The Depra King

I watched as Pandora, her hair purple in the shade, mess with a large, dark burgundy key jangling along with my backpack.

"Hey Depra, you listening to me?" I pinched myself with my free hand, trying to confirm if I was truly dreaming. "Hey, you should at least pay attention to the girl you"re dating!"

I felt her squeeze my hand, and that brought me out from my thoughts. I looked into her regal purple eyes, which seemed a bit mad.

"Uh, what did you want?"

"I was asking where you got this key from!"

Oh, that. "It"s a keepsake, a very important one."

"But it wasn"t always there, was it?" She asked, swinging our connected arms as we were walking to the school.

"No, it"s pretty recent. Why do you wanna know anyway?"

She pouted, crossing her arms, meaning she also dragged my closer too her. "Duh, because I wanna know more about you!"

"When I don"t know much about you?"

"Hey, you"re not one to tease!" I couldn"t help but chuckle at her cute reaction.

"I can joke around with the best of them too you know. When you meet Hiro, you"ll understand. He"s probably a bigger jokester than even you Pandora."

She uncrossed her arms, looking at me inquisitively. "You mention him a lot, but I haven"t gotten the pleasure to actually talk to him." She started to swing our arms again, this time with less force. "I"ve actually got a close friend too. Her name"s Mestra, and I"ve known her for most of my life."

Her face turned into one of melancholy as she stopped swinging our arms. "Without her, I don"t really know what would"ve happened…"

I"ve never seen her make that expression before. c.r.a.p, what should I do? I cleared my throat. "Well, how about one day soon, we all meet up for a great big hangout, or something like that."

She smiled as she heard my words, and she once again started to swing our arms. "Yeah, I really would enjoy that. I think she would enjoy it too." She started nodding to herself, her smile growing wider the more she thought about it. "Oh, we could have ourselves a nice picnic!"

I couldn"t help but laugh. "Picnic? You do know it"s November in two days, right?"

She started to squeeze my hand with all her girl force, which wasn"t very much at all. "Party p.o.o.per."

"Well, if the weathers good, we can go this weekend. Deal?"

"Hmph! I don"t know if I wanna go with a party p.o.o.per like you!"

"I"ll stay as far away as we are now."

"That doesn"t even-!" She stopped as she saw the small smile on my face. "You know, you"re becoming a little bit too good at this joking thing."

"I learned from the best, what can I say. Oh, we"re here."

Our walk to school had finished as we approached the gate, and she slipped out of my grip only to hold my fingers, her eyes looking at me expectantly.

"It"s a promise, alright? We"re going on that picnic, okay?"

I couldn"t help but get mesmerized by her gaze once more, and I managed to nod my head. "Yeah, it"s a promise."

A grin arose on her cute face, and she practically danced away, waving me goodbye. "See you later Depra!"

"Yeah, see yah," I said, raising my hand in goodbye, watching her walk into the school. I looked up, noticing the grey clouds blanketing the sky.

"Hey G.o.d, if this really is a dream, then please, don"t let me wake up, at least for a little while longer."

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I watched Depra walk into the school building, nodding to myself. "Alright, I think today"s the day Mestra!"

The girl next to me nodded. "Yep, I agree. It"s a shame our partnership has to end so soon though. Its been quite some time since I"ve had this much fun."

I chuckled. "Who says we have to stop?"

Her green eyes looked at me curiously. "Hmm, you"re a funny one. You"re probably quite the player, aren"t you?"

"Me? Nah, I"m just your average genius who cares deeply about his friends. Nothing more to it than that."

We started to walk into the school, and I let out a toothy yawn, barely covering my mouth in time.

"So tired. They try to run me into the ground whenever I need them to do something for me, but when it comes to them, they"re all too welcome to cooperate."

"What"re talking about?"

Ah c.r.a.p, spoke aloud there. "Undercla.s.smen should learn to never question their seniors, regardless what strange things they might say!"

I opened the door for her and followed in after her. "So how do you wanna do it? Do you want to be the person who meets up with him at the gate instead?"

She nodded; her green eyes lost in thought. "That could work, but how are you going to make sure Pandy isn"t there?"

I gave her my signature grin and thumbs up. "I"ll get there before him of course! I"ll convince her somehow, so don"t worry about it."

"I"m sorry I don"t have blind faith in you, but you should be careful. Depra is safe, but who knows about you?" She stretched her back, arching forward. "I wouldn"t want you to die a miserable death."

I rolled my eyes. "I"ve got a plan, don"t worry. Anyway, I"ll talk more to you at lunchtime." I waved her goodbye before walking upstairs to the second floor, going to my language cla.s.s, which was basically where we had to choose a language to learn on our own.

I walked into the cla.s.sroom to find Depra looking out into the courtyard, a small smile on his face. His hair had gotten to the point where I couldn"t see his eyes anymore, but it seems he had no intention of cutting it when I asked him about it. I also asked him about the acne that came with it, but unsurprisingly, there wasn"t even a trace, as if it had vanished or something.

Well, at least he seemed to be a little bit happier. That"s really all I can ask of him at this point. I sighed, scratching my growing afro. He really did get f.u.c.ked.

I walked up to him, tapping him on the shoulder. "What"s gotten you in a good mood Depra?"

Startled, he looked back at me before relief filled his face. "Oh, its just you. Do I really look that happy?"

"Well, you"re not sleeping, so there"s that," I said, chuckling as I took my seat behind him. "And even though I can"t see your eyes, I"m pretty sure they don"t look as dead to the world anymore."

He frowned, picking at his long, greasy hair. "Is it really that bad?"

"You"ve a.s.similated with a true cultured protagonist."

I couldn"t see them, but I"m sure he rolled his eyes then. "Whatever, I have no intention of doing similar activities."

