MJC: Sometimes I really wonder where I'd be in my writing if I didn't have Vocaloid songs for inspiration.

I swear, the people of HoneyWorks are masters when it comes to that. Their songs just always have a nice story to tell.

(Basically what I'm saying is that I found another song to write a story for, and that song is "Yoshida Says He's Running Away From Home!)

I do not own Elsword, or "Yoshida Says He's Running Away From Home!"

Five-Thousand Yen

"I'm running away from home!"

When those words echoed in the boy's two friends' ears, a hush fell over them. Colder than the draft that had been haunting the classroom since the beginning of October, it shut the two right up.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Was the girl's reply, delayed only by that draft-like hush. The boy was silent, though, not wishing to reveal the truth of why. The other simply cocked his head, confusion clouding his amber eyes, if only a little.

"Idiocy does run in the Siegharts, does it not?" He question before sticking a Pocky stick in between his lips. A crunch emit as it snapped in half.

"Whatever, I never liked the taste of Melonpan, anyways." This only caused the Sieghart boy's friends to become further confused.

"Well, if you're really leaving, then here." The girl handed him a Five-thousand Yen bill. "If you're really leaving, than you'll at least need money." She looked away, trying to hide from the sincerity in their leader's red, red eyes.

"Thanks." Still, the girl's eyes were drawn away, her frown only concealed lightly by a scowl.

"Don't forget that when you get hungry, Melonpan is a very filling snack." And with those last words, Elsword left the classroom, not really caring of the voice of his teacher calling out to him.

"Aisha, envelopes fell out of your desk again." Finally letting her frown roam freely, Aisha looked to the ground. Sure enough, nine envelopes, sealed shut with heart stickers, sprawled across the tile before her desk. She sighed, bending down to pick them up.

"Do you think he was really serious?" The girl looked to the door. It was still open, and her inky, surrounded-by-violet pupils traced his figure in the doorway.

"Probably. He never had a very good sense of humor."

"Raven! At least try to act a little sad!" The girl exclaimed with clenched fists and a pout. Too bad she didn't have real magic powers, or something.

"Well, just so long as he gets over his dislike of Melonpan, I think he'll be fine." Aisha continued to pout as she raised an eyebrow. Too bad she couldn't use telepathy.

"I don't get what Melonpan has to do with this situation whatsoever." The girl stuffed nine envelopes back into her desk.

"That just goes to show how versed you are in the matter of philosophy."

Because, if she did, she would try to use it to look through his eyes. Maybe then she could understand, if only a little.

When Elsword reached the train station, he didn't notice the beginnings of hunger tugging at his stomach. Instead, he shoved a piece of gum in his mouth, and chewed.

Life was a timebomb. It was a torture chamber; a weapon only the experience could handle. It was a well place(or perhaps badly placed) phrase that threw everyone off guard, and out of balance.

Life was time bomb, and it ticked far too slowly.

If he was going to live the rest of his life watching it crumple around him, then whatever. But if his disease spread to the other people around him, then he couldn't be connected to society in any way.

Perhaps he was just far to generous.

Or maybe it wasn't a matter of generosity, but of selfishness, of cowardice, of straight up greed.

Maybe he needed to rethink his ideals, maybe some of life's values, for awhile. If it took a train transfer or two and never seen his friends or family again, than he would go through a train transfer(or two), and never think of his friends or family again.

He could just chew his gum to relieve the hunger.

So, the red head stuck his Five-thousand Yen bill into a machine, mashing a button or two to get a ticket with the furthest destination possible.

At least the grapehead was good for something, even if it was just money.

Wait, no, he couldn't think about his friends. He had to clear his head.

It wasn't until after Elsword had boarded his train that he realized he was still in a high school uniform. He would have to change that. This made him realize how surprising it was that he wasn't caught for playing hookie yet.

He quickly shrugged off his blazer, pulled his necktie away, and rolled up his dress shirt's sleeves. Maybe no one would notice.

So, Elsword sat in the train as it sped from one end of Tokyo and out the other end. He gazed out the window to see a terribly boring view. Blue skies, and cheerful attitudes.

That wasn't fair, was it? Why did they get two things Elsword had never really experienced? Was there a reason for some people being miserable their whole lives?

