Beyond Our Sight

By Ryukansen

Chapter Twenty Five: Return to Reality

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Author's Note: Finally, we're back to Arthur. I'm sorry for the delay! I have 3 tests next, next week and I'm absolutely clueless with what I have to study; so I might not update till farther later on. I HOPE TO though!!! Read & Review please!

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Kiku didn't know what to think about Arthur after having called him several times for the past three hours. The other male seemed like he was ignoring him. In fact, Arthur seemed like he was trying to ignore everyone else in the world.

He didn't return any of his voice messages, he didn't even call back to apologize for his rudeness, and what's more the way Arthur was giving him a cold shoulder just made him irked or even a little depressed.

Did he do something wrong? Or…had something terrible happened to make his boyfriend so miserable?

Could he do nothing about it? Could he not make Arthur happy? That was the scariest thought that could ever cross his mind because honestly he loved the feeling of being in love…and he didn't really want to let that go.

But Arthur somehow was sending him a message that their relationship wasn't going to last if the thing, person, whatever making him miserable wouldn't stop.

Kiku let out a sigh of defeat as he put his cell phone down and gazed sadly at the awful object. He wanted to throw it down on the floor, and yet that was very out of character for him, and he especially couldn't throw it – well, not with his younger brother beside him.

"He didn't call back yet?" Im Young-Soo piped up as he stared at him with those wide, childish eyes. His cheeks were a bright pink as he let out a charming smile for a small boy his age. "He must be really bored to be all alone." He murmured while popping a chocolate pretzel in his mouth, humming a strange made-up song as he toddled over to turn the television on.

"Well, I guess he is…" Kiku let out a smile while staring at his brother who plopped on the sofa beside him. "…Really lonely…"

"No, I-I don't think he's lonely." The other boy claimed while changing the channel into a program especially made for children. "He has his magic friends!" He smiled staring at the other male who seemed rather perplexed about the other boy's response.

He had…his magic friends….

"Yes, he has his magic friends…" The older child murmured softly, staring at the younger brother with a frown escaping his pinkish lips. "Maybe I should visit him?" He sighed, twirling a lock of his raven hair before standing up and gazing at the digital clock. "Yeah, I think I'll go see him – Im Young, tell Wang that I won't be back till around 6 or so."

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The morning would have been absolutely beautiful. The golden light was shimmering over the landscape, filtering through his room and lightening up the whole dark house with a sense of hope and a marker of a new day.

It would have been a very wonderful morning. It would have been one of the most beautiful mornings he would have ever experienced in his life.

The weather was absolutely perfect. The whole world seemed to act into a nice symphony as the wind played along the tree branches, and the sun just kept shining like there was forever.

And the sky…the sky was like a heavenly blue smiling upon the world with a hope for the future.

It was so beautiful. He would have cried over in joy to have a day like this.

And yet he woke up absolutely miserable.

No words could ever describe how he felt when he opened his eyes to find his bed absolutely empty. To find that one person who made him happy, gone.

It was like a nightmare. A dark vortex dwarfing inside his heart, as he fluttered his eyes open to find nothing but air, nothing but a lonely emptiness that echoed throughout the whole apartment floor.

At first he thought Alfred had left to make breakfast like he usually would, but realization hit him hard as soon as he stepped into the kitchen finding everything…untouched.

He didn't know what to think. Maybe Alfred left to ponder, maybe he left to think of a few things that he had said the past day to make him so angry and sullen? And yet – it was not the case. He knew that Alfred had passed on. He knew that the other was gone, long gone, and the young man would never come back to him.

His Calling Period was over.

Huddling himself up in the mounds of his comforter, the Briton decided to ignore the world, maybe just for the day, week…or maybe month. He nuzzled his head into the crevice of his sheets, and he let out a deep inhale as he blinked back possible tears away from his green-emerald eyes.

God, he didn't know what to think. There were so many things racing in his mind. From profanity to pleas, he couldn't grasp any of his ideas as he lay on his bed; lifeless and unmotivated.

He was sure he felt Alfred's touch when he slept last night. He swore he could feel the strange coldness Alfred left as the ghost's fingers gently slid across his own fingertips and his forehead touched the crook of his neck and even…if he dare wished so, he could have felt the harsh but sweet lips of his graze his own forehead with a maternal protectiveness.

Why didn't he wake up? Is what he wanted to know? Why didn't he wake up to that gentle and pleasurable feeling? Why did he not slowly open his eyes to see those last warm sapphire eyes gaze up back at him with that feeling of hope and kindness? Why couldn't he see Alfred for the last time? Had he lost miserably to slumber? Had he lost miserably to himself?

