A/N: Hi Knights!Oh, my GOD! Have you guys seen 7K webtoon? We finally knew Kris' official last name (as weird as it sounds, Luxtov, seriously! But I won't change Kris' last name in this fic. Probably for the next one then XD). The comic' story is amazing so far, and I can't help fangirling as I read Kris and Rudy's interaction in it. It's awesome! The art is okay as well… though the game art is always better and more detail, at least the background story (pre-7K game) is more sound and clearer. I can't wait to reading the continuation and it actually pushed my lazy ass to update my own almost neglected fanfic. Um, sorry for making you guys wait. So, here's the new round for this story! Round 8... FIGHT!

Disclaimer and Warning: See prologue


A Gift from A Far Away World—a Seven Knights Fan fiction

© lunaryu

Round 8: Lit a Fire in your Heart 1


A few days after the incident in Four Lords' Residence…

"You know, I believed whole-heartedly in Rudy's ability to calm Kris down no matter how challenging the circumstance or he might be… before, but looking at our miserable situation for several days now… I start to think that it's a blind faith without knowing all the cards…" Dellons looked at his soggy, very salty, salad breakfast mournfully.

The others, sans Rudy and Kris who were suspiciously missing from breakfast table, gave him unified withering glare. They also looked at their sorry for an excuse of breakfast while sighing in defeat. Kris had been in charge of breakfast this morning, two days ago and dinnerfive days ago. For those times Kris cooked, somehow… the food turned out especially bad that even Spike was grimacing when he ate, and he was the guy with the most steely taste bud in the house.

Dellons sulked as he nudged at the blob of unidentified homemade something (which looked like normal mayonnaise but tasted like hell incarnation) on top of his salad, grumbling inwardly that alright, he kind of been guilty for spying on Kris when he already made perfectly clear that he wanted to meet those Four Lords privately, but seriously! It wasn't an excuse for Kris to waste perfectly good ingredients and his amazing cooking skill just to punish them!

"Is Rudy still at it?" Jave asked, sounding a little desperate. He refused to touch his breakfast as soon as he noticed Spike wince again when he had a bite of his own.

"I believed he bought a bouquet of red roses yesterday and Kris had subtly yelled at him that he wasn't a woman or something before he slammed the door on his face," Eileen informed.

This time Dellons cringed. He had suggested that route.

So, plain apology didn't work. A thoughtless promise earned Rudy a silent glare and flowers got him a door to his face. Rudy also had tried some other presents like chocolates, in many flavors and shapes, which Kris didn't eat even though he was silently fond of sweet things; teddy bear plush that he threw back at Rudy's face (that had been Eileen and Rachel's idea) and a bunch of favor and service cards that Kris didn't even touch or even care to use. Kris seemed to be adamant to make their life difficult no matter how much Rudy and the others (except Dellons) were sorry for how they had behaved.

It had been a week, and Kris was still angry with them. The others, sans Dellons who had been stupid enough to bother Kris, which instantly earned him a punch to the face, already tried to apologize again from appropriate distance and yet were being glared at heatedly. They wisely steered clear of his warpath after that. However, Rudy didn't give up just because his apology was turned down once and had kept trying since Kris refused to go back to the van and opted to ride a bus to go home that fateful day.

Dellons was honestly surprised when Rudy came back to them empty-handed.

"What's Rudy's plan for today apology?" the apostrophe in 'apology' was clear enough in Rachel's tone even without making the gesture with her fingers.

"I think Rudy purchased something online last night in our communal computer in the living room," Spike put down his spoon just after he finished the last bite of the very disgusting sustenance and took a tissue to clean the remnant of food on his mouth. Jave looked at him with shining eyes in amazement and wonder, while the others looked kind of sick to their stomach. Even Dellons didn't dare to put his own salad in his mouth. Spike indeed had a steel of a gut. Or his taste bud was worse than as tasteless as he claimed to be, but Dellons didn't care about that in the slightest. He was more interested in what had just been said.

"He bought something again? I thought he had to keep some of his money to send back at his old orphanage," Dellons raised his eyebrows at that.

"Oh, you didn't know? Rudy has been taking more students to tutor this week just to fund his apologizing operation," Rachel answered, raising her eyebrows as well.

No wonder he's hardly at home these days…—Dellons thought, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

Oh well. Dellons was as guilty as Rudy and the others (but they would call him the guiltiest of all), he should make another effort to apologize no matter how troublesome that was. Kris could be such a grudge holder when he wanted to be. A feisty, gorgeous, angry kitten. He was indeed very beautiful when his ruby eyes were blazing with fury, but too much of prodding at Kris' ego wouldn't be healthy. He needed smarter plot to apologize.

"Dellons, stop scheming. You've already done enough damage as it is, so do us a favor and just stop. Do not needle Kris either," Spike gave him the coldest warning stare he had ever used on people and Dellons just scowled at him.

Such a spoilsport. Sometimes Dellons hated his friends for knowing him inside and out.

"He's not Dellons if he isn't scheming," Jave rolled his eyes at him, apparently already accepting fate that Dellons wouldn't stop despite all the warnings and requests.

Dellons turned to Jave and gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "My, you know me so well, lizard boy."

"Don't call me that!" Jave instantly fumed.

"Anyway," Dellons dismissed his breakfast by pushing his plate away and the discussion by standing up. "I need to do something after this, so… bye!" He ran to the front door, leaving all the dishes in the kitchen for Jave to deal with as the purple haired kid squeaked in shock before shouting out Dellons' name at the top of his lungs with murder in his voice.

