Guilty Pleasure Friends

Find Me

Sakuya didn't return until lunch break was over. He evaded all his friends' questions, only giving vague answers about where he'd been, who he had been with or what he had been doing. When the others gave him disbelieving looks, he laughed it all off and was done with it.

Mahiru, however, wasn't done with it yet. Despite his best friend's behavior, he could see that something wasn't right. Sakuya looked more serious than usual, more... gloomy, somehow. Had something happened? Was he hiding anything?

Maybe he was just imagining things. Maybe Sakuya was fine, just a little tired, and it was his own nervousness and worry over Hyde that made him read too much into everything. Yes, Sakuya was definitely okay, and nothing weird had happened or anything. He'd just been talking with the same third-years he had studied with yesterday. Mahiru should definitely stop overthinking.

But then why was he getting the feeling that something was wrong? Truly, seriously wrong?

He shook it off. Now's not the time to think about that, he reminded himself. He needed to think about how they were going to find Hyde again. He'd have to contact the others later and ask for their help; he had the feeling that he'd need everyone, Kuro, Misono and Lily, Tetsu and Hugh, Mikuni and Jeje too if he could reach them. A member of their team was in danger. Was Tsubaki behind this? He could only guess, but his gut feeling told him that he was.

Double checking to make sure the teacher wasn't looking at him, Shirota Mahiru, class representative of 2-A and member of the disciplinary committee, broke a major school rule. He slipped his cell phone out of his bag and wrote a message to everyone.

Emergency! Hyde has gone missing. Meet me in the staircase after classes.

Now all he could hope was that they'd respond to his call.

---

The afternoon classes ticked by at a snail's pace. Mahiru couldn't focus on anything. Every few seconds his eyes strayed to the clock, cursing the slow passage of time, his legs shaking impatiently. This was an emergency; he shouldn't be sitting here studying when one of his allies was in danger! Maybe Hyde wasn't exactly a friend, but that didn't mean Mahiru didn't still care about him, worry about him now that he had disappeared without a trace.

What would they do if it was Tsubaki who had caused his disappearance?

They'd probably have to fight. Not just him either, but probably an entire gang he had assembled while no one was watching. Maybe they'd have to negotiate to get Hyde back safe and sound. What would they have to negotiate with? Was there anything Tsubaki would want in return?

What did Tsubaki want from the Servamps in the first place?

He had mentioned something about revenge. Revenge for what, exactly? All Mahiru had were clues and hints. Had he captured Hyde as part of his revenge, whatever it was for? If it really had been him, that is. Mahiru couldn't think of anyone else who could have done it. Student council, perhaps... but then he'd already know. Right?

Great, his thoughts were going in circles. His mind was too nervous and restless to really do anything, running round and round and round in loops as it spun around the subject, trying to come up with a plan, some sort of solution, and failing over and over again. This wouldn't do. He needed someone who was better at making plans, someone who could keep a cool head in this sort of crisis. Misono, perhaps. Or Mikuni. He so hoped that at least one of them would show up.

His eyes strayed to the clock again. Five more minutes, and class would be over. Five more eternities.

Four more eternities.

Three... two... one...

The bell rang, and Mahiru jumped to his feet faster than the teacher could finish his lesson. He stumbled, tripped, knocked all his books and pencils off his desk, hurriedly picked them all up, dropped half of them again, picked them up a second time, stuffed everything into his bag and rushed towards the classroom door. From the corner of his eye he could see Kuro staring after him with a puzzled expression and getting ready to follow him. He knew that he should probably wait for his friend, but right now he didn't care. Right now he had to meet up with everyone as fast as possible and explain the situation to them. It was urgent; he couldn't afford to waste a single moment.

Darting out into the hallway, he almost crashed face-first into Crantz.

"Whoa!" the teacher exclaimed, stumbling back at the same time as Mahiru did. "Mahiru-kun? Steady there, why are you in such a hurry?"

Mahiru regained his balance, bit back the urge to rush past him and glanced up at Crantz' face. Going by his expression, the teacher of 2-A still hadn't heard anything from Hyde, but it probably wouldn't hurt to ask, just in case. "I'm going to ask some friends for help in finding Hyde... Mr. Crantz, you don't happen to have heard anything from him, do you?"

Crantz shook his head and sighed. "Nothing," he replied. "Actually, Mahiru-kun... speaking of disappearances, can I ask you for a quick favor?"

Every part of Mahiru wanted to say no, but his manners prevailed. "Sure?"

