Disclaimer and Warning: See Prologue

A/N: Alright, Seven Knights mania, girls, boys, whoever loves this game and has interest in Rudy/Kris pairing or Dellons/Kris or Spike/Jave (yep, already plotting other pairings too), here's Round 1 of this fic. I warn you that nothing major happens (yet) in this fic because it deals more with how Kris adjusts to his (new) life as an ordinary human in ordinary world (no monster, magic and dragon, really). I promise neither tricky nor shocking revelation at all (you have my word) and whoever can guess 'the gift' I'm talking about in the title will be rewarded with a one-shot of this series with any pairing they like. So, without further ado, please… enjoy!


A Gift from A Far Away World—a Seven Knights Fanfiction

© lunaryu

Round 1: Living an Ordinary Life with Ordinary People


Kris opened his room door and stopped dead in his track as he was immediately faced with a knuckled fist. His first instinct was to catch the hand and deliver a counter attack of the ambush, but before he could react accordingly, the fist stopped, followed by a- "Whoops!" a surprised yelp. "That was close." The hand was immediately retracted, revealing—

"Jave?" Kris recognized the purple haired guy instantly. Even though he looked younger and his hair was distinctly longer than the Jave from his original world—here, it reached his shoulder, while there it only reached his lower neck—, those enticing amber eyes were the same as always.

Kris noted that Jave's eye color looked almost the same as Rudy's, but in closer inspection, it was a shade lighter, almost dark yellow, more like the color of honey. In his original world, Jave was considered cute rather than handsome, appearance and nature wise. He was almost as tall as Kris, only 1 cm shorter, and coincidentally, he was also the youngest of the Seven nights. Here, with his even younger look, he was even cuter.

"Sorry about that, Kris. I was about to wake you up if you were still in bed," Jave said, smiling sheepishly.

Original Jave's personality was probably as friendly as Rudy's even though he hated human at first. Rumor said he was abandoned by his human parents in the land of Dragon Ruins when he was still a baby and then raised by the dragon guardians, so Jave didn't exactly consider himself human initially; didn't even know that other humans exists outside his land, until he was 6 or 7. He met a traveler from another province and then out of curiosity followed him into a human village once. However, it seemed that he was shunned by the villagers because of his strange clothes and his supernatural power (he could talk to animals and influence nature to do his bidding). Jave was hurt deeply by their rejection, hence his hostility and avoidance towards other human beings in general after that. Later though, after he got the dragon egg and hatched Red from it, then met the other Seven Knights and became the knight himself, he became warmer to them, especially to Spike and Rudy. As far as Kris knew, Spike and Jave were best friends if the story that Jave stopping Spike from being an Ice Berserker was true.

Kris hoped this Jave weren't much different from the original Jave. Kris wasn't ready to talk to him if he was. He would blow his secret as not this world Kris right away if he acted differently to this Jave after all.

"No problem," Kris spoke as clearly as possible, but not too loud. He controlled his expression to be indifferent, but not dismissive. Jave was his friend. He had to be used to his presence if they lived in the same building.

"It's your turn to make breakfast after all," Jave's smile widened slightly as he offered Kris an apron, which was frilly, in pink color and –were those laces at the back side?

"What." Kris deadpanned, looking at the offending piece of clothing in his hand blankly.

Jave snorted lightly before he clasped his mouth shut with his hand, apparently trying to suppress his laughter seeing Kris' incredulous reaction. "Sorry, Kris. The other aprons are unavailable due to Dellons' prank yesterday. They are all still in laundry." He patted one of Kris shoulders in sympathy.

Dellons. Hearing his name made Kris' left eye twitch in annoyance. Why wasn't he surprised that the guy was an ass even in this world? Kris took a deep breath and counted to ten to calm his temper. He had to. He couldn't just curse the bastard out loud in front of Jave. It wouldn't be like this world Kris. Kris in this world was quieter and more reserved, maybe.

"I'd rather cook without this." Kris huffed and folded the apron before giving it back to Jave. Then he started walking to the kitchen slash dining room to do just that.

Kris… cooking? He had never cooked in his entire life before. But apparently, he could in this world. He had to rely on his body memory for this (and everything else). If he blew up breakfast, he could always blame it on the lack of sleep due to finishing his home work the night before.

"Your jumper will get dirty," Jave followed him after he rested the apron on his arm.

"I'll just change clothes if that happens," Kris responded and Jave paused slightly, which earned him Kris' attention. "What?" He raised one of his eyebrows.

"No… well, I'm just glad," Jave said, scratching his cheek as he resumed his walk.

Kris frowned slightly, rather confused. "Of?"

