Love Hurts 5 Ways (OUTDATED STORY)

by Aloubell

This is an outdated story and the beta version for the current Destiny Song series. The story premise is generally the same, but in this beta version, things just kind of happen without much of a plan. I'm keeping it on this site as a record of what used to be. Please check out "Destiny Song" if you want a more coherent story. Thank you!

30. The Show of The Century Part 2

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

---

~*Part 2*~

My nerves increasingly stood on edge the further I went in past my personal door. The opening behind me had already closed itself so any ideas of turning back and regrouping went completely down the drain. I didn't plan on turning back anyway—as much of a pain as it was, something told me that we were getting closer to our goal (there was a good chance that I was off on this theory, but better to be more on the optimistic side when it came to things like this), so why would I cower out now?

There was no way for me to know what was coming, and I didn't particularly care. I mean, I knew it was going to suck and that it might end up almost killing me or driving me insane, so since I knew the basic outlines of what was going to happen to me, there's no point in fighting it considering the universe would manage to torture me anyway—in one way or another. I say just get it over with already.

It only took a few minutes before something manifested in the black nothingness. Stopping in my tracks as a precaution, I look beyond to identify the objects ahead of me. Standing tall and reflective, a semi-circular area of mirrors stood before me, each lined up against each other to form a really long mirror with obvious borders. With confusion settling in on my brain, I stepped closer, taking things slowly just in case inanimate objects decided to come alive and attack me (oh come on, like it couldn't happen, especially in this wacky place). But they seemed pretty benign, so I quickened my pace to investigate.

Realizing the whole circus/festival theme that the trial was sporting, I figured that this must have been the "House of Mirrors" portion of the test. Honestly anything was possibly going to happen, so I had to be ready for the worst. Coming to a halt, I noticed that the mirror in the center was the most defined—it was a few feet taller and longer than the rest and its smooth, thick border was crafted in some sort of swirly gold design, unlike the rest had just plain, black, rectangular edges.

Looking upon it with suspicion, I thought, okay, you're obviously the more significant ring-leader to the rest of these mirrors. So what can you do?

My thoughts were immediately interrupted when I caught sight of my own reflection. The more feminine side of my instincts prompted me to examine my new hairstyle.

With my burnt-brown colored hair curling up at the ends in response to my shoulders, I found it somewhat weird to be looking at myself with somewhat long hair once again. It had been so long…

Adjusting my still long, yet not outrageously long bangs with my fingers, I smiled a bit in approval. "Huh, Genrou didn't do too badly of a job. I guess if that whole bandit thing doesn't work out, he could always put in an application to be a beautician." The silly thought compelled me to giggle silently to myself. I soon found it kind of funny how, not too long ago, it was my goal to make sure that I'd take Genrou down and make sure that he stayed there—I mean, I really couldn't stand that guy. There were still times that made me want to smack him because of his announced superiority and wise cracks that were geared toward my humiliation and rivalry—not to mention the disrespectful and chauvinistic cracks he tended to make about women. But there was a lot less hate in there—friendship was finally settling in. A person wouldn't risk losing something as valuable as an arm if they didn't consider you something to them…but my better judgment allowed me to believe that he really only did that because it was the right thing to do—not necessarily because I was worth saving. Perhaps that lion should have gotten me and tossed me around a bit—that would definitely have reinforced my self-induced law of being not too comfortable around others and relying on them in times of trouble. Trusting people would mean lowering my barriers and opening myself up for more un-repairable emotional damage. I was already messed up enough as it was—could I really let myself get trapped in that same painful web again? Okay, so Genrou saved my life, Chichiri did as well, but that didn't necessarily mean that we needed to be close—after all, I'd only know them for a short while until I headed back for the palace to help out Miaka. I knew that separation was coming, and soon, so there was virtually no point in setting anything into stone.

Just focus on their bad qualities Aki—just keep telling yourself that they are not worth the imminent pain and torture. You can avoid all of that—you can be in control. I had to convince myself to not fall into that pit again.

But then a thought rang in my head. He saved your life and risked his own. There was so much blood and Genrou must have been in so much pain—he could have gotten himself killed. I just couldn't understand why. Sure, humans were usually born with the need to help others out, but even more than that, there was an instinct that made people want to protect themselves at all cost and overlook the pain of the next person—yeah, you could call it a bit selfish, but really, it was human nature, so I didn't blame people for not giving a damn about me. Most people would hesitate when it came to putting their life on the line for another. But he didn't…

"Dammit! I can't keep doing this to myself!" If I had the dark ring with me, it would have repelled people away from me by now so that it wouldn't even be possible for me to even think about forming any kind of relationship with anyone. It really did protect me from myself since my self-control and discipline were just so weak from the human desire of wanting to feel wanted and loved. The dark ring knocked some sense into me—and now I didn't have it. I always focused on the negative aspects of it and how it made my life worse, but it was starting to become apparent to me that perhaps it was there for a reason. However way things went, I was lost and confused about what to do with the rush of emotions I was experiencing.

The dark ring wasn't even there and I was still experiencing feelings of doubt and worry—why was my life so messed up?

"Wow Aki, is that you?" Said a familiar voice. I blinked a few times, thinking that I was hearing things. Shaking my head, I thought to myself, nah. I must be hearing things. But then the voice started up again. "I could hardly recognize you with your new sexy hairstyle!" The voice was rather playful, the familiarity of it causing my heart to skip a beat. It brought back with it a ton of memories that I was probably better off not reminiscing about.

Pinching the space in between my eyes, I muttered drearily, "Not again." It's just an illusion Aki, don't let the universe fool you again! Taking a look into the main mirror, a figure began to form in the glass. The shape was becoming more defined as its color came more into light. I didn't even need to look to know what was happening, but I just couldn't turn away. The beating in my chest was becoming more apparent like the loud ticking of a large clock—no matter how much you want to ignore it, it just keeps eating at you and eating at you until it drives you insane. But this particular ticking was pumping out locked up emotions that I was certain never needed to be released again. As fate would have it, my old boyfriend Hikaru Hitachiin became clearer and clearer into view—his smiling face poking holes at my heart like sharp needles. "Damn the universe, I can't believe that it's pulling this crap again." Okay,I miss him, but you don't have to keep throwing it in my face like this!

Hikaru looked at me with peculiarly wide eyes. "Hey, what's up with you? You seem kind of out of it..." Sighing, I turned around and started to walk away, a look of indifference on my face. I know that the universe is trying to trip me up here, but its sense of creativity is really lacking nowadays. He immediately called out, "Wait a second, where are you going?"

Refusing to look straight at him, I responded with, "You're not real, and I don't particularly feel like dealing with you at this moment."

"Why sure we are!" Another voice came into the conversation, my curiosity leading me to turn my head a bit to validate my guess. Almost immediately, another figure leaned itself on Hikaru's shoulder. It didn't take too long before another Hikaru was revealed—only this wasn't Hikaru, it was his twin brother, Kaoru, who looked virtually the same—playful golden eyes and strawberry blond hair—except for the two of them having opposite parts in their hair to help distinguish themselves to others. Even though I had technically seen Hikaru more recently with the whole Genrou and I being stuck together fiasco that had happened a few weeks back, it was kind of nice to be seeing Kaoru as well. They may have been twins, but I had grown to know the two of them as separate individuals—even when they tried to fool others by mixing each other up. Kaoru was much more mild-mannered than his brother as well as slightly more mature. Hikaru had more of an edge to him and didn't always know how to deal with stuff the right way—so says the situation with putting a secret tracking device on me just so that I wouldn't get away. All in all, I wouldn't have gotten so far with my training if it weren't for those two, and I wouldn't have gotten to know or even be in the Host Club if I hadn't passed out on their front door that one day.

It all seemed so long ago…

"You have no idea how much we've missed you Aki!"

"Yeah! And the Host Club hasn't been quite as exciting without you around."

"Don't get us wrong—"

"—we always manage to shake things up somehow, whacky adventured and all,"

"But it's just never quite the same without our favorite witch spicing things up!" As annoying as it may have been, I sort of couldn't help but admit that I missed that whole finishing sentences thing they often did. The two of them then applied their trademark smirk to their face, a look that definitely helped them play the part of the "Little Devils" type in the club.

Just like whenever someone called me a "witch" in the past I was tempted to lash out at them, but I knew that I couldn't afford to fall for this little game the universe had formulated for me. So I just held it in and kept my head turned, only looking at them from the corner of my eye. This has to be an illusion—no matter how real it may seem, it's just the universe messing with me.

Right?

"I see that you still have the bracelet I gave you," Hikaru pointed out with a smile hanging on his voice. While almost completely facing them, I looked down at my wrist to the beautiful, specially designed diamond bracelet with a gold, diamond crested flower on it—the one he gave me after we started going out. I cherished the piece of jewelry like it were the most precious thing in the world—before Hikaru, no one had ever given me something that conveyed their positive feelings towards me. It was something made just for me, something that reflected how he felt about me. Even though we weren't together anymore, it was still the best gift anyone had ever given me—every time I look at it, a pleasant and warm feeling would completely cover my body, so much so that I could just stay there and lie in it forever. Nothing would make me want to part from it. "It's nice to see that you haven't forgotten about us."

"Then again, it's a bit difficult to forget anything about the Host Club, less likely the two of us," Kaoru chimed in.

Having my full body face them, I held up the wrist with the bracelet on it, and held it with my other hand. Eyes gazing more at the floor than in their eyes, I calmly told them, "I could never forget about you guys—it's just not possible. But…" My eyes trailed to the bottom left. "You guys should have forgotten about me—I don't exist in your lives anymore."