I decided to press him. "But something did happen though, right?"

He faced forward, resting his chin on his head. "I don"t really think so."

Oh, he"s actually gonna hide it? "You wouldn"t be hiding anything from your dear "brother" now, would you?"

I could see the tips of his ears grow red. "Oh, don"t remind me! Agh, that"s so embarra.s.sing. I"m still not done with my lists yet."

"How many left?"

"Oh, just two. I had four, but I knocked it out two weekends ago. There"s this nice old couple who live out in the farmlands, they really helped me out, and I go every so often to catch up. They were on the Familial Love by the way, and they seemed pretty happy by my confession." Through the reflection on the window, I could see him smiling. "I was quite relieved at that."

I nodded. "You still haven"t answered my previous question."

He whirled around. "Hey, no fair!" I laughed at his reaction. "I"ll tell you soon, alright?"

I"ll let it go for now, since I already know what it is. "Okay, whatever bro. Who else is on your list?"

He looked up, thinking. "Uh, I believe your older sister is one."

"What the h.e.l.l do you need with that woman?"

He glanced at me. "Oh, she"s the reason I even joined the Hidden Club. Plus, she helped me out a bunch after that, especially last year."

I leaned back in my chair. "Yeah, she is good at that." I of all people should know, she"s helped me out more than I could probably ever repay. Well, unless…

I shook my head internally. I shouldn"t be thinking about that. I already decided when to do it, especially after, agh, I"m doing it again. "Okay, who"s the other one?"

His mood suddenly shifted as he looked down, and he quietly gripped the chair. "Well, I don"t really know much about that type of love, so I could be wrong, but…" He trailed off, starting to get lost in thoughts.

I patted him on the shoulder, nodding at him. "One step at a time, alright?" He looked at me and nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks."

I grinned. "It"s what I"m here for my dude!"

"What are you two talking about?" It was Lachesis, who pulled up a chair next to us, and Depra stiffened slightly at her voice. He"s still not over it huh?

"When did you get here? Now that I think about it, where"s everybody else?"

Lachesis glared at me. "You don"t need to know. As for the second question, they"re probably in the library or something. This is basically a free period you know. No teacher or anything."

She was right about that. We"re expected to be fluent in our language by the end of the year, with their being a written, audio, and oral exam. It really was a pain, but only because it was too easy.

"And yet, you chose the copout way Lachesis, choosing English."

"Shut it," She grumbled, and I laughed.

"You two really don"t like each other, do you?"

It was Pinkie now, and she pulled up a chair as well, placing her bag next to mine. "It isn"t that, it"s just because she loves me sooo much!"

She punched me. "Go to h.e.l.l Hiro!"

Eh, can"t win them all. I glanced at Pinkie, who was pulling out study materials. "You"re actually struggling?"

She stuck her tongue out. "Not everyone can be as great as you."

"Eh, you"re not so bad. In any case, I"m gonna pull a Depra and take a well needed nap. I"m so d.a.m.n tired! Plus, I don"t get to bother you guys, so it"s a win-win, probably."

I yawned, pulling out a pillow. "Why did you bring a pillow to school!?" Depra exclaimed, watching me place it on my desk.

"I"m tired, so I packed it in advance, since I knew I didn"t need to worry about my language. You, on the other hand, need some work on your German. Same goes for Pinkie and Latin."

"Ugh, don"t remind me," Pinkie complained, collapsing onto her materials. "Why do I need to learn how to speak a dead language anyway? Why can"t I use Chinese, since I"m already fluent in it?"

We all looked at her in confusion. "You"re fluent in Chinese?" I asked, shaking my head. "Know what, doesn"t matter. What does matter is that you can"t choose a language you"re already fluent in. Which is exactly why Lachesis" reasoning is bulls.h.i.t. What was it again, "I"m not truly fluent unless I can speak it perfectly?" Bulls.h.i.t."

Another punch. "I thought you were about to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey Depra, wake me up when it"s time for the next cla.s.s please and thank you." He simply nodded, and I let my face fall onto the soft pillow.

Really am glad I chose j.a.panese. Watching anime without subt.i.tles is what"s saving me.

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"You"re not eating lunch with me?" Depra asked as we walked out of the lunch line.

I shook my head. "Nah, got something to take care of, but I will be at the Hidden Club"s meeting, so don"t worry too much. Besides, you probably wanna do something else, right?"

His frown didn"t go away. "But I enjoy eating lunch with you, you know?"

Yep, the Depra King really is a suitable nickname for him. "Oh, hush and go already. I"m late as it is, escorting you through the lunch line. I"ll meet up with in our next course." I shooed him away, and he reluctantly did, although I could sense the disappointment.

"Man, keep that up and I"m gonna have another jealous girl on my hand," I murmured, and I walked to my meeting spot with Mestra, which was in the one of the many courtyards.

She was waiting for me under a tree that had had lost most of it"s leaves, with the remaining being either yellow, red, or some in between mixture of the two.

"You"re late. I thought you said you were punctual?" She really doesn"t pull any punches.

"Depra kept me up. He really likes eating lunch with me. I"m surprised you were able to get away from your friend though."

"Unlike Depra, she has other friends she likes eating with."

"Hey, he likes eating with other people. Just me more than others." I sat next to her, sighing as I unboxed my homemade lunch, courtesy of my adorable lil" sister, Luna.

I clapped my hands together. "Thanks for the food." I glanced at the note she wrote, which said "Have another fun-filled day at school today big bro!" It had a quick sketch of her giving me a thumbs up. She had gotten into drawing lately, and it showed in her note.

"Fufu, it seems like she"s a bona fide genius, same as I," I said, grinning to myself before putting the note in my pocket.

