeah, yeah; I’m ok don’t worry. Just a little-” she spits some stray sand out of her mouth, “sandy.” She giggles.“Well yeah, I can see that.” Luz teases as she lets Amity up to sit next to her, both of them holding the other’s hand.“So, you said this is Spain, right? It’s so bright, and the sand is almost pure white! Man, I wish we had this back in the Boiling Isles… instead of, ya know…”“Ashes for sand and boiling water?” Luz says knowingly. “Well, Spain has some of the best beaches in the world, and I’ll be sure to take you to all of them! I’ll give you the best beach experiences ever!” She pumps a fist in the air, successfully cheering Amity up as she gives Luz the smile only reserved for Luz.“Gracias, Batata. I’m sure it’ll be amazing.” She gives Luz a quick peck on the cheek- she was trying to get better with public displays of affection, and while Luz has told her that she doesn’t need to do it just for her, Amity is doing it for herself, too. Luz gives so much of herself to Amity, and she wants to give the same back.Luz blushes bright red. “AWWW, SWEET POTATO!” She rushes in, grabbing Amity in a big, crushing hug. “I love you too!”Amity hugs her back, maybe not with quite so much desperation, but she still loves it all the same. “Now, come on. I don’t want those bathing suits your Mom picked out for us to go to waste, do you?”At that, Amity is grabbed by the shoulders and is bounced with Luz as she starts to gush. “Oh you’re gonna look so pretty, Sweet Potato! Come on come on come! There’s a changing room over here!”--Both laugh together in the waves, Luz in a one piece with swim trunks on top and Amity in a tankini with a skirt bottom. Luz stares at Amity with a playful glint in her arms, Amity turning to her curiously before Luz splashes her with a giant wave. Amity sputters after it hits, now absolutely soaked- and in retribution, writes a spell circle in the air. And then an abomination hand suddenly grabs onto Luz’s foot, temporarily pulling the human underwater as Amity laughs. Luz is only under for a few seconds, and she doesn’t look happy when she comes back out. In fact, she looks quite like a cat forced to take a bath- that is to say, pouty and grouchy. Amity snorts, before she paddles over and gives Luz an eskimo kiss, which seems to cheer the human right up, who is quick to hold her girlfriend and spin with her in the shallow water… that is, until a giant wave comes and crashes over them both. Both sputter out water, but they can’t keep the laughter down, until they’re both forced to flee from the sea as bigger waves suddenly start growing behind them, holding hands as they laugh at the absurdity of the situation.--On dry land, Luz uses a heating glyph to quickly dry them both, and both throw on new outfits- Luz wearing a semi-formal grunge outfit and Amity in a semi-formal posh outfit. After that, Luz drags Amity into the city, where Amity can marvel at the Spanish Colonial architecture, street stalls and art. If Luz ends up maybe using her Mamá’s credit card just a bit too much to buy all the things Amity is interested in, well that’s no one business but her own.And her Mamá’s chancla business, when Camila inevitably finds out. But that’s a problem for future Luz!It’s when they’re sharing patatas bravas that they encounter the hecklers. It’s a group of harassers that Amity had idly pointed out following them a while back. Turns out they were just looking for an excuse to start rattling off their own beliefs about their relationship, taking the sharing of a meal as the perfect opportunity.Amity starts to look ashamed as she starts to hide in on herself, but Luz was going to have none of it. Instead, she makes a point to kiss Amity in plain view of the group, then throws them the bird as she laughs, pulling Amity deeper into the city, Amity at this point completely red and unable to process much else as her brain tries to catch up.--They head to a karaoke restaurant, where a room has already been reserved for the both of them. They both sing their hearts out, but Luz sings one too many love songs as she loses her voice in the middle of a song, embarrassingly voice cracking when it does.She sits dejectedly on the couch, Amity trying her best to cheer up her girlfriend while also trying to make her drink specialized honey tea that a waiter had brought in, complaining about the taste.Amity hadn’t really believed her until she took a sip herself- she almost retched when it hit her tongue. What was in this tea?!--Together, under the stars, both hold hands and share a blanket as they sit with other couples in an outside theatre, watching a cheesy romance horror movie. It’s not the best movie ever, and the scares are definitely cheap, but the humor hits most of the time.Amity snuggles closer to Luz as the couple on screen share their… 13th? 15th? Kiss of the movie. How much were these actors getting paid for this? She gets it, horror and you don’t know if you’ll ever see each other again after this. But this just felt extensive. It’s only been a half hour! And she can’t help but notice the lack of same sex couples around them…But Luz doesn’t seem to think so, giving the dreamy sigh she always does. Did Luz want them to kiss this much? Really? But, if that’s what she wanted…She doesn’t get much more time to think as suddenly gentle hands pull her face down to Luz, who plants a gentle kiss on her lips. And as she pulls away, fireworks go off in the beach in front of them and loving words are whispered into her ears.She smiles gently.Yeah, no matter what others think, this was perfect.
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What no one tells you, is that when you’re absorbed by the spirit of a person you once were, you get thrown into their soul and memories.Yuya doesn’t quite know where he is right now. The world feels like it’s constricting around him, his lungs are collapsing in on themselves, his eyes feels like they’re going to burn out of his skull despite the fact he can’t open them. Floating, falling… he can’t tell anymore.There’s a ringing in his ears. He can feel as slimly feelings of rage and hatred drag him ever deeper, but he’s powerless to stop them.He lost. He promised to protect his family, his friends, the worlds, but here he is, collapsing under the sins of mistakes both his own and not his own.What reason is there to try when this was inevitable?Yuya is a white drip dyed grey. But as he sinks, black starts to fill in the cracks. Red eyes finally open to the darkness burying him, but they’re dull and lifeless. Yuya once gave everything to hold onto hope, but there is none to be had here. No light nor hope can reach him now.Black starts to overflow the cracks, corrupting the white and grey around it.Ah… but it is so selfish to not want to die?His red eyes close, ready to accept this fate…But that sound… that’s not a ringing in his ears.It’s high pitched, and sad, and… he knows that roar…“… Odd Eyes?” It can’t be, but… his eyes open back up at he fights the darkness, wrenching an arm out of it. “Odd Eyes… Odd Eyes are you there?!”There’s no response.“Please…” Tears, something he didn’t think he could do here, leak from him. “Please, if you’re there, don’t leave me to die here!!”It’s a desperate cry, and he’s just about to give up… but the world around him cracks dark blue. And then it shatters as a red and gold dragon crashes through, front talons grabbing his arm and freeing his body from the black tar like substance as it sizzles away in the light.“Odd Eyes… you came… you really came…” Color bleeds back onto his cheeks where tear tracks burn their way down his face, but now it’s a welcome burn, desperately wiping at the tears with his wrist, color forming there too.Odd Eyes slowly lowers them both down to the ground, maneuvering between broken buildings and debris, finally landing in a fairly large alleyway.As soon as his feet hit the ground, Yuya is spinning around, throwing his arms around the dragon. His arms barely get around the power orb on the dragon’s stomach, but Odd Eyes doesn’t seem to mind as it embraces its human with its neck, nuzzling into his side, where Yuya gives a watery laugh and scratches the dragons head. Slowly, red and green start to saturate back into Yuya’s form. “Odd Eyes… thank you. Thank you for not abandoning me there. I… I… Zarc was trying to kill me, wasn’t he…?” And that thought brings about even more tears, as this time he doesn’t bother to stop the sounds of despair leaving his throat.Odd Eyes wraps ever tighter around its duelist, a gentle purring forming, trying to comfort the duelist in anyway it could. But its eyes look up, catching a scene on the road before them, and it gently nudges its duelist forward.“Odd Eyes, what are you doing?” Yuya lets go in confusion, not understanding what his dragon wanted. But in response, Odd Eyes nudges harder and moves its head forward, trying to mimic looking behind itself in its own reptilian way.“Behind us?” Yuya finally turns. “What’s wrong-” Yuya’s breath leaves his chest in one fell swoop, suddenly lightheaded, Odd Eye’s tail whipping out to catch him being the only thing that stops him from completely collapsing when his legs give out from under him. Wide eyes stare on in absolute terror.“T-That’s Supreme King Dragon Zarc…” Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC… Zarc… the one who just tried to erase his existence. The giant dragon was destroying a duel arena, laughing manically as he did so. Yuya can see people, like ants to Zarc, try to desperately escape. It’s only now that he registers the dead bodies of civilians crushed under the rubble, and the sent of burning bodies and buildings permeating the air. Yuya holds a hand to his mouth, feeling the bile crawling up his throat, but he desperately swallows it back down.He pants as he comes down from his panic attack, and that’s when he notices the complete absence of sound except for screams. Zarc… he killed everything. There was no life left in his wake.“Odd Eyes… w-why would you bring me here… I don’t want to see this. I don’t want to see what’s going to become of my home…”Odd Eyes whines, feeling it’s duelists pain, but refuses to let Yuya turn away. “Odd Eyes, please-!”