"Of course you still exist with us Aki-chan!" Mitsukuni (otherwise known as Honey) Haninozuka jumped out from the side of the mirror and into view. The seventeen—perhaps eighteen—year old still looked like he should be in elementary school—middle school if I wanted to be more generous. His adorableness with those big caramel eyes complimented with his small stature and the fact that he still carried around that light-pink stuffed bunny, always made me want to scoop him up and cuddle him. But to protect myself from becoming another one of the many generic fan-girls, I allow my tough, indifferent outside character to dominate, making it so that I didn't leap and squeal at Mitsukuni's cuteness (anyone on the outside would have never guess that he was actually a weapon of destruction, with his intense martial arts and outrageous strength). Smiling brightly, he continued on by saying, "And we could never forget how cool you are and those awesome songs you sang for us!" The tall, normally soft-spoken Takashi drifted in behind his "little" cousin, having the straight, consisted face that he normally wore. "Hika-chan, Kao-chan, and I weren't the only ones to miss you—Takashi did too!" Mitsukuni looked up at the big teen as he hugged his arm. "Didn't you?"

With his lips curling up into a small, gentle smile, Takashi looked me straight in the eye, a small blush painted on his face. "Yeah." That's Takashi Morinozuka folks—the man of many words. It would have been hard for me to forget—and no one would have guessed—that it was Takashi here who made me realize my then feelings for Hikaru after I had been mad at the twins for tracking me. Too bad our relationship had to have been cut short by the universe's agenda. It's like…we went through all that, just to have me be taken away at the end. Seriously, the universe is a bitch.

"Aki~! How I missed you~!" A familiar, sing-song voice rang my name all around the area, tempting me to jump out of the way before that person came along and tackled me in a hug. In an instant, the "elegant" Tamaki Suoh came flying through the air behind the forming group, a wide smile on his already glowing face. To my little surprise as well as relief, he smashed right into the inside of the mirror, then sliding down with a pitiful look on his face. "Ak…i…" A comical grimace formed on my face as he regained his posture and jumped back up—pretending like the crash didn't affect him. Yup…that's Tamaki. If this is an illusion of some type, then I applause the universe forgetting this guy's personality and mannerisms down to a point. Feeling his side of the glass, he started to mildly complain, "Kyouya, I can't seem to get to dear Aki and hug her, expressing how much she has been missed. How can I, your king, overcome this perilous obstacle? She needs to know how loved she is!"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I tried to refrain from laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. "I think I got the message Tamaki…" He always had a way of always being too overly-dramatic, energetic, and optimistic with anything he says or does. I'd understand it if it were for the clients of the Host Club, but, for the most part, this was just his personality. Well at least he was a sweet guy, a bit out-there, but sweet.

Walking in as he pushed up his glasses, the somewhat attractive, more-often-than-not conniving and "I always have a hidden agenda" Kyouya Ootori came into the scene. "Of course there's something preventing you from getting through—we're not in the same dimension as her," he said with an uninterested tone.

From the side, the cross-dressing girl named Haruhi Fujioka popped her head in, looked at Tamaki with her big chocolate-colored eyes, and sighed (something her and I did quite often when it came to that boy). Switching her attention to me, she smiles and talks with her signature stoic tone, "Hi Senpai, it's good to see you again." Inspecting me for a second, she then adds with a small smile and a slightly more positive voice, "You look nice with longer hair, you should keep it that way."

Still feeling that this whole thing was a trick, I knew that it would have probably been bad of me to get involved with them as much as I knew I was starting to do. Despite the little voice in my head saying "don't fall for it", I returned a smile to Haruhi. "Thanks. And, um…It's good to see you again too."

When she realized that I chose to talk to her, she brought her whole body into view, still wearing the light-blue blazer that the boys of Ouran Academy were required to wear. Because of a debt that she owed to the Host Club, they forced her to join them quite a while ago, just like I had been forced when I first came to their world. She's not the type of girl to care if others see her as a boy or not, but by time the Club realized she was a girl, she had already been accidentally registered into the school as a boy (even though she clearly looks like a girl to me—despite her more-so flat chest—most people are fooled into thinking otherwise). "It's been kind of lonely not having anyone to talk to about something's," she told me. Haruhi and I, unlike the vast majority of the Host Club, were actually pretty sane and aware of the whacky antics that the Host Club always managed to get in one way or another, making us the ones to be reluctant to participate in some of the stupid, embarrassing, or degrading things they did. Back when I was still pretty much "Anti-Host Club" she was a good person to talk to who didn't want to pressure me into anything.

"My dear daughter Haruhi," Tamaki often looked at Haruhi as his daughter for reasons that I never really cared to look into. Either he had a crush on her and was just trying to mask it with fatherly love, or he was just weird—maybe both. "You know that you can talk to me about anything! A father always wants his child to come forth with their problems, so that he may help steer them in the right direction!" There was that overly-dramatic thing again…

"I don't think so," She immediately answered without even facing him.

Tamaki, with his signature reaction of dealing with anything hurtful, retreated into a dark corner somewhere in the mirror world that they were at, where he crouched down, backs to us, and sulked. "You can be so hurtful sometimes Haruhi…"

"Isn't it great to have everyone back together, Aki-chan?" Mitsukuni chimed in as everyone ignored the apparent sadness of their king.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, it was really good to see them all again—the more they continued to talk and act like themselves, the more I was beginning to think that they were the real thing, the real Host Club that I had come to know, that this wasn't an illusion and that all of this was actually legit. Was it possible that the universe was breaking its own rules, allowing me to speak once more with the friends that I left behind?

I didn't even realize the genuine smile I had on my face.

These were my friends—the first real group to accept me into their lives, the ones who wanted to help me open up to the world and make the most out of life. Out of all the other worlds I stayed in along with the people I've stayed with, I had been with these guys the longest and together we shared unique experiences and adventures. Of course I still that the lot of them, except Haruhi, were a bunch of narcissist weirdoes with way too much time on their hands, but I preferred them that way. Talking to them again—after thinking that I would never see them again—just seemed so surreal. It also seemed…too good to be true…

So of course I was still skeptical.

"You know, Akimoto," breaking me out of my thoughts, Kyouya looked at me with a calculating expression. "Business had been a real downer when you left—all of our clients were so depressed. It took too long to cheer them all up again." What?

Feeling a dab of annoyance, I rebutted with, "You're the one being a downer. Everyone else is treating this like a reunion and you're speaking to me as if I was a business associate." Shaking my head, I chuckled a bit and said, "Classic Kyouya." He never was good at having a friendly conversation unless it was beneficial to him—you knew he wanted to be, he just wasn't.

"Of course, it is important after all. How do you think it looks when all of the ladies aren't happy?" I sort of missed these back-and-forth's we used to have. They weren't nearly as fun as the ones I had with Genrou, but it was still pretty satisfying.

"It wasn't exactly my fault you know—I didn't want to leave." Seeing that he was about to open his mouth to say something, I quickly went on, "Of course, in the beginning I did—'cause let's face it, you guys drove me insane. But I didn't at the end. Leaving you guys was hard…" But I had to do it.

"Well…" Mitsukuni broke the more serious atmosphere and perked everything up. "Let's make it easy on you! Just come back with us Aki-chan!" My eyes grew wide upon hearing his words. Can I…do that?

"Yeah Aki! You should come be with us again—we'd love to have you back!" Kaoru urged on.

"It would be just like before, only better!" Hikaru looked at me in a knowing way, we'd be together again…

Tamaki sprung out of his emo-corner and wiped any residue of negativity from his being, plastering on his charming attributes. "The family just wouldn't be complete without you! To have my dear sister back would be absolutely marvelous. Of course we would have to throw you a welcome home party—price won't even be an issue! Then we would have to invite all of the ladies since we know that they missed you as well…" Tamaki continued on with his list of things to do for when/if I returned with them. But one thing stuck out to me out of all the things he had said. "Of course we should throw you a welcome home party…" A "welcome home" party, huh?

Home…

Where is that exactly?

---

Genrou's 3rd POV

In a similar room filled with mirrors, Genrou stared at the particular one in the center—the one that contained a girl from his past—a girl who had died because he couldn't reach her in time—because he was so careless.

"Omigosh! Genrou, what happened to your arm? You were being reckless again, weren't you?" The bandits amber eyes slowly trailed to the left as he chuckled nervously at her observation, rubbing the back of his head—while at the same time feeling very unsettled about the whole situation. The girl, who was aged around thirteen or fourteen, had sleek, dark evergreen hair that was wrapped up into two buns, similarly to Miaka's, but her longer bangs on the side flowed down past her collar bone and were wrapped with a ribbon in one spot near the top. Her bright orange-ish pink eyes looked into Genrou's with optimism. "You remember what we promised, right? You and Kouji both said that I would be a part of the Mt. Reikaku bandits as well, remember?" Normally, he would never even consider a female to be a part of his group of vagabonds, but she had proven herself with her quick-thinking and bravery in the past. If it weren't for her courage and sacrifice, he and his best bud Kouji wouldn't have taken out that demon. But was the price worth it? She didn't deserve to die, but when she did, she was in his arms…showing them her best smile—she didn't regret what she did.

And now here she was, almost as if nothing had ever happened.

Genrou didn't know whether he should be happy or cautious about the whole ordeal.

"Reirei," he spoke to her, "how…how are ya doin' this? I mean…you…" It was hard for him to even assess the situation properly—he was just so overwhelmed by seeing his once dead friend standing there, seemingly alive.

Doing a cheerful spin, Reirei giggled and said, "That's just like you to ignore your own wound. Oh well. As for your question, I have absolutely no idea how, but," she giggled sweetly again, "I don't particularly care!" Softening up, she looked at her flame-headed friend in a sympathetic way. "I really missed you…Genrou…"

He didn't know how to respond to her…or how to respond to anything that was happening. Feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong, the vast majority of his being wanted to embrace what the universe had supplied him. The more he thought about it, the stupider he felt about how skeptical he was being. His friend had come back somehow so he should just be thankful.

If only that little, irritating voice in the back of his head would go away and leave him be.

"Don't start gettin' all sappy on me—ya know that's not how I do things," Genrou put his hands on his hips and turned his head, a confident grin played on his features.

"Oh come on, we all know that you're a big softie on the inside," she snickered.

