Have you ever watched those scenes in anime where the protagonist gets caught doing something bad/perverted and they do that slow turn, along with all of the sound effects of a robot with their junctures rusty and thought "man, this would never happen in real life. Look, that idiot is even walking like a robot! Did you take a dump in your pants or something?!"

I did. And now… well, now I understand how those poor bastards felt. That feeling of overwhelming terror gripping your heart and making it hard for you to even move… I feel it. And it feels absolutely terrible.

I never really thought much of the Twins… or more like, my alternate self, I should say. Clunky, buggy, frustrating to play and play against, but with a small following of people playing them religiously. But those few times I would find one, it didn't bother me that much, and I would never be caught dead playing them. But I always knew one thing…

Charlotte was big. Scary big. Big enough that one slap would probably be enough to take your head clean off. And now that I'm walking behind her…

I fear for my life. Victor is nothing compared to his sister. All of this is not aided by my brain helpfully reminding me of something that Frank said the second day that I arrived here, from my other self's perspective…

"Charlotte is a goddamn monster when she wants to be"

I knew that I should have written my will. I leave most of my possessions to Jules, Joe, Suz and Frank. Meg can inherit my running shoes and pancake recipe, Kate will receive that guitar that I found this morning in the garage (a feeling of dread overcomes me when I think about it. Weird…), Feng my videogame collection, Thalita my Starset shirt (so that she may finally stop malding over it) and Rin…

Rin can get a boot on the ass, for all I care.

A couple of flights of stairs later, we're on the third floor, inside of the school cafeteria. Anna is not here, having apparently already left. The Huntress as a lunch lady…

I don't understand the logic here. And it doesn't look like I ever will, to be honest. Maybe something something, providing for the kids after inadvertently killing so many in her lore…?

I'm reading way too much into this, aren't I?

Charlotte makes me sit down on one of the tables, where two cups are sitting innocently, alongside a…

Teapot?

"Take a seat, please. Would you like some tea? Anna passed me the recipe, I promise you that it'll be the best you've ever drank".

I nod slightly, my older schoolmate smiling pleasantly and pouring a cup for both of us. Did… did I miss something?

"Thank you for agreeing to come here with me, Jason… can I call you Jason?"

"Y-Yeah, sure…"

She nods.

"Excellent. As I already said, my name is Charlotte Deshayes, older twin sister of Victor, with whom you have some… history with".

That's an understatement. Even putting aside the Kate confession dilemma, that guy obviously already knew and hated me long before that. There's a lot of bad blood between us, I'm willing to bet.

"I… suppose you could say that, yes".

She looks down at me from the several inches that divide us, even while seated… and then bows her head, slightly.

"Then, allow me to apologize on his behalf. Things have been… rough on both of us this past year, and while that is no excuse for his misbehaving, I beg you to not judge him too harshly, even if he deserves it…"

Safe to say, the panic is completely gone, replaced by complete and utter confusion.

How come I'm not fucking dead right about now? I feel like I should be! But she apparently has no intentions of murdering me, so I will happily take it.

"While the apology is much appreciated, you're not the one that should be apologizing…"

I take a sip of my tea. Holy fucking hell, this is amazing! I want the recipe. Like, right now!

Ah-hem… back on track.

"... nor am I the one that should be receiving this apology. I trust you know what happened last week?"

Charlotte grunts in affirmation.

"Dwight told me, yes. Victor has already been reprimanded and punished for it, but I don't expect that to be enough, right?"

I shrug.

"To me? Yes, I ask for nothing more. For Kate? That might be a little more complicated…"

I lean forward.

"Your brother passed a line, last week. She is a very dear friend of mine and generally a person that did not deserve to be almost beaten to a pulp! I can look over being chased throughout lunch period, it's not like he's ever going to catch me… but I will not tolerate my loved ones being threatened".

And I'm being honest here. Kate is a relatively new friendship in almost every way, but she's someone precious. Someone that should never be feeling like she's in danger of being harmed. She already went through enough, with all of the mental scars to go along with those traumas.

"I understand, Jason. So now, with this established, I think we both agree that Victor's behavior cannot be ignored or go unpunished anymore. Some harsh words and light bullying are one thing, actually threatening and going through with violence is another. My question is… where do we go from here?"

Where indeed. I suppose that now we would be having a rough time, trying to come up with a solution besides expulsion. Luckily for both of us, I already laid some groundwork in preparation for this. See? I can be smart sometimes!

"I have a proposal. Something that I already discussed with everyone involved except Victor himself".

"I'm listening".

I take a deep breath.