Mestra looked over into my lunch. "You make your lunch?"

"Nah, my little sister Luna does. Ah, she really is the best!"

She frowned. "Luna? Huh, interesting…" She trailed off as she tried to grab some of my food, which got stopped by a slap of my hand. "Meanie."

I pulled out my sandwich and took a couple bites out of it, the heavenly taste filling my mouth. "So good!"

"Are you really 17?"

I swallowed and looked over at her lunch, also a sandwich, but a lesser one. "Hmph, you"re just jealous is all. But Luna"s food isn"t for sharing with others."

She twirled her green hair. "Anyway, can we please get to the topic at hand already? As much as I obviously love spending time with you, I"d rather not meet up with you after school because we wasted time."

I nodded, taking a swig of water. "Right, the plan. I take Pandora away from the gate to a secluded area, say what I need to say, and that"s it."

"… You"re an idiot."

"I think you meant lovable genius."

She took a bite out of her sandwich in frustration. "Ugh, whatever. Do you actually have one?"

I put my sandwich down, sighing. "I"m not stupid. If I really didn"t have a plan and loads of backups, I wouldn"t be this carefree I"ll have you know. Besides, it"s not as if I plan on fighting her or anything." I took another couple bites. "So good!"

"But what happens if you do fight?"

"From what I know, she isn"t a fighter, so she would die thanks to my backup plans. But again, I know you wouldn"t want that dear partner, so I"m not gonna let that happen, okay?"

Her blue eyes gazed downward, and she bit her lip slightly. "If you say so. I doubt she would do anything, but please be careful, alright?"

I took another swig of water. "Trust me, I"m like an Overly Cautious "Hiro!" Get it, because I"m Hiro?"

She took another bite out of her sandwich. "I hate you."

"And you, what about your plan? I expect you"ve got something?"

She snorted. "Please, I"ve got nothing to worry about. Judging by what Pandy told him, he should at least be aware of my existence. I"ll just take him somewhere and talk."

"Do you mind telling me where?" I asked, stretching out towards the fall sky.

"Yeah, but why do you care?"

"Well, I need to talk to him as well. I a.s.sume you need to talk to Pandora too?"

She frowned. "How did you know that?"

"I see through you, duh. You"re pretty easy to read, you know that? Well, most people are, but even though I can read through you, I do find it strange…" I looked into her blue eyes, and she stared innocently back.

"I don"t know why, but you feel older for whatever reason."

Her expression didn"t change, and I clicked my tongue. "Well, it doesn"t really concern me, so I"ll let it go." She shrugged and took another bite out of her sandwich.

"How are you gonna know where Pandy is?"

"Oh, don"t worry about that. Someone I trust will handle that part." I finished up my sandwich and burped. "Yep, delicious." I opened my bag of cookies and popped one in my mouth.

"You are quite vulgar sometimes, you know that?"

"Not vulgar, but free-spirited. Enough about that, I"m tired enough as it is, so I"m taking over your lap."

I collapsed my head on her lap easily, and she frowned as she looked down. "You kinda do whatever you want, don"t you?"

I yawned and shook my head. "That isn"t it at all. I just live my life enough for the two of us is all…"

"Such a silly boy indeed," Mestra sighed, and I drifted off to sleep.

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"Yoo, how"s it going Pandy!?"

It was the end of the day now, and I had beat Depra after our Hidden Club activity for the day (it was a study session) to find Pandora patiently waiting for someone, with that someone obviously being me.

She looked up, alarmed at my presence. "What, oh, it"s you."

I frowned as I stopped about a foot away from her. "Not the reaction I was expecting, but I guess I can deal with it. I"m Hiro, pleased to make your friendship!"

"Oh, welcome home honey!"

"Darling!"

"So, do you want a bath, dinner, or me first!?"

I laughed. "As much as I would love to take you up on that offer, I think someone wouldn"t appreciate it. Besides, there would be some girls who would be jealous."

She pouted, fidgeting on the spot. "Oh phooey, I thought you would"ve loved that."

"Anyway, come on, walk with me for a bit Pandy." I motioned for her to follow me, and I could see the hesitation in her eyes. d.a.m.n it, I don"t know how long my distraction will last for, so I would rather leave sooner than later.

I raised my hands up. "Hey, I really don"t bite, I swear. A friend of Depra"s is a friend of mine, and I don"t harm my friends, promise."

She looked down, before nodding to herself. "Only for a little while."

Yep, I"m awesome. "Great, follow the average genius Hiro!" I led the way, occasionally looking behind me to make sure she was still following.

"So, Hiro, honey, where are you taking little ol" me? You wouldn"t do anything strange to me, would you?"

"But of course! The stranger the experience the better after all, but nothing strange shall harm a hair on that pretty head of yours, so you shall be fine darling."

"Eh!? I don"t like strange things though!"

"You"re probably in the wrong city then love. Anyway, here we are, the designated spot!" I grasped my key and grinned to myself. Alright, now for the actual talk.

We had reached a nearby park, surrounded by nature, the only way in behind Pandora, who was looking around curiously. "You like nature?"

I released my key, turning around. "Yep, I do. I enjoy sunsets, full moons, and walks on the beach."

She smiled. "Huh, didn"t know our interests aligned so well honey. We should go to the beach, just the two of us, how about it?" She walked closer to me, a sly grin on her face. "A nice sunset, and we could talk with the moon gazing down upon us, and we could talk until sunrise. Yes, a wonderful time indeed."

"I"ve basically have done that with someone already darling, but it wasn"t meant to be. Maybe with you it could be?"

She reached me, and her regal purple eyes looked into my one as she leaned in close to me, her fingers about to touch me.