"You were usually curter and snappish after all-nighter. I'm just glad that your mood is alright this time." Jave grinned and Kris hid a bullet of sweat threatening to drop from his temple.

Shoot. I am a snappish person in this world?—Kris couldn't believe it. Was this world Kris actually ruder than he was? No way, Kris tried to off his best friend once (even if it was because of Dellons' manipulation, but still), there was no way this Kris was ruder than him.

"You'd be surprised how bad my mood yesterday," Kris grunted, trying to act more curtly, but Jave just grinned more widely.

"Yeah, Dellons is an ass."

Kris didn't really remember what this world Dellons did yesterday, but it couldn't be good. He just went along to play his character. He would know eventually.

When Kris entered the kitchen, he got a flash of an image where he and the other occupants of the house were sitting and eating together in the dining room. He was surprised that he lived together with the other Seven Knights. They were really like a family even here, more than they were in the original world.

"Where are the others?" Kris couldn't help asking, curiosity getting the better of him as he continued to walk to the stove after dropping his bag on the chair next to the table. He would make something simple. Toasts and eggs were common breakfast menu. Maybe some salads too, to balance their diet…

Wait, was I thinking about our diet in this world?—Kris almost dropped the pan he just fetched from the cooking rack, shocked that his mind just ran off without his consciousness.

Kris was a noble. Why would he think about other people's diet? This was confusing and undignified. This world Kris' mind would ruin his own in the long run.

Kris sighed again and put the frying pan on top of the stove before he turned to grab a bottle of cooking oil bellow the counter and some ingredients from the fridge, trying to mask his mortification by doing what his body told him to do.

"Well, that's new. You're actually interested in what other people are up to," Jave sat on one of the chairs at the dining table, resting his chin on his hand on top of the table.

Kris cringed inwardly. Was this world Kris really that unsociable?

Kris shrugged to pretend that he wasn't that interested. "You guys aren't exactly other people. I live with you. Once in awhile I have a moment of curiosity too," he reasoned, anything that vaguely reasonable for his uncharacteristic behavior. "Human is curious creature, no?"

Kris didn't face Jave as he spoke, so he didn't see what kind of expression Jave made when he replied "Well, you're not wrong," but there was something softer in his tone, so Jave might have smiled.

Kris' mouth curved up slightly as he broke the eggshells and started his cooking. He wasn't thinking as he did all of them and by the time he realized, the omelets were ready to simmer and the nicely baked toasts were already on the plates. He even already finished dressing the salads. "Can you set the table, Jave?" he asked then, probably nonconforming again, but if it was, Jave ignored that as he stood to help him.

"By the way, to answer your earlier question," Jave started when he was back at the table, Kris sitting beside him ready to eat his breakfast as well, "Eileen and Rachel are sleeping in since their classes won't start before noon. Dellons hasn't come back since last night, probably still lazing around in his girlfriends' apartment. Spike will come up soon; he was in the bathroom when I looked for him earlier before I tried to knock on your door, and Rudy hasn't been back from his ritual morning jog."

Hearing Rudy's name made Kris' heart jump a little. He almost dropped his spoon, part in surprise of his heart reaction to Rudy's name, part in embarrassment because sheesh… only hearing Rudy's name could affect him to that extent, seriously. He needed to get a grip of himself.

However then, Kris paused as he discerned a few sentences back. "Girlfriends?" Did he hear the multiple part right? Dellons? With more than one lover?

"Yeah. Dellons is an ass, but women dig in his bad-boy look, lucky bastard." Jave grumbled, sounding envious and peeved, but there was something fond in his tone as well.

So Dellons wasn't a complete villain in this world. Jave called him an ass and a bastard, but he didn't hate Dellons. Actually, Kris doubted that anyone in this house hated Dellons. Even before, in their original world, nobody actually hated Dellons. He went crazy, yes, causing death, mayhem, war and destruction, but the other Seven Knights were mostly just confused of his motive.

Well, Kris hated him though. He would kill Dellons someday for killing his men, for using and manipulating him to fight against Rudy, for tearing apart their world. However, whenever Kris remembered his time when he was still in hiding, when there was only Dellons to talk to, to connect to other human being, when Kris saw the Reaper's soft side as Dellons told him story of his beloved, he felt almost…

Kris put down his spoon and shook his head to get rid of the sympathy which he felt toward his enemy. Dellons was the cause of all the sufferings in their world. Kris absolutely couldn't allow his mind to be swayed again by Dellons' influence. For all he knew, Dellons could be lying when he told Kris about Claudia, his late wife. No one actually knew Dellons' past. He was the oldest Seven Knights. Rumors about him as he had been still a famed Black Knight were already milling around when Kris was still teenager, no older than fourteen. Dellons were already there when the other knights came around. No body knew where he came from. He was just… there, at the Dark Grave as its guardian. Dellons was always mysterious. Not a single soul actually knew anything important about him, not even his exact age. He looked like twenty something, but the depth of his eyes and the vast view of his life spoke too old compared to his appearance.

