(Y/n) (l/n) ~

"As if we'd fall for that story!" Valt growled, looking up at Shu.

"Your choice," I muttered and decided to walk away, happy to finally get a break from these two annoying overreacting bastards. I was getting angrier by each second and I knew a little more push will make me go berserk.

Believe me, when I get angry, it's really dangerous. All the more reason I don't wanna stay here. Or I'm sure I'll end up hurting Valt.

"(Y/n)," Shu warned in that oh so scary voice of his.

"What is it?" I challenged back with my eyes.

"Stand here and don't mov—"

"And if I do?"

"There will be consequences," Shu said sternly.

"Not a wise thing to tell me," I glared right back. "Now I'm really tempted to move because I wanna experience the consequences."

Shu grumbled something about overconfidence and turned his attention back to Valt and Rantaro, who were still having a hard time trying to figure out whether to believe it or not. He looked Valt dead in the eye. "It's the truth."

"He cheated in the battle?" Valt said incredulously. "Daigo would never do that!"

"Valt's right. Daigo would never do that. Why're you speaking like that, Shu?" Rantaro joined him.

"Yeah, Shu. I think you're lying," Valt said.

I swear one more statement from Valt and Rantaro, and I'm breaking the nearest door. Shu didn't even tell them anything and they're acting like that.

The anger was practically burning my body. I've been enduring this drama for the past half an hour. But now just one more second and I swear—

"Who are you? And what have you done to our Shu?" Rantaro asked. "Our Shu doesn't talk like that."

Dear gods, did I listen to this crap for half an hour just to lose my temper in the end? Give me some strength to control myself.

"Daigo would never cheat," Valt agreed. "No way Daigo would ever stoop so low!"

"You'd be surprised to know how low," I snapped. Okay, now I don't think I'd be able to take this anymore. The gods aren't helping either. Self-control cheated on me again. "Shu isn't telling you half of the whole thing and you both are acting like drama queens. Well in that case, let me give you something to be really worried about."

All three of them had their eyes on me now. They were highly shocked, but couldn't say anything. I think that's what it's called to be too shocked to speak.

"Wanna know the reason why Daigo did that? Do you know what did he did to win? Cheating is one thing, and cheating in a petty way is another. Wanna know how wicked Daigo's thoughts were? Wanna know the way he cheated?"

"(Y/n), you're not doing this," Shu said in an alarmed voice. "Stop right there. Fine, you wanted to go home? You can go."

Too late now.

"Daigo Kurogami made an unforgivable mistake. You'd be astounded to know, but I've also been in that position before. Just like him, I was also afraid of losing at that time. But the only difference was, that I was strong. Daigo was stupid and weak. I decided to become better so that I could win, while he decided to cheat so that he could win."

"Okay, you really need to stop now," Shu warned again, his hand on my shoulder now. "I don't like where this is going."

"You, shut up," I faced him, removing his hand. "Someone's gotta tell them. If you're too weak to do that, I'm ready to play that role."

I looked back at Valt, making sure that the disappointment is clear in my eyes.

"You know what your problem is?" I started. "You trusted Daigo too much. The day before the battle, you went around talking about whatnot you'll do if Daigo wins it. You even made that stupid victory sandwich for him. Of course he had no choice but to cheat. He couldn't let you down. You were already too happy about his victory," I snorted. "The victory that wasn't even in his hands yet."

Valt knitted his eyebrows in confusion and looked down. Of course my words were confusing him. If he clearly understood what I was saying, he wouldn't have made that mistake in the first place.

"Look at me," I demanded.

"O-Okay, now I'm also scared," Rantaro stuttered. "You need to stop."

I moved further, now dangerously close to Valt. I knew he could feel my eyes glowing red with anger and I liked knowing he's scared. That all too familiar feeling of being feared started clouding my mind. I've experienced and relished it uncountable times in a battle where my opponent is terrified. And I like it. Even now as I'm looking at Valt, I was enjoying every flicker of fear that flashed through his eyes. And he isn't even making eye contact with me.

Valt stepped back, still not looking at me. "I'm sorry."

"You should be," I agreed, mirroring the step he took. "For trusting him too much. For expecting too much, without even caring how he must've felt," I gritted my teeth, forcing back the memories of my time with Lui.

