Hey everybody, I just wanted to say thank you for 25 reviews as of the time I have started writing this! ^.^

Only 7 chapters have been posted at this point but I already have 25 reviews. Your support for this story means the world to me.

A special thank you to Echochain, for all the constructive criticism. I will try my best to go more in depth and such with my chapters. And spell Keith right.

I know I'm stupid.

A couple of people are now suggesting I do like father-son relationships, and stuff like that. I'm not quite sure as of now if I am going to do that, so please leave a review and tell me if you think I should do some of those.

I do not own Bakugan, or these songs!

~Dakota


Chapter 9

What Hurts The Most

Dan x Masquerade

It was an empty, hollow sound, that seemed to fill the whole house. Dan watched it with a weird spaciness, as it sped past the window colliding with the ground, and exploding into a million bits, that continued to soak already damp concrete. He embraced the sound, as it drowned out his unmistakable whimpers. Tears flowed, wetting his cheeks, and the palms he used to wipe them away.

It had been 5 years.

5 long years since it had all happened.

Gently, Dan's fingers wrapped around the mask. He lifted it up, looking into it, at his own refection in the cracked lens, that seemed to reflect almost exactly how Dan always felt now. Dan welcomed his salty tears now, knowing it was the release he needed. He could never do this in front of anybody else. Everybody else thought he had moved on, because although sadness would overtake them sometimes, they could move on. They didn't understand how much had been left unsaid, not to her, but to her counterpart. Dan had so much to say, that had stayed pent up in his body. The tears were his only release.

5 years today, Alice had left them, bringing down Masquerade with her.

So much had been left unsaid, so many questions on the tip of the boy's tongue, that never got their escape. They were trapped in the depths of the boy who wanted to say them, but never got to.

If only he got to do it all over again. He would have told his enemy what he had felt in running in his veins, the feelings that were fighting to be free every time they saw one another.

He wanted to forget everything that happened. He struggled relentlessly through everyday to try and figure out how to just leave it all behind him. But for him, it had become impossible. He couldn't forget. It kept him up at night, and made it a chore to get up in the morning. It trapped him in an endless bind, never releasing him.

Masquerade had left him in an endless hell.

Dan clenched his hands into fists, making the constant shaking worse. This was all her fault, his fault, their fault. It was their fault he was trapped in this dark place.

He let out a strangled scream, taking the mask that lay so perfectly on the windowsill, and throwing it across the room. It made a dull thud, then a sharp crack, before shattering into pieces.

Quickly realizing what he did, he rushed over to the broken mask, trying to put it back together, but knowing it was just an impossible puzzle he would never figure out. The mask was broken.

Dan struggled to breathe, his throat constricting, as more tears threatened to push past his weak walls.

"Well if it isn't Dan the man."

Dan gasped and whirled around, completely in disbelief. Masquerade stood in front of Dan, looking as real as he had when he had died. Even his mask was on, although it lay shattered into tiny pieces, at Dan's feet.

"Masquerade...?" Dan breathed, not believing that what he saw was actually real.

"Well of course." Masquerade said, his arrogance present, like it normally was. "It's been 5 long years Dan Kuso."

Dan nodded, speechless. Memories flashed through his mind of that day, but he blocked them out, focusing at the figure standing before him. Focusing on the fact that he was actually here.

"I only have limited time here Dan. No time for fooling around." Masquerade said.

"How are you here...? Why are you here?" Dan asked, his voice trembling.

"I'm here to help you move on Dan. To help you find closure."

"So... So you can't stay?"

"Unfortunately not. But I will always be with you, as long as you keep a memory of me."

"Masquerade I... I need to tell you something. Something that I have had bottled up inside of me for years now..." Dan whispered.

"Go ahead Dan."

"I... I love you."

Time seemed to stand still. The image of Masquerade seemed to flicker, like it was about to disappear.

"Masquerade you can't leave!" Dan yelled, running reaching out for the figure, but his hand went right through the body.

"Dan it is my time to go again-"

"No!" Dan cried, breaking into more tears. "I still want to say so much!"

"Dan it will all be okay." Masquerade said softly, his fading figure, bending down next to a sobbing Dan. "I always loved you too."

The image faded, leaving Dan completely alone, like it never had happened. The only evidence was placed in Dan's mind, and in the fact that the recently broken mask, was sitting there, good as new.

With it, was a note.

Dan Kuso,

5 years ago we were torn apart from one another, without so much as a goodbye. But today, I managed to find you again, to finally tell you what I always felt toward you. Through our battles together, I realized that I myself was trapped within Alice, and that I was able to feel my own emotions, and have my own thoughts, even when the mask was not on.
But Dan, what I'm really here to say is this.
Through everything that happened, I have one thing I have always needed to say to you.
I love you.
Signed,
Masquerade


I wanted to write more. But that seemed like an epic place to end. So I shall end here.

Alright, I have an idea for a one-shot contest. It would be like, everyone would write a one-shot with their choice pairing, to a song that I pick out, and the best one gets featured in this story.

Please review your opinion on this idea! Also review your thoughts on what was mentioned in the earlier author's note!

Review thoughts, song suggestions, and couple suggestions!

~Dakota