"What's wrong?" Jave looked at him with a curious, or more like… concerned look, startling Kris back from his wandering thought.

"Nothing, just a little headache," Kris didn't exactly lie since he did feel that headache. Dellons induced headache, that is.

"That's probably because of those all-nighters you pulled whenever the deadlines of your homework came around," Jave shook his head while sighing. "Do you need some aspirin?"

Aspirin?—Kris' mind questioned, looking for some stored information about this 'aspirin' when someone entered the kitchen, immediately distracting Jave's attention from him.

"Oh, hey Spike. Morning!" Jave's expression brightened considerably as he looked upward to the very tall—he's 195 cm in height after all—, dark-brown haired man that had just entered the premise and now was strolling to one of the chairs at the table. The scar on his left cheek right bellow his eye was visible as he brushed his side bang behind his left ear and nodded to Jave in acknowledgement.

Kris turned aside slightly to greet him as well. "Good morning, Spike."

Spike paused in pulling the chair to look at him, his expression taciturn like usual, but there was an inquisitive glint in his clear olive-green eyes. "How rare, you actually greet me first," he said slowly before sitting down. "What's the occasion?" He asked, toneless and expressionless, but Kris could detect the suspicion from his atmosphere.

How weird was that? Seriously, how much of antisocial bastard this world Kris was? Even though Kris and the original Spike were awkward when they interacted with each other, they always made effort to talk whenever they had opportunity. This world Kris and Spike lived under the same roof for heaven sake. Did he imply that Kris never even tried to initiate conversation with him?

"That's it. I'm turning a new leave," Kris vowed resolutely. Both Jave and Spike blinked at his sudden mutter. He didn't mean to say that out loud actually, but he just couldn't help it. This Kris apparently needed intervention in interpersonal relationship.

"Kris?" Jave stared at him, looking mystified.

Kris sighed again, looking down at his plate. "I can't live this reserved antisocial persona anymore if I want to succeed in life generally. I have to be able to interact with people normally. I need to be able to say what I want to say and communicate better," he groused seriously at them.

Jave just gaped with wide eyes and Spike turned his face aside slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"What?" Kris narrowed his eyes at Spike especially, since he looked like he was about to laugh, but he couldn't ignored Jave's flabbergasted expression as well.

"Kris, are you sure you're okay?" Jave looked mighty concerned now, raising his hand to put his palm on Kris' forehead, probably to check on Kris' temperature, and Spike's shoulders started to shake, apparently unable to hold his amusement entirely.

"I'm not sick, damn it!" Now Kris' temper got the better of him as he warded Jave's hand away lightly.

"But you're acting weird!" Jave reasoned. "You never have difficulties in uttering your mind to other people, Kris, just… not that often. You only speak when it's necessary for you to speak… Making small talk and minding other people's activities were never your concern before," he huffed then, still sounding worried whether Kris finally lost it.

"Well, you guys are my friends, right? Greeting each other is the basic of communication. You guys are important enough for me to stay in contact. Of course I want to know more about you," Kris argued.

Actually it was out of character even for him to argue. Remember how good Kris was at ignoring things? Petty argument was one in the long list of his to be ignored. However, this time he needed to deliver message clearly to his friends: the Seven Knights was not in that list. They were imperative for him especially after everything that happened between them back then in his original world. They were more his family than his noble, biological ones. This Kris must have thought the same thing here, because he lived with them. Kris knew himself, alternate universe or not. He wouldn't want to live together with people that he didn't consider necessary for him.

"Kris…" Jave looked astounded even more and now Spike couldn't hold down his laughter anymore and finally snickered.

"Spike! I'm serious!" Kris raised his voice, annoyed that he was laughed at. But there was a tiny relieved feeling too, because Spike was laughing. The original Spike never laughed like that. He was always serious and icy, almost bordering into unfeeling. This Spike was better at showing his emotion.

"No, my bad," Spike coughed, trying to hide his snicker again. "Sorry for my insensitive comment before, Kris. I didn't realize that you were bothered by it. I'm glad that you finally open up to us too," he continued, a small smile featuring his face.

Now it was Kris' turn to blink once, rather amazed seeing Spike smile, and his cheeks heated slightly. Somehow, he felt embarrassed now that he made a big deal about it. He just… he didn't want anymore misunderstanding. He didn't want a repeat of the mistake he had done in the past.

