Author's Note: HAY LOOK I'M NOT DEAD—

-shot-

I am SO sorry, you guys! I know I promised I'd update soon, but I lied, I'm a liar, I'm horrible and you probably hate my guts and oh PLEASE forgive me...

Alba: Shima, what the hell happened to you?

Shima: Um, life got in the way? But I promise, I PROMISE I will not ditch this story, ever. Even if it takes me a months to write a new chapter, I will not leave it in the dust, I refuse. Nope.

Now, for quick reviews and then we can get started, yeah?

Kotoko-kurasaki: Hey, don't worry about being busy! I am too (obviously from my lack of updates)! Yes, I know Elf's not actually a bad person...god yes I ship him with Alf too XD Nani? You don't ship Teuffel and Ares? WHY? They're so cute together ;w; 'Cause, ya know, Teuf's the butler and Ares is the maid...they're perf for each other! But, hey, I never considered TeuffelXClare/Crea before, maybe I'll think about it! And yes, Clare is gonna show up. I couldn't have a Senyuu fic without him in there somewhere, haha! Oh, and...-punches Ros-

Ros: Ow! What the hell?

Shima: They asked me to! (Btw I love ya too thanks for reviewing :D)

celmiji: Haha your reviews made me laugh so hard XD If you hate me that much, it means I've done a good job! Don't hate Elf because of me, he's a good character, honest! He's just not so good in this story...Thanks for your feedback, hopefully you'll leave me a review soon?

Okay, moving on, let's get this started so people can stop wanting to stab me with forks, alrighty? Ros, disclaimer!

Ros: Shima doesn't own Senyuu.

Shima: Yuppers! Kay-o, let's begin~

Alba: Roll the chappy!

Chapter 11

Faker

After that, things seemed to return to normal, for the most part. When Alba arrived home from the hospital, his mother burst into tears and wouldn't let him go for ten minutes. Teuffel simply watched on in amusement as the boy struggled to escape from her grasp.

Then came the awkward introduction part.

Alba bid them goodnight and went up to his room to sleep. Teuffel remained in the doorway, eyes downcast.

Alba's mother turned to him with a smile. "So you're the boy I've heard so much about," she said. "Thank you for taking such good care of my Alba."

Teuffel winced. "Ah, yes...about that...I'm, uh...I'm not Ros." He looked into her eyes seriously. "My name is Teuffel."

Alba's mother stared at him. "Huh?"

He then proceeded to sit her down and explain everything. He tried to leave out all the gory details for her sake. Still, when he told her that Alba had developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and couldn't tell the difference between himself and Ros, it still broke her heart anyway.

"I don't know how long it'll take for him to go back to normal," he told her quietly. "I don't know if he ever will. But, for now, I'll play along until it's time to tell him the truth."

Alba's mother didn't reply, instead, she let out a quiet sob, dabbing at her face with a handkerchief.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to him, Mrs. Fruhling," he whispered. He clenched his hands together. "If only I'd...just been brave enough to go in there before anything bad happened..." Tears began to slide down his cheeks. "I-I'm such a coward. This is my fault. I'm so s-sorry..."

"Oh, no, sweetheart," the older woman shook her head, holding his hands in hers. "Don't blame yourself. If it wasn't for you, Alba would probably still be in there. You saved him. I can't thank you enough."

"M-Mrs. Fruhling..." Teuffel mumbled, wiping his eyes.

She let out a deep sigh. "I wish there was more I could do for him. He's...he's changed so much. He used to be such a happy child before his father left."

Teuffel sniffed and blinked at her. "Huh? What do you mean...?"

Mrs. Fruhling looked away, appearing melancholic. "His father left ten years ago to travel the world. He sends postcards sometimes, but..." She exhaled softly. "Alba just wasn't the same without his father around. He was his entire world. He'd always tell Alba stories about adventures and they'd go into the backyard to play hero all the time. To Alba, Midnight was his role model...but after he left, the light in Alba's eyes vanished. He got over it eventually, but he was never the same again."