He let out a pitiful wail as he muffled his mouth against his blanket while cursing all the while of his stupidity.

Kiku had called several times and he didn't call back. He knew the other was worried about him, despite it being morning the two would usually chat in the phone with love remarks and all of that nonsense, but damn he couldn't return any calls, he was too busy drowning himself in a gloom that he knew would never go away unless he could forget.

But the thing was he couldn't forget.

How could he forget someone who had shown him something so special? The ghost had practically reintroduced him to the world he had shunned away due to its lack of magical properties. Alfred had basically made him fall deeply in love with what he had been missing; and he made him appreciate things he would normally dislike.

The damn ghost had imprinted his own image into his mind. Alfred had engraved himself deeply into his memory – even one image of his smile or a flash of his blue eyes made him cringe in a desperation he had never felt before in his life.

Every memory with words made him cry, every memory with a sensitive touch made him plead to God to give back the man he had somehow, dare he say it? Even maybe have ….fallen in love with.

Yes, he knew nothing about the real Alfred F. Jones and yet if Alfred could come back he would want to know everything about the said man.

He would ask for anything to see the other again because he was so horribly addicted to the dumb twat. He would do anything! He would sacrifice everything, even if they had to restart everything, all over again.

"Hey…are you okay?" A muffled voice spoke gently as he lay lifeless against his bed. His deep emerald eyes were listless and shaded into a monotone green as he just lay there doing absolutely nothing, but thinking of Alfred. "Arthur…? Arthur Kirkland!" Mina stared at him as she sat on the edge of his bed with an expression of concern. "Hey….there….everything is fine…" She muttered while softly smoothing away strands of his hair that seemed to stray across his deadpan gaze.

"No it's not…" He muttered back in distaste. A venomous tinge of annoyance dipped in his words as he glared at her while covering his face with a sense of shame and guilt after.

He had not felt so depressed ever since his parents denied him as their child when he was labeled as a "lunatic" by the town, itself.

But this depression, it was worse than his parents disowning him. No, because this time, he loved that person who left him. He loved that person so much….and he felt the strangest pain of grief strike him in the middle of his heart.

Mina stared at him with discomfort as she watched the Briton hide himself away from the world that basically hated him. "…You still have Kiku…" She whispered softly, staring at the Briton who wasn't moving any inch.

He was adamant in keeping his position and he was controlling his emotions very well. But deep down, both Mina and he knew he was going to crack any time soon.

Her words deeply hurt and puzzled him. Yes, he did have Kiku…the love of his life. However, there was something unsettling in the truth Mina revealed. Kiku was a crush, now a lover, and yet he was still unsatisfied and the worst part was that….he thought that maybe he found satisfaction through the other man when Alfred was around.

No Alfred, meant no satisfaction, and even if it was Kiku – he knew he would never be able to bear the same happiness he found with the idiot American than with the other.

"Kiku isn't good enough…." He blurted out helplessly and selfishly as he gazed stubbornly at the wall, tears ready to spill. "I I like him…but…I don't know! It's Alfred's fault! It's my fault…I should have never…GOD! Why did I ever have to meet him?" He ranted on and on while tossing his comforter off his bed and throwing the sheets and pillows with fury.

Mina winced at his harsh rebukes, and stared at the poor man who was wasting his life away in a guilt she knew would never fade away.

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"That bastard thinks he can leave without telling me? After everything we went through!" Arthur had screamed from the other side of the door to particularly no one, and Kiku gazed solemnly at the floor beneath his feet.

He was about to knock on Arthur's door, but he realized that maybe he shouldn't, especially when Arthur had blatantly voiced his opinion on their feeble relationship.

A bitter smile hung on his pallid face, as he let out a weak and grieving sigh. His hands were shaking, but he still held himself in a good composure and his mind was still particularly positive despite his aching heart and throbbing mind.

"I guess….it's the end of us, right?" He whispered softly, staring at the door while leaving a parcel at the front steps of Arthur's door. "I hope you come back soon, Alfred," he sighed to himself as he wiped a lone tear sliding carefully against his sculpted cheeks.

He didn't know what he felt, but there was something tugging in the back of his mind; telling him that the reason for Arthur's angst had something to do with Alfred, himself.

"I must be growing crazy!" He laughed bitterly, while tossing his head up; finding the blue skies strangely pretty. A smile grew as he stared at the clouds, but it slowly faltered while he thought about the relationship he and Arthur couldn't have. "Arthur is making me ridiculous." He humored himself while walking away solemnly through the streets.

