Even though he could have chosen to go back to his 'true' form when inside the king's mindscape, Dark Matter Blade found himself keeping the style he had when he first arrived on Pop Star.

He could have eschewed the cape and fabric. He could have even removed his armor, if he really wanted. No one was around to see his deformities, after all. He could have let himself finally look like all his other siblings who didn't need to hide behind masks and who didn't need to carry the burden of Zero's emblemed armor. Who didn't need to direct the army since they were a child. Who didn't need to carry around this scarf as a reminder of the blood on their hands.

But he kept himself as he was. For no reason at all. Absolutely none whatsoever. He even confused himself, sometimes. Why had he chosen to stay this way? Why had sentiment chosen to seep itself into his veins?

He wanted to blame anyone else but him. Surely being trapped in Dedede's heart meant that the man's foolish and pointless bathos had infected him as well. Or it was the planet itself! It had MADE him this way! Made him attached to bizarre concepts such as personal appearance and individuality. Wearing clothes that distinguished him from the mindless automata of Dark Matter. Wearing anything at all other than the red and black shrouds that covered most of his siblings.

But… shouldn't he blame Lord Zero for that? Such dangerous thinking, but no one would be able to punish him for it, right? So he could… say that. He could Say that. With full force, he could say that and mean it and no one would hear.

So, yes! It was ZERO'S fault! He was the one who made Blade wrong! He was the one who misaligned his eye! Who made him the wrong color! He was the one who decided that he was unique, and special, and notable! He said he would make an excellent warrior, he said he was born for killing, he said he was destined to lead armies. So it was HIS fault that Blade even DREAMED of being a person! He planted these dangerous thoughts in his head, knowing they were dangerous!

HE JUST WANTED TO SEE ME SUFFER.

Well, how would he like to see Blade now, huh?! He could just imagine the irritation, the AGONY in his expression, now that his precious little Weapon had become something this disgusting and individualized! How he would HATE it, wouldn't he? WOULDN'T HE?!

He would hate it, right..? He wouldn't just ignore it, yes? He would surely call the Blade of Dark Matter a disgusting specimen, and finally wipe him off the face of the universe. Because this was wrong, what he was feeling. And Zero KNEW it was wrong. He'd BEEN wrong to foster such things in Blade, or to ever let him come anywhere NEAR Pop Star. Yeah?

Yes. It is a truly horrible thing, being a person. What sort of idiot gets attached to such simple things like clothing?

I mean, sure, it was the only solid 'thing' he had in this place, but that was besides the point. He'd been like this before he got trapped.

Hmm.

Triangles.

He couldn't help it. He just really liked that triangle patterning the king used.

That was a design for people. This is something that a person wears. If you are a person, you should have something like this.

Well, Blade supposed he was the most unpersonlike person there ever had been.

It had been a few days now since Dark Matter Blade's dramatic entrance back into reality. And he was bored out of his MIND.

It's not that he had absolutely nothing to do. There were plenty of books for him to peruse and it took him a great many minutes just to get through a page or two. So he wasn't want for things that would fill his time. However, doing the same thing over and over again for hours and hours was going to be boring, regardless of how enjoyable the activity normally was. And that's not ignoring how tiring it can be. Or how restless someone of Blade's tender age can be when trapped in the same four rooms for several days straight.

Right now, he was just lying on the ground in the middle of the bedroom, on his back. Staring up at the ceiling. An open book lay flat on his chest. Certainly, the book had been interesting for a time. "A Beginner's Guide to Archaeology." But as someone responsible for the destruction of several civilizations, he wasn't terribly interested and getting down and dirty trying to figure out what life was like for them or why they ended. He KNEW why they ended; he didn't need the reminder.

He was half tempted to roll around on the floor like a child just to get some form of stimulation. The slowly returning energy inside his Core grew more and more agitated with every day. If he didn't destroy something or expel this or just- just found SOMETHING to get it out of him, he was gonna collapse in on himself like a black hole. Perhaps literally.

He lifted his arms to rest them over his eye sockets, and opened his mouth (for once) to let out a sigh. His malformed, unused throat created such a strange voice… Sometimes he was curious what he actually sounded like.

