This chapter took less time to finish than I thought. Ha ha, I still need to study more...

By the time Robin and Rob sat down on the table to eat their breakfast, Shulk had already finished his meal. He decided to stay because, well, it wasn't as if he had anything else to do and he was still worried about Robin. Though, he wasn't really worried at the moment, as it was more curious as to why her mood seemed to make a 180 angle turn.

"You seem in a good mood today," he commented, resting his chin on his hand. "Both of you."

"We do? Haven't noticed," Robin said, that strange smile not leaving her face, not even as she munched on the cold, last muffin that was left on the back of the tray when she was going to get her food. "Guess I really needed a good night of sleep."

Shulk was really suspicious of the way Rob looked at her, to say the least. It was all the more reason for him to ask for them to spill the beans about what was going on between them. However, that really didn't seem the time to start asking questions, especially with Lucina arriving shortly afterwards with only an apple in one hand and a cup of tea on the other.

"Morning, Lucina," Robin said. "Are you sure you're not going to get hungry with only an apple?"

"I'm not that hungry. Just an apple will suffice," Lucina took a bite of the fruit, her face also showing that she appeared to be in a rather good mood.

"Did you buy that spear, by the way?" Rob asked.

"No, in the end, I think I'll stay with my usual fighting style," she smiled. "You were right, Rob, maybe trying too hard to stand out wouldn't do me any favors, especially considering I was doing so well with what I already had."

"Oh, um, I'm glad to hear that," Rob couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "What made you suddenly change your mind?"

"It's a long story."

"What's going on? What did I miss?" Robin asked.

"Like I said, it's a long story," Lucina took another bite, still not making eye contact with her. "But let's just say that I was about to commit one of the biggest mistakes ever."

"Uh, if you say so."

Robin had to hide the pout that wanted to form on her lips. Lucina almost never spoke more than three sentences with her, always preferring to hang out only with Rob instead. Sometimes it could be really difficult trying to get closer to her and she didn't know if it was just her impression, or if Lucina really had a problem with her, but she wished she knew how to have a decent conversation with her regardless.

Speaking of decent conversations, Shulk was awfully quiet. And while she could see he did his best to disguise it, he kept casting weird glances at both her and Rob, but mostly at Rob.

Uh.

Excuses, excuses, she needed one to...

"Robin, I need to talk to you alone," Shulk said, bluntly. "There's something I need to ask you."

Or not. Okay, so no excuses, then. It saved her from a headache of finding an excuse to get the two of them alone, just a headache to reassure Rob later that she and Shulk were just friends. She could feel his worried glare burning into the core of her soul from where she sat.

"Fine," she got up.

Rob watched them leave the table, not sure if it was his imagination or not that Robin seemed to walk just a little too close to him. No, it was just his imagination. He trusted Robin when she said nothing was happening between them. Who knows? Maybe Shulk just needed her opinion on what he should do on the next battle or suggestions on how to court Ike, because hey, maybe he was into men. He always had his suspicions of him.

"Do you think Shulk and the other Robin are dating?"

Dammit, Lucina!

"No."

"Alright, maybe not dating, but they do seem to share a special bond," Lucina said, completely oblivious to how dry that "no" came out. "They are usually together and I could swear I saw him inviting her over to his room once," Rob cringed, yet no attention was paid to him. "I wouldn't be surprised if they came back announcing they were a couple from now on."

It was because he was starting to feel insecure about her relationship with Shulk, wasn't it? Lucina was secretly punishing him for not trusting Robin, that had to be it.

"Well, I don't think so," he replied in a more apparent irritation.

"Why are you so angry? I'm just stating what I think."

Did he really have to say it to her?

"You see, Lucina, the thing is..."

"You two kissed?!"

Robin happily nodded, grinning from ear to ear like an overly excited child. She would not say the exact details of what went on, for obvious reasons that Shulk didn't need to hear details, but the sheer happiness that she felt at the moment was too much for her not to tell him.

Though, she did not expect him for him to shout like that. She would appreciate if he toned down his voice, since they were still pretty near the cafeteria and people kept walking past them back and forth and all he did was attract unnecessary attention to them.

"And it was all so sudden!" Robin continued. "Can you believe it was Rob who actually took the initiative at first?"