At that time, if only Kris could communicate better… if only he had decided to speak to Rudy first regarding his suspicion before believing Dellons' lies… he could have spared himself and Rudy the heartache. He had betrayed Rudy thinking that Rudy had betrayed him first by killing his men. He had been an idiot through and through.

"No, I apologize as well… for rising my voice," Now Kris felt awkward.

"You know, it's not exactly a bad thing to speak only when you have to," Spike started again as he began to eat his share of breakfast. "You always communicate important things to us, Kris. That's more than enough for us."

Kris looked upward at Spike again, a little bit surprised. But seeing his calm expression as he was eating, Kris couldn't help smiling marginally. "Thank you, Spike."

"I still think it's weird that you suddenly want to be friendly without any prompting," Jave huffed and Kris sent him a withering glare.

"How is Red?" Kris asked then, to make a point that he really wanted to know them better and changed the subject.

At the mention of Red, Jave's dragon (also his adoptive brother in their original world), Jave's eyes sparkled. "Oh, he was absolutely the best!"

Aaand, here he goes. When Jave started to talk about Red, nobody could stop him. Kris listened to Jave nonchalantly as the purple haired man was rambling excitedly about Red while Kris resumed his eating. Spike rolled his eyes slightly at the way Jave enthusiastically and childishly explained this and that about what Red was doing the other day before he shook his head in fond exasperation and continued his breakfast as well.

Apparently, Red in this universe was a lizard, albeit a rare one. A flying dragon lizard. It was 35 cm in length and 1.6 kg in weight, brightly colored in yellow and blue on its wing-like parts and mostly dark green in the middle. It really could fly and Jave loved his pet/buddy very much. Kris kind of wanted to ask why it was named Red despite nothing red could be spotted in its body, unlike the reddish-white dragon in their original world, but he thought the better of it and left it alone, or Jave would try to explain more which probably would take even longer time than his usual ramble about Red.

Kris looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time. It was 9.15. He only had 15 minutes more to chit-chat with his friends before he had to go to class. He walked to his campus and it need at least 20 minutes to get there. Then he needed another 5 to submit his home work and 5 more to settle himself in class.

"Isn't Rudy running late? It's almost time to go to class," Kris asked then because Rudy hadn't come home yet from his jogging.

"Ah, Rudy's class started at 12.00 today. His morning class got cancelled since his Professor forgot to assign his replacement when he went out of town. Rudy is probably running the long route today," Jave informed.

"Oh," Kris looked down. Well, that was a bit disappointing. He wanted to walk together with Rudy to campus.

"You want to walk with us, Kris?" Spike, seeming to notice his slight discontent, offered.

"Is that okay? You two have morning class as well?" Kris felt much consoled as both Jave and Spiked nodded. They had class at 10 o'clock, separately of course since they were majoring in different fields of study. Jave majored in agriculture and nature protection, Spike majored in industrial engineering, and Kris, theoretical Physics. Both Dellons and Rudy apparently majored in International Relation together, Eileen was in Law and Criminal Justice while Rachel was in Practical science. Everyone had their own interest, but they stayed together anyway.

"Well, we're done eating. Whose duty today to do dishes?" Spike stood as he walked to the whiteboard on the wall near the fridge.

"Dellons and Rudy, laundry goes to Rachel and grocery goes to Eileen," Jave quipped as he collected the dishes and delivered them to the sink.

"That means you and I tackle the house cleaning duty," Spike took the marker and wrote it down on the board.

"And Kris in on dinner if we decide to stay in today," Jave nodded, seemingly satisfied with divided chores while Kris put the remaining of their breakfast in one plate (the omelets and the toasts) and wrapped it with plastic to preserve them and delivered the salads to the fridge.

"You actually memories the schedule, huh? I wonder why we need the board at all," Kris blinked once, shaking his head slightly while a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

"The board is for you guys who honest to god can never remember such trivial matters," Jave yawned in bored lofty tone.

"Is that sarcasm?" More sweats dropped from Kris' head.

"Nope. That's just how Jave is," Spike rolled his eyes at Jave again after he was done writing. "Let me grab my bag and then we're good to go."

"Alright," Kris nodded and grabbed his backpack before he proceeded to wait for Spike and Jave in the living room. He checked the drawer of the dresser beside the sofa for the spare keys of the house and noticed they were only five. Rudy and Dellons brought theirs respectively. Kris took three, keeping one for himself and the other two would be given to Spike and Jave.

A few minutes later, Jave and Spike appeared in the living room and after Kris handed them their spare keys and locked the front door, they departed.