"Hmm, that won"t work at all." I appeared behind her, yawning as I unzipped my backpack. She whirled around, looking at me curiously.

"How did you?"

"Oh, don"t worry about that. I just need to grab something is all darling." I gave her a grin as I pulled out what I was looking for, a manilla folder with a bunch of papers in it. I held it with one hand and sighed, nodding. "Right, here we go."

She looked at me, a sly grin on her rather cute face. "What"s the matter honey?"

"Sorry, but playtimes over darling," I said, the grin vanishing from my face as I looked at the front of my folder. "Name: Pandora Alvah. Age: 15." I opened the folder and began to read the contents.

"Lost her parents in an accident at age 3, where the father died of disease and the mother committed suicide. She has a close friend named Mestras, who"s age is unspecified at this moment in time. At age 5, her entire family was killed in an unspecified attack, only Pandora remaining. A possible victim of the "White-Haired Experiment," any male that has gotten close to her has died within a week of acquainting themselves with her."

Her smile faded as she clenched her fists. "I see, who are you, and why do you know all this?"

I ignored her, continuing to read. "The next part of her history is hazy, since all the people who could"ve known anything seem to have disappeared or died, but we do know she was taught by someone, and I have a theory about all this. Would you care to know why?" Silence, and I shrugged before continuing. "All people who have known her have died, correct? They all seemed to have some physical contact with Pandora, except for Mestra, who seems to be alright, despite me witnessing you touching each other on numerous occasions. Add to the fact all the males who"ve known her have died and the woman disappearing, my only conclusion is that-!"

I grabbed Pandora"s arm, as she desperately tried to take the folder from me, and her eyes widened as she noticed what I did. "My only conclusion is that whatever you do, it only affects males, and that they must have some sort of contact for an unspecified amount of time. Now, the funny thing is, these men all died of either old age when they weren"t, died of diseases such as stage 5 cancer when they were previously healthy, without any history of cancer or any such disease, killed themselves, got themselves thrown in jail only to be killed there, you get the general picture, don"t you?"

"Hey, please, let got before…" She trailed off as she watched me, unfazed as I continued to grip her arm.

"Oh, and this always happened within a week, sometimes even happening in one day. And the women who were close to them always turned up missing. Yes, very strange indeed. Now, for the one who taught you everything you know, well, do I really need to tell you that? You"re still close to her after all."

She paled as she looked between my hand, the folder, and my face. "Hey, if you don"t stop, you"ll…"

"But, I had some research done on the bodies, and it seemed that in total, it takes about 30 minutes of touch, either continuous or on or off, before they die, and 5 before symptoms are shown. Oh, it"s been almost 4 minutes now by the way, in case you were wondering."

She tried to break free, shaking her hand, but her arm wouldn"t budge, my arm like iron.

"Hey, please! I don"t wann!" I leaned in close, and I could see how worried she was. It was kind of funny, in a way.

"What"s wrong darling? Why are you scared? I thought you were a girl who didn"t like strange things? Well, I did say nothing would harm you, and I wasn"t lying when I said that."

She gritted her teeth, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Please, what about Depra?"

I just gave her a smile, and I peeked at my watch, which I had brought just for the occasion. "Yep, it"s been 5 minutes now. I like to make sure, so let"s make it 5."

I tapped my foot impatiently, watching Pandora look at me in horror, and yet, another minute went by, and nothing happened.

"What? But, how did you?" I released her arm to gently hold her hand, smiling at her.

"Well, do you trust me now Pandy?"

She looked me up and down, shaking her head. "How? You should be aging right now."

Wait, she knows how I would die? Or does she decide? No, if she decides, then there"s no way that all those people would be dead.

"Well, call it a gamble I guess." I stepped back before clearing my throat. "In any case, it seems I"m alright, so you guys can come out now!"

Through my earpiece, I could hear a complaint, and I shook my head. "Nope, unless I look like I"m 30 right now, come out. It"s fine, trust me."

Pandora frowned. "What are you talking about."

I snapped my fingers, and a group of about 50 girls, all of them having brightly colored hair, who had the perimeter surrounded, appeared out from the bushes, all heavily armed with tech so far into the future it was almost unbelievable. Well, to Pandora at least.

I watched them walk by, smiling and waving them all goodbye, with the last one being a short girl with long blue hair that nearly reached the ground. "You know what to do, right?"

"Yeah, and you remember your promise, right?" She retorted, teasing me slightly.

I rolled my eyes. "Do it and it"s yours tomorrow, promise. I"m having a visitor today, so you can"t be in the house."

She scowled. "Oh whatever. Fine, so long as I get to sink my teeth into that game!" She looked at Pandora, who had collapsed to her knees. "Is she going to be alright?"

I motioned for her to leave, and she shrugged before whispering in my ear. "You got lucky, you know that?"

"I"m all skill." I heard her scoff as she disappeared, leaving me with Pandora, who seemed to be quite shaken up.

I scratched my head, sighing to myself. I must"ve given her quite the scare. I"ll have to apologize later, but there"s something more important, the whole reason I pulled this stunt in the first place.

"Hey, Pandora." She didn"t answer me, her hair a dark shade of purple as the sun hid behind the dark clouds above. I knelt down, looking into her eyes as I gently gripped her hand, squeezing it slightly.

"It"s okay, I"m fine. See, still 17 years old, a long life still ahead of me." I could see tears starting to well up in her eyes as she finally looked at me, giving me an expression I was all too acquainted with.

"You know, I have no reason to trust you, based off this," I waved the folder, and she looked down, pursing her lips. "And I honestly should"ve taken any measure to get rid of you. That is the facts of our situation."

I shot up, lifting her to her feet, much to her surprise. "You"re right, I shouldn"t, I shouldn"t…!"

"But, I have a question for you."

