Xz0ner

Thursday, September 30, 1999 10:23:22 PM
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Warnings: Rape, and angst. But no lemon. Yes sirree, shounen ai, but no lemon. Rape is suggested, but it isn't in detail.

Starring: Hyde, Tetsu, Yukihiro, Ken from L'Arc~en~ciel, Sakura from Zigzo, Arihito, Hayato and Saki from Blue, and Yukiya from D=sire! Tsutomu is from Fanatic Crisis. Yoshiki is X Japan, and Kaoru et company belongs to me (Kaoru isn't the Kaoru from Eva! -->so cute!).

Author's notes: Comments please? I need to feed on it! *big eyes* *looking Tetsu wallpaper* *sigh* *^^* Oyasumi! Tet-chan! Genki da? (too much caffeine in system)
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Hyde's smile seemed to glow, as Tetsu saw him through his own eyes. He loved that beautiful face, that beautiful presence. He always wanted to keep it close to his heart.

Hyde sat at the edge of the balcony, watching the snow. The clouds had cleared in the sky above, revealing a solitary moon gleaming in the sky. The silvery light fell onto his face, washing everything around him in its beauty, and Hyde closed his eyes for a brief moment as it seemed to cleanse the world and filled it with its purity.

Hyde's small smile widened, though he was unaware of it. His mouth opened in a beatific curve, as he just stood there, communing with nature and the cosmos around it which it orbited.

Tetsu felt Hyde's happiness filling in on himself, and he approached the lone figure, whom, clad in white, bathed in the silvery moonlight, seemed like an angel from heaven. :.Angels have dove's wings,.: he told himself. :.A fairy, perhaps..: Whatever it was, Hyde had definitely been a force of magic in his life as fairy tales had been in children's eyes.

He stood beside him, and wrapped an arm around the smaller figure, placing his other hand on the glass of the window. Hyde looked up at him, undisturbed, in fact seeming to welcome his presence, and looked back up at the sky.

"Kirei, ne?" Hyde asked softly.

"Un…" Tetsu rested his eyes briefly, and then glanced at Hyde's serene face, before returning back to the moon again. These two celestial beings fit so well together, he thought, glad to have this beauty by his side. The feeling of one owning a priceless treasure brimmed Tetsu's being, as he felt Hyde's warmth seeping into the arm that hehad draped over his shoulder.

*** (me: group rape should be fun… Hydeclone: Ge! Hentai! Tetclone: Oh…. My poor Hyde! Daijoubu da! *sniffle* *huggle*)

Morning. The sun rose up slowly into the sky,and it was much warmer than the night before. Even so, the heater had been spoilt that morning, and Tetsu woke up in a freezing state, wondering who had turned it off. The only source of warmth was the butterfly whom he had half squashed in his frenzied waking, and noticed that even Hyde, who had stolen all the covers, was shivering.

This week, school was on. And Tetsu did not evenremotely like school. Two days earlier, about five days after Yukihiro and Ken had left, they had just voted him to be the lead ACTRESS in the class play. Tetsu had stormed off fuming, wondering why an actress since there were so many girls in his class, but everyone had said that it was a good idea. Even Hyde seemed particularly enthusiastic about it, though he did not mean any harm.

"It's because you're just too beautiful, Tet-chan!" Hyde had said, and Tetsu wondered if it should be taken as a compliment. But, underneath all his complaints, he began to feel otherwise, and happier about being beautiful. After all, beauty was supposed to have no boundaries, he persuaded himself.

On the other hand, he did mind because if his father ever found out about it, he would be in trouble again. The dude had gone on a business trip for a week, and was not coming back until three days later, so Tetsu would definitely be found out. He didn't truly care, but there was still a lingering fear of his father chasing him out of the house with a vacuum cleaner, and the thought did not help him much.

They said that they were going to dress him up today for a rehearsal, so Tetsu was not particularly looking forwards to school either. But looking at Hyde's beautiful sleeping features, he almost felt as if nothing could harm him. Nothing could be that bad, after all, with Hyde around, the sleeping face told him as much as that.

Hyde opened his eyes slowly, blinked, and rubbed his eyes with his hands. He grinned, "Morning!"

Tetsu smiled gently. The butterfly sat up slowly, groping around looking for the stuffed toythat he had flung around in sleep, and finally found it at the foot of the bed.

"What's for breakfast?" Hyde asked. The first question in the morning, Tetsu mused briefly.

"You glutton," He poked Hyde on the nose softly, and got up to see what was in the kitchen. He came up with some canned mushroom soup, so he started heating those up. Hyde ambled into the kitchen holding Doraemon, took the carton of milk, and sat down at the kitchen table drinking from the carton. Tetsu nagged good-naturedly, "Get a cup, you lazy pig."

"Yes, Mom," Hyde stuck his tongue out brightly, putting the carton down. Tetsu laughed.

"Wipe your mouth! There's milk all over your lips." He continued stirring the soup.

Hyde grinned and ignored him. He did get a cup, however, and made himself some coffee instead. Tetsu yawned, and realized that he should have brushed his teeth before getting up and about. The warmth of the soup was welcoming, because he was still freezing. He had forgotten that he was feeling cold. He briefly wondered what had happened to the (fucking) heater anyway, but decided not to bother about it.

Finally, the soup was ready. He grabbed a mitten, lifted it off the electric stove carefully, and set it down on the table. "It's hot," He warned. Hyde nodded, and Tetsu saw a loaf of sliced bread sitting near the supply of canned soup. :.The next door neighbor had sure been generous about that,.: he thought. He handed Hyde the bread, and sat down to eat with him.

"I wuv bwead!" Hyde mumbled between bites, which, when roughly translated, would mean 'I love bread'. Tetsu chuckled, and handed him more. "Thens, Te-chan."

"Welcome. Hurry up, will you. School's starting in twenty minutes." Tetsu reminded him, glancing at the clock, and started eating the food. He could understand why Hyde had said that he loved bread.

They finished, and Tetsu hurriedly shooed Hyde to bathe.

"But if I go now, you won't have time!" Hyde protested innocently. He tugged at Tetsu's arm. "Let's go together. It'll be faster."

:.So much for his kind heart,.: Tetsu thought, blushing very heavily. He knew the little butterfly had meant nothing; he was too innocent to have known to mean anything. He relented, though, he did mind going to school and staying there for the whole day. There was no way in which he was going to get back home early, and he did not want to feel uncomfortable during the time when he was in school.

"Hurry up, we're late!" Hyde jostled Tetsu mockingly, making Tetsu forget his embarrassment.

:.What a morning! I wonder what happened to the heater, though….:

***

The class had managed to persuade the teacher into letting them use the lesson times instead so that they would not have to stay back so late, all the more to Tetsu's dread.

Someone presented him with a skirt, and a girlish jacket, and after some arguments, Tetsu went into the changing room meekly. He emerged to see the whole bunch of students laughing hilariously, and Tetsu would have stormed back had someone not dragged him to the chair.

"I have to put make up on?" He asked hesitantly, but someone else had found a rope from god-knows-where, and they tied him up so that he would stay still while they had fun with his face. Even though Tetsu felt as if everyone was just picking on him, he liked the fuss and the way the makeup seemed to transform his once plain face into something so soft and sweet. He would have dated himself if he was a girl, he thought, unable to believe that it was the same him.

"See? I knew my taste is good!" The class monitor proclaimed loudly, and giggles were heard. Tetsu's pleasure turned to embarrassment again, and they shoved him out of the classroom to the corridor where the rest were waiting.

Hyde, who was talking to Tsutomu, turned, and then his face changed from normal cheerfulness to shock, then to immense delight as he exclaimed, "Tet-chan?! Oh my god! Is that you?"

"Don't ask!" Tetsu murmured gruffly, blushing redder than a tomato.

"From now on, his name is 'Tetsuko'!" Someone yelled, and laughter began to echo. Someone whistled at him, making him blush further.

"Tetsuko~ Would you be my girlfriend?"

"Please be more serious!" Tetsu retorted, wishing that a hole would appear in the floor below his feetand swallow him up. Even Hyde was laughing.Then, he caught sight of Kaoru, who stood in a corner, watching on with no expression. There was perhaps a small hint of smile, but otherwise it was the same coldness. Tetsu wondered what he thought too, but he immediately forgot about it when someone pinched his butt, making him yelp in surprise. He jumped and turned around to see who was the culprit.

"Sorry, *Tetsuko*, I couldn't resist it! You have such a nice figure for wearing skirts!"

Tetsu raised his fist in mock anger, wondering if he should have felt flattered. Everyone laughed again, and, finally, after more good-natured jokes, they became more serious, as they changed into their own costumes. Tetsu was left with a free moment with Hyde, and they sat down. Tetsu once again wondered what Hyde thought.

"You're so pretty, Tet-chan," The words just spilled out of Hyde's mouth, as he gazed up innocently at Tetsu. Tetsu smiled, blushing slightly.

"I can't believe they're going to make the lead character tell me he loves me and then kiss me!" Tetsu mumbled as he held out the script, draping a palm over his powdered forehead, then, realizing that he was wiping the powder off, lifted his hand. Hyde grinned, not knowing exactly why there was so much frustration from Tetsu. "I think they're just out to make fun of me."

"But Tet-chan, you really look very pretty. You're the best candidate for the actress!" Hyde told him with means of comforting, but to Tetsu it had a different meaning altogether. Even *if* he was that beautiful, he thought grimly, they were still making fun of him, and he did not like that. "Here, your collar isn'tstraight."

Hyde reached out to adjust his collar, and Tetsu smiled gently as Hyde's face came closer to his. Suddenly he wished that Hyde was the main character of the play instead. Tetsu blushed at the thought of Hyde's soft lips against his. He was so lovely…He fought the urge to kiss him, as hyde was finally finished with the collar and leaned back in admiration of his handiwork.

"There you go, Tet-chan!" Hyde proclaimed, and ran his fingers through Tetsu's neatly combed hair. He could hardly keep his hands off the beautiful figure in front of him. He did not notice Tetsu's discomfort, as he let his hands run towards Tetsu's lips, like a blinded, and down to the neck. He brushed a strand of stray hair from Tetsu's face, and started combing Tetsu's hair with his fingers again. "Kirei na kami…"

"Ararararara!" A girl popped up from nowhere, and shoved Tetsu away. "Let's get going to the play will you? Hyde-san, what do you think of my hair? My costume?"

"Bitch…" Tetsu mumbled, as he turned back to see Hyde chatting on innocently with the girl, who was obviously turning every aspect of feminine charm on. It was a word that he normally would not use, but she had disrupted such a beautiful moment. At least, he thought glumly, he would not have to worry about being caught while kissing Hyde.

***

Arihito started to file his brothers' work into different files, one for illustrations, and the other for original write-ups. It turned out that Hayato had written a cute story about three aliens and one human with a cat. Arihito had found it pretty funny, educational and interesting. And Saki's SD images of Ken, Hyde, Yukihiro, Tetsu and neko-Hyde were so cute, Arihito wished that he could show it to the other two butterflies.

:.I have to make Hyde a copy of this,.: he thought cheerfully, as he stacked the remaining drafts up into yet another file. He wondered what Hyde's expression would be like when he saw himself in Saki's mind. Saki had not spoken to Hyde a lot, and Tetsu had been too busy to keep in touch with them. Hyde had phoned about a recent play, and had invited Arihito to the actual day of the performance, with Yukiya and both of his brothers. Arihito had been overjoyed at the prospect that Hyde had invited him, and had remembered that he had two brothers in the first place.

Yukiya came bursting in, a cell phone in one hand, as he angrily debated into the mouthpiece. Arihito cringed; Yukiya had never seemed so mad before. Yukiya pressed a button, and set the cell phone down on the table with a loud bang. Arihito looked up timidly, and Yukiya looked back at him.

"Is there anything wrong?" Arihito asked, concerned.

"There is, why of course, you have noticed," Yukiya replied gloomily, with less heat than before. "The next batch of gold is going to be delayed for yet another week! And to think that they had made us wait for so long. They promised, by the end of the last week, that they would get it ready for us to be shipped, but now!"

Arihito sighed, piling the files up on the table, and moved to sit down beside Yukiya. Yukiya said nothing, and put an arm around Arihito's shoulder, letting himself lean down onto his weaker form, and breathing in the scent of his fragrant skin. Arihito, in return, ran his hand through Yukiya's tousled hair. Yukiya finally broke away and leaned back into the chair.

