WORLD OF SUITS

~ Michi ~

"Uh, Michi?" Musca was floating ahead of us. "I can feel the awkwardness here…"

I was walking between Ikki and Shin on the way back home. Shin looked grumpy, Ikki was smiling to himself like a creep, and I couldn't think of what to say. All in all, not the greatest time.

"So." It was Mister Sunglasses who broke the silence. "Are you going to call out of work tomorrow, Michi?"

"Why would I?" I frowned at him.

"Well… Because you fainted in the street. That's as good an excuse as any. I don't think the manager would hold it against you if you took a day off for health reasons."

"No way. It's my second day back. I can't miss it." I needed to establish myself again, and calling off work so soon after coming back would seem like a huge copout. I just couldn't do it.

"You need to be more careful with your health. Would you like me to stay with you tonight, just to make sure you're okay?" The way he spoke and smiled made it clear he meant every word suggestively.

"Shut up. Just forget about what happened in the hospital." For now, at least. When I remembered more, if I did, I'd find a way to bring it up again. "You're not supposed to invade people's personal space like that, without their permission."

"You could have pushed me away at any time."

"Shut up, I said!" I glanced at Shin. The thought of him assuming that anything was going on between Ikki and I was freaking me out way more than it should have. "So, Shin… Do you still want me to talk with your dad tonight? I know things didn't go as planned…"

"We can wait until you're feeling better, and it's probably better to give Dad more time to get used to the idea anyways. Things worked out fine." He shrugged.

"Oh, okay… Well… Thanks for walking me home, I guess, you guys." I was pretty eager to get out of this situation, in the end.

"Tomorrow, then, Michi." Ikki smiled before departing.

"Ugh." I glared at him.

"Good night." Shin nodded at me.

"H-hold on…" I grabbed his hand without thinking, letting go quickly when he turned back to me. "Um…" If I tried to explain away what he had seen, it would only serve to remind him of the feelings I had that he couldn't accept. "N-nothing… Have a good night."

He paused, seeming like he was about to say something, but he just shook his head and left.

I ran up into my apartment and started pacing around the small space. "Crap… Musca, should I have said something? What was the right thing to do? Oh man…"

"Michi." She grabbed my shoulders. "We have bigger things to talk about right now. Sit down, please."

I obeyed, shaking myself to calm down. "Alright… I'm just overreacting. What's up?"

"You didn't faint because you were dehydrated. You fainted because something big happened in the Spirit World and it affected you."

"What? I mean, what happened?"

"There were four pathways you were supposed to take. Heart, Spade, Clover, and Diamond. But now, all of the pathways have combined into one. We don't know why yet, but Lady Faera is looking into it."

I shook my head. "So, in short, what does this all mean for what we're doing here?"

"In the start, you were able to focus on Shin. But now, you have to complete all of the pathways in one go, each one at the same time."

"What?" I jumped up. "But… I mean…" I sat back down slowly. "Is that why Ikki suddenly approached me?"

"The fates of all of the pathways are in play now. He was probably driven towards you in some way."

"Crap… That explains the dream I had."

"Dream?"

"Yeah… Apparently I promised to marry him when I was younger, but I forgot… Childhood promises don't mean anything anyways." That's what I would tell myself, at least.

Musca came closer, taking my hands. "Michi, that sort of leads into my other point."

"Huh?"

She looked down at the floor, seeming ashamed, but then forced herself to meet my eyes. "I haven't been entirely truthful with you."

~ Musca ~

Michi's eyes widened. "What?"

"When I was first convincing you to do all of this, I told you that, in the end, you wouldn't have to pick one ending of a pathway to be in, that being in only one was optional. That was a lie."

"What…? But…" She shook her head.

"All of these worlds can't exist at the same time. I just thought that if you knew you would have to forge all of these bonds and put all of this work in only to get to pick one pathway to keep… I thought you'd refuse to do it. I'm so sorry, Michi… You were picked as the next heroine not only because you had a good personality for it, but because we thought you'd accept no matter what, because you would have died in your previous life. You were almost guaranteed to do whatever it took. I'm sorry, believe me on that, even if I thought I was doing what was best."

Hurt was spreading across her face, and it made the guilt rip at me even more. "I mean… Why not just be up front with me from the start, if I basically had no other choice?"

"I was desperate." I clung to her hands when she tried to pull them away, knowing that she was strong enough to escape my grip but was letting me hold on because, even in the face of my lies, she still cared. "I… I've been with Orion for a very long time. When I heard that he was being exiled to the human realm along with Lord Nhil, I… It felt like my heart was breaking, over and over again. I was losing my brother. I thought that… That maybe, if Lady Faera and I were able to fix the other worlds, then Lord Nhil and Orion would be forgiven, or else we would be exiled too, and I wouldn't have to be separated from him."

"God, Musca…" Michi shook her head. "If it's like that, I can't be angry for long. But… You have to swear you'll never lie to me again. If it's really going to be me dealing with all four pathways at once, I'm going to need you more than ever."

"I swear, Michi, I swear to you, I won't let you down ever again."

"Good."

I gasped when she pulled me into a hug. "M-Michi?"

"I get it, Musca… Wanting to help someone you love. It's alright. Everything will be okay in the end."

I sniffled as tears trickled down my face, and I wrapped my arms around her neck. "Thank you… Thank you so much, Michi."