Me: I doesn't say if Ryou has any siblings-
Also me: It doesn't say he doesn't have siblings either! Give him a sibling!
Also not me listening to every slow version of "Can't help falling in love." on youtube while writing this chapter out.
Gaspard sat next to Ovan in a grassy field. Absentmindedly Gaspard plucked a flower. "-He saved me from PKers in a field just like this." Gaspard told Ovan as he twirled the flower in his fingers. "...Mister? Have you lost someone to doll syndrome?"
"I have." Ovan nodded to Gaspard as he said this.
"You know how I feel then?"
"I do."
"So… you understand why I wanted to do it then? Why I wanted to PK Sakaki?"
"Hm." Ovan hummed as he crossed one leg over the other. He seemed to sit on Gaspard's words for a moment or two. "I do, however, I need to ask you something now. Would Haseo, or better yet, Silabus, agree with it?"
Gaspard scrunched his nose up. "...No. Haseo would have told me to stay out of it and Silabus…" Gaspard bit his wobbling lip. In real life, Kouta's lip was already starting to scab over from how many times he bit it already. "Silabus hates PKs. He hates them with a passion. He would be so disappointed in me…" Gaspard whimpered. "But Silabus isn't here! He isn't here and it's Sakaki's fault! I mean, you must have seen it! Sakaki was happy he PK'd Silabus! He only did it be-because he doesn't li-like Haseo…"
Ovan put a hand on Gaspard's shoulder. "You should really leave the revenge to Haseo. Trust me, Haseo isn't going to let Sakaki get away with what he's done."
"But… I feel like I have to do something."
"...Hm. I'm going to play out a scenario for you. Okay?" Ovan suddenly said making Gaspard look at him with big eyes.
Ovan shifted so he was in front of Gaspard now. "Let's say I never stopped you in Lumina Cloth." He told Gaspard. "You do it. You attack Sakaki in your anger. You're clearly shaking, but you do it. Because of your high level, impressive by the way, you one-shot Sakaki. You PK him and you think 'Justice for my friend.' while Sakaki lays there. All is well. You got your revenge. Right?"
Gaspard resisted the urge to nod. That's exactly how he saw it going in his mind. Ovan smiled at him, it's a rueful little smile that made Gaspard frown.
"Well, what you don't see is that Sakaki has special privileges that CC. Corp has given him. This includes, but isn't limited to PC deletion. You got your revenge. But at a price. You would no longer be able to enjoy The World because Sakaki deleted your PC out of revenge and blocked your IP address from ever making a new character."
"...An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…" Gaspard whispered as he looked down at the grass in front of him. Horrified at what almost happened.
"Yes it does indeed. Now, let me ask-" Ovan used his finger to tilt Gaspard's head up so Gaspard would look at him. "Would you PKing Sakaki solve anything?"
"...No. It wouldn't have solved a thing."
"Then, I'd say it's not worth pursing any farther. Let Haseo handle things from here. Besides, I don't think he'd be too happy about losing you on top of Silabus. Plus, when Silabus does come back I'm sure he'd want to hug his best friend and he can't do that if you're not here."
"...I… thank you…"
"Of course, and Gaspard?"
"Hm?"
Ovan put a finger to his lips. "Let's keep this conversation between us, yeah? I don't think Haseo would be too thrilled to learn that you tried to PK somebody."
Ryou returned home around ten AM on Sunday.
"Welcome home, sweetie." Ryou's mother kissed him on the cheek as the two of them met in the kitchen. "How was Sendai?"
"It was okay." He hummed as he kicked his shoes off so he could put slippers on. He then walked over to his little brother who was eating breakfast.
"That's twice now you went off to Sendai. I think that's the most you've ever left your bedroom." His sixteen year old brother, Toga, commented rather snarkily.
Toga Misaki was only a year younger than Ryou. Despite the fact that the both of them had matching hair and eyes, almost being mistaken for twins at times when they were younger. As they got older they started to look different and behave different as well. Toga was now muscular where as Ryou was skinny. Toga's hair was just a shade darker than Ryou's. Toga enjoyed going out and playing baseball where as Ryou… well it was pretty obvious what Ryou enjoyed.
"Yeah, well, not all of us like baseball, Toga." Ryou shot back as walked over towards the cabinet to get him a bowl. "By the way, where's dad?" He then turned to his mother.
"Got called into a work emergency."