Teuffel couldn't believe what he was hearing. So the Alba he knew now wasn't always like that? He'd never known this side of Alba before. It was hard to believe that the brunette wasn't always the cheerful and happy teen he knew today.

"He was very quiet and reserved all throughout elementary school and junior high. He had very low self-esteem. He'd get bullied a lot by the other children in his class. I didn't know what to do with him. He'd always be happy whenever his father sent a postcard, but after that he'd go back to the way he was before." She rested her head in the palm of her hand, reminiscing.

Teuffel fought the urge to cry again. He never knew how tough life actually was for Alba.

"It was very hard for him, growing up without a father. I thought things would continue to be that way, but then...he went into highschool."

She smiled. "And from there, things changed drastically."

Mrs. Fruhling looked up in surprise when her son came crashing through the door, looking positively pissed.

She raised an eyebrow as he passed her and threw his stuff onto the table, fuming.

"Alba, dear? Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned.

"No! No, it's not!" Alba responded, grinding his teeth.

"What happened? Was your first day of school that bad?" She questioned, watching as he crossed his arms and pouted.

"No, it was fine. But that damn Ros, he...!"

"Alba! Language!"

He blinked at her apologetically. "Sorry, Mom."

She sighed and leaned against the counter. "So what happened?"

Alba stuck out his lower lip and stared at the ground. "There's this guy named Ros, see? And he makes me so mad! He teases me all the time and he punches me for fun!"

Mrs. Fruhling gasped. "Oh, my."

Alba relaxed after this. "I met some really nice people, though. There's this girl named Rchi and she has pink hair. But unlike Ros, she's actually nice to me." His frown reappeared. "And you know the worst part? We live really close, so he walked home with me! And he made fun of me the entire time! It got me so mad!"

Mrs. Fruhling titled her head to the side, pondering. "Well, sweetie, it seems to me that this boy likes you."

Immediately, Alba's cheeks flushed. "W-what?!"

"Well he teases you and punches you, right? And that must mean he likes you quite a lot." She regarded him carefully. "And judging from your reaction, you must like him too. I mean, dear, you've never acted this way towards anyone who's made fun of you before. And you're not crying, so I'm guessing he didn't beat you to a pulp like the other bullies usually do, right?"

"M-Mom!" Alba yelped, clearly embarrassed.

"Am I right?" She continued, smiling.

"N-no! That's so not true!" Alba answered, blushing fiercely. "Wh-whatever! I'm just...gonna go do my homework!" And with that, he stomped away.

Mrs. Fruhling watched him go, giggling. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's acting like a teenage girl."

"Things started to change after that," Mrs. Fruhling said. "Alba made friends, for the first time in a long time. I don't know what that Ros boy did, but thanks to him, Alba started regaining some of his confidence, and the light in his eyes came back. I'd never seen him so happy."

Teuffel wrung his hands in his lap, refusing to meet her gaze.

He knew it. He knew it all along. But to have it confirmed? Well, it hurt like hell, it did.

He'd always disliked Ros. Maybe because he was jealous of him. Maybe because he annoyed him. Or maybe because Ros was the reason behind Alba's happiness, and that's what Teuffel wanted to be.

To hear that Ros was the one who made Alba smile and laugh and be who he was now really stung. It wasn't fair. It wasn't. Because now he knew the truth.

He could never be Ros. He could never replace him, ever. Ros had a permanent place inside Alba's heart, and Teuffel couldn't take that place. He thought he could, once. But now he knew it was impossible.

Because Ros was Alba's reason to be happy. Ros brought back all of the joy that Alba had been missing, craving, for so long. And Teuffel couldn't do that. Only Ros could.

"Of course, that happiness didn't last for very long, because Ros moved away...huh? Teuffel, dear, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Teuffel staggered to his feet. He couldn't be here. Not right now.