"All you were hyped about, was what you'll do when he wins. Did you tell him what will you do if he loses?" Valt clenched his fists. "Telling him that you'd congratulate him just as enthusiastically, doesn't matter the results? That you'd still be just as happy while giving him that stupid sandwich? That you'll tell him it's okay if he couldn't win? Telling him that...telling him that he shouldn't have to be like you are?"

"Wh-What?" Valt snapped, finally looking up. Rantaro gasped, and even Shu breathed sharply.

I started laughing at their reactions. It was pathetic, knowing even Shu didn't know what I was talking about.

"You didn't know?" I leaned down to Valt's level. Call me a sadist, but I wanted to see his face when I say it. "Great friend you are..."

"That's enough," Shu finally lost it. "Just go away!"

His words didn't mean anything to me at that time. I was too occupied with Valt. "Do you know the definition of a rival?" Valt stayed silent. "It means when two people are equally powerful and have fun competing against each other," I paused, but Valt didn't say anything. Not that there was much to say.

"You were a rival to him," I continued. "But when did that change? When did he start to think you're better than him? That he started to think of becoming better than you? The desire got so strong that he forgot his limits, just to prove he's capable of something. Just to prove that he's as awesome as you. Tell me. Did you expect him to go that far? To cheat?"

"S-Stop it," Valt said.

"You, Valt Aoi, are weak," I continued. "So are you," I looked at Rantaro, actually grinning as I said it. "And so is Daigo."

At this point, Valt's fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles had turned white. But what he didn't yet realize, was how badly I wanted him to burst out and say something. Anything. I think Daigo would appreciate if Valt defended him right now.

"Daigo is weak. He's exposed to darkness more than any of you around here," I paused, suddenly remembering Shu. "At least you two, Valt and Rantaro."

"Please stop now," Valt said, a little louder this time.

"He gave in too easily," I smiled, enjoying every second of how I was breaking Valt right now. "You decide, Valt. Whose fault was it? Daigo's or yours?" Valt shook his head, saying he's not gonna answer that. "Daigo chose a stupid way to succeed. And the fact that he really thought it would work, makes me wanna laugh at him. Maybe it's not your fault, Valt. Maybe Daigo is really the one to blame—"

"What is wrong with you?!" Rantaro snapped. "If you can't keep your mouth shut, then simply leave. Just don't talk crap—"

"I'm talking crap now?" I asked back. "Just because I'm not sugarcoating the truth like Shu, that means I'm the one wrong here?"

"It still doesn't prove you're fully correct!"

"And where am I wrong, may you tell me?"

"No," Shu said. "(Y/n), you gotta think before you speak. And don't try to teach Valt on this one."

I turned my attention to the mentioned blader and raised an eyebrow. Valt's expression was still that sad and worried one, but he replied sternly. "I know Daigo better than you. He's my friend—"

"Don't even get me started on friendship," I interrupted him. "You claim to know Daigo Kurogami so well," I raised my chin. "Then what happened? You tell me."

No one said anything.

"This friendship you talk about, Valt Aoi, is not as easy to understand as you think," I continued. "You even call me your friend. But am I?"

"You're our friend..." Valt mumbled, looking at me pleadingly. While staring back into his eyes, I could tell he was about to cry. Go ahead, dude. I'd love to see you break right in front of me.

"No," I said plainly. "Friends know each other. And you don't know less than half of the things about me. We aren't friends, Valt."

"Now you're going too far," Rantaro was still at it. "What do you know about friendship anyway? Have you ever even had any friends?"

It felt like my heart skipped a beat. It shouldn't have hurt, but that statement hit deeper than I could imagine.

Valt looked at him in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind, Honcho?!"

"She's saying those things doesn't mean you also have the right to!" Shu yelled at him.

When Rantaro realized it, even he looked guilty. "Yeah, sorr—"

"Shut up," I said, trying to compose myself. My breathing was short and I was confused why that sentence angered me more than it should've.

But either way, I was angry. If I could've, I seriously would've beaten up Rantaro then and there.

But instead, merely nodding at him threateningly, I threw another glance at Valt before silently walking away from the school terrace.

------------

I trained three hours as usual; the only difference that it was from two to five, instead of three to six. But that doesn't matter so much.

I went back home and took a shower. Rather eating something straight away, I took out my phone and dialled Gold Eye's number. Pro tip: Whenever you're angry, take it out on someone you hate.

