Monster Lineup

Ganrougel- Giroro

Kurse- Keroro

Krueger- Kururu

Taiki- Tamama

Aldmora- Dororo

Molioke- Mois

Natsumi felt her heart stutter for a moment as she watched his expression. The way his eyes couldn't stay on her or the shivers in his shoulders and hands. She wanted to settle his worries more than anything but there stood a part of her that remembered his dark past and knew he could be about to admit to almost anything. Natsumi took a breath to quell the doubt. She knew it served her well all of her life but she didn't need it with Ganrougel anymore. She knew she had complete trust for him. "If I have to remind you that I won't fear anything you could ever do or have ever done then I will. I'd come over and hug you if I could to prove it but you're the one setting the boundary rules. Don't worry about my opinion kay? I know you do things for actually really good reasons."

Ganrougel listened to her words, letting them sink into his heart. With a staggering breath his shoulders sank down and he let his words just fall, unfiltered or thought through. "The bull is dead, in Aldmora's dimension. He's still there rotting in pieces. I couldn't stop myself when he pushed you so far to trap yourself in here. At some point… I stopped thinking as I ripped into him but I can remember feeling just how he tore apart. The blood around me… I was so angry and I just ripped into him without restraint."

Natsumi sat in silence waiting to see if he continued. The images of her imagination feeling too vivid for comfort and a subtle shiver shot through her body.

Ganrougel stared at the space between them, afraid to look to her. His voice became a whisper scratching in his throat. "You tried so hard to help me… to remind me I didn't have to be that monster anymore but… I lost-I failed you and…. I don't want to be that ever again."

Natsumi felt herself breaking just slightly at the sight. Not from what he said but more from what it did to him. She wasn't even sure what she could say to help but knew he was killing himself over what she thought and felt. "I understand. I hope you remember, it had to be done anyway. I want you to recognize how even around that one moment, you're so much better than you were. I'm so proud of you."

Ganrougel snapped his eyes to hers. Proud? She's proud of me? "How can you be so fine with me being able to do that so easily to someone even if it was him?"

"I'm not exactly fine but it's because I know you that I'm not freaking out." Natsumi replied. "I hate that you had to be in that situation at all. He pushed you too far, anyone would have either done the same or ended up dead. You didn't really have a choice-"

"It's not that I killed him it's the way I-!" Ganrougel choked on his words. "The way I couldn't seem to stop myself. I let myself get too far into it… it almost felt so good."

"And here you sit regretting it." Natsumi sat up straight. "I'm not trying to overlook or down play how you feel or that you had to...you know. I just also see that you're trying really hard not to go that far and you never do unless you're practically forced to. You're not running off diving back into a world of stalk, murder, rinse and repeat. So yes I'm proud of you and I trust you."

Natsumi had to force her smile as if trying to pull the mood up; to lift him from his darkness. "You should know better than anyone that I don't trust just anyone. So please stop with it already. We all lose ourselves at some point. You're not some horrible monster eating kids or burning families. You're my monster got it?"

Ganrougel felt tears burning down his cheeks before he could stop them. He let his cry turn into a warped laughter. "You're right. I'm sorry I forgot that."

"I forgive you for being an idiot. I bet you spent this whole time moping around huh?" Natsumi let her smile rest naturally, finding it easier now. "Now tell me what else has been going on please. I'm dying of boredom in here."

"I'm sorry I couldn't figure out how to talk to you sooner. You wouldn't have had to spend the whole year alone." Ganrougel stifled his tears as much as he could.

"Wait A FREAKING YEAR?!" Natsumi leaned as far forward as she could. "I didn't know it was that long. I thought it had only been a few months maybe five at the most."

Ganrougel sank into himself feeling the guilt once again. "Sorry."

"Now you really owe me info. Spill it! Tell me everything I've missed." Natsumi crossed her arms.

"Of course. Um well, your grandma and Fuyuki are down in the basement with you all the time researching magic theories and such. Oh my brother just had two daughters. They were just born so you're not actually late to the party on that." Ganrougel gave a small smirk.

"Oh my gosh! You're an uncle. That's so cute! I can't wait to see them." Natsumi was excited before a sudden reminder settled her down to a sad smile. Ganrougel waited to see if she wanted to talk about it. He was more than ready to wait forever to actually bring it up. She forced a laugh before moving on. "You said Fuyuki's down here all the time? He's not falling behind on his school work is he?"