~A Seven Knights Fan Fiction~


Kris dreaded his morning class for awhile as he settled himself on the back row of the lecture hall. He didn't know anyone in his own class. Wait… no, that wasn't exactly right. He knew some of them, faces and names wise, but not personally. It was there in the memory of this world Kris, but even this world Kris didn't seem to deem them important enough to take a note of.

People greeted him in respect for some reason and Kris just nodded at them back, at least acknowledging their presence, but generally they left him alone after that. Some girls whispered his name excitedly in groups and looked at him from afar with blushing faces, but Kris resolutely ignored them. He knew what groupies looked like after all. There were some in his original as well. Back in Revengers Hell, there was a succubus named Sarah that proclaimed herself as Kris' Girl for God's sake, even though Kris barely gave her any thought or attention for that matter. He wondered if there was 'Sarah' in this universe as well…

Kris' body shuddered lightly, an unpleasant chill assaulting his spine at the thought. He just hoped that he didn't have to deal with her too often if there was.

A few minutes into his pointless musing, the professor came into the hall and started the class. Kris found himself able to focus on the lecture and learned that he already knew the lesson. He even recalled the experience of reading the topic in one of those thick Physic textbooks in his room and was able to copy the formula which was taught in front of the class into his notebook without reading the whiteboard. He already mastered this topic. This world Kris did his study in advance after all.

After the lecture was done, the professor called for him.

"Ah, Mr. Tenebra."

Kris forgot his last name and reacted a bit too late to the call before leaving the class.

"Please wait, Mr. Tenebra."

At the second call did he stop, and turned to him, "Yes, sir?" pretending he just heard him.

"About the independent experiment that I asked for you to do in your free time before…"

Independent experiment?—Kris' mind immediately zeroed in on the information. He knew it. If this world Kris really fooled around with experiment on space and time continuum, he could really have caused some kind if worm hole to open and accidentally swapped body with Kris.

Kris intended to dig more information about it from the professor, but before he could ask anything, the middle aged man asked him to stop the experiment.

"What?" Kris was stunned.

"That experiment will be legally approved and patented by the sponsor soon and the higher ups already held the meeting to decide some researchers who will participate in the experimentation. I know you're really interested in participating in it, but the nature and the risk of this experiment is considered too high for an undergrad student. You are a brilliant student, Mr. Tenebra, always working hard and one step ahead of the curriculum that you're supposed to master. I personally feel disappointed that you can't participate in it. I'll try to appeal that you can be included. But, my hands are tied. The sponsor and the university decide the final say…"

Kris felt like hitting something as he heard the professor made excuse after excuse that he couldn't do the experiment since he was still too young and stupid. What high risk? Damned those sponsors. They wanted all the credit for themselves huh? Well, since Kris was already here, that meant the independent experiment that this world Kris had been doing was somewhat successful at some point, right? Fine, then. Kris could always review his own note in secret if he couldn't participate in the legitimate one.

"Understood, Professor." Kris decided to agree on the surface to appease the Professor and got him off his back. The professor looked relieved at his acceptance.

"Thank you, Mr. Tenebra. It's really wonderful that you're such a model student."

Professor left the class with a pleasant smile on his face while Kris, walking out of class to the cafeteria, tried not to stew in his plan on reviewing all the notes this world Kris had written on the experiment. He wouldn't report to them that he already got some results. Serve them right.

The cafeteria of Kris campus, Terra Demesne, consisted of a group of food stalls, concentrated in one big open hall across the inside park. At lunch time, it was mostly packed with students trying to get some meal and some people used the park as favorite place to sit down and eat their lunch. This world Kris liked to sit down under the tallest acorn tree at the park-side to read a book (novels or textbook, depending on his mood) while snacking on something.

Kris followed his routine. It would be weird if he changed it after all. He had just come back from getting some red-bean filled bun and was about to go to his designated favorite spot when he heard a lot of girls squealing.

"Aww, Look at that! It's Blackscythe and Lucerna!"

"No way! The greatest duo from International Relation Department?!"

"Eh, where?! Where?!"

Kris got distracted as he looked up and saw the group of girls forming in front of him and blocked his way.

"Kyaa! Dellons! Look this way!"

"Rudy too! I love youuuu!"

Kris stopped dead as he heard the name uttered by those girls.

Dellons and Rudy?—It wasn't hard for Kris to look through the crowd, since he was taller than those girls.

"Ladies, please. Make a way. We need to eat too, ya know," Dellons Blackscythe, the tall blue eyed blonde in semi formal clothes, a long sleeved white shirt under a red fest and a pair of black pants, winked at the girls teasingly and they screamed even louder in reaction. "Or what, you want to be my food to satiate my hunger?"