"To what, to give you a reason to get rid of me," she said, gripping my hand so tight that I thought she was trying to cut off my blood circulation.

"What is Depra to you?"

"What is he, to me?" She asked herself, her hair covering her face. "He"s the one I"ve been searching for. I need him, I want him, I desperately have been looking for him, for all my 15 years of life!"

"Would you harm him?"

She looked me dead in the eye. "Not a chance, why would I do that!? I care for him too much to ever purposely hurt him. I, I well and truly…!"

"Then, it doesn"t matter."

She blinked. "Huh?"

I let go of her hand, sending the folder flying high in the sky, the papers fluttering about us. "If you don"t want to harm him, then the facts don"t matter at all. Because all I want, is to make sure he ends up happy."

And, because I can see you wanna be happy too. I gave her a wide grin, the sun piercing through the clouds above, setting her hair ablaze.

"If you want him happy, if you care for him, then I"ll base my decision not on facts, but on emotion. After all, not even facts could tell us about the intricacies of the heart. And my heart is telling me that you two will go far together."

Tears started to come down her face, and I gave her my signature thumbs up and grin, winking at her.

"And that"s all there is to it my friend."

She sniffed as she started to wipe her eyes. "You"re an idiot."

"Heheh, I am a sucker for hopeless girls in tears after all," I said, laughing to myself. "A lovable genius I am! There"s no one like me!"

She shook her head, laughing to herself. "I can see why Depra likes you so much. But you can"t go falling in love with me, alright?"

"Please, you"ve already fallen for Depra. He"s kind of hopeless, so take care of him alright?" I turned around and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

I looked behind me and gave her a grin. "To see the hopeless one!"

Well, at least I made her cry tears of happiness. Those were the only tears I would accept from people without hope such as her. After all, making a girl cry for anything but that would make you worse than sc.u.m, and I"m not that.

Not anymore at least.

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"Are you sure that was the right choice Hiro?"

I stopped, turning around to see Pinkie, who had her arms crossed as she walked towards me, her body wrapped in a pink cloak.

"Well, it"s not as if what I had was all the facts, nor am I gonna make her tell me her story when Depra hasn"t even heard it."

She rolled her eyes and walked up to me, sighing. "She"s dangerous you know, and the only reason you"re fine is because of that stupid thing around your neck."

"Hey, it doesn"t like being called that!" I unconsciously raised my hand to my chest, feeling my key underneath my shirt.

She stopped inches away from me and raked her hand through her hair. "That doesn"t change the reason why she"s dangerous you know. Who knows what she"s going to do to him?"

Once upon a time, her being near me wouldn"t have bothered me; on the contrary, it would"ve bugged me to no end. I lowered my hand, gazing up at the grey clouds above.

"You know what I saw today?"

"Hmm? What?"

I turned back around, my eyes to the ground. "A sight I"m familiar with." I walked a step away before turning around. "It was a look that said that she had lost all hope, that she had no chance to ever recover it. My little sister had that look not too long ago, and that d.a.m.n image p.i.s.ses me off whenever I imagine it."

I clenched my hands into fists. "Who am I to try to deny her that sliver she"s been offered? I can"t help her, so I have to leave to those two."

I felt a small hand reach mine, and I looked into Pinkie"s eyes. "You"re stupid."

"A lovable genius indeed," I murmured, shaking off her hand as the memory burned into me came forth again. Auburn hair, a face too cute to be crying, pleading me to save her from the depths of her despair.

"Anyway Pinkie, if that"s all you needed from me, I"ll be taking my leave now. I still have another hopeless one to confront today."

"If he dies, I"m blaming you."

"It won"t come to that, since I"m making sure that this time, the love story ends with a happy ending. And that"s a promise I"m keeping."

I waved her goodbye, not looking behind me as I did so, and continued on my way to see Depra.

A couple minutes later, and it seemed I had arrived a bit too early, as I could still see Mestras still talking to him. It was an empty parking lot near an abandoned school, and I was hiding near some bushes as I crouched down, waiting for them to finish.

I yawned, laying my head on my backpack. This whole thing is so tiring. I don"t like being manipulative, especially when it comes to people like Pandora, but I had to test her. Well, I just hope she finds what she"s looking for with Depra.

I could hear footsteps approaching, and I watched as Mestras walked by me, not noticing my presence.

"Am I really that unnoticeable?" I asked, and she looked down at me, frowning.

"You"re pretty early. Well, I"m glad you didn"t die."

"Nah, I can"t die, I"ve got too much to live for at the moment," I said, sitting up. "Anyway, you finished?"

"Yep, I said what needed to be said. But I don"t know if he"s taking it too well." She gazed back at him, worry filling her face. "Well, it should be fine."

"What did you tell him?"

She sighed, flipping her red hair back. "Enough. I told him enough to get the general picture. And you, what did you say?"

"Well, I had to test her is all, so she"s probably alright. But, there"s a blue-haired girl if you start heading back to the school, and she"ll take you to Pandy."

She scowled. "Since when do you call her that?"

I got to my feet, brushing myself off. "Since today, that"s all. She might need someone to talk too, but she"s not sad or anything, you can trust me on that one." She pursed her lips at my words.

"Well, so long as she"s alright. Take care partner."

I nodded, and she walked off into the distance. I scratched my hair, grabbing my backpack as I looked over to where Depra was. He seemed to be staring at the sky above, completely motionless.

"Alright, here comes round two baby," I said, hyping myself up for my second talk.

I walked up to him, waving at him. "Yooo! How"s it going Depra!?"

He turned his head, looking at me. "Oh, it"s you Hiro. What are you doing here?"

"I was just pa.s.sing by, and whadda yah know, I found a wild Depra in the wild, so I just had to catch him!"