"I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Fruhling...I can't stay. I have to leave..." He mumbled, making his way over to the front door.

"Oh, I see...are you sure you're alright, dear?"

Teuffel was feeling lightheaded. Sleep. He needed to sleep. He was so tired...

Maybe he'd wake up tomorrow and find out it was all a nightmare.

"I...I'm fine. I need to go..." He opened the door and stepped outside, welcoming the cool air.

"Oh, alright...please stop by again soon, okay?"

He nodded. "Y...yes. Tell Alba I'll see him tomorrow..."

"Of course. Have a good night. And thank you for everything," she said sincerely.

Home. He needed to get home... "U-uh...yeah, sure...'bye."

And he ran off into the night.

As soon as Teuffel got home, he went straight to bed. And maybe, maybe he cried himself to sleep—he couldn't be sure, though, since when he woke up the next day, the night before was all a blur in his mind. His narcolepsy tended to fuzz out his memories sometimes, especially in cases where he was extremely tired.

Teuffel arrived at Alba's door the next morning, seeing as it was a Saturday and the brunette would most likely search the entire town for him if he didn't visit right away. He fidgeted with nervousness, though he couldn't be sure as to why. He'd already gotten the hang of pretending to act like Ros, so what was his problem? Maybe the whole idea of him doing it still unnerved him.

It made sense, actually.

The door swung open, revealing Alba's sweet mother, hair tied back into a ponytail, eyes bright with a mixture of liveliness and worry.

"Oh, Teuffel! Good morning," she greeted, smiling at him. "Come on in. Alba's been ranting about you from the moment he woke up."

"Yeah, but not about me," Teuffel muttered as he stepped inside.

"What was that?"

"O-oh, it's nothing."

She sat him down on the couch before wandering off into the kitchen, saying that Alba would be down in just a moment. And this statement proved to be true when she called up the the teen with a, "Alba, honey? Teu...Ros is here!"

Teuffel inwardly grimaced at her slip-up, hoping Alba wouldn't notice. All was forgotten when said boy came racing down the stairs, half-dressed and hair a complete mess.

Teuffel barely had time to respond before the teen had tackled him, squeezing his midsection so tightly that it made his breath whoosh out of his lungs.

"Ros!" Alba cried joyfully, grinning like the sun.

"H-Hero," Teuffel choked, tugging weakly on his arm, "get off...can't breathe..."

Alba immediately jumped back with something that sounded like a squeal. "O-oh! Sorry, sorry!"

Teuffel took a moment to catch his breath, and then his cheeks turned an abrupt shade of pink. Alba looked...adorable. His face was flushed with embarrassment, hazel eyes wide as the sky, bed head prominent by the several bangs that flopped onto his forehead, opposed to their normal slicked back style. He was dressed in a casual t-shirt and his pajama pants. Apparently, in his excitement to see "Ros", he'd forgotten he was still wearing them. Teuffel could practically feel his heart exploding from the cuteness. He couldn't stand it!

"I, um," Alba started, giggling. "I didn't think you'd be here so early..."

Teuffel blinked at him, mouth gaping.

...Oh, right. He wanted a response, didn't he?

"Well, I...didn't want to hear you complain if I was late, Hero."

Alba stuck out his lower lip teasingly at him, an amused glint in his eye. Then, the look faded away to be replaced by a somewhat concerned expression.

Teuffel gasped in surprise when he found himself in Alba's embrace again. Tingles shot up his spine as the brunette held him close, closer than he'd ever held him before.

"S-sorry," Alba whispered into his shoulder, "I, uh...I was just kinda afraid that, when I woke up, the entire thing would be just a dream and you wouldn't be here."

I almost wish it was a dream, Teuffel thought with a sigh before he awkwardly patted the boy's head. "I told you I'm not leaving."

He heard Alba chuckle against him. "You're being shockingly honest."

Teuffel flushed a bit. "Yeah, well..." Not really.