"I haven't heard Aki complain about his grades so I think he's doing fine." Ganrougel explained.

"Who's cooking all the food? Fuyuki sucks at cooking so I'm worried if he's feeding himself." Natsumi joked.

"Kurse has done the cooking and cleaning. Don't worry." Ganrougel chuckled.

"How's Koyuki and Aldmora?" Natsumi asked.

"They're just fine. They still live peacefully in that little house in the woods." Ganrougel sat up with his arms resting on his knees feeling the conversation settling in a much lighter round of topics. "Aldmora's even changed a bit. He's more confident in himself and Koyuki's finally pulled him from his past enough that he's started getting his own mouth back."

"Awesome. I'm happy for them." Natsumi leaned back with her hands and arms propping her up from behind. "How about Molioke?"

"Still with Krueger. He returned her magic to her after they brought you home so she's just as chipper and sparkly as ever. I don't know what they're really up to lately but he's not teasing everyone as much as he used to. Sometimes he'll come by with some books for Fuyuki on magic." Ganrougel answered.

"Alright tell me what you've been doing all this year?"

"Nothing really. I usually just sit somewhere for a really long time. I help sometimes but… I haven't been lucid most of the year. I didn't feel time passing myself until the other day when Fuyuki mentioned it was almost December." Ganrougel replied almost wanting to fill it with lies about being more useful or not drowning in depression. "Although today I guess I saved someone from being attacked so… there's that."

"Oh?" Natsumi tried not to frown too much at hearing of him spending all of his time so down and worried about her. She was eager to hear about his recent story though in hopes to gloss over the rest of his dark year.

"It was strange too. Not the attack itself but, I had my bone blades back for the first time since the bull. After we all came back and Molioke sent all three souls back to the stars, my body changed completely back to my old human form; to how I looked before I died." Ganrougel continued.

"Really? I thought maybe you just looked like that here, like something about the crystal or whatnot." Natsumi glanced over his features.

"Yeah but I thought I had lost all of my abilities before today. I was even tired and hungry the other day after I actively tried to talk to you. My antlers even showed a little after I tried to summon my blades when I got back. I had thought that my reverting back to my old self meant I was done needing my supernatural abilities and transformations."

"Except you can't be made un-dead. Un-deered maybe but changing back to completely normal is too far fetched. You should have expected nothing different." Natsumi waved the air with her response.

"But I don't need them anymore. I killed the bull. My revenge is done." Ganrougel tried to ignore the insult he felt to his intelligence.

"If you think about it you had marks on people who had nothing to do with the bull. Maybe you didn't really have them just for revenge but to defeat all bad people. You spent all those years hunting down betrayers and saving others from coming even close to what you had to endure. Even today you saved someone right?" Natsumi giggled.

"Are you suggesting I became some sort of monstrous hero?" Ganrougel winced at the idea of him in super hero tropes such as exaggerated poses and stupid one liners.

"I think it's a good way to look at everything." Natsumi stuck her tongue out with a wink. "Maybe worth considering if you still have your abilities and don't want to sit in the corner forever 'till I get out. Come on do something for yourself."

"I really don't feel like I deserve anything for myself yet let alone some redemption and heroism." Ganrougel sighed with honesty.

"Fine." Natsumi crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in annoyance before giggling and blushing softly. "Do it for me then."

Ganrougel smirked. "I would do anything for you, you know that."

"I entirely knew this. But honestly I want you to feel happy with yourself and this might be the way to do that." Natsumi grinned.

"I do like the idea of protecting more than hurting." Ganrougel admitted.

Natsumi sighed before laying down on her back, her arms tucked under her head. "Tell everyone I miss them will you?"

"Of course. They all miss you too." Ganrougel nodded. His eyes closed a few times before he realized he was falling to his side. He caught himself on one arm and looked around. He saw the basement walls surrounding him and the crystal just an inch before him. "Crap. When did I fall asleep? I guess I ran out of energy again. I feel so drained."

He stood up taking care of the magic on the floor. With one last gentle caress to the crystal he walked back to the wall and sat in his chair. I'll come back soon ok? Just a small nap.

I always seem to write when I have really bad fit of depression. Thanks for coming back to read again. I love hearing from you guys and I miss fanfiction in my time away. I don't know how much longer I'll be here this time around, I do need to get back to work on my webtoon and art so possibly not long.

I wish you all the best in life