“ZARC! This is going to end, right here, right now!” Yuya gets cut off, as a maroon and red-haired teenage girl rushes onto the scene, purple eyes glinting in courage. Her pink energy duel disk shimmers into existence, and she draws four cards, not letting Z-ARC argue.“Rei… I should’ve figured you’d be the only one brave enough to stand up to me. BUT IT’S TOO LATE! You should’ve run with your useless father while you still had the chance. BUT NOW YOU WILL DIE HERE! No longer will you be a roadblock on my path to GREATNESS!” The giant dragon bellows.“Rei?” Yuya is confused, he doesn’t know anyone by the name of Rei, but… it almost sounds familiar…“You’re wrong, Zarc!” The woman shouts, as she throws the four cards onto her duel disk, and they slowly start to form into existence, two on either side of her. “I never meant to be in your way as you started your professional career, but if that’s how you felt, then I’m sorry.” She clenches her fists as she looks down. “You’re my very best friend, Zarc. You always will be.” Her head shoots up, as a look of bitter determination covers it. “And that’s why I can’t let you do this! I REFUSE to let you be consumed by your rage and hatred!! So even if that means I can never see you again…” The four cards fully materialize around her- En Flowers, En Birds, En Winds, En Moon- the four Natural Energy Cards. “Even if that means tearing apart the world… tearing apart my soul and the one of the man I love! I WILL STOP YOU! NO MATTER WHAT!” She throws her hand into the air,And it’s as if the world around them all comes to life. Yuya watches in awe as dead plants suddenly flower all around him, and birds fly into the area, bringing with them a strong wind that blows away the smog and smoke blocking the moon from sight. And then it all starts to glow, as energy is transferred up to Rei and the cards around her.“No… no, NO! AKABA REIIIIIIII!!!!!! You bitch! I’ll never forgive you for this!!!” Z-ARC roars as Rei and the cards start to glow as one.“Akaba? Akaba as in the Professor?!”But Yuya’s voice is carried away by the wind, never getting an answer as rainbow beams of light shoot out from Rei, encompassing Z-ARC as it screams in pain. Yuya winces- he can feel some pain, too, but it’s surely not as bad as Z-ARC is experiencing. “I curse you, Akaba Rei! I curse you, and one day, WE WILL BECOME ONE, AND DESTORY YOUUUU!!!!”“Zarc…” It’s a whispered word, and Yuya is very convinced he’s not supposed to be hearing this, but it’s as if the words are being whispered into his mind. “For what it’s worth… I really am sorry that it has to be this way. I sincerely hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for this, and the people who drove you to these extremes. And if we should ever meet again under better circumstances, I’ll be sure that next time, I’ll be brave enough to tell you how I really feel.”And with that whispered emission, the world becomes a nauseating sensation of colors as both Rei and Supreme King Dragon Z-ARC split into four, and Yuya panics as the rainbow lights gets closer to him, not wanting to be swallowed up. But when he turns back for Odd Eyes, the dragon has disappeared.“Odd Eyes?” He spins forward again, only to fall backwards when he’s met face to face by Rei- but now, she’s simply a construct of light.“Yuya…” Suddenly, his hand is grabbed by her own. The rainbow light is just behind them now. “Please, Yuya… save them. Save him, and their smiles. You’re the only one who can.” And then she disappears with the rainbow light, and then it reaches Yuya too.And he’s falling, again.--Yuya screams as he falls from the rainbow light, into the mid-morning light of a city. He tries summoning a monster, but his duel disk and cards don’t seem to exist here. He calls for Odd Eyes, but there’s still no response.He’s closer to the ground, now. “Please, please, please… Odd Eyes where are you?!” Pressure is building up in his head, he’s sure the panic from his impending doom, his limbs are locking up, there’s a ringing in his ears- wait.High pitched hissing, like a snake but large and bellowing… “Dark Rebellion?!” And suddenly, the purple and black dragon shoots out from the clouds, and instead of the city under him, it’s the dragon, who catches the young duelist in its hands, making sure not to scratch him, and brings them both back to the ground.Yuya is a bit disoriented when they land, but he recovers quickly, and he knows exactly where they are when he sees the tower. “Heartland City? It’s all back together? But… where are the people? Didn’t Yuto say something about public service robots, too?” There’s no sound- nothing at all. As if the city has been abandoned.In response to Yuya’s words, Dark Rebellion gives off a sad crooning sound, as if grieving the city, too. “Dark Rebellion…” Yuya walks over to the dragon, holding his hands up. The sad dragon lowers its body and head, so it lays in Yuya’s hands, who comfortingly pets the dragon. As he does this, purple and black saturate back into his colors. “… Dark Rebellion, where’s Yuto?" The dragon closes its eyes, leaning its head into Yuya’s hand as it seems to cry. “We’ll find him, I promise. Because if you’re here, he can’t be far off, too.” He touches his forehead to the dragon. “Can I ride you while we search? It will certainly be quicker.”Dark Rebellion purrs its agreement, letting Yuya climb onto his head as the dragon takes off lowly into the sky.--It was, not in fact, any quicker. They’ve been searching for what feels like hours, and they haven’t found Yuto yet. Oh, but they’ve certainly found people- people who can’t see or hear them. And the longer they search, the more Yuya watches the fate of Heartland City through a spectator’s view- no matter that he wants to help, this is the past. A memory, of a time gone past. He can’t change that. The city is burning around them- Yuya can’t help but see the destruction of Rei’s world superimposed on the destruction of the XYZ dimension. And it was only during this search that Yuya noticed his new accessory- Yuzu’s special pink gem bracelet. And no matter what he does, he can’t take it off.It's uncanny how similar it is, except for the lack of bodies. Which is only a slightly good thing- Yuya doesn’t think he can handle any more dead bodies today.And as time goes on, Dark Rebellion is getting weaker and weaker, to the point the poor dragon can’t fly anymore. And they’ve searched the whole city.“Dark Rebellion…” currently, the poor dragon is ground bound, trying to follow Yuya, but too weak to keep up. Yuya is getting more scared. “I-It’s ok- we’ll find him, I promise-” and that’s when his bracelet starts glowing. Yuya stares at it in wonder, slowly moving in a circle- it shines the brightest when facing Heartland Tower. Yuya clenches his fist, and then takes off for the tower. Yuto has to be there!--Yuya climbs to the top of the tower. The closer and closer he gets, the more the bracelet heats up, until finally, he’s at the destroyed top. And what meets him is Yuto- except he’s sinking into tangible darkness, the boy trying desperately to struggle but the darkness has covered his eyes, taking his sight and not letting him coordinate his movements- not that there’s much movement left. Yuto grunts as he desperately tries to free his arms and legs.“YUTO!” The boy freezes, and that seems to be the perfect opportunity, as the goop gets a better grip on him and drags him deeper.“Yuya!” Yuya races to the darkness, wading towards it to get to Yuto, not caring about how it claws at him. He’s beaten it once, he’ll beat it a thousand times over!!The darkness sizzles and hisses away when it tries to grab him, the light from the bracelet scaring it away. “Hold onto me, Yuto! I’ll get you out of here!”
“Yuya… Yuya I’ve been trying but-”“No times for buts!” Yuya’s voice is strained as he pulls on Yuto’s hands. “I promised Dark Rebellion I get you back to it! And I refuse to let Dark Rebellion cry more! And I refuse to lose you!”Yuto’s eyes widen, and that seems to be what he needs to break the darkness’s hold on him, as his rips his upper body out to cling onto Yuya, and with a yell, both collapse out of the darkness. Yuto hisses, obviously in pain, but desperately tries to get the two of them moving as the darkness reaches out to them again… only for it to scream and disappear as rainbow light streams through the destroyed roof.Yuto looks wary of it, but Yuya cheers. “Rei!”And then the light swallows them, and both are falling ever deeper into the soul.--This time, both are falling over the City of the Synchro Dimension. And, holding onto Yuto, this time, Yuya is ready. And when he hears the low pitch call of a dragon, he’s ready. “Clear Wing!” And from under the upper levels, the blue and white dragon appears, gliding up to them and letting both grab onto the inactive thrusters on its shoulders as it brings them down to the lower city.“Yuya, what’s going on?!” Yuto doesn’t get an immediate response though, as the Entertainment duelist laughs as the air catches his hair and clothes, idly petting Clear Wings as blue and white saturate back into his colors.