When Dellons got out while snickering, he saw Rudy and Kris at the gate, just in time when the brunet was handing some kind of paper to Kris. The silver haired man stared at the paper for a moment before he accepted and pocketed it. Rudy looked immensely relieved even though Kris didn't say anything or show any expression for that matter. He just turned away and left.

"Hey, Rudy!" Dellons patted his back to Rudy's yelp of surprise because he didn't seem to realize that Dellons had been there at all. Dellons closed the front door loudly, though… for Rudy not to notice, his single minded attention must have been fully on Kris the whole time.

"Dellons! Sheesh… don't scare me like that!" Rudy's face turned a bit pink, frowning in embarrassment.

"Well, aren't you a sly one? What did you give Kris just now? All your apology presents were turned down before after all. He accepted this one, huh?" Dellons grinned. Still, he was more surprised that it took Kris this long to forgive Rudy.

Curiously, Rudy's face got even redder. "T-that's not your business!" He squeaked and made a gesture to run away from Dellons, which was very and he meant very suspicious because! Since when had Rudy been so secretive with him?

Dellons caught Rudy's elbow before he could retreat. "Come now. Don't be all mysterious with me, Rudy. You will tickle my curiosity even more and you know I will get to the bottom of it eventually even if you try your hardest to hide it from me. Let's save everybody the effort and just tell me what you gave him just now," Dellons smiled, pulling Rudy closer and whispered into his ear teasingly.

"Well, let's see your effort then," Rudy tilted his head away, still flushing for some reason, and there was a petulant notion in his voice that indicated that he hadn't fully forgiven Dellons either for getting him (and the others) into this mess with Kris.

"Fine," Dellons sighed, quickly giving up after narrowing his eyes at his obstinate friend, and then let Rudy go. Rudy hurried to go back inside the house without giving him even a glance. "Still mad, huh? I guess I owe Rudy an apology too." He shook his head, feeling weird that he felt guilt-ridden at all. He usually didn't, after doing something allegedly illegal. Staying with these guys made him sentimental. It was bad for his health and reputation.

Oh, I should check the communal computer history later to find out what Rudy ordered online…

It didn't mean Dellons was going to stop poking his nose into his friends' business.


~A Seven Knights Fan Fiction~


Kris closed his notebook and sighed after his professor announced that it was the end of their class lesson today. It had been a trying day. Well, a trying week, actually. He didn't think that he would spend the rest of his holiday trying to avoid his housemates. It wasn't that he was still actually angry with them, but it was a perfect excuse to sneak around and meet with the Four Lords without his friends tailing him again.

As per request, Kris surrendered his laptop and his partial notes about his AI project, but kept the note of his power-amplifier device to himself. He made his interest of multiverse known to the Four Lords and Pascal, and was willing to join in the active investigation of the increasing power of magnetic fields in exchange of information about their project in more detail. Of course he had to sign some legal papers about keeping classified information to himself as well, but it was a small price to pay for the data and material he could get from their organization. Besides, it wasn't like he would tell anyone about it either.

Kris didn't want to be sanctioned, thank you very much.

Luckily, his friends at home knew (finally!) to keep their distance, thinking that Kris was still mad at them, except for Rudy who was still diligently trying to apologize to him, and once, Dellons who thought it was alright to pester him when his temper was still up. Kris had to pat himself on the back when he successfully punched the blond on his face. It felt immensely pleasurable to wipe that smugness and turn it into disbelieving shock.

The problem was Rudy. He was polite and tentative with his ridiculous apology plans, no doubt some of those were suggestions from their other friends, like that teddy bear and flowers, seriously. But the chocolate and the service cards seemed originally Rudy's. It was kind of sweet, and it physically pained Kris not to accept them because of his pretense. It was unfortunate that Rudy didn't give up easily either. Kris had to actively ignore and avoid him whenever it was possible if he wanted to have time for himself and to meet the Four Lords for his extracurricular activities.

Though, it had been a week. He thought he could tone the avoiding down a little bit since he had no other agendas with his other friends this week. It was that time of the year when Rudy was busy preparing for the party in his old orphanage. He said it was for his brother's birthday, but it doubled as the welcoming party for new members of the family or the parting party for the boys and the girls that managed to find surrogate families who would raise them.

Kris was annually expected to be a guest at the occasion because he had been Rudy's best friend since they were little, and had become an unofficial member of the orphanage family by extension. It had been a year since he saw them, especially Evan, since he often tagged along when Rudy was playing with Kris back then. He kind of missed the kid, and the last time Kris saw him, he was 14. It was possible that the party this year was for celebrating his 15th birthday.

Better to look a present for him. I wonder if he's still trying to imitate Rudy at everything he does or wears— Kris chuckled inwardly. If that was really the case, it would be easy to pick something for him. Something that pleased Rudy would no doubt please Evan as well.

Kris packed up his books in his backpack and made a move to visit the library to check up some books. Since he and Rudy were little, Rudy was always fond of adventurous fantasy stories and books, the kind that original Kris lived out his entire life. Rudy still had a soft spot for them even until now, and Evan inherited that passion. It was always fun to see Rudy's eyes glimmering with excitement when he read them and no doubt it would be a good look on Evan's as well.

Kris arrived at the fantasy genre section of the library and started to review some of the books, some that he already read and some new ones, made a list of titles that the orphanage already possessed a copy of, and skimmed some titles around for reading material that was decently adventurous, family and kid friendly enough with a dash of innocent romance.