"Professor Francis' therapy class. It should have opened recently, to allow for students to receive the psychological help they might need. I have no idea what is going through your brother's head, Charlotte… but I'm willing to bet that he can unravel the mess inside Victor's head and work towards a solution. I already talked to Kate about it, and she's willing to hold off on the expulsion request as long as he goes through with therapy. One last chance of sorting himself out".

Charlotte listens intently, nodding along with my words and mulling them over. My last few words surprise her, though.

"She agreed? How?"

I shrug, not sure what exactly she's asking.

"I just had to bring it up to her. Kate is a good person, so it didn't take too much convincing…"

Even if I had to basically gaslight her. It was for her own good, but it still makes me feel scummy, thinking about it…

My companion shakes her head.

"She can be as nice as she wants, but no one is ever going to look past something like this. Not without the right motivation, at least…"

She stares at me, making me sweat a little bit.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

She smiles gently.

"And you only had to ask… the rumors are true then. For once, Thalita isn't just exaggerating for the sake of a prank. Interesting…"

Rumors? Thalita? What the hell is this broad blabbering about?!

"Care to elaborate?"

She chuckles, shaking her head.

"Forget about it, just an inside joke between fifth years. Back to the matter at hand, your plan has merits. I suppose that now, the only thing missing is my brother's approval, correct?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I have no idea if he's going to agree or not, but…"

"Don't you worry about it. Victor is going to agree, I promise you that. Leave it to me".

Oooookay then. Her tone spells trouble for the poor guy. There's going to be some ear pulling when she gets back home, I'm willing to bet.

"Then… I suppose that is all?"

She nods.

"Yes. We can iron out the details with Professor Francis himself. You've provided both of us with an opportunity, Jason… and I will never forget that. Thank you… for not throwing my brother to the sharks. I will make this chance count, I swear!"

I wave her gratitude away, while we get up and go our separate ways. It's weird though…

Last time, I said that I felt a sense of kinship with Victor Deshayes. And it's still all there. I remember that feeling of… anger towards the world. The need to shout… why. Why me? Why did that have to happen? Why didn't that happen?

It's all based on my set of alternative memories. But even now, with the knowledge of the Golden Souls and all, that feeling just wouldn't go away. I still feel he and I are similar, in a weird, twisted way. Just as I feel like my involvement is this mess is far from over.

The conversation with Charlotte was nowhere as long as I felt like it was. Maybe fifteen minutes at best. When I step out of school, I still have more than enough time to go back home, do some homework and relax a bit, before having to worry about dinner. Some time to myself, finally. I can barely believe it!

"Uhm… J-Jason? O-Over here!"

… It was too good to be true.

Kate shyly waves at me from the front gate. Was she waiting for me?

"Hey there. Thought you'd gone home for the day! Something wrong?"

She wrangles her fingers gently, while I cock my head to one side. Her face went hot when I did that, much to my ever growing confusion.

"W-Well… how do I explain this… y-you've heard about T-Thalita being a bit of p-prankster, haven't you?"

A prankster? Is that the "inside joke" that Charlotte was talking about earlier?

"Something along those lines, yeah. Why?"

Her face goes down, staring at the soles of her feet in embarrassment.

"I let my g-guard down… and she t-took my keys…"

She what now?!

"Thalita Lyra. Your best friend… stole your keys. Do I even want to ask why?"

Kate hides her face behind her hands. Awwww, that's adorable… not the time, brain!

"S-She says that I-I have t-to… t-to…"

Wow, this is worse than usual. What terrible condition did she ask to render her like this?

"T-To… s-spend… s-some t-time… a-at y-y-your… p-p-p-p-lace…"

… Am I justified in feeling a little bit offended right about now? That's the terrible condition? Staying at a friend's house for a couple of hours? It can't be that bad, right?

Except that this is Kate we're talking about. Shy, wallflower… traumatized Kate. The same girl that went from reasonably confident (enough to perform on stage in front of a crowd) to unable to look people in the eyes without being terrified. And even if we're friends, we don't know much about each other. We're more like friendly strangers at best… she's probably making up all kinds of disastrous scenarios in her head. The more I think about it, the more this… "prank" feels wrong. I'm going to have to corner Thalita later and have a good chat about boundaries. She of all people should know not to push something like this on Kate of all people. But for now, I have to focus on her, before she gets a heart attack.

"You don't have to force yourself, you know? We can just… find Thalita and convince her to give you your keys back. If the thought of coming to my place is so terrible…"

"THAT'S NOT IT!"

Zeus almighty! My heart leaped in my throat! No need to shout, woman!

"S-Sorry. B-but, what I'm t-trying to say is… I w-would l-love to come over for a b-bit. O-only because i-it's you! I'm just… n-not used to it…"

The more we talk, the more confused I'm becoming. But I'm starting to think that trying to understand this situation would honestly do me no good. The best thing to do is to just… go along with it.

