A/N: INTERNET CRASH GAH (-3-) OKAY THIS CHAPTER WAS A BIT LONGER THAN I ANTICIPATED IT WOULD BE BUT STILL I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY IT! AND JUST TO GIVE YOU GUYS A HEADS UP, I FOCUSED THROUGH BLAZE IN THIS CHAPPY :P

"And then I chopped his head off!" Blaze ended with a sudden chopping gesture with his hand through the back of his head as he finished his lengthy but not so detail-ish version of his fight with the monster.

"It seems you're rather too enthusiastic about it. Don't you feel the killing sickness?" The cat induced as he opened up the cage hesitantly inducing a loud creaking sound from the rusty metal hinges. 'Am I really doing the right thing here..'

"Nope!" Blaze assured with that joyous tone of his as he stepped out of his cage, stretching out his arms in the air ever so slightly to relieve his nagging muscles then proceeded to hold out his hand at the cat.

The feline tilted his head a bit in confusion, trying to figure out what the red head was doing until he saw what the boy was actually staring at. His sword.

"Here." The cat held out, it wasn't much use for him anyway. He was an animal for Kami's sake that had ten claws right beneath his paws once this boy tries anything fishy. So why not give the dying lad his wishes?

"Arigatou!" Blaze's carmine eyes lightened up as he got his hands on his sword. "By the way.." He added as he placed the weapon beneath his back, using the straps of his former sword to lock it in place. He looked up at the cat, hands fidgeting by the hem of his shirt as if he was deciding whether or not to ask what he had in mind.

'It's happening..' The cat assumed, slowly taking out his claws as soon as he saw the boy's eyes turn from a bloody auburn red to a clear vivid purple. But then quickly retracted his claws as he heard Blaze's question.

"Do you have an eye patch?" He queried. It'll be cool if he had one!

'And here I thought he was feeling the urge to kill..' The cat's face darkened, muttering, "What a troublesome child.." as he proceeded to head towards the door. He had enough of the boy's gibberish.

'Was that supposed to be a no?' Blaze nimbly strutted towards the larger figure before him. "Where're you going?"

"The young master will arrive soon." The tomcat endued without giving a glance at the said boy. But as his paws made contact with the two push door, he paused momentarily and ordered, "Behave yourself, human."

"My name's Blaze you know!" He exclaimed irritably, shooting a blatant glare at the back of the cat's head.

"Fine.. human."

Blaze took in a quick breath, ignoring the cat's attempts to shoo him away. "So what's yours?"

"Rio." The feral cat replied blandly as he pushed open the doors, revealing a long grand hallway with massive glass windows, hanged golden chandeliers that were reflected through polished snowy marble floors and a giant fish effigy fountain, standing out elegantly by the side of the corridor with its tail pointing towards two larger tawny hued doors.

Blaze whistled as he admired the sight that greeted him, mostly the fish. "Now I could get used to this."

"If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't mistake you for someone dying." Rio blurted out as Blaze walked by his side.

"That's because I don't want to feel like I'm dying." Blaze smiled sadly, eyes fixated on the doors before them.

The cat didn't know if this boy was brave or just plain ignorant. "Aren't you afraid?"

Now that Blaze thinks about it, he is afraid. So afraid that he just chooses to run away from it. To prevent himself from even think about the word, death.

Because if he dies, it only means one thing for him.. he couldn't see Shane anymore. He couldn't be the man who protects her. Hell, he couldn't even confess his feelings for her! 'But what's the point of confessing if I'll die!?' Blaze argued with himself as he let his hand graze through the thick locks of his hair.

It was all pointless.. He was pointless. He knows he's stupid, yes, there was no doubt that he was stuck with this kind of brain but his heart.. oh that aching muscle that kept on pounding through his chest each time he thought of Shane's name, remembering that suffocating feeling through his chest that he can't get enough of whenever he's close to her, all those sparks and shivers he gets whenever they accidentally 'touch'. He never felt so happy and at the same time feel so pathetic. He didn't even consider that to be possible. But knowing that it'll all be gone, turned into nothing.. it's all tooheart crushinglypainful.

The thought itself of not being with Shane was making him feel less than alive. How is he even going to say all this?! It's just so complicated!

Blaze tried to fix up the words that he was going to say, putting together one word after another, but then it all just crumbled into worthless broken pieces as soon as Rio opened the door.

"Master Tobi." Rio greeted as he gave a polite bow.

"Rio." The younger feline acknowledged as he entered together with..

'Shane..' Blaze stared unbelievingly, feeling his heart beat getting faster and faster as he felt his feet walking towards her absentmindedly as if she was some sort of a human magnet. He doesn't even know what to say, yet here he is, just a few steps away from the said girl that kept his stomach churning with uneasiness through the past years.

He needs to get it together. 'It's now or never' Blaze took in a deep breath through his nostrils as he pressed his lips in a firm line.

"Shane." The boy called out in a low tone, not using his usual jubilant tone to prevent his voice from trembling as he bore his eyes through her pale golden brown ones.

Shane gave him a dreadful look the moment her name escaped his lips, "Who are you?!" The girl pried as she pointed the sword's blade through his throat. "How do you know my name?"

"Wha- It's me! Blaze!!" He cried out in confusion as he waved his hands from his head down his torso to emphasize what he meant. 'Why doesn't she recognize me?!'