“We’re trapped inside Zarc’s soul, Yuto! We’ve gotta save the others if we wanna get out of here!” He pauses. “Well, that’s the working theory, anyway.”“… doesn’t that mean we have to save Yuri, too?” Yuto looks skeptical.Yuya looks away. “… I don’t like it either. But, in the end Yuri was manipulated into this too, wasn’t he? At least… if nothing else, I want his side of the story, too.”It’s obvious Yuto doesn’t agree, from the sour look on his face. And who wouldn’t? Yuri spearheaded the campaign that destroyed his home, his city, his dimension.Yuya looks sadly over Yuto, knowing how much Yuto must hate that, but his eyes catch on a certain new accessory of Yuto’s. “Hey, Yuto, your wrist…”“Huh?” Yuto brings his hand up, and low and behold, there sits Ruri’s yellow gem bracelet. “That’s… this is Ruri’s bracelet! I’ve never, ever seen her without it!”“Same here! Yuzu’s bracelet is stuck on my wrist, too.” He shows it off, but then gets a closer look at Ruri’s, now Yuto’s bracelet. “Wait a minute… wings… En Birds, and…” He stares closer at his own bracelet. “A rose charm… En Flowers…” his eyes open farther. “There’s no way…”“Yuya? What’s wrong?” Yuto shouts as they get closer to the ground.“I think I’m starting to figure something out… but I can’t be sure yet. But, Yuto…” he looks at the boy. “Are you with me on this?” He raises a hand to his XYZ counterpoint.Yuto grimaces for a minute as he thinks, but then closes his eyes and breathes out. Then, a determined glint enters his eyes. “If this is what you think is best, Yuya… then I’m with you all the way.” He takes Yuya’s hand, smirking.Yuya nods, and then both face the city. “It’s now or never, then. The City is a lot bigger then Heartland City, so we’ve gotta find Yugo quickly. Now, let’s do this!”--End Part 1
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The evening sun rays are filtering through the windows of Noble Academy, lighting the school in an orange-pink glow. Classes ended hours ago, but it is finals season, and all the students are staying up late to get their final projects done. It is the same case for the Pretty Cures, and Minami is ensuring they all get their finals done on time- she’s seen enough of Haruka and Kirara missing deadlines to know that if she doesn’t monitor them, both will inevitably fail.“Ah, Minami!” Kirara whines, leaning backwards and practically sliding right off her chair as she lets herself go. “We’ve been working for hours, and we still have two weeks until finals are due! Can’t we stop for tonight?” She begs.“Kirara, wouldn’t you rather the finals get done early so that you have more time to relax later? At least this way, you aren’t going to pull all nighters, again, to get everything done on time, and now the teacher can’t surprise you with deadlines, because it’ll all already be done.” Kirara pouts at all the valid points her friend points out. “Besides, I know that since it’s the changing of the seasons, your modelling will be picking back up soon very quickly, and then you’ll have no time to work on finals at all!”“Yeah, but…” She pauses, unable to come up with a good retort to that- after all, Minami was right. When Kirara gets swamped with modelling work, she really does have no time for homework. “-But look at Haruka!” She gets her second wind. “Haruka has literally passed out on top of her homework!”Both turn to their pink friend, who’s mumbling out equations and food orders, droll leaking from her mouth and eyes glazed over.“T-That just means she’s been studying hard, is all!” Minami crosses her arms, looking away with sweat dripping down her forehead.“She’s saying that the pi in the circle circumference formula is actual pie and she’s listing the ingredients for berry pie instead of answering the question.” Kirara deadpans.Minami foot taps quickly with nervous energy, and she laughs guilty… “Ha… ahah… ugh…” she drops her head. “Fine, we can take a break.”“BREAK! WOOHOO!” As soon as the word leaves Minami’s mouth, Haruka is shooting up from her chair, flowers surrounding her as she gushes at Minami with stars in her eyes. “Are we getting food?! Please tell me we’re getting food! Oh, strawberry cake sounds so good right now-! Ooh, maybe a shepherd’s pie-”Minami has jumped up in shock, wide eyes taking in the scene as Kirara giggles. She glowers at Kirara. “You planned this out, didn’t you?”Kirara laughs harder, high fiving Haruka. “What, me? I have no idea what you’re talking about!”“Suuuurrre you don’t.” Minami rolls her eyes, but there’s no heat in it.Haruka has already packed all her work away by the time the two finish talking. “Come on, come on, come on!! That food won’t buy itself-!” She suddenly pauses as she looks over the group. “… where’s Toya?”“Oh- Towa finished way before both of you.” Minami pulls out some papers- it’s Towa’s finals work for that day, completely filled out in that fancy handwriting of hers. “After that, she said she was going to go find a quiet place to relax so she didn’t distract us.”Haruka looks down. “… she’s been doing that a lot, lately. Avoiding us, I mean.”“You don’t think… did we do something wrong?” Kirara asks. “Cause now that you mention it, she doesn’t really try to sit next to me in class anymore, and if we have to work in partners, she only works with me if we get assigned together.”“Oh… I, I guess I didn’t notice, but now… it really does seem like that, doesn’t it?”Haruka clenches her fists, then grabs the two of them, dragging them out of the room.“Haruka?!”“Come on, we’re going to find her, and make sure she’s ok!”--In a lone classroom, wind flows through the open windows. The only light is that of the setting sun, and only a lone figure can be found in the room. Red haired pulled into tight curls, pointed ears slightly flicking as wind hits them. And the only sound to be heard is a lone violin, notes melancholy as the user carries it through a fast-paced song. For even if the song is meant to be energetic, the performer can’t hide their feelings of lostness in the song.Birds have gathered on the open windowsills, but none make a sound as they watch this sorrowful girl lose herself in her music. As the last bar comes, downcast red eyes finally open, and all too soon the song starts to end, and the last note comes-But it jumps into a sharp, as the door is thrown open, and birds scatter, and a panting Haruka is in the doorway- and she rushes in to give the other a hug, for tears have started to fall from puffy red eyes. “I’m sorry, Towa!”“… Huh? What, Haruka, what are you-”“You’ve been avoiding us because we did something wrong, right? I’m not sure what we did but all of us are sorry if we made you feel like you had to isolate yourself!”“What-?” And it’s then that Towa notices the other two standing at the door Haruka had quite literally thrown off the hinges- how the hell did she manage to do that and who was going to pay for it- both have guilty looks on their faces, but at least they have more tact then to throw themselves at her.Towa feels guilty, now. She didn’t mean too, but… she really has been avoiding them. And it wasn’t even their fault. “No, Haruka…” she gently pries Haruka’s tight hold off her, then smiles gently. “You guys didn’t do anything wrong; I promise. I’m just… the date is, well… this isn’t a time I like to be reminded of.”Haruka looks confused, and Minami is the one to get it first. “This is… Oh, Towa…”“It’s ok, it’s not your fault! I was… I was stupid, I know… it’s no one’s fault but my own that it happened…”“We all know it’s not your fault, Towa.” Kirara walks in now, dragging Minami with her, putting a hand on Towa’s shoulder, seeing as Haruka is still hogging Towa in a hug.“You shouldn’t blame yourself for what Disupia did to you, or what you did while you were Twilight. That was all a long time ago now, and we forgave it all a long time ago, too.” Minami puts a hand on her other shoulder, and Towa… she starts crying again, but this time they’re happy tears, and for a lack of anything else, she hides her face in Haruka’s hair, who hardly seems to mind.All three stick close as Towa cries, and they don’t ask her to do or say anything. They let her have the time she needs, and she’s happier than she could ever express that they found her today.--“Hey, Towa, what song were you playing? It was really pretty!” All four are sitting together in the room talking, not quite ready to get up yet (and deal with the consequences of the broken door).“Oh, well… It doesn’t have a name. I was improvising… putting my feelings into notes. It makes things easier to process, sometimes, but recently, it’s just been… making me sadder. I try to play something more upbeat today, but… it really didn’t work, as you already know…” she shrugs, looking away.“Could you teach us how to play?”“Huh?” Towa looks up at Haruka, wide eyed.“Well…” she stands up. “It’d be more fun to play with friends, right? And if we all play together, if you have trouble talking to us about things, we can let it out together through music, right? I know I already started learning but learning from an expert would be awesome!” She holds a handout towards Towa, back to the window.To anyone else, this would look like a normal interaction, but to Towa, the moon creates a halo around Haruka’s head, the lights from the lanterns form wings, and a sudden burst of wind sends flower petals flying around Haruka.To Towa, this is the girl who saved her and accepted her for who she was. The one who showed her the light in the darkness.She reaches out her hand, and Haruka holds her firm, pulling her right up.“Woah- ok now I know how you broke the door off the hinges.”Haruka blinks twice. “I what-?” She spins around and shrieks, the other three having already covered their ears in experience. “OH NO! W-w-what am I gonna tell Mom and Dad?! I don’t have the money to pay for this!!!”Towa can’t help but snort and laugh, the other two joining in quickly.Why was Towa worried in the first place? She fits right in with them, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Katarina yawns as she sits alone in the main courtyard of the school. Apparently, all her friends (including Keith, who never leaves her alone-) all have something very important they need to do, leaving her all alone for lunch.She takes a bite of her cucumber sandwich. Well, that’s just fine! They all don’t need to be together all the time, after all, they all have their own lives to live too! She doesn’t need them here, certainly not! She huffs, nose high.She takes another bite.But… okay, maybe she’s gotten used to not being alone. Being alone isn’t a bad thing! She just… she’s come to expect a pattern, and when that pattern is broken, a person becomes sad! That’s all there is to it.Another bite.Wait, but what if… what if this is just leading to a doom flag?! What if Maria has picked one of them and she’s gathered them all to tell them?! Katarina shakes her head- there’s no way! She would have seen signs of it before this, and none of them have treated the others any differently! They’re just busy, and that’s all there is too it.She takes a bite of her sandwich.… she’s lost her appetite.She sighs, throwing her head back on the bench and legging her legs fall to her side. Oh, who is she kidding. She doesn’t want to be alone. She wants to be with them, talking with them, but instead… they’ve all-“Katarina-sama!” Suddenly a familiar voice calls out to her, and she immediately sits up, throwing herself up to meet her friend.“MARI-Aaaaa…?” The person running towards her sure looks like Maria, but… Maria had flowers and braids in her hair. This person, this lookalike, has hair that sits out at odd places, but other then that… they look exactly like Maria.“Maria? Katarina, did you slur your words? Are you ok? Should I bring you to the nurse? It’s me, Marius.” The girl- boy, is immediately concerned, looking her over.“Marius? But I thought… Marius aren’t you female?”Marius blinks, before he chuckles. “Were you having one of those weird dreams again? With the girl who looks like me and is named Maria? Have you even eaten yet? Oh, but if you haven’t, I’ve brought food!”What is Maria talking about? Never mind, it didn’t matter, she wouldn’t give up Maria’s cooking for anything! “Really? You’re sure?!” Her mouth drools.“Of course, I’ve brought enough for both of us!” Marius now blushes. “We can eat alone, under the gazebo… just the two of us, and I can hand feed you, if you want…” He smiles so gently at her, and Katarina can’t help the slight flush that comes to her cheeks.“I-it’s ok, you don’t have to, I can feed myself…”“Oh, but what if I want to. It would be my pleasure.” He puts a hand out to her, and before she can accept…“Veto! Veto!! Veto!!!” A strangely high-pitched voice calls out, and suddenly a dirty blonde twin tail girl is crashing into Catarina, sending both tumbling to the ground.