Even if I feel like I'm missing something obvious.

"Are you sure? You don't have to, you know? If you're not comfortable, I'm sure that Thalita would understand…"

Why even do something like this in the first place? It almost feels like she's seeing something that neither Kate or I are seeing.

"I…"

She gulps, before taking her hands off her face.

"I… I want… to…"

"Positive?"

She nods.

"Yes".

Then, I have no complaints.

"All right then. Let me know when you start feeling squeamish and we can call your best friend. I'm sure that she'll be satisfied by then".

It feels like I'm talking about some eldritch deity in need of appeasing… what has my life come to?

Maybe Thalita is just the physical reincarnation of the Entity. That would at the very least explain that feeling of being drugged every time she's around.

The walk back to the house is spent in silence, poor Kate being quiet as a mouse and trying to hide her face with her hair each time I look back at her, to make sure she didn't get lost.

Good thing that Julie is out with Frank, otherwise she would make her run away in ten seconds flat. Especially because…

Right… my sister was a killer, wasn't she? I kind of forgot, between everything that's happening. Her, the rest of The Legion, Rin and many more. She's constantly surrounded by people that kept on killing her, over and over again.

I'll have to broach the subject with her, eventually. Somehow find a way to let her know that I'm aware of everything without giving her a panic attack.

I'm sure it will be just as easy as it sounds. Definitely.

Whatever, it's a bit too soon to think about it. First, I have to make her a bit more comfortable around me. Get her to relax a bit. Easy too, I bet.

I need to drop the sarcasm, I'm just pissing myself off for no reason. I suppose now I know how everyone else feels like…

But for now, I have to figure something out to cut on the awkwardness. I hate being awkward…

When we make it back to the house, I am nowhere near a solution. I just know nothing about her! She likes playing instruments and singing, what else?! Blushing and hiding her face is something she does often, but I doubt that she enjoys it!

I unlock the door, letting her through with a quiet thank you, while I wreck my brain for literally anything!

"So uhhhh… want anything to eat or drink? Water, coffee, iced tea? You can put your bag on the couch over there".

She nods and answers my first question.

"W-Water, please… plain is fine!"

Okay then. It's a start. A start that goes nowhere else, since we both decided that talking is for nerds and spend the consequent five minutes in complete and utter silence. I keep my iced tea in front of me (peach flavored, in case you were wondering) trying extremely hard to think about something to say. Anything at this point!

"Soooo… what's the time limit?"

She blinks at me, looking confused.

"T-The what now?"

"You know… how much time did Thalita say that you have to stay to get your keys back?"

Her confused look lingers for a good five seconds, before the metaphorical lightbulb turn on above her head.

"Oh yeah, that! S-She said two h-hours at l-least…"

That… was weird. It almost feels like she forgot about the very reason she's even here…

The conversation dies down and I let out a string of swears in my head. Now what?!

"Is… is that a g-guitar…?"

I follow her finger, leading to that same guitar that I retrieved a couple of days ago. The one that gives me anxiety just looking at it.

"Yeah… it… it belonged to my mother…"

Wrong.

A part of me whispers in my ear. That thing is mine. I know that it is. But I just… can't bring myself to admit it out loud.

"You can play it, if you want".

She seems surprised.

"Can I?! It… it looks important…"

I wish I could tell you how, Kate. I really wish. But I have no idea…

"Go ahead".

She smiles lightly and gets up to pick the instrument, bending down a bit and…

I turn my face away, feeling a bit of heat on my cheeks. Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Go away!

She sits back down, strumming the instrument and tuning it properly.

"It hasn't been used in a while…"

"Since mother left, yeah…"

She nods in gentle understanding, finishes tuning the guitar… and starts playing.

The second she starts, I want her to stop. The sound is supposed to be pleasant. I know that it is, the instrument is not damaged and Kate is one of the best guitar players in the world…

But my brain refuses to acknowledge the notes as "pleasant". The cords grate on my ears, every sound causes a brief spasm of pain… and in the midst of the cacophony, a female voice.

"Not good enough. Not good enough. Not good enough. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

A slam gets me out of my funk, followed by a shout. The slam caused by me, I realize. The chair that I was sitting on is on the floor while I'm now standing. And the shout…

For a second, the world shifts and I see… something new: a tall woman with short black hair and dark brown eyes, looking at me with fury, her fist on the table by her side. She's screaming something at me, but I can't hear her… probably because of the hands that I'm keeping over my ears. Or the fact that I can only hear static. Then… everything is back to normal.