"Excellent." Crantz gave him a smile, but it shook and slipped, turning into a nervous lopsided something. "Merci beaucoup."

That caught Mahiru's attention. Crantz never randomly lapsed into French, not unless he was angry or overjoyed or on the verge of panicking. Something was wrong, and Mahiru suspected that it wasn't just Hyde's disappearance.

"The thing is," Crantz continued, "would you mind checking on Licht for me? Normally he contacts me when he's sick and asks for the day's worksheets and homework, but I haven't heard anything from him all day." He frowned. "I hope he's not seriously ill."

Or worse.

Mahiru could feel his entire body tense up. If Hyde had gone missing... was it possible that they had taken Licht too? What if he had also been kidnapped? What would they do if Hyde and Licht had both gone missing?

He forced himself to keep his breath steady. There was no need to panic, not yet. Maybe Licht was okay. Maybe he had simply fallen asleep and slept through the whole day, or maybe he had started playing that one cat game on his phone and lost track of time. After all, it was one thing to kidnap a guy in an empty street at night, but it couldn't be that easy to sneak into a school dorm and back out without being noticed, right?

"Okay," he said breathlessly. "Right. I'll do that."

Crantz nodded, smiled gratefully and hurried down the hallway.

Mahiru just stood there, starstruck. His head was spinning. Another person who might be missing, in less than a day. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. He'd just have to go to Licht's room and check and he'd know it wasn't true. He knew he should run, should hurry and take care of everything, but his legs wouldn't listen. His knees felt like melting butter. If he moved now they might give way and send him tumbling to the ground.

"Earth to Mahiru, on what planet are you?"

A hand waved in front of his face, snapping him out of his trance. Kuro was standing next to him, observing him with a mixture of confusion and worry, and he instantly felt safer. He wasn't in this alone. Kuro was with him. And so were the others, hopefully.

"What? I, ah, it's just..." His voice was a shaky mess. He was still reeling, resisting the urge to grab onto Kuro's shoulders and cling to them for safety and comfort, borrowing his friend's calm strength for a moment. "Mr. Crantz just asked me to check up on Licht... he hasn't heard a thing from him all day and it's weird." Suddenly the words came out like a waterfall, hurrying out one after another as if something had broken a dam. "Maybe he's just asleep or busy but what if he's really sick or what if he went missing just like Hyde? What if he's been kidnapped too, what are we gonna do? What if something's happened to him and I couldn't do anything to stop him even though I wanted to protect everyone and, and–"

Kuro poked a finger at his forehead. "Stop."

Mahiru blinked up at him, completely thrown completely off his track. "What?"

"Stop thinking so much, I can feel your brain overheating." Kuro tapped his finger against Mahiru's head. "You're such a pain when you overthink stuff... just stick to what you're good at."

Mahiru's eyes widened. "Kuro..." he said, moved. "Are you trying to calm me down?"

Then a thought crossed his head before Kuro could answer, and his amazement turned to annoyance. "Wait! Did you just say I'm not good at thinking?"

Kuro shrugged. "That's what you said."

"Geez, can't you just be nice without insulting me for a change?" Mahiru huffed, throwing a playful punch at his friend before pausing. It had worked, he realized. Kuro had effectively calmed him down just by acting normal and teasing him and being Kuro.

He'd be so lost without him right now.

Kuro must have noticed the change in his emotions, because he turned his head away, avoiding his gaze. ""You go look for Angel-chan," he mumbled off to the side. "I'm gonna tell the others what's up. It's a pain, but it's less troublesome than you freaking yourself out."

"Kuro..." Mahiru smiled, wrapping his fingers around his friend's hand and squeezing it with honest gratitude. "Thank you!"

The delinquent turned away and started walking towards the staircase. "Can't deal."

His cheeks were all red... Mahiru couldn't help but smile even more as he threw a fond glance after his friend. Kuro still wasn't used to people being nice to him and thanking him, was he? But he did look happy, happy and flustered, even if he didn't smile. He never did, Mahiru realized; in all the weeks they had spent together he hadn't seen Kuro smile even once.

He wondered what his smile looked like.

Maybe he'd find out eventually. Now wasn't the time for that. He had to check up on Licht and make sure he was okay.

He was still nervous. He was still worried as all hell. But at least he wasn't panicking anymore.

---

The distance from the classroom to the dorm had never felt so long.