The bandit automatically responded negatively, "Like hell I am!" Clearing his throat, he tried to sound a bit more casual around the girl. "So, uh, how is…bein' dead going?" And with that was followed by a strained silence as the two stared each other down, blank looks on their faces while the question floated around in the air.

Having it all sink in, Reirei broke out in a hearty laugh. "How is being dead? What an awkward question!" She was laughing so much that she had to hold her stomach with both arms to avoid muscle pains. Seeing how she kept laughing and avoiding the query, Genrou's face started to heat up a bit when he reflected on his words. What else could I have said? I couldn't think of anythin' else!

"Well isn't this a festive atmosphere to walk into?" From inside the mirror, a strong male voice that Genrou was used to immediately emerged from behind Reirei. And before too long, a good-looking, strongly built man who looked like he was in his early thirties, with long, pale brown hair and a few strands that hung in the middle of his face walked onto the scene. His equally brown, piercing eyes peered down at the flame-headed gawker. "Well now that everything has been worked out, we can head on back to Mt. Reikaku, resuming our previous lifestyle before things took an unfavorable turn." The man emphasized the word "unfavorable", Genrou knowing fully well that the unfavorable events being the mess they had been caught up in with the Mt. Kaou bandits and that demon Dokoro.

"Ha-Hakurou!" Genrou mentioned the name of his bandit leader as he stood there before him. In the time when things were getting bad, it didn't help when the man fell ill—leaving the most deadly tasks up to Kouji, Reirei, and Genrou. Sure, everything seemed exciting to the young bandits, taking out a bunch of enemies as if they were nothing, but it escalated onto a completely different level when you had the irking feeling that someone was really going to die—and in this case, it was Reirei.

The man cocked his eyebrow up. "Why are looking at me as if you saw a ghost? You just saw me not too long ago." Before the younger bandit could say something, Hakurou's face showed evidence of an epiphany. "Oh I see, you think that I'm still sick and bed-ridden! Well, I wouldn't allow such a pesky thing such as an illness due me in. I am ready to resume my post as the leader." It was because of Hakurou's sickness that Genrou decided to go off on his own and find a cure—there was no way that he would accept losing his mentor to something so trivial.

His originally solo journey was interrupted by the incredible distraction of a mysterious, overly headstrong girl named Aki. At first, he thought of her as a huge problem that would only prevent him from any kind of progress, but he was becoming more aware of how much of herself she was putting into helping him, for someone she just met one day starting on bad terms, even if the whole situation was a huge pain in the ass. Of course, he was glad that they were finally developing their friendship and hoped that things would stay that way—after all, she wasn't as bad as he initially pinned her to be. Even he had to admit that both she and Chichiri were just the people he needed to reach his goal. The question was: was there still a point in going on if everything was fine again?

"Of course," his eyes inspected Genrou, "this doesn't mean that you can't start preparing for your reign. I meant what I said before—you are to inherit the title once I am no longer fit to hold it. That is to say that you still need some growing up to do." Out of all the men in the world, Genrou looked at Hakurou as if he were the very definition of the word. From the moment the man saved him out of a tough bind, the fanged teen wanted to be the manliest tough guy around—the kind of man he saw Hakurou as. So, after a bit of proving himself, the nickname "Genrou", meaning phantom wolf, was given to him as he was welcomed into the Mt. Reikaku bandits.

His reminiscing was brought to an end when Reirei put on a jokingly grin. "Asking him to do that may be more of a challenge than it sounds."

"Hey, shut up!" Genrou yelled out with a fist up at her. Holding back on his annoyance, he addressed them both with seriousness, still contemplating what he should do regarding all the events that were unfolding. "Livin' the dream—bein' a part o' the Mt. Reikaku bandits, the best group around that no sane man would go up against. Yup, that's where the real men are—there's no doubt 'bout that," he smirked, bein' the leader won't be half-bad either, only to have it falter a few seconds later, trying to make sure that he didn't get too excited too soon. "But this whole thing—seein' you two here like this—definitely some doubts."

---

Chichiri's 3rd POV

"I don't blame you for what happened Houjun—you should stop beating yourself up because of it…"

Just like his two comrades, Chichiri had been lead into an ominous room coated in eerie energy—mirrors stood up, lined next to each other with a more prominent one in the middle. Two beings stood in the mirror, each watching Chichiri with remorseful expressions. One was a somewhat handsome man with dark blue hair that was for the most part in a bun high up on his head along with somewhat short bangs that didn't reach his teal eyes. He wore common yellow and pale blue ancient Chinese clothing. The beautiful woman next to him was a bit shorter than the man—she had elegantly long dark grey hair that mostly traveled down her spine while a part of it was moved to the front to hang over her shoulder and onto her chest. Her understanding violet eyes seemed to see right through Chichiri and into his heart, sending a wave of pain from tormenting memories.

With the severity of the situation at hand, the monk had his secret mask off, to show the scarred face hidden on the inside—showing the face that the people in the mirror were more comfortable with—the face they saw before they both perished. Chichiri stood frozen in shock from the sight of the very two people he thought he had wrongfully murdered—all because of the rage and jealousy that had taken over his heart for only a brief time, only to be immediately replaced with sorrow and regret.

"Please talk to us Houjun," the woman pleaded, calling Chichiri by his birth name, "It's been so long and we just want to make things right." With only a small portion of the shock dissolving, he inspected the perfect face of his late fiancée. Kouran…could this really be you? Or is my guilty heart playing cruel tricks on me? He switched his attention to the man. And Hiko…all in this one place…Chichiri's heart squeezed painfully in his chest—just seeing those two before him brought back the memories that he would rather have forgotten, yet have lingered with him and impacted his life greatly—making it impossible for him to ever wash the tainted-ness away.

"Look, I don't blame you for what happened," Hiko told him, "I…" the words were difficult to get out, "betrayed your trust—our friendship—so I probably deserved…my fate."

Hearing this, allowed Chichiri's voice to work properly again. "You didn't deserve death!" Clenching his fists, the monk looked down, remorse burning in his crimson eyes. "I could have tried harder to save you…" Holding the prominent scar where his eye was supposed to be, he shouted, "Losing an eye is nothing compared to losing a friend! I could have done more…" Images of that awful day replayed in his head—the powerful flood that took out his whole village, wiping out his entire family, Kouran being washed away after he caught her and Hiko kissing, his rage and wanting to kill Hiko, trying to save his best friend from the raging waves and currents, a sharped-branched tree flying out from the violent winds, impacting him in his eye, causing him to lose grip on Hiko's hand…watching him being forced away as the incredible pain from his wounded eye and heart overtook him.

Kouran was starting to cry. "I hated that the last thing I felt before dying was sadness, knowing that I would never be the right woman for you, knowing how I have been disloyal to you. I hated myself for making you feel so lonely and hurt for all this time."

Instinctively, Chichiri didn't like to see her cry, or see her sad at all, so he held out his hand in longing. "Kouran…"

Wiping away her tears, a small, hesitant smile formed on her lips. "I'll only forgive myself if you do Houjun, if you would accept, I would like to give our relationship another chance—being your wife has always been my dream, even in death. But now I'm back, so we can live happily." The world seemed to spin through Chichiri's vision as she truthfully said, "Because I still love you…so much…"

Being knowledgeable about the workings of the universe, a part of him knew fully well that what was going on wasn't real—that this was probably just another trial that Aki, Genrou, and himself had to go through, but the psychological impact of it all just made the whole experience seem so real. Even if this was fake seeing the forms of his dead fiancée and best friend, hearing them talk again—it was just too much.

He longed to be with her—to have everything right between him and his best friend. And now he was potentially being given the option to make things right again.

---

Aki's POV

Shifting uncomfortably in my spot, I contemplated whether or not it would be the right thing to do to return to their world. Of course a part of me wanted to, there was no doubt there, but I also knew that my story in their lives had ended—or could it have been that the story wasn't completed yet? Perhaps the book was being opened again and I still had a shot at my happily ever after. But really, could I simply just do that though?

"I don't know…" I told them as I continued to ponder on it.

"C'mon Aki!" With a satisfied smile on his face, Hikaru touched this side of the mirror with his finger. On contact, the edges of it started to glow in a rainbow stream of light—making it look like a magical ribbon that continued to play with the spectrum. "All you have to do is step through the mirror, onto our side, and you'll be livin' it up with the Host Club again!"

Being both fascinated and surprised by his words, I tried to inspect the new lining of the mirror a bit more closely. Making sure that I didn't seem too excited, I asked with a nonchalant, yet puzzled tone. "Really?"

He nodded, the happy smile on his face never faltering as he and Kaoru wrapped their arms around each others' shoulders, a pose they often liked to do. "Yup! And I swear that you will never be taken from us again—"

"You'll never have to go away!"

"We can all live happily and have the times of our lives together."

"Y'know, doing some Host Club activities here and there, finishing high school together," I can see that they still refuse to acknowledge the fact that I'm not only older than them, but two grades ahead. Back when I was attending Ouran Academy, I wasn't present at first to establish my transcripts (I was unconscious from fighting Shadow Maidens), so the Hitachiin twins took it as their liberty to set everything up for me without my consent, putting me in their grade, their tenth grade freshmen class (that was another thing I liked better in the U.S than Japan, the schooling system—ninth grade was freshman year, not tenth) before even knowing the true details. It was still very clear that they intended on the same set up as before if I were to actually go back with them. "Making a life for ourselves—the three of us can always be together!"

Kaoru turned to Haruhi, "It can be the four of us if you want~."

"I don't want and no thank you," was what she replied with.

Hikaru snickered. "You say that now, but we already managed to get Aki, it's only a matter of time before you turn around."

"Actually, I chose you. So it was completely my decision," I pointed out. It was true after all. Those two had been playfully pestering me for the longest time before I had finally accepted them as friends. And I accepted Hikaru's feelings after he confessed that he wanted me to stay with him.