“Katarina-sama!” Then Marius puffs his cheeks. “Kaity! Be careful, you’re going to hurt her.”“I won’t allow Nee-san to go on any date without me!”“Wait-huh-what- nee-san? A date?! KEITH?!”“Mou… you always call me Keith right after you wake up. Kaity! Kai-ty! You better remember it; we’ve only been living together since we were children.” She seems to direct that last comment at Marius, as if to say ‘look! I have the home advantage!’Marius flushes red. “I-I-It wasn’t necessarily a date, I was just making sure Katarina-sama ate, that’s right!” Marius gets his second wind. “Though if it really means so much too you…” He puts on a flirtatious smile. “I think we can arrange a date with all three of us, if that’s to your liking…”At this, the sisters both flush red, and Kaity immediately goes to defend Katarina from Marius, but it’s all for moot when a red-haired boy with shoulder length hair instead grabs her hand, leading them both of them away from the bickering duo.‘Eh? White hair? Sophia?’The boy doesn’t say anything until they make it to the second-floor library, where both pant with hands on their knees. “Are… are you alright, Katarina-sama?” The boy huffs as he tries to get his voice back.“Am I ok? Are you ok? You really don’t sound too good, come, let’s sit you down…” She leads the Sophia look-alike to the closest couch, helping the boy sit down. Then, without thinking, she's pulled his hand onto her chest, and hers onto his. It takes a second for her to register what she just did- after all, this is something she sometimes did with Sophia when she couldn’t properly catch her breath, and now she’s done it to a random look alike… and she’s put a male’s hand on her chest…‘AAHHHHHH! Power through it, just power through it!’ “Here, just follow my breaths.” She deliberately exaggerates her breathing, so that the lookalike had a pattern to follow, and soon, the boy isn’t as red in the face, and Katarina lets go of his hand. “Better?”“Immensely; thank you, Katarina-sama-”And then the doors are thrown open by a beautiful and mature girl in a green dress, long black tresses almost brushing the ground. Katarina can’t help but blush at her beauty, and she belatedly notices the look alike perking up.“Nicola-nee-sama!”‘Nicola? Nicola- this is Nicole?!’“I’m glad you’re alright, Sophus.” She walks elegantly in, with none of the energy she had throwing open the doors.‘Sophus? Wait, so… that’s Sophia?!’As Katarina has her mini mental breakdown, Nicola brings in the tray of food and drink she gathered. “A classmate had told me that they saw you running through the halls, and I was worried that you would get sick after… I’m glad to know Katarina had it all handled.” Nicola lightly bows to Katarina, who throws her arms up.“I-i-it was no big deal, really! Why wouldn’t I help him?” She doesn’t think she’s blushed more then she ever has in this past hour. What is it with these gender bends and making her blush?!“Katarina… I’ve actually been meaning to ask you something, and it just couldn’t wait when I heard what Marius was asking…” Sophus blushes, ringing his hands together. “Katarina, would you-”“NO TIME FOR THAT, SHE HAS A COMPETETION PLANNED WITH ME!” Suddenly, a silver and blue blur rushes Katarina, picking her up, and the next thing she knows-This person is jumping out of the second story window with her!?!?Katarina screams- who wouldn’t?! She was just flung out a window with someone! Only… she doesn’t go splat. Instead, a gentle cooling feeling catches her instead, and lowers her down slowly. “Huh?” She looks down, and- is that Mary?!She doesn’t have time to ponder on that though, because as soon as the two of them are caught, the Mary look-alike is running off with them!They keep running until they reach a tall tree, where Katarina and the one who flung her out of the window are finally put down. But Katarina is too dizzy to register it, the world fuzzy around her.“Katarina-sama! Alana, you didn’t jostle her too hard when you carried her out the window, did you?""Me?!” Alana makes an affronted noise. “You’re the one who threw us around as you ran, Marion!”‘Alana… Marion?’ Finally, Katarina’s sight clears up, and then she’s looking up into the concerned faces of Alan and Mary, except… ‘gender swapped. Just like everyone else.’“Katarina-sama!” Marion notices her first. “Are you ok? Do I need to splash you with water-?”“I think you’ve gotten her wet enough…” Alana deadpans.Marion pauses, then starts swooning. “Yes, I did get her wet while I carried her… just not in-!”“OK NOPE, NOPE NOPE NOPE!” Alana throws her hands over Marion’s mouth, eyes twitching. “You thirsty bastard…”Katarina has completely turned red, barely able to form a response. Alana groans. “I’m sorry about him, Katarina… obviously, he has a few screws lose today.”“Ahaha, yes, obviously…” she gets up to back away from the embarrassing situation.“Wait, before you go-!”“Too late!” Suddenly, a dignified voice cuts through the air, and before anyone can react, a hand has reached out of carriage, snatching Katarina’s arm and pulling the duchess hastily into the rapidly moving white carriage. They’re out of sight before either Alana or Marion can think to give chase.“Really, Katarina… what am I going to do with you?” Katarina is placed gently on the seat next to a fashionable, and gorgeous, long haired blonde woman. “I leave for just a few hours, and all this happens… perhaps I should have one of the royal servants assigned to you for when I can’t be there…”Katarina blinks dumbly at the woman. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”“ACK!” The woman freezes in shock. “I’m gone for barely a day… and you already forgot me… well then.” And then a manicured hand is resting on her chin. “Perhaps this will jog your memory.”And suddenly, warm lips are on Katarina’s, tasting slightly of the woman’s chosen gloss. The kiss only lasts for a few seconds, but it’s enough to leave Katarina lightheaded.The woman seems happy at this, once she pulls away. “You’re always so cute after we kiss.” She kisses her cheek. “Maybe now you won’t forget me, Georgiana Stuart, princess of this country… and your fiancé.” Another kiss is planted on her opposite cheek.‘This… is Geordo?!’ Katarina feels like she could faint.“Oh, and one other thing.” The hand on her chin pulls her in close, so that Georgiana’s mouth is on her ear. “It’s time to wake up, Katarina.”--“-rina! -Tarina! KATARINA!”The poor girl wakes with a yelp as an eraser is flung to the center of her forehead, leaving a good-sized welt and tears in her eyes. “Teach…”“Don’t you ‘Teach’ me! Disciplinary Hall, now! This is the last time you fall asleep in my class!” She throws a finger to the door.“Yes…” Katarina gets up dejectedly, and she can hear the call of her name from her friends in the class- namely Geordo and Mary. But when she turns to look at them, she can’t help but see the dream- and feel the kiss-Catarina cheeks burn bright, and suddenly she’s rushing out of the classroom with an embarrassed cry.“… Katarina…?”
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“I’d like you to go out with me, Fujioka!”That memory has been haunting Arai every day ever since junior high graduation. He should have known that Fujioka wouldn’t understand, she’s always been a bit dense. He’d bet one of his paychecks that she wouldn’t understand what he was saying unless he flat out said he loved her. And- and there was no way he was doing that! After the stark misunderstanding and rejection, Arai had practically run out, too embarrassed to even look at her after that.Junior high Arai was a bit of a love-struck fool- he thought that if he would ever redeem himself to talk to Haruhi again, he would have to get in Ouran, to prove he was serious!He promptly failed the application. They wouldn’t even let him take the entrance exam!He cried over that rejection paper for hours- it wasn’t even a rejection letter! Just a slip of paper. That only solidified his inner image of the school as stuck up, pretentious plutocrats. He prayed that Haruhi wouldn’t get into such a horrible school.But of course, she did. With her brain, skills, and grades, there was hardly a doubt of her success. And he was happy for her, really! But…He selfishly thought that she was going to leave them all behind. That she would become one of the rich snobs and then become a new person. Even worse if she became of those bastards’ girlfriend-!Admittedly, those were the thoughts of a less mature and heart broken Arai. It’s been over a year since then. Arai likes to think he’s done a lot of growing since then, and… he’s let go of his crush on Fujioka Haruhi. Yes, she was a brilliant and beautiful girl, but if she didn’t want to be with him, then that was ok.It took a lot of time to come to terms with that, and to stop blaming the school for his… less then stellar grades. Yes, the rejection, both of them, still stung, but come on, neither even gave him a chance!He’s still sour about that, though he won’t hold it against the school or Haruhi.He’s over Haruhi, and he’s ready to move on with his life.And that was the case… until he met Hikaru.Haruhi came to the town with her club! Great, amazing! Haruhi has always been socially awkward, so the fact she’s already part of a club is a great sign. It meant she was truly flourishing!No one told him it was a Host Club. A male host club, and that she acts as a male host to pay off a debt. Suddenly, old feelings are being ripped up to the surface. Feelings that he thought he was over already! Wasn’t he more mature and grown then he was in junior high!?And the club is truly strange. ‘Daddy’ and ‘Mommy’ dynamics? A child, who, apparently, is the oldest amongst them?! Twins who were-Ok, ok, cutting off that train of thought. That was not something he wanted to think about.But, the issue was, he couldn’t avoid thinking about them. Because it was the twins who were the real problem here. To be more specific, it was the older one- Hikaru. Haruhi and Hikaru seemed to just… click. Haruhi talked the most with him, talked the most about him to Arai when they finally found some time alone. It’s obvious Haruhi cared about him- more the others. That’s… fine, completely fine. People always have the people they like more in a giant group of friends.It only took a few days for him to stop lying to himself. He saw a kiss just above her lips where some food had gotten stuck, where he gently licked it off. And Haruhi… she didn’t argue, tell him off, anything. She just let it happen. In fact, she even smiled at him when it happened! He swears he even saw red on her cheeks!And the others treated it like this was normal! (Even the annoying blonde crying in the corner growing mushrooms was normal, for some reason…)He had never excused himself out a situation faster then he did then. He faked an emergency call using the ring tone selection of his phone, rushing out while he pretended to talk to someone on the other end.He had cried when he got home. Haruhi straight up rejected him, but gives a chance to a pretty boy with money who hosts for a hobby?! Was it because Hikaru had money? No, but then certainly going for the serious one would have been the better plan. Pity? Was it forced?(If he ever finds out it is forced, he’s going to bash Hikaru’s head in with a nail bat and gladly take the punishment-)These people were changing his Haruhi. He knew that the environment would be no good for her, Haruhi is naïve so is easily swept into unforeseen situations and refuses to say no. But now, his Haruhi is letting these hosts influence how she thinks, that-Hold on. When did Haruhi become his, exactly?She never was his. She never WILL be.She should be, a dark part of his mind whispers. You saw her first, after all. She’s all yours, you just have to take her and show them, show her-!He splashes his face with water. It doesn’t work.He blocks the drain and fills up the sink with ice cold water. Then, he dunks his whole head in.It freezes him from the outside in, and his mind quiets as he runs out of air. Right before he would pass out from lack of oxygen, he drags his head out, desperately gulping down lungfuls of air. His chest burns, his ears ring, but his mind is blessedly silent.... He can’t be having these thoughts. He can’t be around Haruhi, or he’s going to hurt someone-He never thought he could be this kind of person. But love can either make someone better, or completely ruin them.It’s obvious Lady Luck abandoned him a long way ago. He sighs, dropping his head so just the tips of his hair hit the water.For a long time, his heart has been a cracked desert. Dry and used up, but now it’s having a period of sudden downpour. And the things growing in the infertile land aren’t pretty.He clenches his fist.Why him. He didn’t deserve this!