He let out a slight smile. "Very funny." He looked back up at the sky, sighing.

d.a.m.n, what did she say to him? Making my job a lot harder d.a.m.nit. "Hey, let"s go. Standing here won"t do you any good. Besides, the real reason why I"m here is so that you can sleep over today. Tomorrow"s Halloween, so we need costumes for the Hidden Club"s activity, and I"m sure you don"t have one."

He nodded before turning back to me. "Yeah, I don"t have one this time. Where do you wanna go?"

"How about Monster Mall? They normally have good costumes there."

He nodded again before walking past me, leaving me alone with a scowl on my face. I glanced behind me and watched him go ahead before turning back to look at me.

"What"s wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. C"mon, let"s get some matching costumes, alright?"

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"Ah h.e.l.l yeah, matching costumes!" I said triumphantly, raising my bag high in the air.

The sun had nearly set now, and we were walking back home under the streetlights. Depra had a similar bag in his hand that he was swinging back and forth, and he smiled at my ridiculousness.

"I wouldn"t exactly call it matching, since we"re not even the same thing."

"Huh? Whadda ya talking about? Vampy and Wolfy are a pair like no other! I"m Wolfy, and you"re Vampy!"

He tilted his to look at me, frowning. "Um, but I"m the Werewolf, aren"t I?"

Ah, he doesn"t know about those two. "Sorry, inside joke."

"Yeah, and I hate nature."

I rolled my eyes. "I have a sneaking suspicion on what that really means. Anyway, my Eris should be home today, so you can talk to her about whatever you need to."

He smiled. "You planned it that way?"

I laughed. "Please, you know that I"m not like that. I go with the natural flow of things and adapt quickly!"

"So, you planned it?"

I gave him a light punch. "How the h.e.l.l could I have planned this out in the span of a day!? Cut me some slack man!"

He started to laugh. "It would be like you to do something over the top such as this. But I guess even you have limits huh?"

"You"re right, they far surpa.s.s yours, for I am the lovable genius Hiro!"

He shook his head in disbelief. "If you have limits, what does that say about me?"

I pulled him back, yawning as I put both of us to a stop. "Duh, it makes us human." We watched a crack of lightning strike in front of us, and we both looked at each.

"… I can see why you hate nature."

"See, I"m glad you finally get it!"

I chuckled, and Depra started walking again while I looked up at the relatively clear sky. Who the h.e.l.l was that? Do they not know who I am?

"Hiro, what"s wrong?"

I shook my head, sighing. I"m too tired to think about this c.r.a.p, and I still need to talk to him. "It"s nothing, don"t worry about it."

We continued on our way, and it wasn"t until we were about halfway home that I decided to bring it up.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about something."

Depra looked at me, messing with one of his long locks of hair. "Really? That doesn"t happen very often. Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no, it"s not about me. It"s actually about you, and that girl you"ve been hanging out with."

"Me and Pandora? What about us?"

Us. Yeah, I figured that was the case. "Well, you"ve got some news you would like to tell me, right?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Nothing ever gets past you, does it?"

"Well, I would think it"s been pretty obvious, considering I"ve been making sure no one interferes."

He looked alarmed. "Wait, people tried to interfere!?"

I laughed at his reaction. "You didn"t notice all the people rooting for you? Half the school knows about it at this point you know. You aren"t exactly trying to hide it."

"Oh, I thought we did a pretty good job." Well, it doesn"t help that she has quite the fan club at school. Even uppercla.s.smen would like a chance with her, but I doubt Depra knew about that, since, well, you know.

"Anyway, you"re not gonna tell me it"s all fake and all the work I did was for nothing, right?"

He shook his head, his hair whishing around with him. "Oh no, we"re, uh…" He trailed off as he stopped, and I walked in front of him before turning around. "Yeah, I guess we are dating, aren"t we?"

"You"re not sure!?"

"Oh no, it"s not like that at all," he said, waving his hands frantically. "Well, it just doesn"t feel real, you know? Like I"m in a wonderful dream that could end at any moment."

Well, I guess that way of thinking is fine for now. "Trust me, this isn"t a dream. There isn"t anyone who can morph reality anymore."

"Anymore?"

Ah f.u.c.k, that slipped out. "Oh, I got confused with a game I played. Anyway, congratulations all the same Depra! Still, I wasn"t expecting you of all people to get a girlfriend first."

He nodded. "I always thought it would be you."

"Yeah, well, you beat me. Can"t say that I"m not jealous, but seriously, how the h.e.l.l did you get someone that hot?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. She asked me out, so maybe she"s liked me this entire time?"

I see, so even when they first met, she was already… "Even more lucky of you huh? Looks like you"re not all bad luck after all."

"I guess you"re right about that," he said, nodding to himself.

"Well, now that you"ve got yourself a girlfriend, there"s something I need to say."

"Okay, go for it."

"Be careful."

I could tell that wasn"t what he was expecting as my playful tone turned serious. "Whwhat are you talking about?"

"How much do you like this girl?"

"What? Where the h.e.l.l is this coming from!?"

"If you don"t think she"s worth it, then I suggest you back out now and never speak to her again."

His arms started trembling as his hand clenched into fists. "I, I!"

I walked to him, putting my hands on his shoulders. "What is she to you Depra King?"

Silence as he looked down, and I gripped his shoulders even tighter. He looked up, and I could see his eyes unwavering.

"I believe, if it"s her, then everything will be alright."

I closed my eyes, sighing. Well, I expected this. I"ll trust those two"s feelings over the facts this time. "Just know that everyone has secrets, and when you come to hear hers, you may not like them. Always remember, there"s always two sides to a story, and you should both before making a decision."