"Oh really?" Shane frowned, sarcasm playing along her words as she said. "Then I might as well say that I'm Blaze!Seeing you're quite the impersonator."

"Me? An imposter?" Blaze threw out a puzzled look. Clearly not knowing where this was going on about. "It is me!! Can't you see my face?!!"

"That is what gave it all out! You don't look like Blaze at all!" Shane retorted with a seething look as she pressed the blade further, making the boy saunter backward till his back made contact with the hall's walls near the fish fountain as she continued citing what she saw as his flaws. "Blaze doesn't have purple hair and you don't even carry the same sword-"

"That's because I broke my sword!!" Blaze interjected to clear things out. "And what the heck are you saying about purple-aaaaahhhh!!!!" He suddenly shouted out as his eyes landed on his reflection through the clear water by the fountain's base.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!!" Blaze hollered hysterically, clearly forgetting the sword pointed at him as he quickly turned around and examined himself from his ragged lilac hair, to his striking amethyst eyes, until his broader jaw.

With this, the lad proceeded to make weird faces as if he was making sure that the one being reflected was really him which Shane found quite odd since the mauve haired fellow was acting so immature like..

"Blaze..?" The said girl called out which went out something more like a question as she sheathed her sword by her hip then touched him by the shoulder.

The red-turned-purple haired lad then turned around, facing Shane with those luminous mulberry eyes that held so much mixed emotions, shame, uneasiness, joy, it was all clear within his eyes.

He wanted to say something. Maybe even just a brief hello, but no words came out. After all, his situation wasn't that easy. He didn't know how to start or what were the exact words he had to say because it's not like he can just go on and say: 'Hey, Shane! Guess what? I'm gonna die!!'

It was just too sudden. He needed time, but he doesn't have any time left now, does he? That's why he made a conclusion that:

Life truly is filled with bad timings. That Blaze was certain of.

"Is.. something wrong?' Shane asked, her face denoting nothing else but worry.

Blaze couldn't agree more that something was definitelywrong. It's wrong they came across this island. It's wrong that they parted ways. It's wrong that he had these feelings for her. It's wrong that he could be nothing more but a coward who'll die because of this wretched killingsickness. It's wrong. It's wrong! IT'S ALL DAMN WRONG!

Blaze averted his gaze from the girl's questioning eyes, it was making him feel a lot guiltier than he should be. 'Curse these stupid emotions! Curse it all!! Curse curses!!!''

The sudden gesture made Shane knit her eyebrows, unsure on why he was acting like this. He doesn't act like this. He neverdoes.

"Blaze.." Shane pressed on as she touched him by his jaw and turned his head to face her. "Tell me.. is something wrong?" She voiced out the question yet again much to Blaze's dismay, her eyes were demanding but still pooled with golden undeniable concern.

'Please don't look at me like that..' Blazed mentally pleaded, his eyes looked everywhere except the girl before him as he tried to suppress the rich pink color heating up by his pale cheeks at the girl's touch.

This was becoming a lot harder than he thought of, not to mention their current position wherein he was trapped against the wall with Shane's frame right in front of him, her soft delicate hand, holding the side of his face ever so gently.. it was definitely 'not' a great help. Thank you very much.

Swallowing the lump that started forming by his throat, Blaze kept his head bowed and closed his eyes in the hopes of calming himself, then clasped her hand, slowly setting it down, still taking hold of the tips hesitantly, he breathed in, squeezing the captured digits a bit as he finally decided to put into words what kept on burning through his aching heart.

"I killed a murderous man." He blurted out, rather surprised himself that other words tumbled out from his lips. Why can't he just say it?!

"Well isn't that a good thing?" Shane snorted at Blaze's statement, finding herself ridiculous for even thinking that this was some sort of a life-and-death situation from how he acted.

"Yeah, it is." Blaze agreed, voice cracking as he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame. They were so close.. so close that his forehead rested upon the blade of her shoulder, letting his heated breath brush against the exposed skin by her collarbone, he asked with a shaky breath. "D-Do you like me?"

"Of course I do! You're my friend." Shane stated with her arms hanging motionless by her sides, causing Blaze's stomach to clench at the word 'friend'. He should've known.

"Why are you being so sappy all of a sudden?" Shane asked, using her hands to somehow push him off, trying to escape from his grasp as she continued on. "It's not like the end of the world once you kill a-"

"I'm gonna die Shane!!" Blaze sputtered out frantically as he tightened his grip on her, scared of the thought of losing her once he lets her go. "I'm gonna die..!!"

Shane's hands suddenly froze in place. "That's not true.." She countered in an almost inaudible murmur as she gripped through Blaze's shirt, still refusing to believe what he was saying.

"If this is some sort of sick joke, I swear that I'll shove your head in through that fish's mouth-" Shane pointed at the fountain beside them. "-because this isn't funny Blaze!! And I'm not in the mood to play some game of yours so will you just drop the act!!" Shane bursted out furiously as she managed to pry Blaze off of her earlier, her hands were now fisted aggressively across his shirt's collar as she looked at him with enraged eyes.

"Tell me you're lying.. !!!" Shane said in a smothering desperate plea as she buried her face through his chest. "Please.."

~

A/N: OOOOOHHH SO SAPPEEEHHHH!!! :3

I'LL BE FOCUSING MORE ON SHANE ON THE NEXT CHAP!! ;D

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