"Ah." Ryou reached into the pantry for the cereal.
There was a bit of silence as Ryou made himself a bowl of cereal. Once his cereal was completed he walked over and sat next to his brother. His little brother had a smirk on his face and Ryou was sure he, Toga, waited for him to take his first bite before he spoke. "So, are you going to tell us who this person you've been seeing is?"
Ryou narrowed his eyes. "No. I don't think I will." Ryou huffed in his response before he took another bite. Toga only scoffed.
"Is it Silabus?"
Ryou glared at his brother. "You-" a snarl played on his mouth as he looked at his brothers smug face. God, he's had enough of smug assholes as of late. "It's none of your business." He hissed and started to eat at a faster rate just to get away from his brother.
"Oh, please. I knew the moment I heard you screaming his name that you were going to go and see him."
"Fuck off! You don't know what you're talking aboutQ" Ryou slammed his fist down on the table to make this point. His voice turned low and deadly.
"Ryou! You know I don't like you using that language!" His mother responded next. "But now I'm curious. Who is Silabus?"
Ryou immediately turned to glare daggers at his brother. He shook his head as if to telepathically tell Toga: 'Don't you dare.'
His brother caught on to this and only smirked. "A friend he met in The World. Though it sounds like he might be more than a-" Toga never got to finish because Ryou stood up, his chair clattering on the ground. His shoulders were tensed and his fists balled by his side.
"Keep talking!" Ryou roared as he grabbed Toga by his shirt.
"Mom- Mom!" Toga scrambled in his chair. All those muscles were clearly just for show. Doesn't matter how many muscles you have, when big brother stands up, ready to beat your ass, the fear eliminates any strength you may or may not have.
"That's enough you two-" Ms. Misaki came over and grabbed both Ryou and Toga by their ears. "Toga, stop instigating your brother. Ryou, you know he's only doing it to get a rise out of you."
Both boys only groaned in response to their mother. "Now-" She let go of their ears and turned to Ryou. "Should I be concerned about you meeting someone from online. Do you know how dangerous that is, Ryou? I was okay with Shino because you could verify just who she was. But this person…" His mother looked at him and Ryou and sighed before sitting down his chair in a huff.
"He's who he says he is. In fact, he's younger than Shino by a year. So, you have nothing to be worried about, mom. Beside's I've seen him twice already."
"But… why would you want to see him when he lives so far away?"
"Isn't it obvious? Ryou wuvs him!" Toga made a kissy face towards Ryou. Ryou couldn't stop himself from blushing.
"N-No I don't!" he stood up again, ready to actually punch his brother into next week this time, but his mother pushed him down. "He's just a friend!"
"The screams of 'I need you!' That I heard all those weeks back tell a different story!" Toga hopped in his seat so his feet were on the padding of the chair. He was getting ready to bolt if need be, no doubt.
Ryou felt a little more than pissed at this point. That's twice someone mocked him for what he said to Silabus right before Silabus became a lost one and it was just infuriating. "It's not like that! I said that because he fell into a coma right in front of me! That's the third person who I held in my arms who fell into a coma!-" Ryou stood only to be held back by his mother.
"Toga, go to your room! I'll talk to you later." Their mother hissed before ushering Toga away with a wave of her hand. "You, sit." She pushed Ryou back down into his chair while Toga scampered away.
His mother sighed as she grabbed Toga's bowl and put it in the sink before she took a seat across from Ryou. Neither spoke until Toga's bedroom door shut. She then interlocked her fingers on top of the table as she looked at Ryou. "... Do you want to talk about it?" She asked innocently.
"What's there to talk about, mom?" Ryou waved his mother off with an eyeroll. "I said what I said. I watched another friend fall victim to doll syndrome. So, I've been visiting him in the hospital. I feel it's the least I can do…"
"I see…that must have been horrific."
"It wasn't fun holding him in my arms watching him vanish."
"... are you sure you want to keep playing that game?"
"I do. Because someone has to wake the comatose up, and dammit, it might as well be me at this point." Ryou put his hands on his hips as he stared at his mother. His mother gave him a sad little smile.
"So… Silabus. What's he like? Anything like Shino?"
"... he's great…" Ryou slowly lowered his head so he resting his head on his arms now. He then pushed his bowl of cereal away from him. "I miss him the way I miss Shino-"
'Why do I feel like I miss him more?'
"You'd like him." Ryou smiled lazily at her.