Mahiru ran faster than he had ever run before, but he wasn't moving forward at all. The entrance of the dorm seemed frozen in place, always at the same distance no matter how hard he ran, as if he was chasing after a mirage in the desert. His legs were getting heavy, but he kept running. His breath was getting short, but he kept running. He tripped and nearly fell and twisted his ankle, but he kept running.

Please let Licht be in his room. Please let Licht be in his room. Please let Licht be in his room.

Of course he would, Mahiru tried to reassure himself. There was nowhere else he could possibly be, not with his cold and fever and everything.

So why wouldn't that nervous little voice in his mind shut up?

He gritted his teeth, trying to run even faster, trying to go beyond his limits, racing along the path towards the dorm. Every part of his legs was screaming, protesting, but he kept going. His lungs were gasping, desperately begging for air, but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting there faster. And faster. And even faster.

He darted in through the entrance, stumbled up the stairs and raced over to the door of Licht's room, coming to a skidding halt and resting his hands on his knees, gasping and panting as his lungs sucked in the much-needed oxygen and his heart pounded against his ribcage with exhaustion and fear. Just for a short moment he allowed himself to rest, then he got back up and knocked on the door.

"Licht?" he asked, still slightly breathless. "Licht, you in there? Are you okay?"

Silence.

"Licht, this is Mahiru!" he tried again, a little louder and just a little more desperate. "I'm just checking to make sure you're all right, so say something, okay? Mr. Crantz is worried because he hasn't heard from you all day... Licht, answer me!"

Silence.

Mahiru swallowed the lump of worry caught in his throat and knocked again. "Licht, I'm coming in!"

The moment of truth.

He braced himself for anything he might see, swallowed again and opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was that the bed was empty.

Even though Licht had been sleeping in it earlier it was carefully made, the blanket neatly spread over the mattress, the pillow shaken up and the stuffed animal sleeping soundly on top of it. Wherever Licht had gone, he had apparently taken the time to get rid of any messes in his room before.

The second thing he noticed was that Licht's jacket, shoes and phone had all gone missing.

Mahiru's mind was blank. The only thing he felt was the cold, creeping fear that snaked its way around his throat and cut off the air.

"Licht!" he screamed, knowing it was futile yet hoping against hope. "Licht!"

He listened, but there was no answer, only the echo of his own desperate voice.

He had come too late. Licht was gone.

His legs finally gave way, and he slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the floor. What now? He should probably get back up, he should hurry back to school and tell Crantz and the others that they were missing another student. He should probably organize a search party and look for Licht and Hyde. He should do something quickly, this was no time to sit around and mope.

He knew all that. But his legs refused to listen. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up. A thought was weighing him down, a thought that had finally caught up with him after he'd been trying to avoid it for so long.

Was all of this his fault?

Hyde had been abducted when he had sent him to get melon for Licht. Would he still be here if he hadn't gone out so late last night, all alone? Would Licht still be here? If his instinct was right and Licht's disappearance was connected to Hyde's, had he brought both of them into trouble? If they were injured somewhere, was it his thoughtlessness that had got them hurt? Had he put the lives of two students on the line just by being careless?

Hot tears welled up in his eyes, burning with panic and despair and regret. He blinked them back, but more came, gathering in his lashes and blurring the pattern of the ground below.

I'm so sorry, guys. I'm so, so sorry.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, trying to regain his strength and get up and forcing back the tears. Maybe just a minute, maybe ten. To him it felt like an eternity.

An eternity that was suddenly interrupted by his phone buzzing.

Snapping out of his daze, he reached into his pocket and turned on the screen to be greeted by a new message from Kuro.

where r u

He was just about to wonder if he should reply when his phone buzzed a second time, revealing a second message that was slightly longer.

done explaining wyd so long

That was right. He could always blame himself later. He'd kept the others waiting long enough. Right now he had to tell them what was going on and come up with a plan to rescue Licht and Hyde.

The weight on his shoulders dissolved, and he scrambled to his feet, hurriedly typing a reply into his phone as he started running back towards the school.

Be right back.

---

The world looked and felt surreal. Licht knew he was walking down this road, but it seemed distant, like an illusion, like a feverish dream flickering on and off in his consciousness.

Was this the cold speaking? He felt tired. Exhausted. His head was pounding with pain. His throat felt parched. He felt hot and cold all at once. Each step drained every ounce of his strength, yet at the same time he felt like he was walking on air. The sunlight was too bright. The birds were too loud. All he wanted was to sit down and close his eyes and tune out the world until he was rested.

