*Busts through the wall*

Where is he/she? Where's Starlight AT?

*Breaks nearby rubble*

I can't let her...I can't let him/her...?

*Looks around*

Oh sorry, wrong time...

So here's the next chapter. Sorry it took a while, but I'm pretty sure that this is how I want things to go here.

At the middle of the floor, there was a large arena which resembled the roman coliseum that stood tall. However, this arena was perfectly built so that the missing pieces were filled in, so instead of a broken model, people would be able to witness the original appearance in its entire splendor.

Inside, numerous couples were standing together, talking with other pairs about the event that was about to take place, or trivial things. Among them, a caramel-skinned boy with long hair was standing along with a young girl with short brown hair.

Ryo had his hands in his pockets while keeping his eyes closed, as if waiting for someone or something to appear. Yo had a heart-shaped lollipop in her mouth and was holding a wide assortment of snacks. The two didn't seem interested in talking with each other, or any of the other couples nearby, so they just stood in an awkward silence, waiting for the others to arrive.

Kuroneko and Mugen finally appeared, smiling and frowning respectively. A large, red, hand-shaped mark was on Mugen's face, which caught Ryo and Yo's attention, but neither decided to ask, considering that Kuroneko seemed to give them a sharp glare whenever they began.

Izayoi and Otome arrived as well, coming in from the top and landing in a somewhat-flashy way that caught everyone's attention. Izayoi was carrying Otome in a "princess cradle" style that received a few glares of envy, along with many red faces and whispers as they noticed Otome's torn clothing, making her appear very "revealing" in many places. Despite this, Otome didn't seem to mind until Izayoi had a hand on her shoulder as he used her like a crutch. Her face was a bit red as she shot a couple glances at him, but she was still just as annoying and harsh as usual.

Finally, Asuka and Kyle appeared in a maid and butler uniform. They were out of breath and didn't seem to notice, despite all the snickers and pointing, until Yo asked Asuka about it. The two of them looked down as the fact suddenly hit them that they seemed the most out of place. Asuka's face showed incredible embarrassment whereas Kyle simply sighed as if it was just a minor problem.

After a slight extension of time (thanks to some bribery and case-making), Asuka and Otome were able to change/repair their clothes while recovering from any physical damage. Kyle continued to wear the butler suit, saying that he didn't mind and that it would be easier for everyone if he just dealt with it.

"You say that, but isn't it because you like doing this kind of thing?" Izayoi asked with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Well I admit that the pay is good," Kyle replied with a calm sigh. "But I don't have any kind of strange fetish for this sort of thing. Do you?"

"Course not. Though maybe if one of the girls wore it..."

"Then maybe you're planning something?"

"Maybe…"

"I won't ask then…"

"Fine, don't…"

"But, I want something in return…"

"What is it?"

Kyle's eyes began to sparkle as he gave his response with a serious look on his face.

"If you manage to get them in those uniforms, we'll share all the pictures we take." He gave a thumbs up. "Those pictures will be worth a lot…"

Izayoi smiled as he returned the gesture with his own.

"You two will be sure to include me, right?!"

Shiroyasha had suddenly popped up next to them with an equally excited look on her face. The two nodded, and the three ended up grasping each other's hands tightly, as if they had all managed to find the perfect team for one single crime. Kuroneko, Asuka, and Otome all gave half-hearted glances at the trio, along with an occasional face of slight disgust. Mugen slightly cocked his head as if confused. Ryo didn't even turn his head, either ignoring the whole thing completely or pretending that nothing happened. Yo just stood watching while finishing up the remaining snacks in her arms.

"By the way Shiroyasha…" Izayoi said as the three started to separate. "Why aren't you up there announcing the [Gift Game] to everyone?"

The newcomers were somewhat confused by this comment, but the two other veteran members gave a small "ah" as they just realized this fact.

"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about," The small white loli shrugged with a devilish smile. "After all, I'm only in charge if a community asks or if this is directly from [Thousand Eyes]"

"Then you have no idea what's going on?"

"Well, I can't say that I don't know ANYTHING…but I'm supposed to just be an 'overseer' to make sure things don't get too out of hand, so I can't really share anything beforehand…."

"Figures… well, I guess there's not much we can do except wait till the host themselves appear."

Then, as if on cue, the sound of horns trumpeted as a young woman appeared in front of everyone participating.

The young woman wore a white robe with a brown leather belt wrapped around her waist, almost as if resembling how a man would wear such a thing. However, the robe was also draped around her right shoulder, and held fastened by a small pin that appeared to be in the shape of wings. A clear, see-through shawl was attached to the back of the robe's collar which was overshadowed by her long, pink, elegant hair, which seemed glisten like water reflecting moonlight, with each turn she made. Long white silk gloves covered her hands, and her eyes gave a warm and motherly feel that made many people in the audience (both men and women) gasp for air for committing a nonexistent, yet possibly heinous, crime.