"In any case," the older twin moved on with the conversation, his face growing more tender and sympathetic. "I meant what I told you before you left," he started to blush with the sentimental words he was saying, "I—I mean we—really prefer to see it when you smile, to see you happy."

"And with the Host Club, you know that that will always be possible," Kaoru added in.

Hikaru concluded their invitation with a confident grin, "So just leave whatever drag world you're in and be with us!"

Then they both sung simultaneously, "We know you want to!" Well of course I want to…but…In the past—when I had first met these two, they had driven me absolutely insane with their blackmailing and constantly clinging to me and going to such lengths just so that I could loosen up and have some fun. Sure, their overall intentions were sweet, but even to this day I still thought of them as unorthodox. Whether or not I would have ended up with Hikaru in the end if they hadn't used their methods, was a complete mystery.

"I can see that you're distraught my darling little sister," my eyes widened at all-too familiar female voice, feeling the sting of a million needles impact my heart. "So let me make your decision a bit easier." Bringing my hand up to my chest, I squeezed the material from my tube top, whole body shaking as tears formed in my eyes. Breathing becomes difficult, only shorts bursts of air come out at a time while a huge lump formed in my throat.

"K-Kajou…" Barely a whisper passed through my lips. Just hearing her voice caused my body to react in such a dramatic way. Surely it was impossible. It was impossible. It was impossible…

Yet it sounded so real—as if she were really there talking to me. But it was….impossible…right? My mind must have been playing tricks on me…

A new wave of emotions emerged as a woman with long fiery hair and deep amber eyes materialized in front of the Host Club, none of them seeming surprised by the new member. But I just kept staring…staring at this impossibility forming in front of me.

Seeing old friends standing here—okay, I could handle that…more or less. Witnessing my dead older sister appear out of nowhere, the person who used to be my only purpose for living, made me want to break all of my tough-oriented, self-enforced rules to completely break down and cry. But, for the most part, I managed to keep a grip on myself. Illusion or not, the rushing memories just by seeing her face brought both pain and happiness to my soul.

"Aki," she said my name in such a warm and motherly way that compelled me to run into her arms, but I stayed firm in my spot. "My sole desire this whole time had to be with you once again. I realize that it was a mistake to leave you the way I had." She smiled, causing my heart to squeeze any more even more. "But luckily the universe had given me another chance at life, sending me to the world of your friends here." Chuckling a bit, she added, "I guess it had problems sending me directly to you. Bad reception I suppose." That's unlikely—if anything, the universe did this just to mess with my feelings some more. And it was definitely achieving its goal—my brain had absolutely no idea how to process everything that was happening. "But I'm here now, little sister, to be with you. Just step through the mirror and I promise that everything will be alright." With my legs moving by themselves, I stepped up to the mirror, extending my arm out so that my palm touched the glass. Kajou did the same on her side, making it seem like our hands were touching. "You, I, and your friends here will always be together through thick and thin. Nothing will separate us ever again."

With all of them grouped together like that, I seriously started to consider their offer. It would have been great—no, more than great—to be able to just leave my troubles behind, not having to worry about which world I belonged in or about how long it would take to find it. I could just solve my problems then and there, my wish would finally come true. Happiness was so close, it was almost in my grasp.

All I had to do was just step through the mirror.

---

Genrou's 3rd POV

"Wait…what are ya sayin'?" Genrou looked curiously at the main mirror as its edges glowed in multiple colors.

"It's like I said, silly," Reirei held up her hand as if she were presenting something. "Just step through the mirror and we can go on dangerous and exciting adventures again!" Winking at him, she then stuck out her tongue in a cute manner. "I promise not to get stabbed again—I should probably plan things out a little better next time."

Crossing his arms, the bandit leader gave Genrou an expecting look. "You should seriously consider stepping though. Think about it—everyone will be alive and well and the Mt. Reikaku bandits will thrive. It seems to me that your choice is obvious."

"Huh…" Genrou stroked his chin while he weighed his options. It does sound like a pretty sweet deal. And if what they are sayin' is right, then everything bad that happened would be completely erased. It was definitely a tough call.

Before she died, Reirei had confessed to the flame-headed bandit that she had fallen in love with him during the time they were put together due to complicated circumstances. When the memory of that came back to him, Genrou was aware of how awkward it would be to be hanging around with her again—he wouldn't have known how to act. He was fairly sure that he didn't love her back—she was his friend, there was no doubt about that, as well as a nice and exciting girl, but he was sure that his feelings didn't escalate so far as to pure infatuation. Besides, it had been a while since he's even seen Reirei, whatever romantic thoughts and feelings that he might have had (and he was pretty sure that he didn't have them), they would have withered away soon after her death.

Despite all that, though, he wouldn't deny that he wanted his friend back and he wanted everything to just work out fine.

---

Chichiri's 3rd POV

With a trail of tears running down her perfectly contoured face, Kouran spoke with a voice as soft as silk—her small, hopefully smile made Chichiri just want to melt. "I promise you, stepping through the mirror will allow us to make everything better again. Hiko and I would be alive and…and we can all live together in peace like we used to." Her expression became gloomier. "Before everything went horribly, horribly wrong."

Hiko tried to comfort her by resting his hand on her shoulder. "But it will be alright Kouran." Turning to Chichiri, he said, "Everything will be alight since it'll be like that tragedy had never even happened." If the blue-haired monk were to go through with this, the positive outcomes would be sure to uplift his life once more. Just knowing that he could take back everything that happened, make things right, stirred around his emotions in various directions. After seven years, he and Kouran could finally get married not to mention that the bond between him and his best friend would be rekindled—it was just what Chichiri had always wanted.

"Every day since then, had regretted the awful mistakes I had made—never once did I stop thinking about you two. I kept on telling myself that I had killed my fiancé and my best friend. Even though I've taken on the new, more peaceful lifestyle of a monk, dedicating myself to bettering the world and vowing to never be with another woman, there was always darkness in my heart that continued to linger on from that day…" He was left alone in misery especially since he knew, in the bottom of his heart, that he could have done something to prevent their deaths. Now all I have to do is step forward…I have a chance to fix everything…

---

Aki's POV

"Aki please!"

"We want you back!"

"We miss you!"

"You were the coolest girl at Ouran!"

"So sweet and spicy!"

The multiple fan-girls manifested in all of the mirrors of the room, their mixed, high-pitched voices etching their way past my eardrums and into my brain, quickly forming a heavily pounding headache. My decision didn't come any faster especially with most of the Host Club, and Kajou, joining in with the girls to press on even harder. With loud words being shot at me from every direction, my brain couldn't focus properly—there wasn't even any time to think with all of the ruckus going on. The pressure from it all was bound to make me go completely insane if I didn't come to a conclusion soon.

Holding my ears and eyes shut, I tried to block out all of the noises—I needed to concentrate! Think about it Aki, if you do this, then you can finally find happiness and end this perilous journey…or else you could be jumping from world to world for the rest of your life! All I had to do was step through, then everything would be just how I wanted it. With the dark ring gone, it would be like starting a completely new life—I'd be free.

But would it be the right thing to do?

---

Genrou's 3rd POV

"C'mon Genrou! Just step through!" Reirei cheered.

"It would be the wise thing to do," Hakurou's pale brown eyes pierced into his protégée's. "You want to show the world how much of a man you can be, right? Then this is the first step."

"I…uh…" The path wasn't clear to him—he knew that he wanted what they were offering, but there was something in between the lines, something that he was missing, that made him question what was going on. His whole body shook, hesitant to take a step forward.

---

Chichiri's 3rd POV

"Houjun…please…" Holding her hand out for Chichiri to take, Kouran continued with soft words. "Come back to me…I beg of you…"

Should I do it? What if…what if things don't turn out right? Clenching his fists, the monk's shoulders trembled as he stared at the floor. He thought that the decision would be easier to make, but it was turning out to be one of the hardest ones he'd ever made in his life.

---

Aki's POV

"WILL EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP?" My voice echoed in the peculiar space, the forceful tone caused everyone to cease their pressuring. After panting for a few seconds, I took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out steadily. Finally, I was able to hear myself think. It didn't take long before something came to my attention.

"Aki? Is everything okay?"

Quickly snapping my head towards my older sister, I decided that my theory was worth testing. "Kajou, let me ask you something." My voice was still a bit shaky from the previous shock, but I knew that for the sake of everything that was going on, I had to keep a sturdy tenor. "If I were to come back with you guys, would you be willing to join the Host Club and be willing to trust them as well as going along with whatever crazy scheme they have planned?"

It didn't even take long for her to come up with an answer. She just closed her eyes and smiled. "Of course, I'd do anything for you little sister." Anything, huh?

"So Aki," Hikaru added in, "what do ya say? As if I even have to ask."

Searching through all of the possible outcomes, I was a bit saddened, but my answer surprisingly came as easy to me as breathing. "I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but sorry, I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

The twins plus Tamaki gave me blank looks. "Wait…what did she say?"

Kajou narrowed her eyes with disappointment. "She said no." They all gasped in surprise to my older sister's revelation.

"Aki-chan doesn't want to…" Mitsukuni sniffed as he held back tears. "She doesn't want to come back with us?" He looked towards me as he held onto Usa-chan tightly. "Please say it isn't true Aki-chan!"

A sad smile riddled on my face, I shook my head. "It is true—but I never said that I didn't want to come along with you. It's just that, and I might be completely wrong about this, I don't believe that any of this is real." Knowing that someone was going to ask for an explanation, I decided to oblige. "My older sister Kajou, the one that I had grown up with, only trusted me, never anyone else. Not only that, but it was completely against her morals to participate in any group activities or anything like that—the Host Club is no exception." The Kajou I knew would put on an accepting face in front of the rest of society, but in truth, she only opened up to me—she only supported me. Addressing what Kyouya had said earlier about how the ladies had missed me, I further explained, "All of the clients…none of them should have had any memory in order to be upset about it. In fact, none of you except Kajou should have any recollection regarding my contribution to your lives. As much as I'd hate to admit it, no one is above the universe, and the universe wanted you all to forget." I was there when their memories were wiped—I had saved Tamaki and Haruhi from falling off a bridge and into the sea and after taking them back to shore, they had no idea what had just happened. The whole Host Club showed up then, not having any idea how the two of them were saved—or of the eighth member they had accepted sometime before. It was like everything we had gone through didn't matter anymore. Well in a sense, it didn't—if I couldn't get my wish granted there, then I was practically a shadow passing over their lives. The only benefit from that world was that I had a chance to train considering my friends didn't even know who I was.