And Hikaru doesn’t deserve-
And they didn’t deserve those thoughts.But he’s powerless to stop them.
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A hand is run over aging and yellow spines, artificial mid evening light catching golden hair and the dust as it’s picked up by the person’s movement, swirling throughout the air. Old and rotting floorboards creek as light, practiced feet glide over it. A rough voice coughs as a cloud of dust fills their vision and fills up their nose, sneezing two or three times before it’s cleared again. Still coughing, they take a specialized woven cotton towel to wipe down the surface of the book, revealing the title in full.Deciding this one is finally useful, they use gentle, finger clad gloves to slowly turn through moth eaten pages. Stormy grey eyes eat up what’s written, but it’s not long before the person sighs dejectedly, their forehead falling to the bookshelf adjacent to it. This was book 16. 16!! And not one book she had yet to pick up was going to be able to help them face this new threat. Her head turns slightly, eyes taking in the built, black-haired boy forced to a table.Their… godly? Half godly host? She doesn’t know anymore; they’ve visited so many in the last month alone- had deemed Percy ‘too destructive’ to be around the ancient and fragile texts; he wasn’t wrong, Percy was literally a bull in a China shop, and after barely managing to get in here, they definitely didn’t want their right to be in here revoked.And Annabeth knew how important this mission was. They were trusted with it, but the adults have split the group up, made them less effective, and has sent them on what is essentially a wild goose chase for something that probably doesn’t even exist-!!She slams the book closed before her tears can stain and damage the book even more. Of course, Percy heard it.“Is everything ok, Beth? Did something happen?”She couldn’t worry him with this. She couldn’t.She forces her voice to be cheery, pretending she isn’t having a mental breakdown in the middle of a fucking library-“Yeah, just a bug. One of those giant centipedes- you know the ones I’m talking about? Just surprised me, is all! Didn’t expect it to come crawling out of a book!” She laughs.Percy groans, “oh, I know exactly the kind you’re talking about! Once, we had a person who breeded them in the apartment building, and one day the enclosers fell and they shattered! Of course, the damn things got out and the next thing we know, we’ve got one in the tub! Scared me pantless as a kid-didn’t want to take a bath for weeks. And for that matter-”She lets Percy prattle on. She knows he probably needs it, being unable to help her, and she knows he’s hardly slept, trying to help but not knowing how.And Annabeth… Annabeth feels like she can’t hold on anymore. She feels like she’s being swept down dark and raging depths, and she’s not Percy, she can’t ride or control the waves-!She stops herself before she can fall to her knees. That would attract Percy’s attention, and then he’d know how useless she’s become.She can be strong physically. She can drag any load; she can carry any burden.
But she’s only human, too.
She doesn’t want to fight a war for godly parents who don’t give two shits about them. Parents who punish them even when they’ve pushed themselves above and beyond for them.There’s no point. They aren’t Hercules. They will never prove themselves to their parents.She wants a normal life. A life where she doesn’t have to be hero, where she could settle down with Percy. She wants what they have now, not what they’re being forced to become.She doesn’t understand why the others don’t agree with that mindset.She doesn’t understand why the adults think that’s wrong.Is she destined to forever be puppeted around because of her mother?… Is that all demigods are? Toys for their godly parents?… if that’s the case…She rather she’d never had been born.
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This is the biggest competition of their lives. A global sing off, where only the best of the best are allowed. They barely made it in as an emergency back up idol group, and already they’ve almost been kicked off twice. This was their one chance to make it big, as a full-on professional group after high school. All of them have graduated, and all of them are ready to make a splash in the real world.This is the biggest competition of their lives.And they’re arguing with their manager on the song they’ll be performing, in half an hour. “Come on, you want to make it big, don’t you?” Their manager, an older woman with dyed purple hair and jaded green eyes, groans from where she stands in the middle of the room. “You were a high school idol group, so while an image of sweetness and innocence might have worked for you then, it’s not going to cut it anymore; that’s not what the people want, and you want to make it big, right?” She bites off a piece of strawberry pocky, letting her words sink in. “To make it in the real world, you must cater to your audience. And people buy nothing up better than a high school group shedding their cutesy image to a more mature visage. The company has already explained this to you, right?” She removes the piece of pocky like she would a cigarette, then scowls when she realizes what she just did, chomping on the offending piece of pocky to vent her frustration.Despite their manager saying she’s quit already, the smell of smoke sticks strongly to her.“We understand all that, Manager…” Hanayo wrings her hair from between her fingers, unable to look their manager in the eye. “But the themes, and… uhm, words, in ‘My Darling, Love Me?’ are just a bit… well, suggestive, and uhm… I and some of the others are just a bit uncomfortable to be playing it in public…”“Oh? And where were these complaints in practice? Nothing got brought up to me?” She raises an eyebrow.“In all honesty, Manager, your people really haven’t been treating us all that well.” Eli stands, talking bluntly. “During practice, they refused to hear complaints and threatened us with telling us off to the President. There were other issues but that’s been the main one.”Their manager pushes her glasses up her nose, then speaks. “I’ll start an investigation into it. Thank you, other bands like yours under our company seem to be suffering from them as well, but seeing as no one came forward, our hands were tied. Be ensured this will thoroughly investigated. But what I’ve said before still stands.” She writes in her notebook. “But not only that.” Now she smiles at them. It’s not gentle, it’s one of a tired and resentful corporate worker, but it’s still kindhearted. “I’ve heard you guys perform ‘My Darling, Love Me?’ many times, and I’ve heard other idol groups try to sing it. You guys are the first ones who I think sound right singing it. I don’t quite know what it is, but I know that you guys were meant to sing it.” Her gaze circles the room, catching all their eyes. “I won’t lie and say it isn’t a more mature song. But you have the voices and harmonies, and especially the skill, to play it perfectly. Believe me when I say, you’ll absolutely amaze the crowd and judges.”“… But what if people don’t like the new Muse?” Honaka is gently hugging herself, bouncing her foot. “… What if we don’t like the new Muse, in the end?” The other girls all share the same sentiment.“Muse is going to be, and become, whatever you all want it to be. But I think the reason you haven’t done well, is because Muse hasn’t grown to anything from your time as high school idols. You’ve shown nothing new or innovative, and in a competition like this, that makes you the last of the crop. The world is always looking for new and raw talent. You may no longer be new, but you all have the raw talent. But you have to show the world something new to get a new start. You don’t need to completely erase Muse’s previous image. You just have to evolve a bit. No matter what, you’ll still be Muse.”Honoka looks at her with stars in her eyes. “Manager…”Then their manager scowls again. “Did that help? It did? Good, because I won’t be doing that for a long time. Now, you’ve got fifteen minutes, I already told the crew you’re doing ‘My Darling, Love Me?’, now get out their and break some legs, yeah?” She waves as she leaves, then pokes her head back in the door. “Oh, and I meant that literally. I will look the other way if you break the legs of that one group- the flashy, sequin one. All of them are rude bastards, I’d even give you all a raise…” she grumbles.“Ahaha…” the entire band sweatdrops.“Will do, Manager!” Nozoki cheers from where she sits, then shuffles her cards.“Wait, Nozoki… we aren’t actually breaking their legs, are we?” Nico tries to sneak away from where she sits next to her. “Because that was really ominous…”“Oh, don’t worry! It won’t be linked back to us!” She smiles widely, scaring them all.“… Is it too late to run away?” Maki whispers.--They stand, sweating under the lights. The music had just cut off, everything is silent, did they really make a mistake playing this song-?!Suddenly, everything erupts into cheers around them. It’s louder than the other songs they’ve played so far, louder than the reception for the most popular group!All of them smile wide, having forgotten the high of these cheers. It’s like new life has been breathed into them all, and when the judges all give their passing grades for this round, they all laugh and cheer, forming a giant group hug-!And that’s when Kotori trips over some cables. They think nothing of it, but then there’s a loud rumbling sound from above…And one of the small spotlights come crashing down. Thankfully, nowhere near them, but near the ‘full of themselves’ group their manager hates… and it crashes onto one of their legs.Everyone in that stadium either collectively screamed or winced.--Long story short, it was never blamed on them. Instead, it was the technicians since faults in the cables and wires were actually found after further investigation. The stadium was made to pay the retributions instead.And then the members of Muse got a mysterious pay increase after that incident.They don’t ever talk about it.