"Kyaaaa! Dellons, eat meeee!" Some fanatic ones shrieked enthusiastically.

"Sheesh… Dellons, stop stirring them up even more," Rudy Lucerna, same height as the guy walking beside him, the amber eyed brunet in casual light blue shirt under a white-blue jacket and a pair of jeans, reprimanded the blond lightly.

"But they're cute, Rudy! Those kittens are just too funny to be left alone," Dellons retorted, giving Rudy a side-glance that looked very sly, but somehow still regal and charismatic.

"Dellons! Seriously!" Rudy shook his head. His tone sounded exasperated, but his eyes were soft and fond, so everyone could see that he cared a lot about the reprimanded one.

"Aaah, Rudy is always as wonderfully nice as usual!"

"And Dellons is so freaking dreamy!"

"Kyaaaaaa!"

Kris couldn't help staring at the commotion in stunned silence. He knew The Seven Knights were very popular in his original world, especially Rudy since he was the people person and the Light Guardian chosen heir, but Dellons… he couldn't believe that people…girls actually screamed his name asking for him to marry them or making babies with them. He meant, okay, the original Dellons was extremely handsome, had nice alluring physic and his clear baby blue eyes were dazzling and his voice was melodious, but he was mysterious and creepy most of the time, and his opinion was always at odds with the other Seven Knights, his mind game was horrible and he generally didn't have a good personality despite possessing diplomatic skill and intelligence that could turn every ambassador's brain into mush whenever he was done with them.

Alright, so Dellons' tremendously attractive physical aspect was absolutely formidable to entice every girl in the country, but his personality sucked big time!

Kris tried to push aside those fine, fine physical aspects of Dellons and started to analyze what was wrong with this Dellons. They couldn't be that much different. Jave called him an ass enough time to prove that this Dellons wasn't exactly a good person either. So why did everyone seem to be obsessed with him?

As Kris was musing about it, he didn't realize that both Dellons and Rudy already spotted him behind the crowd. He was also too late to notice as-

"Ah, excuse me, ladies, I have a princess to greet." Dellons gave his fans a flying kiss as they screamed some more before he ran toward Kris and then-

"Kris!" Dellons called his name and actually reached both of his hands and arms to tackle Kris in a big hug.

Kris' preservation instinct and self defense mechanism immediately roared its ugly head in reaction to his instant panic that his enemy just bodily attacked him, and before Dellons could solidify the hug, Kris's fist was up and on its way to deliver a punch to Dellons stomach.

Dellons reflect was incredible though, as if he already saw it coming, since he suddenly stopped a few inches before they collided and slid aside to dodge the punch while catching Kris' fist on his palm, nullifying most of the punch power in the process.

Dellons smirked and Kris cursed when Dellons hand moved to his wrist in a split second and pulled his hand up while Dellons other hand wormed its sneaky way into Kris' waist in a loose embrace.

"Well, well, as feisty as always. Are you trying to turn me on?" Dellons' smirk surprisingly softened into a gentle smile and Kris couldn't help widening his eyes in extreme shock as Dellons pulled Kris wrist down and then put his knuckles on his lips in a light kiss.

"Good morning, Princess," he greeted, even though it was already noon and that freaking gentle smile was still on his face and Kris couldn't help feeling that his inner world was turned upside down because his greatest enemy (in his original world) had just called him a woman, greeted him with a gentleman smile, kissed the back of his hand teasingly and held his waist in such intimate way, like he was about to dance Waltz with him instead of bodily drag him.

Holly—Wait! Calm down! Calm down Kris! He's NOT that Dellons! He's a Dellons from this universe! Not a villain, NOT an ENEMY! Just an acquaintance!—Kris inner monologue and argument didn't help ceasing the goosebumps blooming on his entire body, though. All his tense muscles and frenzied neurons in his body screamed for Kris to punch the guy in the face for touching him alone after all.

Dellons seemed to mistake Kris' silence as a green light for him to tease him further because he continued. "My, you are as coolly beautiful as always. It makes me want to mess you up so bad, kitten." Dellons gentlemen look promptly turned into leering and a vein of irritation instantly popped up on Kris' head.

"I see that you are a crazy bastard in here too." Kris' deadpanned before he purposely stepped on Dellons toe. Hard.

Dellons winced slightly at that, but didn't yelp or anything. His leering smile turned into a challenged smirk then. "And you're as violent as always," he moved his own foot away from Kris', but didn't let go of his hand and waist. "But fear not, my dear. You're always be my favorite even though you treat me cruel." Dellons apparently didn't intent to give up his attempt at absurd flirting as he tightened his hold on Kris' lower back.