"Actually, it's not that hard to believe."

"So, yeah, I'm really happy," she then let out a groan. "Though it won't null out today's battle."

"Just... Keep what you were doing yesterday and you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about losing. Well, okay, maybe a little, but I still don't like fighting him, especially in a moment like this."

"But you have to do it, so at least try your best," there was a certain bitterness in his voice that Robin couldn't help but notice it. "I'm sure that your relationship with Rob can wait until you are done deciding who will be the default. You are both grown ups, you can take a few hits."

That came out as unnecessarily cruel. Shulk almost regretted his words immediately. "Almost" being the key word.

"What bug bit you today?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not in my best mood, I'm sorry," Shulk groaned and shook his head. "Listen, tell Rob I wish you both the best of luck today. I think I'll rest for a while."

"You just woke up."

After hearing these news I wish I didn't, Shulk just sighed. "I went to sleep late last night," he said, instead. He wasn't lying, he really did go sleep late and did feel pretty tired. Robin's announcement just made his already existent headache from the lack of sleep grow. "I think I'll take the opportunity that I don't have any battles today and sleep more."

"Are you sure you are okay?"

"I am."

"...Stop lying to me," Robin frowned, her lips firmly pressed against each other. "You always say that you're fine, when it's clear you're not! Would it hurt you to tell me what you're feeling at least once in your life?"

I don't know what's wrong with me, just leave me alone. "I just need to rest, nothing else."

"Come on, Shulk, I tell you everything about me, but you never tell me anything about yourself. And don't get me wrong, it's nice to have someone that listens to all your problems, but it can be pretty frustrating when you can't return the favor!"

"Then don't return the favor, I'm not charging you for the time I spent listening to you."

"Oh, I'm so relieved right now! I thought I would have to pay in return, plus interest," Robin snarked. "Why is it so hard for you to open up to me?!"

"There is no reason for me to open up with you, because there's nothing wrong. I just need to rest."

Shulk just walked past by her and waved his hand. He seriously was not in the mood to talk to Robin at all, yet he also didn't want to go back to his room, even if he was still pretty tired. Still, it was one of his few precious off days where he was completely free to do anything, so he would just waste it in bed. He still had the afternoon to train or do another thing.

On his way back all he could keep thinking was about how mad he got over the fact that Robin was apparently dating Rob. From what she said between her squeals, that is, he never expected to see her acting like an overexcited preteen. Not that was bad, quite the contrary! Shulk couldn't remember seeing her this happy in a long time, so seeing her like that should have made him happy as well. But why did his chest hurt so much?

He reached the elevators, still trying to figure it out what was wrong with him. Robin was happy, therefore he should be for her, right? However, that clearly wasn't the case, as he was feeling extremely annoyed. So what was going on?

Was he feeling jealous of Robin? No, that wasn't it. He was absolutely positive about his feelings towards her, Shulk couldn't see her as anything but as a best friend. Robin was a lot more like a sister to him than anything. Unless he thought their kind of relationship was threatened now that she was dating, but that couldn't be the case also.

Was he feeling jealous of Rob?

...

Possibly, but not likely. Sure, he caught himself fantasizing about him once, maybe even twice, but Shulk was not nearly as close to him as he was with Robin. Rob was a very attractive man and he was also pretty nice, but there was nothing more between the two of them that would serve as fuel for Shulk's supposedly jealousy. Besides, there was still Fiora, whose gentle smile and free-spirited attitude were capable of letting Shulk's every other romantic interests on the dust.

No, it wasn't jealousy. It was a pretty similar sentiment.

Shulk sluggishly walked through the extensive corridor, passing by Miis and Smashers alike without bothering on trying to greet them, because nobody deserved to see the abomination that he called his sleep deprived face. After some effort, he reached his bedroom and swapped his key card on the lock, a sigh of relief escaping from his lips as he heard the sound of the door unlocking and the warmth of his room relaxing his muscles. It was only when he belly-flopped on his bed and buried his face on his pillow that he realized what was wrong.

He was envious of Robin. He envied just how happy she was at the moment and how she managed to be with who she really loved. She got her feeling corresponded and was now together with Rob, while he stood there, feeling miserable and trying to hold on to a past and memories that didn't belong to him. As sad as the truth was, Shulk still couldn't let go of Fiora, he still couldn't get over her and how he would never be able to see her. Not only her, but all of his friends back in the Bionis.

