Lightning-Dono: I really like Genis x Presea, so why not? One-Shot. And I like Sheelos, so don't ask why Zelos is moving in on Presea.

Pink and Gray Don't Match

Author: Lightning-Chan, Lightning-Dono, Lightning...Same thing.
Disclaimer: If you think I own Tales of Symphonia, you're sad.
Notes: The flashbacks in this fanfic are unrelated to those in the game.
Warnings: Slight OC-ness, Genis depressed

-

Genis only had to take one glance at the petite, ax-wielding girl to feel an overwhelming feeling of want. They battled alongside each other and every chance he had, he would drag her into things, just for the sake of saying her name.

But then there was always someone getting in his way. Some kind of barrier would always stand in his path, and even if he overcame it, there was an obstacle course between he and Presea.

Constanty, Zelos would tell him that it just wouldn't work out; that he could never have Presea as his hunny.

-

"Face it, brat," Zelos snarled. "She's my little rosebud." The arrogant red-head aided Presea down the road, leading the group back towards Meltokio. His flaming hair flared out behind him, cloaking Presea's frame in a flurry of crimson.

Genis was angered beyond belief. "Stupid Zelos! Let her go!" He yelled, being restrained by Lloyd by the arms. He rounded on his friend. "What are you holding me back for?"

"Because fighting with him is pointless," Lloyd explained tiredly. "If you really want to pick an argument with someone, chose someone less homicidal. I swear, the guy has never backed down from violence once."

They continued to trek along that weary road, Genis' eyes burning with fury whenever he caught sight of the red behemoth striding proudly down the road, grasping Presea in the crook of his arm.

-

Genis wished that he had the courage to tell him in his face that Presea belonged with him. But his inner confidence was lacking. The land was supposed to be happy, Lloyd had once told him. Colette claimed that everyone had a bit of the Goddess inside them. With these combined, it basically meant that they were just another pigment of the land, tainting it at will and spreading their infection as they went. But if he was a part of the land, why wasn't he happy?

-

"The birds sing their song, people hum as they work. It's perfect harmony," Sheena explained calmly, letting her arms swing loosely at her side as they walked. It seemed that all they ever did was walk, and Genis was sick of it. Sometimes those who actually worried questioned him about his depressive behavior, but these words he evaded in his attempt to understand.

"But...Am I a part of it?" He had asked, clueless. "It seems that no one really likes me."

Sheena seemed surprised at this comment. "Why, yes. Everyone is a part of the nature that surrounds us."

There was a long pause as Genis stared at the vines snaking up the cliff, adorned with thorns on various witty places to catch unknowing travelers off guard.

"Then I must truly not belong here." And pricked his finger.

-

Everyone was in his way. Lloyd continually stopped him from 'frightening' Presea with his ongoing counters to Zelos' words, Raine had confiscated his strongest weapon when Sheena reported his self-manipulation when all he had truly done was prick his finger on a thorn. For all she knew, it could've been an accident due to carelessness. No one would ever understand his pain.

He was better off left for dead in some random battle. Atleast he could make it look more accidental than his other attempts.

A thought had struck him one day that Presea didn't truly need him. She was just another pretty face to delude him. However, it decided it was all a state of mind because he just couldn't get her to show any emotion towards him in her stoic, stony face. Her voice was more metallic than a robot's from years of hiding away in silence, not speaking to anyone.

But when the chance came, he just had to seize it. Without the pink-haired female by his side guiding him through his troubled life, he didn't have a reason. So why not end it then?

-

It was the biggest battle Genis had ever been involved in. Somehow, this gave him the perfect opportunity to make his death look as though the enemy had merely stabbed him through the chest, ending his struggle. In truth, he simply rolled up in a ball in fear as the electrical bolts from Yuan's attack rolled his way, shaking the ground at a dangerously high magnitude.

"Genis, look out!" Shouted Lloyd, still attacking Botta furiously and slashing away at Yuan at regular intervals. He proceeded to break into a frantic run to protect his friend, but it was too late. Thousands of electrical volts wracked the poor boy's body. Funnily enough, Raine revived him with Resurrection the moment he fell unconscious, ending Genis' moment of glory in 'dying infront of Presea as a hero'. Instead, after the battle, everyone referred to him nervously as a bloody coward who was foolish enough to curl up directly infront of Yuan while he was unleashing his most devastating attack. Genis' guilt couldn't be quelled after he had heard what his team members had to say. He just couldn't believe that they cared so deeply for him. Sheena's fingers were cut by her own cards as she wielded them valiantly, their edges digging into her skin as she thrust them into the air. This was the only part of her that was red – subtract that from the rest of her body and you had a perfectly white ghost wearing clothing that was slit in many places as she narrowly parried the swords.

"Seriously, Genis," Raine scolded, her face a shade of flesh that was virtually impossible to reach. "Please don't do that again! You scared me out there! One moment you're pumping up your Duel Star and the next moment you're lying on the ground with your blood spouting out of your arm!"

He felt slightly put out as they still refused to understand his mental pain.

"Well, that's the point of a battle, isn't it? To fight your hardest, but still know when to give up!" Genis yelled, sprinting off to a corner.

Lloyd, whose gloves were stained crimson as he attempted to stem the flow of his bleeding nose. "Next time...Don give up, god dat?" He took a shuddery breath through his mouth. It had been a tough battle. He hadn't expected to see such a pathetic retreat from Genis, who he often let his tongue slip on just to sneak out the word 'genius', just to rub it in. But what he had done was unacceptable. "Genis," he said as he approached his short friend.

"What?" Genis replied bitterly, wiping away his tears hastily.

"You can't die."

-

He couldn't have expected more from his friends, of course. They had tried to convince him that what he had done wasn't the way. Genis still didn't take comfort from any of their words. Zelos had still hurt him more than ever.

-

"Can't you stop gloating for one second?" Genis growled at Zelos, who explaining to everyone exactly how many 'hunnies' he had, including their names and profiles.

"And she was a really thin, slender- No, Genis, I can't."

Genis boldly made his way to the front, shouldering Presea and giving her a hearty wink. She watched him, as though fascinated that such an action could be achieved just by closing one's eye and smiling.

"Hi, Genis," she said shyly before Genis was rudely shoved out of the way.

"What in the world was that for?" He screamed, drawing everyone's attention. He was at his breaking point – he pretended that the past didn't exist and that nothing else possibly could've gotten in his way. This had to be Zelos' way of torturing him for the time he had left. There was doubt in his voice as he uttered, "Can't you let me be with her just once?" He was very aware of the shining, blue eyes that surveyed him closely from behind. Followed by a few other pairs of orbs.

"Hmm...No," Zelos said frankly. "Now how about getting out of the way, ya little twerp?"

"Why can't you just let me be with her? You have tons of other girls – why does it have to be her? Or do you just take joy in harassing me?"

The flaming head of hair bowed in thought.

"No," he said slowly. "I'd never harass anyone, if you know what I mean. After all, I'm the Chosen..." His voice trailed off into nothingness.

Genis snorted loudly. "Of course you don't. You push me out of the way and yet you insist that you aren't annoying me in any way. When Regal stands next to her, you don't have anything to say about it," he countered.

"Nah," responded Zelos. "It's because pink and gray don't match."