Yes, Evan was a teenager, but it didn't mean he would get a book that couldn't be read by his other brothers and sisters that were younger than him in the house since the book would probably end up in the orphanage library for everyone to read. Evan was generous like that, just like Rudy.

"This seems good," Kris found a book that was titled 'His Personal Knight of Light'. He looked at the synopsis and then skimmed the content of the book. Well, the romance part was vague enough, and the adventure part wasn't too bloody. The language was tasteful without any crude cursing words. The material was a bit heavy overall, but the ending was open enough for people to want to imagine what kind of ending they would want personally. "This will do." Kris nodded and made a note of the title and the author on a notepad he brought with him. He put the book back on the shelf and then looked for another book from the same author and found another one immediately.

"For Just a Moment," he mumbled the title and frowned, puzzling over what kind of story behind such title. Kris' interest was piqued as he took the book from the shelf and started to skim the content without reading the synopsis first.

Kris eyebrows went up as he read some clues in the story. This seemed to be a sort of spin off from the previous book 'His Personal Knight of Light', but from another character's perspective. Unlike the previous one, this book leaned more into romance and drama even though the setting and the timeline were the same as the previous book. It was told with the same kind of tasteful language, but braver and more humorous. The adventure part still existed, but off-screen, and the relationship between the main characters were dug deeper. The ending was clearer and the readers would get a glimpse of hidden story that wasn't told in 'His Personal Knight of Light.'

Kris hesitated slightly as he read the romantic part of the story, since the main pairing of the writer's choice was a bit… unorthodox, for a story with knights and kings and princesses. Well… there seemed to be no princess around, so… and it wasn't like it was a taboo in this era, and it was innocent enough anyway. Besides, if he only get the previous book, it seemed to be incomplete.

Kris noted down the title as well to look for a copy later, if only to satisfy his own principle that reading an incomplete story was worse than not reading at all.


~ A Seven Knights Fan Fiction ~


Rudy chewed his lower lip as he compared a red sweater from one rag to the blue one on the other at the department store he visited. Both sweaters looked good and he had trouble deciding which would be better on his brother. He should have asked Dellons to come with him in picking present for Evan. Dellons was a pain, but at least he had sense in fashion, unlike Rudy.

"Why is picking present for someone always this difficult?" Rudy let out a long suffering sigh.

"May I help you with that?"

Rudy almost jumped at the sudden voice greeting… well, not exactly greeting, but the context was the same. He turned around and found Rachel behind him.

"Oh, hey Rachel," Rudy greeted her back rather sheepishly for being jumpy. "And please do. I'm hopeless in picking present," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head lightly.

"Whom is it for? Kris?" There was a twinkle in her eyes and Rudy flushed slightly for unexplainable reason hearing Kris' name.

"Unfortunately, no. I've exhausted ideas in picking something to apologize to him anyway," he sighed again, rather resigned about that case. "It's for my brother, actually. He's turning fifteen and I want to give him something decent for his birthday, but between these sweaters and medieval knight costume for cosplay, I have no idea what's cool for someone like him," Rudy grimaced slightly for his incompetence. "It's seriously sad that I don't really know what he likes as a person, and I am his big brother."

Rachel giggled at Rudy's funny indignant look and tone. "Well, it's almost winter so you choosing a sweater instead of a knight costume, especially for practical reason, spoke highly of your deep care for him," Rachel pointed out. "At least you want him to keep warm in the season, right?"

Rudy chuckled as well, more relieved than deprecating now. "I guess," he felt rather bashful for her compliment though. "But like always, my fashion sense is abysmal, so… do you think these sweaters tasteful enough? Which do you think is better? Red or blue?" Rudy showed her both sweaters to Rachel and she critically considered them.

"The model is simple and elegant, so that's quite tasteful. Is he a fit kind of guy or chubby?" she asked for some reference and Rudy described Evan's feature.

"Dark brown hair and eyes, fit athletic body, kind of looks like me, actually, but leaner and a little shorter… ah, and his hair is a bit longer than mine." Rudy nodded.

"Well, what about this silver one?" Rachel pulled out another sweater in the same model but different color scheme. It was metallic dark silver and looked kind of like an armor. "You considers knight costume. Is he a fan of fantasy genre?" She smirked and Rudy almost snorted in laughter at the dead on guess.

"You're right. Oh my god, that's definitely his favorite! I can see that perfectly as an excuse for him to wear it all the time! That's like throwing two birds with one stone, so ingenious! Thanks, Rachel. This will be a great present for him!" Rudy grinned happily as he touched the silvery material, already imagining Evan's gleeful expression when he saw it later.

"I'm happy to be in your service," Rachel made a mock-bow gesture and looked up at him with mirth in her eyes. "Do you need help warping it later, then?" She fell into step with Rudy after he called for the tenant to give her his choice of product and then received a facture to bring to the cashier for him to pay.

"That's alright. I already bought a present box for this gift, so no need to wrap it over later," Rudy said.

"When are you going to give it to him then?" she asked.

"At the end of the week. I'm due to visit my old home at the orphanage this Saturday. I'm going to spend a weekend there with my brothers and sisters," Rudy hummed cheerily as he paid for the sweater and then accepted the product, safely folded and stored inside a plastic bag with the store logo, before he and Rachel got out from the store.

"I see. Will Kris tag along as well? I recalled he often accompanied you when you went home," Rachel asked tentatively, looking slightly concerned.