His mother returned his smile. "Well, maybe one day, you'll invite him to dinner. He must be something special if you keep going back and fourth between here and Sendai to see him."
Ryou didn't know why he blushed. But he did. The idea of Yuuichi meeting his family was both crazy and… so domestic at the same time. Would Yuuichi even agree to such a thing?
It was a thought that lingered with Ryou as he finished up his breakfast in peace. He washed his bowl and let it dry on the counter before he decided to retreat to his room for the day and get lost in The World. He was already thinking of his next match with Antares coming up and how he should take Kuhn and Atoli out training again when he saw Toga standing by his bedroom door.
"Tch." Ryou huffed at his younger brother. "What do you want now?" He inquired as he pushed past his brother and went into his bedroom. Ryou shucked his backpack off on to his bed.
"Look… I didn't know. I'm sorry." It was obvious he was talking about Silabus.
"Well, just think before you speak, yeah?"
"..." Toga was chewing on the inside of his cheek as he thought about what he wanted to say next. "You know… if you do actually like this guy… I don't care right?"
Ryou paused before twisting his head to look at his brother. "What?" his eyes narrowed.
"If you like this guy-"
"Of course I like him. Why else would I go and see him, he's someone I consider an actual friend."
Toga made a sound like he was suppressing his laughter, but failing greatly at it. "Okay, Ryou." He then giggled before walking back towards his room.
"Hey! What's that mean!?" Ryou's demand fell on deaf ears as Toga vanished into his bedroom. "Yeah, well… you're adopted!" He huffed in a lame attempt at retaliation before snapping his own bedroom door shut.
God his brother was weird.
Grabbing his headset and controller out of his bag. Ryou sat at his desk to plug his stuff in to charge. "I gotta finish homework up first, then I'll log in later…"
His next battle was against Antares. Haseo didn't want to fight the old man, but Antares was stubborn, maybe even more stubborn than Haseo himself. So, the fight was forced to continue on, much to Haseo's annoyance.
"Dammit, Antares!" Haseo snarled as his twin blades clashed against Antares's sword. The two of them at a stand still for a few moments as they both put pressure behind their blades to try and get the other to back down.
Antares laughed at this like it was all some big joke. "You're going to have to do better than that, kid!" before he pushed Haseo's arms back with a force that Haseo just wasn't expecting. Haseo stumbled back in surprise and had no time when one of Antares's teammates rushed him with a skill attack.
"Hangeki! Thornshot!" Kuhn called out blocking Haseo from the attack with his own counter attack.
"Thanks, Kuhn!" Haseo called back to his friend before using his own skill on the same player. "Lotus Flower!" Haseo did this for two reasons. The first reason was to quickly switch his weapon to a scythe so he could have a longer range against Antares, the second reason was to take the last of the players health.
'That's two down.' Haseo noted as he charged at Antares. Antares ran at Haseo all the same. With a battle cry, Haseo held his scythe down allowing it to power up. Antares raised his sword, ready to strike and Haseo swung his scythe into a violent circle. His little plan worked and he successfully trapped Antares between his spinning circle and the barrier.
Several cries of surprise left Antares's mouth as he was hit again, and again, and again. Eventually the circle faded and Antares fell to the ground. Haseo took this moment to finish Antares off with a skill.
"Lotus Flower!" Haseo yelled as he used his skill to sling Antares up into the air and hit him one final time, knocking the last of Antares's HP down to zero.
"Ha…" Antares stayed on his knees as he cradled on of his sides. "Good job, kid." He actually laughed a shaky little laugh.
"Antares…" Haseo breathed out as he put his weapon away.
"That little move with the circular attack and the barrier? Genius…"
"You weren't half-bad yourself, old man." Haseo couldn't help but smile.
An angry huff made Haseo jerk his head up towards Sakaki. "So… you won. How… fortunate or should I say how convenient?"
"Excuse me?!" Haseo snarled at Sakaki. 'Come down here! I'll tear you to peices!' Oh, how Haseo was itching to put Sakaki in the ground.
"Are you implying that I would throw the match!?" Antares barked back at Sakaki just the same as Haseo. "That our match was dishonorable?!"
"Everybody!" Sakaki suddenly roared out to the crowd catching everybody's attention with a single word. "It's not exactly a secret that Antares and Haseo are master and student! I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm under the strict impression that Antares threw the match so Haseo could advance in the finals!"