I chose Gold Eye as my victim.

Three calls and he didn't pick up. But me being the annoying stubborn person I am, kept calling and calling until I finally heard his voice from the speaker.

"What is it, (Y/n)?" He said in an angry tone. "It's three in the morning! WHY THE HELL YOU'RE ANNOYING ME? CAN'T A PERSON GET A PROPER SLEEP ON YOUR WATCH?! YOU'RE LITERALLY HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD AND YOU STILL SOMEHOW MANAGE TO IRRITATE ME!"

"Whoa!" I faked astonishment. Of course I knew Mexico's time was ten hours ahead of Japan. Anyone would know that. "I totally forgot it must be early there. My bad!"

He groaned. "Now you know. Bye, I gotta sleep."

"Wait, you sleep?!" I asked in disbelief.

"Flash news: I'm a human! I need sleep!"

"But the dark circles around your eyes say otherwise."

"WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR POINT HERE?" He yelled again. "OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T CALL ME JUST BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO CHECK IF I WAS ASLEEP!"

"I wanted to tell you something," I said casually.

"If this is another one of your rants to take out your anger on me, then you better don't do this or—"

"At least hear me out," I began. "I just want to say out my thoughts."

"I guess I better hang up before you begin—"

"Norman-Tarvar-you-know-you've-always-occured-to-me-like-a-very-stupid-and-sinister-duck-that-has-been-deprived-of-sleep-for-one-thousand-years-I-don't-know-why-Theo-actually-agreed-to-take-you-in-the-Snake-Pit-'cause-I-think-you-are-a-very-annoying-stupid-and-unworthy-blader-by-the-way-your-appearance-isn't-any-better-than-your-skills-you-look-like-a-sleep-deprived-duck-as-I-said-before-but-in-addition-you-also-look-like-a-constipated-dinosaur-all-the-time-nobody-loves-you-and-that-stupid-face-of-yours-even-Silver-Eye-looks-better-than-you-what-I-think-now-that-I-should-probably-suggest-Ashtem-to-throw-you-out-'cause-I-can't-bear-your-stupid-face-anymore," I said in one breath.

There was a moment of silence from the other side before Norman started saying, "(Y/n), you—"

I smiply hanged up and blocked his number before he could say anymore. Then I closed my eyes and sighed in happiness.

Wow. That felt oddly good. I think I should do this even more often.

Right now, I'd give anything to go back to Mexico and say all that to Gold Eye's face. That would be a whole lot other level of entertainment...

Relieved from the burden of anger upon my shoulders, I dressed up properly and walked out of my house to have a look around. I may not be angry anymore, but I wasn't feeling so calm either.

My thoughts were restless. I couldn't think properly. Could it be the guilt of whatever I said to Valt earlier?

Nah. That wasn't gonna happen. Me? Feeling guilty of hurting someone? That wasn't gonna happen in the next four million years. Let alone now.

I stopped in my tracks, feeling the air turn noticably warm. I looked around at where the heck have I reached. I didn't know where I was going. I just kept walking and ended up...here?

The river bank. Valt's training spot.

What's happening to me today?

Sighing, I rubbed my forehead and descended the slope at the side of the road, sitting on the grass covering the beautiful bank. The glory of the sun was setting in the distance, covering the sky in a dark crimson shade and I threw my head back, relishing the colour, staring up in the void.

No. I wasn't feeling guilty of what I had done today. I was burdened with concern that came along with it. I'm not sure if Valt or the others will be able to interpret the reason and meaning behind my words. Afterall, I didn't choose a very nice and easy-to-understand way to explain things. It'll be totally credible if they don't get it. Nobody would.

I admit that my choice of words and the tone of my voice wasn't right. But...what else I could've done? That was the only way I knew. I couldn't have said it any nicer. I didn't know nicer.

Today, I probably pushed them away from me. But so what? It's not like I care. I meant it when I said we were never friends. We were just acquaintances. And realization was necessary to be revealed to them.

It wasn't like that I'm sad of losing them or something like that. I wasn't even attached in the first place. I'm just worried that I probably wasted too much of my time on nothing. If they understood what I was trying to say, good. But if they don't, then it would definitely be a waste of my precious energy.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" I heard someone say behind me.

Without even bothering to look back at Daigo, I smiled to myself. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well, from the outside it looks like you're peacefully watching the sunset," he replied, coming down and sitting beside me. "But who knows? You can internally be planning a murder."