"I was wondering as well until I asked this morning. He accepted the invitation, though. I guess despite still being angry with me, he won't miss Evan's birthday." Rudy smiled, slightly wistful at the irrational prick in his heart at the thought. Kris was always a considerate person to begin with. At first glance he might appear unapproachable, but he was very kind and thoughtful that even Evan was very taken with Kris when he was younger. Rudy recalled that the boy had ever stared at Kris for a long moment and commented how pretty Kris was when he was smiling under the morning sunlight.

It sounded like a crush and Rudy couldn't blame the kid. Kris was pretty after all. But it didn't explain the slight dread Rudy felt when he remembered that. At the time, Evan was still a twelve year old kid with a crush to his big brother's much older friend. But he was turning fifteen now, and if that crush hadn't dissipated yet, Rudy didn't want to think about what that had morphed into these days.

"You're making a funny face, Rudy. What are you thinking?"

Rachel's curious voice was suddenly registered in Rudy's sense and he blinked at her, surprised that he had zoned out for a bit there. "Oh, what?" He tried to think what he should say to answer, but his attention was seized by something across the street that he had to stop walking.

Rachel seemed to notice his sudden quiet self as she also stopped. "Rudy?" Then she turned to see what Rudy saw and raised her eyebrows in slight surprise as well. "Isn't that Kris? Why is he there alone—?"

She spoke too soon apparently because then someone came out from the café door beside where Kris stood. "Oh." It was Ace. The bluish-silver haired guy smiled at Kris and handed Kris something. A goodie bag, and Kris looked at inside the bag before he turned to face Ace, the corner of his mouth twitched up in a beginning of a smile.

It was not a public smile at all.

"Oh my… Is Kris on a date with Ace?" Rachel sounded shocked, but her voice didn't sound as bothered as how Rudy felt.

Rudy stared at Kris and Ace's exchange in a dreadful confusion. His heart that had felt like being pinpricked earlier when he thought about the possibility of Evan having a crush on Kris had nothing on how he felt at this moment. It was like a bowl of ice cubes were shoved into his back inside his clothes. There was a slight nausea that he detected when he realized that Kris was genuinely smiling at Ace. Kris' smile which was so rare and precious that Rudy thought was reserved for his closest friend…

"Rudy, are you alright? Your face is pale," Rachel touched his shoulder, a concern in her voice.

"I'm… maybe I'm a bit under the weather after all," Rudy's hand shook slightly as he touched his own face. He didn't know what the name of the feeling was. It was an unpleasant woozy sensation and it felt ugly which was funny because he had never felt something as grotesque as that. It made him want to hurt someone and it was scary because that someone had Ace's face.

Rachel seemed to notice something on his face and made a rueful smile. "Don't worry. It's Kris. He is probably just grateful to Ace that he and his friends aren't suing us for what we did last week," she patted Rudy's back once before she took his wrist to start walking again. "Come on. Let's just go before Kris notices. You don't want to make Kris misunderstand that we're stalking him again, do you?"

Rudy followed Rachel silently, subconsciously agreeing that Kris hadn't forgiven them yet. If Kris caught him and Rachel looking at him from across the street when he was with one of the Four Lords, Kris would definitely think that and would never forgive them this time.

But… what is this unpleasant feeling…?—Rudy couldn't help wondering why he wanted to hurt Ace even though the guy evidently neither did anything to him nor to Kris.


~ A Seven Knights Fan Fiction~


At the weekend, as promised Kris tagged along when Rudy made his visit to his orphanage. It was a quiet two hour drive from their shared house, and Kris was grateful that Rudy didn't feel the need to fill the silence with idle chatter.

At the first 30 minutes, it was a bit awkward to be alone with Rudy because Kris still didn't know how to tell Rudy that he had forgiven him and his friends. But as the hour past, the awkwardness lessened with the change of scenery outside the car and the soft music from the radio filling the space inside.

Kris closed his eyes slightly, feeling a bit refreshed as he opened the window to enjoy the morning breeze. They had departed at 6 a.m. from home to avoid traffic and after an hour drive on the highway and now the car entering the rural area once again, the weather was friendly, especially since it was quite early.

"We're almost there," Rudy informed when the road ahead had become slightly rocky, filled with dark soil and pebbles, each side of road rich with wild greenery, and Kris nodded in assent, recognizing the road which was close to the orphanage.

It was another five minutes before he could see the top of the big, wide, old building of the orphanage. Kris smiled softly. It had been awhile since he saw Rudy's brothers and sisters. He couldn't wait to seeing them again soon.

#

"Rudy!"

Evan's excited voice could be heard along with the sound of his running from inside the house when Rudy finished parking the car and shut off the engine.

Rudy immediately opened the car door and got off before he was greeted with a bundle of pure energy that was Evan barreling into him in a big tight hug. "Oof!" he laughed in surprise at the ecstatic welcome before he hugged the boy back. "Come now, Evan! You're too big and heavy for this glomping routine now!" he scolded lightly, but still grinning excitedly as well as he pat Evan's back fondly.

"Welcome home, big bro!" Evan pulled back slightly, looking up at Rudy with wide chocolate eyes that still could melt Rudy every time he was presented with them.

Evan was adorable. No matter if he was fifteen. He was still the cutest brother Rudy had ever had.

"I'm home, Evan," Rudy softened his grin and planted a kiss on the younger boy's forehead. Evan flushed immediately.

