Hello there! Sorry for taking so long with this! I have a major writer's block.

Matt *murmurs*: She still does…

Shut it, Matt! Anywho…He's right, I'm just going to start the chapter with the slight idea that I've got. I will then proceed to let the chapter write itself.

Raguna: We would also like to take the time to explain that since people take 100 years to age a year, after the age of 15, everyone is kind of…15. Some of the people are years apart from each other but, thanks to the "a century to age a year" thing, they are all 15. Unless CWB specifies that someone is NOT 15, then please assume that they are, 15.

Thank you, Raguna. I almost forgot to explain that big fact to the readers. I was reading past chapters and noticed that I messed up on Ivan's age. His age is 15 NOT 16. Please disregard that, I believe it was a mistype since I was thinking they'd be 15 from the very start of the story.

Raguna: No problem, Clara!

Sophie: Bunch of little kids, getting distracted and not starting the chapter.

Okay, I'll get right on that ma'am:

"Speaking"

/thoughts/

((Telepathy)) ((Telepathy))

Ivan: CWB doesn't own Rune Factory. She only own Matt, the kid, the riddle, and the plot of this fanfic.

Btw, please excuse the title of this chapter. I just felt that it somehow fit this chapter.


Chapter 12: What?...Raguna!


Last Chapter: Once I got to Raguna's house I stopped and looked at what was in front of Raguna's house. It was a brown haired cat with dark blue eyes. The cat (or was it a kit?) was licking a front paw. It seemed like it heard me approach since it looked up at me. I looked at the cat's eyes and the cat looked back, so intensely that I started to wonder if that was a normal. The cat then blinked twice and meowed, then it dashed into town.

/Rule number 1: always be ready for these types of things around Raguna. Rule number 2: Do not question things that happen around Raguna, or Kardia in general, if you want to keep a stable mind. It seems that the people got accustomed to not questioning things that happen around the town./ I thought, a bit amused. I then approached the door to knock on it.


(Ivan's POV: still)

I waited for a couple of seconds after knocking on the door but nothing happened. I knocked again just in case and waited for bit longer. Once again, nothing happened.

/Is he home? He may have gone out for a moment./

Seeing that nothing was going to happen, I started to walk towards my house when suddenly…

"Ahhhghhh!" I hear some sort of yell. It sounded like an animal. My curiosity gets the better of me and I run towards the sound.

"Ahhhggghh!" There it was again, I followed the new one and I found myself inside of the forest besides Raguna's house.

I hear some panting which is quickly followed by a groan and a whimpering sound, plus some gasps. I also hear footsteps from the other direction. That can only mean that someone else heard these noises.

"Are you alright!?" That voice…it seemed familiar. Where have I heard it before? I get closer and what I see surprises me. The one that spoke must've been Kyle, but that wasn't what astonished me to the point of horror. On the ground, clutching both of his sides was Raguna. Does that mean that it was Raguna making those noises before?

I was going to say something to announce that I was there, but Kyle started talking again.

"Raguna, you need to drink. Please don't allow yourself to suffer like this." Kyle sounded desperate. I know I really should say something, but curiosity is getting the better of me. I shouldn't let it get the better of me, but…

"I wanted to see how long I could last since you and Micah are going to be leaving today. This makes it clear that I can't last much without needing to drink again. Agh!" It pains me to hear Raguna in such pain. I want to go over and help, but it doesn't seem like I'll be able to. At this point, I think all I would manage to do is scare him off. If he doesn't want me to see him like this, he'll just run off. I hate feeling this helpless!

"Forget that! I'll come by no matter how many times you need me to! Just please Raguna, don't let yourself get like this." Kyle said, with clear desperation in his voice. A tiny part of my brain seems to ask "What in Norad is going on!?", while the other part says "Help him! But I can't! Doesn't matter! Just do something!" and another part offers up the thought of "This may be because of the experimentation he mentioned before…" All of my thoughts are rolling around in my brain, too fast for me to focus on just one of them.

Kyle pulls his sleeve up and puts his wrist in front of Raguna. What is he…?

"Drink, Raguna." Kyle says in a firm but gentle voice. Drink? Does he mean to drink from his wrist? Wait a second, there are three species…Could it be that…

My thoughts couldn't more jumbled up, but I got confirmation for my theory when I saw Raguna open his mouth and some fangs pop out. Raguna then bit Kyle's wrist, after a few seconds, Raguna closed his eyes. Relief was visible in Raguna's expression.

Kyle sighed in relief, or what I think is relief, and puts his free hand on top of Raguna's head. He gently pats Raguna's hair while he's drinking from Kyle.

Raguna pulls away after about a minute.

"Thanks Kyle." Raguna sounds like he's back to normal again.

"No problem Raguna. Just please, don't scare me like that again!" Kyle said, probably a bit more harshly then he most likely intended. Now, I'm only saying that because of what happened the second Kyle said those words.

