Author's Note: Heya, lovelies! Nice to see you again~! And HAPPY NEW YEAR, by the way! Holy jesus I can't believe I'll be graduating highschool in just a few months. That's just cray cray!

Alba: You're growing up!

Shima: Looks like somebody's feeling better. Sorry I had to put you through that torture, sweetheart.

Alba: It's okay...as long as you're sorry.

Shima: Of course (not)!

Alba: W-wait, what did you just—

Shima: Review time! Whoop!

Ali-chan: I figured you would. -insert troll face here- I know things seem bad, but...uh, I can't finish this sentence on a good note. XD Of course~ Thanks for leaving a review!

loverofallanime: Allow me to rub more salt into your wound! YIPPEE! Glad I was able to make you feel feely and chilly. Success! Don't worry, I didn't forget. There's a difference between forgetting and just being lazy. That and I wanted to wait and see if anyone else would review...I guess not, huh? Thanks, dear!

Thanks to you two for keeping me motivated. What's up, everyone else? Did you forget about me or are you just too lazy to review? Please, I want to know how others feel about this...don't let me and Alba down, alright? Speaking of Alba...

WARNING: Just a little one this time, this chapter involves a mental breakdown/meltdown/panic attack/whatever you'd like to call it, along with some minor language. If you're uncomfortable with that, uh, get out of here! Seriously why are you still reading? Okay, Alba, disclaimer?

Alba: Shima doesn't own Senyuu.

Shima: Yeah, 'cause if I did, we'd already be halfway into season 7. Seriously.

Hey, have you guys noticed that Alba's developed a bit of a Ros obsession? Well maybe that's the insanity talking, but I just noticed it.

Alba: I-I-I DO NOT HAVE A ROS OBSESSION!

Shima & Ros: Yes, you do.

Shima: Oh, hey, Ros. There you are! Can you start us off?

Ros: Roll the chappy.

Alba: I DON'T, I SWEAR!

Chapter 8

Beautiful Delusions

The silence was deafening. He sat in the darkness for a long time—how long, he couldn't be sure, he stopped counting after second one thousand fifty-two—wondering, pondering, on who he was.

It took a while for it all to come back, but he remembered eventually.

He was Alba, the hero. He had lots of friends, like Rchi and Foyfoy and Ares. He was a sophomore in highschool. His mother was a wonderful woman, and his father was a brave adventurer who traveled the world. His favorite number was forty-five. He had brown hair and honey-colored eyes. He was fifteen. He was a little short for his age. He wasn't that strong. He was planning on taking kendo to help him get stronger.

He was in love with a boy named Ros.

But Ros wasn't there anymore. Ros left him five months ago, without a word. But then he started getting texts from Ros. But those texts weren't actually from Ros, they were from an evil person named Elf who kissed him and knocked him out and tied him up and sta—

Alba erupted into shivers. No, he wasn't going to think about that. He'd just gotten his sanity back, he didn't want to lose it again by remembering that horrible incident.

Think about something better. Ros. Ros is...

He loved Ros. He loved him a lot.

He couldn't really remember him that much. It'd been so long since he'd seen him. But he recalled a lot of the important things about him.

Ros was tall. Ros had black, spiky hair. Ros acted mean to him, but he was actually a really kind person. Ros was pale. Ros didn't really like talking to other people. But Ros always liked talking to him, to Alba.

Ros was—

Suddenly, the door to wherever he was being held creaked open. Alba immediately shuffled back, eyes wide. He opened his mouth to scream, but found that no sounds were coming out. Ah, right. Elf had taken away his voice. He wondered if he could get it back, somehow.

A silhouette appeared in front of him, but it wasn't the person he was expecting.

Whoever they were, they were tall, with black spiky hair and pale skin...

No, it couldn't be—

"Oh my god, Alba," the person breathed. Alba stared back at them, speechless. The person came forward and wrapped him up in a tight embrace.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry it took me so long to find you..." The figure whispered into his ear while cutting the ropes that bound his wrists and ankles.