More veins popped up on Kris' face. "Let go," Kris hissed, attempting another attack by kicking Dellons shin this time, but the blond was ready and moved his leg away from Kris' in time to dodge the blow.

Dellons smirked turned nastier. "Make me," he said while leaning closely into Kris' face and Kris was about knee the guy on his royal jewel when the body that was caging him was suddenly yanked out of his attack-range.

"Alright, that's enough," Rudy's commanding baritone voice was heard so suddenly, his grasp was on Dellons' back collar vest as he held the guy back, away from Kris. "Tone it down, Dellons. You make Kris uncomfortable," he reprimanded his friend again, frowning disapprovingly now.

"Tsk, spoilsport as always, Rudy," Dellons clicked his tongue at the brunet in annoyance, but then he chuckled in glee. "Oh well, I did get to hold the princess for awhile. It's a win for me."

Kris wanted to shock the guy in the face and wiped away that annoying smug expression for calling him a woman twice, the bastard! But Rudy got him first by chopping the blond's head with the side of his palm. "Stop calling Kris like that. He doesn't like it," he huffed.

"Ow! Rudy, mind your strength, damn it! You brute!" Dellons kicked Rudy's shin with the sole of his shoes. Rudy seemed surprised at the sudden retaliation that he let go of Dellons' collar. Dellons immediately stepped away from Rudy as he nursed his head. "And you're being such an annoying mother hen again. Quit smothering Kris with your misplaced affection." Dellons harrumphed before he turned away and left, but not before he turned to Kris once more and smirked again cunningly while saying, "See you at home, honey." Then he laughed slightly as he was back with flirting with his fan girls.

"Asshole," Kris countered in a curse, loudly this time, and wanted to give the blond a finger but he was too dignified to do such crude gesture, so he turned his glare to Rudy and scowled at him instead. "And you, stop fighting my fight. I'm not a weak girl that needs your constant protection."

Alright, Kris was mostly angry with Dellons, but Rudy was there and easy to vent to and no matter how much Kris liked him, Rudy could be too overbearing sometimes.

"Ah, you're right. I'm sorry, Kris." Rudy looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck. He was smiling softly though, and Kris could never stay mad at him long enough just because he was being saved too many times from Dellons' typical day-to-day harassment.

"Thank you though," Kris mumbled, turning away to resume his walk to his intended destination and not at all to hide the light flush that had raised on his cheeks at seeing Rudy's gentle expression.

Ugh. Kris' heart once again picked up pace at the thought of Rudy and the way Rudy's face lit up as he realized that he was forgiven.

"Can I join you for lunch?" Rudy followed him and fell into step beside him.

"Do what you want. It's not like I can stop you," Kris resolutely didn't look at the brunet's face as Rudy beamed at him happily.

"It's such a nice weather out here. It's a waste not to eat outside," Rudy spoke after they settled down on Kris' favorite spot.

"Hn," Kris cleared his throat as he set the bun on his lap and then fetched a mystery novel from his bag.

"Oh, you're into mystery this time?" Rudy showed interest in the book and Kris tensed slightly as Rudy's body had gotten so much closer to his, apparently so he could look at the letters on the book better. "What kind of mystery is in this book?" Rudy's light baritone voice was very nice to hear, especially this close and the warmth that seemed to radiate constantly from his presence made Kris' heart beat harder and faster. It made him extremely self-conscious, and the way Rudy rested his chin on his right shoulder while nibbling on his own bread was distracting Kris from his reading.

Kris made an effort to stay calm as he gave Rudy his book. "You can read it first if you want," and he subtly tried to move away from Rudy's personal space.

"Nah, I don't have patience to read the entire book," Rudy declined with a light laugh and touched Kris' hand so as to make the book stay in Kris' hold. "I prefer having you tell me the story after you're done reading," he smiled playfully at him.

"Tsk. You're just lazy," Kris feigned an annoyance to hide how nervous he was at Rudy's innocent touch. His heart wouldn't calm down and he was afraid those erratic beats would get too loud, loud enough for Rudy to hear it.

"Haha, you got me," Rudy chuckled then. His melodious voice tickled Kris' hearing and—quit beating so fast, you damn heart! "Sorry for not eating breakfast together today. You cooked right? I wish I had been home earlier," the brunet then smiled ruefully at him.

"It-it's fine as long as you do your own share of chores." Oh, my God! Did he stutter?! "You did the dishes, right?" Kris asked, still trying to calm down his fitful heart beat even though his indignation at his very childish-school-girl-like inner thought got the flushing heat on his face to subside… a little. Now it was mostly warm, but he still didn't face Rudy all the way because he didn't want to risk being found out.