The tall woman shrinks, her hair becomes longer and lighter in color, her eyes go from furious brown to worried blue.

A gentle humming replaces the static and the warm feeling of another body gently brings me back to reality.

I'm aware of a hand stroking the back of my head, a forehead pressed against my neck, an arm around my waist… and the calming scent of lavender.

"K-Ka… te…?"

"There there… it's okay. Whatever is it that you saw, it's not real. Breathe deeply with me, okay? In and out…"

I follow her instructions, taking deep breaths one after the other, following her rhythm. My heartbeat slows down, the static goes away completely and I can finally see the real world once again.

Kate smiles at me, bringing one of her hands to my face and wiping… water?

Am I… crying…?

"How do you feel?"

I gulp down the lump in my throat.

"B-Better… t-thank you…"

Great… now I'm the one stuttering…

She doesn't let me go, and I embrace her back, desperate for any kind of comfort. What…

What the hell happened…? I… I have no idea. And I'm not in the right mindset to mull it over. My thoughts are scattered everywhere. I… I just need a couple of minutes to get myself back together.

Kate keeps holding me for a good ten minutes, before she lets go, confident that I'm back to normal.

"Are you okay now?"

I nod slightly.

"I… I think so, yeah. I'm sorry, I have no idea what came over me…"

She looks at my chest, placing one of her hands over my heart.

"Panic attack. The guitar somehow triggered something within you. A bad memory, perhaps?"

I shake my head, not knowing what to think.

"I don't know, Kate. I really don't know. Sorry, but I need some time alone, if you don't mind…?"

Her smile doesn't go away.

"Of course. I understand. Just… text me later, later? So that I know that you're okay…"

It's my turn to smile, even if it was the smallest I've ever given since coming here.

"Of course. Here, I'll pick up your bag for you…"

She visibly stiffens at that.

"W-Wait, don't…!"

I pick the item up, with maybe a bit too much force, being as rattled as I am, and I hear a weird metallic noise.

Like… keys jingling…?

Kate outright spawns in front of me, quickly wrenching her bag from my hand.

"WELPGOTTAGONOWHOPEYOUFEELBETTERLATER!"

In three seconds flat, she rushes out of the house and down the street, faster than a hurricane. Meg would be jealous, no questions asked.

I look at my empty hand, then at the still open door. I'm about to go close it, when a familiar head of blonde hair peeks through.

"I saw someone run out of the house! What the hell happened?!"

I shake my head at my sister.

"I have no idea, Jules…"

Julie closes the door behind her, taking a good look at me.

"Bro? Are you okay? Your eyes are all red and puffy…"

Her eyes shift over to the flipped chair… before landing over the guitar. A dark look crosses her face.

"What the fuck is that thing doing here?"

The venom in her voice is unmistakable. I sigh, picking the chair back up and sitting down. I have some explaining to do…

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of AIOS, the show where panic attacks and traumas are caused by that one character we all know.

So… it's been awhile, hasn't it? I don't really have too much of an explanation here. Some shit happened that caused my motivation to tank, coupled with burnout hitting me with the force of a meteor. Writing was starting to become a chore, so I decided to stop and take a break for a while, maybe focus on a smaller project to keep my practice up (hence the existence of Moonstone Tales. I swear, those three dumbasses are starting to become my comfort characters or something). Also, I've heard your feedback about Susie and decided to keep on track for her and anyone else that might or might not be confirmed to be anything else. All the routes will continue as normal.

I don't know if I'll manage to get my schedule back on track, but I'll try, for sure.

Review Responses:

Arrancar113: I hear you, makes sense to let fanfiction being fanfiction. Besides, it took awhile to set the whole thing up, it would suck to just cancel it.

WhyareUsernamesTakenAlready: Mikaela and Sable are… weird. It seemed like they were leading up to something, but then they just… didn't. Not like it matters anymore at this point, but I suppose it was something to note. About Susie, I'm not really surprised. A bit peeved maybe, since it was kind of implied that she had a crush on Frank at a certain point and then just… retconned everything, but I guess we should be used to that.

Rys-AND-Clash: Don't worry dude, Susie will have her moment later on. There really is no point in going back now.

Zuexcil Chalua/Guest (don't if you're the same person or not, but you said pretty much the same thing, so I'll give the same answer for both reviews): The plan was to go back and retcon all the times it was implied or shown that she liked Jason, but for several reasons (your feedback, my own laziness and all the effort I put in setting the route up) I decided to stray away from canon and go my own way. I realize now that it would have been a tough ask, but I felt like it was fair to ask you guys, since you're the ones reading. Wouldn't want to make anyone angry or offend anyone.

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!