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"This time, why don't you quit wearing those hideous suits whenever I ask you to bring Arthur to me?" Francis muttered with a deadpan expression as he gazed at those red-eyes behind the bars. "Seriously, you have caused already so much damage and you are scaring the town!" The blonde barked while glaring at the albino before his eyes softened up a bit. "Matthew woke up….but…I think….maybe, I'll let you have the chance to get Arthur to come here. Okay, just one more time, alright Gilbert?" The Frenchman sighed with the pain in sounding so distrustful.

The other man let out a whine while crossing his arms with a pout hanging on his face. "Seriously, Francis – you know how embarrassing it is to talk with him?" Gilbert sighed in complete annoyance while his eyes smiled a little with humor in them. "It doesn't' matter anyways anymore, I found out that I like him! He's like a friend I can make fun of!" He teased as he got up from the jail flooring as the policeman took him out with a rather delicate touch.

"You know I had to waste about $500 to bail you out?" The Frenchman sighed with depressed eyes slanting a bit in concern.

Gilbert stared at him with a quick realization, before he calmed himself down a bit. "But aren't you in...."

"Yes, I used all my money for Mathieu's sake and now I'm in debt." The Frenchman whispered softly focusing on the entrance ahead of them.

"Let's not dwell on this dilemma though; I have some other problems to attend to that I need your help with." He muttered with frustration while sticking his fingers through the mane of his hair. "Last time you wore those awful black jumpsuits, painted masks and what in your mind told you that skating while waving aluminum bats in your hands like a crazy killer was going to make Arthur come to you?" He grumbled while sticking his hands in the pockets of his fur coat.

Gilbert let out a sigh while staring into Francis' unwavering eyes. "I don't know, I wasn't thinking?" He lied while shuffling his feet across the dirty passage in the hallway.

"No, you completely forgot about getting Arthur to me and you deliberately chose to scare him out of want. I lead him to the haunted house like you wanted – you are such a child for wanting to play a prank at this age – and in return you were supposed to take him to me to meet Mathieu! But no, you deliberately chose to follow your own pursuit of happiness and neglected mine own. Now because of your ignorance, you were put into jail and I swear that if you had gotten Arthur to Mathieu anytime sooner, Arthur might have been able to cure the boy's coma and then everything wouldn't have been prolonged."

Francis glared at the Prussian while looking away in an exhaustive appearance. His voice was ragged and he was running out of breath, but even if he was losing some energy for today, he still felt that anger swelling in his chest.

"Has Arthur been influencing you? You're like different now you know that right?" Gilbert sighed as they walked out onto the parking lot to head towards Francis' car. "I mean, ever since you met Matthew, and ever since Matthew got into that coma you've been too nice to Arthur lately, it's kind of sad." The man grumbled, kicking a pebble along the edge of a sidewalk.

"…Matthew had a way with words…" Francis ended the conversation, urging the other man to get in the car to change up and find the Briton.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Arthur is a "magical" person. How many times have I heard that from your mouth, before? That little American is making you so different – I guess it's ok…since now you aren't a huge pain in the ass and a fucking playboy-OUCH, what the hell was that for?!"

"Just get in the car."

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He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't talk, he wouldn't even blink – or at least, he would try not to. Arthur stared miserably at the wall next to him. If he could wish for anything, it was to either die or see Alfred again – and seeing how he was totally fed up with the world he believed he would do the former if he could.

"Come on Arthur, don't be so sad! There's plenty more things to see in the world!" Mina retorted as she called on the other zodiacs that lay beside him while trying to comfort him.

Makara was sitting beside him; his hooves perched comfortably under his torso while his mermaid tail swaggered back and forth with a rather slow and depressing energy.

Mesa was right next to him; also in an unusual silence while Karka and Tula lightly spoke to one another with concerned and soft whispers.

The other zodiacs snuggled close or gave words of comfort to the Briton who was on the verge to break down even farther than his current depressing state.

It was strange really, he felt like all of his energy was gone and somehow vanished into thin air. It seemed like all the happiness he ever had was drained away and yet despite his depression and fatalistic perspective he had some little hope left.

The Briton nuzzled his face further into the pillow that attempted to give him comfort. Tears had already made their marks on the silk cover case, and his mouth quivered as he thought of what to do next? Why did such a thing happen? Should he forget? Of course! Could he? No.

"…Arthur…" Makara murmured softly while staring at the downhearted man who wouldn't budge or move, but make a sound of regret and a whimper of sorrow. "…I'm so sorry…"