As hard to accept as it was, that was the way things were.

Looking into their saddened faces, I had to fight through my own negative emotions and maintain my smile. "Really you guys…thank you for the tempting offer—no sarcasm intended." I wanted them to know that I was being completely generous with the situation. "I'd honestly love to be with you guys in a dream world where everything went my way." But unfortunately, I'm smart enough to know that my life isn't like that and it probably never will be."It would be awesome to not have to deal with Shadow Maidens and all those forces of Darkness—always thinking that someone is trying to kill me." All I wanted was a life where people both understood and appreciated me, wanted me around despite my flaws and curse.

But…

"I'm needed right now—there are two guys I just met and I don't think that it would be cool if I completely bailed on them like that." My smile and stature became more confident the more I spoke—never did I think that I'd take back what I had said. "If you guys are all still in this spot when everything is said and done, then I will definitely take your offer into consideration!" Well…probably not.Dreams were nice and all, but unless it's for real, then I would just be fooling myself. I might as well have been watching some TV show and daydreaming all day about being part of the story. Not only would that be sad, but it would also be a tease. I'd much rather live my own fairytale and experience every minute of it.

Out of all of the people staring at me, both Kajou and Hikaru looked the most hurt. Ordinarily, I'd sympathize with their pain—since they were the reflections of my ex-boyfriend and dead sister—but I was surprised to find that I didn't feel anything at all. And I wasn't even sorry for it.

There was no point in feeling sorry for an illusion.

"Aki," Hikaru spoke as his golden eyes stared into mine, an apparent blush forming on his face. "Don't…don't you love me?"

With my expression growing somewhat serious, a mildly mischievous grin played on my lips (oxymoron-ish, I know). I held up my hand to the mirror in the shape of a gun, finger pointing straight towards the middle. "Nope—If I did, I'd still be there, wouldn't I?" Gathering up energy in my hand I casted a spell, "Blam Blazer!" Instantly, a wave of blue energy shot out, accompanied by a light-blue beam that shattered the mirror on contact, with me making sure that my eyes were protected from the flying debris. Moving my arm from one end of the mirrors to the other, I destroyed all of them, leaving only the tiny fragments of what they used to be. The images were erased and I was just left alone with piles of shattered glass.

Part of me was regretting using such a spell for a task such as that—seeing as how a few spots on my body had been mildly slashed by some of the sharp glass shards. I chuckled nervously. Okay, even I'll admit that that was a bit much.

Lowering my arm, I thought about what I had just told Mirror Hikaru. The more I thought about it, the more I had realized that what I had said was true. After all, my whole journey was based around who I fell in love with—it would be in the world of my true love that I would reside in. Until then, I would probably just keep jumping from world to world until the universe decided that I deserved to settle down and be happy. Knowing how twisted he universe was, though, I knew it wouldn't be giving me any breaks any time soon.

The fact was, though, that I hadn't fallen in love yet. I deeply cared about Hikaru, and at a time I might have said that I was falling for him, but I didn't love him.

When my journey began, I acknowledged that I'd be going through some pain, Taiitsukun even warned me. Some of that pain would be from leaving friends behind and severing bonds—it was in the contract after all. My story was still in motion and I wasn't looking for any shortcuts. I'm going to see this through till the end, and hopefully my happy ending will be that much sweeter.

That is…if I even get a happy ending...

Suddenly, the world around me started to spin—no, I wasn't feeling light-headed…it was literally spinning. I sat in my spot as sturdy as I could, but with what was happening, I was reminded of a ride at an amusement park that had you hanging onto the inside of an open circle as it spun at high speeds. The atmosphere almost immediately changed as colors that were nonexistent before came into view. With the spinning actually starting to get to me, I closed my eyes to avoid dizziness from befalling onto me.

The oddest thing was that it didn't even feel like I was moving, not when I was my eyes were closed anyway. It was probably the maze pulling yet another stunt. Oh. Freakin'. Joy. Feeling that I had to open them back up sooner or later, I did, only to observe my new surroundings. I found myself standing in some kind of circular area, completely surrounded by tall, thick, ominous trees that didn't even look like they could be penetrated. The ground was completely covered in mahogany dirt while the sky was split down the middle—on one side, it was completely sunny and daytime, on the other, it was deep into the night was a crescent moon shining.

What the hell…kind of messed up place…is this?

As I tried to figure out my next course of action, I noticed someone lying leisurely on the ground, just a few yards away from me. My eyes widened in surprise. "Genrou!"

Opening his eyes, a smile ran across his face that showed off his fangs as he snapped his upper body up to face me, still holding his heavily wounded arm that was wrapped with the fabric from my jacket. "Hiya Aki! What took ya so long?"

Putting my hands on my hips, I spoke with sarcasm in my voice. "Well excuse me for taking my sweet time. So…" Somewhere in all that drama with the mirror's I refused to acknowledge that I did in fact feel a fluctuation of distressful emotions coming from Genrou. They didn't seem important to me in the moment, for obvious reasons, so I tried to keep them out of mind. Now that I saw that he was fine, I figured that it didn't hurt to at least ask. "Did you get thrown into a room full of mirrors that made you recall memories and emotions that you would have rather forgotten or kept buried?" For some reason, my sentence came out so fast that I was worried that he wouldn't understand what I had said.

Somehow, he managed to catch the gist of it. "Yup." I honestly didn't expect him to tell me what he saw, but he did. "I got ta see an old friend o' mine, this chick named Reirei who died a little while ago, and the Mt. Reikaku bandit leader Hakurou, who wasn't sick anymore. The deal actually seemed pretty sweet, but I knew that it was too good ta be true." So they tempted him with the revival of a dead friend and the good health of his leader. This maze sure has a way with screwing with someone. Part of me figured that he was going to ask what happened with me, but I was rather astonished when he said, "If ya don't wanna tell me what happened ta you, then it's fine. I don't want wanna reopen old wounds."

His sincerity kind of impressed me—I didn't expect him to be like that…I kind of pinned him as the type of person to hound someone for information regardless of whether they wanted to open up or not. Face flushing slightly, I decided to at least return the favor since he told me. I looked away to avoid his eyes as I spoke. "Believe me…you wouldn't be opening up old wounds that weren't already violated by this stupid maze. I was just…" My expression fell as the painful feelings came trickling back. "Paid a visit by the Host Club and my deceased older sister. They wanted me to join them, but something about it didn't seem right…So I declined their offer…" Back when I had to make the decision, it didn't seem so hard, but thinking about it showed me just how huge it was. Deep inside, I knew that I was actually pretty close to stepping through. Shaking my head, I changed the subject to avoid further sentimentality. "By the way, has Chichiri made his way back yet?"

"Not that I can see—I was the first one here," he told me. Hmm…so he's still stuck in there—

"You called?" Out of nowhere, the blue-haired wonder himself popped out of nowhere, causing me to jump a bit, but not as drastically as when we first met.

Sighing, I held a fist up at him. "Dammit Chichiri, it's never cool when you do that!"

Holding up both of his hands in defense, he smiled playfully with that fox-like mask of his. "I'm sorry ya know? But since we're all sharing what we went through, I'm going to admit that I was tempted with a world that had peace on earth and good will towards men, ya know?"

Why the heck does he sound like a Christmas special? Grimacing, I told him flatly, "You know, if you're going to lie about it, at least say something that's a bit more convincing."

Remaining in his perky state, he said, "I don't have the foggiest idea as to what you're talking about, ya know?"

"Uh-huh…"

Genrou jumped up onto his feet, quite skillfully I might add, as he dusted himself off and walked up to us. "Instead of debatin' whether er not Chichiri's story checks out, how about we find our way outta this whacky place once an' fer all. The hijinks are really gettin' on my nerves—"

Smack!

In the blink of an eye, my whole hand stung as I left it extended out in front of me—Genrou, with a dumbstruck look in his eyes, held his now reddened cheek with the hand on his good arm. My eyes grew from the shock of my actions.

"Wha—wha—" I tried to speak.

"What the hell Aki?" Genrou shouted with anger in his voice, still tending to the side of his face. "Why did'ja slap me?"

Feverishly shaking my head, I did my best to explain this peculiar phenomenon. "I-I didn't. I-I-I mean, I don't know why. I—"

"You what?"

"I didn't do it on purpose—I didn't even know that I was going to do that." That was one of the weirdest sensations I had ever felt—not being able to control your own actions, it was like my arm was completely dead and someone decided to move it for me.

"What? That's such a load of—" Genrou hesitated with the last words of his sentence, an expression of aggravation and determination appearing on his features. "Hey, wait a minute…why can't I move?" I could tell that he was trying to change his position, but all I could see was his body vibrating vigorously.

"H-Hey, he's right! I can't move either, ya know?"

Testing it out for myself, I found that my body felt as if there were no structural bones holding it up, and yet I was still perfectly in place. The harder I tried to move even a finger, the more I realized how futile it was—I was frozen, feeling, for the most part, mortified that the messages my brain was sending to my limbs weren't processing as efficiently as they should. My arm was supposed to move, on my command, but it was like heavy steel chains were holding them in place.

