"Silabus, Gaspard!"

It was immediately after the duo had warped back from their little adventure were they flagged down from the Chaos Gate by a male player.

This player stood taller than Silabus by an inch, maybe two, their hair was a soft baby blue color held up in a high ponytail. Their eyes were a pretty amber color and under both eyes were blue swirled cheek tattoos.

They really didn't need to look much farther than that to know who was flagging them down.

"Kuhn!"

"Kuhn!" Both Silabus and Gaspard rushed to hug their old guild master. Kuhn gave a laugh and hugged them both back.

"I thought it would take you guys a little longer than that to recognize me." Kuhn gave another weak laugh. "I don't look identical to my old character, unfortunately, this was as close as I could get."

It was true, Kuhn's new character looked different from his old one. Despite his hair being a shade late that was. This new character now sported a yellow and blue montsuki. With the main part of the montsuki, the haori, being yellow, and the rest of it consisting of the same blue that matched his hair. He also wore traditional wooden japanese shoes, much like Antares.

"I mean, you're very similar in color…" Silabus whispered as he took it in. "However, that begs the question now, what's your new name? As, Kuhn still exists."

It was true, despite his character being deleted, Kuhn was still in Silabus's friend's list. Which was a good sign in all honesty.

"Ah, right. I don't mind if you keep calling me Kuhn, but my new name is now Shingetsu. You can call by either." He smiled while rubbing at the back of his head. "I know it can be confusing."

"Shingetsu… I'll try and remember it while you're in this PC." Silabus smiled before handing over his member address.

"Yeah same! Beside's until 'Kuhn' comes back it's only fitting we at least try and call you by Shingetsu!" Gaspard agreed before handing over his own member address.

Shingetsu sent a message!

Can we talk in private?

Silabus read that message and didn't even hesitate, he turned towards Gaspard in a heartbeat. "Hey, Gaspard, I'm going to take Ku- Shingetsu to the Netslum and see if Zelkova can grant him access again. Will you be alright manning the shop for a short while?"

Gaspard nodded. "Yeah! I got lots of new things to sell anyways…uh…I'll message you if…" Gaspard hesitated after a moment. He then swallowed hard and then gave a nod as if to reassure himself. "I'll message you if a certain someone shows back up." With those words, Gaspard hurried off.

"...Someone? Is he talking about the mimic that started this all?" Shingetsu inquired once Gaspard asked. "Pi informed me that they're now an ally?"

"Yeah. It's kind of a strange and long story." Silabus confessed as he invited Shingetsu into his party. "But, Gaspard isn't talking about them. It's…" This time Silabus trailed off. "It doesn't matter. Not right now anyways." Silabus decided not to worry Kuhn for the time being about Sakaki.

Silabus turned towards the Chaos Gate. "Did you want to go to the Netslum?" He asked. "It's somewhat private."

"Nah. Let's just walk around Mac Anu. I just want to talk, and everyone else is busy."

"Fair enough."

To Mac Anu they went.

It wasn't until they were out of the dome and just casually walking down the bridge leading into the city did Kuhn speak. He spoke softly which made Silabus look at him with a raised eyebrow. "How much did Haseo wind up telling you? About us I mean."

"Oh… everything." Silabus admitted as he looked away from Kuhn for a moment.

There was a sigh from his friend. "I was afraid of that… but, I guess it was only a matter of time. What with you two dating and all."

"...I'm sorry, about Magus that is… is it possible that he came back once you created a new character?"

"No." Kuhn gave a weak sigh. "I don't feel the same as I once did. Even still, I don't think Magus came back to me."

"...Do you think Father got him?" Silabus whispered.

There was a frown on Kuhn's face. "I hope not. Did Yata mention Magus?"

"Only that their whereabouts are currently unknown. So, it's not known if they got away or not before your data was taken." Silabus explained softly as he touched all ten of his fingers together as he walked. "Do… do you miss him?"

"How can I not? Magus was a part of me…but…at the same time… I finally have free time again!" Silabus giggled at the elated tone in Kuhn's voice. "So…it's both a curse and a blessing." Kuhn admitted while scratching at the back of his head while grinning at Silabus. "That being said. Obviously, I'm going to do everything I can to help the others. I won't just abandon them. But…I gotta get my character up to level again. It's not easy going from one-fifty all the way back down to level one again."