He needed to figure out how to make the children let him outside. If he just lied and promised that he wouldn't cause any trouble, would they believe him so easily? Maybe if they ran into some trouble during the outing, he'd be able to feed off the negativity and speed up his recovery. (Maybe if they ran into trouble and his cover was blown he could let everything be destroyed.)

Another sigh, more akin to a low rumble, hummed through his body. Why was existing such a burden?

The bedroom window opened and Gooey clambered through. The front door still hadn't been fixed after all. Blade lifted one of his arms to glance at his younger sibling.

'You're back from your errand already?'

"Mhm. Town slow. No fears."

'Do you mean 'no worries?''

Gooey shrugged as he hopped from the windowsill to the bed. Kirby had asked him to just check in on the nearby town just to make sure no one had been having issues in the voidborn's absence. And to explain that they'd be out for just a few more days. No one had asked for an explanation, so thankfully, Gooey hadn't had to come up with an excuse on the spot. The whole way home though, he'd repeated to himself in his head that he needed to ask Kirby to come up with a good excuse in case someone DID ask. If he didn't keep repeating, he'd forget. It was for this reason that he completely passed over Blade to rush into the kitchen.

He slammed the door so roughly that it ended up flying open again from the force. Blade groaned and stood up, moving to shut the door for him. But he paused as he drew nearer, the children's discussion drawing his attention.

"Need excuse! Scared scared…"

"But they didn't ask, right? So it's fine!"

"What if, what if, what if… Gooey mess up?" The boy began tapping his fists against his head.

"You won't mess up, oki? Don't worry! Um… hm. If it makes you feel better, I'll come up with somethin'." They hummed in thought for an extended period of time, long enough that Blade had to wonder if they even needed to breathe. But they finally clapped their hands together in resolution.

"Halright! I'll just say I'm super duper uberly sick and that's why I haven't been out 'n about!"

Gooey nodded vigorously, but then paused. "...what if worry? Visit?! DIE!"

"Uh- uh! Um- we can say it's REALLY contagion! If they come within 30 feet of my house, they'll explode into snot!"

"Hm hm hm! See see! Work!"

"Excellente, that should buy us enough time!" Kirby tapped their fingers together deviously.

Blade internally groaned, resisting the urge to bash his head against the door. This was the person he was leaving his fate in the hands of. What a total joke. Although… he could make use of that flippancy.

Easing the door open, he made himself known. 'Am I interrupting something?'

Kirby turned towards him, a bit surprised but not terribly startled. Ah, already they were growing less and less afraid of him. He'd have to rectify that soon. "Nopers! We weren't talking about anything important!"

Sure you weren't… 'In that case, I have a proposition for you.' His gaze flitted between the two, measuring their reactions. But they didn't look suspicious of him in the slightest. 'I would… like to go outside.'

Kirby and Gooey's eyes widened in unison and they glanced at each other, Gooey excitedly and Kirby nervously. Well, at least one of them knew what to look out for. Kirby took a step forward, prepping themself to let Blade down.

"Um… are you sure that's a good idear? What if… I mean, aren't you scared of getting seen? I thought we said we were gonna wait…"

Hehe… let's see how strong this child's resolve really is. Time to appeal to emotion. '...I apologize. It's just that… I feel as if I've been suffocating these past few days. I've been restless; I feel as if I'll explode if I stay still too much longer. I don't wish to cause any harm, truly. But I fear something bad may happen if this continues to fester.'

For a good few seconds, Kirby stared at Blade with their jaw hanging open. He had to wonder if he had overdone it and they were in shock at his audacity. Before he could backpedal though, they shot a good four feet into the air with an excited shout.

"OH MY GOSH THAT WAS SO SWEEEEET! You're being a good boi, you're being a good boi! Gooey, it's working, it's working!" Gooey giggled in excitement as well, clapping his hands together.

'Eh… I am?'

"Uh-huh, Uh-huh! You just said you didn' wanna hurt anyone! That's a GOOD BOI thing to say!"