Not that it mattered anymore, he was getting away from his old life. He'd get a job far away. Maybe he could go to America? He wouldn't mind going anywhere, just so long as he could survive.

When Raven spoke, it was always important. No one ever realized it, though. He spoke in riddles, if he did at all. No one really realized the significance of his words.

Maybe it was because it never spoke. He was so content with chewing his tongue. Watching others and their useless attempts at accomplishing something.

But, for all of his silence, he always had something intelligent and significant ready to say.

Except when Elsword suddenly spoke of running away.

"Why did you let him go?" Aisha asked Raven one day, perhaps a month after Elsword had left.

"I understand why he left." Raven explained. When Elsword spoke those five little words, Raven felt something strange.

"Why did he?"

"He wants to find the appeal, the reason we were given life." Aisha frowned. When Elsword said those five little words, Raven didn't know what to say.

"That sounds too deep for him."

"Maybe." Raven did know one thing, though. "Oh, and Aisha?"

"What?" Envy was hard to swallow, even when you had to for your friends.

"Those envelopes fell out of your desk again." Aisha looked down. Nine crisp envelopes, each sealed shut with a heart sticker lay sprawled across the tile. She bent down to pick them up.

Casually, she filled a desk with ten envelopes.

How pitiful she was. Writing something so silly.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to write something that would never be read, right?

A whole season passed. Elsword wasn't entirely sure where he was. He knew one thing, though.

With every train transfer, with every convenience store job, and every chewed up piece of gum, he casually grew hungrier and hungrier.

It wasn't noticeable at first, but there was definitely something missing. The taste of his past was bitter, but there was something oddly pleasant about it.

Despite that, he ignored it.

"Don't forget that when you get hungry, Melonpan is a very filling snack."

Still, he clutched a Five-thousand Yen bill.

"Maybe I should have had some Melonpan." With a sigh, Elsword made his way to the train station again. Where to next?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a star labeled "Tokyo."

One more train transfer.

When Elsword reached his stop, he got off the train as quickly as possible. It was Spring, and quite obvious. As he walked to school, Sakura petals flew in and out of breeze.

He was early, he realized, as he entered the classroom. The teacher wasn't even in the room. There was a stack of papers on her desk, he noticed, though.

Slowly, a bit nostalgic, he made his way to his desk. It was only March, so classes were still definitely going. He vaguely pondered how much trouble he'd be in.

With thoughts clouding his mind, Elsword subconsciously stuck his hand in his desk to pull out a pencil. Instead, his hand made contact with something else, however.

Upon drawing it back, ten white envelopes, sealed shut with little heart stickers, fell to his lap, to the floor.

With little more inspection, the boy grabbed the teacher's letter opener and swiped it under the sticker of one of the many envelopes.

When Aisha came to school, she was astounded to see red hair and a scowl. Her eyes widened at the sight, in fact. She noted that he looked completely normal.

And then she remember the letters. All ten of them.

With a knife of an intake of breath, the girl twirled on her heels, only to bump into Raven.

"Oh, Raven, 'scuse me, will you?" She pleaded with her eyes, hoping that he wasn't as dense as he seemed. Of course, Raven, being the good friend that he was, grabbed the girl's wrist and sharply led her over to her desk.

She definitely did not make eye contact.

"You're back." Rven spoke to the boy.

"Yeah, I..." He looked at the two, "I got hungry for-for some Melonpan."

MJC: So, I haven't written anything for Elsword in a good month or two, and I've been feeling a bit clogged(for lack of a better word). Of course, I doubt I'll be able to get into the flow of writing any of my previous fanfics(though I doubt anyone has read them recently), so, yeah.

Anyhow, enough of that. This one-shot is obviously based off of "Yoshida Says He's Running Away From Home!" (since I already said it was) So it has many similar elements. I got rid of, and added a lot, though, because I'm trying to break away from using songs as straight up guidelines, or templates, or whatever.

I hope anyone who reads this enjoys this. Feel free to review, but please don't feel obligated!

Toodle-loodles,

~My-Joyful-Chaos

(Also, this was probably the first time I've had Raven as a main character. Did I get his character right?)