All characters belong to Maplestory/Nexon. I'll apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors right now, because I know there will be, orz. English isn't my first language...(technically *cough*).
Warning: OOCness. Suicidal!Lumi, childish!Phantom (...wait). AU. You have been warned.
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A bird alighted gently onto the empty rooftop. Empty? No, there was a person there, perched precariously atop the railing which gave away to a seven-story drop. The bird tilted its snow white head, ruby eyes staring wearily at the figure who sat very still. A hand was extended, slowly, welcomingly, towards the bird. After a moment's hesitation, the bird perched itself atop the soft pale hand, ruffling its wings a few times before folding neatly against its back.
The bird felt nearly weightless in his grasp, its small frame appearing fragile. Precious. It cooed, and pecked its sharp beak against his palm, looking for food. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to offer it at the moment.
Suddenly the bird's attention was focused elsewhere. In a flurry of white, it fluttered away into the deep blue of the sky. He blinked in momentary confusion, before realizing there was someone behind him. He turned slowly, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he caught sight of the fair blonde. He hadn't heard any footsteps drawing near, had he been too distracted by the bird? No, that's not it. He hadn't even heard the heavy metal door of the stairway open—the guy must be pretty good at sneaking up on people—he mused.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned. Not the nicest thing to say for a greeting, but he wasn't on very friendly terms with the guy anyways.
"Me? I should be asking you that, Lumi." Phantom retorted. He gestured to the thin railing the silver-haired teen was sitting on. "That's pretty dangerous, you could fall and hurt yourself, you know. Best to leave stunts like that to the pro~" He pointed to himself with a smug smile.
"If that's all you have to say, then just leave." Luminous turned away to stare at the distant horizon, face impassive. Phantom lifted a slender eyebrow.
"Being stingy are we Mr. Student President? You won't have many supporters left if you keep that up." The silver-blond teen teased. When his remark was met with no response, Phantom frowned. "…are you still angry at me for stealing the top student spot from you that one time?"
Lumi sighed. "No. I'm just not in the mood to put up with your constant bantering at the moment." He paused, "and don't you have a class to attend right now?"
"It felt too stuffy so I skipped." Phantom replied lazily. "What about you? Shouldn't you be busy studying in a little corner like a goody-goody?" Luminous shot him a dark glare.
"Leave, Phantom." There was a sharp edge in Lumi's voice that caught Phantom off guard. The blonde cautiously decided to press it further.
"Why should I? What's wrong with coming up for a little breath of fresh air? It's not like you own the place!" Phantom half-pouted, and stepped forward. Hearing the blonde move closer, Luminous descended from his spot on the railing, standing on the thin ledge of the other side. Phantom froze, eyes focused with uncertainty at the figure just inches from the deadly drop. Lumi kept one hand griped tightly on the railing, but there was no telling what he would do.
"Move any closer and I jump." The teen said in a cold voice. He was serious. Phantom flinched, this was starting to get out of hand. Lumi was usually a little cranky, yes, but not like this. His phantom senses sniffed something suspicious, something he didn't know about. Maybe if he pressed the issue a bit more...
"Oh come on! Do you hate me that much?..." Phantom continued. "Erm, ok, I can see why you would dislike me a liiiitle—but still! You're getting worked up over nothing!"
"Leave!"
"No!" Phantom crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly, and took another small step forward.
"Stay. Back." Luminous warned him again, inching closer to the edge.
"Make me." Phantom challenged. Ok, he'll admit that he was being a little too immature, but the white-haired teen was being just as immature as him. Their eyes were set in a deadlock, firm violet meeting mismatched blue red; neither of them willing to back down.
It was a precarious situation, Phantom should've known that. No, it was because he knew that fact all too well: he let it himself get too tense. And out of the stillness came the shrieking sound of a car horn, far in the distance, but it still sliced through the silence like a dagger. Suddenly, he was grappled with the memories of headlights of the incoming truck that tragic day.
The sparkling blue-diamond jewel dangled before him. The girl with the golden hair stood frozen, her soft blue eyes wide with surprise.
"Ari…a"
Phantom reacted without thinking, his hand reached forwards, on instinct—or was it on mounted guilt?—towards the frail figure with the beautiful flaxen hair. Frail? No, it wasn't Luminous that Phantom was seeing in that instant, but someone else, and he realized that just a moment too late.