Blade wiped away the mental sweat building up in his brain and sighed. Well, he wasn't sure whether he should be proud or disappointed that he successfully tricked them. 'In that case, is that a yes?'

"Hmmmmmmm—" Kirby dashed over to the kitchen window to take a look at the weather. "It's pretty cloudsy out today. We can probably go out and do something secrety without being seen!"

'Lovely.' Even thinking that word felt gross on his… brain?

A thin, excited smile spread across Gooey's face. "Ooh ooh! Fish! Fish!"

"Yeah! We can go fishying! That's always good, even on a cloudsy day!"

Fishing, hm? Blade supposed he could work with that. Well, he'll just see where the wind takes him. 'Excellent.'

"Oki! I'll just grab some stuff 'n then we'll head out!" Kirby began running about the kitchen grabbing a myriad of things and stuffing them either in their pockets or a backpack they had lying in the corner. About halfway through their packing, they rushed over to Gooey and whispered something in his ear. The boy nodded and walked towards the door, pulling Blade along with him.

'What are you doing?'

"Wants space~" he replied in a somewhat deceptive, giggling tone. Well, Blade supposed he wasn't in a position to argue. Yet.

After a few more minutes, Kirby threw open the kitchen door, backpack on and smile in full force.

"Alright gang! We're rolling out!"

...

The trio crawled out the window. Though they weren't able to lock it behind them, Kirby assured Blade that no one would wanna break in. Apparently Dreamland was such an ideal locale that the very idea of breaking and entering was foreign for most normal citizens.

"Besides, even if they DO break in, what're they gonna find? Nothing!"

The kids usually fished in a particular pond in the forest near Kirby's house, but they'd have to walk about half a mile across the open plains before they reached the shade of the trees. It would likely be the most precarious part of their little quest. The children scanned the skies, making sure no one was watching.

"Hm… We're gonna wanna book it. Maybe we should fly? That's usually faster than running anyways."

Gooey nodded, spreading his fins, and gestured for Blade to follow suit. Kirby, meanwhile, squeezed their eyes shut and hummed in concentration. Two seconds later, the star on their shirt glowed and they began floating in the air. As a voidborn, using their Core to fly came rather naturally. They tightened their grip on their backpack.

"Alrighty! Let's go!"

The trio zoomed across the plains, kicking up the long fronds of grass in their path. Flowers and bugs trailed behind their wake, coloring the otherwise gray day. Winds whipped their faces, tearing away the slight drowsiness still lingering from the morning. Once they reached the edge of the woods, they touched down and began walking the rest of the way.

Throughout the walk, Blade kept subtly trying to leave the path to test the kids. Holding back under the guise of being enamored with the local flora and fauna he'd 'never' seen before. Getting interested in a sound or sight he spotted off in the distance. Acting as if he'd suddenly heard something suspicious and wanting to make sure they weren't being followed. Every time, the two kids managed to pull him back on the path. And rather strongly, he might add. While they were willing to indulge him in this foolish outdoors-y endeavor, they weren't idiotic enough to let him out of their sight for too long. A surge of weird pride flared in his chest.

Hey! Hey hey hey, you shouldn't be happy that they're seeing through you! And you shouldn't be happy that they're being clever! That's ANNOYING. They are mere children; they SHOULD be idiotic! It's far more inconvenient this way. You're only being so obedient and walking on eggshells around them because you literally cannot fight back yet.

Unfortunately for Blade's reputation as a war criminal, his little escape attempts were just making him look like an innocent, curious little mite. He seemed enchanted by the beauty of the world; even the smallest of flowers captivated him! It made Kirby squee from the overwhelming cuteness. What was it called again? Gap moe? It was almost too much to ask, to force him to keep close! GAH! But they simply must hold their ground! They had to be! RESPONSIBLE!

(Was this how Bandee and Metata and Dehdehdeh felt whenever they were out and about with them? SHEEEESH!)

...

They finally reached the pond after about fifteen minutes of walking. It was a calm, idyllic little location, like one out of a children's picture book. It sat in a divot in the middle of a clearing, a stream running through it from the north, filling it up with fresh water. In the south edge, a smaller, younger willow tree overhung the pond, providing shade during brighter days. Happy tulips swayed back and forth on the edges of the clearing, closed up to keep themselves warm on this cooler day. Thankfully, that meant no one was keeping an eye on the trio.