"I'll get you a glass of tea," Arihito mumbled, now that Yukiya had cooled down a notch.He was worried about the house again, and wondered where his brothers were at the moment.

"No," Yukiya tugged gently at his hand, and Arihito stopped. He sat back down beside Yukiya onto the soft sofa, and Yukiya thought for a moment. "…I will pester them later for it."

Arihito kept silent, as he glanced up into Yukiya's beautiful eyes. :.He has done so much for me, and my family….: Arihito thought, and felt his eyes brim with tears. :.If only, I could help with something…. Then Yukiya won't have to do so much for us… If only I were stronger….: "Don't work too hard, Yuki-chan."

Yukiya smiled gently, and caressed Arihito'sface with a loving hand. Silence. Finally, he leaned down against his lap, and closed his eyes. "Is it fine for me to sleep here?"

"Yeah, but won't it be more comfortable if you slept on the bed?" Arihito questioned, placing his hand on Yukiya's forehead. Yukiya grinned with a hint of mischief, then closed his eyes anyway. Arihito smiled warmly, as tears once again brimmed his eyes, this time, not of self-blaming anymore. But of love, and happiness.

***

The play rehersal had been a disaster: no one was serious, no one had memorized the script. The class monitor almost had his blood vessel burst yelling at them. And what pissed Tetsu off more was that all the while Hyde had been sitting down the stage eating on some bentou which the girl had brought.

He sat there, moping, and suddenly caught sight of Kaoru walking past. Tetsu remembered how Kaoru had helped him find Hyde, and wondered why Kaoru knew so much, just like Sakura…

:.Just like Sakura?!.:

"Sorry for making you wait so long, Tet-chan!" Hyde patted him on the shoulder, making him jump in surprise.

"It's okay," Tetsu mumbled, getting up. "Is everything fine?"

"Yeah," Hyde replied, showing him a small bruise on his elbow. "I just knocked into a cupboard while carrying the props though…"

"Just be more careful, you," Tetsu replied cheerfully, patting Hyde on his back. Hyde grinned.

"See you, Haido-chan!" Tetsu was surprised that it had been Tsutomu who yelled that instead of the girl.

"Bye, Haido-chan!" The pesky female voice sounded.

:.Ah, of course,.: Tetsu thought. Hyde waved goodbye with a big grin on his face, and followed Tetsu out of the classroom.

***

When Yukiya opened his eyes, he was surprised to find that he had been sleeping on the couch all alone. He sat up, dazed, rubbing his eyes, and saw a scribbled note on the table. It was obviously from Arihito, who had signed off with a heart shape and a simple drawing of his own face. Yukiya grinned. What a way to wake up after a restful sleep.

He sat up, finding that Arihito had taken his jacket off for him, decided to change into fresh clothes before doinganything else. The normality of the atmosphere surrounding him inthe room was so comfortable, he thought, looking at everything with an appreciating eye.

Even Saki and Hayato.

"Kya?!" Yukiya exclaimed, jumping back in shock. "Saki, Hayato! What are you doing here?"

"Uncle Yukiya, what kind of appreciation is this? We got you dinner!" Hayato replied crossly, pointing to the tray of fish and chips on the table. Saki nodded, and Yukiya raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What's wrong with it?" Yukiya asked.

"He didn't mean it, Hayato!" Saki pleaded with Hayato, who had picked up the unused ashtray and was prepared to throw it.

"Yeah," Yukiya hurriedly said, taking the ash tray away from Hayato, who gave it to him somewhat unwillingly. "But why -the sudden—"

"Eeto…" Saki muttered. "We heard Arihito talk about how hard you've been working, so…"

"Well, we don't want to be ungrateful brats," Hayato grinned, all of his earlier threats gone. "Anyway, ever since our parents died, you've been looking after us, even though you are barely older than us…"

Yukiya smiled warmly, and patted them on the head. "Did Arihito tell you where he was going?"

"Yeah," Saki replied. Hayato nodded and passed him the fork.

"Uncle Yuki, what were our parents like to you?" Saki asked suddenly.

"Your parents… They were strange, powerful, and gentle," Yukiya replied, a gleam of darkness closing over his eyes. Saki nodded like a satisfied child, and Hayato saw that Yukiya's eyes would not meet his gaze, or Saki's. Normally, while chatting, Yukiya's eyes would always focus on them, making them feel like the center of attention even though he was the one. "Beautiful too. There was always this thing they looked for… But was it possible to be found?"

"What was it they had looked for?" Hayato asked, voicing Saki's curiosity.

"That is a secret, now," Yukiya turned to look back up at them. Hayato realized that something had definitely been hidden from him and Saki, and Arihito. Of course, Arihito, not knowing anything about his parents, hardly cared about it. Hayato wondered if Arihito would be able to find out using that special power of his... Yes, he could, no, he had to......

***

The next day it was snowing much too heavily, and Tetsu had come down with flu. To make matters worse, his father came back on that day and started a huge fuss angrily about how they should eat nutritious food instead of the instant ready-to-cook things.

"Yeah, I know…" Tetsu replied irritably, while Hyde cringed in a corner with Doraemon and a box of tissue. "Close the door after you!" he resisted adding a 'damn it'.

"Well, since I'm free today, I'll take you to see the doctor! You'll never get well just staying in bed!" His father replied, coming back into the room, and stood there arms akimbo, glaring at Tetsu. Tetsu looked away.

"I'll be fine if I rest!" He retorted, disliking the idea that his annoying father could be so caring some times. :.If he never concerned himself with me, I will be able to hate him with all my heart. But now…..: A perplexed feeling rose up to the top of his heart, as he tried to remember all the bad things, tried to regain the full-fledged hatred which he had once held in his scarred soul. :.I hate him!.:

"No you won't! You'd better go and see a doctor!" His father was about to erupt. "I swear, it must be the things you do! What have you been up to, romping in the snow naked? The things you youngsters do nowadays! If you go out into the snow some more, I tell you—"

"But father! I have to go to the rehearsal for the play this afternoon!" Tetsu argued, though knowing full well that the rehearsal was not that important. Well, it was, actually, (but not to him) since they hadonly held one rehearsal before, and now they would not have the time if he missed one practice. They had spent the first time fooling around too much to get things done, or so the monitor had insisted on the phone. Tetsu had agreed to go down later, but now he felt like going even earlier than he had planned.

"No! No more snow until you find a good way of transport! And not until you see the doctor to find out about your condition. Do you really want to die or what?"

"Father!" Tetsu muttered.

"What?!" His father turned around angrily, seeming like a big statue. Tetsu shook his head immediately. He had lost an argument again. But it was not the argument he cared about, he just wanted to defy his father. He glanced at Hyde, who smiled.

"I think you'd better go and see the doctor," Hyde told him with an uncomfortable grin on his face. Tetsu pouted, then sneezed.

"Tissue!!" Tetsu quickly covered his nose, the thick liquid spilling out of his blocked nose. Hyde passed him the box, and he fumbled with the other hand, to pull a fistful of soft paper out and wiped at his face. "Yuck! I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE being sick!"

Hyde had to laugh at that. He was glad that he was not a human, after all.

"What are you laughing at, Hyde?" Tetsu mumbled, glaring mockingly at him.

Hyde stuck his tongue out at Tetsu. "No, nothing! Hey, Tet-chan, you'd really better go to the doctor…. At least you'll be healed, and this will not be so bad, then you can persuade your father or something."

"Yeah… Persuading him is like moving a stone wall!" Tetsu replied. "Besides, god knows how long these antibiotics will take to heal me…. Gah! Ahhh, ahhhhhhhh--"

He quickly grabbed another fistful of tissue, but the sneeze had disappeared somewhere half way. He was fed up of the flu already. He threw the tissuesaside, and nodded pathetically. Hyde laughed again.

Briiiiing! The telephone rang.

"I'll get it," Hyde said, and sprang to the phone, but someone had picked it up before he got to the phone. It was Tetsu's father.

"Tetsu? He's sick. What do you want?" Pause. Then, he exploded, "No, Tetsu is sick, and he will not go out until I say he is able to! What? Important? Well, then isn't my son's health important?"

"Fatheeer!" Tetsu mumbled, exasperated. "Let me speak to him! Man!"

Bam! Tetsu was sure that it was the phone. "Tetsu! Are you ready yet? The queue is going to be long, you know!"

Tetsu sighed and glanced at Hyde, who grinned and grabbed him a coat. "Go, Tet-chan."

***

Arihito looked at Hayato, dumbfounded. "I don't understand—"

"I know you don't. So, are you going to do it, or not?"

"But…." Arihito mumbled, silenced by Hayato's glare. "Are… Are you saying that Uncle Yukiya's a liar?"

"Yes, he—uh, no, I mean NO," Hayato hurriedly replied, knowing full well that Arihito believed entirely in Yukiya. And rightly so, since Arihito was Yukiya's lover, and probably knew more about Yukiya than he or Saki did. "He's not a liar, I mean, you know him and I know him, he has done so much for us, but… Well…"

"So you mean that he is hiding something about our parents from us?" Arihito suddenly suggested. Hayato raised an eyebrow. He had not mentioned anything about their parents, and Arihito seemed to know it. Perhaps his predicting power was already starting to blossom to its fullness. "What could it be?"

"Well, Unc Yukiya mentioned something about they looked for. If I remember correctly, he also wondered if the thing could be found…"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"He said it was a secret," Hayato told him matter-of-factly. Arihito glanced innocently up into his face, contemplating if it would be the right thing to do.

"I don't want to mistrust Uncle Yukiya… He must have a reason, surely?"

"Yes, but we are children of our parents, we have the right to find out," Hayato debated, "Besides, it's not mistrusting Unc Yukiya, just finding out what is hidden. I never said I don’t trust Unc Yukiya either."

"But…" Arihito whispered, not assured.

"Please, there is only such one way to find out, and that is through you," Hayato decided to change the tactic. "I mean, it's my parents… OUR parents…."

"…… Alright," Arihito smiled gently. "I'll ask Uncle Yukiya first… Then decide what to do… Because I have never even seen my parents, I don't even know what they look like….. I think, perhaps, they are most important to you and Saki, and this is not what I have understood…"

"Arihito…?"

"I'll try," Arihito grinned, and flashed a victory sign. "Oh, Hayato…"

"Un?"

"Can I borrow you and Saki's work to make an extra copy? I want to give it to Hyde and Tetsu…"

"Sure…" Hayato returned Arihito his smile. :.This is my brother….: Arihito happily took the folder that was placed on the table, andwaved goodbye, skippingout of the room. Everything suddenly seemed so quiet. He smiled at the innocence of his little brother affectionately. "Silly idiot."

***

There was a snowstorm the next morning, which was predicted to last till evening. Tetsu's father had gotten stuck at home because of the storm, and Tetsu had been stuck at home because his father was stuck at home, which was in turn because of the snowstorm. He was starting to blame heaven for these misfortunes.

"What?! Don’t you know how to cook?" Tetsu could hear his father's voice echoing through the door.

"Dad," Tetsu hurried out of the room to Hyde's aid.

"But…. But I…" Hyde sniffled, almost bursting into tears.

"Gah, don't cry! I hate it when girls cry! Just for the slightest reason, too! But a girl who doesn't know how to cook? What kind of girl are you?"

"Father, Hyde—"

"Tetsu, go back to bed!" His father ordered.

Tetsu nodded obediently, and gestured for Hyde to follow him into the room. Hyde nodded and gladly went towards Tetsu.

"Wait, he'll pass the virus on to you!"

"Uh… I'll be fine, uncle…." Hyde muttered with an awkward grin, and zoomed right behind Tetsu.

"All right. What is this world coming to anyway when your son brings in a Caucasian girl to stay with? I should have kept a tighter control on you. You spoilt brat—"

"Yes, Father," Tetsu replied, "Yeah I know! You said that thrice already. Today."

"And meanwhile you'd better spend your time indoors studying!You hear me?!"

"YEAH!" Tetsu shouted. :.You noisy ass,.: He added silently. Thenhe turned to Hyde, now that they were alone in the room, and grinned gently. "I'm sorry if my father scared you or anything… He's just being himself."

"No, he's fine…. He seems very concerned about you," Hyde smiled innocently, his tears blinked away by now.