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“There’s no way we’re letting you do that!”Marcy didn’t bother to hide her tears. They fall, free and unbidden, but she doesn’t make a sound. She learned how to cry silently a long time ago.Her sleeves are moist with salty tears and snot as she tries and fails to keep her face clean from her grief. She finally got the chance to fight alongside Sasha and Anne, instead of fighting against them or hiding behind them. And now she’ll never be able to again.She should have tried to argue, she should have stuck behind, she should have-!But it’s already past. She can think up as many should haves as she wants, and it will change nothing. “Why am I so weak… will I always be the broken link in our chain…?” Marcy stands away from the crowd, closer to Andrias, who’s been more or less abandoned by the group. There’s no one to hear her but her former friend.“… This isn’t your fault, Marcy. If anything… it’s mine, for allowing for this to even happen in the first place.”“… You weren’t the one possessed by it. You weren’t part of the cause for Anne to think that she only way she could prove herself to us was...” she gestures vaguely in the direction of Anne’s corpse, “this.” She clenches her fist. “That’s… that’s our fault.”She thinks back on the short time the two of them had together in this world, the smiles, the laughs… the betrayals…‘You said you’d come back for me… so why did you leave us like this?’--“You’d better come back alive, Boonchuy! I swear to frog you’d better!”Those words seemed so far away, now. Tears burn Sasha’s eyes, cradling Anne’s cold face in her lap. Anne was gone. Anne was gone forever.“Why… why did you have to do it? I should’ve stopped you; I should have never allowed this to happen…” She chokes on her words as they crawl out of her throat. Her tears fall on the lifeless skin of Anne’s eyes, falling as if she was crying too. “Why… why wasn’t I strong enough to save you? I’m supposed to be able to… I’m supposed to be your guy’s guardian… why did you go somewhere I can’t follow… Anne…”Grime lays his hand on her shoulder, and she can feel him trembling. It only makes her cry harder, placing her forehead against Anne’s. Her rock, her foundation, is gone like the wind that pulled Anne back down to them.Why did those have to be her last words?! She should have just told Anne how she felt… and now she’ll never get the chance to. Her love and heart, gone and shattered in an instant.‘You said you’d never let go on that tower. So why did you let go now?’--‘Everything is numb.’ Anne’s body felt like it was falling apart. And it probably was. She can just barely see the cracks through half lidded eyes, gouging through her body. She idly thinks something like that is supposed to hurt. But all she feels is a bone deep ache of exhaustion and a tingling numbness.‘Did I… beat it?’ She can hear the song of porcelain cracking into pieces as she just barely manages to turn her neck, taking in the utter destruction of the Core. ‘Ha… I did that…’ She smiles.She feels cold.‘Guess… I finally caught up, huh?’The sound of thrusters barely reaches her brain.Her eyes close.‘I guess… Mother Olm was right…’She can feel something cradle her, but soon that fades from her senses too.‘Well… guess I should say my goodbyes, right…? Just have to hold on longer…’...She never made it to the surface.
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It started as a girl's day at the mall. Rapunzel, Cassandra, and their friends, having a day of shopping therapy. Adira had just been dumped by her three year boyfriend after a horrible scandal, and all of them could use the break from the stress of the situation. But they were there for Adira, so they went to the places Adira wanted to go and did the things Adira wanted to do. She wanted to go to the 'hall of photobooths,' as it was 'cleverly named' by the local kids. Really, it's just all the photobooths the mall had collected over the years all packed into one corner of the mall as an attraction, but it really was amazing that the mall had upkept the really old ones, too- they worked just as well as the modern ones and often had more interesting options then the modern ones. All of them had stopped at Starbucks, Adira wanting the most chocolaty thing she could get. Rapunzel wasn't one for coffee, it way her way to jittery; but she took the girls recommendation of a caramel macchiato- or, more aptly, they had literally dropped it into her hands and told her to drink it because they paid for it. It was small, thank goodness, but she didn't really understand all the hype for it. It was much too sweet, and it didn't really hide the taste of the coffee. She playfully rolls her eyes at a teasing comment Cassandra makes, first out of the booth to move to the next one- and suddenly the macchiato isn't in her hands anymore. It takes barely a moment for the heat of hot coffee to reach her bare hands, and she hisses in pain. "Oh god, I'm so sorry- I totally didn't see you, this is my fault, but also, woman, don't just go flying out a booth like that- here, I have napkins-" The man talks in a rapid fire, but her attention is only drawn to his face- his beautiful, angular face, with just the perfect amount of facial hair. She isn't really paying attention to him cleaning her hands of the coffee."Uhm- hello, woman? You alive?" He snaps his fingers. "Oh god, don't tell me I broke you-""You have pretty eyes!" Rapunzel stammers out, then immediately covers her face as she goes red. She ignores the chorus's of 'OHHHHHHHH'S' behind her from her friends. --The boy blinks and his cheeks turn slightly red. He has pretty eyes? Why, but she's the one with the gem-like, perfect eyes!"You... like my eyes?"... Oh crap. Did he say that out loud?!The girl giggles, "You said that out loud, too.""Well, uh... what can I say. You make a guy loose his cool." He smirks, trying to get his swagger back. She smiles at him, snorting into her hand. "Wanna exchange numbers?""E-Exchange numbers? Really?""Yeah really, silly." She holds her phone out to him. "I want to get to know you more.""Me too, blondie."--
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“Yugo… he’d be in the commons, right? I think he mentioned growing up there…” Yuto mutters, the dragon diving below the tops to a warehouse district in the Commons.“Really? When’d he say that?” Yuya raises an eyebrow.Yuto vaguely swirls his hand. “Remember all those times he was attacking me because he thought I was Yuri?” He shivers at his name. “He mentioned something about disturbing his dreams to become the second Commons to win the Friendship Cup.”“Oh yeah, Jack was born a Common… kinda hard to connect ‘The King’ and an orphan in the Commons.”“Just goes to show how far he’s grown. It’s-”Clear Wing cuts him off with a painful cry as it loses some power, starting to plummet down to a roof.“Oh no, Clear Wing! It’s already progressed this far?!” Yuya cries.“What’s progressed this far?!” Yuto stumbles, losing his footing. He would have fallen off, if not for Yuya grappling for his hand and dragging the boy in with him.“Yugo’s assimilation! The same thing happened to Dark Rebellion- the weaker Clear Wing gets, the less time we have! Brace yourself!!”Clear manages to get just enough air for them to only have a rough landing, not a full on crash landing, but Yuya jumps off with Yuto right before the poor dragon could crash, to be avoid being crushed.“Ow… dammit…” Yuto winces, limping away from the crash site, but Yuya has no qualms in climbing it, trying to get to Clear Wing’s head.“Clear Wing!” Yuya scrambles up the debris, ignoring the very obvious pain in his legs from the jump, and cradling the dragon’s face in his arms.The dragon croons weakly, stiffly turning into his hands and staring longingly at the sky. It’s obvious the dragon is in pain, from its limp wings to it’s stiff tail. “You’ll get back into the sky, I promise, Clear Wing. We’ll save Yugo, and you’ll be ok, you’ll have to be…”“Yuya…” he knows Yuya is speaking for himself, just as much as he is Clear Wing. Yuto can tell- he knows Yuya is trying not to cry. He didn’t spend so long as a part of Yuya’s soul to miss the boys’ social cues. They haven’t talked about it, and probably won’t until this whole situation ends, but Yuto is good at figuring things out from context cues. If that happened to him, and is, presumably, happening to both Yuri and Yugo at this moment... that means it happened to Yuya, too. Because Yuto noticed the lack of color on Yuya. Just how far did Yuya fall before he crawled his way out? Or… did Yuya not fight his way out? Did Odd Eyes save him? Did… something else save him?Would Yuto even still be here if it wasn’t for Yuya’s refusal to give up?Yuto won’t let Yuya suffer from what happened alone. But that had to come later. Right now, they had to save the other two parts of their souls.“Yuya!” Because Yuya, someway, somehow, was communicating with the dragons- and possibly understanding them, too- “Does Clear Wing have any idea of where Yugo might be? The Common’s is too large to search without at least a direction!”In response, Clear Wing puffs up a bit, as if angry- or maybe more so scared and so, so sad. It makes a crooning whine, almost like a bird-like growl, and almost immediately Yuya is turning to the East.“… He’s in the Facility, isn’t he Clear Wing?”The dragon croons an affirmative, and Yuto’s head swivels in that direction, too. “It’s so far… we’ll never make it.”Yuya clenches in fists, making sure not to hurt Clear Wing, then gently sets the dragon’s head down as he spots something below them. He jumps down, running over to Yuto. “You got any issues stealing some dual runners?”Yuto blinks. “Well, no, but- where are you even seeing them?” Yuya expertly gets to the surface, with a grace only something versed in parkour could have.