I opened my eyes, smiling at him. "Well, I have faith in the both of you. Don"t make me regret my decision, alright?"

"You make it sound as if something horrible going to happen soon."

I laughed as I backed away. "Trust me, nothing bad"s gonna happen, not on my watch, for I am the "Hiro" who"ll always protect this city!"

He scowled. "Sometimes, I can never tell if you say your nickname or hero."

"Well, I am your "Hiro," aren"t I? You decided which one I am."

I couldn"t see his eyes, but I knew he was glaring at me. Well, he"ll find out one day.

"C"mon brother, I need some Luna food in my belly already, and you need to talk to my annoying older sister."

"She isn"t that bad."

I rolled my eyes. "Try knowing her for over 12 years."

"You"ve known her that long!?"

"For almost as long as I"ve known Luna. I met her before Luna," I said as we continued to walk back home.

"Huh, I never realized that. I guess you guys are pretty close."

"Close doesn"t even describe it anymore man," I grumbled. I don"t even wanna think about it at the moment.

"I see, so you"re inseparable?" I gave him another light punch.

"Oh, whatever. It"s just complicated. I"ll tell you about it one day."

"How many things do you plan to tell me "one day?"" Oh yeah, he"s got jokes now, doesn"t he?

"That jokester Pandy really taught you a lot huh?"

"Huh? Pandy?" He looked bewildered as he heard me call her that.

"Oh, I talked to her today before I went with you."

"Hey, I wanted to be there when it happened!" He gave me a light punch as I laughed.

"It was great, we both had this banter going on, you really should"ve been there. Darling really is something else."

"Wait, "darling!?" What the h.e.l.l happened between you two?"

"Well, it"s an inside joke. Like how you hate nature."

Depra put his hand to his chin, his brain probably working overdrive trying to figure out what happened. "Oh, I"ll have to ask her next time I see her."

"This is going off-topic now, but how are doing with those episodes of yours?"

"Oh, those," he said flatly, and he bit his lip slightly. "Well, since I"ve started to date Pandora, none."

Alarm bells started go off in my brain. "Is that good?"

He shook his head. "I don"t know. It"s why this all feels like a dream, you know? Although, I have so many nightmares now that I can barely sleep at night nowadays, so maybe that"s making it up?"

"I shudder to think that"s how it works Depra. But, it"s progress, right?"

"I trade pa.s.sing out randomly to pa.s.sing out to sleep deprivation. Yay." Yeah, I shouldn"t have said that.

This is quite worrying, I thought as I run my hand over my hair. What exactly could it mean? I could feel myself getting frustrated. d.a.m.nit Hiro, he"s right there, and there isn"t a d.a.m.n thing you can do!?

"Well, I get the feeling it"ll be over soon though," Depra muttered, bringing me out from my thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it"s a dream, and all dreams come to an end," he said. "It"s been a while since I"ve had a normal dream, so this is enough for me, you know? Even when it does end eventually…"

You shouldn"t have to settle like that. "Don"t give up, okay? This must mean something, right? I"ll try to figure out something, so I"ll let you know if I find anything." He nodded, and we drifted off into comfortable silence.

"Oh, we"re here," I said, having reached my house. The sun had long gone down by now, and I could see some lights on inside my house. I pulled out my house key and opened it.

"I"m back, and I"ve brought Depra too!" I yelled out towards the kitchen as Depra and I took off our shoes, and I saw Luna rushing towards me, wearing a light blue ap.r.o.n.

"Oh, big bro, you"re home!" She gave me a quick hug before turning to Depra. "Are you staying here too big bro?"

"Big… bro?" Luna nodded at Depra"s words

"Yep, you"re my big bro now big bro!" She gave him a hug, which decimated Depra"s defenses, and she skipped back into the kitchen.

"Hiro?"

"Yep, I"m Hiro."

"I know what you mean by how she"s super effective…"

I laughed as I patted him on the back. "Yep, you"re now officially a part of the club now. I"m going to prepare your room, so talk to Eris while I"m up there, got it?"

He nodded, and I walked up the stairs to the guest bedroom, and I scowled at the mess.

"d.a.m.nit, she didn"t even try to clean up after herself. d.a.m.n Miku rip-off," I grumbled to myself as I cleaned up all the empty bags of chips, soda bottles, a variety of sweets, and just trash in general.

It took me a while, but I finally finished. I sat on the bed before yawning, falling backwards. It"s been a rough couple of days, especially with me trying to prepare for something really important…

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, and I frowned at who it was.

"Hey, what"s up?"

"Depra"s there with you, isn"t he?"

Such a silly girl. "Lachesis, stop spying on him already. I"m tired, so unless it"s important, I"m hanging up."

"It"s drawing closer you know."

"Yeah, yeah, if something like that would happen, don"t you think someone would"ve handled it by now on my side of things?"

"I told you that in confidence, and you still struggle to believe me?"

"It"s not that, but I struggle to think how much worse he"s gonna get, especially to the point you claim he"s going to be. You"re clearly not telling me something."

Silence, and I sat back up. "Whatever, just know in the end, it might not have come to this, especially since you"re the one who f.u.c.ked him over so bad that he"s like this."

"I"m not having this conversation again."

She still doesn"t get it. I sighed, scratching my cheek. "Anyway, is that all? He"s here with me, so don"t worry about it."

"We"ll talk more later Lachesis. Right now, food made from the G.o.ddess Luna is awaiting me, and I can"t keep it waiting forever."

I could hear her sigh. "Fine, we"ll talk more in person." I heard a click, and then she hung up.

I just wish she would understand is all…

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Over the weekend, as promised, I went out with my best friend along with Pandora and her best friend.

It was a nice, crisp afternoon in a park, and we were eating under a tree with all its leaves red atop one of the hills.

