Shine

(Okay, confession time. Since I uploaded the last chapter, I had a problem with my laptop, and it deleted all my fanfiction. I had to download every chapter from , to recover my work. Sadly, I hadn't uploaded chapter eleven, and I don't remember what I wrote, or what song I used for a title. So, to help with the last part, and only the last part, I've created a Spotify playlist. If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the link to said playlist. This song is Mr. Big and was used as an outro theme for the Hellsing anime. I just wanted to write a little feel-good chapter. Enjoy.)

I woke up feeling relaxed. Mostly thanks to Monika cuddling into me. I will have to thank Yuri when we eventually get out of bed. I roll on to my side and wrap my other arm around Monika. It's at this point, she responds with a sleepy, but happy, groan. "Hey." I whisper to her.

"Good morning, Leyon." She quietly replies, a smile slowly forming on her lips, as her eyes slowly open. I smile back, but I know that this moment, and how many other subsequent moments, like this, are on a clock. Monika's smile fades, too. I look to her, curiously. "I know…" She responds, after rubbing her eyes and stretching. "I hesitated to come down here, even after Yuri suggested it out of the blue. You may not be here, much longer. Maybe you'll be here forever. Maybe you'll be gone, tomorrow. In any case, I wanted to be as close to you as I could get, for as long as we have left."

"Monika…" What else can I say to that? The more she talks, the more upset she looks. Seems like we both had the same thought. That, one day, I'll be gone from this world. What happens then? Does this world just disappear? Do the girls just forget that they met me? I don't think I could bear the thought of that. No, scratch that, I can't bear the thought of that. I hold Monika tightly, to me. "Then we'll just have to make the most of our time. With ourselves, and the others."

Monika clings to my pyjama top and nods but doesn't say anything. She just holds onto me. The silence is deafening. Until it's interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door. "Seth? Monika? Can I make a drink for you both?" asks the quiet, muffled voice of Yuri. I look to Monika, who looks up and nods at me, before letting go.

"That's okay, I'll come make it." I respond to Yuri, as I get out of bed, grabbing a dressing gown, for me, and throwing a spare to Monika, winking, and smiling at her. I can't get my own words out of my head about making every moment I spend with Monika matter. Can I do that? Yes. Easily. It's just knowing what. As I'm making coffee in the cafetiere, I watch Monika head upstairs, no doubt so she can get freshened up and ready for the day, just as Mickey comes downstairs.

"Morning Leyon. Hey Yuri." I hear. I nod at my friend and watch as Yuri smiles and then giggles, softly. "So, my good friend, no doubt you slept well, with Monika beside you, right?" He asks me in a mischievous tone, right as Kain comes downstairs. Wait, did Mickey and Yuri collude to get Monika and me together?

"Did you ask him, Mickey?" Kain asks, who is soon followed by Sayori and Alisteir, chuckling with Yuri. I don't know whether to thank them, as it seems literally everyone apart from Natsuki was in on this, or if I should just punch the lads, as it seems like it was their idea. "Sayori, did you tell Natsuki your plan?" Kain follows up, turning to face my neighbour, as the laughter dies down.

To my surprise, before Sayori can even answer, Natsuki pipes up, laughing from hers and Sayori's room, so that's a resounding yes. Are they all laughing at me and Monika? Why is my affection for her so funny to them? "Well, fuck me, for wanting to be close to the only person who understands and relates me, I guess." And now they're all looking shocked at me. Even Natsuki, who's standing at the top of the stairs. "… What's wrong?" Aw, CRAP! I said that out loud, didn't I? "Sorry." I say, sheepishly, and turn back to make coffee.

"Mickey, Alisteir get the car ready, would you? Yuri, would you and Natsuki give them a hand?" Kain says to them. I can hear all four of them head outside, closing the door behind them. "Leyon…" My friend adds, trying to get my attention. Honestly, I'm not sure I can look at Kain, or Sayori, or anyone right now. That's when I feel two hands on my shoulders, one of which is much smaller than the other. "Dude, I know how that must have looked, I'm sorry. And I don't think you meant to say, what you did either. Hell, I doubt you would have even thought it, if we didn't leave you thinking that your emotions are just toy to play with, right?"

I nod, once, and rest my hands on the kitchen counter. That's when Sayori looks around and gives me a smile I don't really deserve. "Leyon, we did it because of what you said. You and Monika are… similar. Very similar, in fact." Sayori explains, in her usual calm, carefree manner. It's kind of relaxing, honestly. I finally look up and, slowly turn to face them. That's when I see Monika, at the bottom of the stairs, in a pink vest, very short shorts and knee-high socks. And yet, none of that matters, because her expression is the saddest, I've ever seen on her face. Crap, she saw and heard all of it, didn't she?

I push through Kain and Sayori and walk up to her and give her a hug. "I'm sorry, Monika" I whisper to her. Monika just shakes her head and hugs me back. That's when Kain and Sayori join us, with a hand on each of our shoulders. I guess I should thank them all, really, for bringing myself and Monika closer together. "Thank you. Both of you. And I'm sorry. Neither of you deserved that" I finally say to Kain and Sayori.

Kain just shakes his head and pats my shoulder. "You both deserve a win." He says to me. And then we're all distracted by a massive splash of water hitting the living room window, and two girls screaming. "What the hell are they doing?" Kain asks, as he heads to the door. I can't help but be curious, myself, and I head outside with Kain, only to find Mickey and Alisteir cowering behind Mickey's car, while Natsuki and Yuri waiting for their opportunity to attack. It's all in good fun of course, as they're all laughing.