Maybe he should have taken his medicine after all. Then he wouldn't be in this sorry state right now, his fever wouldn't have gone up again and he'd be able to walk without almost passing out after every step. He had overestimated his strength, and going outside was just making it worse.

And maybe Hyde wouldn't have disappeared if he'd just taken his medicine instead of demanding melon and sending him out late in the evening. Maybe if he had taken his medicine, the two of them would be in his room right now, exchanging petty insults and starting a pillow fight and just being themselves until Mahiru or the dorm mother came in and yelled at them for being too loud.

The longer he pondered it, the nicer it sounded...

He groaned. My fever must be really bad. Had he seriously just thought spending time with Hyde of all people would be nice? No. Hell no. He banished that thought far, far away, into the furthest, darkest corner of his brain, and locked it up so it would stay there.

He was tired, so tired. His knees felt like jelly, soft and shaky and ready to give way at any given moment. Gritting his teeth, he steadied himself, holding onto a garden fence as he slowly moved forward. His hands trembled. Where was he? There was no way he could find Hyde in his current state. He could barely tell what his own hands were doing.

His free hand slid into his pocket, closing around the cell phone inside. It would take him a few seconds to take it out, one minute to call Crantz to pick him up and take him back to the dorm. With every passing heartbeat the idea sounded more and more tempting...

No, he wouldn't give in. He wasn't that weak. He was Licht Jekylland Todoroki. He had put it into his head to find Hyde, and find Hyde he would, at whatever cost. There was no way he was giving up now.

Slowly, step by step, he staggered on. He had no idea where he was going, and he didn't need one. All that led him around was his instinct. That had always been enough to find Hyde, for better or for worse, and it would be enough now too. If he just followed his instinct for long enough, he'd stumble upon Hyde again for sure.

If he didn't get hurt or kidnapped, anyway.

He shut down that train of thought before it could leave the station. Hyde was fine. What the hell was he worrying for?

Wait... he was worried? About Hyde? No, no, no, no, no. That was wrong on so many levels. He just didn't like not knowing where he had disappeared to. That was all, honestly.

A small part of his brain still didn't seem convinced, but he could bother with that later. Right now wasn't the time to question his feelings towards Hyde, whatever they were. Right now he had to keep his eyes and ears open and–

He stumbled into something and staggered back.

Blinking up at whatever he had just walked into, he found himself glancing at a familiar face. A pair of red eyes met his own blue ones. A low red ponytail fell down to the ground. An elderly stubble-bearded face looked at him with curiosity, lips blowing out a cloud of smoke that quickly dissolved in the air.

Higan. The eccentric chain-smoking art teacher... what was he doing here?

Had they already noticed his disappearance and started searching for him in town? But he hadn't been out for that long, had he? And if anyone were to look for him, it would probably be Crantz or the guys from the music club or his classmates.

So what was Higan doing here?

He narrowed his eyes, giving the teacher an icy glare even as he held onto a lamppost to stay on his feet. "What do you want from me?"

"You're the pianist from 2-A, aren't you? Licht Whatshisname?" Higan smiled almost innocently, took another breath from his cigarette and blew the smoke in Licht's face. "Pianist, would you mind accompanying this old man for some time?"

Licht coughed, trying to get the smoke back out of his body, and gave the teacher a defiant scowl. "I don't go anywhere with creeps."

Higan looked slightly offended for a second but quickly recovered. "That's too bad," he said, "but you have no choice. Tsubaki can't have you walking around the town any longer."

Licht snapped upright. "Tsubaki?" he repeated, all five senses roaring to life at the name. "What does he have to do with this? What did you do to the shit rat?"

Higan blinked, genuinely puzzled. "Who?"

"Hyde!" Licht burst out, anger boiling in his blood, giving him a strength he'd never had before. "Where's Hyde, what have you bastards done to him?"

"Oh!" Higan's eyes widened with understanding, and he smirked. "You'll find him soon enough, but we can't let you know the way to his location." He stepped closer, lighting another cigarette. "This old man will have to carry you."

Licht swallowed as the whole situation clicked together before his eyes. Tsubaki and the gang had kidnapped Hyde. He was being held captive somewhere, and now they were trying to capture him too.

He clenched his teeth, stepping up to Higan, accepting his challenge. "This old man's gonna get his ass kicked," he snapped, shooting an icy glare at the teacher. "Like hell I'm gonna let you freaks kidnap me!"