After all, flowers remember well, and they're such terrible gossips sometimes. These tulips would recognize a Dark Matter from a mile away.

Kirby plopped down under the shade of the willow tree and patted the ground next to them. Blade tentatively eased himself down as well. The texture of the grass under his dress felt odd. Not bad, but certainly odd.

Though he'd seen a great many things through the king's eyes… he had to admit that actually 'experiencing' them was far different. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising. His vision was literally being colored; his thoughts were clouded by outside influence and opinions. The man experienced textures differently, interpreted sounds differently. Had different values. Hell, Blade had sat in this exact spot before, in another man's body. And it felt completely different.

Maybe his wonder at certain things wasn't a complete lie. It really was like experiencing life anew.

Kirby had pulled a compactable fishing rod out of their backpack and hooked on a capillar larva. After letting loose the line, they stabbed the rod into the soft soil beneath them and closed their eyes, entering what looked like a meditative state.

"And now we wait~"

'Is this really all you do when you fish?'

"Mhm. Well, I mean, on slow, cloudsy days like this, the fishies like to hover around more. On bright days, I actually have to try."

'I see.'

Gooey began circling the pond, hunting for something that Blade wasn't sure of. But Kirby remained still as a stone, even after five minutes of nothing. Of just the cool breeze rustling the leaves, rustling their clothes and hair, rustling the grass and making waves in the pond.

'I'm surprised you can sit still for so long. You haven't fallen asleep, have you?'

"Mm-mm. Days like this just make me sleepy. I'm like a flower. I need sunshine or I'll wilt~"

'Is that so? So if I were to kidnap you and trap you in a dark room, you would lose your abilities and vitality?' he jokingly threatened.

"Nuh-uh. I'd just kill you super sleepily."

'Good to know.'

Gooey seemed to have found what he was looking for during the conversation. He froze, still as a statue when he spotted a smaller gathering of fish. Then he rolled up his sleeves. Making sure his shadow was angled right so he wouldn't be spotted, he began leaning in closer and closer to the water. Waiting… for the perfect moment to…

The boy suddenly toppled face first into the water! Thinking his sibling had fallen in by accident, Blade leapt to his feet on instinct. But then Gooey's head broke the surface of the water, two live fish squirming around in his teeth and another one wrapped up in his extended tongue! He held three more smaller ones in one hand as he used the other to crawl back out of the pond. Dropping his extra fish on the ground, he maneuvered the pair he had in his mouth so their heads were pointing inward, before CRUNCHING down on their heads, swiftly decapitating them. With that, he swallowed the fish heads whole, then finished off the bodies just as quickly.

'Goodness…'

Kirby chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess he's pretty hungry too. This is gonna be our lunch after all."

'I didn't know he was capable of being so violent.'

"Whaddya meana? He's just eating."

Blade shot a glance at Kirby, who only looked back at him with mild confusion. Ah, they were so… easily accepting of people and their quirks. They didn't mind at all that Gooey was eating the fish like a wild animal. They really didn't seem to mind a lot of things that would faze most people. Blade suddenly realized how very lucky he was that this was the person he was stuck with.

'Nothing. Nevermind.'

The fishing continued in peaceful silence for the next half hour. Whenever Blade was certain no one was watching him, he practiced his magic. Mostly focusing on his dark lightning abilities seemed to be good enough for now. It's not as if he could practice much else with any degree of subtlety. One can't exactly teleport across the clearing or float a tree into the air without being noticed. Besides, this seemed to be taking the least amount of energy out of him. He'd been getting a bit better these past couple days. After all, he was easily able to make the electricity skillfully dance between the tips of his fingers without exerting any effort or growing nauseous. It wasn't anything big, not a great blast of destruction like he could normally perform. But adept and delicate control was just as important as power in some circumstances.

