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Chapter Text

Of course. Of course it was today. I was sitting around at a coffee shop, preparing to head to my job, seeing as I was scheduled a work day today, when, of course, my phone pinged with a message saying that a small party of people was trying to hack into my home. One of them was even sending a friend request! Oh, right...You...Don't have any idea what I'm talking about, or who I am, do you? Sorry about that. Introductions come first!
My name is Sei, and I work at a store that sells computers and parts! The small party of people I was talking about weren't breaking into my actual home. That would be a whole new problem, and I'd be calling the police if it were the case. They are people in the virtual reality MMORPG that I play, it's called 'The World of an Oath'. You play it using a virtual reality helmet and gloves, or, if you're lazy, a virtual reality helmet and a controller. Some people play it as excercise, meaning they play it with boots as well, so they have to move their legs, too. That's a bit too much, if you ask me. In this game your face and hair, though you can make minor alterations, are the face and hair of your character. You get to choose sets when you level up, depending on what type of character you want, and, if you pay, you can make reskins and modifications to the sets and sell them. I'll admit, that is something I do. People who do this can also make combination sets and sell them. This is also something I do. My character is a high-level boy with the reskinned, mixed set, made by yours truly, which is a mix of the "Princess Set," and the "Angel Set." Both of those sets focus primarily on magic.
Back to what's happening currently in my life, where I'm starting to freak out a little bit as I pay for my caramel frappechino. There's a party of people trying to hack into my house, which I have locked up with advanced coding. They seem to be a part of the same party in this game. A lot of characters hook up into parties, me included. My party is called 'Morphine.' It consists of CaptivePrincess, who is me, TrickySnake, VerociousLion, DryJuice, and IdolQueen. The party trying to break into my house seems to not have a name that I can look up. The members are RuffRabbit, BeniShigure, SlyBlue, ScratchPast, and ClearJellyfish.
It looks like RuffRabbit is the one trying to hack into my house, and the character trying to add me is ClearJellyfish. Oh! Another ping from my phone. SlyBlue is trying to add me, too. Instead of accepting either request, I slip my phone into my back pocket and sigh. It's time to head to work, I really don't have time to focus on that unless there's slow business today, maybe even none. That's usually not the case, seeing as we also sell virtual reality gear.
Oh well, off to a normal, probably boring, day of work.

Chapter Text

During work, I had sat around for quite some time, and I was mostly bored. It really was a day with nothing to do. I checked the stuff going on, and the hacker of the party, who was apparently RuffRabbit, disconnected, so the rest of the party left, but the friend requests weren't taken back. ClearJellyfish and SlyBlue still wanted to add me.
Of course, I was being skeptical, seeing as a member of their party was trying to hack into my home. I still had an hour left of work, so I had my friend hosting the account TrickySnake check it out. They could be trying to just steal my information...I...Wasn't going to deal with that.
CaptivePrincess: Hey, Tricky!
TrickySnake: Sei-san, how many times have I asked you to just call me Virus?
CaptivePrincess: Ah, um, sorry Virus...May I ask you to do me a favor?
TrickySnake: Of course, Sei-san. What can I do for you?
CaptivePrincess: Can you find some information on users SlyBlue and ClearJellyfish for me? They were trying to get into my house...
TrickySnake: Ah, SlyBlue and ClearJellyfish? I think you'll enjoy what I tell you later on, Sei-san~
CaptivePrincess: Thank you very much, Virus?
Oh, that's good, Trick-...Virus agreed. I need to get used to calling him that. Putting my phone down in front of me, seeing as I was working the cash-register today, I noticed some hands on the desk and jumped, focusing my gaze to their eyes. Sharp green eyes focused on mine, and they bore into my soul. Uncomfortable, I lowered my gaze to my hands and grabbed my phone, though he seemed to get a glance at it as he spoke up, my stare then moving to his hands, which were bandaged up. A fashion statement, perhaps?
"You're Captive Princess, huh?" He asked. I kept my head down, intimidated by his sharp stare, which I could still feel.
"...Yes, but that isn't what matters, sir. What are you purchasing?" I piped up, glancing up slightly then looking down again. He set down a box of brand new virtual reality gear in black in front of me. I raised an eyebrow before finally making eye contact with him, despite still being unnerved by his stare. "...Do you play 'The World of an Oath?'"
"Yeah." He replied simply, looking over me with a hawk-like gaze.
"...You..." Staring at him for a few moments, I furrowed my eyebrows. He...Looked like that avatar that was in a snapshot, the one with blond hair and piercings, the one who was wearing the reskinned March Hare set. RuffRabbit. "You were the one trying to hack into my home..."
"...Tch." He looked away, scowling slightly as he put the money for his gear on the counter and waited for me to check him out. "Names' Noiz." He stated, turning his head up, he seemed to only be greeting himself to get a greeting out of me.
"Um..." I moved my hands, quickly scanning and bagging his stuff, then taking the crinkled up bills he gave me and getting spare change. "I'm Sei. If you try to hack my house again, I will get you banned, so please. Refrain from doing so, especially if you're spending this much on a virtual reality gear set." I explained, straightening up and holding out the bag and change as I stared him in the eye, shaking slightly.
"Fine, then I'll go in with permission next time." He stated, a smirk coming to his features, my eyes wandering to all of the piercings on his face, which only made him raise a brow as he walked out. What an odd guy.

Chapter Text

When I got home, which, of course, I did, I decided to check to see if Virus messaged me back, and well, he did.

TrickySnake: Sei-san, I finished up the research you wanted.
CaptivePrincess: Ah, thank you, Virus! What is it?
TrickySnake: ClearJellyfish is a higher level user with the mix of the Nurse and the Beast sets, which, as you should know, are sets that focus primarily on magic and stamina. Said player has been playing for quite some time, it seems, and doesn't partake in any raiding, or anything bad. They are actually a rather helpful player.
CaptivePrincess: Ah, that's good to know! What about SlyBlue?
TrickySnake: Hm, well, Trip and I want to tell you about SlyBlue in game, if you can log on soon.
CaptivePrincess: Oh, of course!