"Yeah…. And to show his concern, he acts an ape of himself…" Tetsu made a face, and Hyde laughed. "He thinks you are a girl, too! Even with that voice of yours—"

"What's wrong with my voice!!" Hyde retorted, pouting cutely. Then, mimicking in his best cute voice, "Well, perhaps the 'Asuka' voice will suit me better, ne…. Oooooh Tet-chan! Ohayou gozaimasu! Watashi wa Asuka desu~"

Tetsu burst into giggles. "Noooooo! You sound scary. Asuka sounds cuter than that."

"Mou---- I am Asuka, your favorite cute Asuka. You are…. Shinji? Evagelion's main character!"

"Shinji? Hmmmm…." Tetsu grinned. His thoughts sounded stuffed up, too, due to the flu.

"And Kaoru is Rei! The beautiful red eyes and the personality…. Hey, we have such a great cast here! But what about the other Kaoru?" Hyde joked, poking Tetsu, who grabbed his finger, and pretended to bite it. "No! Stop it! Waahhh!"

"Ehhehehehe… Oi!" Hyde had tickled him with the other hand. "Gah! Stop it, Hyde!"

"Well, you started it first!" Hyde playfully replied, as Tetsu held on to his finger.

Briiiiing!

"I'll get it," Hyde offered, and Tetsu let go of his finger. Hyde stopped tickling Tetsu, and glanced at him cautiously as if he was expecting an attack while his back was turned. Tetsu wrinkled his nose and stuck his tongue out childishly before disappearing out of the room, making Hyde laugh.

Tetsu sighed to himself. He had never been this happy before in his life, especially notwhen his father was around. Anyway he was never sick when his father was around; this was the first time. :.And I never thought he'd make such a big fuss for my health, too… I didn't know he cared so much about me…. Baka, I hate that!.: He sighed again, now unhappily.

"Tet-chan, it's Kouji… He says that there is something important at the play…" Hyde whispered, sticking his head back into the room, should Tetsu's father hear.

Tetsu sighed, his father would never allow him to go out because of his flu, and the blizzard. He climbed out of bed.

"TETSU! If it is about the play, tell them that you will definitely not go! You are too sick, you hear?!"

"Yeah," Tetsu yelled. "Hello?"

"Tetsu? Kouji here… It's emergency."

"What is?"

"The play, we haven't been practicing since yesterday, well your father yelled at the monitor for it! So, we need to go, otherwise we will not have enough time… Well, you must come. Remember to go in your dress, we don't have time to change."

"But…"

"Ten thirty at our classroom, okay?" He hung up, leaving Tetsu in a daze.

Tetsu looked up at Hyde, who looked back at him questioningly. Finally, he told Hyde of the play, how it was important, and how he understood so, and how the fucking Kouji should not have hung up without giving him a chance to explain. "Father will never let me. Not with the flu—well, I'm fine now –but still—and especially not in the snowstorm."

"Why don't you try explaining to him?" Hyde suggested, though he *knew* beforehand that the option was out. Tetsu's father would probably scream his lungs out at Tetsu for that. "Well…. It's worth a try…"

Tetsu closed his eyes, sighed, and nodded. "I suppose…"

He tiptoed towards the kitchen, half-dreading what was to come. Hyde followed behind him, and Tetsu peeped into the kitchen. His father seemed to be brewing some soup.

"Uh….. Father, the cast called today… I really need to go…"

"WHAT?! No, You will NOT go! No! You're sick, and it's snowing a blizzard out there!" His father yelled, turning to face him angrily. "And don't you dare defy me!"

"But, Father… We already missed the last rehearsal, and there will not be enough time –"

"Well, make them get a substitute! It's not like you are the only guy in the class."

Tetsu grinned awkwardly at Hyde, who burst out laughing. Tetsu's father did not know that Tetsu was acting in the play as a girl. "But…"

"What are you laughing about? And I said, no! Besides, you're probably going to be sick for another week or so, and they might as well get another person!"

Tetsu sighed, and turned towards Hyde again. "But I can't let the whole class down just because of me!"

"Tet-chan…." Hyde whispered, and pointed to himself.

"What?" Tetsu made a funny face, and Hyde laughed again.

"Me! I'll go in your place."

"Really? Are you sure it's fine?" Tetsu asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Hyde grinned, and tugged at Tetsu's arm.

"They said, to go in the dress, since they didn't have the time to change… .Are you going to have breakfast first?" Tetsu asked, as they went back into his room.

"Un," Hyde buried his face in Doraemon's tummy, and Tetsu looked at him strangely. Suddenly, Hyde took his face out from behind Doraemon. "Boo!"

"You're nuts!" Tetsu laughed lightheartedly, and pinched Hyde's cheeks.

"Owww…" Hyde exclaimed, rubbing them, and stuck his tongue out at Tetsu.

"You little brat," Tetsu could not help but lean down and kiss him lightly on the cheek. Hyde was so cute, and his cuteness created a fluttering place in his heart. Hyde blushed furiously, and when Tetsu saw that Hyde was blushing, he realized what he had done, and turned as red as Hyde did.

"Tet-chan…" Hyde whispered.

"Tetsu! Breakfast's ready!"

"Just the word I was waiting to hear!" Hyde pulled Tetsu out of the room, all of his earlier embarrassment gone. "I'm hungry!"

"Pig," Tetsu muttered happily.

***

Arihito walked across the road hurriedly, carrying the groceries which blocked the view of in front of him. The road was not crowded, but suddenly out of nowhere a car came rushing by. Arihito turned, instinct telling him that he was in danger, but his instinct was too late as well. He stood immobilized, and suddenly someone grabbed his arm, and pulled him away from the road. Honnsblared, the car screeched and drove round the corner, away from Arihito.

"Are you okay?" Someone asked, it was a young man dressed in the Mafia-type tuxedo, complete with a pair of sunglasses. Arihito was surprised, then nervous. He was an African American, black, and very,very tall.

"Yeah… Thanks," Arihito smiled thankfully, and suddenly noticed that the bag of groceries had dropped and fell somewhere on the road, spilling its contents everywhere. Suddenly, something caught his eyes and he dived back to the road to retrieve it.

"Hey, dude! What the heck are you doing?!" The man exclaimed, rushing forward to stop Arihito who almost got knocked down by a car again.

"Hey! Watch where you are going, will you?!" HONK!

Arihito only looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, seeming relieved, stuffed it into his pocket, and looked around. The cans of food were buried in the snow already, some crushed by the wheels of cars. Arihito shivered from both the cold and the fright, got up, shrugged good-naturedly, and looked back at the young man. He hurried back across the road, where the young man stood.

"Thank you for saving me," Arihito looked up at the face of the towering figure, smiling gratefully. The man looked away, seeming uncomfortable.

"You're welcome," He replied in lousy Japanese, of which Arihito could barely understand.

"I speak English too," Arihito supplied, grinning, and held out his hand. "I'm Arihito."

The man returned Arihito's gesture with a shrug, a silly grin, and then shook his hand. "Call me Will."

"I suppose I should have watched where I was going… Can we go for a cup of coffee or something? You look like you're freezing," Arihito suggested.

"Uh, no, I'm fine, I don't need…"

"Come on," Arihito put on his best persuading expression, crossing his fingers behind his back. Something about this American fascinated him, besides, Will had saved him. And that was beside the fact that Arihito believed that he could be friends with anyone he encountered. "I owe you one."

Will shrugged again, and Arihito smiled happily.

*** (I have Will Smith in mind…)

It was all white outside. Too white. Hyde had the impression that he was somehow going to be drowned in that snow. The wind was strong, too strong, and it beat against him mercilessly. The chill was enough to set him shivering despite all the layers of clothes. Hyde covered his face, hoping his eyeballs would not freeze and drop out. At least, when he arrived at school, it might not be that cold. He remembered Arihito, and wondered if he was possibly freezing in the weather, but they were miles apart, making two in the different temperature zones, so the weather might be better over at Arihito's place.

He began trudging in the snow, and it was hard. He wondered why they had chosen to have rehearsals that day, it was impossible to travel. The snow had blocked the road and cars were stuck outside. Not that there were many of those, people were smart enough to stay at home and rest. Somehow he had regretted volunteering himself for Tetsu's part, but he supposed that Tetsu was worth it.

The thought cheered him up somewhat, and suddenly it did not seem that cold anymore. A small smile appeared on his lips, but that quickly disappeared when yet another gust of wind blew again. He walked faster, so that his legs would not lose all the heat and get too numb.

He huddled tighter in the coat, wishing he had on another, though what he had on was heavy enough to make him feel shorter than he already was. After a long and tedious walk to the school, he heaved off a sigh of relief. To his surprise,it was not much warmer in the building; usually the heater would be turned on when the weather got too cold. And everything seemed empty. Hyde was scared all of a sudden;there was a sense of déjà vu enveloping him, so much that he could hardly breathe.

"Hyde!" Someone called. Hyde was surprised, and turned around, to see a familiar person in the other side of the corridor. He could not remember the name of that person, but he supposed that the person was from his class. "Why are you here?"

"Hi, I'm replacing Tetsu, since he's sick." He forced on a smile, trying to seem cheerful. "Where's everyone?"

"Here," He replied, obviously he was shivering in the corridor. Perhaps they had the heat turned up somewhere in the rooms, Hyde hoped, and followed the boy. He was led into a classroom. It was the interactive classroom, where everyone usually moved the chairs to one side and then ran around from one end to the other during activities.

He was right, the heat was on. Hyde gratefully removed his jacket, and waited. There was no one, and the guy had disappeared into the teacher's room where the stuff was being prepared. Hyde wondered where everyone was, it seemed so isolated. The feeling of déjà vu continued to bug him, he could not help but feel haunted and scared.

"I brought a dress," He said aloud, wondering what they were doing. "I'll go and change, okay?"

"Come here." Hyde heard a voice, and he followed into the room. It was relatively dark inside; the lights were not on and it was still storming outside. Hyde grew more scared. But he supposed that there was no harm anyway, so he went in, clutching the dress to his shirt-clad chest.

"We'll help you change," Hyde was surprised, and he handed the dress over willingly.

"But I don't really need help with that," He remarked. They raised an eyebrow, looking at each other with a small smirk. Hyde was more scared now. But they were his classmates, they would not harm him, he told himself.

"You know, we had expected Tetsu, but you're fine," The guy with the bald head smiled. It was a smile thatwas far from friendly, and suddenly Hyde realized that they would harm him. He backed away, but the other guy was already at the door, blocking his way. Tears flooded Hyde'svision as he cowered in fear. The other two were sneering at him with a perverted look, and Hyde wondered what they were going to do to him. Their eager demented expressions resembled the old man's, the nightmare of Hyde's…

He backed himself into a shelf, and the bald person advanced closer.

"You know, you don't even have to dress up to look like a girl. I suppose we got a bigger fish," He whispered, and the others laughed. Hyde cringed in fear, then shoved the bald guy away and bolted towards the window,but the other two had pounced on him and pushed him to the ground. He almost felt his bones give way, they were hurting so much. Hyde could not understand why they were doing this to him. And he knew that there would be more coming.

"No…." He whispered.

"Come on, you'll enjoy it," They all laughed. Hyde shook his head vigorously, now he was helpless under the weight of the other two. The third had a knife with him, and was cutting his clothes off. Hyde winced when it cut him, but the horror was much worse than the pain.

"Don't resist or I'll kill you." Hyde shook his head some more.

"Stop that already," the bald guy slapped him hard in the right cheek, and Hyde stopped, whimpering, his tears flowing freely. He was so scared…

"Look, blue blood! It's so beautiful. I wonder if his wings are real, too." Hyde gasped in pain, as the knife ripped through his fragile wings.

"Please…." Hyde begged, pleaded, but to no avail. They laughed in a sadistic manner and the bald guy started kissing him on the lips. Hyde was reminded of the old man, his much-too-fresh breath, his roughness. Hyde could not struggle, he was still pinned down to the floor. Soon he was in the position to not being able to struggle, there was a knife against his neck, and it would slice him if he so much as moved one inch. They meant business.

The bald guy began to move downwards, and there were hands all over him, all in different places. Hyde closed his eyes,silently wishing that they would all go away, wishing that he could not feel a thing. He recoiled from the pain at being touched, being violated this way, it was just not right for them to do this to him.

"Please….. No….." He called, but they did not respond to his pleas. "Please…" He cried more.

But there was no one to help him.

It was still storming outside. Hyde was left alone, whimpering, while they had their own way with him, no matter how he cried or begged, they would not stop. The voices, together with the jeering laughs, were left floating in his mind, left there to haunt him.

:.If you haven't came here for Tetsu, this would never have happened to you!.:

:…NO! That's not true…..:

But it was.