“Down here, come on! There’s some in this ruined warehouse!” And it’s true- Yuto scrambles down, a bit less gracefully, as he helps Yuya lift a damaged metal garage door, and sure enough, dusty dual runners meet them.Yuya is quick to pick one out, quickly starting it back up and throwing a helmet at Yuto as he straps his own on. “I’ll just ride with you,” Yuto sits behind Yuya. “I only ever watched you drive one, and I’m not using that for a firsthand experience.” He deadpans.That manages to make Yuya snort, and Yuto smiles that he finally got something out of Yuya. “Yeah, you’ve got a point. Well, better hold on! These things don’t have seatbelts!” And then he’s tearing out the garage, straight to the only bridge that is the only way into the Facility.--Yugo never stopped fighting. Not against Yuri, and definitely not against… whatever this black, mass of… stuff was! He knew he was in the Facility, you had to be a fool not to recognize it from the stories even if you’ve never been there, and he knew that no one would come for him… but that didn’t stop him from shouting or calling for anyone, anything, to find him, save him, anything then better then this all consuming darkness that crushed his lungs and constricted his heart. The darkness was less tangible than the vines Yuri used to keep him down, at least (which thankfully dissipated when the darkness appeared, but out of the pot and into the fire, they always say), so in a way, it was easy to keep himself afloat- after all, he’d been fighting against thorns and vines and poisonous gas before to keep himself alive in Yuri’s soul. But the vines, at least, didn’t try to kill him, they were more so toying with him- this darkness was. The darkness had formed a gag for him, not wanting to hear his amazing voice anymore, which, rude really, but that wasn’t what scared him. No, it was that this darkness was sapping his strength and energy. The more he fought to stay afloat, the more it crushed him, the more his head pounded, the more his body felt numb. He… he couldn’t keep doing this.And that terrified him. He wouldn’t be able to outlast this darkness. He was going to die, after months of being locked in someone else’s soul, with nothing but their memories and thoughts overwhelming him. He was never going to find Rin. He was never going to win the Friendship Cup and beat Jack Atlas. His eyes close of his own violation, tears blurring whatever darkness he was already seeing.His energy was almost gone, now. And then he was going to disappear. And no one would ever know what really happened.What a sad way to go. Really, he’d take being called ‘Fusion’ for the rest of his life if someone would just drag him of this hell-“Yugo!” And suddenly, something- no, somethings, are pulling him from the darkness. The voices are muffled, and even though he opens his eyes, the tears blur everything. But it’s a burst of hope, one he so desperately needed, and some of his strength finally comes back! He trashes himself out of the darkness as the other two force him out.And finally, finally, he’s out, and panting on the ground as the gagged is finally ripped away from his mouth. “Sweet, sweet air!” He cheers, then looks at his two saviors- the other two who share his face. “Hey, Yuya and Yuto, right? Thanks for the save.” He awkwardly rubs the back of his head.“Y-you know who I am now?” The dark colored one, Yuto, asks.Yuto sweatdrops, guiltily looking away. “Yeah, well… I’ve been absorbed by that guy, Yuri, right? There’s… really not much to do in here besides see his thoughts and memories. I… know a lot more then I would ever care to know, but yeah… I realize now that I maybe, kinda,” he squirms a little bit. “Ahaha… accused you of kidnapping and tried to hurt you because of it?” He cringes- it sounds so bad coming out now. “So- uh- yeahI’msorryIguesssopleasedon’thateme??” He says it so quickly he doesn’t think that they understand, but Yuto sighs. He does that a lot, doesn’t he?“Don’t worry about it, Yugo. It’s not really your fault- the four of us look similar enough, and Yuri and I kinda have the same aesthetic, I suppose…”“Hey, you’ve got the bracelet now, too.”“Huh?” Yugo looks down, and sure enough, there sits Rin’s green gem bracelet. “Hey, this is Rin’s! Do you guys also-?”“Yep.” Yuya pops the ‘p’, and both hold up their wrists, showing off the bracelets connected to them. "Don’t try to take it off, you won’t be able to.”“… Does this mean-”“The girls are ok… hopefully. We… we don’t know, we’re sorry Yugo.” It’s Yuto who responds.“… It’s ok… don’t worry. Somehow, I feel like everything is gonna turn out alright in the end.”And then a blinding rainbow light is racing down the center of the tower towards them. “WHAT IS THAT?!” Yugo panics, pointing at it, but Yuto only seems mildly surprised by it, while Yuya is the happy one.“I’m surprised it took her this long, we’ve been talking for quite a while.” Yuto muses.“Who’s her?”“Synchro is a lot bigger then XYZ, Rei probably is only just getting to us.”“Rei? XYZ? Can someone tell me what’s happening?”“Point taken… and I suppose this means…” The light has almost reached them.“… it’s time to get Yuri.” Yuya takes a deep breath, then releases it, steeling his eyes. “Now or never. Let’s do this.”“Get Yuri? We’re saving Yuri, too?!” Yugo rages, but the light has already reached them. “AND CAN ONE OF YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ONNnnnn-?!” His voice fades into the void as they all disappear.
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‘I’m sorry. I can’t accept, for I’m a spy-’ “No, you can’t say that idiot…” Loid groans, crumbling up the notebook paper, sticking it in his back pocket to fully destroy later. “Uh… maybe,” he puts then pen back to paper, “’Yor, you’re a truly amazing pretend mother and wife, but I can’t accept the proposal…’” He deadpans. “No, that would be an insult to her, it sounds like I really didn’t care at that much.” This paper is ripped out. “Maybe… just rip the bandage off? ‘I refuse your proposal, Yor. I can’t tell you why, though.’” Loid groans. “Now that’s just horribly insensitive, and would break her heart, you idiot.” And set her brother on me, he pitifully laughs to himself.He drops his head between his legs with a sigh, the small notebook dangling from his fingertips. Slim green eyes stare unseeingly at the fresh carpet. (Anya had been experimenting with chemicals {and he still has no idea where she even got them-!} and when it had inevitably gone wrong, had run around the house to him with the failed test tube in her hands, dropping it to the ground at the foot of his bed when it burned her skin. The liquid had almost burned a hole through their floor. He was angry, but more relieved that Anya had not burned herself any worse. Later testing had revealed it to be Chlorine Trifluoride and how had she made that with a child’s chemistry set?!)… Actually, looking back on it, Yor had seemed very guilty for a few days after that accident.… well, that explains where Anya got the chemicals. He’s going to file away where the hell Yor got those chemicals in the first place for later.… In truth, Loid had stopped seeing this family as ‘pretend’ a long time ago. He’s not sure when it happened, but Anya was no longer an easy grab kid from an orphanage and Yor was no longer just a cover up story.They were his family. His wife, his kid, even if how it came to be was completely fake.And it seemed Yor agreed. For just last week, she had come with an actual ring, and flowers, and asked him to marry her. For real, this time. No more pretend and fake papers. An actual, true family.He hadn’t realized when he started crying. It was Yor’s panicking that drew his attention to it. And he wanted to accept, oh god, he did.But she wasn’t in love with Twilight. She was in love with Loid Forger, a fake name, a fake person, a fake personality, a coverup. And his heart, the one she and Anya had steadily started to build back up, shattered into irreparable pieces at the realization.There was no way she would forgive so many lies. There was no way she would just brush away years of lies and fake love.(Does he… does he even actually love her? Or is it just the part of him that is irreversibly Loid Forger now? Because Twilight and Loid Forger have become separate entities to him. He was either one or the other. He was no longer both. Did Twilight love her? Or was just the echoes of Loid’s emotions?)He didn’t know. He didn’t know, and it fucking terrified him. And it wasn’t like he could just stop being a spy or get away from the organization. He knows too much. They’ve invested too much into him to just… let him go.It would be easier, for both of them, for Anya, for him to just say no. It was a simple word. Just two letters, one syllable.(One word to break Yor’s heart. One inevitable tear to completely blacken him with the blood on his hands.)He has to consider the mission first. The mission is the most important thing to him. It always will be.(He’s no longer sure of that conviction.)And he just couldn’t do it!He can’t. He can’t do this to Yor, to himself, to his little girl.(And when did Anya become his? When did Yor manage to make a place for herself in his guarded heart.)He needs to say no.This needs to end before it ruins him. He has to. No matter what.No matter how much it hurt.And that’s how Yor finds him, crying over the ring.“Yor, I-”For better or for worse.He had made his decision.