I got up, stretching before heading to my room to put on my helmet and gloves. A quiet breath escaped my lips as I logged on, appearing outside of my house in the game, a small crown virutualizing on the left side of my head, a small halo encircling it. An over-the-shoulder shirt appeared, and under it a turtleneck of sorts. Leggings adorned my legs, and then some kneehigh boots with a low heel. Last, but definitely not least, my wings appeared. This was my avatar.
"Virus, Trip, where are you?" I called out, knowing they'd be here any minute, and, well, of course, I was right. A message appeared saying that TrickySnake and VerociousLion have logged on appeared. They were my friends, so of course I'd get messages about it. Virus, wearing the Timestopper set, approached me, his spiked hair, glasses, and ear piercings still in place. The time stopper set consisted of a long sleeved brown and tan tunic of sorts, a well as some tan pants and dark leather kneehigh boots. Trip wore the Demon set. He still had his normal spikey blond hair and earrings, but he had horns added to his forehead, and a turtleneck with tailcoats, in a deep red color. He wore black pants and deep red boots that went a bit above his ankle. He also had a stereotypical demon's tail.
"Hello, Sei-san." Virus said, calmly, and right after, just like a synchronized dance, Trip spoke.
"Yo, Sei-san! So you wanted to hear about SlyBlue, huh?" He sounded excited. Definitely excited.
"Yes, I am curious about them. What did you two find out?" I piped up curiously, tilting my head.
"Well, Sei-san, Trip and I know SlyBlue out of game. He's an interesting character who used to get in a lot of fights. But that's not all, oh, definitely not. His name is Aoba, Aoba Seragaki." Virus explained, leaving me curious as he stopped speaking.
"Yes...?" I asked, urging him to continue as I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Trip, would you like to tell him?" The bespectacled man questioned, his sharp blue gaze moving to his partner, who bleached his hair to match, but a bit of the red roots were showing through again.
"Heh..." Trip let out an amused breath, before nodding and letting his eyes lock onto me, Virus' eyes doing the same. "Aoba-san is your brother." He stated, a grin crossing his features. At his words I felt my eyes widen, and I looked down, shocked. What...? My brother?
"And not just that," Virus tacked on, grinning. "He's your twin brother."
I went absolutely silent at the words, and I froze. Not even moving a muscle as I accepted SlyBlue's, and ClearJellyfish's friend requests. This...This could be useful in the future, definitely.
"I need to log off now, guys. I can't play right now, I promised Usui I'd make dinner tonight for when she gets back home from the party."
"Your roommate really is odd, hm?" Virus mused, and, if it weren't for me using her normal name, he'd only know her as IdolQueen, another member of our party.
"Yes, but she's also very sisterly. I'll talk to you two later on!" I stated, smiling happily at them before logging off and taking off my helmet. Jeeze...

Chapter Text

Soon enough, my roommate got home, and I was sprawled out on the couch, exhausted after cooking, and then doing some cleaning. Of course, I'd ate after the cleaning, but still. I didn't always have much energy to expend. My roommate, Usui, approached me, untying her long, light blue hair. It, when down, easily went to around her ankles.
"Did you make dinner, Sei?" She asked in a voice very unfitting to her body. Very deep and masculine. I found that part interesting.
"Yeah, I did..." I murmured, glancing up to Usui and frowning. "Also, I haven't been able to mod the extra arms you want on your character yet...It's kind of difficult programming."
"I'm sure you'll get it!" She stated in an announcer like voice before walking to the kitchen with a pep in her step. She'd asked if I could find a way to make more arms for her character in The World of an Oath. In the end, her normal arms inlcluded, she'd have ten arms. Meaning I had to find a way to program eight others. That would take some time, but right now...I just sort of wanted to log on, so that's what I'd do. Moving quietly, I put on my black and white helmet and gloves, starting up the game and logging on, and then, my avatar, just as before, materialized outside of my house, but this time...That other party was there again.
"What the-?!" I piped up in a shocked tone, moving back quickly. A blue haired boy, SlyBlue, wearing the Beginner's Electric set. It wasn't even reskinned! Looking again, he was actually a relatively low level, too. Behind him was a man with darker blue hair and stunning red eyes, his username BeniShigure. He wore the Beginner's Samurai set, and was also a lower level. Standing at the sidelines was a larger, definitely native American, or maybe native Canadian man with his hair tied back. He wasn't a low level, but he was wearing the Beginner's Fighter set, which confused me. His user was ScratchPast. Looking at me with a hidden mouth was a boy wearing the mixed Nurse and Beast sets was a boy with snow white hair and stunning pink-ish eyes. That was ClearJellyfish. I...Felt another gaze. One more piercing. More dangerous. And looking over, there was the pierced blond with sharp green eyes from before. Leaning against my house, bunny ears sprouted from his head. He wore a reskinned version of the March Hare set. Username RuffRabbit. Why were they back?
"Uwah, CaptivePrincess looks as pretty as I thought they would!" ClearJellyfish piped up, running up to me happily and standing a bit too close for comfort.
"Clear-Wait! Don't run up to them like that!" SlyBlue called from behind before following after ClearJellyfish, but staying a bit out of my space.
"What's your name, Princess-san?" ClearJellyfish asked, and I was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable with the sheer amount of people.
"...Um...I..." I began, starting to shake before flying up into the air to avoid them and wielding my staff. "Please leave, or I'll call Morphine here! Only SlyBlue, ClearJellyfish, and RuffRabbit have permission to stay!" Shouting that, I felt myself tense up. Did I just allow the blond boy to stay, too? Well...I guess I did.
BeniShigure seemed hesitant and shot me a glare, ScratchPast turning to leave as he did so.
"Oi, let's go." ScratchPast commanded, shoving his hands in his pockets as BeniShigure let out an annoyed sigh. "He could kill you, and his party is Morphine, which does have a Demon, Timestopper, Idol, and a Reaper in it. Those aren't easy to fight." He explained, walking off. BeniShigure murmured something incoherent, shooting me a glare before leaving, then, of course, I landed.
ClearJellyfish still seemed intent on being close to me, the large beastly hands of his skin reaching out to try and hold my normal sized ones. "Hello Princess-san! I'm Clear! What is your name, or should I just call you Princess-san?"
"...I'm Sei. It's very nice to meet you, Clear." I stated, bowing slightly rather than letting him take my hands. He could accidentally cause some damage.
"Sorry about him, he was excited when you accepted our friend requests." SlyBlue piped up. Didn't Virus and Trip say his name was Aoba? Aoba Seragaki...Aoba. I'll remember that. "My name is Aoba." He added. Yep. That was it.
"Hello, Aoba, it's nice to meet you, too." I said quietly, straightening my posture as I heard a small ping and blinked a few times, my eyes going to RuffRabbit...Er...He said before his name was Noiz, right? I'm...Really bad at that whole name thing. Oh-speaking of him. He sent me a friend request, it seems. I bit down on my lower lip, turning my gaze away from him and hesitating to make a choice.
"Oi, Princess, aren't you going to accept it?" Noiz added in, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, you did give me permission to stay." Oh god. He was confronting me. That's awkward. I don't know why, but I just...Didn't want to be confronted by him. Was it because of his appearance, which was, honestly, attractive? Or was it because of his attitude? Which was also sort of attractive. Was it because this man overall was actually really attractive and it makes me really, extremely nervous? Probably.
"Maybe I will, Noiz. Please stop leaning against my house." I stated, not looking at him, instead moving my gaze to Aoba. Aoba's gaze settled on mine, and at that moment, his eyes widened and he moved close to me.
"...Wait a second...You...You look like the guy in the pictures Virus and Trip showed me." He murmured, furrowing his eyebrows. "They did say his name was Sei...Didn't they?"
"What? What pictures?" I piped up, moving back a bit in shock, but I had a hopeful tone to my voice.
"...Yeah, you were that one friend of theirs! It's nice to actually meet you, Sei!" He stated, grinning. "Even though it's just in a game."
Oh. I felt my heart sink a bit, and I turned my gaze down, Clear and Aoba not noticing, but the blond definitely catching on, as I quietly accepted his friend request. Aoba didn't know about my relation to him. Virus and Trip...They didn't tell him. "It's nice to meet you, too..." I murmured, turning to walk into my house.