"Wow, how pretty!" Asuka exclaimed as she blushed from the sight. Some of the others turned to her with a small smirk, but everyone continued to give the otherworldly beauty their attention.

"Thank you all for coming today…" The young maiden spoke with a gentle and seductive tone. "I am your host for this [Gift Game]. You may call me [Cupid], the angel of love."

Mugen whistled. "Makes sense, this is supposed to be a festival of love, so an important figure calling themselves [Cupid] would have to show up at some point…"

"You aren't surprised that this person seems to be the very [Cupid] that you're thinking off?"

"No, not really. I mean…." He froze for a moment. "WAIT WHAT?!"

"Wow, about 4 seconds more to react…" Ryo was checking an imaginary watch on his wrist as he spoke with little interest.

"Aren't you guys surprised that THE Cupid is here?"

"Actually, I'm more surprised that you're not just some musclebound idiot…" Otome snickered as Mugen glared angrily. "Hey, unlike you I actually LISTEN to our 'teachers' even if I don't want to…"

"Next time, train your brain a bit more, and then MAYBE you'll have a miniscule chance at beating me…" Izayoi brought his hands up and shook his head. Mugen had a murderous aura to him, which probably would have gotten worse if Kyle hadn't intervened.

"Look, I'll try to give you a quick lesson here." He held his finger up as he started to explain. "In [Little Garden], a lot of notable figures, communities, and even events, are all based on some kind of myth, story, legend, historical event, or even a disaster. But apparently, some of this stuff may be 'connected' somehow so that they're made up of, or represent, more than one thing."

Mugen wore look that seemed to say "I'm kinda lost".

"Let's try this. A while back, the [No Names] had joined another community in fighting a dark community called [Grim Grimoire Hamelin]. The community itself was made up of a piper, a river, a storm, and a plague. These were elements to the story of The Pied Piper, but they also represented an event that mirrored the tragedy of losing all those kids. The river was drowning, the storm from natural disasters/accidents, and the plague was Black Death (read up on it when you've got the time)."

"Right, I remember some of this. The whole piper story had several versions that made it difficult to determine what was the original and what was a 'fake copy'. So you're saying that each of those members were actually based off a version of story?"

"Pretty much. Don't think about this too hard; just accept that you're going to see a lot of creatures that may seem pretty familiar."

"Ok, but then how do you know which is which?"

"Well it sounds like a lot of them are proud of what they represent, but who knows? Maybe some of them are keeping their names a secret…"

"Then…"

"Just look carefully and think about whether there seems to be any contradictions. Or just leave it to someone else to decipher the meanings…"

"Fine…"

They all turned back to Cupid, who was just about finished with some speech about thanking everyone who came to participate, and how this event was supposed to be one that would be interesting for everyone… or something like that.

"Now then," Snapping her fingers, Cupid had summoned a large number of [Geass Rolls] that rained down into the audience below. "Please do your best in this [Gift Game]…"

Everyone scrambled to grab one, but many of their faces seemed to have either turned grim or pissed off as they read the rules.

"What's wrong?" Otome asked as she glanced around. She raised an eyebrow as something about this whole game seemed a bit suspicious all of a sudden. Izayoi had already taken a [Geass Roll] and quickly scrolled through the contents with a sigh.

"Why don't you take a look…"

"?"

Gift Game – "Star-crossed Lovers"

List of Participant(s):

Those who are inside the Coliseum

Rule(s):

No competitor is allowed to leave the Coliseum until the game has ended.

Any couple is awarded points based on the following:

Defeating another couple (+number of points the losing team had carried)

The other side Surrenders (+half the points{rounded down} of losing team to the winner, -half the points{rounded down} of losing team to the pair that forfeits)

Should one or either of a paired couple end up being unable to continue, both members are effectively disqualified from the game.

A couple shall also be effectively disqualified should their point count reach 0

A wonderful prize will be given to the couple, based on the number of points awarded.

Clearing Conditions:

Find and reveal the falsified love among those here, and defeat them through combat.

Defeat Conditions:

Couple is disqualified from the game from any of the rules mentioned above.

All competitor breaks said rules

Entire group agrees to forfeit this game.

Oath: Participating Community, swear upon your glory and flag to respect the above stated content.

"Wha-What is this?" Asuka exclaimed. "Why are is there a need to fight each other?"

"That's a good question," Otome said as she took a second look through the whole thing. "But then considering the title, it doesn't seem that surprising…"

"Huh?"

"Well the title is called 'Star-crossed lovers'. Doesn't that make you think about Romeo and Juliet?"

"If I recall, the story involves two families who are fighting each other because they hated each other guts for some unsaid reason."

"Oh yeah, I remember this." Mugen said as he lightly pounded his own hand. "That story about the two lovers who died, right?"

"Blunt way to put it, but yes. You're right." Otome crossed her arms as she continued her explanation.