"Totally!" I laughed. "I see you've read my personality better than anyone else."

"I mean, no one plans a murder out loud. And you're usually calm and silent."

"But so is Shu. And so are you."

"U-Um, yeah...but I'm not the kind of person to plan a conspiracy," he sighed. "And neither is Shu."

"So, you're saying that I'm capable of that stuff?"

"Yeah."

"How did it go with Yugo?"

"He yelled at me."

"And?"

"And was probably about to hit me, but Ukyo held him back."

"Woah," my eyes widened. "And you're telling me that you came back just like that? If someone had tried to hit me, I would've so kicked them in the face!"

Daigo sweatdropped. "Well, I was the culprit there. I don't think it would've been a good idea to hit the victim. Anyway, what happened here while I was gone?"

"Oh," I stood up and brushed my clothes. "I had a big argument with Valt and Rantaro. We ended up fighting and bickering a lot. And...probably we aren't friends anymore," I shrugged. "Nothing special, as you can see."

"Why am I not surprised?" Daigo winced. "What was it about?"

I looked down at him. "Shu told them about what you did."

"And they were concerned?" he guessed.

"Yeah," I replied. "And then I screamed at them for being so dramatic."

"What did you say?"

"Some stuff."

Daigo smiled at me sarcastically. "Very informative."

There was a series of silence between us. The sun had almost set now, and the sky was slowly turning purple. Soon it would be dark, and starts would start to sparkle above. After meeting Zachary that day, I don't think I'd ever be able to watch a sunset on the riverbank without thinking of him falling into a lake and then flailing his arms around, screaming, 'I'm setting! I'm setting! The sun is setting! I'm drowning!'

"I'm still waiting for an answer."

"And what makes you think I'm giving any?"

Daigo looked like he didn't even hear what I said. "Tell me."

"That doesn't matter to you," I brushed him off. "Whatever I said doesn't concern you. It was directed towards Valt. It was to make Valt realize the depth of the situation," I paused. "But I'll tell you one thing. I'm proud of you today, Daigo. Really."

"Funny," he commented.

"Shut up," I grumbled. "You may have let your demons overpower you, but at the end of the day, you did conquer them."

Daigo put his hands in his pockets. "And what did you do to your demons? Conquer them yet?"

"I don't need to conquer my demons," I laughed. "Because I'm one of them."

Daigo looked at me weird. "There's nothing laughable about this," he shook his head. "You're messed up. And your humour is also messed up."

"I don't let anyone but me tear me apart. How's this messed up?"

"I have a feeling that the monster under your bed wouldn't like this."

"The monster you're talking about, was kicked out by me a long time ago," I pointed out. "Didn't pay the rent very regularly."

Daigo looked ready to hit my head. It wasn't until I cleared my throat when he stopped looking at me with disappointment.

I patted his arm once. "I think we can be friends."

He frowned. "You think? What does that even mean? Are you saying we weren't till now?!"

"No," I said without missing a beat.

"So nice of you to point that out," he grumbled sarcastically.

I raised an eyebrow and Daigo sighed. "Yeah, we can. There's no harm in it, I guess?"

"Probably, no."

"Okayy since we're friends now, are you gonna tell me something about yourself? Friends know each other, right?"

I blinked repeatedly, processing his words.

This person is...something else.

I legit screamed at Valt today for the same reason. I told him that friends know each other, and that's why we weren't friends. Now Daigo is telling me the same thing. Guess we really are very common, afterall. I have a feeling this friendship was a good decision. Maybe we're gonna get along real nice. His thoughts match mine.

But at the moment, despite all that, me being the stubborn person like I am, what came out of my mouth was a "No."

"Thought so," Daigo rolled his eyes.

I crossed my arms and then suddenly remembered, "About cats!"

Daigo's eyes lit up as realization seeped in his brain. "Oh, about that!"

I grinned uncontrollably. "I know, right? No other thing in this world can contest their cuteness!"

"I'm so lucky to have you," Daigo agreed. "Valt and Rantaro don't understand cat-talk at all!"

"So that means we can talk about cats anytime and for as long as we want!" I told him happily.

"Yeah, wanna go to the Beypark? There's this cute cat I befriended a while ago."

"Sure!"

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In 3493 words.

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