Chapter Text

For a few hours, Clear, Aoba, and Noiz hung around with me in my house, Clear and Aoba asking for advice as Noiz just sat back and watched, sometimes examining my home. At some point, Aoba logged off, and Clear excused himself. He wanted to go with his newfound information and try to fight some higher levelled opponents, leaving me with Noiz.
"Oi, you were acting kind of weird around Aoba." He stated, sitting down on one of the couches and relaxing as I sat in a throne-like chair.
"I wasn't." I said, a bit too quickly. A bit too defensively. He could definitely tell something was up, but I didn't want him to know. No, not at all.
"Tch...That's bull." He said easily, his rabbit ears twitching a bit as he moved and fixed the hat he'd reskinned. "You know something about him, don't you?"
Giving up, I let out a sigh and leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temples. "Yes, but..." I trailed off, closing my eyes.
"But?" Noiz repeated like a broken record, watching me, I could...Even through this game feel his stare stabbing into my heart and soul.
"...But don't tell him, if I tell you. Promise me that." I added, standing up.
"What's in it for me?"
What? My eyes snapped open, locking onto Noiz's as I shifted awkwardly. What's in it for him? I wouldn't know. What would a guy like that want? Money? Rare items? Experience? Taking in a deep breath, I crossed my arms and tilted my head slightly. "What would be useful to you?"
His eyes gained a spark to them as he looked me over. The gaze made me rather uncomfortable, but I knew this would be interesting. "Well, why not marry me in game? That comes with plenty of perks for me." He stated, smirking slightly.
"I could just not tell you." I stated, turning my face away, cheeks stained a light pink. No way was I letting him marry me, in-game or not.
"Yeah, but you will, wont you?" He asked, standing up and walking over to me. I felt myself tense up but I frowned. I...Did need to get this off of my chest. And sometimes, strangers are much easier to talk to than friends, because strangers wont have any form of bias.
"Alright, fine." I finally gave in, keeping my gaze away from Noiz as he sent the request, and, albeit hesitantly, I accepted it. Automatically, he smirked and leaned near me, tauntingly kissing my cheek.
"Alright, wife. What's going on?" He asked in a mocking tone, crossing his arms.
"Aoba is my twin brother." I stated boldly, trying to get it out now as I rubbed my cheek embarrassedly, face deep red.
After that, Noiz and I discussed a lot of things, slightly getting to know eachother, like I learned how he used to be unable to feel anything, and he learned about how I was getting paid directly by the head of the company who made this game. before I finally decided I'd log off and head to bed. I escorted him out of my house first, of course.
"Goodnight, Noiz. I'll talk to you tomorrow, if you want." I called to him with a yawn and he smirked, shrugging.
"I'll send you a number if you're bored enough to try and bond with me at work, princess." He teasingly said before sending something to my inbox then disappearing.
If things kept up like this I'd fall for him in no time...Oh god.

Chapter Text

The next day went boring, as usual, and I ended up leaning against the counter boredly at work. Raising an eyebrow I glanced to my phone. Should I try to text Noiz like I was thinking about doing earlier? Maybe, maybe not. Right as I lifted my phone to do it, the door opened and I heard two pairs of familiar footsteps approach the counter. Glancing away from my phone, I made eye contact with the owners of the footsteps, and, of course, I was right, they belonged to Virus and Trip.
"Hello, Sei-san." Virus greeted, and right after him, came Trip's voice.
"Yahoo, Sei-san!" He called out, waving as he approached. Trip leaned on the counter as Virus stood straight up. These two really did complement eachother, and, well, they were in a long term relationship, so that wasn't really shocking.
"Did you add Aoba-san last night?" Virus asked, a gleam in his eyes, and my mood turned sour at those words. I turned away from them and pouted. I heard Trip let out a breath out that.
"You didn't tell him about me."
"We were planning on it, Sei-san, honestly. But...We haven't spoken to him in person for a while. We decided we'd stop by his work and do it today." Virus calmly added, and I turned to look at them. Trip had straightened up and smirked, looking down on me.
"Really, Sei-san, if you were so worried about something like that, I could only imagine what it'd be like if you were to actually be a lustful person." Trip added snidely, only to get an annoyed stare from Virus. These two were perfect for one another, undoubtedly.
They stuck around for a few more minutes, talking idly to me about why they weren't online last night. Making excuses, actually. I could tell what they actually meant, despite how flustered it made me. They'd...You know. Had sex. After realizing that I completely and utterly knew what they meant, they'd turned and left, stating that they were headed to visit Aoba now. As they exited, I lay my head down on the counter, and two more people entered the shop, steps not like a steady pattern. I lifted my head and looked, one of the people was Mizuki, also known as DryJuice, a member of my party, and the other...
The other was BeniShigure. The samurai in Aoba's party.
"Yo, Sei! Nice to see you working!" Mizuki called, grinning as he approached me. BeniShigure's eyes went to me and widened a bit before he glared.
"Oi, Mizuki, this is the guy I was telling you about last night." He murmured, huffing.
"Yeah, I know, I'm a part of his party, Koujaku." Mizuki said to him quietly, furrowing his eyebrows. Koujaku. I'd remember that.
"Welcome to the shop. Is there something you two would like to buy?" I asked mechanically, straightening up.
"Yeah, I need to get an upgrade for my mic on my virtual reality helmet." Mizuki stated in an exhasperated tone. He didn't play it willingly, at first. Only after the law finally cracked down on gang wars enough for it to be impossible to run a gang around here. He wasn't often online because he was busy talking to his old gang members, and working at his tattoo parlor.
I could tell Koujaku was much the same in that sense.