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“You can stop these nightmares only one way, Vincent…” Catherine laughs from where she sits, on the lap of the restrained and gagged Vincent.Vincent shakes his head desperately, muffled words the only sounds he can make. Wide, terrified stormy blue eyes tremble with oncoming tears. Catherine audibly groans in contempt, twisting around to wrap herself around Vincent’s neck.“You aren’t clueless, Vince… After all, you’re such a smart coder,” Her leg slides between his, “And you’ve made it so far up the tower, haven’t you?” She runs a finger under his chin, reaching for the gag. “I know you’ve already figured it out. I saw it in your eyes this morning.” She pulls at the gag, “Say anything I don’t want to hear, and you know what happens.”Vincent quickly nods, over and over, desperate for the gag to finally be off.“Heh- let’s see how good you’ll be now.” She rips it off, and Vincent drags in sweet, sweet fresh air.“Now, Vincent-”“I’m not going to be your… boyfriend, husband, prey, whatever! I told you Catherine, we’re done!” He glares defiantly at her, and it’s so sudden Catherine actually has to pause to register what he’s said. But once she does- she smirks cruelly.“Oh, really? That’s your opinion, then? That’s what you truly believe?”“You bet your ass it is- GGAHHHHH!!”There’s a large carving knife in his thigh. And as he screams in pain, he is helpless but to watch as Catherine cruelly and slowly spins it in the wound. Rich, oxygenated blood seeps from the hole, dripping into the puddle at the foot of the chair.“I forgave you for lying to me, Vincent.” She finally stops, pulling away but leaving the knife lodged in his leg. Vincent’s upper body falls forward, tears and snot joining the river of blood, cascading down his chin. He can’t make a response, mind still reeling from the pain, but thankfully for him, Catherine wasn’t looking for a response.But she wasn’t done, either.“I forgave you for cheating on me.”He sees the glint of silver this time.“No, no, nonononOOOOOO-”The knife comes down, straight through his left wrist. Vincent hollers in pain as Catherine smiles in sadistic pleasure.“Beg, Vincent. Beg for this to stop.”He can’t process anything she’s saying.“Oh? Already done? Well, I’m not.” She twists the knife in his wrist. He chokes on his own spit, and the begging finally starts falling from his mouth.“St-o…p, please… oh God, it hurts, it hurts so much… Please… you’re gonna kill me…”“Aww, ittle wittle little Vinny doesn’t want to die?” Catherine coos cruelly, grabbing a fistful of his curly black hair and forcing his head up. “Hah, it really is like sheep wool. Little black sheep. Abandoned and alone. Seems fitting.” She sneers.“Of-of course I don’t wanna die- who does?!” She pulls even harder, and he hisses as doing so pulls at the two knife wounds. “No-no stop I’m sorry, it hurts-!”She huffs but releases him. His head collapses down as he starts to hyperventilate.“Oh my, don’t be a baby now. We’re only getting started, you know.” She giggles, running her finger over the edge of yet another knife.“W-what?” His eyes widen in horror. “N-No more! I can’t, I can’t! No, no don’t!!!”She growls. “Would you just shut. UP! It was funny at first, but now it’s just pitiful and annoying.” She brings the knife down, but she slams it down between his legs.A warning. A very dire one.He goes absolutely silent and still. You can’t even hear his breathing anymore.“Oh look, you can listen. Good boy!” Like a switch has flipped, she’s smiling and happy again, petting his head like a dog.He doesn’t miss that the hand petting him is very clearly holding a peeling knife.He wisely doesn’t do anything.“Heh. Looks like the tried-and-true method of pain beats all the other training methods again!” She claps her hands, tilting her head cutely.There’s no mistaking the dead and inhuman look in her eyes.“Now, you’re going to keep listening. Or you’re going to sent back here, over and over and over again, until it sinks in. And I’ll take great pleasure in retraining you. Am I clear now, Vincent?” Her tone has gone dark now.“… I understand.” There’s nothing he can do but concede.One day he’ll get out. One day he’ll outsmart this monster. But it’s not going to be today.“And what am I to you?”He swallows roughly around nothing. “… my girlfriend.”No matter what, he’ll get out.“Very good! See, was that so hard?”“… no.”Someday.Probably....He’s doomed, isn’t he?
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“That’s it! That’s it! I’m going to do it!”“Uh- Tamaki I’ve already told you that you really don’t have to-”“Yeah boss- I really don’t think this is gonna go over well for you.” Hikaru starts-“Yeah boss, you don’t want to be thrown into the wall again, do ya?” and Kaoru finishes.“The twins are right, you know.” Kyoya opens his ever-present checkbook, already preparing for the future damages. “And this time, I won’t pay to half your medical expenses, since now you’re subjecting yourself to this willingly.”“Eh, Kyoya… you’re so cruel…” Tamaki cries, clinging to Mori, who simply stars at him with a deadpan and not so gracefully kicks the President off his leg. It’s only thanks to Ritsu catching him by the neck of his suit that Tamaki avoids faceplanting in a mud puddle.“Get a grip, man… we all came here to support you-”“I think he means Haruhi.” Renge cuts in, where she stands with other non-host club members.Ritsu grumbles, “I mean, I won’t deny that…”“Nah-ah! I came to support Suoh-senpai! The rest of you are just boring extras, which I am not, since Suoh-senpai made me an honorary member!” The ever-arrogant 5th grader Shiro postures proudly, arms crossed at his chest.“A membership I just as easily can revoke as their manager, you brat…” Renge hisses as the visage of Medusa appears around her. Shiro squeaks unmanly, running to hide behind Kyoya as she tries to slam her fist into his head. When she misses, instead striking the cement and putting giant cracks into the road, her head slowly turns to face him, eyes glowing in malice. “Don’t you dare run from me!!” She growls, preparing to sprint charge the kid-“Last time I checked, you also aren’t an official manager, Renge.”“ACK!!” Renge steps back, face aghast as her face goes white.“You just squirmed your way into the position, and I have allowed it thus far because you are good at your job, but you should learn to never overstep your boundaries.” He clicks his book closed as his glasses hide his eyes as he gazes at her. “Am I understood, Houshakuji Renge?”The girl doesn’t respond for a second, but then she’s swooning and gliding to the ground. “Yes, my love Miyabi!”“Still not that dating sim character… but if pretending I’m him works to regulate you, then image away.”“Masochist…” Shiro mumbles, hiding further behind Kyoya.“I beg to disagree. We aren’t here for the fallacies of man, but to support the aspirations of a fellow woman in battle!” Benio dramatically enters with her posse, then is suddenly fixing up Haruhi’s appearance. “Haruhi, dear, you know we will support you in any endeavor, and if this… boy, will make you happy, then I will support you.” She leans in close to Haruhi’s ear, “Though I would hardly call an immature child like him a proper man…”“Benio! Don’t insult Tamaki.” Haruhi puffs her cheeks out.“Yeah, don’t insult me! I’m here, aren’t I?” Tamaki shouts, jumping out.“Err… I do suppose I have to give you that… but Haruhi!” And she’s cheerful again. “If you ever need him gone, don’t be afraid to summon Big Sis Benio, I’ll be sure to give him a very forceful defenestration!” She claps her hands happily.“E-Eh? Defenestration?” Tamaki frowns, trying to figure out the meaning of the word.“She said she’d throw you out a window!” Honey cheers from Mori’s shoulders, eating a strawberry cake.Tamaki laughs fakely. “Surely, you must be joking, right? There’s no way a fair lady such as yourself would ever consider such violence-”“She threw a harasser out the third-floor window of the mall when we went shopping together.” Haruhi cuts in.“Oh yes, I do remember that.” Benio cheeks have gone red as she places her chin on her hand. “Ah, his screams for mercy when I dangled him out the window, the sound of the impact with the trees and plants… feeling my muscles rippling when I tossed him… ah, how nice…” She smiles dumbly, swooning.Everyone, excluding Haruhi, quickly back away in apprehension.“S-Sadist…” Shiro whispers, knees shaking with fear.Suddenly, a different voice scoffs at they walk up to the door of the family home. “Oh please, you’re all so dramatic.” Umehito Nekozawa, who hides under a black hoodie and huddles under a pitch-black umbrella to avoid direct sunlight. “Just open the door and get this over with, please, so I don’t have to be outside for any longer!” The teenager protests. His hand twists the knob.“NO- wait Nekozawa I’m not ready-!”But it’s not Umehito who ultimately opens the door.“Now, really, what is all this racket out here-” Ryoji Fujioka, who didn’t have work today, freezes when he sees the crowd outside his door. “O-Oh my, I didn’t expect to have to play host to so many people today!” He spots Haruhi in the crowd, and then suddenly he’s coddling her in affection. “Haruhi, honey, why didn’t you call me or anything? At least give this old man a heads up for such a big crowd, the house is barely clean, and oh, I need to go food shopping to feed so many mouths-”“It wasn’t planned, Dad.” She slips out from under his arm. He pouts and fake tears fall from his eyes, but he recovers quickly.“Well, something is clearly going on, you’ve basically got a whole classroom of people here, Haruhi. So, what’s going on?”“Ahem,” Tamaki clears his throat, not rudely, just in an attention-grabbing way.Ryoji groans. “Oh, you. To what do I owe the displeasure?”“Dad!” Haruhi hisses, getting in his face. “Put aside your… normal tendencies and please just listen. This is really important to him.”Ryoji blinks, and sighs, and suddenly he’s serious, dragging his hair out of his face, standing straight. “Alright, kid.” He turns to Tamaki. “Hit me with it, then. What could be so important that you came all the way here?”Tamaki takes a deep breath, preparing himself, then he bows fully to Ryoji, who steps back in surprise.“Ranka, no, Fujioka Ryoji, sir!” Tamaki shouts. “You have raised a beautiful and amazing woman. She is the most brilliant and wise and eye-catching woman I have ever met. She makes me a better man, and I can’t imagine a life without her light in mine! I can be myself with her, and I hope she feels the same way with me. I would give up everything for her to make her happy, and to be with her with sickness and sadness! So sir, I am here to earnestly ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage!” Tamaki is clutching his pants leg, eyes shut tight in anticipation.“Hmm… well, that is a very good proposal, I must admit. I’d say it’s even better then the one I made to her mother.” He hums inquisitively. “Yes, well, I guess my answer must be…”Tamaki’s head shoots up in hope.Ryoji tilts his head with a smile and closed eyes. “No.” Everyone can see Tamaki’s heart break in his face. The group all collectively cringe. The father said it so harshly that even the ones not there for Tamaki feel for the boy. “W-what? Why?” He’s too speechless to talk.“D-Dad? What are you doing?” Even Haruhi looks worried.“I won’t give my daughter up for anyone! You’re a real smartass if you think some fancy words would give you, my approval! You’d have to try a lot harder than that! No flowers, no proof of a ring, who do you think you are, hah?!” He shouts.“Dad, I have a ring-” Haruhi holds up her hand, but her voice is drowned out by his constant lecturing of Tamaki.“T-then what do I have to do to get your approval?! Please, I’ll do anything!!” Tamaki begs.“HAH! You want my approval, plebeian? Then how about you start off with approval from one of her childhood friends, hah-?!”“Hey, guys, am I too late?! Please tell me I’m not, you guys hung up before I could tell you about-” Arai, childhood friend of Haruhi, pauses as he gets near them, seeing Tamaki under Ryoji’s arm as the man throttles him. “Oh, uh… bad time?”