"It won't be long folks, until our next exciting show begins!" There was that same deep male voice we heard roaring from a speaker when this whole circus fiasco began. Turns out that the originator of the voice had been keeping up with us throughout our experiences. It was about time that the guy came out of the shadows. We take him out, and I'm guessing that this whole maze ordeal will be over with.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see what seemed like a little boy of about nine or ten dressed in a modern ring-master outfit—containing a black top hat, his dirty blonde hair sticking out from around the circumference, a long cape, and a performance tuxedo underneath (bow tie and all). In his hand was a large white megaphone in which he spoke into. "It would seem that our performers are completely astounded by the sight they see before them—especially the lovely lady with the red eyes." He took the device away from his mouth, his real voice actually sounding a bit high-pitched—the kind of voice you'd normally expect from a kid his age. "Isn't this a lot of fun?" What? He's been using the megaphone to disguise his voice? Who is this little boy?

"Fun my ass!" Genrou proclaimed, still making an attempt to move. "Who are ya kid and what is goin' on here?"

The little ring-master stuck out his tongue as he made his way into our little frozen circle. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Look, this doesn't make any sense." While I talked to him, part of my brain was doing its best to come up with a reasonable plan to make it out of this predicament. "Everything that happened in this whole circus—even your clothes—are modern in my case but way too futuristic for this particular world. So how can this even be possible?"

The ring master laughed as he chucked the megaphone in some random direction, just one bounce on the ground and it disappeared into thin air. "Out of all people Akimoto, you should know that the universe is capable of many things and is present in every world. So the ideas presented here aren't exactly foreign." Of course a minion of the universe knows my name. I must be a popular topic at board meetings.

"You don't speak like a normal little kid, ya know?" Chichiri noticed.

"Well, technically I can take on any form I want, but I figured that you lower-life forms would be able to comprehend my being with this body more easily. But enough about all of the technical stuff," he lifted his arms into the air as if he were about to announce something. "It's time for the puppet show to begin! After all, what's a circus without a good puppet show?" I was about to ask what he was going to use for puppets, but a deep nauseating feeling overwhelmed me as I remembered how I had slapped Genrou without any control of my actions. The question wasn't what he was going to use as the puppets, it was who he was going to use.

"Oh God…" I whispered in horror.

"It looks like the lady figured it out. I'm afraid that it won't help you much though. But don't worry…" Using some mysterious powers, he jumped effortlessly across the circle, a good twenty yards in just one leap. "We're going to have lots of fun." With my body faced in one direction, I couldn't quite tell what the kid was doing just by looking out of the corner of my eye. But I did feel an odd sensation from the very middle of my back. Glancing across at Genrou, I saw a faint, single reflective string coming from his back that happened to trace back to the no-good ringmaster. The situation wasn't looking any better than when we had first begun. "It's time for the fairytale to begin. Places my puppets!" My legs involuntarily moved me to the center of the circle, refusing to listen when I told them to stop. "Once upon a time, there was a young girl who had a horrible and lonely childhood. Her parents were neglectful and the only person she had come to know and love had died a horrible death." What? Is he telling my life's story?" She found that her only friend in the world was a little, blue-haired cat." Chichiri immediately showed up at my side, except he was on the ground on all fours.

"Umm…cat?" Since when did I have a cat sidekick?

"Hey, why am I the cat, meow?" The monk complained.

I groaned as mentally slapped my forehead. "If you don't like the role, then don't play the part by meowing."

The kid snickered. "Your face sort of called for it." Except his mask reminds one more of a fox. "Now, don't interrupt me!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway…the cat could tell that the girl was very lonely, even if she did have to constantly fight ninja's on a daily basis."

"Ninjas?" My body moved by itself again, this time, it hopped around, and threw random punches and kicks to no particular target. Part of me ignored my actions as I yelled back at the kid. "Ninjas? Really? Where the hell are you basing your information off of kid?" I felt completely stupid for attacking nothing—anyone on the outside looking at my performance would probably think I was crazy or something. Even though I wasn't moving on my own accord, I was still starting to feel the fatigue of all of the physical movements (added on to the weariness I was already feeling from this trials' activities).

He ignored my commentary. "Her pet cat could tell that she was growing weary with life, so he decided to go out on a long, perilous journey and grant her wish of true happiness and belonging." With that, Chichiri started to awkwardly run on all fours around the edge of the circular grounds, meowing as if he were a real cat (it was getting hard to discern whether or not he was making those sounds on purpose). The whole thing looked rather goofy—in fact, if I didn't believe that this puppet show would end in our doom, I'd be pretty entertained with someone making the monk prance around as if he were really a feline. It was even less funny in my case since I never stopped attacking nothing—so as Chichiri ran, I kept fighting. This whole puppet show business was already becoming a huge pain in the ass.

Genrou stood on one side of the circle, doing absolutely nothing as he forcibly waited for his part to be called. The "cat" Chichiri made his way over to the bandit and abruptly stopped in front of him.

"Okay, I'll admit that you playin' the part of a cat is actually pretty priceless," The fanged-bandit couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"I thought you were in a bad mood about this?" Chichiri asked.

"Of course I'm pissed with not bein' able to move, but sorta hard to be with the stuff that's goin on with you two. That kid has a sense of humor!"

"Don't laugh for too long, ya know? You still don't know what role you're gonna play."

Continuing on with the story, the ring-master made Genrou walk steadily towards the center—my location. "The cat was able to locate a noble prince from a faraway land—a man who also wishes to find happiness with love." Wait…Genrou's the prince? What a slap in the face to him…ha! Considering every fairytale that was ever told, my somewhat amused face went grim. If he's the prince, and I'm the damsel (damn that kid by the way), then this story can only turn out one way. Crap. "With the help of the cat, the prince was able to make his way back to the lonely young girl." With Chichiri at his side, and still on all fours, the two made got closer and closer to my location. The only relief being that my body had finally halted, allowing me to finally get a breather before the storm.

In the final few feet, the monk stopped in his tracks, but Genrou persisted, right up until he and I were standing straight up, facing each other. "Now that the prince and the young girl had found one another, they could have their first kiss, establishing their everlasting love."

The both of us feeling a sense of alarm almost immediately, we both shouted out, "Say what?" Like I didn't expect it. Damn my intuition. This was one of those times when I really, really didn't want to be right.

The kid laughed. "Of course you guys have to kiss! It wouldn't be a proper story otherwise!" This little boy obviously wasn't deprived of Disney movies while growing up. He didn't hesitate with having Genrou put his working hand on my shoulders, sending an immediate shock throughout my system as our bodies got closer together. Instead of having looks of passion and desire, as one would see with a lover or significant other, we both had the most uncomfortable looks on our faces as the mysterious force slowly brought him down just a few inches from my lips. Fortunately, with the intense and increased reason to break free, the force of our willpower made it more difficult for whatever the power was to make us actually make contact…well, not on the lips anyway. With an extra push, Genrou actually managed to kiss my forehead, causing me to blush feverishly, my body temperature rising considerably. At least he only got my head, right?

"Aww man, you guys missed—let's try it again, shall we?"

Genrou broke away, him obviously flushed as he spoke uneasily. "We—uh…um…" He growled. "There's no way that we're lettin' this kid have what he wants!"

"I get what you're saying, but even I have to admit that it won't be that easy…" Once again, he was lowering his head in order to make the proper move towards me, the two of us continuing to shake and break the ring-master's hold on us. Who would have thought that such a cliché storyline would end up working against my favor?

This time, however, we managed to fight off the kid's control, making sure that the last action—or any version of it—wasn't repeated. What I wasn't appreciating was the fact that my energy was starting to deplete considerably with the extra effort I had to put in to stop us from doing something that would ruin our newfound friendship.

"Okay what gives? You two won't cooperate!"

"Of course we won't cooperate you demented little—"

"Oh I get it!" Hitting a light fist in his hand, an idea sprung into the kid's head. "You two don't want to do the normal thing because that what the young girl and the prince always do. I mean a small kiss, how plain!" A wave of relief overcame me as my heartbeat finally started to slow down. That was when a bombshell was dropped on us. He spoke with a sinister voice, sending a chill down my spine—this time I was actually hoping that Shadow Maidens would swoop down and attack. Oh how much I wished that those bitches would provide a delightfully lethal distraction at that moment. "We'll actually take it a step further. There's only one way for two people to express their love and physical needs—this will be the fairytale to tell the truth of what happens after the wedding—or perhaps even before."

I had just become friends with the guy—he wasn't as bad as I initially thought, in fact I was actually considering him a good buddy one would say. But I did not, under no circumstances ever want to have sex with him, let alone kiss him.

When Genrou unwillingly slid my jacket off, exposing my bare shoulders and mostly uncovered upper body (I mean come on, a tube top that showed a few inches of my stomach didn't exactly hide a whole lot).

As it hit the ground, I impulsively shouted out, "What kind of a little kid are you? You shouldn't even know about adult things like this. Besides that, no freakin' fairytale is that graphic!"

"I'm not an ignorant child Akimoto, remember? Plus, I control the story, so it can go in whatever direction I wish it to. For example…" The jacket that was on the ground was immediately torn into shreds, leaving me rather upset from Emiko's gift being utterly destroyed. That. Little. Bastard! "I've already destroyed one article of clothing of yours, now how about you get rid of that pesky top?" Reaching down to the tight hem of my shirt, my arms were crossed in position to slip right off of my body.

Hell to the no.

"Chichiri! Help us!" In some situations, I'd say that it was appropriate to ask for assistance—it was definitely not the time to allow my pride to take over. Much to my dismay, he was reduced to running around the grounds just as he was doing before—the problem being that he was absolutely no help to us.

"Kid, you are dead once I'm outta here." Genrou threatened. "Don't think I'll go easy on ya just 'cause yer a squirt."

Feeling enraged at the tiny ring-master as well, I added in my thoughts. "You will suffer the new meaning to the term corporal punishment!"

The kid didn't seem to feel very threatened since all he did was grin and move his hand around. That must be where the strings are coming from! My thoughts were immediately broken as I felt Genrou's firm hands on my waist, my skin feeling the warmth of his touch and the familiar shock that it brought as he slowly attempted to lift my top off.

With my whole face completely red by this point, my nerves couldn't take much more.