Alba finally pulled away, and Teuffel was torn between feeling relieved and disappointed. The boy shot him a nervous, shy smile.

"So, uh...wanna go do something?" He asked curiously.

Teuffel blinked. "Like what?"

"I-I don't know! You decide," Alba huffed, crossing his arms.

"Like, you mean...go out and see a movie...or something?" Teuffel wondered.

Alba paused, mulling this over, before he nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I mean, if you want to."

Teuffel flushed a bit. Was Alba asking him on a...date? A date with Alba? Taking Alba on a date?

It was strange. It was something he'd dreamed of doing for the longest time, yet now that he was at that point he wasn't so sure. It probably related back to the fact that he'd be going out with the brunette not as himself, but as the person he pretended to be. The person he didn't really want to be.

With a little shrug, he nodded. "Okay, sure." But of he course he agreed to it anyway, and then proceeded to mentally beat himself up over it afterward.

"G-great! I'll go get dressed!" Alba told him before rushing back upstairs in a flash.

He was done in minutes, returning downstairs with hair brushed back, clothes tidy, and covered in those awful bandages. Yet, he still managed to look so cute in Teuffel's eyes.

"Mom? Ros and I are gonna go see a movie!" Alba called into the kitchen.

"Okay, dear! Have fun and be safe! Look out for him, Ros!" She called back to the pair.

Alba turned to Teuffel, looking strangely content in contrast to recent events. "Ready?"

Teuffel nodded. "Yup. Let's go."

After their movie (which was quite uneventful), Teuffel returned Alba home before going home himself, hoping that maybe Alba would snap out of the weird trance he seemed to be trapped in. Of course, his hopes were shattered the next day when the brunette cheerfully greeted him as Ros once more.

The next few weeks continued on in this manner. Alba's mental state didn't seem to improve a bit, even when he returned to school. Teuffel was sure to inform his teachers and other classmates of the teen's fragile condition. They found it uncomfortable to call him by a name that wasn't his own, but they got used to it after a while. Soon Teuffel's own friends started calling him Ros out of habit, even when Alba wasn't around.

Teuffel didn't know what to do. He was losing his sense of self, who he truly was. He was being molded into Ros' image—his name, his looks, his personality, his everything. Teuffel didn't even know who Teuffel was anymore.

Who was he? Was he Ros, the handsome and heroic heart throb of every girl (and Alba) in school? Or was he Teuffel, shy and sensitive narcoleptic boy with brilliant powers of perception? He couldn't be sure. He couldn't be sure of anything anymore.

Eventually he started to get fed up with it. He didn't want this identity, this fake act that he despised putting on. He regretted getting himself into this situation in the first place. He wanted to tell Alba the truth and get it overwith. But yet again, the fears came creeping in, reminding him of just how unstable Alba could be—what if he told the boy and Alba snapped? Lost his marbles? Ros meant the world to him, and if he found out his "Ros" wasn't really his "Ros" at all, how would he react? Teuffel didn't want to destroy the boy from inside out because of this. But he couldn't keep it up for much longer before he snapped himself. He was so torn up inside about the whole thing, it was driving him insane.

He was still pondering on what to do when his own mother started calling him Ros, for he'd told her everything about what happened and would tell her the day's events when getting home from school. And this was his breaking point.

If he'd managed to trick his own mother into believing he was someone he wasn't, then that spoke volumes about what he needed to do.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to tell Alba. It was going to be painful, and Alba wasn't going to like accepting the truth, but Teuffel just couldn't pretend anymore.

It was time to stop being a faker.

Shima: HOOO, shit's gettin' real again! Teuf's just so fed up with this, it's about time he tells Alba what's really going on behind the scenes.

Teuffel: Yeah, I'm kinda getting pissed at you, Shi.

Shima: Sorry, babe~ Well, I can't tell you guys the next time I'll be updating, but if you give me some encouraging reviews and keep an eye out, there should be one soon!

Well, ciao!