Chapter Text

That night, I decided finally to log on again, seeing as I'd been avoiding playing for most of the night, but...Usui convinced me to play with her, seeing as Morphine was meeting up to do a special event quest. Putting on my helmet, I let out a long sigh and entered the game, flapping my wings a few times. Looking around, I see that Virus, Trip, Mizuki, and Usui were all waiting for me already. Mizuki wore the reaper set, which consisted of some red boots and black pants, as well as a large black grim-reaper styled cloak, torn at the bottom and at the sleeves. Usui, on the other hand, wore long black and white boots and long black and white sleeves, as well as a short deep blue dress.
"Sei-san, you actually logged on." Virus said, smirking slightly and tilting his head up.
"It's just for the special event, isn't it?" Trip added, crossing his arms with a blank expression.
"Hey, lay off of Sei, he has had a hard week." Usui intervened, deep voice ringing. She wasn't going to let anyone make me feel bad.
"It's alright, Usui." I finally stepped in myself, approaching my friends. "Well, aren't we going to go do the special event?" I asked, tilting my head and smiling as everyone came to a silent agreement. Virus lead the way to a small tower, and we all followed him in, when...Things got strange. The entire screen went white and I felt myself collapse onto my bed, blacking out.
"Wake up." A familiar voice echoed through my head, but I couldn't place it and only rolled onto my side, the ground beneath me cold, and unforgiving. Like stone. The voice spoke up again.
"Oi, Sei, seriously, get up. I don't know where the hell I am." It spoke, and finally it connected in my head as I shifted in my spot, eyes opening, though my eyesight was blurry at first, and everything was dark.
"Nn...Noiz?" I questioned, forcing myself to sit up, my eyes trying to adjust to the dark. I looked down and saw the clothing of my avatar, but...For some reason...I could actually feel everything now, not just a minor sensation that you would get from the game. "Where are we?" I asked, my eyes locking onto my wrists to find chains, one of which attaching me to the pierced man sitting next to me.
"That's what I'm trying to find out." He murmured, looking around, his rabbit ears perked up. He seemed a bit annoyed, but let out a breath then turned his gaze to me. "Maybe it's a dungeon in the special event, but I came here with my party, not with you." He stated, staring at me with only what could be described as some form of curiousity or passion that I couldn't fully describe.
"...Well, we should get out of here, if it's just a part of the special event, right?"
"Yeah..."

Chapter Text

A few minutes passed of silence, and us trying to move against the chains, which bound us to the ground, despite us being able to move a few feet to the left, or the right. Eventually, we heard footsteps down the hall and froze up, getting silent as we both listened. Someone was heard entering the room next to ours and then...
A scream pierced my eardrums, and I cringed, gritting my teeth. Taking a glance at Noiz, he was reacting much in the same way. Actually, he looked to be more in pain than I was, and that was undoubtedly because of his rabbit ears. The item did increase your volume, and you couldn't turn it down, for some obnoxious reason. A bug in the game, probably.
The scream stopped almost as soon as it had started, and there were more footsteps. They exited the room next to ours, and moved in the direction of our room. Worried, and frankly, scared, I looked to Noiz, wondering if he had any ideas, and he stared me in the eye for a moment before moving and pinning me down to the best of his abilities, seeing as we were wrapped in chains.
"What are you-?!" I tried to ask, but was cut off by him moving his hand the best he could and hitching my leg up his side before leaning down, lips only a few inches from mine.
"Be quiet, this is a part of my plan." He murmured in a low tone, and, despite being nervous, confused, and flustered, I agreed. Honestly...I hoped he couldn't see the red undoubtedly creeping across my cheeks. This was just a bit too much. Trying to make this seem more real, I fixed the position of my leg a bit and reached my hands up to his shoulders, lightly gripping them. He took this as an invitation to get more comfortable, or something, seeing as he wedged one of his legs in between my two, but kept a few choice centimeters away from touching anywhere too sensitive, thank god. He also moved his lips a bit closer to mine, and I could feel his breath against my mouth. I had to remind myself that this was just for the plan, and not some really awkward perverted dream I was having. Not that I had those often, I rarely did, but hey...It could happen.
The footsteps, sure enough, got to our room and our door was open, someone wandering in, Noiz's ears twitched and he pulled away from me just enough to look over his shoulder at the person, and I sat up slightly to look as well, my wings flapping slightly to try and help me to feel more relaxed. The person looked to be a low enough level that, if unchained, Noiz and I could take on separately, much less together. They seemed to be wearing the Beginners Elven Warrior skin.
"Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Noiz asked, clicking his tongue and staring tensely at the Elf player. Whose...Username I couldn't see...
Something was definitely wrong here.
"Oh-sorry for interrupting, I'll just..." The low level glanced away, throwing the keys to us before running out. That voice sounded a bit nervous, and flustered. I guess seeing us like that was enough to win over whoever that was into giving us the keys? Odd.
"Hmn, you being listed as my husband in this game probably made that a lot easier to pull off." Noiz stated, reaching and grabbing the keys before unchaining himself, then moving and positioning himself a bit too close to me as he unchained me as well, eyes locked onto the keys.
"Um, thank you..." I murmured in a rather breathy response. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, and it was nerve-wracking to be sitting this close to him, but I didn't want to back up or anything...I mean. If I did it could be considered rude or offensive, right?
"Oi, we should get going." Noiz stated, not saying much else as he stood up and turned away from me almost too quickly. I nodded, despite him not being able to see it, and got to my feet, brushing myself off and realizing my weapon wasn't on hand.
"I don't have my staff, do you have your weapon?" I piped up, looking to Noiz tensely.
"No, they probably hid them in a chest. Let's find those, first." He huffed, beginning to walk away, and helplessly, I followed. The most I could do without my weapon would be healing magic.
This would be an adventure, huh?