"Okay, I get that this started as cleaning the car for a day out. Who initiated the water fight?" I ask the four of them, out loud, but the question I have in my head is what happened to Sayori? That can't be good.

"Mickey started it" Yuri said, pointing at the raven-haired man, who looks, accusingly, at Yuri. So, do Alisteir and Natsuki, actually. That's when Yuri looks down with a red face, playing with her hair. "I… may have dared him first, but I didn't expect anyone to follow through."

I have to laugh. Partly because Yuri doesn't really know my friends all that well, but mostly because I've spotted Sayori, with silver bucket in hand, sneaking up behind Mickey and Alisteir. "Yuri, I'm going to give you a piece of advice; never, under any circumstances, dare Mickey to do anything. He will follow through with it. Within reason, of course." As I look around to Mickey and Alisteir, they seem to be not looking at Yuri. Bit rude, honestly. To be honest, neither are Natsuki, Kain and Monika, who's laughing. Why? Oh. "Hey, Yuri…. Today was a bad day, to wear a white top."

Yuri looks down and chuckles. Her shirt is soaking wet, and her purple bra is showing through. "Oh, right. I guess I should change." She says, completely unphased by that. And yet, her suggesting that Mickey spray her as a joke is embarrassing? Yuri looks around "What? It's just my boobs." She says, almost as carefree as Sayori would. It's clear that being among us is influencing her. Speaking of Sayori…

"AHH!" I hear, right on cue, from Mickey. Along with water and something solid hitting the car and the driveway. I turn to see Sayori has poured water and ice cubes all over Mickey. Oh, she can be so cruel, in the most hilarious. "Sayori!" He yells, while my neighbour runs away laughing way more than she probably should."

"It was probably for the best that Sayori did that, Mickey." Monika pipes up, smiling at my friend, who now resembles a drowned heavy metal rat. "Afterall, you look like you needed to cool off, after seeing more of Yuri than you thought you would." She adds, barely containing her laughter. Which makes the joke even funnier, honestly.

As the laughter dies down, Alisteir claps his hands together. "Alright, folks, here's the plan. The six of us aren't going to fit in my car, so, Mickey is going to get his bike from the back. Once we've changed, we'll go shopping." Is the scenario he lays out. He makes his way over to me, as everyone passes by to get changed, Alisteir cleans his glasses and stops beside me. "Meanwhile, you and Monika are going to talk things out, here at home, okay?"

I nod at Alisteir. "Thank you." Is all I can say to him. I leave them to do what they need to, while I finally pour coffee for Monika and myself. She looks happy. I know I am. Natsuki comes down first, wearing a totally different outfit, walking over to me. By contrast, Natsuki doesn't look happy. She's not angry, either. In fact, she looks sad. "Is everything alright, Nat-oh!"

She just wrapped her arms around me, tightly and started crying. That's a little out of the blue. That's very out of the blue, in fact. "You, and friends… You're not… going to leave us. Are you?" she asks me between stifled sobs. And here I was thinking it was just Yuri that was different, but it looks like being around so many different people has brought Natsuki out of her shell, too.

That aside, how am I supposed to answer a loaded question, like that? I look to Monika for an answer, and even she's clueless. I hug Natsuki back and do the only thing I can do; blether until I get something that sounds right. Natsuki's not aware this is a game. So, I must choose my words carefully. "Yes, and no. We'll all move on with our lives, as we grow and progress. But Natsuki, that won't be for a few years yet. Maybe a decade from now."

She looks up at me with half a smile, but she still has the saddest eyes I've seen on her face. I don't really know what else I can say to that. Mickey steps out of the bathroom and walks up to us. "I'm sorry, I overheard what you were saying. May I?" I smile at Mickey, and gesture for him to take this conversation over. "The important thing to take away from what Leyon is trying to say is, no matter how far apart life takes us, we'll always have each other's backs. We'll always be best friends. That's a promise. Right gang?"

I look around and see everyone is here. Not sure how I didn't hear, or even see them all standing around. Natsuki finally notices them and, finally, moves to hug Mickey. Then, one by one, she moved around the group and hugged them. "I'm sorry." Natsuki finally pipes up again. "It's just that, Sayori and me were talking and we both thought you might all be leaving us."

Sayori nods, solemnly and looks down at the ground. Alisteir puts an arm around her and winks, which cheers her up a little bit. "Girls, you don't need to worry. None of us are going anywhere. Right, gents? We can make that promise, can't we?" One by one, the girls' eyes light up.

I smile and walk over to Monika, wrapping my left arm around my back. I'm smiling and agreeing that we can make that promise, but… can we? I want to. I like it here, with my friends. My brothers from different mothers. Monika. Yeah. I've made up my mind. I've already sold my soul to the girls of this game. I can give up my body in the real world, to be happy here, too.

"Right, gang, enough sadness. We've got shopping to do!" Kain pipes up, while walking over to the door. One by one, the gang all excitedly shuffle out the door. The rumble of Mickey's bike, a Harley-Davidson, along with Alisteir's car fills the quiet air, before the distinct noises of the two vehicles fade away

I turn to Monika and take her hand, leading her to the sofa. We sit down together, and she wraps her arms, loosely, around my neck. "Leyon?"