"I-I'm sorry." Raguna looked so down that it metaphorically broke my heart. That was nothing compared to the tears that started pouring from his eyes. I never want to see him so upset, much less crying, again. I'll hand myself over to Firesome and Terrable if I'm the one to make him look like that. I have no idea how much more my heart can take.

Kyle seemed to get panicked when he saw Raguna start crying.

"Now, now, Raguna, shh…No need for those tears. They really don't suit you. I like seeing the smile more than the frown. Shh, I'm not mad at 'ya kiddo." Kyle said, while pulling Raguna into a hug. Raguna silently cried until he calmed down due to the soothing strokes that Kyle was giving to Raguna's hair.

That's when I noticed that they seemed to be awfully close. From what I've seen so far, Raguna doesn't seem to be the type to let people close to him. With Micah and Kyle, it seems like he's a completely different person. Which is Raguna's true self? The one that seems closed off, or the one that I've seen come out when Micah and Kyle are around? Maybe it's both?

I take one last look at Kyle trying to calm Raguna down, to make sure that Raguna is alright. I slowly get up and leave as quietly as I possibly can. I go back to my house and order some salad from the bar to pick up later. I then sit down on the couch so that I can sort through my thoughts, unconsciously closing my eyes.

++++( Another Scene: Raguna's POV: His house)

I've been home for quite a while now. I've been able to calm down from the, uh, incident this morning. It is now around 6:00pm, take or add a few minutes.

/By Aquaticus! That was so embarrassing! I won't say I didn't enjoy being comforted like that, especially the patting part, but that was down-right embarrassing!/

I've actually calmed down quite a bit since this morning, what hasn't gone away is the feeling of sheer embarrassment.

((Raguna? Are you alright?)) Matt asked with a worried tone. Where are the days where I'd question if the tone was genuine or not?

((Yeah, or at least I will be. I'll explain it at some point, since I'm sure you're wondering what that was. You'll just have to wait until the second one that needs to hear this comes around. Actually, I'll text him right now.))

((Ok, if you're sure about it. I don't want to do or hear anything you wouldn't want me to.)) I could still hear some concern in Matt's voice.

((It's fine, besides, this will happen many more times.))

I finished writing the text and sent it, now all I have to do is wait for him to come over, because there is no doubt that he will come over here.

++++(Another Scene: Ivan's POV: His house)

My phone beeped and I took it out to check what it was. I see a text from Raguna.

Raguna: Ivan, please come over to my house, I believe I should explain something to you.

Straight to the point, huh? What would he need to explain to me though? Unless he knows that I was there this morning. I get up from the couch and make my way over to Raguna's house.

++++(Another Scene: Raguna's house: Ivan's POV)

I got to Raguna's house and he let me inside. Raguna took out some chocolate chip cookies and some milk. I took a cookie and bit into it. The chocolate chips were melted and it tasted even better then the store-bought version. Maybe I'm just a sucker for homemade things, but these are delicious!

"These are great!" I told Raguna, it seemed like Raguna was surprised at the compliment. He still smiled though, that's loads better than seeing him upset.

"Thanks." Raguna said quietly as he took a seat in front of me.

"Thanks for this morning as well…" Raguna said softly. 'This morning'? So he does know I was there? I looked at him with a curious expression and Raguna let out a small chuckle.

"I know you were there when I…" Raguna shook his head. "Anyhow, I know you were there and thought it was best if I explained." Raguna finished.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Raguna." I said, not wanting to force him into anything. I may be curious but, I don't want Raguna to feel as if he has no other choice.

*Raguna sighs* "I don't know how you managed to do it. I truly don't but, you managed to gain my trust. Not my full trust, but some of it. For one, you haven't tried to manipulate me yet, and you haven't forced me into explaining anything either. You could've demanded answers about the organization, but you didn't. You accepted what I was willing to give out and I'm certain you had more questions, yet you didn't ask." Raguna explained. Everything that Raguna is saying is true. I did have more questions, but I wanted Raguna to be the one to come talk to me. Demanding answers would've made things worse and he would've been upset about it.

"Today, even though you saw that, you could've gone in right there and demanded answers, yet, you didn't.I'm glad you didn't since I would've probably freaked out and ran off, considering how bad of an emotional breakdown I was having. What's more is that you still came here. I knew you'd come but I was uncertain if you would've been afraid, or disgusted. You're the only one aside from Micah and Kyle that has managed to get this close to me, to the point that I'm okay with letting you be around me, so I didn't want to lose the friendship I feel with you. Others have tried to get closer to me, but they've all failed." Raguna shrugs and smiles sadly, the dejected tone in his voice makes me feel like my heart is being torn apart. Hearing that I'm the first one to get close to him makes me happy but, it's a bit sad that he hasn't been able to feel comfortable with anyone else.

"Some have tried to manipulate me, others tried to kill me, most have another purpose, and the rest start demanding answers and demanding that I open up to them. I may have been a bit more closed off to you then I would typically be, but I wanted to see how much I could push you." Raguna said, sadness creeping into his tone, he looked a bit regretful. What I'm getting from this is that, in other words, Raguna was testing me. I didn't know it, but he's probably been testing me this whole time. I gather up my courage to ask the one question that is in my mind right now.