Silabus didn't even miss a beat. "Oh, I heard Haseo had some pointers on that one."

Kuhn laughed. "Ha!" He slapped Silabus on the back.

Silabus smiled weakly at Kuhn before looking up at the sky. "I talked to Father, you know? I asked him why he was doing this… he wants all the epitaphs, all the avatars, for himself so he could change the world to his own liking."

"Like…The World? Or The actual world?"

"...I never asked, I just assumed he meant The World."

There was a frown on Kuhn's face now. "I don't think the avatars will so willingly go with this prick. Call it intuition, but even if he manages to get all of us down…the avatars will tear him apart from the inside undoubtedly."

Silabus nodded along to Kuhn's words. "I think…I know what you're saying. From what Haseo told me, the avatars are powerful beings with an attachment to whom they chosen as epitaph users."

"He's right."

The two of them walked into the central area of Mac Anu. It was bustling with life. A couple of people recognized Silabus and gave him a wave. Silabus waved back to them. "I hope that bastard didn't get Magus, that Magus got away…" Kuhn whispered

"Time will tell…" Silabus whispered as he lightly patted Kuhn's shoulder. "Though, I'm sure if he did get away, whatever PC he's chosen will be in for a shock."

"Yeah…They will…"

"So…what are you going to do now that you're avatar free?"

"Well." Kuhn scratched at his face. "I can focus back on my online relationships again, and who knows, maybe I'll join Canard again!"

"...I still don't understand why you left to start with, Kuhn- I mean Shingetsu." They walked up into the alchemy district and both stood at the railing. Both of them leaned against the railing to look out at the sparkling everlasting twilight before them.

"I wanted to protect you guys. The last thing I wanted was for you two to be mixed up in the avatars affair."

"Heh…and then along came Haseo."

"And then along came Haseo…" Kuhn emulated with a smile. "I think what shocked me the most about him was when you two came out… such a shock."

Silabus smiled. "Shocked me too!" He laughed a little while turning to look at Kuhn- more rather Shingetsu. "I mean…I always knew that I was gay…but Haseo? I had money on Atoli…"

Shingetsu smiled back at him. "Hey, as long as you two are happy, I don't care. Besides… I don't think I've ever seen Haseo as happy and relaxed as when he's with you."

Silabus blushed at Shingetsu's words.

"I wonder what they're doing now…" Silabus hummed. "He's been with Zelkova and Mimic for a while now…you think we should go and shake things up a little?"

"Hm…" Shingetsu looked out at the twinkling ocean one last time before nodding and tucking a piece of his hair behind ear. "Yeah, might as well get everyone's member address again."

"Forgive me for the slight lies." Was the first thing Father said once Sakaki and the mimic warped in. "That's is not the mimic you encountered earlier."

Sakaki looked back at the mimic posing at Matsu then back around at Father.

"So, there are more than one?"

"There are four in total, counting the one you tried apologizing to."

Sakaki approached Father. He only took one step forward when two swords shot out, the tips pointed at his neck as two other mimics seemed to have come out of nowhere. These mimics looked like Hiiragi and Atoli. Pretty spot on, say for the fact that Atoli was wielding a sword and not a staff.

Sakaki narrowed his eyes. "I don't appreciate my friends list being read off of." He growled towards Father.

"..." Father stared him down, his expression almost bored. He then snapped his fingers. "Change your form, I don't care who to." He ordered.

All three mimics did as they were told. Sakaki blinked when he saw them in their pure forms, blank, with no cosmetics, no hair, eyes, mouths…nothing. This only lasted for a moment, maybe two, before they all changed.

The one behind Sakaki, the one that led him here to start with, chose a player that Sakaki had seen running around, but didn't know personally. One of the sword pointers turned into one of Haseo's friends. The loud one with gold armor. One that Sakaki never bothered even learning the name of-

The second sword pointer turned to The Terror of Death himself, Haseo.

Sakaki felt his mouth twitch into a bit of a smile at this, still, he kept himself in check for the time being. "So…clearly you didn't fetch me for no reason…what do you want?" Sakaki asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Father gave him a little smile of his own as he started to walk down towards Sakaki. "Come now is that how you act to the person that got you unbanned?"