The booing from the crowd was loud and scornful, filled with malice and hatred. It was like nothing Haseo has ever heard before now. It was more than enough to get Atoli to double over, grabbing on to her ears as AIDA's influence grew and grew by the second.
"In fact, I have even more evidence proving that Haseo has been cheating this whole time! He cheated in both the demon palace and holy palace tournament alike!"
"Oh yeah?! Where's your proof!" Kuhn flat out demanded as he took a step towards Sakaki.
"Heh. I'd thought you'd never ask…" Sakaki grinned like the cat that caught the canary as he gestured towards the screen nearest him.
The Serpent of lore started up. A video slowly, painstakingly slow, loaded in for the world to see.
Haseo, Kuhn, Atoli, and Antares could only watch and do nothing as Sakaki revealed to The World as Haseo summoned Skeith against Bordeaux (which didn't help things with his line of "Say goodbye!" before attacking her and her team), then it showed him using Skeith against Alkaid just the same.
He thought the crowd was angry and blood hungry before, now they were furious once the videos ended.
"What is that-that monster!?"
"He's been cheating this whole time!?"
"Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!" The whole crowd was chanting this word like it was a mantra. Haseo was sure if they had food they'd probably be throwing it by now. Their fury and anger unmatched by anything Haseo ever witnessed as they turned on him and his teammates alike.
Atoli let out a cry. "It's so loud!" As she tried her hardest to plug her ears, to block the noise AIDA was making to the best of her abilities. "Their anger… it's everywhere!"
"Sakaki! You're meddling in things you have no business-!" Antares tried to defend them. He tried.
"That's enough out of the losing team!" With a wave of his arm, Sakaki warped Antares out of the arena.
"Sakaki!" Haseo growled between clenched teeth, but it seemed Sakaki wasn't done.
"Everyone!" With a cry out to the audience; Sakaki caused a hush to fall over the crowd. "I'm just as outraged as the rest of you! Which is why I find it fair to banish Haseo from the sage tournament and take back his previous wins as well!" Sakaki called to the crowd, forming a lynch mob at this point with the other players. It was working. Everyone cheered at the idea and Haseo tensed.
'It can't end like this!' Was the thought he had as the crowd roared in agreement with Sakaki. Atoli was almost on her knees. Haseo was sure if it weren't for Kuhn help keep her on her feet she might have collapsed.
"Wait a minute!" Came a familiar yell making everyone turn to see Taihaku.
"Taihaku!" Haseo gasped at the surprising intrusion from the Sage palace emperor himself. He wasn't alone either. "Endrance, and Saku! What are you guys doing here?!"
Taihaku walked up to Haseo as the two looked at one another for a moment, Haseo just couldn't read what Taihaku's intention was. The man turned to Sakaki after only a second or two. "I have to agree, what Haseo did was dishonorable, however I want to prove that hacked PC or no I can still beat him. I say, let him continue in the sage palace. However; I trust he won't use that thing during the rest of his time competing?" Taihaku turned to Haseo as he asked this.
"..." Haseo felt himself look Taihaku up and down for a moment before nodding. "I won't."
"Tch… very well. I guess it would be boring to just kick Haseo out." Sakaki grumbled as he put his hands on his hips.
Haseo turned to Endrance and Saku. He got ready to repeat the question he asked just moments before, but Endrance turned to Haseo. There was something blank about Endrance's face. Haseo didn't like it, he didn't like how weird Endrance has been these last couple of weeks. "Endrance?" Haseo reached out towards his friend in question.
"I'm sorry-" Endrance took a step away. "But I've decided to side with Taihaku for this competition."
"What?!" Haseo breathed out. Unable to hide his shock.
"How could you even think to side with them! They're who we're fighting!" Kuhn yelled next to Endrance.
"I'm sorry…" Endrance turned away from Haseo at that moment. Turning his back to him. "But this is something I've decided to do. I am my own person, after all."
"Yeah! Master En doesn't need you, Haseo!" Saku snarked back almost immediately while pointing and laughing.
"But… why?" The heart break was apparent in Haseo's voice and he just couldn't bring himself to hide it. "I don't understand…"
"...Goodbye, Haseo." Endrance finally said before warping away, Saku not too far behind him.
"Ha…" Haseo breathed out a shaky breath as everything seemed to just strike him at once. He couldn't help but think 'That's two blade brandiers I lost because of Sakaki.' At that very moment.