:.It's your own fault that you're attracting us. I'll bet every single guy is attracted to you, too, and that everyone has been wanting that everyone wants to do this to you, it's just that they don't dare..:

Hyde was still crying. He was too weak to move, it had all been a horrible nightmare for him. It was still hurting at the back, and where they had cut him. But it hurt the most in the inside. He cried some more, wishing that someone would save him, but suddenly he did not trust anyone in the world anymore.

***

Arihito and Will sat in the café, where Hyde, Tetsu, Yukihiro, and Ken had been to before. Arihito always had a special feeling towards this shop, it always seemed endearing to him. At first, Will seemed a little shy, but Arihito had managed to coax him into talking, and soon Arihito found out that Will had two sisters in his family back in America, a warm mother who was always cheerful, and a kind father. However, his mother was down with cancer and needed a lot of money for treatment, which Will was trying to earn. Arihito was so happy to have heard Will speak about his family. Will had seemed so happy when doing so, except that he was sad when he related about his mother, who was gradually dying even with the treatment they were giving her. Will hoped someday to save up enough money to allow his mother to take an operation.

Arihito related about himself too, about his family, his lover. Will had seemed a bit uncomfortable when he learnt that Yukiya was a man, but he did not say much about it either. Arihito did not tell Will about Hyde, just the good things.

By the time they were departing, they were friends.

"I'll bring you to more cafes next time," Will offered. Arihito grinned, and they walked along the streets for a while.

"It's such a nice weather there," Will commented.

Arihito smiled cheerfully, as he looked up into the sky. The snow seemed so much like Hyde, the purity, and the beauty. Suddenly, he thought he saw the butterfly fly past. Arihito was surprised, and chased after him. No, it was not his imagination. It was the real Hyde flying across in the sky. Arihito continued chasing, he wondered why Hyde was flying in the snowing sky.

"Hyde!!" He called. The butterfly looked down. Arihito noticed that he was bleeding, with what looked like small cuts that werehalf-healed. Everyone looked up too, and they were shocked, but in truth nobody really cared. "Hyde!"

He continued chasing. Suddenly Hyde's flight wavered, and he fell from the sky. Arihito rushed towards the figure that lay in the snow helplessly.

"Hyde! What happened?" He asked, demanded, but the butterfly looked at him in weak horror.

"No… Get away from me…...." Hyde made a frail attempt to push Arihito away, but he fainted.

Arihito inwardly cried for the poor butterfly. Thisshouldn't have happened to him. He was in a dress, Arihito noticed, which was soaked through because of the snow, and there were blue patches of blood. His heart pained for him, as he wondered who could have been that wicked and evil as to do this to such a beautiful innocent person. With a sigh, he hurled Hyde right up on his shoulders.

"Ari….hito?" Will was jogging slowly towards him. Arihito looked at him worriedly, his small form seeming smaller under the weight of Hyde. In his flustered condition, he did not notice the unfathomable expression on the American's face. "That…. That butterfly…?"

"He's my friend," Arihito explained. "I… I need to get him home…"

"Here, I'll help," Will offered, holding his hand out. Arihito noticed how big it had seemed compared to his own, and supposed it was no trouble for Will at all, so he gladly let the American carry Hyde.

***

Arihito watched as the butterfly lay on the white unadorned sheets, and could not help but notice how he had cried in his sleep. Questions floated in his mind, when those beautiful brown eyes opened; they were red from all those crying.

"Hyde, are you okay?" Arihito asked worriedly.

Hyde shook his head in a confused and fearful manner, and backed away from the bed to realize that he was wearing a bathrobe instead of the dress. His face crumpled as he broke down and cried, "Don't do this to me anymore… Why are you all hurting me?"

"But…?" Arihito reached out to try to comfort Hyde, but he had backed away into the wall, and sat cringing there. He withdrew his hand. "I'm sorry…"

"Even you…"

"But…?" Arihito did not understand what Hyde meant, until he saw that Hyde was clutching to his clothes tightly, as if someone was going to peel them away without his consent. "I… I didn't…"

"You all are the same…"

"No, Hyde… I only changed you out of the wet clothes—" Arihito tried to explain that he had not done anything. His explanations were futile; Hyde did not listen. He only sat there sobbing, as if he was alone in the world which was against him.

"…I'll get you a hot cup of cocoa," Arihito said resignedly, and left the room for the kitchen. Suddenly, there was a loud thud, disturbing him from his chain of thoughts. He hurriedly rushed to the living room to see what was the matter, and saw people dressed in tux and carrying guns. His eyes immediately darted towards the butterfly, who was huddling in that corner… "Don't touch Hyde!" He shouted, and quickly placed himself in front, as if it would help matters any.

"Get out of the way," The men said gruffly, and raised their guns. Arihito did not move an inch; he watched as the men looked at each other and tightened their grips on the revolvers. "Or we'll shoot."

Silence, Arihito refused to move, and he stood there in front of Hyde stubbornly.

"Don't shoot him! Our motive was to get Celeste, right?" A voice, which was familiar to Arihito, sounded hastily, almost as if he was pleading. "Just get the butterfly."

"But…" The men hesitated, and then proceeded to shove Arihito aside. Realization hit Arihito as his head struck the edge of the bed…

"Will…!" He cried. :.Why did you betray me…? I thought we were friends….: Tears brimmed his eyes as he struggled to get up, but someone shoved him back down again, and pointed the gun to his head. "…Aren't you Will…?"

The tall American stood forward, his expression unfathomable behind those shades. "Once we're done, let's go."

"Will……. No! Why are you doing this…?" Arihito cried, as the man holding the gun pressed it more firmly towards his head. Will did not respond, he kept his attention focused on Hyde, as he struggled against the guards in weak attempts. "It's all wrong, Will!"

"…… Money," He heard a soft whisper from that deep voice. "Money makes it not wrong."

"Will…!"

***

The bleak, undecorated ceiling hovered overhead as Hyde first came to. He tried to move, but somehow he felt as if someone had drugged him, so he lay there, deprived of strength. Vivid memories floated in his mind, as he gulped his fear down. His tears came to tell him of his miserable state, and, with much effort, he turned his head to see a blue-haired figure lying beside him on the same comfortable white sheets. Now he felt more than fear and misery; he was also sorry for having caused Arihito to be captured.

:."No, Will! Bring that blue one away, too! Hmm…. He's also very beautiful, huh…".: The same old revolting face came back torturing his soul, and he closed his eyes again for fear that he would see that haunting nightmare in real form again if he ever looked around. He wished he was back at home again; he suddenly knew he could trust no one in the world… Everyone would hurt him… He remembered how Arihito seemed to know one of the blackguards, too. In this world, it was all betrayal and hurt.

Tetsu's smiling face floated into the midst of his memories, and tears rolled down his cheeks some more. No, he could not even trust Tetsu… What if what those guys had said was true? What if Tetsu had always wanted to do that sort of evil thing to him, too? He felt as if he was in a dark pool of water, sinking deeper and deeper into a chasm, never to see the light again…

The lights suddenly flooded the dimness of the room, piercing through Hyde's thin eyelids, and he struggled to open his eyes, to see what was going on… Even though he knew that he did not want to know. He saw that Arihito was okay, just that his forehead had a patch of big, unmistakable bruise.

"You're not getting away now, Hyde… You're in the room which I told you about," The familiar voice whispered with deadly poison leaking from the mere words. "You and your friend."

"What… What have you done to him…?" Hyde struggled to ask; his throat felt as if it was tearing just from the attempt to speak.

"Nothing much, but I just injected some heroin into both of your blood streams… Even if you escape, you will come back to me begging and crying…. Huh…Wanna try…?" Hyde could almost see him gloating in his mind's eye, he did not dare to look in that direction. "Guards! Bring that boy out and do whatever you want to him, just make sure you don't hurt him too much!"

"No…!" Hyde protested, but even his voice came out too softly and weakly to have any effect. The old man laughed sadistically.

"Don't worry, my dear Celeste… I will not have them do the same to you, you're mine…"

:.No…!.: His inner thoughts screamed, but the word got stuck halfway in his throat, as the men in tuxedoes came to carry Arihito out. :.Please… Don't….:

He could have gotten used to being hurt so much… But… Just that morning, he was joking and fooling around with his beloved… Now, everything was dyed crimson, as he felt everyone leave the room, and as the painful leather bit down against his skin, into it, leaving deep blue slashes across his bare chest. He would have pleaded, would have screamed in agony, would have done anything to stop it… But, everything and everyone had left him with that sadistic old man… Even his courage to live on was deteriorating.

***

Arihito was back at his homeland again. He was in his grown teenage state, playing with his brothers like a little kid, with Uncle Yukiya by his side, whom he so loved deeply… Even Sakura was in the dream. Arihito did not know why he was there, but he was just there, together with a strange, silent youth…

There was someone else in the dream, but he could not remember who. Two shining figures to complete the memory which should have been but wasn't…

***

Some of the guards looked awkwardly at Arihito, obviously not wanting to do as the old man commanded, but the other half were eyeing the beautiful youth with hungry looks. Will could sense their hatred, their long pent-up feelings building up, ready to be let out on that precious person. He understood how everyone felt, so much hatred, so much regret in their lives, the feeling of helplessness feeding on their existence like a thirsty vampire…

There had indeed been too much of those instances in his own life, where he had failed to protect one thing… Now, he was struggling to keep those thathe still owned but was fading in his grasp, trying so hard… He watched the sleeping figure. Arihito's brows were furrowed as if he was troubled, but at the same time, he seemed so peaceful and at home… This was the first time he had seen anyone who was so beautiful. Not only on the outside, but on the inside as well, because in this world...

In a world full of people like himself, and people who were worse than he was...

:.He shouldn't have trusted me….: He thought with a cynical smile. Trusting him only brought Arihito to this state, to his own destruction… After all, this was the real world, Will thought grimly, the real world was full of hatred, betrayal and such sinful things. But could anyone be right or wrong? The world was not just black and white, nothing was that simple. He could have blamed Arihito for trusting him so easily….

Though it was so easy to just heave the blame from himself, he chose not to, he chose not to think about right and wrong, as long as he could keep his mother's life. "Get out, guys."

"But…" There were murmured protests, but everyone obeyed unwillingly; Will was now a preferred guard in favor of the old man, of higher status than they were.

He shut the door, and sat down on a chair nearby the bed, everything was white, so white, and so pure, just like Arihito was you can take out the "was". A mixed feeling jarred up his heart.Maybe some of it was guilt. He was happy that at least he was not as blinded as he had realized that he had done this at the sacrifice of the others, the butterfly and Arihito, their friendship. Ah well, it won't matter anymore, as long as he got the money, as long as he could stop his mother from departing from him forever……

He watched, and watched on, and got lost in time, in the chain of his own thoughts…..

***

Somewhere, in his forbidden memory lay a word which was so gently spoken to him. Maybe it had been spoken while he slept at night, while the unknown figures caressed his forehead in a kind and parental manner as the moonlight shone against them, illuminating their slender silhouettes, so warm and beautiful.

"Just call us, look deep inside youself, our sweet child… And your needs will be fulfilled."

He did not really know who those figures were, but they were so close to him, it almost felt as if he had never left them, nor had they left him… Then, the scene changed, the mood lifted and there was the bare feeling of fear underneath. Instinctively, he knew that it was happening right then, and the worry associated with it. He felt as if he was in a glass globe, looking at everything underneath through the transparent surface, and saw Hyde's suffering form, Tetsu's worry and love for the butterfly, Will's guilt, Yukiya's horror as he looked at the stains of blue blood on the sheets….

His mouth opened, instinctively….

"Help, Mother… Father… Help us…" Tears rolled down his cheeks as he realized the dire need of people who were beside himself, of those close around him… And himself, of course. Every one of those whom he loved and cared for…

And, those who had never been by his side yet never left his side, always silently watching him… He wondered where were they now?

***

Arihito opened his eyes again to see Will listening to something on his cell phone, a shocked expression on his face. Then, he looked away, his face contorted in an emotion which was so painful. He looked back towards the figure tied to the bed, and saw that Arihito was watching him. With a single move, he took out a pocket knife and slashed at the ropes which held Arihito captive.

"…..Why are you doing this, Will…?" Arihito could not help but ask.

"…My mother just passed away… It's no use now, is it…." Tears came unmistakably into his eyes, but he did not cry. Instead, he slashed away at the ropes until Arihito was completely free, and helped the weak boy up. "Let's get out of here."