"Which part was the test? I would ask about the other things but, I doubt you'd want to talk about them." Manipulation is certainly something I wouldn't want to talk about. It usually comes with deep roots into something I would usually not talk about. I don't think I would like to hear who tried to kill him because that would make me want to go and kill them, maybe set Firesome on them. Most of them having a hidden agenda when they approach you is a bit to common in the business world, so I've seen that a lot. It would still make me want to hunt down the ones that tried using him, or the ones that approached him with other purposes in mind.

"That's the other thing; you don't ask things of me that you think I wouldn't be comfortable with. The others wouldn't have cared about that. You've surpassed all the others by not doing the things they did, even though you wanted answers. I can feel that you still do. I'll explain that 'feeling' later since it has to do with what I am. As for the tests, the only true test was the one where I explained about the organization. I would've been okay with explaining a bit further, I may not have particularly liked explaining further, but I still would've done it. When I told you about the paranoia, you seemed to want to ask more on the topic, but you didn't. That was another of the test, it wasn't intentional but, I passed it off as a test for you. Most of the things can actually be passed off as tests, but my feelings through them are true. The one about the girl and the kid, they were both captured by the organization, that explanation, the very first I've given you, was not a test. It was accidental really, I don't know why but, my instincts told me it was okay to trust you with that. I was certain that you would demand answers, and while you did ask a question, you also left open the option of not having to tell you. Kind of like what you did at the beginning of this conversation. That in and of itself, was what allowed me to give you a chance." Raguna explained, sounding a bit happier at the end. Raguna's eyes look bright; I can tell he's happy.

What is he happy about? Could Raguna be happy because he was able to give me a chance to get closer to him? Is it because I haven't done anything bad against him? One thing that I know for certain is that Raguna's emotions and way of thinking seem to be complex…extremely complex.

I let out a small smile.

"I'm glad I was able to get to spend time with you Raguna. I know that you are closed off, but that doesn't bother me. I noticed the look of wonder when you would sometimes look at me. I'm now certain that it was because of one thing..." I look at Raguna seriously.

"Raguna, I'm not around you for something in exchange. The only thing I could possibly want from this is to get to know you better. Only in my worst nightmare would I try to hurt you. I've seen many people with hidden agendas trying to get close to me. I hated it when they did that, since it was hard to distinguish between the real person, and the mask they put on to hide their agenda. I know you may not believe me, Raguna, but I promise you that I would never do anything against you, or anything that would hurt you. Those are the last things I want to do." I said, determined to make my feelings as clear as possible.

Raguna looked me directly in the eyes, as if searching for something in my expression. He must've found what he was looking for because after a while, he gave me a smile.

"I had a feeling that's why you never questioned things and always let me have my space. I don't understand why though, you used to know me, even though I don't remember. If anyone had any right to demand answers, it would be you." Raguna asked, desperation creeping into his voice.

"No, Raguna, I still wouldn't have any right. There is nothing to give anyone the right to invade someone else's privacy. While I may have known you in the past, I don't know you now. To be fair, while some things have changed, a biggie being our relationship to each other, your personality is still the same. If it isn't then it would just be a bit worse, for example, you were closed off before and now you are even more closed off. Your personality hasn't changed much Raguna." I told him.

Raguna smiled and his eyes got a bit watery, for a second I thought I'd said something wrong…

"Thank you, Ivan." Raguna said quietly. I smiled at Raguna. I was mistaken, I hadn't upset him, Raguna was just relieved. This reaction though, made me wonder how many times Raguna had tried to get close to someone, just to end up hurt.

"You're welcome Raguna." I'll worry about hunting down the ones that dared to hurt him later, Raguna needs me now.

"I guess I should explain about today." I try to talk but Raguna cuts me off.

"I'm doing this because I want to, Ivan." That shut me up and I gave Raguna a nod.

"You see Ivan, I'm a…"


And we will never know what Raguna was about to say! Happy holidays everyone! I made this chappie extra long and interesting just for you guys! Please Review, they feed my motivation.

Btw, this was your present, a longer chapter. Maybe a more interesting one?

Questions:

What do you think Raguna is? Hint: It's two species mixed into one person. Yikes. (I gave some hints in between this chapter and last chapter. (11-12))

What about Ivan's thinking and Raguna's personality? Were those realistic?

Also, what do you think of Raguna's relationship?

Matt wasn't in this so much, lol. I had no idea what to do with him for this chapter. Though he has been hearing Raguna and Ivan's conversation, don't forget that.

Any questions for me? I won't bite…Raguna might, but I won't! :D

P.S.

I sort of hopped onto the Fluff Express through this chapter. lol. Was the fluff good? You did notice the fluff right? Before anyone asks, Raguna will end up with a bachelorette. he he

What do you think Raguna and Kyle's relationship is?