"Eww! Not a kiss on the forehead! I'm not a child anymore, Rudy!" the chocolate haired boy protested suddenly as he pulled back completely and made a gesture to wipe at his forehead while wrinkling his nose. Rudy's face fell at that.

"Well, that was new," Kris' voice commenting from the front of the car immediately stole Evan's attention from Rudy even before Rudy could make a remark on how shocked he was at the rude rejection. "Last year you still asked for a kiss before bed from Rudy. What changed, Evan?" he asked, a slight amusement on his expression.

"Kris!" Evan's expression brightened again immediately as he bounded to the platinum blond man and gave him a hug as well. Kris rolled his eyes and returned Evan's affection with one armed hug. "Welcome home! And I don't know what you're talking about," he said, feigning innocence and obliviousness which didn't work at all because the boy was incapable of faking his emotion, and his feeling always showed in his expression like an open book.

"Rude!" Rudy sputtered, still in shock.

"He's in rebellion phase," Kris snorted.

"I am not!" Evan denied, flushing slightly probably from embarrassment.

As the bicker and banter continued outside the house, it was like a cue to the other members of the orphanage to come out as well, one by one to greet Rudy and Kris.

"Big bro Rudy!" A 14 year old girl with long chocolate hair tied into a pony tail jumped into his arms in a hug, kissing his cheek at the process, "Welcome home!" She looked very happy to see him and Rudy kissed her cheek back softly with a smile.

"I'm home, Ariel. How have you been?"

"I'm at my best today!" She grinned cheerily before she pulled back to make place for the others to greet Rudy as well, albeit more subtly and yet no less happily.

"Welcome home, Rudy," Li, a blind 13 year old boy with skinhead greeted him next, smiling contently.

"Hey, Li. I see you've improved your senses more since last year," Rudy shook the boy's hand before pulling him into a one armed hug, patting his back proudly.

"Yea, I don't need my walking stick anymore to navigate around the house, the front and back yards," Li said, smiling bashfully.

"But he still needs guidance outside the compound," another boy, even younger than Li, with reddish dark hair came up behind Li and greeted Rudy as well. "Welcome home, Rudy."

"Snipper," Rudy ruffled Snipper's hair fondly before reaching out to hug him with both arms. "I'm home."

Next person to greet Rudy was a little girl around 8, named Yui. "I'm glad you can make it home this year, Rudy. I will sing a new song at the party and I want you to hear it!" the silver haired girl hugged Rudy's waist after Rudy released the ten year old boy and then kneeled slightly to hug her as well.

"I can't wait to hear your heavenly voice, Yui," Rudy kissed the girl's hair with a soft happy smile.

There were also 15 year old twin girls, Hellenia and Heavenia, who came next to greet Rudy and then an orange haired girl with foxy grin, Yuri, and a new face that both Rudy and Kris had never seen before. She must have been a new member of the family.

"This is Karin," Evan pulled the seemingly shy girl out to introduce her to both Rudy and Kris. "She's only been here for three months."

"N-nice to meet you," she greeted, her long lavender colored hair splayed slightly in front of her face as she bowed to greet both older men.

Rudy blinked as Kris raised one of his eyebrows. "Eastern custom?" Kris asked tentatively.

"Y-yes! I'm from Japan, um… I'd been raised there until last year and my family moved here at the new year and, um…" she seemed flustered and didn't seem to know how to continue her introduction as her eyes seemed to water as well.

Rudy immediately guessed that she probably felt that she had to tell them how she ended up in the orphanage, but since she had been only there for three months, it was too early for her to share the private story to anyone without making her remember how painful and awful it must have been that she had to part with her family.

Rudy smiled sadly at that and reached to ruffle Karin's unsurprisingly soft hair. "Welcome to the family, Karin," he said, coaxing the younger girl to look upward at him before he changed his expression a bit to smile gently, welcoming, and she blushed, hurriedly drying her tears before they could fall and smiled back at him.

"Yes, thank you, and welcome home, Rudy." Her smile was slightly forced, but it wasn't a fake one. Rudy could feel that she was grateful to be here with her new family, but she still needed more time to grieve and get over losing her previous ones.

Rudy ruffled her hair once again. Then it was Kris who greeted her and introduced himself to the girl. Kris even threw her a genuine welcoming smile that made Karin blush even redder than before. She stuttered as she spoke to Kris and Kris seemed amused at how cute she acted.

"Alright, let's come inside then! I haven't had breakfast yet and I am starving!" Rudy laughed as he herded all his brothers and sisters inside.

"What are you talking about? You already gobbled two big burgers on the way here," Kris commented again dryly and Rudy sputtered at that with red face.

"Kris! That was just snacking!" he protested.

Everyone immediately laughed hard, commenting that Rudy was a glutton for not satisfied with two portions of big burger.

#

"Welcome home, Rudy, Kris!" Mother Elena, the head of the orphanage greeted and smiled sunnily as both Kris and Rudy entered her office.

Rudy and Kris decided to give their respect to her after they entered the house before they had breakfast together with the whole family. Elena was Rudy's surrogate mother for the majority of his childhood and teenage life before he was adopted by Aragon. As always she looked elegant and beautiful with her white long dress, despite her age. She still looked like she was thirty instead of fifty. She had the most stunning rose blond hair and the purest lilac eyes that both Kris and Rudy had ever seen. In short, like a goddess, she seemed ageless.

"Mother Elena," Rudy sent her a sentimental smile as she stood over her chair and walked around her desk to welcome him with a gentle hug. She then turned to Kris after letting go of Rudy and then hugged him as well, as gently, and no less favorably.