"Ah, so it was you that unbanned my IP address and character. I was wondering why CC corp suddenly allowed me back."

"I pat your back, you pat mine. Isn't that how these things go?" Father asked as he simply parted the two mimics so he and Sakaki were now face-to-face.

"...And pray tell what it is you want?" Sakaki asked as he sized Father up and down. 'I can take him if it comes down to it.' He thought. 'It's the mimics that might be a problem… and the only way out is behind me where the third mimic is waiting, no doubt not an accident. He boxed me in and I'm the fool.' Sakaki looked at the warp point out of the corner of his eye.

"Information that I'm sure you'd be more than happy to give."

"Oh, and why would I be?"

"Because, if you give me the information I want, I can squash your greatest enemy- and you'll help me build this world and the one outside of it to my liking!" Father grinned.

Sakaki wasn't grinning. "By greatest enemy, I assume you mean The Terror of Death?" Sakaki pointed to the fake Haseo in front of him.

"Yes. You see, Sakaki, I know you know who the remaining Epitaph users are. I'm aware that Haseo is one-" Father reached over and pulled Sakaki into a sideways hug, trapping him in yet again. "-I just need the others."

'Oh. I'm absolutely dealing with someone who will stab me in the back once I do what they ask. I don't want to experience that again.' Sakaki immediately thought. He looked at Father. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know the others." He brushed Father's arm off of him. "Like you, I'm only aware of Haseo, the boy doesn't exactly try to hide the fact he's a user."

Father didn't look too impressed by this. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, though it sounds promising, I'm afraid I won't be much help in this matter."

"This hesitance wouldn't have anything to do with your past 'sins' would it?"

Sakaki glared over his shoulder at Father. "My past sins are none of your concern." Sakaki hissed.

"I don't know. It seems they might be." Father hummed as a chair appeared for him to sit in. Which he did so diligently. "I mean, if you feel guilty about what you did to that Blade Brandier- what was his name again…Silas? Don't be. He wouldn't even hear you out after all. In fact, he threatened you when you tried apologizing. How rude. Don't get me started on Atoli. I know you've must have sent her…how many messages now? Five? Ten? Begging for forgiveness from her, but…it appears her allegiance to Haseo is clear."

Sakaki felt his nose rise in a sneer as he glared at Father even harder if possible. "How long have you been tracking my character?"

"I've told my mimics to keep an eye on you the moment you logged on."

"I've heard enough." Sakaki snarled as he started to walk away.

"I am not your enemy, Dear Sakaki. We have a common enemy. That enemy is Haseo."

Sakaki stopped at Father's words. "Look, I was foolish, okay. I just…I want to forget that part of my life and move on."

"No you don't." Father stood from his chair. He then sauntered towards Sakaki with a smile plastered on his face. "You live for the drama, you live for the chaos, and you want Atoli's forgiveness. I can give you all of that." Father put his hands on Sakaki's shoulders. Sakaki could feel Father's smile. "I can give you that revenge you sought after. What if I said you could hurt Haseo where it really hurts. Him an that Silas guy are in a relationship-"

Ripping. Tearing. Being torn limb from limb by an enraged Skeith-

"-You can finish where you left off. I'll even let you deliver the final blow to both Silas and Haseo. If you'd like." Father leaned in so close that Sakaki could almost feel his breath against his ear. "All I need is information."

"You make me sick! I hope you get what you deserve…"

The feeling of Skeith's scythe tearing his arm clean off-

"...Epitaph users..." He could feel Father's smile. "That's all you want?"

"Yes."

"Heh… Well, I guess you came to the right person after all, Father."

"Hey!" Mimic was the first one to greet Kuhn/Shingetsu. They came to the Netslum as they were finishing up.

'They changed their hair.' Silabus thought. Mimic had their hair shortened now. No longer mimicking Silabus's style. Instead they got rid of the ponytail and had a pixie cut similar to Atoli's. They kept the same color as Silabus's so they still looked very similar, but now it would be clear that they weren't the same person at first.

Shingetsu had his fists up in a heartbeat ready to throw down.

"Easy, Kuhn- Shingetsu. They're harmless at the moment." Silabus told Kuhn softly as he approached the mimic. "I like your hair." He complimented.