"Hey honey, did you make this food?" Pandora asked Hiro, who was stuffing his face.

"No darling, it was my cute sister. It"s delicious, isn"t it?"

I honestly didn"t know what was going on. I glanced at Mestras, who seemed equally stunned. "Do you know what happened?"

She shook her head, pushing back her blue hair. "If only. Should we do the same?"

I scowled, and she let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I didn"t think so. I don"t hate you you know. If she"s happy with you, then that"s all that matters to me."

That talk said otherwise. I took a bite out of a sandwich. "d.a.m.nit, I can"t even be angry at you with delicious food like this in my mouth."

"Well, they do say food brings people together, so delicious food would do it all the more, right?"

I sighed. "Well, I guess we can start over."

She nodded, giving me a smile. "Glad to be friends now Depra."

"Hey Mestras, isn"t honey amazing?"

"No Depra, isn"t darling more amazing?" They both started to laugh. I can"t even begin to understand what those two talked about for their relationship to end up like this.

They had wrapped their arms around each other and started to sway back and forth, laughing as they ate their food. "Two peas in a pod," I said, taking a swig of water.

"Hey Depra, you should"ve introduced me sooner! This girl is great!"

"Yeah, how dare you keep him a secret Mestras! Trying to hog him all to yourself are you now!?"

Well, I guess that"s the type of people those two are. "I honestly didn"t know what to expect."

"I thought they were gonna hate each other," Mestras said, drinking some water. "Still, their carefree att.i.tudes are almost contagious."

"Oh man, you should"ve seen us in our costumes Pandy. I was a cool, slick vampire while Depra was a rabid werewolf."

"I didn"t think werewolf fit him all too well. He"s too skinny."

Hiro laughed. "That"s what everyone in our dandy club said. We had a nice time teasing him about it."

"Ugh, don"t remind me, and besides, you made me get it in the first place Hiro!"

He shrugged. "I figured I could get a good laugh with the others."

I kicked him away from Pandora, who was laughing the entire time, and Hiro and I somehow managed to switch places.

"You"re next to your girlfriend now, but have some public decency, alright? That means no handholding! This is a PG book we"re running here!"

"How the f.u.c.k does that make any sense!?" He says the most ridiculous things sometimes.

Pandora was still laughing, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Ah, please, I"m dying, please stop!"

We watched her managed to calm down, and she took a couple deep breaths before nodding. "Right, that isn"t the reason we"re here today! We were supposed to come here to introduce our best friends to each other, but the shocking reveal that Mestras has been cheating on me all along has ruined everything!"

"Yeah, it"s all your fault for approaching me that day."

"If I"m remembering right, you were the one who proposed a partnership, partner." I could see Hiro visibly start sweating.

"Nah, I would never! Even if that were true, it doesn"t change the fact that you snuck up on me and spoke to me first!"

She rolled her eyes. "Why is it that I"m surrounded by immature people. Well, except possibly Depra."

"Whadda you mean "possibly!?" I"m calm and collected alright?"

"Only because you"re so negative, you negative bunny," Pandora teased, swirling the water in her bottle around.

"That isn"t even a thing."

"Of course they are, they"re over there by those people, see?" She pointed towards a nearby group, who were feeding black bunnies with white swirls all over their bodies.

"Those are just normal bunnies," I said, taking another bite out of my sandwich.

Pandora shrugged. "Fine, but when they come for you at night, don"t come crying to me or my honey."

I still don"t understand the joke. I shook my head, deciding to forget about their shenanigans for now.

We laughed, ate, and talked for a good while, until the food was all gone and out bellies were filled to the max.

"Ah man, I knew Luna"s cooking was the best!" Hiro exclaimed, and Pandora frowned.

"You mean my Lun-Lun?" She asked, pulling out her phone and pulling up a picture. "Is this her?"

She showed us a picture of the girl, and to my surprise, it was Luna, along with three other girls, one of which being Pandora.

"HUH!?" Hiro exclaimed, practically jumping to his feet. "You"re friends with my sister!?"

"Huh, so you"re the older brother she talks about," Pandora said, putting her phone away. "She only ever says great things about you I"ll have you know. Kind of makes us jealous sometimes."

Something clicked in my brain as the realization dawned onto me. "Oh, so that"s why you were at the beach that day."

She nodded, grinning. "Yep, I was hanging out with my Lun-Lun. Oh, she"s so cute, I could just dress her up for days on end!"

"Ahaha," Hiro said as he collapsed back down. "She wouldn"t tell me who her friends were, but to think you were one of them." He sighed. "Well, at least I know one of them at least. I"ll figure out the other two eventually."

Pandora giggled. "Quite the shock, right?"

Mestras stretched towards the sky, yawning. "Well, what do we do now?"

We decided to talk a little bit longer, and by the end, I could feel myself never wanting it to end.

As Hiro and Mestras packed up, Pandora was sitting on the hill, looking over the people playing in the park. I plopped myself down next to her, and she gave me her usual sly grin.

"Sorry, but only honey can sit next to me."

"Whatever, I promised to be as close as I was that day, remember?"

Her regal purple eyes widened as she covered her mouth and started to laugh.

"Hey, what"s so funny?"

She shook her head, her hair blazing orange as if set aflame. "Oh, it"s nothing, I just wasn"t expecting you to remember something like that." She removed her hand for me to see a smile that continued to thaw away my heart. "But I"m glad you did. You made me quite happy."

I felt her hand interlock with my own, and there was a sense of peace withing that simple action.

"Hey! This is a PG book! Censor that s.h.i.t right now!"

And then there"s Hiro, who brought about a different sort of peace.

I stared up into the blue sky and let out a grin.

I think I could get used to my life being like this, even if it was only a dream.