"But…?" Arihito protested, and then kept silent. He did not know what he could do since he could hardly walk, ; his head was still groggy.

"My mother…. She's gone like my father…. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't save her…." Arihito could almost feel the pain radiatingfrom the American. It was then that he remembered what Will had told him about his family while they were still in the cafe, and he began to understand the betrayal, and the sudden change of heart.

"I'm sorry…" Arihito whispered; from the bottom of his heart, he could say nothing now. Suddenly he thought of his own parents, and remembered the dream…

He called for help again. Suddenly, a bright light enveloped him, as his eyes closed to see two beautiful winged fairy-like figures in the blinding light. "…. My parents…" He whispered, and rushed forward to embrace them, but he could not see their faces due to the bright light. He felt himself growing, as pains split from his back, and power filled him to the brim. His body felt as if it was tearing apart, it hurt so much, but suddenly it all stopped, and he felt like a new being. There was new extensions to his back, two elfin wings, bright and shiny and powerful.

:.Dad? Mom…?.: He asked. He thought he saw the two kind figures smile and nod, and fade away.

He caught sight of Will sitting in a corner, shocked out of his wits. "Who… Who are you?"

"I'm still me," Arihito replied, he was not sure of how to answer. But it did not seem that anything changed, but evolved…. Yes, he was still him, who loved everyone around him, who cared for everyone around him. The him who could even understand evil if he took time to look.

"Arihito…"

"I… I have to save Hyde, to get him out of here…" Arihito pleaded, as he took Will's hand in both of his own, hoping that Will could understand. Will just nodded his head, a small smile on his thick lips. "Thank you…" He whispered, as Will handed him the key.

"I'll go with you," The tall American said, as if he had already decided it.

"But… It's dangerous…" Arihito whispered worriedly, as he glanced up at his tall friend.

"Let me make up for betraying you…. It's the least I can do…"

Arihito nodded, finally relenting.

***

Sakura felt something tear in his mind, and for a moment he could not understand why, but then he saw Hyde's face wearing a pained expression. He felt an urge to fly back to Hyde, but he was right then in another country, and it was at the other side of the world. Silently, he cursed his helplessness as he stared out of the window through the darkness. :.I knew Hyde doesn't belong to this world….:

"Sakura?" A thin weak voice inquired, and Sakura turned his head.

"Kaoru."

The other boy nodded, but no expression was revealed on his face. Sakura draped an arm around the frail youth affectionately, and for a moment he did not respond. Then, he said, "Hyde…?"

"Yeah," Sakura replied, his brows furrowed.

"I can tesseract back to Japan."

"Sorry to trouble you…"

"It's okay… But, maybe I'm not needed."

Sakura glanced back questioningly at his brother.

"Do you remember Arihito?" Seeing Sakura's nod, Kaoru continued, "If you remember our cousin… Arihito… He's awakening…"

"What?! That…. Young guy?" Sakura exclaimed. "It can't be! I mean, I know he's the son of our aunt, and how great the couple really is, but… Awakening to be the legendary…?"

Kaoru shrugged, and lifted Sakura's arm from his shoulder. "I'll go now."

"Kaoru…" Sakura whispered worriedly, and silently prayed that everyone would be fine.

*** (Note: Kaoru tesseracted to Sakura when there was no school.)

Will carried Arihito, who was pretending to be yet bounded and unconscious, up the stairs.

"Will, what did you do to make that dude grow wings?" A standby guard asked, and Will shrugged. Seeing no response, he asked again, "Where are you going?"

"To show our master that he has grown wings."

"You know, he won't like you disturbing him while he's having fun with his favorite toy."

Will ignored him, as Arihito, who had been pretending to be unconscious, heard every word which was being said. Inwardly, he grew more worried and sad that there were indeed people who would do these sort of things. What's more, to these sort of people, a living feeling creature like Hyde, so beautiful and humane, was only a 'toy'… :.If only, I could do something right now….: He wished Yukiya was there, doing what he always did; squeeze his hand while he needed the assurance. But now Yukiya was not by his side, he was alone. So in his mind he clutched on the memories, knowing that Yukiya would choose to be by his side if he could.

Will pressed the doorbell, "Sir, this is Will." He said through the voice transmitter

There was no response, so Will kept pressing the doorbell, and there was a sound of clicking, obviously from another transmitter inside. A disgruntled voice complained, "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Arihito was shocked to hear Hyde's crying in the background, and he looked up at Will on impulse. Will gestured for him to go back to pretense, and Arihito obeyed. He tried again. "The boy you wanted us to take along has grown wings, so I'm worried and think you should check it out."

"Really?" One could almost hear him pondering. "Wait a moment."

The receiver clicked again, and Will looked down nervously at Arihito. After a moment, the door opened. The old man stood there in a bathrobe which was obviously hastily thrown on, and Will felt sick at the thought of him ever being naked. "Here he is, sir."

"Come in and put him on the bed," The old man commanded, and Will did so, it was what he knew would happen. The door clicked shut; it was good that the old man wanted privacy. Will put Arihito down, and whipped out his gun to point at the old man. In shock, the old man staggered back, "What, Will! Are you out of your mind?!"

Will did not reply, he got ready to press the revolver. Arihito had managed to throw the untied ropes off, and was checking Hyde to see if he was hurt too badly to move. In which case, he was indeed hurt too badly to move. Arihito's heart was filled with pain for this butterfly, as he draped a bed sheet over his naked body and carried him up with amazing strength which he had never had before.

"Open the door," Arihito demanded, and the old man edged towards the door. "Or we won't spare you."

"You can't kill me, or you'll never get out," The old man pleaded, as he moved towards the door, and reached for a hidden compartment, which Arihito assumed was the secret to getting the door open. But suddenly, he pulled out a gun, and before anyone could comprehend, Will was shot in the heart. In pain, he pressed the revolver, and his gun rang twice, but both missed the old man, who now stood gloating over his success.

"Will!!" Arihito cried, as he dropped down to his knees, still carrying Hyde in his embrace arms?. Tears flooded (their way) down his cheeks like a raging river. He cried on, as an unfathomable energy enveloped his being, forming a barrier between his enemies, himself, and Will's dying body. The energy exploded, killing everyone in range, and to anyone else it would have been a mass case of those mystic internal combustion. The walls began crumbling, and pieces of concrete fell from the frail buildings, crashing onto everyone except where the kekkai was laid.

"Will…" He continued crying.

"Arihito! Stop it!" An unknown voice echoed, but Arihito could not hear it in his fury and rage. "If you go on like this, you'll kill everyone else! Stop!"

"Arihito…" It was the very weak Hyde, who had taken all of his energy to speak. "Please…"

"…Yeah, Arihito……Please stop crying…….. I want…. To see you smile……" The dying American uttered, as his soul flickered within himself like a fading fire of a candle.

"Hyde…. Will…! Will!!" He watched as the light flickered for the last time, and faded entirely. Now he could not stop crying, the unleashed energy now unstoppable with his fury and added sadness.

"Arihito, stop!" The weak youth almost pleaded, his usual unfeeling façade broken by his anxiety.

"Let us, Kaoru." A feminine voice said.

"Aunt Athena…?"

"Yeah, it's us," A gentle masculine voice answered, and Kaoru obeyed, stepping aside. "Arihito…."

Arihito raised his head at being called in such a loving manner, his tears still madly flowing, as he clutched on to the frail body of Hyde's.

"You've grown, Arihito… ." The feminine voice whispered, as she stepped towards him and embraced him in a motherly gesture. "I'm sorry for leaving you for so long."

"I hope you can forgive us for that," Arihito could barely make out a male figure; they seemed as if they did not exist. "But it was a test both you and us had to take."

"Dad…. Mom?"

"Yes…. We're sorry." Arihito had never felt such beautiful parental love, it enveloped the entire of his being, it felt so warm… as if it could envelop his entire soul and the souls of those whom he loved, and anything else. He stopped crying, comforted by this unknown and vast warmth.

"If you're alive… Why did you leave me and my brothers…? And… So much has happened, yet you only appear now…" Arihito began to cry, like a helpless child. "Will…"

"...We had found what we were looking for, in you and Yukiya. And in the butterfly and the human, too.... We left because we wanted to find it. Now, we're seeing how rare it is..."

"....Yes, and look, Arihito, I'm sure with the awakened powers, you can see it too."

Arihito focused, looking into the direction in which the figure pointed at, and there he saw a faint image of Will, smiling.

"Arihito, your smile saved my soul…. I'm sorry for betraying you, but… I thank you as well…" The smiling face told him so much more. "Don't feel sad for me, goodbye is only the beginning of a new future."

"Will…" Arihito whispered, as tears flowed down this time, but he was also smiling happily. "Thank you, thank you too…"

He could almost see the two figures smile as they both disappeared away. Arihito stood up as he looked at the body of Will's then at Hyde, who was lying in his arms… Hyde was smiling at him, even though he was crying as well. Suddenly, he noticed Kaoru, with his arms outstretched, as if taking in some unknown energy.

"Kaoru…?" Hyde muttered, and Arihito wondered who it was.

"What are you doing?" Arihito asked, standing up, picking up pieces of his broken heart.

Kaoru did not reply, he concentrated, and his body seemed to rise with all the energy that he had taken in. In the confusion, Arihito saw him change form, into a beautiful boy with red eyes and long flowing blue hair. He fell to the ground, unconscious, as the light faded.

"Kaoru…?!" Arihito asked, as he placed his hand on Hyde, knowing that he could do something. His encounter with his parents had seemed to tell him everything about his new power, and the wounds of the wounded butterfly healed. Hyde became the flawless beauty he was once. Even though, there was nothing he could do for him to heal his soul...

"Arihito, thanks…" Hyde whispered. In those eyes, Arihito could see the pain and hurt which he had endured and was still enduring. He got onto his feet, and flew away from the ruins.

"Hyde… You're welcome…" Arihito replied worriedly, as he placed his hand on the unconscious form of the new Kaoru to see if he was still living. Yes, he was… He took one last glance at Will's body, which lay amongst the others in the ruin, and said a prayer for them. His last words remained in his mind… :.'Goodbye is only the beginning of a new future…'.:

He smiled to himself, as he picked Kaoru up, and flew into the sky towards Hyde. The weather was now getting warmer, and the sun was setting in the cloudless sky. He could see it all now, it was such a beautiful scene. But beneath him were corpses and ruins of buildings which was because of his unleashed energy, he thought in guilt. He realized that it could have destroyed the entire world, but because of Kaoru, who absorbed all the energy into himself, causing him to turn into another being, he was stopped……

He caught up with Hyde, and asked, "Where are you going?"

Hyde returned his smile sadly. "Home."

"But…. You can't just go home like that…" Arihito protested, as the image of Hyde and Tetsu floated into his mind. He knew how worried Tetsu was for Hyde, how much he was awaiting his return…

"Sorry…" Hyde shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have lived here…. I don't belong…"

"But…?" Arihito whispered, as he tried his best to persuade Hyde. He knew that Hyde was right, he never belonged, staying would only cause him pain, he who did not understand betrayal, lust, evilness and selfishness. Yet, Arihito chose to believe... "At least go back to see Tetsu…"

Hyde thought for awhile, as they flew in silence, and then nodded, before changing his flight towards the direction of Tetsu's home. Arihito watched as he disappeared into the sunset, his feelings mixed, then looked down at Kaoru who was in his arms, and decided that it was best that he should go back home to Yukiya and figure out if Kaoru was definitely going to be okay.

***

The soup was all ready. It was a strange kind of soup made for people with illnesses, his father had left the recipe there and left him to cook it for the whole day. Tetsu wondered how Hyde was doing, worried that he had gotten caught in the earlier snowstorm, and such things. He hoped that Hyde would come back earlier in time to eat the soup while it was still hot. He was also feeling somewhat lonely since his father had left again.

There was a faint knock on the door, then it sounded firmer. In anticipation, knowing that it was definitely Hyde, he quickly rushed towards the door and opened it. Yes, there Hyde stood, shivering in cold, with nothing on his body but a blanket. There were obviously blue stains all over, meaning that he had been hurt, but there was no apparent wound, and the blood had all frozen and dried.

"Hyde… What happened?!" Tetsu demanded, his brows arched in his worried state. He reached out to touch Hyde, to see what else was the damage done, but Hyde had recoiled from him as if he was just another stranger who was out to hurt him. "Hyde…?"