"We missed you, Mother," Kris said, closing his eyes as he hugged her back with both arms, feeling her motherly warmth and not even bit embarrassed to call her 'mother' because she was no less of a mother to him than his own biological one, especially when he was here, at Elena's house.

Mother Elena had regarded Kris one of her children since he was still a snotty elementary boy, visiting Rudy's home for the first time to do a class project together. She had been really kind to him, made him cookies and treated him to ice cream even though he was only a guest, comforted him while treating his wound when he fell down and scrapped his knees after he played tag with Rudy and the others.

"I missed you both silly boys too," she was still smiling as she let him go, her eyes suspiciously watery. She was as easily moved as usual. "How have you been?"

"We're good," Kris answered. "No one got seriously injured or sick this year. Our studies went smoothly as well," he continued, still holding her hand gently with his own.

"Thank god for that. You both always have a knack to attract trouble one way or another after all. I'm glad that you're living a healthy and fun live out there." Elena chuckled elegantly, looking at Rudy and Kris' eyes fondly.

Rudy chuckled sheepishly and Kris looked down, trying not to look too guilty that what he said wasn't everything. He didn't lie exactly, no one got seriously injured in the tussle of the Four Lords' incident, but they got into trouble alright, especially Kris, because this world Kris was currently occupying his body in his original, more dangerous world, fighting monsters and dealing with a very evil version of Dellons. He couldn't help feeling rather sorry for the guy. He hoped he was still alive there. Well, he'd better be. Kris would be very pissed off if when he came back to his own body he ended up dying because his counterpart couldn't take care of it.

"And I'm so glad you can make it here again this year, both of you. The dance party tomorrow night wouldn't be as joyous without you here."

There was a slight pause before both he and Rudy looked at her, rather perplexed. "A dance party?" Rudy raised his eyebrows. "That's… different from the usual party," he mumbled.

"Will it involve an actual dance?" Kris asked, still bemused.

Elena giggled at them both. "Of course there will be an actual dance if by actual you mean waltz. Oh, and costumes, don't forget costumes. It's Evan's idea. There will be princes and princesses and knights in this party. I couldn't refuse his request since this will be his birthday party as well," she continued.

"Uh, but we don't actually bring any costume…" A bead of sweat rolled down Rudy's face as Kris mouthed at himself disbelievingly. A costume party with waltz, seriously. Kris didn't think he would still be dealing with balls in this world. He had had enough in his original world after all.

"Don't worry, my dear, the costumes are ready. All the girls and the nuns made them according to your sizes that you sent previously. They will match you stature perfectly," Elena tittered happily and both Kris and Rudy could only chuckled slightly at how happy she seemed to be. She must have been quite amused then.

So that was why Rudy had asked for Kris' size two weeks ago. Mother Elena must have sent him the message to ask and to send back to her after he got it.

"Well, have you boys eaten yet? I was about to go down to have breakfast with the other kids," Elena said and both Kris and Rudy reacted at that at the same time.

"That's right. We were here to ask you down for a breakfast together…" Kris looked at Rudy, raising his eyebrow as Rudy blinked at him, pausing, before he chuckled and Kris snorted lightly, and then they laughed together, feeling funny that they had said the same line at the same time.

Elena just chuckled at them for being so entertaining.

#

"Seriously, though, no one said anything about a dance party." Rudy moaned slightly as he sat on his bed in his old room.

Right after breakfast, both Kris and Rudy retreated to Rudy's room to put down their bags. Another twin sized bedding was situated beside his bed, since Kris would spend the night there as well. Usually Kris would have his own room, but since the usual room for Kris was repurposed as Karin's, he had to share with Rudy, hence the makeshift bed.

Kris stared at the bedding dubiously. Oh no, he was used to share a room with Rudy when he was still a child, but after he went into puberty? Not so much. He didn't trust himself not to make the situation weird, since… you know, an elephant sized crush he harbored for his best friend? Yeah, this could only end badly for him, especially for his dignity.

"A waltz… I can't believe I still have to do that here," Kris shook his head, trying to shake off his mind from the previous disturbing thought.

Take a deep breath, Kris. You will not make this weird. Rudy is your best friend, and it's not like you will share a bed with him. Get a grip of yourself!—Kris shook his head once again for a good measure as he sat on his bedding, after putting down his bag at the dresser.

"Well, at least you had a formal lesson to do that before," Rudy sighed. "I'm always going to be worried trying not to step on my partner's toe."

Kris chuckled at that. "You're not trying to rope me into teaching you how to dance, are you?"

Rudy went suspiciously quiet and Kris had to raise his eyebrows as he glanced at him. Rudy's face was a bit pink. "Wait, you are?" That was a surprise.

"No, no, no! I'll figure it out! I'm not trying to manipulate you into anything!" Rudy denied, covering his reddening face with both hands, still steaming in embarrassment.

Kris had to summon his will power not to laugh at how adorable Rudy was at the moment. He just shook his head again as he tossed a pillow at Rudy's head. "You're a very terrible liar." He couldn't help smiling fondly as Rudy squeaked when the pillow collided with his head.

"Ouch, come on, Kris!" Rudy laughed then, tossing the pillow back at Kris who expertly dodged it. Rudy's grin was contagious though, and Kris couldn't help chuckling with him after that.

#

"Oh, hey Kris, big bro Rudy!" Ariel waved at them to come closer when both he and Rudy wandered down to the living room. The girls, Ariel, Yuri, Helenia, Heavenia, Yui and Karin were sitting together near the hearth with a pile of clothes around their feet.