Chapter Text

Soon enough, Noiz and I had made our way to a room. The halls in this place were dreadfully empty, and silent, and all we heard was the occasional moving of chains. Other prisoners, undoubtedly. I was certain that helping them would be a good idea, but first, we had to find our weapons. In that room, one at the end of the hall, we found a variety of chests. But they were all locked with some sort of scanning mechanism...
"Noiz, try to be careful, I don't know what happens if you go to the wrong chest." I stated, looking to the blond as he moved to a chest and put his hand over the scanner, only to be shocked, and to collapse to the ground.
"Shit..." He said in a breathy, pained tone, and, well, out of sympathy, and worry, I ran over to him and set a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you alright, Noiz?" I asked, looking at his pained expression. It was at that moment that I realized I was rather low on mana, and well. Look at that, I didn't have my potions on me, either.
"I'll be fine soon." Noiz stated quietly, moving a bit and cupping my cheek before pressing his lips against mine. My eyes widened considerably and my face heated up, when I realized...Yes...I was right. There was something so wrong with all of this. The sensation felt more real than it normally did in the game. I felt my heart rate speed up, and Noiz pulled away, looking much better, and I...Felt much better, mana wise.
"What was that?" I asked, voice escaping in a cracked, confused manner. I covered my mouth after speaking, embarrassed at my voice as I stared quietly at Noiz, awaiting an explanation.
"If you're married to someone in this game and you kiss them, your Mana Points and Health Points will be refilled. Didn't you read any of those perks, Sei?" He asked with a smirk, wiping his lip as he stood up. I sat there dumbfounded, staring up at him. No. I hadn't read any of that. That's...Wow. I took a moment to stand up, then brushed myself off.
"Is there any way to tell which chest belongs to who?" I asked, worried that there may be more kissing Noiz if not. That could just get really awkward, really fast. Taking a few moments to examine the chests, we both settled on a positive answer.
"Yeah, they look different. Go find your chest, I'll find mine." Noiz stated, walking off in the room, and I nodded, looking around as well. I was hesitating to touch any of the chests, out of worry, but soon...I found a black and white one that didn't suit my avatar too much, but...It suited the real life me? There were some studs on it, and a few skeletal designs around the lock, and the chest seemed to just...Be right. Still nervous about what had happened to Noiz, I hesitated before pressing my hand against the scanner, and...Sure enough, it opened. And inside it were my potions and my staff. Just what I needed.
Gathering my items, I closed my chest, then wandered to where Noiz was, thanking the lord that my staff was modded to fold up and be attached to my side. I put it where it was meant to go and found the rabbit putting on what looked like reskinned spiked gauntlets of sorts. He put his hands on his hips and looked me over as if deciding something.
"Good. You didn't pick the wrong chest." He stated, closing a chest that was pastel green and black with some cube looking bunny designs on them. That chest seemed more cute than something I'd have expected from this guy. "Come on, let's go check out those other rooms." He stated, huffing. He obviously had some sort of plan, and well.
"Alright, Noiz." I was going to follow along with whatever it was instead of wandering about alone.

Chapter Text

When going back into the hall, we saw that our plan obviously wasn't going to work as a variety of people stood at the door, all of them wielding spears and swords, and wearing heavy armor. One of them approached us with a laugh, and shook his head, taking the keys from Noiz's hands, to which Noiz tried to respond violently, but I wielded my staff and held it in front of him.
"Sorry, CaptivePrincess, RuffRabbit, but you two have to just stick together for now. You'll meet your two teammates when they wake up." He said, having guards grab us roughly, and lead us away to a large room with a singular bed.
"Why is there only one bed?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows and looking to the guards. One of them rolled their eyes and responded automatically.
"You're married, aren't ya? Don't bitch about it." They stated before shoving me into the room, the other guard shoving Noiz in, then they closed the door, and I sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry, Noiz..." I murmured, looking down.
"For what? This isn't your fault." He stated, walking to the bed and easily plopping down onto it. "You're just stuck with me in this weird thing. I can't get out of the game or adjust controls, even pull up menus. We're stuck here for a while, anyways." He stated, motioning for me to come to the bed. Taking a few moments to think, I decided on agreeing and sitting next to him.
"Well, seeing as this is bound to get...Really bad soon. Let's stick together, okay Noiz?" I asked, looking him in the eye. He rolled said eyes and smirked.
"Obviously we're sticking together. If we don't and either of us ends up too hurt, what the hell will they do about it? We'll be practically dying. You're more useful with me than away from me right now." He explained, and...Though it was logical, it only made me frown, and I stood up, wandering over to a dresser which was filled with OTS costumes, which were costumes you could wear over your set, and they'd cover up anything that wasn't an accessory, like wings, tails, or ears. It was filled with fancy dresses and suits.
"...Noiz, would you consider me a friend of yours?" I finally decided to ask, touching the silky fabric of the dresses before looking to him.
He was silent. Just staring at me as I stared at him. He was more focused than I'd seen him before, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Taking a few moments before deciding something, he looked back to the cieling. "We're married, so I'm supposed to fall for you, right? Guess that means we'll have to be at least friends." He stated, and I noticed his face redden slightly, but not enough for it to be too notable. If anything, I was blushing a lot. That...Was embarrassing, and we were only married in game, but...
Ever since first meeting him I couldn't help but to sometimes think about him, so maybe...Maybe it'd be alright. As long as he doesn't begin to hate me, it would be fine. It'd be more than fine. It'd be a nice change of pace.
"Well, let's start thinking about a way to find out what's going on here, or how we'll get out, alright?" I asked, closing the dresser and walking to the bed.
"...Yeah."