Lumi was startled by the blonde darting so suddenly towards him. The outstretched hand reaching at him reminded him of claws—'You are my possession…' He was within the dark room with the mirror, and he felt the all too familiar sensation of cold fingers trailing down his fair skin. He shivered. 'You belong to me…'
"…n-no…" Eyes glazed with fear, the white-haired teen stumbled back, only to realize that he was not within a darkroom at all, but on the school roof in broad daylight. Luminous felt his stomach lurch as his heel was met with no support.
Suddenly, he was falling.
Phantom's eyes widened with horror as he watched the teen lose his footing, body tilting backwards as if in slow motion. In normal instances, Phantom would've laughed at how he managed to scare the stiff student body president. But this instance was a fatal one, and he felt only a rush of panic. He accelerated his pace and leaped right over the railing—successfully grabbing hold of Lumi's thin wrist…
…now what?
Phantom's heart lurched as he realized that in his moment of urgency, he had leapt too far from the ledge, and any attempts in re-gripping the railing was futile now—he knew he had the tendency to act before thinking, but this is ridiculous! As a master thief, he should've known not to rush off the ledge of a building! Now they were both plummeting helplessly towards the hard cement ground below them.
...
...
There was a ruckus outside. The voices sounded familiar, but they were too muffled and distant to discern exactly who they were. Setting his book down in the empty classroom, Freud walked to the window. "Oh? What's all this noise?" Sliding the window frame open and peering outside into the deserted courtyard, there was a flutter of noise. He leaned forwards and gazed up at the sky. "…above?"
Suddenly, a large blur of shadow obscured his vision completely, and he felt a deathly grip latch onto his shirt collar with incredible force. With a startled gasp, he felt himself lurching forward, the weight of the grip pulling his shirt over the crook of his neck. Franticly, he hooked his legs against the edges of the window to prevent himself from being completely dragged out.
Coming to a safe stop, Phantom sighed in relief. "Whew, that was close. Waaay too close." The blonde said shakily, one hand clinging onto Freud's shirt for dear life, the other secured around Lumi's wrist.
"You know, for a pansy, you're actually pretty heavy." The blonde commented with a small grin.
"Dammit Phantom! Let go of me!" Luminous shouted angrily, despite knowing that there was still a five-story drop from where he dangled.
"No!" Phantom pouted stubbornly, keeping his grip firm. "I refuse to let you kill yourself so selfishly! Besides, if you die, from who will I steal delicious lunchboxes from?"
"So it was you!" Lumi's eyes widened in surprise. "Do you have any idea how long it takes me to make that every day!?"
It was Phantom's turn to be surprised. "You made it? I thought that petite blond girlfriend of yours did."
Lumi cringed, "If that's what you heard from the rumors then you are sadly mistaken, Lania is not my girlfriend! We're family!"
"Really?" Phantom smirked, "So, you're still single?"
"Hate to interrupt but—*cough*—I'd really appreciate it if you two save your idle chit-chat for later! I'm being STRANGLED here!—" Freud's voice choked out from above him. His shirt was halfway inside-out, pulled against his neck where Phantom's hand grasped his collar. The young man's legs behind the window ledge were strained with the obvious effort of holding the weight of both teens put together. "—I don't know how much longer I can hold this…"
They called out for help. And luckily, their desperate pleas were soon heard by Aran, who happened to be passing by. With his immense strength he managed to haul all three of them in safely through the window.
"Wow, Aran must be Hercules! My hero!~" Phantom cooed. Luminous gave a soft word of thanks to Aran, but there was a dejected expression on his face as he sat on the floor of the quiet classroom. Freud fixed his badly ruffled shirt. Rubbing his aching neck, he grimaced in pain as it gave a light crack. The young teacher slowly turned to face the two teens.
Sensing the mood change, Phantom shifted away nervously. "Hahah, well, now wasn't that exciting? Let's do it again sometime! But right now I, uh, really need to go—"
"Oh NO you don't."
Freud quickly caught Phantom by the back of his shirt before he could make his escape, and hauled him down beside Lumi.
"Both of you. Detention."
. . .
Author's Notes: Hm, this short story kind of came out of the blue. After seeing a bit of the school parody in Secret Story, I felt like writing something. It was also partly inspired from episode 93 of D. Gray-man (where Allen & Co. nearly fall into a dark abyss in one of the ark-rooms, and end up grabbing onto each other awkwardly).
I realize wasn't very clear about somethings-especially that part in the middle with the car honk... it has something to do with their past traumas, that's all I can say for now. Perhaps I'll come to explain it later. (If I decide to continue on this idea...;;)