"Oh, what are these?" Rudy approached them with curiosity in his eyes as Kris raised his eyebrows, guessing that the clothes around the girls were costumes for the party tomorrow night.

"These are costumes for our party tomorrow!" Yuri answered excitedly.

"We already made a lot. Of course your costumes as well, Rudy, Kris! Come here for a bit and help us do the final fitting!" Yui added, her eyes sparkling.

"Whoah, you guys made these by yourself?" Rudy sat down beside Ariel and reached to touch one of the costumes, or part of them judging from the layers. "This is quite impressive. The detail is quite exquisite," he whistled slightly as he spread open the costume. It was a cape with hood, black with hints of tatters at the wits-end. A silver clip on the shoulder part to attach it to the armor-patterned dress robe under it. The dress-robe was also black with silvery threads that looked a lot like 'ribs and spine'.

Kris got an impression that that costume was his since it resembled his own armor back in his original world. He wondered if it was just coincidence or whether this world Kris had a thing for skulls or bones that everyone seemed to know and expect him to wear clothes with those patters on them.

"Is that mine?" Kris asked after he sighed lightly, following Rudy to sit beside Karin. The girl seemed to tense slightly before she made an effort to relax herself, then she glanced at Kris, as if to make sure that he spoke to hear instead of the others. Kris almost rolled his eyes, but he looked at her to reassure her that yes, he was talking to her.

"Oh, um… yes," Karin coughed slightly, her cheeks turning slightly pink, averting her eyes from him shyly. She was very shy indeed. Well, at least she wasn't as obnoxious as Yuri tended to be when she was excited. The orange haired girl was flailing her hands as she explained to Rudy their effort to make the costume one by one. Rudy always indulged her when she was on a roll, with Ariel and Yui adding comments here and there to verify some jargon that Rudy might have no reference about because teenage girls' speech sometimes confused him.

"Are you helping them with the costume as well?" Kris asked Karin again because she seemed to be content in watching the others interact, like she wasn't in the circle.

"What?" She turned to look at him again, looking perplexed, like she was confused why he was still talking to her. "Oh, um, I-… yes," she flushed even more, nodding slightly and trying to shift her gaze again, away from his.

Kris waited for her to continue, but she didn't seem about to. He inwardly sighed and asked again, "Did you embroider the armor pattern?"

"Um, no? That was Helenia. She's very good with sewing and stitching," Karin answered slowly. "I, uh… I did the designing, actually," her voice became a lot smaller at the end, her face so red like she had no confidence at all in her work.

Oh boy. Low self-esteem much?

"Well, I like your design. How did you know I have a thing for skulls and bones?" Kris gave her a small smile and she squeaked, blushing even harder.

"T-thank you… um, I didn't actually know, but when I saw your picture you seemed to be the kind of guy to… I just guessed," she stuttered cutely, covering her crimson face, which was steaming as well.

Kris couldn't help almost chuckling at that sweet view. She was very shy indeed, but it was cute. Kris reached his hand to pat her head and she flinched slightly before she looked upward at him, seeing his smile and flushing some more, stuttering again.

When Kris turned away from her and looked upward at the others, because they had become suspiciously quiet, he found the others staring at him silently with wonder in their eyes, except for Rudy whose expression was unreadable for some reason. "What?" He raised one of his eyebrows.

"Kris, you dog," Yuri smirked at him with twinkling eyes. "It's not even a day and you manage to make our shy new girl swoon." She laughed heartily and the other girls giggled at him, sans Karin who squeaked again and covered her steaming face more.

Kris rolled his eyes. "I was just talking to her." He stated, not really complaining as the other girls started to tease him and Karin about how he was so smooth in flirting as always while he denied it drily.

Rudy hadn't said anything and Kris felt that it was weird that he was so quiet about it. Usually he would jump into the fray to tease Kris as well for being a Casanova or something, joining in his sisters' humor. He smiled though, even though it looked almost wistful. Kris didn't have time to ponder too much about it as he was pulled by Heavenia to try the costume.

"Let us know if it needs something else to perfect it," she pushed the dress-robe, the pants and the cape to Kris' hand before pushing him into one of the room to change clothes. "You don't have to come out using the costume, though. We want to be surprised tomorrow night after all."

Kris almost asked how he would know whether or not it was perfect if she didn't see it on him for herself. But he thought the better of it and shrugged. He would just try the costume first.

After done changing, Kris looked at himself on the full body mirror and he couldn't help widening his eyes slightly at the reflection that stared back at him from the mirror. "Oh."

It had been awhile since he saw himself in this kind of getup, and there was a strange ache as he gazed at his so very familiar look in the mirror. The cape, the hood, the armor—even though it was only patterned dress-robe, it brought back memories of his time as the hell lord.

Kris chuckled a bit at the thought. Hell lord. He kind of missed it. He missed the life in Asgar. He missed his Rudy and the other Seven Knights, except maybe the evil incarnation that was the original Dellons. He wondered if he would be able to come home, back to where he belonged.

Kris looked at his bare hands. The costume could use some black gloves. That would be more authentic. He let out a small sigh then, before starting to undo his costume. He looked upward once again to the mirror and froze, widened his eyes once again as the reflection stared back at him. However, instead of mirroring Kris' expression and motion, his reflection opened his mouth and said something that he couldn't hear. His reflection moved closer to the mirror and put his gloved palms on the glass. His expression full of concern and Kris almost couldn't believe at the conclusion he drew from this crazy situation.