There was one other thing he wanted to try…

Dark Matter Blade rested his palm on the grass beneath him and focused. He felt the Darkness in his Core twist and coil, like an anxious snake waiting to strike. But he mustn't let it explode out of him. He needed to guide it calmly. Patiently. Both to keep undercover and to prevent himself from potentially vomiting or passing out. He urged the Darkness to pool into his arm and coaxed it out the tips of his fingers. It spiraled and curled out of him. Where his fingernails would be if he was a person.

That Darkness coagulated on top of the grass, pressing down gently. Heavier than gravity. Heavier than life. The grass beneath him began to wilt and darken, as if something was burning the oxygen out of it. If he didn't know any better, Blade would think he could hear the grass screaming and writhing and begging him to stop.

But though many things on Pop Star were sentient, the grass was not one of them.

Before long, most of the soil beneath him had been drained of its nutrients. Blade forced himself to stop before it got out of control, and the Darkness retracted back inside of him. Eugh. But it felt so gross, sitting on a dead patch. Felt wrong. So he stood up and moved on the opposite side of Kirby.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

'No. I simply grew bored of my spot.'

"Pff. Okay."

A little more time passed, and the sky was growing brighter and brighter by the minute. It seemed the clouds were slowly being swept away by the breeze, allowing the sun to peek through. Blade's vision grew overwhelmingly bright as he squinted up at the sky, and it was getting rather warm too. He scooted deeper into the shade as the shadows grew sharper and sharper.

"Sibling? Okay? Okay?"

'I'm fine. It's just the sun… I've dealt with the sun before…' Though he wasn't exactly used to actually being under its cruel gaze. Despite himself, he rubbed his overexposed eyes and shuddered slightly. Gooey's gaze grew concerned.

"Gonna go. Be back soon!" With that, the younger Matterborn rushed off into the clearing, back the way they'd come.

'Where's he going?'

"I dunno."

'Shouldn't one of us accompany him?'

"Oh, don' worry about it. He'll be back."

'How can you be so sure of that?'

Kirby shot an amused glance at Blade. Jeez, he was really bad at keeping up that 'tough guy who doesn't care' persona, huh? "If he says he'll be back, he'll be back. There's nothing to worry about."

'I'm not worried.'

"Then why'dya keep asking all these questions? Ne?"

'It's good practice for Matters to travel in pods, in the event anything dangerous happens. I had assumed the same was true for those who lived here.' After all, he felt like he hadn't seen the king unaccompanied very often at all! Those pesky Waddle Dees always hovered around him.

"Bad stuff doesn' really happen in Dreamlan'da. Unless it's getting taken over. But, y'know! That's not actually all the time! So it's fine."

'You're saying you don't get attacked nearly every time you go outside? I find that hard to believe.'

Kirby's humored expression quickly fell into concern when they heard that. "Um… no..? Not normally… Did that happen to you?"

Dammit… His pushiness and unauthorized knowledge made it look like he had some sort of tragic life or something! Well- hm. Technically, he WAS attacked almost every time he left the Dark Core. Technically, you could say that someone fighting back to stop you from killing them counted as you ALSO being attacked. But his hesitance to respond wasn't doing him any favors in terms of Kirby's worry. The longer he stayed silent, the wider Kirby's eyes got and the more it looked like they were about to burst into tears.

'I… was not attacked. That is not what happened. I just assumed that-'

Before he could dig himself a deeper grave. Gooey dashed back into the clearing holding a parasol.

"Here, here! Good for sun bad! Used when little!"

Blade tentatively grabbed the parasol. He'd really gone and gotten one just for him? Just to be nice?

What foolish sentimentality.

'You still are little.'

"Littler!"

"Yeah, when he first got here, he could barely go outie 5000 without a parasol! But he got used to the sun pretty fast, so I bet you will too!"

'Well, the gesture is… appreciated, I suppose.'

Gooey nodded excitedly. "Good good! Now sun won't hurt!"

This did keep the heat slipping through the cracks of the tree branches somewhat abated. 'I think I'll still stay in the shade. But this does help my vision, at least.'

"Ooh! That reminds me! It's snack time!"

'How did that remind you- no, didn't you just eat six fish?'

"That doesn' mean we can't have snack time! Besides, this one's special. It's YOUR first time snacking with us!"