The fact that he had projections of Dunban and Riki as part of his Final Smash just added salt to the wound.

Maybe that was why he listened to Robin's complaints this entire time. Maybe he did get some sort of selfish satisfaction knowing that he wasn't alone in not being able to be with the person he loved. Sure, there were probably a lot of Smashers out there who felt the same, but Robin was the closest to him and the one who brought him more comfort.

He pressed his face against the pillow harder, just now realizing how stupid and pathetic he felt for that.

Envy of Robin, what a joke.

"For today's battle you two shall use only your swords as your weapons and tomes will be strictly forbidden," Master Hand announced.

Rob groaned in frustration while Robin just shrugged her shoulders, since she was a lot more comfortable with close combat. She had to admit that the thought of not being able to use Elwind to recover did worry her a bit, though. "Master Hand, mind if I ask where this battle will take place?" she asked, hoping the stage wasn't one of those ridiculously spacious ones, like 75 m or Gaur Plains.

"It will be on Boxing Ring, the normal version."

No need for recovery then. Fine, Robin could do it. She COULD do it, of course. She glanced over Rob, practically hearing him scream mentally for not being able to use the weapons he was more specialized.

She had the upper hand here. She could do it.

"You will each have two lives and there will be a time set of five minutes. Whoever loses all lives, or has the least amount of lives when the time runs out, loses. Do I make myself clear or you still have any questions before you start?"

Robin was going to ask if she could be excused for the rest of her life, but it was better to not annoy him. And with that affirmative silence of theirs, Master Hand snapped his fingers and they were teleported.

The crowd went wild with the fight that unfolded just a few meters ahead of them at the boxing ring, as it was programmed to do so. Being just a projection that was part of the stage, the crowd was animated to cheer for the smashers that kept duking it out at each other, independently of how exciting the battle was.

That was to say, the fight between the Robins was quite terrible, but at least someone was enjoying the terrible performance. Even that someone was dozens of holographic people.

"Well... Things could be worse."

Robin jumped out of the way when she saw Rob swinging his Bronze sword mid-air, trying to slash her in the head.

"Worse? Are you kidding me?" Rob whispered as he landed on the ground. "This fight is ridiculous!"

She just swallowed dry and tried swinging her Levin sword downwards, hoping the sparks of electricity would hit him, since thrusting her blade forward would be too predictable. Unfortunately (or not, she didn't know what to feel) he stepped out of the way and avoided getting attacked. Rob ran forward and grabbed her by the collar, since he couldn't use his magic to trap her, clearly annoyed about her performance.

"Funny how you said you didn't want me going easy on you, and then you do the exact same thing to me," he whispered in her ear. "Get it together and fight!"

"Ugh, like you're being any good either..." Robin grunted with clenched teeth.

"Better than you," he threw her on the ground and brought the Levin sword downwards. "And that's the problem."

Robin rolled out of the way, but couldn't avoid the sparks of electricity that the blade created and fell with on her face. "You're way better than me," he hesitated for a moment, before slashing the bronze sword downwards. That moment of hesitation was enough for Robin to roll away from the attack and get back on her feet. "You know I'm not a big fan of close combat."

"You know, it's not always I get to hear you admitting this kind of stuff," Robin grinned and began charging the Levin sword, waiting for the right moment.

She slashed the blade forward, making direct contact with his stomach. In any other battle, Robin would have expected that move to fail and her opponent to just jump back, since she did make a predictable movement, easy to avoid, but Rob kind of just stood there and took the hit. Of course he would. She would technically complain about him not giving his best because of her, but...

What was up with that scream of his?

The tactician frowned at the scream Rob let out as he was sent flying off the stage. Was it her or did his voice lower a few pitches? Nah, it was probably her imagination.

Lucina simply watched the fight unfold from the bleachers, her mind completely distracted and with Master Hand floating idly by her side. As much as she tried, she couldn't focus on the Robins' fight at all. And she wanted to, she really did. Anything to distract her from the memory of what Robin had told her that morning.