Apparently, this world Kris had an enormous crush on his best friend. Kris had never felt this nervous around Rudy in their original world. His body never reacted this wildly. Kris was trying his hardest to suppress it all, but it was very hard to do so if all his senses were reacting to every little thing Rudy was doing. Rudy's tender look in his eyes, his soft words, his gentle smile, and even his mere presence made Kris' body shiver in pleasant way. It was so very distracting!

"Yeah, but Dellons took a long time in the shower purposely to avoid doing his share, sheesh," Rudy chuckled, sounding fondly exasperated.

"Oh…" Kris paused, looking at the letters in the book blankly for a moment. "You were with him this morning…" he mumbled quietly then.

"Yep. Met him when he was on his way home and proceeded to get him to jog with me. He needed the exercise anyway," Rudy didn't seem to notice that Kris was slightly bothered by that.

In this universe, it was established that Rudy was closer to Dellons. They shared a lot of interests together and even though Dellons was an ass most of the time, Rudy seemed to trust his judgement in most important things. They often paired up in campus projects and events as well because they were in the same department. They spent a lot of time together, and their mesmerizing looks and brilliant intelligence, also their positions as number 1 and 2 alternatively in their grade, earned them the title of the greatest duo from International Relation Department.

Although Dellons was considered a womanizer, Kris never actually witnessed him making any woman cry. They seemed to forgive him easily when he played with women. Rudy explained once that Dellons never gave hope to them to get a serious relationship with him from the start. He warned them that he didn't want a serious relationship. He accepted them as his girlfriends, but he didn't want to tie them down to him or vice versa.

It was a casual relationship. In short, Dellons loved his women, but he wasn't in love with them and them with him.

As for Rudy… he was single. His mind was too full with campus projects and his friends, his brothers and sisters back at the orphanage and his current adoptive family to think about a significant other, he said. He probably hadn't been thinking much about romantic love to have a romantic interest, so he could be close to anyone without rising any hope that they were special for Rudy. Plus, Rudy acted like a Dellons' keeper most of the time when the blond was being an ass so as not to do too extensive damage to his surroundings.

Rudy and Dellons balanced each other in a weird way and the fans (especially the girls) loved them when they were standing next to each other, an eye-candy they said. Kris understood the appeal. Both Rudy and Dellons were very gorgeous and attractive, of course people liked seeing them together.

It didn't stop Kris from feeling a bit jealous. Not that he would admit that out loud. Rudy was his best friend after all. And Dellons, even though he was an asshole, was also kind of Kris' family since they lived in the same boarding house.

"Oh, and I can't wait to have today' dinner," Rudy spoke again suddenly, bringing Kris back from his train of thought. "Since you're cooking. I'll make sure that everyone is staying in tonight." He promised and Kris couldn't help looking at Rudy's determined face and instantly believing that that would really happen that night.

Kris looked down at his book again to avert his gaze from Rudy's bright enticing eyes, trying not to blush again, sheesh… and then closed his eyes in a small smile. "Alright."

This was the regular life of the Seven Knights in this universe. There wasn't any monster or magic or dragon, but they were dealing with human interpersonal relationships, confusing and awkward feelings, and probably some controversial matters… later.

Besides, Kris still had to find that independent experiment note so he could go home to his original world and focus on dealing with the world crisis there instead of concerning himself with his… a –not crush, nope, not at all— on Rudy here.

Priorities... yes, I need to restructure my priorities first before dealing with them all...

End of Round 1

Tbc…


A/N: Alright, as always, some con-crit, questions, or whatever your opinion on this round, go fire them at me, guys!

Teaser:

"So, why were you harassing them again?" Kris tried to understand the motivation of this Dellons to do such things to other people. Maybe he still wanted to find that excuse behind excuse for Dellons' crazy behavior in his universe, still unable to accept that he betrayed them all without some kind of important reason. Or Kris was completely biased because this Dellons didn't seem as villainous as his world Dellons.

"Wow, what a shock! Princess is finally having an interest in me!" Dellons looked mockingly ecstatic and Kris decided to kick the guy in the knee, causing him to yelp and crouch down in pain, "And still as violent as ever…" nursing his abused left kneecap.

"Quit calling me that, you- jackass!" Kris scowled. "I don't even know why I bother. You're just being an ass like your usual self," he huffed angrily after that.

"Man, you and your prissy temper needs rehabilitation…" Dellons stood again, still looking completely regal with his sly smirk, not seeming in pain at all.

"And your annoying mug needs makeover," Kris retorted in frustration as Dellons blinked once at him before he barked a laugh and started doubling over. And God was he laughing like dying hyena. Now Kris regretted calling him over earlier.