Chapter Text

I'd fallen asleep whilst trying to think of something, curled up on the bed that Noiz and I were supposed to be sharing, though, before falling asleep, I'd made sure we had about a foot in between us, just so things would be less awkward. Sleep should have been impossible, falling asleep in game normally would just cause you to log off, but...
All that happened was that I heard voices speaking, as everything was a black void.
"Sei-san? Why is he still asleep?"
"I'm not sure, but we shouldn't try to wake him up without Toue's permission, brother."
"Hmn..That's true, Master Toue would probably get very mad at us if we did something to Sei without his permission, wouldn't he?"
Those voices...Alpha One and Alpha Two? The voices I heard sounded like the real world, more voices chipping in soon.
"So, you're telling me this boy is Aoba's twin brother? If I could see his eyes I'd be able to tell, more." The voice said, and it was calm, reassuring.
"I can have his eyes opened very briefly."
The second voice was Toue's, that was for sure. I knew his voice for sure by now. I'd only had to deal with it for most of my life, after all.
"If you want to, I just need to check to make sure." The reassuring voice said again, a calm laugh drifting into the air.
Suddenly everything went white for a brief moment, and my eyes were open, probably, as I looked around quickly, staring at the blurry figures of the Alphas, Toue, and the mystery man, who leaned down to look me in the eye. His hair was red and he looked to be wearing brown, but he also had eyes that trapped mine for long enough for me to listen to him speak, staring into his red hues.
"So you are Aoba's brother...I can tell by your eyes, definitely. Well, we'll have to talk after you get out of this experiment, Sei. You can maybe even come live with Aoba, Haruka, Tae, and I!" He stated, smiling and closing his eyes, two sharp prominent teeth showing as he leaned away and everything went black again.
For the rest of the time I slept all I heard was a faint beeping in the background and my own breathing. Another voice soon flooded my ears.
"Sei, wake up." The cool voice said, and I furrowed my eyebrows. This was Noiz's voice. Coming to my senses, I felt warmth envelop me and I blinked my eyes open. I wasn't where I was on the bed before I came fully to my senses. I was...Clinging to Noiz, nuzzled up against his chest. Upon fully realizing this, I pushed myself away and fell off of the bed, landing on my back and whimpering a few times.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cuddle with you like that...!" I tried to explain, sitting up and rubbing my back.
"It's fine," He started, getting out of bed and holding out a hand to me. His cheeks seemed to be a bit pink, and I reached out to his hand, being yanked up easily. "You can do that shit if you want when we have time, but..."
He motioned to the door, and I looked over, a letter on the floor.
"...We have to look at that now, princess."

Chapter Text

Noiz wandered over to the letter, which looked as if it had been slid underneath our door, he picked it up and opened it, his eyes scanning over the words as he furrowed his eyebrows, holding the letter out to me so I could look it over.
'Usernames RuffRabbit and CaptivePrincess, today you will need to wear formal OTS gear and a mask, there will be a dance, and there, you will be paired up with your partners, who will be wearing matching masks. We've left your required masks in the closet, hanging above the OTS gear you get to pick from, choose wisely, for someone not dressed properly will face the consequences.'
Frowning at the wording of the letter, I moved my gaze to Noiz, who huffed in annoyance. "This is getting even more ridiculous." He stated, wandering over to the dresser I was at earlier, grabbing a mask that was pastel green and black. He reached in and grabbed another mask, this one white and black, but of the same design as Noiz's, he tossed the white one to me, which I barely caught. I wandered over to the dresser as well.
Watching Noiz pull out a dark black suit with a green vest, white button up, and black tie, he wandered to the bed, sighing. I blinked a few times, moving my hands over fabric and finding a suit that matched Noiz's, obviously being put there on purpose. It was white with a white button up, and a black tie, though there was a dark blue vest. "These outfits match, I guess it's...To be expected?" He asked, moving a bit and sitting down next to Noiz.
"...Yeah." He stated, calmly moving and realizing something. "So, there's definitely something off about this whole thing." He stated, his gaze moving to me.
"Huh? What do you mean?" I piped up, tilting my head as i shifted awkwardly, and he shook his head.
"These OTS clothes can't go over our sets, our sets are like normal clothes right now." He said quietly, moving to pull off his outfit, and automatically I turned my gaze away, covering my eyes. This game was more and more like reality right now, and it was troublesome.
After a bit, I felt a flick to my hand, and moving my fingers away, I saw Noiz, still wearing his piercings of course, standing there in his suit, he held the mask quietly, staring at it.
"Oi, you need to get changed, too." He added, and I looked down, biting my bottom lip as I stood up.
"Please don't look at me." I squeaked out, and Noiz chuckled quietly.
"We're both guys, so I don't see why not, but whatever." He stated, turning away and crossing his arms as he let out a breath.
I moved somewhat, changing out of my outfit and into the suit, and it seemed that the suit had been modified for my wings to fit through two holes. "This is a bit too odd." I murmured, looking over at Noiz, who turned around and looked me over. I held the mask in my hands, but looked down and quietly put it on, he did the same, sighing.
"Guess we have to wait to go, then."
"I see...Well, we can wait, then."