The mimic blushed bright pink. "I was hoping you would… Haseo hadn't commented, but that's okay."

Silabus forgot who he was talking too for a very real moment. He bit back a bit of a groan of annoyance. Instead he sucked in a nice and slow breath before continuing. "Are the others still on the bridge?" Silabus asked softly and the Mimic nodded.

"They're just finishing up."

"Great, Kuhn. Let's go introduce you…again." Silabus joked.

"Oh…" The mimic blinked once it sunk in just who Silabus was referring to. They looked from Silabus to Shingetsu. Then lowered their head rather guiltily. "I'm sorry about your character."

Shingetsu only looked away from the mimic. Mimic kept their eyes on the floor.

"Hey, who's- oh." Haseo had caught on quicker than Silabus and Gaspard had as he walked up to Shingetsu and Silabus. "I like it." Haseo finally commented as he gave a soft tug on one of Shingetsu's sleeves. "Though, I'm sorry, but I'm still calling you Kuhn."

"Fair enough." Shingetsu grinned back at him.

"Here." Haseo handed over his member address in the blink of an eye. "The others are at the bridge if you want to go ahead and get their member addresses as well."

"Thanks, I'll do that."

Shingetsu then jogged off towards the bridge.

This left the mimic, Haseo, and Silabus alone.

Haseo looked at Silabus and he gave a weak smile. "Hey, I hope you don't mind, but Shino and Tabby messaged me that they want to do a quest with me. Will you be alright with that?"

"Oh, of course! I don't want to take up all of your time!"

"...Yuuichi…" Haseo sweatdropped.

"Yes, I'm aware! I meant in The World. Go, have fun with Shino and Tabby, I'll be fine!" Silabus pushed Haseo towards the gate. This made Haseo give a weak laugh in response.

When Silabus stopped pushing him, that was when the Mimic leaned in to Haseo's face and smiled. "I hope maybe you and I can go on an adventure soon too!" The mimic continued to smile.

Haseo's own smile dropped as he gave a face of displeasure. "...Right…" He grumbled rather huffily. "Don't count on it." Was the last thing Haseo growled out before turning away and making his way towards the gate.

The mimic's smile fell as their shoulders slumped. "Oh…"

Silabus looked at the mimic. They looked so forlorn and sad it almost upset him to see them like that. 'I can't blame Haseo for his reaction. As mentioned the Mimic makes me uncomfortable all the same… still, I can't just leave them upset or sad. Maybe an adventure could do them some good.' Silabus thought as he scratched at the back of his head.

"H-Hey, Mimic?"

"Hm?" The Mimic perked up a little at Silabus's voice.

"If you want… I'm free if you wanted to go on an adventure." Silabus slowly and cautiously offered.

The Mimic's eyes absolutely lit up at Silabus's offer. "I'd love to!" They blushed. "Plus, it's a great opportunity to test out Master Zelkova's new code he implemented in me."

"New code?"

"Yeah! He made it so no matter where I am Father shouldn't be able to track me or warp me away." Mimic smiled at Silabus. "The code is just a prototype though…so there's still a risk…and I don't want Father to fight you again…" Mimic's tone changed to one filled with worry.

Silabus reached over and patted Mimic on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I've stocked up on smokebombs and Return feathers! If Father comes after us we'll be ready."

"Hmmm…" Mimic frowned a little as they seemed to think about it. "Okay. Should we invite a third person as a precaution?"

This time Silabus had to think about it. "Nah, let's not bug anybody else. Just you and me-"

The Mimic's eyes were practically glowing with happiness. "Y-Yeah. Do you need me to heal? Or deal damage because I know you have healing spells as well."

Silabus was starting to regret this choice, but was going to stick with it all the way to the end. "Whatever you feel comfortable with."

"Comfortable with… meaning, I get to choose any class to my liking?..." They went quiet as it was clear they were thinking on what they wanted to do. Which class they wanted to be the answer was not what Silabus expected.

"Scythe! I want to be a flick reaper!"

"Oh!" Silabus could only blink in surprise before smiling. "Okay! Then I'll focus on healing."

The Mimic continued to blush.

"I guess that means I should get some Noble drops… I'll burn through my SP quick. No biggie, we'll just have to make a stop at the sells person in front of the Chaos gate."