Haseo just needed some time alone. To think about everything that's happened. Yet, the moment he dismissed Kuhn and Atoli from his party he was surprised by a shortmail from Gaspard springing up in his face.
Can we talk? I'll be in Canard.
"Gaspard… did you see the fight?..." Was the thought Haseo, unfortunately, had.
The idea of having to explain that he wasn't cheating to Gaspard didn't sound like a fun one. Yet, it was overshadowed with a strange feeling. A feeling of happiness. This was the first time Gaspard reached out to him since he learned of Silabus's downfall.
Haseo just couldn't say no to this opportunity. He feared if he did then he'd never get a chance to talk to Gaspard again.
So, off to Breg Epona Haseo went. His whole walk to Canard was filled with silence as he ignored the other players glaring daggers at him. Some even going as far as to flat out curse at him as he passed, while others just decided to keep their distance. He didn't care about any of them. He only had Canard and Gaspard on his mind. He wondered what Gaspard wanted to talk about, but had a pretty good guess in his mind.
Eventually, he trekked his way to the guilds in the back of Breg Epona and he walked into the Canard.
There he saw Gaspard sitting on one of the couches. He was sitting with his back against the arm rest while his tiny legs were up against his chest. Haseo noted how Gaspard's head was constantly dipping up and down. He'd constantly shake his head to try and wake himself up only to eventually have his head fall down again. 'When's the last time he properly slept in these last two weeks?"
Haseo walked up to the couch and sat down so he was across from Gaspard. "Hey." He greeted his friend while giving him a small shake.
Gaspard perked sleepily. "Oh, you came! I'm happy!" Gaspard sleepily spoke to Haseo while throwing an arm up in mock celebration.
"You came… I'm so happy!" Silabus had cheered as Haseo held on to him.
"Yeah, well, you called me. I'd be a crap Guildmaster if I didn't come." Haseo responded as he looked down at his feet. He didn't hear Gaspard move, but he did feel Gaspard's weight suddenly on his shoulder as the beast now felt it necessary to lean against Haseo's shoulder for support. Under normal circumstances Haseo would have pushed Gaspard off him, he, Haseo, never liked physical touch too much… but this wasn't a normal circumstance. So, he allowed Gaspard to stay.
"..."
"..."
"I almost did something bad." Gaspard whispered suddenly making Haseo look at him.
"Oh?... Do you want to talk about it?"
"... Not really…" Gaspard admitted with a sigh as he now looked down at his large hands. "I just wanted to ask… did it ever get better for you? With… Shino?"
Haseo felt himself relax. 'So, that's what this is about.'
"Honestly?... No."
"Oh."
"However… I've recently come to learn that…" Haseo sighed as he thought about how to say this. "It does get easier. If that makes any sense. I learned that I can't do everything myself, as much as I'd love to, but leaning on people for help and support helps makes things like grief and mourning a little easier. It will never get better, not until those affected wake up… but it will get easier."
Gaspard thought on Haseo's words for a moment. Then, Haseo felt Gaspard's arms snake around his left arm as the beast held on to him for dear life. Gaspard then sniffled and rubbed face against Haseo's arm. "I miss him so much…" he whimpered suddenly.
"I know. I do too." Haseo whispered weakly as he reached over and pulled Gaspard in comfortingly.
"Haseo?"
"Hm?"
"... I think I'm going to go back to the shop. It's what Silabus would want me to do. Right?"
"Is it what you want to do? I mean, you have to know that there's still PKing allowed in towns, right?"
"...Yeah. Besides, I don't think the PKers will touch me…" Gaspard yawned suddenly as his eyes drooped sleepily. Haseo raised an eyebrow at that.
'He's a prime target for PKers.' He thought a little skeptical at Gaspard's claim. But before he could ask Gaspard what he meant. Gaspard spoke.
"...Not at the level I'm at anyways…" Was the last thing he said before falling asleep against Haseo.
"The level you're at? Last I checked you were only 92." So, like any concerned guildmaster would do. Haseo checked Gaspard's current level-
Name: Gaspard
Class: Shadow warlock
LVL:150
Haseo decided then and there he just…didn't want to know.
I know not everything is said in tatum with the game. I took some liberties with what's said just keep the story moving. If I copy and pasted everything Sakaki inserted himself into, I feel like this chapter alone would be miles long. ^.^