Chapter Text

The day continued with us sitting there silently, awkwardly, for a few hours. Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. Wandering over to it, Noiz opened the door, and oddly enough, a man who...Looked similar to Toue wandered in. Seeing him caused me to back up, my eyes widening notably. He only chuckled as he saw me do this, and focused his attention to Noiz.
"Well, well, it's time for you to head out with your 'husband' to the masquerade. You'll be meeting your partners there, and then we'll move their bed into your room. Split quarters would make this all much easier." He explained, looking to me before grinning and nodding slightly. "Enjoy your sleep, Sei." At that, he wandered out, and I covered my mouth with a hand, backing up more.
Noiz stared at the open door for a moment, but I collapsed to my knees, horrified, shaking. He looked to me, seeing my reaction caused him to run over, confused as to what was going on.
"Oi, Sei, what's wrong?" He asked, moving a hand to cup my masked face. I continued to shake, looking prepared to cry, most likely, before I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around Noiz for a moment, whimpering. I normally...Didn't get anyone caring notably when I was like this, so for someone to do something was new, and I reacted without thinking. After a few minutes of sitting there like that, I calmed down enough to let go of Noiz, who stood up and offered a hand to me in a manner that seemed standoffish, but...He looked a bit confused, if anything. I took his hand, and he pulled me up.
"I'll talk to you about it later on, if you'd like." I murmured, moving my hand away from his, but he moved his hand back quickly, taking a light hold of mine.
"Fine, but I've got to escort you to this masquerade thing, anyways, don't I?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at me before beginning to walk off, and I walked next to him, making sure to close the door as his bunny ears twitched and my angel wings flapped a few times. I'd wanted to fly for a while, but that wasn't an option just yet. He lead me off in the direction that was shown by a few papers, and we found ourselves at a beautiful ballroom. My eyes widened as I looked around, the room was beautiful, and there were people everywhere. Keeping close to Noiz, I was escorted to a snack table, where he got himself a drink and a few snacks, laughing quietly, I did the same, and we stood there, looking around some more before finally the lights dimmed.
"I see my honored guests of tonight are all here, good, good." He began, looking over the crowd and closing his eyes as he let out a laugh. He even sounded exactly like Toue. If I were right, he really was Toue, but...Toue never played this game before? I mean, Toue inc. was a sponsor for the game, so maybe, just maybe... "I have some news for all of you. I've paired you all up with someone, and now I will add two more to your pair, making you a wonderful quartet. This is just the start of the events entwined in the Special Event Quest of recent times. Hopefully you'll be more careful than you normally are in game, because, as you've noticed, pain is just like real life in this event, so if you die...You may have a heart attack in real life."
The entire room began to murmur things, and I began to shake. I was a healer, so I didn't really die too often, but...What about Noiz? What about his team, who were all supposedly somewhere here, or my team? Would that mean they'd have a heightened chance of dying, just because of a game?! I wanted to act up, but I couldn't, so instead, I moved closer to Noiz and gripped his sleeve, glaring at who...Could only be Toue.
"It's time, now, for you to go about and find your new partners, if you haven't noticed, your masquerade masks, despite different colors, all have specific patterns and designs. Find the two other people in the room with that matching design, then come and find me." Toue continued, smiling as he waited, watching us with hawk-like eyes. eyes that searched for information, no matter how dangerous, no matter how disturbing.
Noiz growled, annoyed, but sipped at his drink before throwing a few snacks in his mouth and eating them. He linked arms with me before wandering into the crowd. "Jesus, why the hell do we need more people?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at me with an annoyed demeanor, when it hit me.
"In the rules it says you need at least four people for a party." I stated, blinking a few times.
"Yeah, so what?" He asked, stopping in his tracks to look at me. His expression showed concern.
"he wants us to form parties, he...Doesn't want us doing anything on our own, so we'll be weaker if we lose any member." I stated, shaking my head and biting down on my bottom lip, when...I heard two sets of familiar footsteps wandering towards Noiz and I, and my eyes widened as I moved my gaze upwards, only to see Virus and Trip wearing suits, Trip's, obnoxiously enough, plaid.
"Sei-san, looks like we've found you, and your mask looks to match ours." Virus said as some form of greeting, a small smirk coming across his face.
"Ah, looks like we get to be on the same team as Sei-san and his friend." Trip stated, his demon tail swishing in the air as the two moved a bit closer, Noiz seeming annoyed with their existence.
"Virus, Trip..." I started, smiling as tears welled up in my eyes. They were some of my closest friends, so I was relieved to see them on the same team as Noiz and I. With that, the four of us wandered to Toue, who grinned and had two men with pure white hair wearing opera masks escort us. I knew exactly who they were. The Alphas. Of course, if he were here, he'd bring them with him... Noiz seemed off put by how they looked, possibly because they haid hair a lot like Clear's, well, exactly like Clear's. They didn't say a word before closing us in our room, Virus and Trip's bed now in there, on the opposite side of the room as mine and Noiz's.
"Well, Sei-san, how about you introduce us to your new friend?" Virus' voice spoke up first as he moved and sat down on his bed, Trip sitting next to him and running a hand through his hair, which showed more of his red roots than before.
"This is Noiz, and well...He's my husband in this game." I began, closing my eyes before mouthing some words that I knew Virus and Trip would be able to read, 'And I think I've fallen for him.'
Oddly enough, those words didn't seem to have a good correlation with the not-twins, who looked at one another for a moment, Trip standing up and walking over to Noiz, his arms crossed as his demon tail swished against the air. He wielded his gauntlets, and quickly, Noiz wielded his claw-looking weapons, preparing to fight, if he need to, almost acting on instinct, I moved to guard Noiz, wielding my staff, and Virus moved to guard Trip, wielding his whip.
"Why the hell do you want to fight me?" Noiz piped up, annoyed.
"Because you look like the type to hurt Sei-san, and I should give you a taste of what will happen if you do, and in person, it'll be worse." He growled out, seeming like a protective lion. This...Reminded me of when Trip, Virus and I were younger. I moved a bit and waited for everyone to put their weapons away, which they did eventually, before I put mine away.
"Well, I don't plan on hurting him, end of the story." Noiz huffed, moving over to our bed and sitting down. He waited for me to wander over as well, and I did, sitting next to him.
"I'm...Going to sleep soon." I stated, sighing at the events of the day before I lay down, Noiz sighing and looking down at me before he nodded.
As I lay there with my eyes closed, all that came to my mind was when Virus, Trip and I met.