After buying what he needed to buy, the two of them set off. The choice on where to go settled on Silabus's shoulders. Originally he was going to go for a snowy area…but then he remembered what happened last time he was in said area, so he decided on a rainy field.

The mimic made a soft sound as they reached a hand out to touch the fake rain. "... I don't feel anything." They sighed. "What's rain actually like?"

Silabus looked at them before up at the sky. "Cold. But not cold like snow. It wets your clothes also so it can slow you down if you don't have something to block it out, like an umbrella."

A soft "Oh." Left the mimic's mouth as they looked away from the sky and back at Silabus. "Well… I guess we should get going, yeah?"

"After you."

Silabus really didn't know what he was expecting when he and Mimic ran into their first batch of monsters. It was for this reason Silabus was glad he hung back as the healer and let Mimic rush at the monsters.

The mimic… wasn't exactly what Silabus expected. Especially when they brought out the shield Gaspard had mentioned. Silabus let this go on for the first battle-

Then he put his Canard hat on the moment the monsters were defeated.

"How was that- huh?" The Mimic lightly jumped when Silabus put a hand on their shoulder. They actually jumped when they turned and saw Silabus's… rather creepy smile.

"Let's…keep the cheating to a minimum, yeah?" Silabus asked, the smile of doom never once leaving his face as he asked this.

"Cheating?!" They gasped indignantly.

"Yes, Mimic, cheating. You're cheating. That sheild you made for yourself, though practical, is a hack. Thus, you're cheating." Silabus made sure to speak clearly and made the mimic hang on every word.

"Cheating… I guess it is…" The Mimic sighed as they gave their head a shake. "I've just grown use to fighting like this when fighting other players."

"Well-" Silabus took his hand away from the mimic and started to walk away. The mimic wasn't too far from him. "-Then, I guess it's time I showed you how to play the right way."

"The right way."

"Yes, for starters. You're a flick reaper class. You need flick reaper only skills."

"But you're a blade brandier and you have healing skills?" The mimic pushed back.

"That's different. The healing skills I have were gifted to me by Haseo. Same with the art skills. Even still, as a blade brandier I'm not exactly equipped to handle healing skills. My SP gauge isn't as big as a shadow warlock or a harvest cleric. So, when I do wind up being a healer my SP drains a lot faster."

The mimic hummed as they listened to what Silabus was saying. "I see… So…I need to have the SP gauge a normal flick reaper would have."

"Yes. It's fine if you want to keep your art and healing spells, but you can't have the skills of every other class on top of it all."

"...I see… then…give me a second." They shut their eyes as they stopped walking suddenly. Silabus watched, rather impressed, as the mimic started to bring up a box of code.

The mimic worked expertly, an invisible keyboard at their finger tips. They typed swiftly changing their entire code around in under a minute. It was impressive to say the least.

"Okay…I think that should…" The mimic trailed off as they continued to fiddle with their code for another moment. "Do it!" They smiled and waved their hand. With the hand wave the box went away. "I went and kept a few of the art and healing skills that I particularly liked, but ditched the other skills that weren't for the flick reaper class."

"Good. Now, I'm going to help you." Silabus proudly put his hands on his hips. "Those monsters over there!" Silabus pointed to the trio of Evil Grinners that was closest to them. "We're going to attack them and you're only going to use flick reaper skills and attacks, obviously since you mentioned keeping a couple art and healing skills I see no reason why you can't use those if you wish, but no more of that shield. Understood?"

"Yes!" The mimic gave a salute with two fingers while sticking their tongue out playfully and winking "I'll do my best!"

'That's my line.' Silabus thought and he hated that the mimic still had his voice. Still, he pushed those feelings back and only raked his fingers through his hair in response. "Then lead the way."

Silabus had to say, the mimic held their own. They were as good as Haseo when it came to handling the scythe. They even used the same trick Haseo liked use by trapping the opponent between the barrier and a ring made by the scythe. 'Probably learned it by watching him.'

An Evil Grinner swooped down and smacked it's head against Mimic's. "Ow!" Mimic yelped and rubbed at their head. Silabus couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Repth." Silabus softly called out and healed what little HP the mimic lost.