'And how is that any different than just eating with you two normally?'

"Becauuuuuuse!" Kirby reached into their backpack and pulled out three plastic containers. They popped off the lids, revealing delicately decorated slices of cheesecake. The sweet aroma wafted towards the two Matters, causing their stomachs to rumble and mouths to water. "I brought a special surprise today!"

Kirby scooted two of the containers over to their friends before clapping and shouting their thanks for the food. With that, the children dug into their cake slices, devouring it so fast that Blade had to wonder how they even enjoyed it.

Still, it did look quite good. And loathe as he was to admit it, this was a very very kind gesture on the voidborn's part. Parasol still in his left hand, he reached down with his right to pick up the slice.

And take a bite. And…

It tasted…. really… really good. It wasn't fair, how good it tasted. It hurt, how good this made him feel. It was just a slice of cake. This wasn't anything. This was nothing!

Something hit the pit of his stomach when he realized that this was the happiest he'd ever been in his life, and how thoroughly pathetic that was.

Kirby and Gooey's frantic chewing halted when they heard the parasol hit the ground.

"Hey, Swordguy, are you al-"

Blade's hand was clamped over his mouth as his body trembled. His eyebrows furrowed and eyes squeezed shut and shoulders hunched.

"Woah woah woah what happened? What's wrong, did it taste bad? Are you okay?"

Blade pressed his forearm against his eyes, swiping away the slowly forming tears. This is nothing. This is nothing. This doesn't feel good. This isn't happiness. This is just a stupid little game being played by children. This is for CHILDREN. He was NOT a child. He shouldn't be happy about this. He shouldn't be HAPPY. No, this wasn't how it was supposed to go!

"Sibling… hurt?"

"Hey, c'mon, what's wrong! I- I'm sorry- did I mess up?"

'No…'

The children cringed as his mental state brushed against their own minds. It was a bizarre, near incomprehensible sensation, and as soon as he realized what he'd done, the feeling retracted. Blade forced his body to relax and he pulled his arm away from his face, its expression now fallen into apathy.

'Nothing is wrong. It tasted good. I apologize for worrying you.'

"Okay… okay. Glad good."

"Yeah, it's really okay." Even as they said that, Blade could tell it was a lie. The mood had noticeably darkened from the relaxed one a few moments prior. Ah… once again, he'd ruined things. Over such a ridiculous emotion too… Kirby's head had lowered and they stared at the near empty container in their lap.

'I… disturbed you, didn't I. Perhaps we should return to the house now that things are-'

"Why did you attack Dreamlan'da?"

Both Blade and Gooey froze and stared at the voidborn. Where did THAT question come from? But the look on their face was entirely serious. Blade nervously glanced away.

'I don't… understand why you're asking me that.'

"You really hurt a lotta people. Why did you do that?"

Something cold and painful crawled up the Matter's spine. Had they finally realized how horrid it was to take him in? Had his ruination of their little outing finally tipped them off? That hadn't been his intention, for once. It had been his goal, perhaps… but now that it wasn't of his own volition, he wasn't terribly happy about the prospect for some reason.

'I was merely doing as I was ordered. My Lord Zero wished to have this world destroyed, and thus I had to act.'

"Uso da! You're not telling the truth! It was something other than that! You mighta been sent here cuz of that, but that's not why you were so angry! You did stuff that the other Matter's didn't do! You were different! So stop lying to me! Why did you attack Dreamlan'da the way you did!?"

'And what makes you so confident that I'm lying?! What makes you think you KNOW me?'

"Because I saw the way you were when we fought! You were screaming at me! You didn't just wanna destroy me cuz I was in the way! You hated me! You hated this world! You cried a few times! I- I couldn't hear you back then… cuz I was real little, and I was scared. But I can hear you now. And I wanna know if we did something to hurt you. I don't… like seeing my friends get hurt."

Blade felt as if he was being run through with the Rainbow Sword all over again. Had he really… laid himself so bare during their battle back then? He didn't remember that… and now… Oh, it was all too much. Kirby trying to understand him? Thinking this world had somehow hurt him? (Well, it had. But not in a way that any of these positively charged beings could understand.)