His counterpart was at the other side of the mirror.

Kris hurried closer to the mirror and stared at his reflection more carefully. He put his bare hands right on his counterpart's gloves on the glass and his reflection looked like he was relieved that Kris acknowledged his existence.

"How in the world…!" Kris started to speak, still partly in astonishment and disbelief, but his counterpart shook his head before he pointed at his own ear. It seemed that he couldn't hear Kris either. "You are in so much trouble, Mister," he huffed, scowling at his reflection as the other winced, seeming to understand that Kris was less than happy with their circumstance.

The other Kris looked down and closed his eyes as he rested his forehead on the glass. He opened his mouth again, and Kris was trying to make out his words despite not being good at reading lips movement. "Can't hear you," Kris said after narrowing his eyes and pointing at his own ear too and his counterpart looked slightly stricken at that.

After a few seconds, the other Kris tilted his head, like he heard something from somewhere outside of Kris' line of sight. He pulled back from the glass soon after and Kris immediately reacted, "Wait—!" but he stopped as his reflection stared back at him once again, mouthing something that he still couldn't hear, but could read from his remorseful expression.

"I am sorry."

"Easy for you to say. I want to-" Yet when Kris blinked, it was gone.

The reflection that stared back at Kris was his own this time, with the same disgruntled expression, the same scowl, and the same motion, down to the last detail.

"Seriously… what was that about?" Kris held down the urge to smash the mirror with his fist.

It was still shocking that Kris' counterpart could actually make a contact with him via mirror. How did he do that? The science in his original world was indeed probably more advanced since they had magic infused in it, but Kris Tenebra (his counterpart from this world) was also the one that built that device that had enhanced the energy of a magnetic field, strong enough to rip the membrane that separated this reality from that reality. Did he tell someone from his original world that they were swapped? Who gave him access to all the information and science of space and time continuum from his world?

How… how can I help from this side of reality?—Kris closed his eyes as he bumped his head on the mirror, frustrated.

Goddess, he felt so homesick. Even with all the memories and knowledge of his counterpart's life, stored in his brain and ready to be accessed all he wanted, Kris was still aware that this wasn't exactly his life.

I want to go home.

#

Rudy was carefully watching after Kris got out from the room with his costume in his hand. He told Ariel and the girls that it would be more authentic with black gloves and Heavenia stood up to look for some to complement it. Kris was more subdued as he sat back beside Karin. He didn't make small talk to her again. Or… precisely, he didn't talk to anyone again after that.

Kris' expression was thoughtful, if not slightly disturbed. Rudy wondered what made him wear such expression, but when Rudy caught Kris' eyes, he averted his face away from Rudy immediately, and Rudy felt that painful ache in his heart.

Is Kris still mad at me after all? Am I responsible for that expression?—Rudy hadn't gotten a verbal confirmation that Kris had forgiven him. Kris already talked to him again, laughed lightly with him even, but it might just be because Kris felt he had no choice despite his anger.

What if that was really the case? What if Kris merely tolerated his presence instead of wanting to be here? Rudy should have known that Kris was a very private person. He was totally stupid for thinking that he was entitled to know everything about Kris just because he was his best friend. Rudy should have known that. And yet…

Rudy had violated Kris' trust. Why should Kris forgive the transgression?

Rudy regretted it immensely. He would do anything, anything at all to earn Kris' forgiveness. He didn't want to lose his best friend. What should he do?

"Hey, big bro?"

Ariel's voice calling him surprised Rudy a bit. He looked upward at her with a jolt. "Yeah? What is it, Ariel?" He shook his head slightly to distract himself from his guilt.

Ariel looked at his face closely before she turned to look at Kris. "What's going on with you and Kris?" she asked, as sharp as always with her observation, but not unkindly.

Rudy winced slightly that he was so transparent, even his sister could see it so clearly that there was something wrong with his and Kris' relationship. Well, Rudy was never the best liar, but his transparency would be his doom someday.

Rudy took a deep breath before sighing despondently. "I did something stupid," he said, intending fully to confide in his sister of how truly a fool he had been. Foolish, insensitive, jerk.

He told her about how he and his friends tailed Kris when he had specifically asked to be left alone with his appointment. Then they made a fool of themselves for misunderstanding the whole situation, storming into the place where he thought Kris was held against his will, and humiliated him because their assumption had been wrong and that they had ruined a potential attempt from Kris to make new friends.

Though, seeing that Kris went to see Ace alone and Ace handing him some kind of present clearly told Rudy that Kris was successful in making friends with one of the Four Lords, if not more than friends. Rudy hadn't asked about that. He didn't dare, fearing the repercussion it could cause.

Rudy was also troubled about the ache in his chest whenever he thought Kris was with other people, the ugly feeling that he experienced, like he wanted to hurt those people, but he didn't tell Ariel about that part because it was irrational. He feared that he was becoming a bad person.

"Have you apologized?" Ariel asked, seeming rather confused.

"I have," Rudy nodded. "But I think… I think that was the line I shouldn't cross at all in the first place. Kris is a forgiving person… but the one thing he couldn't forgive… is a betrayal to his trust."

End of Round 8 Part 1

Tbc…

A/N: I'm sorry… the word-count got monstrous I had to cut it in 2 parts. The teaser from previous chapter will come up in the next round in part 2 of this subtitle. It will be a turning point somehow. I promised it won't be long until the end. Con-crit?