The mimic beamed at him before taking off. "C'mere you little devil!" The mimic called as he chased the Evil Grinner with his sycthe. It was rather cute to watch.

"Nope!" Silabus called out and put his sword in block just in time to stop another Evil Grinner from hitting him. "Nice try!" Silabus then swung his sword and struck the Evil Grinner, sending it flying away from him.

"Gotcha!"

Silabus couldn't help but jump when The mimic landed on top of the Evil Grinner. The mimic laughed as the Evil Grinner fell to the ground with them. Then the Grinner tried jumping up and down to dislodge Mimic. Mimic started to laugh as their body bounced feverishly up and down with the Grinner's own movement.

Silabus felt laughter start to bubble up at the absurd display before him. "Hold still!" Mimic cried, obviously the Evil Grinner didn't listen and continued to try and get them to let go. Slowly, Silabus doubled over as he tried to hold his laughter in.

'Stop it! Help them!' Silabus's own mind scolded him.

"Ah!" The mimic cried out and when Silabus looked up he saw the other two Evil Grinners now swooping down and attacking Mimic with their own heads.

"Tchhh…" A sound left Silabus's throat. A sound between a snort and a wheeze. He felt his face heat up, his mouth twisted, and he wrapped both of his arms around his stomach in one last futile attempt to hold in his laughter. 'This is a highly intelligent AI one that could rival Ma-Mast-Master Zelkova!-'

Silabus exploded in laughter. He just couldn't help it. The laughter spilled out of his mouth to the point that he was wheezing. He would suck in a breath and just repeat the process. To the point that Ryou, who was on the couch, lifted his own headset up to look at Yuuichi.

At one point Yuuichi was afraid he was going to pass out as he wiped tears from his eyes.

Silabus could only point and laugh.

His laughter only increased at the hurt look Mimic was giving him. "I'm-" He couldn't even get the words out. "I-"

Silabus sucked in greety breaths as he tried to get a hold of himself. "Ohhh~" He breathed out slowly and shakily, swallowed hard, and looked at the mimic. "I'm sor-sorry!" He continued to giggle. "I've just never seen so-someone take-take that app-roach!" He giggled while doubling over again.

"For-forgive me!"

The mimic kicked a Grinner away, jumped up, and summoned their scythe again.

Once they were on their feet, it allowed Silabus to get his baring together. When he was fully composed again, he turned to the mimic, who had killed one Grinner and was now focusing on trying to swat one of the remaining two down. 'Oops, they lost a bit of health.'

"UI Repth!" Silabus called out gently allowing the Mimic to heal up almost completely.

The Mimic was thankful now that Silabus wasn't laughing maniacally anymore no doubt. They continued their onslaught on the Evil Grinners. 'I know I shouldn't laugh. This is probably one of the first times Mimic has used their skills and their own strengths on monsters and not players. They aren't data-draining anyone, if anything this is completely foreign to them. I'm sure.' Silabus observed as the mimic continued to try and chase the last Evil Grinner down.

The Evil Grinner wasn't in the air, instead the two of them were running around the barrier with the mimic just out of reach from this monster.

"Use-" Silabus tried to instruct, but the Mimic cut him off.

"No! I want to do this on my own!" The Mimic suddenly cut away and diagonally sped up so he could cut the Evil Grinner off. "Gotcha!" Mimic grinned as he stood in front of the grinner, scythe in hand- "Die!"

Silabus got whiplash when he heard Haseo's voice emulate from the mimic's mouth. 'Oh god, go back to my voice!' Silabus buried his face in his hands.

Mimic swung and missed as the Grinner jumped back, turned, and ran.

"Son of a- Hey!" The mimic did not go back to Silabus's voice as they gave chase again.

"Please! Just use a skill! You will rush towards it!" Silabus practically whined while a soft laugh left his mouth. First one laugh…

Then came round two.

"Ple-!" Silabus doubled over again as the mimic continued to fruitlessly give chase to the Grinner. "Please!" He teared up again as a roar of laughter erupted from his mouth. "Oh god, I'm going to pass out!" He continued to laugh as tears fell down his eyes. He fell to his knees-

Yuuichi fell on his back in the meantime. A precaution in case he actually did pass out at least he be on the bed without risk of falling.

It was obscene.

But eventually Mimic did it. They finally got the Evil Grinner.