And they'd called him their friend. It had been less than a week. And they'd called him their friend.

It shouldn't be this EASY. Not for something like him!

Gooey had now also focused his gaze on his sibling, waiting patiently for an answer. Blade knew he couldn't run away from this. (He could, but it wouldn't do anything.) But even HE didn't know what to say. Those feelings festering in his younger self… he knew he still felt them, but he couldn't possibly quantify them in the same way.

'I… couldn't possibly explain… why I did what I did. Why I felt that way… It wasn't anyone's fault but mine. Certainly. I was… The only word I could possibly use is 'envious.' I wanted… the happiness you all had. I hated that I was not allowed it. I wished… that I could be like you. Like Gooey. But I knew that I couldn't. That I can't.' Blade suddenly realized that he was divulging far too much sensitivity. At this rate, they'd actually believe he was worthy of salvation. But that was the farthest thing from the truth, yes? This heartstring-tugging talk would cloud their better judgment.

'I do not feel that way any longer. I have realized such thoughts are traitorous garbage that gets in the way of optimal performance.'

Kirby visibly deflated at that last sentence. But it was a necessary sacrifice.

"Even if that is true… you felt that way before. I don' think it was… 'bad' that you felt like that."

Blade fiddled with the handle of the parasol. 'How was it not bad? I harmed many people because of my feelings.'

"But you wanted to be happy. I don't think that's bad." The color slowly returned back to their eyes. "In fact, that's really really good! That's what we're tryna do right now!"

"Right! Sibling happy! Sibling good! You see, you see!"

"So please, keep wanting to be happy! Please, please, please!"

Blade lowered his head, avoiding their gaze. Was this really what they wanted from him? Could he even provide it? SHOULD he?

Why was being alive so difficult? Why was having a heart so difficult?

Kirby sighed, realizing their pushiness wasn't working. "Did you at least have a fun time fishying with us?"

'...I did. It was… very nice…'

Gooey giggled and launched himself at Blade, wrapping him in an excited hug. When he didn't pull back or push his sibling away, Kirby joined in, crushing down on both the Matterborns. Blade didn't return the hug of course, but not rejecting it was a good start.

"Head back soon. Too bright. People see."

"Gooey's right. Besides, the fish are all gonna go mirmir now. We did enough today!"

After heading back home, the trio spread out in the bedroom, doing their own various time-killing tasks. Blade leaned back against the bed's headboard, pouring over another book he'd picked up. After the relaxing outdoor adventure, his mind certainly felt clear enough to read again. All that pent up energy at least had been put to some use.

Gooey had moved to the rug in the center of the room, lying on his stomach. He was playing with an outdated sorta handheld gaming system, trying to tilt a ball into a hole using the built in gyroscope. It wasn't going very well, considering the console was a hand-me-down of a hand-me-down from an older Waddle Dee to Dedede to Kirby, so the internal mechanisms were pretty shot. But he was having fun regardless.

Kirby, meanwhile, was taking a nap. Because if they ever wanted to speed up time for themselves, they just slept until it was over.

That nap was unfortunately interrupted by a loud knock on the pillow fortifications.

"HEY! KIRBY! GOOEY! YOU GUYS HOME?"

Kirby scrambled out of bed and faceplanted directly on the floor. "P- pitch? What's he doing here?" they whispered. Gooey simply shrugged, a concerned look spreading onto his face. If PITCH caught wind about Blade being back… oh boy. That kid could be a real gossip if he wanted to. Even if they DID ask him to keep quiet about it, he'd certainly tell Chuchu! And then she'd tell everyone. And then everyone would tell EVERYONE!

"What do? Sibling… what if…"

Kirby suddenly grabbed the back of Blade's scarf and dragged him towards the bed. "Quick, you gotta hide under the bed-"

'I- alright- alright, I'm hiding.' Blade squeezed under the bed, hiding as far back into the shadows as he could. Kirby and Gooey stepped back, making sure he wasn't visible from anywhere in the room, before turning to face the stuffed doorway.

"Y- yeha! We're home! Um… our door got broken. You gotta come in through the window, oki?"