"I… I was wrong to stay here…." He whispered, as he began sobbing again. Tetsu felt an urge to touch him, to take him into his embrace and stop those tears, but he did not dare. He knew Hyde would recoil from him, so he did nothing, as he watched him cry in a distance.

***

"Kaoru…?" Yukiya muttered, as he looked at the beautiful youth lying on the bed.

"Yukiya…. What were you hiding about my parents…?" He finally asked, remembering what Hayato had told him. But he did not say it in a hostile way, he just wanted to know.

"Your parents…. I…." Yukiya was reluctant to tell him the truth.

"…I met with them today."

Yukiya seemed surprised, but he quickly calmed down, as he smiled warmly, taking Arihito in his embrace. "I'm sorry for hiding this from you… It was also their will that you kids should be kept in the dark, but… Now its time for the truth, nee…"

"…Why?"

"You must know how powerful your parents are… They are one of the most divine beings, born powerful with a strange blood, and they had grown to seek the perfection. You see, they found it, and they got to tesseract through time and space, forever looking for the truth… They couldn't stay by your side…"

"But… It's so unfair to us, especially Hayato and Saki…"

Yukiya smiled. "Someday, they'll know, in their own time. Nee, aren't you tired?"

Arihito nodded, and sat down onto the armchair, grateful for his uncle's presence. "But… What about Kaoru…?"

Yukiya seemed worried for a while, but shrugged. "He'll be fine, it's not affecting his lifeline…"

Arihito smiled in return, as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted away into his well deserved sleep.

"Isn't it because that they knew you would be the most beautiful child, that they decided to give the legendary power to you…? Arihito… Sleep well, divine child, whom I love so deeply…."

***

Hyde was lying on the bed, sleeping soundly with the stuffed toy in his arms, uttering an occasional restless murmur, but otherwise he seemed fine. Tetsu knew he could not be fine, especially on the inside, even though now he had changed into a comfortable nightgown, and was thoroughly rested. He knew that he could not sleep with Hyde again like he used to, so he kept the distance. The heater was fixed early that morning, so he was fine sleeping on the couch. But he was getting more and more worried about what happened to Hyde; the butterfly would not tell him, but just slept and slept…

***

It was yet another of those predicting dreams. Arihito knew it as he came into that dream, as he saw the magical abilities of his parents flow in his soul. He stepped in the dream fearlessly, because he knew that it would never hurt him.

Suddenly, he saw Hyde. He knew that it was happening to Hyde at that exact moment, he knew that Hyde was having that dream and he knew he was watching his dream. Hyde was sinking in the ocean again, he was drowning, and longing to be home in that bubble…

Then he saw Tetsu, and his dejected face, as he was alone once more…

The dream faded, he felt so pained, he could feel Hyde's feelings as if they were his own. Then, there was another dream. It was Kaoru, he realized, as he saw two people emerge from the the boy. He still did not know who Kaoru was, except that he was Hyde's friend.

:.….Two people…?.: He asked himself, as he watched, these dreams faded and he awoke to see Yukiya's sleeping form on the floor. Obviously they had let Kaoru take the bed, Arihito took the couch and Yukiya took the floor.

"Yuki-chan…." He whispered, wiping away the tears that flooded his eyes, as he pulled the blanket up over Yukiya's shoulder, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "…I love you…."

***

Hyde awoke with a jolt after hearing a series of coughs, and saw Tetsu sleeping soundly on the floor beside him. Slowly, he got down from the bed, the Doraemon still cuddled in one arm, and bent down to watch Tetsu. A pain gripped his heart, as his fingers traced his beautiful features, wishing that he could have done something, but he knew that if he stayed, he would only be hurt further. And this hurt was much, much deeper than his love for Tetsu, it just was and it hurt too much. But he still loved Tetsu…

The boy coughed some more, and Hyde wished that Tetsu could suffer less. He had never tried healing others of sickness before, because there was no sickness in his homeland, but he wanted to do his best for him. A small warm glow surfaced, as it seemed to seep into Tetsu's beautiful being… It was the last time that he could look after Tetsu, as the love for him brimmed up towards the top of his heart, overflowing. But, he was not sure if Tetsu loved him back, and if everything that happened was just a lie God made to mislead him. Maybe someday Tetsu would betray him and hurt him as well, like his classmates did. He started sobbing, but wiped away his tears before they could fall down onto Tetsu's face. It might wake him up, and Hyde wasn't sure if he would still want to go if he looked into those depthless eyes once more.

"I'm sorry, Tetsu…." He choked, as he lifted his hand from Tetsu's face, and turned away from him. He wondered how Tetsu would do without him, but he could not endure being hurt anymore, if he had went back to the life he lived with Tetsu… He was just too different to exist in such a world.

He looked back one last time towards the sleeping figure. As an afterthought, he turned back and set Doraemon down gently on the bed, as if it could be a representation of himself, then opened the window, and flew away. For how long his flight had been, he did not know, but he knew the direction in which he was flying to. He landed on top of a building near the sea, there were people on the earth and he knew what their reactions would be if he was seen swooping down just like that. Suddenly, his innocence was gone and he saw through to the ugly face of the world, which hurt him more and more. With his innermost voice—knowing that someone as powerful as Yoshiki the town police would be able to hear—he started to call out.

Then he finally stopped. The sea in front of him was so peaceful, it was the same sea as the one which he and Tetsu had watched in the middle of the night the other time…. The wind blew against his face, toying with his hair as fate had toyed with his life. The wind was clear, the sea was still unwavering, but he was so bewildered, a person riddled with scars not only on his skin but in his heart as well. It was not very long before the shining, bigger butterfly appeared in front of his frailer younger form. They looked at each other in silence.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" It was the only question that Yoshiki asked.

Hyde nodded without any hesitance. He knew what he was leaving behind, but he did not want to be hurt anymore either…

"Then take my hand, and let's go…" Yoshiki held out his lace-clad hand, and Hyde took it gently. They disappeared into the sea, and back into the paradise where Hyde had once belonged to, and will always belong to…

***

When Tetsu woke up, he saw the empty space that replaced what Hyde had been, the Doraemon stuffed toy lying there as if it had always been alone…

And he knew that this time, Hyde was gone, forever. He wished that there was something that he could do to bring him back. His fists clenched in helpless frustration as he cried softly, wishing that he could send Hyde his thoughts, his feelings of how much he needed him…

But, it would be no use.

***

Kaoru's eyes finally fluttered open, and he stared at himself in the mirror. He did not recognize this blue-haired creature in front of him, who looked so beautiful and feminine. Just as he was lapsing into his thoughts, a small voice in his head whispered, :.Kaoru, I'm Tsuki. Nice to meet you..:

"Tsu…ki?" Kaoru muttered, not sure if there was something wrong with his own mind. But he could feel another presence at the back of his consciousness,it was existing just as he was.

:.Yes, and this body belongs to me now. When it is time, you will change back into your own, but for now, let me take over..:

Kaoru was surprised, but before he could respond to that, Tsuki's consciousness began to flood over his own, and then he was only an audience through Tsuki's eyes.

Tsuki smiled at Kaoru's thoughts and amazement, and he stepped out of the room, and asked, "Sakura must be very worried now?"

:……He'll know that we're fine..:

"I see," Tsuki smiled as he sensed Kaoru's skeptical feelings. They were both in the same body, they both were one yet separate. And such, Tsuki could understand Kaoru because they were two personalities in the same soul. Kaoru noticed that, and suddenly, he realized that he had finally found something which he had been looking for all along—Two separate personalities understanding each other thoroughly.

***

There was classes the next day. Tetsu dragged himself to the school; just as he had before he met Hyde, there was no motivation, he was just going to work as another individual who did not matter. They had called to tell him that the play was delayed, though he thought that they would have asked Hyde to perform instead, and the whole day he was wondering what to tell the rest if they asked about Hyde. Magically, his flu was much better, and he wondered where was the dress which they were going to use. A classmate would kill him if he lost the clothes but now he could not care less now.

The classroom was relatively empty when he reached it, he was probably too early, so he settled down on his table. Tsutomu had asked him about Hyde, but Tetsu did not tell him. Then, he could see that the bitch who had been pestering Hyde the other day was bothering yet another guy in his class. He laughed to himself; this is the world he was in. Suddenly, he heard a loud voice saying, "Heh, where's that butterfly?"

Tetsu sat up in surprise and shock, as he looked at the bald headed guy. His brow furrowed, not knowing what was in the fellow's mind. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much…. But, we didn't expect him to come on that stormy day instead of you… You should probably feel very blessed indeed."

"What did you do to him?!" Tetsu demanded, knowing that they were up to no good, remembering Hyde's distance. They must have spawned him, the beautiful Hyde who was always so close, who suddenly just drifted away…

The bald guy smirked as his friends laughed sadistically. "Oh, nothing much. But we never knew that his blood was blue. And I'm surprised that a person with blue blood can still have bodily functions… Need I say more?"

"You…. What did you do to him?!" Tetsu repeated, his fists clenched as he sat there immobile, as his mind his mind was thinking of Hyde. He could almost hear Hyde's screams, and he could almost see him cry again, because of how Hyde was tortured before they had met, and then how Hyde had withheld from him… Wasn't it just like before…? Everything that had happened, the happiness was just to leave nothing in his life.

"I… No, WE raped him, if you must know…" The bald guy laughed, pressing his face near to Tetsu's mockingly. "Boy, was he really tight."

"You…" Tetsu could feel his soul burning up, as his blood boiled with a fury that he had never felt before. On impulse, he bolted right up, knocking the chair over with a loud bang, and hit the guy with the bald head on the nose. Everyone, what few of the students, were looking at them, but no one really stopped him as he fought the other two kids off and got at the bald guy. He just wanted justice, for having let Hyde hurt so much…

"STOP!" A loud voice thundered, but Tetsu, being deafened by that fury, did not listen. He could feel himself being knocked unconscious by a large and powerful fist, and the last thing which he saw before he blacked out was the bleeding face of the bald guy, and he smiled sadly, before blackness overcame him as Hyde's face floated back into his mind.

***

Kaoru had went back to report to Sakura what happened, and Sakura seemed kind of perturbed even though he had always thought that Hyde should have gone back home; the earlier the better. Kaoru could do nothing about it, so he tesseracted back to his school. Tsuki was sleeping at the back of his mind, he could feel the gentle rhythm of the other guy, as he walked to class. A small smile floated to his lips. He had never felt fondness in such a way before, that was different from friends and relatives…

He sat down in his usual manner, as if he did not care about the world around him. In truth, he did care, but no one else cared about him, so he had decided at least not to let it show. The majority of the class was already there, but he noticed that Hyde and Tetsu was not there yet. He knew that Hyde was back home, but what had happened to Tetsu, he was not sure, until he overheard some girls gossiping about how Tetsu had flung at this guy and beat him till he was bleeding profusely. Tsuki awoke, and greeted him good morning in his mind. He uttered a response, and Tsuki asked about Tetsu, which he told accordingly.

:.Then Tetsu must have found out about what happened to Hyde and that's why he beat them up..:

:.Yeah, maybe,.: Kaoru replied. He shrugged to himself, but he knew that he must do something before Tetsu totally fell into the deep chasm. He could not possibly let that be, and Tsuki had agreed with him…

***

"Why are you here again, Hyde?" Yoshiki asked, as he looked up from his morning coffee. He smiled as the younger boy sat down beside him, etched on his face was worry as far as he knew.

"Sir… Can you please help me, just this once…?" Hyde asked, obviously uncomfortable about his query. Yoshiki raised an eyebrow and nodded, indicating that he should proceed. Hyde continued uncertainly, "I… Please let me see how my friend is doing back on earth…"

"…Which friend?" Yoshiki asked, a small smile floating onto his lips, as he pushed a strand of hair back into place. "There aren't anymore of our kind back there, are there?"

"………A human whom I met there…" Hyde looked down at his feet, his fingers fiddling with his long brown hair.

Yoshiki set the cup down. "Why? Is he that important to you?"

Hyde nodded hesitantly.

"Well, sure," Yoshiki smiled gently, as he stood up and patted the smaller boy on his shoulder, and indicated that Hyde should follow him into one of the rooms. Hyde gulped, an unknown fear coming back to him; , as the white walls were replaced with the dark classroom. He shook his head, reminding himself that he was back at home, where no one would hurt him... He followed, and saw that there were beautiful red roses and black curtains. Hyde was very surprised at the decorations; there was no one who would have kept these things in any of their rooms. Seeing Hyde's fascination, Yoshiki said matter-of-factly, "I've been to the Earth before, that's where I got these things…"

"What?!" Hyde exclaimed, surprised. He had never expected Yoshiki the towns police, of all people, to do this.