So I completely snapped.

Closing my eyes, I released the hold on my energy and allowed it to painfully rush out of my being and onto the physical field, causing a considerable strain on my body. The silver veins covering my body started to glow bindingly as a plethora of spells shot out of various spaces, going in every direction possible. Without proper concentration or direction of the collections of energy, they weren't fully mature, going haywire, hitting everything and immediately exploding on contact.

Ground shaking from all of the violent impacts, clouds of smoke was beginning to engulf the whole area as craters of all sizes were etched into the ground. Everywhere you turned was a quick flash of light before it totally combusted, threatening to destroy any living thing that dared to get in its way.

"Aki, you have ta calm down!" Genrou tried to break through my unconscious actions. "Otherwise, all of us will be reduced ta nothin' but ashes."

There was too much going on—I couldn't grasp onto my thoughts enough to focus properly. The high concentrations of emotions were loosening the grip on my supposedly disciplined control. "I. C-Can't!"

"Argh!" The kid stomped a foot forward in frustration. "You're ruining everything!" Lifting up one of his arms high over his head, my body also lifted up from my spot. He then swiftly brought his arm down, his motion making me slam right into the ground, stomach first—the incredible pain overwhelming my body as the wind was knocked out of me.

"Aki!" Genrou and Chichiri yelled out in panic. Repeating the notion quite a few times, my controller continued to bring extreme agony to me, and although I couldn't control my body, it didn't take away from the fact that I felt like every bone in my body was breaking each time I was crashed into the hard, unforgiving ground. The flow of energy soon deceased—followed by violent spells ceasing completely. But that was hardly my main concern. My brain was starting to completely stop functioning as numbness befell onto my body, I was actually starting to black out.

With another wave of his hand, the kid tossed me aside, my body rolling across the ground—pain erupting over and over as I continued to hit the ground mid-roll—as it came to a halt—my lack of movement probably convincing the guy that I was knocked out.

"Aki…" Genrou spoke in a dreadful tone, cursing silently to himself. "You will pay for that!" Extreme hate was slathered onto his words.

The ring master sneered. "It had to be done—no one wants a broken toy after all. So she had to be thrown away." Keeping one eye open, I noticed how he put a finger under his chin as a thinking notion. "But what shall I do now that my main character is out of the picture?"

Feeling warm blood trickling to the ground from a gouge in my head, and no doubtingly my exposed knees as well as shoulders, it took every fiber of my being to stay conscious. Chances were that the kid had lost his grip on me and I was free from his control. All it took was the shifting of my arm to confirm just that. Smiling with newfound hope, I waited for my chance to strike, reserving as much of what was left of my energy as I could.

Closing my eyes for only a split second, I used the technique to see auras in order to locate the vexatious string connecting Chichiri and Genrou to the ring-master. There they are!The strings, just like its master, had an ominous red halo covering themselves, making their location as clear as day.

With one last burst of adrenaline, I jumped up onto my knees, alarming the kid, and casted a simple spell, gathering the familiar Wind to my hand. "Saisu!" The crescent-shaped blade of Wind shot out from my hand, effortlessly snapped the strings. All of us were finally free.

Both Chichiri and Genrou must have caught onto what had just happened, since it didn't take long for the both of them to surround the kid with homicidal expressions hanging off their faces. "Now kid, you die!"

The little boy had a stray tear running down his face as he started to pout. "I can't believe you lame bunch actually managed to completely ruin my show! You guys aren't very good sports!"

Thinking that we had finally won, I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally gave myself a chance to relax. But I was more surprised to find that I could stand up perfectly without even trying—as if my body wasn't even processing the incredible pain that it had been forced to endure. Developing a sense of empowerment, I tried to test my mysterious surge of physical confidence by taking a step towards the sadistic little creep.

But how come my legs wouldn't work?

Every inch of my being was drowned in horror and disbelief as I slowly trailed my eyes up at our circus-themed undertaker.

His faked frown sinisterly twisted up into a merciless smile. "By the look on Akimoto's face, I'm going to assume that she's figured out that the show isn't quite over yet. In fact, I'd say that we're hitting our grand finale."

Genrou and Chichiri looked over at me with bewildered and worried faces. "What's up Aki? We finally got this chump backed into a corner."

"We're gonna win, ya know?"

My intention was to shake my head dramatically, but even that simple motion was impossible for me to pursue. "No, you guys…I—" Blinking hard, I felt a wave of anger and incredible annoyance overrun my being. "You!" Without the ability to turn my head and point, I glared at the kid with intensity, hoping that my crimson eyes installed fear into his heart. "How the hell were you able to do this? I—"

"Save your breath lady. I'll give you the explanation so just keep your bra on and listen: I knew that Akimoto would probably find a way to escape and if not, I'd arrange it so that she would. I allowed her to think that she was free and sort of counted on her releasing her friends too." His smile widened. "And now…she changed the rules of the game. With just her under my control, the real fun can finally begin."

"I don't understand. Why didn't you just control only me in the first place if that was your plan all along? Why go through all of that other stuff from before?"

He giggled as he adjusted his top hat. "Why else? It was fun—you know, entertaining. Where's the fun in holding all of the cards if you just get straight to the point? It's boring doing things that way." Dammit, I underestimated him! "Now be a good lady and disintegrate your friends for me…and make it extra flashy."

My arms started to rise up towards my comrades, as reserve energy flowed to my fingertips. That kid is going to make me fight them! I tried to put everything I had into lowering my arm, but there was just no use, my body once again felt like it no longer belonged to me anymore—as if I was just the one going along for the ride at this point. Wait a second, that kid forgot how one of the conditions I needed to conduct a proper spell was direction. He already has me facing Genrou, and he's collecting my energy. It would be risky, but I had a plan. I just hoped that no one would be regretting anything from it.

That jerk will regret messing with me! "Saifogeo!" A long pink sword manifested between Genrou and I, the point aimed towards his chest. With the help of another mental push, I ran him straight through, his eyes enlarging from surprise.

"Genrou no!" Chichiri yelled.

The bandit shakily looked down at the sword that had pierced him. "A-Aki…why?"

Laughing manically, the kid jumped around in his spot. "It wasn't the flashiest performance I've ever seen, but the shock factor is rather high, so I approve!" To everyone else's disbelief, a rather confident grin played on my lips. "She's…she's smiling?"

"Kid, you really should have done your homework when you were devising this little plan. If you had known how my spells worked—or even the different types—then you wouldn't have practically handed my side the home-field advantage." Seeing the puzzled look on his face, I explained further. "You see, the Saifogeo spell is a healing spell." A small gasp escaped past his lips. "I'm fully aware that my body is messed up right now, and that my energy is practically dead until I can get a chance to recharge. So as far as this battle goes, I have…probably lost. But as long as my friends can keep going, then at least there will be someone to take you down." At my expense. The Saifogeo spell does the trick, but it's only for emergencies. When all of the pink coloring of the sword drained into Genrou's body, my own health energy transferred into him, leaving me considerably weakened, and in this case (how beat up I was at the time of the spell-casting), even more so. I had no choice but to do it. With his hurt arm, Genrou wouldn't be able to take me on in a fight. Now both he and Chichiri could defeat my uncontrolled self without any problems.

The sword disappeared as soon as my power was drained—the bandit held up his once hurt arm and inspected it, only to find that it was completely healed. "Wow! I can't believe it, I feel great!"

I panted as exhaustion flushed throughout me, eyes drooping, and body feeling as if it suddenly got heavier. "That's great Genrou. Now you two need to end this, please."

He punched his hand and glared at the kid with determination burning in his amber eyes. "You bet!" Realizing the state I was in, his face softened up a bit. "But you're too weak…"

"You're darn right she's too weak!" The kid shouted out as he pointed at the three of us. "And now nothing will prevent me from using her to destroy you all! I will have my grand finale!"

Even with how weary I was, I apparently had enough willpower to forcibly turn my head and face the little brat. "You know what? I'll be damned if I let a little kid order me around."

His eyes narrowed evilly when a menacing idea erupted in his head. "So be it." From the palm of his hand shot out a current of electricity that traveled down the line of the string attached to my back. Before another thought could even process through my brain, an intense, burning jolt violently shook every organ in my body—my insides feeling as if they were on fire as my vision switched from colors red and black both simultaneously, and separately. The torture seemed to last for an eternity, but I knew that it had only been a few seconds—probably not even that. I could feel myself becoming detached from my body, from the world as the pain was slowly deteriorating. Nothing could be seen through my eyes anymore, and I couldn't even remember if I was screaming or if it was somebody else. All I knew was that my world was turning into an inviting darkness that somehow seemed to make…me…feel…free…

---

Genrou's 3rd POV

For some reason, Aki seemed to completely lose her energy—her eyes were still open, but her head hung as if she were asleep. Smoke could be seen emitting from her, even at a distance. The tiny bastard was still keeping her up with this ominous strings of his, still believing that this was some sort of puppet show. The flame-headed bandit told himself that there was no way in hell that he would let that guy continue to take advantage of her.

"Well I think we'll find that she won't be bothering us anymore." The kid snickered. Wait, what does he mean by that? Genrou asked himself. "I guess when it comes down to it, a lifeless doll is better than one with spirit." He shrugged. "Teach his own I suppose."

"There's no way…"

"Genrou, you have to focus. What's done is done, ya know? We can't afford to take our eyes off of this kid!" Chichiri stood with his staff at the ready, but he had an atmosphere of dread about him—there was something he wasn't telling Genrou.

"Yeah but…why isn't she sayin' anything?" He tried his best to look her in the eye, but to no avail. His voice became shaky as he spoke. "C-C'mon Aki, you always say somethin' at times like this. Stop pretendin' an' resist 'im already!" A blade of Wind slashed up in front of him, had he taken another step forward, he might not have even had a head anymore. "Aki?"