"Huh? How did you break your door?"

The kids glanced between each other, a thin film of sweat quickly spreading over their skin. "G- Gooey got scared last night! And he accidentally shot the door off the hinges!"

"Wow. I didn't know he could do that. That's cool as hell!"

"Thank, thank."

"I'm heading in now!"

Pitch flew around the little dome house and hopped through the open window leading into the bedroom. "'Sup guys! Where ya been? We've been getting kinda worried about you! I mean- Chuchu and Nago were! I wasn't- I knew you were just fine, obviously."

Kirby fidgeted with the drawstrings of their jacket. "I uh… I was sick for a while. BUT! I got better! Yayayay!" Gooey and Kirby clapped in unison, celebrating their recovery.

"Oh! Well, that's good t'hear. How'd you even get sick though? Aren't you like, invincible to that sorta stuff?"

"SPACE SICKNESS!" Gooey suddenly shouted.

"Huh?"

"Y- um- what Gooey meant was- it was a sickness that only gets space guys like me! So- so y'know! How it is! Actually, my giant sneeze was the thing that scared Gooey last night! But it's all gone now! You know, you know?"

Pitch shrugged. "No, not really. But I don't know enough about space guys to deny it. But! Since you're feeling better, you wanna hang out?"

Kirby really hoped Pitch couldn't see the sweat beading on their forehead. "That… that'd be really nice! And I would TOTALLY say yes. But I'm- WE'RE busy! With a-"

"SURPRISE!" Gooey interrupted again.

"Yes! A surprise! We're working on a really big surprise for someone! And it's taking a lotta time to prepare, so we gotta focus on it! Sorry, but until the surprise is done, we won't be able to hang out!" There! That wasn't necessarily a lie, right?

"Oooookay. But who's the surprise for?"

"...also surprise. Pitch. No tell, okay?"

"Oh, yeah yeah, totally. My lips are sealed." The shorter boy made a zipping motion over his mouth. Now, Kirby and Gooey both knew that was a total lie. But at least he'd be spreading a rumor about something that wasn't true, which meant they were less likely to be caught.

"Thankee. Now, uh, since you know we're alright, could you go tell everyone else that we're fine? If anyone else asks, I mean."

"Sure! But, I mean, if it's taking up so much of your time, do you want any help? I could-"

""NO!""

Pitch jerked back at the two's sudden outburst, his feathers fluffing up in surprise. "Alright, alright, jeez! You don't need to shout!"

"WE AREN'T SHOUTING!" Kirby shouted. "We're just talking in a really loud way! Quenyways, we can't take your help, sorry. It really is super ultimately important that it's just me and Gooey working on it."

The bird boy overdramatically slouched and collapsed on the floor. "Uuuuugh, fiiiine! Do you at least know how long it'll take you?"

"Ah- ah!" Gooey had to resist the urge to step in front of the bed. If Pitch turned around, he'd get an eyeful of his hidden sibling. "D- days! Few days! Sorry!" He reached down to help Pitch stand back up. "Don't worry! Tell soon."

Sighing, their shorter friend finally dropped the subject. "I guess if you're busy, I'll just grab lunch in town. But thanks for indulging me with your little secret."

"Welcome…" Gooey sighed. "Thanks, understand."

Pitch chuckled and stretched up to pet Gooey's head. "No problemo!" As he hopped back up on the windowsill, he looked back at the two. "By the way. Was you getting sick just an excuse to stay home and work on the 'surprise?'"

Kirby nodded a bit too vigorously. "Ah, yep! You got us, hehe…"

"Pff. Knew it. You dorks can't get anything past me!" With that, he hopped out the window.

An eerie smile stretched across Gooey's face. "Right… Nothing past…"

Blade stayed under the bed for a few more moments, even though Pitch had already flown off and the window was shut once more. He clenched his fists, glaring at nothing.

While these two had accepted him so readily… his existence was far more conditional for everyone else. That was… a good thing. It was a good thing for him to be reviled. Their desperation to hide him proved it. They knew they were doing something wrong, something they didn't want to be caught in. He was an abominable existence.

Yes?