"No one went because they didn't dare and had their own duties…. I, being the towns police, was very bored. I'm always alone, and I had nothing to do because there was nothing much happening…" Yoshiki smiled sadly, as he picked up a red rose, and his hand tightened around it, letting blood flow down freely.

"You… You wrote that poem of betrayal." Hyde whispered.

Yoshiki nodded, as he looked back at the petite figure, surprised that Hyde should bring it up. "Yes, I am Shiratori Hitomi, the one who wrote it. Love and betrayal. Bodily sins, evilness, everything…. It's about this human, Toshi."

Hyde lowered his head. He understood every lineof the poem right then; he had been through every one of them.

"His name was Toshi. He showed me everything, he made me fall in love…. Then he met this girl. He left me for her, and even told everyone in the village that I was not a fairy, but a demon…" Tears brimmed Yoshiki's eyes. "It was so long ago, but I can still remember them, their hatred all at just one phrase of his….. He never realized that he hurt me that much…. A lot of things happened, really, I experienced everything…"

Hyde nodded sadly, as he looked into those beautiful eyes, noting how they spoke of sadness in somewhat the same way as Tetsu's did as he spoke of the people around him, his father and his classmates. He almost broke into tears, it was not only happening to him, but it had happened to Yoshiki and Tetsu as well. Even among their own people…… He wanted to know how Tetsu did right then… No, he needed to know.

"…Nee, is it the guy who asked you to stay the other time?" Yoshiki asked, beckoning him to a crystal ball which sat by the side. "This will help me to reflect the vision to you so you can see it as well."

Hyde nodded. He could hardly wait.

"Just think of him while I recite the spell. Here," He gently pushed Hyde towards the crystal ball, clasped his hands together, and started whispering the magic words. Hyde closed his eyes, and concentrated with all of his thoughts and love, to think of Tetsu…

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Tetsu, who was bruised and bleeding. In horror, Hyde gasped, as he watched on, how Tetsu's father had beaten the already hurt Tetsu. Tetsu only chose to keep silent, he could not utter a word as if he was mute. Pain flooded his heart, as all of his thoughts moved to Tetsu, and he cried… The images on the crystal ball vanished, leaving only a void in it, as Yoshiki's spell broke and he stopped reciting.

"Hyde, what's wrong?" Yoshiki asked, concerned.

Hyde shook his head, then bowed in thanks and sprinted out of the house. He did not stop until he arrived at his home, and locked himself in his room. His mother was extremely worried, and she kept asking him to come out, but he would not. She did not blow her top, because living in that paradise, they did not even know what anger and force were. Hyde sat alone on the bed, his hands fiddling with the brand new guitar, but he could not concentrate on what he had always done, sing, play the guitar, and recite poems. In frustration, he set the guitar down with a hard bang, and started crying again. God, he really wanted to be by Tetsu's side….

But, everything which he longed for was impossible…. He never belonged to that world, and now, he did not belong to this world either. He was not sure where he was, even, and if anyone ever cared for him, if everything was just real or fake, if everything even existed. Until he heard a knock on the door.

"Go away!" He shouted, throwing his poetry book at the white pearly door in frustration. "I don't wanna go out!"

"Hyde-chan!!"

"Yeah, it's us..!"

It took him awhile to recognize those two voices, and when he did, he silently got up and opened the door. Those were his friends whom he had not seen in quite a while, he missed them beyond words. "Ken… Yuki …"

"Why are you crying?" Ken asked, concerned, bending down to feel his forehead, and Yukihiro pulled out a handkerchief to wipe Hyde's tears away. "And why are you back here…?"

"I… I can't stay in that place anymore…"

"But didn't you want to stay with Tetsu?" Yukihiro asked, and Hyde nodded vigorously.

"I do, I still do now…. But I can't….."

"Why? Did he chase you out?" Ken and Yukihiro looked at each other worriedly.

"No…. But, I just know I can't stay……. And, I just saw Tetsu… From a spell…" The two other butterflies waited, as Hyde paused, choking back the incoming tears which were flooding him. "He…. He needs me… But… I can't…"

"Hyde…" Ken patted Hyde on the shoulder. "I'll go to look after him for you, if you want…"

"Yes, I'll go too!" Yukihiro nodded, and Hyde smiled gently, but he broke down again.

"No you can't, you have to watch after Hyde…" Ken said worriedly. "Hyde, he'll be fine, stop crying…"

"But you can't go, you'll be hurt too…"

"Nee, I'll be fine. I'll go and look after him so you can't have a reason to cry anymore, okay? Promise me…. Yuki-chan, don't let Hyde-chan cry!!" Ken warned.

"You… You'll be hurt…." Hyde cried some more, but Ken gave him a thumbs up sign and stood up.

"I won't. I'm over to Yoshiki's now! So if you cry some more, I'll sic the rotating door on you!"

Yukihiro had to smile at that, because of the memory of what happened at the rotating door when they were on Earth. Hyde allowed himself to be comforted by the presence and the warmth of his friend, and cried himself to sleep.

***

Tetsu stared at the ceiling, hugging Doraemon close to his chest, as if it was Hyde who was in his embrace. It felt the same, there was the same presence, but no matter how he tried, he was not able to deceive his heart that it was indeed Hyde. There was still the same emptiness that hung there where Hyde had once filled, and would never be filled without Hyde. A soft knocking on the window disturbed his loneliness, but he did not care. Now that Hyde was gone, he could not care about anything else anymore. Now he felt like an empty corpse, the wounds of his body from the fight that morning and his father's beatingdid not hurt as much as it did in his heart.

The knocking became louder, and he heard two voices muttering something which perhaps meant, "Open the window!"

Tetsu turned his head to look, and saw two butterflies who resembled Hyde, like fairies illuminated in the moonlight. But he knew that neither of them were Hyde, so he turned his head back. It really did not matter anymore. The voices got more frenzied, and there was a bright glow from outside before the window opened and Ken flew in after bidding the other butterfly goodbye.

"Hi," Ken greeted, as he fluttered towards the bed and sat down beside Tetsu.

"You… Aren't you Hyde's friend?" Tetsu asked, his eyes turning to look at the tall brown-haired guy. "What are you doing here?"

"Yes…. I'm Ken," He replied, a carefree smile on his face, and he rocked about the bed carelessly. He loved spring mattresses; these sort of things never existed in his homeland. "I… I'm here to look after you."

"Go away, big butt. I don't need you." Tetsu looked away, and closed his eyes, his grip on the stuffed toy tighter. Nothing could replace Hyde in his heart, and he needed nothing but Hyde.

Ken immediately stopped his shaking at being called 'big butt', and protested, "But I promised Hyde… Here, let me heal you, okay?"

"I don't need to be healed," Tetsu slapped Ken's hands away.

"Hey," Ken stuck his lower lip out in frustration. "If you won't let me heal you, how am I going to take care of you?"

"….Leave me alone," The figure flipped to the other side of the bed, ignoring his protesting wounds. Ken saw the bruises and cuts on Tetsu's skin, and wondered how he could have endured so much pain. He remembered the gunshot in his hand, and how it had hurt like hell until it finally fully healed.

"No, you're hurt. Let me heal you!" Ken pulled Tetsu back into place and grabbed the stuffed toy.

"Give it back!" Tetsu shouted, reaching out for it as if it had been Hyde whom Ken had taken from him.

"No, you let me heal you first!" Ken was surprised to see how important the stuffed toy was to Tetsu. He did not know that the reason why it was it was important to Tetsu because it had been important to Hyde.

"Give it back!" Tetsu repeated, and like a blinded menace, shoved Ken to the floor.

"Fine!" Ken replied angrily, and threw the Doraemon to the other side of the room, before pouncing on Tetsu's already frail form. "You want to be treated this way? It's up to you!"

"Let go of me!" Tetsu struggled, but his smaller body was no match to Ken's weight as he sat promptly on top of him. Ken grabbed his hands and pinned him down. Tetsu struggled some more, but soon he was out of breath, and his body was beginning to protest just a wee bit too much.

"Don’t move," Ken warned, "Or I'll flatten you!"

Tetsu did not move, but it was not because of the threat. He laid there limply, on the cold hard floor, as Ken got off him and lifted his shirt. As soon as he saw the wounds on Tetsu's body, he exclaimed, "Oh my god! What happened?!"

Tetsu would not reply, and Ken did not demand for an answer either. Instead, he had concentrated on his healing, and after a few minutes, he was done with it. He had been very hardworking during his stay back at home, hoping to improve his power just in case he ever got into trouble again. And now his hard work was finally showing,; he could not help but feel a tad proud of himself.

"There! You can get up now," Ken took Tetsu's hand, and started pulling him up. But Tetsu did not move, then his eyes brimmed with tears and he started to cry. "What… What's wrong…?"

Tetsu could only utter muffled chokes as he cried and cried, and buried his face into Ken's stomach. He could not help himself, the feeling while being healed… He knew that he had felt it somewhere, especially while he was sleeping, on that night before Hyde left… He could feel it envelop his being, he could feel the love and power in it. He remembered how much Hyde had healed him on the inside while he was with him, but how he could do nothing for Hyde when he was hurt……

"Tetsu…" Ken whispered, as he embraced the small form of the boy, and let him cry his broken heart out. He knew that there was nothing much he could do at that moment to heal the inner bleeding in Tetsu anyway.

***

Morning, the sunlight poured through the closed window. Tetsu had never slept with the curtains out of the way, he preferred the room to be dark while sleeping so that he could doze longer. Not wanting to wake up, he turned towards the other the side of the bed so that the sunlight could not reach his tired eyes, and knocked into somebody. His consciousness flickered, as he thought, :.Hyde….: and snuggled closer, a blissful smile on his lips. Then, he slept off again, until the light got unbearable and he could hardly sleep anymore, so he opened his eyes. He saw the beautiful white gown, the beautiful translucent wings, the hands clutching on to Doraemon like a kid.

He climbed up, thinking to make breakfast early. The butterfly was still sleeping soundly, and he did not want to wake him up. :.That pig will be very happy to know that I'm making toast today,.: He thought to himself, and laughed inwardly. Suddenly, he heard a loud yawn behind him.

"Tet-chan, you're up," It was not Hyde's deep voice. With a disappointed realization, Tetsu turned and saw Ken's much-too-tall figure sitting up on the bed, holding Doraemon in his arms like Hyde did every morning.

Tetsu turned away and went to the kitchen anyway. It was not Hyde, but it did not mean that the other person did not need to eat.

"Hey, why are you so cold to me?!" Ken protested, and fluttered towards Tetsu. He liked to use his wings more than Hyde did. "Hello~!"

"I'm going to make breakfast for you," Tetsu said, taking out a loaf of bread and shoving it in front of Ken's face. Ken took it, and studied the bread.

"I can help with that!" He offered, and landed onto the floor gently, before rushing towards the refrigerator and taking out some butter. "Nee, don't you want this on your toast?"

"Uh, you toast it before you put this on," Tetsu explained.

"But it tastes much better if the butter melts!" Ken protested stubbornly, and started his job anyway. "Just sit down, okay?"

Tetsu nodded impatiently and looked at the Doraemon which Ken had put down onto the table top. He smiled at the grinning face of the stuffed toy, even though he still missed Hyde, he had someone to make him forget the pain which resided there.

***

They did not go to school that day. Tetsu did not want to, so Ken watched television with him for the whole day. Ken could not sit still while watching dramas, so they switched to the comedy channel and watched family shows, and it was Ken's laughter that filled the whole room instead of beautiful sobs.

The next day, they did go to school late.

Everyone had avoided them, as if they were ghosts, though Ken had finally mastered the art of hiding his wings. Ken could not understand why everyone was shunning them, but he did not try asking. (And) Tetsu had conveniently ignored them, though Ken could tell that he was not really happy about it. The teachers had spent some time talking to Tetsu, and said that it was none of Ken's business, so Ken did not know what they were talking about. (And) Tetsu did not like it, to say the least.

Time went by, and soon school was over. Everyone but Tetsu packed their bags, and one by one they left the class. Except for a quiet youth, both of them were all alone in there.

"Tet-chan, why are we staying here?" Ken asked.