"Are you done?" The mimic asked as they approached Silabus, who was still giggling.

"I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't laugh. Really- you did a good job."

Mimic offered their hand and Silabus took it. "Look, I'm a little out of my element here. From day one I was only taught how to mimic players and attack them. These monsters?...I don't even know where to start."

"I know. I know, and I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have laughed. It was wrong and I won't do it again."

The mimic gave him a smile. "Well… good… now what was that about skills rushing towards your opponent?" The mimic softly asked as the two of them started walking towards their next targets. More Evil Grinners.

Silabus scratched at the side of his face. "If you want to close distance between yourself and your target you just use a skill." Silabus softly explained. "Here-" Silabus took his sword out and pointed at an Evil Grinner. "I'll give you a demonstration. Devil Sword!"

So, for the next while, Silabus explained the ins and out to the Mimic. From how Skills work, to beast awakening. It was nice, he felt back in his element. Mimic was pleasant to talk to and honestly, Silabus was feeling more at ease around Mimic.

Silabus even learned a little more about Mimic. That they weren't just a puppet. When they were really high-energy and when they were particularly happy, Silabus noticed that they would almost always skip a step. Or something a little bigger. The voice change. Turns out Mimic does it depending on their emotions. When content they had Silabus's voice, when frustrated they had Haseo's more gruffer voice, and when happy they would either steal Gaspards, or more surprising, Atoli's.

Hearing Atoli's voice was not expected.

They decided to keep Atoli's voice as they were particularly thrilled about beating all the monsters.

But it all came crashing down at the beast temple.

The Mimic was happily skipping next to Silabus as they approached the beast statue. "Take it. It's yours for defeating your first batch of monsters without cheating." Silabus offered and the Mimic nodded, a light in their eyes. Silabus had looked away from the Mimic to scroll through his inventory.

He was just seeing what he could give to Gaspard to put in the shop when-

"Silabus?"

"Yes?" Silabus got out of his inventory-

Only to be kissed by Mimic.

At first there was shock- Then there was anger.

Silabus raised a hand and slapped the mimic across the face. There was a resounding 'Smack!' from the strike as Mimic's head snapped almost violently to the side. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Silabus couldn't help but bark in his shock.

Now that got Ryou's attention from the couch, he knew it. Because One: Yuuichi had become loud and two Silabus's voice was dropped in that moment.

Mimic looked shock as they cradled the spot where Silabus had struck them. "You…you hit me!" Mimic gasped out a sob. Tears now falling in their eyes. "Why'd you hit me?!"

"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me." Silabus- no- Yuuichi growled at Mimic. "You don't kiss people, especially without their consent."

"But you kissed me-"

"I thought you were Haseo! My actual boyfriend that's not you!"

The Mimic took a startled step back now looking offended as they glowered at the ground below them.

Silabus turned away from Mimic with his own anger. His heart raced as he felt his breath turn uneven. That familiar pang in his chest only not has strong as when he confronted Sakaki.

"You didn't have to hit me…" Mimic whispered softly almost pitifully as they wiped their tears away with their palm.

Silabus felt himself bristle as he looked at Mimic out of the corner of his eye. A bit of anger biting on his tongue. A dreaded sentence nearly escaping his mouth, a sentence he was once told himself.

"He didn't have to hit me!" Little seven-year old Yuuichi cried to his mother.

"It's the only way you learn, it seems." His mother huffed cigarette smoke in his face before waving him off. "You'll live. It was just a little slap."

Yuuichi clutched at his chest, Silabus followed suit, but Mimic couldn't see as Silabus was turned away from him. Tears collected in Yuuichi's eyes as his breath hitched. That pang back but almost ten-times more painful than before. So painful that it had sent him down on to one knee.

Something was scratching inside of him. He could feel it.

Was it guilt?

Fear that he was becoming his stepfather despite the countless amount of therapy?

"... I'm sorry." Silabus whispered before slowly straightening himself up. He kept his head down as he stared down at the floor below him. "I'm-...I'll be at the warp gate…" He then walked away.