Before he could even get into a fighting stance, something darted forward, ripping through his shirt and jacket and leaving a burning gash on his arm.

He flinched, trying to understand what had happened, when Higan attacked again.

Licht stumbled back. His foot caught on the pavement, losing its grip, and he tripped, crashing onto the ground. There was another gash on his skin, burning on his chest like a thin line of fire.

Anger shot through him at the same time as the pain did. He scrambled back to his feet, eyes fixed on Higan, watching his every move. Nobody treated him like this and got away with it. Not as long as he was still alive and kicking.

This time he wouldn't wait for another attack. This time it was his turn to attack.

He dashed forward, swinging his leg up in a roundhouse kick, the kind that would knock even Hyde out. Not taking any chances.

Taking a step back, he looked to see the damage he had done.

There was none. Higan was still on his feet, unhurt, smiling down on him.

Licht darted forward and kicked again. Higan dodged.

Another kick. Higan dodged.

Licht hissed in frustration. It was futile. His attacks were lost on Higan. Just how fast was this guy?

The fiery rage faded in his chest. Licht could feel his strength fading with every breath. His legs felt shaky. The ground was swaying beneath him like a ship in a storm. The edge of his vision started to darken.

No. No! He couldn't pass out here! He couldn't let his weakness get the better of him. If he did... Higan would capture him for sure.

Gritting his teeth, he mustered every last bit of strength he had. One more attack. This time he'd make it. He had to.

He could see himself beating Higan, and beat Higan he would.

He took a few steps back, ran towards the teacher, swung his leg, leaped into the air and kicked with the other.

This time it connected.

To a hand stopping his attack.

Higan smiled again as Licht struggled against his grip, struggled to break free while struggling to keep a grip on his consciousness. He was losing both battles. His strength was drained.

It was over.

The last thing he sensed was a pair of arms lifting him up, and then the world faded to black.

---

The sound of a door opening snapped Hyde out of his half-sleeping daze. A bright light fell onto his closed eyelids, followed by a shadow and quiet footsteps. There was a thud of something heavy hitting the ground, then the footsteps moved away, and for a moment the light hit Hyde's eyes again before the door slammed shut and all was dark and quiet once more.

Hyde tried to drift off again, but something was keeping him awake. Something in this room had changed. For some reason it didn't seem as quiet anymore. Just what in the world had that person dropped off just now?

Focusing on the sound of silence, he held his breath. And then it hit him.

There was someone breathing nearby. His kidnapper had brought another person into the room.

Was it another one of the Servamps? A classmate? A stranger? Or could it be...

No way. It couldn't possibly be him. He was at the dorm right now, probably sleeping to cure his cold. Why should he be here?

Hyde struggled, but he still couldn't open his eyes. Something made his lashes stick together as if they were superglued. Blood, probably. And he couldn't even move his arms to try and get rid of it.

What a pathetic situation. Here he was, locked up somewhere, beaten up so badly that he couldn't move, stuck in a room with another person he couldn't even see, all just because he'd gone out to get melon last night.

It was so pathetic he couldn't help laughing. "All this just for melon!" he burst out, shouting to himself, not caring who could hear him. "All this just because Angel-chan had to be a spoiled brat! How's that sound, Lichtan? This is how the world works! You can get hurt and beaten up and killed over the tiniest little things! It's all meaningless, a stupid little joke–"

"Shut. Up."

Hyde fell silent, the words catching in his throat. This voice... Impossible. He couldn't be here. Was he hearing voices already? Was he hallucinating because of the blood loss? Had he been hit over the head too hard? Was he starting to lose his mind?

"You actually shut up," the voice continued. "That's a first."

Maybe Hyde was finally going crazy, but this voice sounded just a little too real to be a hallucination.

"Licht?" he asked, hopeful and terrified at the same time. "Lichtan, are you here?"

"Where do you think I am, shit rat?" the voice snapped, and this time it was real beyond doubt. "I'm right behind you! Look over your shoulder, moron."

He was real.

Hyde understood that much, but he didn't understand anything else.

"How... why...?" There were so many questions in his mind, buzzing like a panicked swarm of bees, all trying to get out at the same time and blocking each other's path. "What are you doing here? They didn't kidnap you from your room, did they?"

"I was looking for you."

Hyde opened his mouth and closed it again. Any words he had were stuck in his throat. Licht had been looking for him? Him? Even though he was sick and supposed to stay in bed?

"Why?" he finally burst out. "Why were you...?! You're supposed to be resting, Angel-chan! So why..."