A sphere of sharp currents of Wind completely surrounded their crimson-eyed companion while the kid floated up into the sky above her. "The final act of the show is entitled 'Do or Die'. I don't care which one it is, as long as you keep me entertained. So says the great ring-master!" As he disappeared into thin air, Aki immediately dashed from her spot to attack her friends, the sphere around her doing most of the work. Chichiri was able to keep her at bay with his staff, making sure that she never made contact with his body—at the high speeds the winds around her were going, even touching attempting to touch her meant losing a body part. Unfortunately, Genrou had nothing to protect himself with, so all he could do, to his intense dislike, was dodge her with his super-human speed. He knew that he could just end all of it if he managed to find that little coward who disappeared.

The force field seemed to only keep the girl at bay for a little while. Chichiri was starting to lose his advantage when she decided to use more force to push him into submission on his knees. It was getting harder for him to even see as her Wind sphere managed to summon up every particle of dirt in the surrounding area. The monk must have known that he could probably take her since she purposely used up her energy for the sake of the kid not taking advantage of her powers. The only thing she was capable of at that moment was the manipulation of her natural-born element. Genrou knew that he had to do something soon or else Chichiri was a goner—even if she were being controlled, Aki was still one of the most dangerous individuals he had ever met.

If only the two of them weren't so hesitant to attack her.

Suddenly, the flame-headed bandit could hear his comrade's voice in his head. 'Genrou I have an idea. But you have to distract Aki—or the child…however this whole thing works, ya know?'

Distract 'er? Them…whatever…Distract 'em? How do you expect me to do that?

'Think of something!'

Looking all around, Genrou tried to see if he could spot the kid all on his own, then he would show him no mercy for all the crap he had put the trio through. He groaned in frustration when he found that he didn't exactly have the same abilities as his magically inclined friends. Taking notice of a hand-sized rock on the ground next to him, he absentmindedly picked it up and threw it at the sorceress with force…only to have the rock completely disintegrate as it made contact with her sphere.

"A rock?" Chichiri yelled out in irritation. "You threw a rock?"

"You said to think of somethin'…"

"Yes and that requires actually thinking, ya know?"

The kid's mocking voice echoed all around. "You're not very bright are you?"

Feeling insulted at how both his enemy and his friend belittled his fast acting, he growled with a hint of a blush on his face. Yeah, I'm sure that Aki woulda contributed to their little put-down fest."You know what you brat? If yer so tough, then stop playin' with us and fight like a man! Quit usin' Aki fer yer own selfish amusement!"

Instead of coming into view, the mysterious kid's voice just rang out from nowhere. "No, I don't think that I will. But hey, instead of just ending your existence this way, how about we add in some drama and tease you a bit first? After all, we are still trying to put on a show." The woman immediately withdrew her energy, standing on the ground in front of Chichiri without a word.

She started to levitate, floating herself over to Genrou who was still probably playing the part of the prince in this little performance. Without even stopping, she opened her arms to him and wrapped them around his waist, bringing them together once again. As his whole body started to heat up, he wasn't quite sure on how to react or deal with the situation at hand. Was he supposed to attack her? Or should he just leave her there and hope she comes back to her senses? Aki tightened her hold on him as she laid her head against his fast beating chest. He didn't return the gesture of course—in fact his body stiffened up at her touch, making sure that his arms weren't making any sort of contact with her. This ordeal was already making him blush like crazy not to mention that—Wait…somethin's wrong. He didn't feel anything from her. In the past, whenever the two of them touched at a time of high emotional level, there would be a pleasant shock surging through their systems. It had been like that ever since the two of them met, even when they absolutely couldn't stand one another—he didn't exactly know why it happened, and it sort of annoyed him, but he had learned to live with it. But regardless of all that, he wasn't receiving any spark at all. Considering the embarrassing predicament the two of them were caught in, he knew that Aki would have normally blown her top by this point. She was completely calm though…not even a word came from her.

"Aki…why don't'cha talk to me?" No answer. "Yer stronger than this, don't let that bastard control you dammit!" She just wouldn't talk, but her embrace never weakened. Grinding his teeth, he thought to himself, what can I do? If I attack her…dammit,what do I do?

When he closed his eyes to think, a voice rang in his head, but it wasn't Chichiri's or the kid's. A woman's face came into his thoughts, a rather pissed off look in her red eyes as she stood with her arms crossed. 'What the hell do you think you're doing Genrou?'

Huh?

'I can't believe you'd let me just shamelessly hug you like that…I wouldn't hug you like that you moron! Why are you just standing there?'

Aki? How're ya—

'Focus on the problem at hand. I've never seen you hesitate before. Had this been any other time, you wouldn't even think twice about attacking me—you'd just do it.'

She was right—the two of them sparred and argued almost all the time. And during that fight when they first met, he didn't need much motivation—some taunting maybe—to go all out and show her up.

But something was different—either the situation or the timing of it…it didn't seem right.

'You're insulting me by doing nothing. Look, this is the one time I'm giving you permission to win. 'Cause we all know that you probably wouldn't be able to do it any other way.' The smugness in her voice made him want to start a heated argument, but he knew that it wasn't the time. He also knew that she was baiting him on purpose in order to get him fired up.

It was working.

"Genrou!" Chichiri's voice called out.

Without even thinking, the bandit pushed the girl away, grabbing her right wrist as it was held out extended to the side. In her hand was that weapon of hers, the kunai, aimed right for him. There was no doubt that Aki was about to stab him in the back during her false hug. Remembering her "motivational" words, he used his other hand to flip her over his shoulder, landing on the ground behind him, facing straight up on her back. When she tried to struggle back up, she clenched weapon in her hands and charged at Genrou. From the side came a wide beam of blue light that unexpectedly caught Aki, sending her clear across the circle. Chichiri's attack luckily managed to make her lose her grip on the kunai, causing her to drop it right as the blast hit her.

"Wait a second…you two weren't actually supposed to attack her!" The two still standing could tell from the somewhat enraged, disembodied voice that the kid was getting frustrated—sincerely frustrated, not like those fake tears that were shed before.

"Now's our chance!" The monk called out.

Genrou nodded, and sprinted forward without hesitation. "You got it!" As the dust from the kicked up dirt settled, Aki had somehow ended up being lifted up from the ground as the bandit forcibly bound her with a bear hug. Tightening his embrace, he made sure that she wouldn't be able to properly move or do any unnecessary attacks any time soon. Luck played on his side this time—he knew that although she was a master with magic, her physical strength leaved a lot to be desired, so keeping her perfectly in place served no issue. While she tried to struggle free, Genrou could feel the tug of the invisible string on her back—the kid was having trouble manipulating her as long has her body was tied up.

"Hold on a second—let go of my puppet! This is not how the story goes!" The kid whined with a fury.

Nonchalantly walking up to his two friends, the playful yet confident smile on Chichiri's face was directed to a seemingly blank, elevated spot in the air behind Aki. "This story was yours at first, ya know? But I hope you don't mind if we make a few changes." Putting us finger out, the monk seemed to have strung the vexatious line coming from the woman. "Now that you can't move her around, she can no longer serve as your body guard and plaything, ya know?"

"S-So what? You still can't see me and I can always disconnect from her." There was a nervous shakiness in the kid's voice, making him actually sound like a scarred child.

"It's not exactly like seeing you was really the issue, ya know? We were more concerned with Aki's safety more than anything else. But now that we have her, we can focus on you!"

"B-B-But I can still disconne—"

"Nope. Sorry that's not an option either." Chichiri held up his finger as he explained. "Both of my friends here are familiar with a little spell of mine where I can bind two things together, ya know?" He inspected the still struggling girl in Genrou's arms, feeling sorry that he didn't think of this plan sooner. "When you decided to put your attention back onto the story containing the prince and the young girl, I took the opportunity to cast a spell to where you could never detach yourself from the string, ya know? It sort of helped that your string has an aura to it—somehow like a living thing—I was able to make sure that you didn't pull any more tricks on us—"

To conclude the little explanation, Genrou yelled out, "So it's curtain's fer yer little puppet show ya puny sadistic bastard!" With that, Chichiri's hand started to glow a bright, pale-blue color. Lowering his hand down to the string, a violent shockwave traveled upwards, hitting a target as it screamed in agony. The continuous flow of energy started to make the invisible form to flicker in and out, right until the solid form of the oddly dressed kid came into full view. His hat fell off of his head and onto the ground as the burning torment persisted. Eventually, the light began to consume the small body as the yells turned into screeches. With one more push of might, an explosion of blue detonated in the very same spot, causing both Chichiri and Genrou to shield their eyes from the blinding light.

Aki's suddenly became heavier as the flame-headed bandit relaxed his hold on the girl. Lowering her gently to the ground, he found that her head had absolutely no support to it at all—it fell over, limp, just like the rest of her body. Laying her out flat, the two companions fell to their knees to observe the damages.

She had dark bruises, scratches, and deep gouges on various parts of her—her once pale skin painted in bloody red and dirty with the clinging dirt of the battlefield.

Seeing her like this, so fragile and motionless, seemed to stab Genrou in the heart—it immediately brought back the images of his friend Reirei's death. But he knew that this wasn't going to turn out like that. Aki could fight through virtually anything—never even admitting when she was afraid or out of her league…then again, from the little time that he's known the woman, it seemed as if those issues were never really the case.

"Alright Aki, enough is enough. We beat the crap outta that brat, so you can wake up now." He grinned, thinking that she was aware of his words and actions. "Yer never gonna hear the end of it ya know. We took out someone that gave ya trouble. Fer once, we saved the day…" His voice trailed off as he looked across at Chichiri. He was looking down and away with a grim look riddled on his usually cheerful features, refusing to glance at the scene in front of him. "Wait…what's wrong Chichiri? We won! She's just bein' a big drama queen…right?" A few second later, he gasped, staring into her still opened eyes. They lacked the life, pain, intimidation, and depth—not to mention smugness—that they usually possessed with their deep red irises. In fact, they were completely blank, unobserving….dead.

There's just no way…

---

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!