"To go into more detail, it was more or less a sort of 'forbidden love' considering the circumstance that their families would have never supported the idea in the first place. The two of them planned to run and hide from the conflict between the two, but because of a raging kill and an angry dad, stuff led to Romeo going into hiding and Juliet being forced into marriage. Juliet fakes her death so that she could secretly meet with Romeo, but because the messenger never met with Romeo, he thinks she really died and kills himself at her 'tomb' using poison. Afterwards, Juliet kills herself with a dagger, and THEN the fighting between the families end after they see what their feud had caused."

"So perhaps we're meant to recreate the feud between the two families?" Kuroneko asked as she held her arms under her chest, which unintentionally emphasized her chest a bit.

"You've got it all wrong…" Izayoi said as he looked over the [Geass Roll] once again. "The title says 'Star-crossed Lovers'. That's actually a term used to describe a pair of lovers who usually can't get together because of outside forces. Lancelot and Guinevere, from the legend of King Arthur, Catherine and Heathcliff, from the story of Wuthering Heights, and Hero and Leander, from the Greek myth, are all considered examples of 'Star-crossed lovers', because they all end up being a tragedy due to some outside interference."

"Then, Izayoi means to say that there is an 'outside force' that's meant to thwart the 'love' here?"

"Seems like it. And we all need to sniff it out."

"Then that explains why fighting is involved here, but why the 'point system'?"

"Right, that part is confusing me too." The blond-haired boy scratched his head as he groaned slightly. "I'm guessing that it's just a red herring that was meant to tempt everyone into fighting each other and weakening our forces, but it still bothers me for some reason…"

"Well it won't change anything if we just stand around here. Asuka waved her hand as she went next to Kyle, who was frowning a bit. "Let's start out by searching out this 'outside force'…"

"You say that," Kyle began as he crossed his arms. "But do you even have an idea of where to start?"

"Well…"

Just then, there was a scream as everyone turned to see a fight break out between two pairings. Everyone gathered around to see what appeared to be a harpy and a werewolf paired against a warrior and a priestess.

The harpy screeched as she flapped her wings in an intimidating way, glaring at her targets with bloodshot eyes. The werewolf looked equally fierce by snarling at the pair in front of him while flexing its hands, as if using an imaginary stress-reliever.

The warrior wore body armor and a cape that kept all but his young, yet handsome face protected and hidden from plain sight. The priestess wore a white cloak and a tiara that had a veil, which covered her face with a very thin layer of fabric that was easily see-through, so it wasn't difficult to watch the look of terror on her beautiful face.

Both the harpy and the werewolf lunged at the warrior, who stood his ground while keeping the young girl close to him. Without even taking a single step, the young man displayed remarkable swordsmanship as he blocked each of their blows using only one-hand and his sword. The only damage that appeared to be occurring was the small nicks and scratches that appeared on his armor. Otherwise, not even a single hair was touched from either of them, whereas the two monsters were obviously starting to wear themselves out from the sudden rage.

Finally, the two monsters stopped their assault, breathing heavily as they tried to quickly regain the enormous stamina that they each had earlier. However, the result was quite obvious at this point. The young warrior finally released his grip on the young lady, and ran towards the other two creatures, using both his hands to leave a deep and bloody gash in a wing and stomach respectively. Both monsters fainted, leaving them unconscious and lying on the ground while the warrior and priestess each had the number "2" suddenly hover above their heads.

"Well, at least we know how the point system keep track…" Mugen said with a wry smile.

"How can you stay so calm?!" Asuka scolded. "That was just too much!"

"Don't worry," Shiroyasha stated as her fan snapped shut. "This is exactly what I meant by making sure things don't get out of hand…"

Clapping her hands, there was momentary disturbance before the fainted pair had suddenly disappeared from everyone's view.

"They've been sent to the infirmary so that they can recover. No need to worry."

Asuka began to relax. "What a relief…"

"Don't get too relaxed now," Otome said with a beady stare at the couples around them.

The atmosphere had suddenly changed as the air started to become much more tense than earlier. Looking around, everyone was nervously glancing at each other, avoiding eye contact entirely, or staring hungrily looking around like an animal looking for its next meal.

Yes, it dawned upon them that at this moment. Everyone couldn't be simply trusted. Until the end of the game, it was eat or be eaten…

Well, I think this was a bit more random than my other chapters, but I'm gonna just leave it to you guys to tell me what you think. If you guys are confused, or something seems off. Let me know, and I'll try to explain or take a look to make any needed changes. Sadly, I do not have someone to look over this stuff for me (partially because I didn't look for one, and partially because I'm trying to see how much I currently suck/skill) so I'm kinda relying on you all to help me out.

This'll take a few chapters, so I'm planning on giving small hints as to the answer of this [Gift Game] (or at least what I plan as the answer). May not make sense, may be easy to figure out. Who knows? This is the first time tying to do something pretty cryptic here.

Anyways, thanks for putting up with me, again, and hope you can enjoy this chapter. Not sure when the next will be, but I'll do my best.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a certain fellow mondaiji fanfic writer to hunt down...

*Bloodthirsty eyes*