Alba began to shake.

They pulled away, looking at him with an apprehensive expression. "...Alba?"

Alba's eyes filled up with tears. They slipped past his eyelashes and slid down his face and dampened his cheeks.

"Oh, Alba..." The boy murmured.

It was him. He'd come back. He found him.

It was him. It was him. It was—

"Ros!" Alba cried, launching forward and flinging his arms around Ros' neck. The teen stiffened immediately, but Alba didn't notice.

"Ros, oh, Ros!" Alba sobbed into his shoulder. "Y-you're here! You're really here!"

Ros slowly returned his hug. He seemed unsure. But why?

"Alba..."

"I knew you'd come for me..." Alba laughed breathlessly.

"Oh, god," he heard Ros moan, "what did that bastard do to you?"

"I waited for so long. I knew you'd find me. I just knew it. So even when that guy kept cutting me open, I thought of you and I knew you'd come to save me so I wasn't worried at all and I just closed my eyes and didn't pay attention to the pain because I knew you'd find me soon." Alba rambled, nuzzling his face into Ros' hair.

Ros began to shake against him. "Oh god, oh god," Ros whimpered, "what did he do to you? What did he do?"

Alba pulled away and looked at Ros' face curiously. "He only cut me up a little, but I'm fine 'cause you're here." He paused, frowning. "Why did you take so long, Ros? I waited for such a long time."

He watched as Ros started to cry. But why? Why was he crying?

"Th...that bastard," Ros wept. Tears kept falling down his face like a waterfall. "I-I'll kill him."

Kill...?

Kill. Kill. Kill.

No.

Somebody was going to get hurt again?

Alba backed away, vision blurring.

Ros wiped his eyes and looked at him, concerned. "Alba?"

"N...no," Alba gasped, his back hitting the wall. Elf was here. But why? Where was Ros?

Did he take Ros away?

Elf reached out for him. "Al—"

"No!" Alba screamed, slapping his hand away. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone! Where's Ros?! Where did you put him?! Bring him back!"

Elf looked alarmed. "Alba—"

"Don't hurt me!" Alba started crying again. "P-please don't hurt me! Give Ros back! I want Ros! I want—"

He started yelling at the top of his lungs when Elf hugged him.

"Let me go!" He shrieked, "Let me go! Ros! Roooossss!"

"Alba, Alba! It's okay! It's okay, I'm here!" The person said frantically into his ear. "It's me. I've got you. It's gonna be alright."

Alba slumped against him, trembling. Who was this person? It couldn't be Elf. Elf would be cutting him up by now. So it had to be...yes, it had to be...

"Ros," he sobbed. "R-Ros. Where did you go? I called out for you over and over and you didn't answer me. I waited and you didn't come. Why? Why didn't you help me?"

"Oh, Alba, Alba," Ros rocked him in his arms, sounding close to tears himself. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I—I wanted to find you, I did, but I just..."

"Ros," Alba pleaded quietly, "I want to go home. Please, take me home."

Ros sniffed and nodded against him. "O-okay. Okay. Let's go home."

Alba lifted his arms and Ros picked him up, cradling him to his chest. He drifted in and out of consciousness as Ros snuck out of the horrible place he'd been held captive in.

As Ros carried him down the street towards a large white building with a red cross on it, Alba caught a glimpse of his eyes in the light.

Had Ros' eyes always been black?

Shima: What's THIS? Ros has come back? Or HAS he? Who knows...

Alba: Seriously Shima, you need to stop getting our hopes up!

Shima: -cackles- Whatever are you talking about, my dear Alba?

Ros: You're full of mysteries.

Shima: Haha! Alright, everyone, please leave a review telling me what you thought! And so...

-ahem-

(Announcer voice) Will Alba be alright? Was the person who rescued him really Ros? What will happen to the notorious Elf? How can things get any worse? Find out in the next chapter of...

Shadows Are Darker in the Light!

Until next time!