"Melon."

If Hyde's eyes hadn't been glued closed, they would have widened to the size of dinner plates now. "What?"

"I wanted my melon!" Licht snapped, his tone annoyed and... a little embarrassed? "You promised me melon, so where is it, shit rat? Next time I'm getting it myself!"

Hyde lay silent for about a second, then he burst out laughing.

"Melon!" he exclaimed, howling with laughter. "Lichtan, are you for real? You went out to look for me just because you wanted your favorite food? I'm not even sure if I should be happy or sad, Angel-chan!"

"Don't let it get to your head, dumbass! I just went to look for you 'cause I was bored!"

Hyde's laughter dissolved into giggles and finally stopped. His eyes, finally washed clean of the blood thanks to his tears of laughter, fluttered and slowly opened to take in a dark room. A storage room, by the looks of it, filled with junk that was only half-visible in the sparse light seeping through from underneath the door and decorated with cobwebs. Licht was nowhere to be seen; he was somewhere behind his head. Hyde tried to turn around and flinched. Everything still hurt, and laughing had just reopened all his wounds and made them hurt even more.

He cursed his luck and tried again. For some reason he really wanted to see Licht's face, look into his eyes. The eyes of the guy who had just admitted that he'd been bored without him, the guy who had started looking for him even though he was barely strong enough to stand. What expression did those eyes have right now? Was he embarrassed to have admitted that he cared, at least a little? Was he not bothered by that fact? Had he even realized what he had just said?

Was he realizing how comforting his presence was to Hyde?

He knew he should be even more worried now that his classmate had also been captured and locked in here with him, but for some reason he felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't alone anymore. Maybe he was just grateful to be able to speak to someone again, to kill time until they found a way out or figured out what their kidnappers wanted from them. Maybe he somehow felt like it would be easier to get out of here now that he wasn't alone, even though Licht was weakened and feverish and he was so injured he could barely move. Maybe it was a combination of all these.

Or maybe it was something else he didn't quite understand. Yet, anyway.

Licht seemed to be feeling the same, or maybe he just wasn't discouraged, ever. Either way he shifted and struggled, probably trying to get up or at least move into Hyde's field of vision. "Let's get out of here."

Hyde snorted. "Let's get out of here?" he repeated incredulously. "Angel-chan, do you even realize what a mess we're in? It's not like we can just open the door and walk out, you know–"

A foot nudged his shoulder none too gently, there was a sound of cords tearing, and a moment later Licht's face was hovering above him as the pianist gave him an unsympathetic glare. "Get up."

The pain in his ribcage was the only thing that stopped Hyde from laughing again.

"What do you mean, get up?" he snapped at the boy above him. "I can't get up, Lichtan! Everything hurts, I bet all my bones are broken!"

"Quit complaining and get up! I'm not gonna haul you out of here!"

"I can't move!" Hyde yelled and hissed as another stab of pain shot through his side. "I couldn't even turn around earlier! Not everyone is a magical super-powered angel who runs on determination alone, you know? Some of us are human!"

"You're not even trying!"

"What's the point?"

Licht took a step back, startled by Hyde's sudden outburst. Hyde didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore. His entire body was hurting, and he was sick and tired of being told about willpower and determination and all that other stupid idealistic garbage.

"What's the point if I know I can't do it anyway?" he spat at Licht. "Do you think anyone can do anything just by wanting it and working hard? Then why do some people make it and many others don't? Were they not trying hard enough? No! They just didn't have the luck! Fortune! Coincidence! In the end, it's all about coincidence! The world does whatever it wants, and we're nothing but puppets in its hands! Why do you still think the power of trying hard can change anything?"

Licht looked at him in silence for a long moment, fists clenched, blue eyes alight with a cold fire. "Bullshit," he finally said. "What the hell are you talking about? Luck? Coincidence? We're not puppets!"

He stepped around Hyde and knelt down next to him, grabbed his collar and yanked him upright. "Listen! We have our own free will! We can choose who we are and what we do! We're not puppets of fate unless we decide to be!"

"Oh yeah?" Hyde shot back. "Then prove it! Show me one person who made it big without help from luck!"

"Why don't you prove your point first, shit rat? Show me one person who tried their best and didn't make it!"

An image flashed through Hyde's mind, a familiar face, painfully familiar even after so many lonely months. A story he couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried.

"Nothing easier than that," he said bitterly, his voice crumbling down to barely more than a whisper. "Once upon a time..."