'Oh god… I'm horrible.' Silabus tried to keep his breathing in check as he walked forward on autopilot. 'I shouldn't have struck them, why did I strike them?!' His shoulders started to almost violently shake as he tried his hardest to compose himself. 'They kissed me and it startled me- dammit, I should have had a conversation with them then! A conversation about boundaries! I never even told them that I didn't like them like that!' His breath hitched as tears fell from both Silabus's and Yuuichi's eyes.

'What if Suki startles you like that…will you strike her?'

Yuuichi felt his breath stop at that thought. Fear gripped his chest like iron, harsh and so tight it was hard for him to continue breathing. 'Never. Never ever!'

"Yuuichi?" Yuuichi felt Ryou's hand tentatively touch his shoulder before gently removing the headset from Yuuichi's face. Yuuichi looked up at Ryou. Yuuichi's eyes were misty and his face was undoubtedly tear-stained. "What happened?" Ryou asked softly as he sat next to Yuuichi.

"I…" Yuuichi sniffled weakly. "Mimic- They-" His breath hitched in his throat and a soft whine left his mouth. "I didn't mean to!" He shook while clutching at his pants leg.

"Breathe, Yuuichi." Ryou lightly patted his back. "You're not making any sense right now. Just breathe and calm down. I'm going to get you some water…" Ryou got up and walked over to the adjacent kitchen and started to fill up a glass with water from the sink.

It was as Ryou did this did Yuuichi just…come out and say it. "I…I hit Mimic…"

Ryou paused for a moment. "You hit them?"

Yuuichi nodded vigorously while hiccuping. "I-I didn't mean to! It just happened, they-they kissed me and-and- I just smacked them right across the face!" He sobbed and tried to wipe tears away from his face.

"Hm. As you should in my opinion." Ryou hurmphed as he came back around to Yuuichi with the glass of water. "But judging by this reaction…you don't agree."

"You didn't see their face after it happened… I never try and hit people unless I feel I'm being threatened. Sakaki is the best example of that." Yuuichi looked at his reflection in the cup of water. His broken nose standing out to him at that moment. "When they kissed me…It just startled me so bad, I wasn't expecting it and… I reacted without thinking."

"Still. They kissed you, you had every right to do what you did. God knows I probably would have actually punched them if it were me. They should know by now-"

"-Ryou…neither of us set up boundaries with Mimic. Neither of us told Mimic we aren't interested. Neither of us told Mimic that we don't want to be in a relationship with them….Also don't forget…Mimic is literally only days old and doesn't understand that they've got a crush on us and shouldn't act on it. We literally can't be mad at Mimic when we did nothing."

"... Crap… you're right." Ryou leaned back on his palms and Yuuichi took a sip of water. "Alright." Ryou lightly patted Yuuichi's leg. "I'm done with Shino and Tabby, so come back to Netslum and we'll have this uncomfortable as fuck conversation with Mimic together."

"Fair enough…" Yuuichi went for his headset and sniffled.

"And then when we're done with that we- me and you- will talk about why you freaked earlier if you want. I know you, you don't just have crying fits over nothing. So, you smacking them must have triggered something in you bad."

"...It did." Yuuichi confessed as he swallowed hard. "But, for now, I should return to Mimic."

"Fair."

Silabus returned moments later.

He could hear panicked screaming.

"Mimic?" he looked around, but didn't see the Mimic-

The screaming was coming from inside the Beast Temple and it was loud and panicked to it's core. It really didn't help that it was Atoli's screams. "Mimic?!" Silabus took charge and rushed back inside of the beast temple. 'Surely the slap wouldn't have caused this?!' Yuuichi thought as he swiftly ran down the steps all the way to the door.

"-I'm good!" Was the cry Silabus heard when he opened the door. At first it sounded like the Mimic was just reassuring him- but the tone didn't fit. The tone the mimic was using was panick stricken and fearful.

"I'm- I'm not like the others- please- I'm scared I don't want to be deleted!"

All Silabus heard was the familar sound of a data-drain starting up and he didn't think.

He charged at the attacker, thinking it was the worse case scenario that Father had found Mimic.

Silabus grabbed the attackers arm just as they were about to fire off the shot and pushed up as fast and hard as he possibly could. The data-drain whizzed right past his ear and thankfully missed both him and Mimic.

"Haaaa…"

Silabus felt his blood run cold once he saw just who he intercepted. It wasn't Father.

It was Azure Kite.