It was just... Lucina couldn't stop her face from blushing. She also couldn't stop her nervous fingers from combing the strands of her long blue hair as she couldn't hold her thoughts. It was a good thing that Master Hand wasn't paying any attention to her, or he might confuse her for a maxim tomato. She sighed inwardly as she saw the other Robin taking out her male counterpart's life, making her the winner of today's battle.

Robin just wasn't giving his best, that was very apparent. Not that Master Hand seemed to care that much, as far as the swordswoman could tell from the lack of an angry response at his performance.

Nonetheless, she needed to find a way to talk to Robin alone.

Maybe when her heart stopped pounding so fast she could get to talk to Robin. Yes, that was a plan.

"Shulk, are you alright?"

Shulk turned around and saw Whitney looking at him with concerned eyes, a towel around her shoulders and a bottle of water on her sweaty hand. "Uh, yes. Yes, I am," he answered, wondering how long has the trainer been there and withdrawing his Monado. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't believe Sandbag can take your anger outbursts anymore."

The Homs stopped to take a good look at Sandbag and almost felt bad for the poor thing, only to remember those large, teary black eyes the bag had were his default expression and the mere thought of feeling bad for a sandbag was kind of dumb.

"These things are tough, I'd never be able to destroy it, even using my Buster Arts," he muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I practically live in this gym," she let out chuckle. "I was helping out one of the Villager girls with some yoga exercises on the other room, when I left to get a bottle of water."

"I see."

"Anyway, you seem stressed. Do you need something to calm down or are you good?"

"I'm good, no need to worry. I'll just keep punching sandbag until I calm down entirely."

"Um, Shulk, if you are angry, it's really not the best idea to lash it out on the sandbag," the trainer suggested. "You won't feel any better, you will only feel more worked up. Negative emotions are kind of an addictive thing, you know?"

"Wait, really?"

"Really. Anyway, I'll be at the other room with Villager, if you want to join us, you are more than welcome," Whitney gave him a thumbs up and turned around to leave.

"Whitney, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?" she turned around.

"You talked about how negative emotions can be pretty addicting to someone's brain. Does that count to memories too?"

"I think they are? If they bring a very strong emotional response, it's possible to become attached to them."

"Even when they bring a negative emotional response?"

"Well, yeah, but if they are doing more harm than good to your spirits, maybe you should not get so attached to them," Whitney tilted her head to the side. "Why do you ask, Shulk?"

"Problems with the memories of my past."

"Yeah, we all got those every once in a while," she gave a sympathetic smile.

If by "every once in a while" you mean "every time", yes. I really should start letting go of them, Shulk bitterly thought.

He got angry at Robin for her finally gaining up the courage to confess to Rob because he was envious of her happiness and lashed all his anger on Sandbag. If that didn't say something about the way he was dealing with his situation, then he didn't know what else would.

"Who doesn't?" he gave a fake smile.

"There's no problem in feeling sad over them every once in a while, but don't let them take over you like this. Shulk, your life is here and this is your world, whoever was causing you your emotional turmoils cannot get you here."

That's exactly the problem.

"So go and find your own happiness with what you got here!" she gave him a strong slap on his back, earning a yelp of surprise from him. "Did I help?"

"Sorta," he tried to regain his balance and his fake smile unintentionally turned into a genuine one. "Thanks, I guess."

"I know exactly where you can start," Whitney grabbed his arm and dragged him outside the training room. "I'm sure some yoga exercises will cleanse your spirits from all this negativity. Now let's move, Villager has been waiting for too long!"

Shulk tried to break free from her strong grasp, but utterly failed. For someone with not many apparent muscles, Whitney sure was a strong woman.

Remember before when Shulk just mentioned that Robin should just admit her feelings because she might implode from bottling them up? Yeah.

I'm still not getting rid of Lucina, for better or worse. I just like writing about her way too much, I'm surprised I haven't written a story with her as a main character. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter and had a few author blocks when writing it, but at least it's out.

And answering anon's question, Marth copying some of Roy's moves was something I just made up, but Ness copying Paula's abilities is actually true. In Earthbound he can't use PK Fire, PK Thunder and PSI Magnet, they are all moves from his friends. Even his Final Smash is a rip-off from his friend Poo's signature move, PK Starstorm. Now who isn't trying hard enough, uh Ness?

Thanks everyone for reading it!