"You don't have to stay here, but I'm due for detention for two weeks," Tetsu replied matter-of-factly, as if he was explaining something impersonal. "You can go, Ken…"

"But I'm supposed to look after you, remember?" Ken told him, patting him on the back, causing him to almost fall flat onto the table. He turned to Kaoru, who was watching the two of them. Tetsu noticed him, too, but he did not do anything. Ken chirped jovially, "What about you, dude?"

"……It's none of your business," He replied in a distasteful manner, and Ken looked like a dejected kitten. Seeing Ken's expression, Kaoru could not help but smile softly to himself. Tsuki noticed Kaoru's amusement, and started laughing at the back, causing Kaoru's mind to be distracted, but he quickly went back to focus. "Tetsu, where's Hyde?"

"Kaoru, why are you such a busybody?" Tetsu exploded, slamming his fists on the table. "You need to see through me every time, do you?!"

"………Tsuki wants me to help you, too."

"I don't need your help! And whoever Tsuki is, he can go and—" Tetsu did not get to finish his sentence, as Kaoru changed into a taller blue-haired figure. Tetsu sat there gaping for a moment, then realized that he was looking stupid. So that was Tsuki.

"Wow, how did you do that?" Ken asked, but Tsuki ignored him.

"I'm Tsuki, if you must know," The beautiful figure told him, sticking his hands in his pocket like a teacher expecting his dawdling student to start work. "Don't vent your anger like that. I know you've been hurt badly but you don't have to hate the world either."

"….The world hates me," Tetsu replied bitterly, as he thought of the classmates' faces who had looked down on him.

Tsuki went forward, till he was standing right in front of Tetsu, and tilted Tetsu's chin up with his fingers. "Have you forgotten about him?" He gestured to Ken, who had been standing aside all the while.

"……He doesn't count," Tetsu looked as if he was going to cry. Tsuki knew what he was thinking of, at least, he had a vague idea from Kaoru's memory.

"Kaoru doesn't want your heart to die, and neither do I, Tetsu…." Tsuki let go, and Tetsu looked at him like a corpse without a soul. "Trust me, he knows how it is… He doesn't want you to be like him."

Tetsu looked at his own hands, tears brimming inhis eyes, but he did not cry because those tears would not flow. He had been hurt so much, too much to even cry now. Because of the world, he had been drained of his tears and he had lost his beloved.

Tsuki shrugged nonchalantly, though in truth he did care, and walked out of the classroom, and he spoke to Kaoru inwardly, wishing that he did not have to bother this much about things which were beyond his reach.

Tetsu still sat there, even as the discipline teacher came in, he was finally crying then. Yes, he could not lose his heart, his heart was dying. It hurt too much while it was bleeding, yet without a heart, without his love for Hyde, he was just no one with nothing inside him, he would be truly what he seemed to others right then.

***

The two days since Hyde had returned had been quite a mess, and a big headache to Yukihiro. Hyde could never go in time for something, and he never could concentrate on something either. Everyone was wondering what was wrong, but Yukihiro knew that no one would understand this sort of thing anyway, so what if they cared? Hyde was just not himself, and he was frankly worried about Hyde too.

The class had ended, and everyone went home accordingly. Hyde had wandered off somewhere before the time was up, and Yukihiro had absolutely no idea where he went until he looked in the garden at the back of the school compounds. There Hyde was, playing the harmonica which he had kept in his pocket.

"Hyde," He called, disturbing the wistful melody. Hyde stopped blowing abruptly, and turned his head to look at the other boy, who stood towering over him. Yukihiro had to ask, though he knew that there was no answer, "Why did you just go off like that?!"

"I just needed some fresh air," Hyde replied.

"Yes, but you can't just do that, you know. You're disturbing the peace and order," Yukihiro told him.

"That's what my dad said," Hyde smiled sadly. "But, I don't know what to feel…. I'm not happy, not now."

"You can't just disturb everyone else because of your own feelings, Hyde!" Yukihiro scolded, but Hyde just dismissed it all.

"And why not?" He smirked, as he unfolded his wings and flew away, leaving Yukihiro dumbfounded. That phrase had questioned every reason for order and peace, and conformity.

***

The next few days went by without hindrance, they just did, so ghastly and fleetingly. Arihito was not sure when he had last seen Hyde, but from the looks of it, things weren't too happy. He knew that in the near future, Hyde and Tetsu would be happy again, because he had seen them in his dream, both of them, embracing. He sincerely wished them all the best, because soon he would not be able to look after them anymore. He was returning to his planet with Hayato, Saki and Yukiya. His parents had told him to bring his cousins along, too. And Arihito never knew he had relatives who were on Earth. Yukiya had contacted both of his cousins, but one of them, Sakura, had wanted to stay. Arihito was very surprised that Sakura, of all people, was his cousin. As a matter of fact, Sakura was one of the few people, of his kind, in his family, who possessed that supernatural power.

There was also Kaoru, the one who had a split personality. Arihito did not know why Kaoru had seemed to grow so much happier day by day. He almost looked like Hyde when he was in love. Kaoru had agreed to go along with him, he said that Tsuki was happy about it too. As for Sakura… He wanted to stay, and refused to reveal the reason.

Hayato's book was fully done, and the gold was all ready to be shipped back to their hometown. Arihito was very happy, but he knew that he would miss everyone on the planet……….

The wind was sifting through his hair, as he made recollections of the days when he was on earth. Will's tomb was there, as he paid his last respects and lingered there, not wanting to leave so early. The memory of Will's last line appeared in his mind—'Goodbye is future's new beginning.'

:.We'll meet again, Hyde, Tetsu, my friends…. I'm sure we will..:

***

When Tetsu arrived home, it was late evening. He had checked the letterbox and found an envelope with a pile of papers inside there. He wondered who could it be, since there was no address written on it, and no stamps either. But it was addressed to him, so it might have been hand-delivered.

"What's that?" Ken asked cheerfully, his hands reaching out for it. "Can I see?"

"Wait a moment," Tetsu put the envelope on the table, and went to make some tea. "Do you want any tea?"

"Of course, I'm freezing!" Ken replied with a grin, and opened the envelope without Tetsu's permission anyway, and took out a small stack of papers from the envelope. On the clean white sheets of paper were copies of some illustrations and stories written in simple sentences. Then, he was laughing at the cute pictures. "Tet-chan, Arihito sent us his brothers' work!"

"Really?" Tetsu exclaimed, surprised, and hurriedly set the tea down. He plopped down beside Ken on the couch, and read the story with him. The illustrations were indeed cute, and so was the story line. However, there was some sad parts, and it somehow reminded him of the reality of his and Hyde's lives. Yet, the story was of a happy ending, and Tetsu was not sure if it would be a happy ending in his own life…

He heard a soft tap on the window. And he turned his head, to look, he saw two butterflies outside… He was not sure if it was all just a hallucination, until Ken saw and started making a commotion out of it.

"….Hyde…" Tetsu whispered, as he ran towards the descending butterfly.

"Tet-chan!" Hyde cried, as he hugged Tetsu with all of his might. Both of their thoughts were fused, their love, merging their minds together, as they finally reunited again… .

Ken smiled sadly as he approached Yoshiki. "I'm not needed here anymore, let's not disturb them… Let's go."

Yoshiki nodded, and took Ken's hand. Ken glanced back at the two embracing figures, oblivious to the world around them. He knew that the world around them did not matter to them anymore, anyway.

"……They'll be happy this time, I hope."

***

Sakura always loved the night sky, it was pitch black in the city where he was living, without a single star. It was the same that night, yet he could see something special—a real butterfly, which flew around him, tickling his nose before flying away. It was so beautiful, and its wings were blue.

He smiled to himself and closed his eyes… It reminded him of someone, and he knew who it was. Even though he knew that he could never have the butterfly, the butterfly only belonged to the sky—he wished the butterfly happiness no matter which part of the sky it went to. For he knew that Hyde would be happy as long as he owned the wide sky which was Tetsu's heart, which could accept every part of him and more.

***

Two years later, Hayato never thought he would be writing the same story over. He had written a similar story in a children's book, except that the plot was much simpler. He had obtained a copy of the old book from the bookshelf, which happened to be the most popular book—even among adults—because of the "great story line and cute characters". In fact, it was so popular, that the editors had prompted him to write a version for adults as a novel, which he was working on. He had not much of an idea how to start it, everything had happened too long ago.

The cover, which was drawn by Saki, was of a happy human and a smiling butterfly, holding a kitten. He smiled to himself, he did not know what he would have done if he had never went to Earth, had never kidnapped that butterfly….

He flipped the pages carefully.

"Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Tetsu. Tetsu was a human from Earth. He was very unhappy, because he was all alone.

One day, Tetsu found a boy with butterfly's wings on the back. 'What's your name?' he asked the boy. 'I'm Hyde!' The boy replied. They played for the whole day, and Tetsu was very happy. Soon, it was late, so Hyde said, 'I have to leave.' Tetsu was very sad once again, because when Hyde left, he would be all alone again. He did not like to be alone, so he begged Hyde to stay. But Hyde could not stay, for his parents would be very angry if he went home late.

Due to Tetsu's begging, Hyde stayed. Then, Hyde's friends came looking for Hyde. They persuaded him to go back, because Hyde's parents were very worried.

So, Hyde greeted Tetsu goodbye sadly, and he went home.

The next day, Hyde came back to look for Tetsu again. On the way to Tetsu's house, he found a cat, and named it 'Hyde-neko'. Hyde-neko loved to jump about and often knocked down things. He knocked down Tetsu's father's favorite vase.

When Tetsu's father came back, he was very angry, so he chased Hyde and Hyde-neko out of the house. Hyde felt hurt, so he went back home and would not see Tetsu. Tetsu was sad all over again, because he was lonely.

Meanwhile, at Hyde's house, Hyde was moping in his room. 'Nobody welcomes me,' He said to himself, as he cried and cried. 'I might as well not go back and be a burden.'

But Hyde's friends told him to go back, because they had noticed that Hyde was very unhappy in all the days when he did not go to play with Tetsu. Hyde finally agreed, and he went to Tetsu's house, even though he was still scared.

When Tetsu saw Hyde, he hugged Hyde tightly, and said, 'Don't go away again! You're my friend and I need you.'

Hyde was very happy, because he was welcomed. And they lived happily ever after, because they were never alone ever again."

Hayato closed the book gently, as he pondered to himself for the moment. He wanted to write things the way as he had known. Arihito had been keeping in contact with Hyde and Tetsu, and it seemed that they were still living together very happily. Recently Hayato had been feeling left out, because he was stuck at home writing stories with Saki. Arihito and Yukiya had gone tesseracting through time and space together for their honeymoon and would not be back till ten days later. Kaoru was the top student in his high school, so he was kept busy and he was still very happy with Tsuki, even though Hayato could not comprehend how Kaoru could love a multi-personality which was himself ultimately. Maybe it was just he who lacked understanding.

He stole a glance at Saki's tired form as he slept peacefully on the sofa. He smiled at his brother fondly, as he decided to write the way the things were. If the public liked the more commercialized form, they would love its true form as well. He thought for a moment, not sure of what manner he should put things in. Finally, he picked up the pen, and started scribbling as the words came to him magically…

"In the deep, dark sea, stood a mighty city. Hidden by the bubbles of an unseen magic, the city flourished even though the sea itself was dying under the hands of humans………."
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~Owari~

10:06:55 PM Sunday, December 05, 1999

Author's notes: YAY! ^^ I finally finished this sequel. I hope you like it….. T_T……. O_O 12000 words of this fic are done in the last three days! Wow! *congratulates self* and to think I started this in September?! O_o ^^;; I'm almost becoming a procrastinator…. It's really not a healthy habit to do the first part of the fic, leave it there for a whole three months and start doing it again with an incredible speed. Why? I just realized I forgot Tsutomu and would have to stick him in somewhere, but I don't know where, so forget it… ^^;; What's more, if you never got around to the second starting, you'll never get to finish it at all! ^^;;; *sweatdrop* I really must thank the people who reminded me to finish it for that…. *bows* m(_ _)m Arigatou gozaimasu minna-san!! ^^

And thanks for reading! ^^ I really enjoyed writing this (I don't know if my muse enjoyed this, ahaha), it's almost as if I revealed my soul down here. It's my life you're looking at through a prism, this is how it comes about. All in all, I hope you enjoyed reading this… And please tell me how it is!! I really need comments, just a quick short email will do… T_T

~Xz0ner and hidoko.

http://xz0ne.cjb.net
voidmatsumoto@yahoo.co.uk
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