Chapter Text

Instead of hearing voices, I heard a soft beeping, and my own breathing, but those things didn't distract me as memories formed in my head, clouding my mind, filling the black abyss of my eyes being shut with images of the past. The world filled in with a soft, sky blue, and then I saw it, clouds. This was...The sky, and I knew exactly what memory my mind had chosen. The day that I met Virus and Trip.
I was about ten years old, and I was laying in an open field, my hands folded over my chest. The field was a part of the property that my 'father', Toue, owned. He was working, and the person who was supposed to be watching me wasn't. My eyes focused solely on the soft blue sky, and the fluffy white clouds that were drifting by. I wondered what it'd be like to live in a castle in the clouds. It'd be peaceful, happy. Everything would be better than how it was now, alone without another child around in the house. I turned my head to the side, pouting, as a thought came to my head.
'Papa doesn't love me. He only works, and he doesn't visit me anymore.' Tears began to well in my eyes as I thought that and sat up, pulling my knees to my chest. I began to cry, shaking as soft sobs escaped my throat. I didn't even notice the oddly patterned footsteps wandering in the direction I was sitting. One of the owners shifted and sat next to me, the other sat on the other side of me, I froze up and looked to the blond one. He had glasses, and was holding a book. His clothes were slightly torn up, and an interested gaze went over me before he spoke.
"Ah, what's this? A little kid crying all alone?" He asked, curiously leaning against his hand as he opened the book. He looked to be around fourteen, so he was a bit older than me. I moved my gaze then to the other side of me, to a boy with stunning red hair. He huffed and looked away, crossing his arms. This boy only looked around eleven, not much older than I was.
Quietly, I wiped my eyes, confused as to who these boys were, but unafraid, seeing as they didn't seem bad. I moved somewhat and looked to the sky, confused. "My name is Sei, what're your names?" It was all I knew to say, I was always taught to introduce myself nicely when around new people who tried speaking to me, so of course I'd automatically respond like that, the blond opened his book, shaking his head. "I'm Virus." He stated, moving a hand to motion to the other side of me. "Introduce yourself." He stated, shifting somewhat.
The redhead looked away for a few moments before speaking quietly. "My name is Trip." He stated, eyes finally moving to me. I blinked a few times and glanced down before moving and standing so I could turn to sit in front of them, as I sat down I smiled slightly, tilting my head. "You two should stay with me." I said cheerfully, grinning.
Those were fun times, good times, and the two did end up staying with me, Toue allowed it, after some hesitation. I try to open my eyes, not succeeding, and listen to the endless beeping which seemed to be keeping track of my heart rate, though I still felt like I was in the bed I shared with Noiz in the game. Ignoring my confusion, the odd factors all piling up, I decide to focus on another childhood memory involving my two friends. The one that came to mind wasn't one that I expected, though.
It was at a time that I went out with Virus and Trip to get some ice cream, I was twelve then, and Virus and Trip, at the respective ages of sixteen and thirteen, were asked to watch over me, seeing as I was being let off of my homes' property for once. At some point, the crowds got so thick that I got lost, and some boys from a nearby public school began to pick on me, one of them moved to try and hit me, I was crying, confused and scared as they spoke harsh words, and prepared their violence.
When suddenly, I saw someone practically pounce on the boys like a lion, before beginning to wail on them, punches to their faces, and they tried to gang up on him, but he bit, kicked, and punched even more. A growling voice escaped his throat as he practically roared at them.
"Get the hell away from Sei!"
The voice was Trip's. Trip was defending me, and wailing on these other little boys, as Virus approached from behind and put a hand on my shoulder. He spoke in a more soothing tone, that cracked somewhat, seeing as, according to Virus 'Puberty is strange, and you'll go through it sometime.'
"We noticed you went missing and got worried, Trip obviously didn't enjoy the situation we found you in, though." He said calmly, smiling down at me and holding one of my hands. Trip got up and wiped himself off as some of the kids ran off, crying. He grabbed my other hand and huffed, looking down.
"Let's just get that ice cream and go back home, already." He murmured, beginning to lead the way, though Virus matched his pace and made it more even, and I would've lagged behind if it weren't for their slightly tight grips on my hands. They were worried about me, and as a child, having people defend me that way had shocked me, but it made me feel genuinely happy.
It wasn't until three years later, when I was fifteen, Trip was sixteen, and Virus was nineteen that Trip and Virus started dating. A lot of people who found out thought it was disgusting, but I was happy for them. They had their fights, their rough moments, but I knew that they'd be happy together. It made me happy to be their friend, and they treated me like I was an important part of their family.
God, sometimes I missed the past. Sure, they still cared for me, but I didn't see them as much now...And I miss that.
I miss the simpler times.

Chapter Text

As I woke up, I heard something that wasn't like what I normally would've expected. Not feeling an intense warmth gave away that Noiz wasn't in there, but I kept silent, my eyes open as I didn't move, confusion flooding over me.
The sound I heard was shifting in the other bed, and occasional soft groans coming from...What was probably Virus. Confused, and concerned, I sat up only slightly and looked over, and the sight in front of me caused my eyes to widen.
There Virus was, his tunic and boots thrown off, his pants pushed down his thighs. Trip sat atop of him, his tail wrapped around the man's leg, forcing it to be hitched up as he stripped off his own clothing, his eyes, and respectively, Virus' eyes closed as their lips meshed together, their arms wrapped around each other.
I began to feel extremely uncomfortable seeing my two friends do this, and I quickly got out of bed, my wings flapping as I literally flew out of the room, slamming the door behind me and landing, only to sit against the wall and bury my face in my hands.
As reality all came to me, and not just the image burned into my head of Virus and Trip, I looked over myself and realized that I wasn't wearing the OTS outfit which I could've sworn I'd fallen asleep in. Looking around, I whimpered confusedly and stood up, touching my clothes and wondering who would've changed me. The most likely answer was Virus and Trip, but...
What if it was Noiz?
Just thinking that caused me to get flustered, and I covered my mouth with a hand, of course, a horrible thought coming to mind, thanks to what situation I'd seen Virus and Trip in. I switched their roles mentally with Noiz and I, and closed my eyes tight, trying to erase the image from my mind. I didn't understand why I was thinking this sort of thing. Of course, my timing of thinking that was the worst in the universe, as I heard footsteps approach and looked up, only to see the bunny-eared male, who knelt down curiously in front of me.
"Oi, what's going on?" He asked, looking over me in confusion, and my voice cracked as I tried to respond.
"I-um...Nothing, my mana is just sort of low for some reason!" I lied, and uncovered my mouth, face red. I'm not sure why I lied, but it caused Noiz to raise an eyebrow.
"My mana is sort of low, too. How about I fix it." He said in a smug tone, and leaned forward somewhat, putting a hand next to my head against the wall. I could tell he was lying, but as he moved a little, I remembered what a part of the perks with being 'husbands' with him was.
A kiss could bring your health and mana points back up.
Trying to brace myself, I shifted, keeping against the wall as I felt a pair of lips brush up lightly against my own. I didn't kiss back, I didn't move, I just sat there for the second, which felt like minutes, before he pulled away.
"Feel better?" Noiz questioned, wiping his lip as he moved and sat down next to me, and I nodded, hearing a sound escape the room, I felt my eyes widen and covered my face.
"...My best friends are...You know..." I tried to explain, not really being too bold when it came to speaking bluntly about any sort of intimate situations.
"Having sex, yeah, I could tell that's what they were gonna do. I tried to wake you up but you slapped me." He said calmly and shrugged, standing up and reaching a hand out to me. "Oi, get up, we're going somewhere else."
I felt bad, hearing that I'd slapped Noiz, but that was replaced with confusion, and I got up with his help, before being dragged off down the hallway and lead outside. There was a rose garden out there that I found breathtaking, and some training grounds where two pairs of people were sparring. I didn't recognize any of these people, but I'd make sure to look when I could, just in case someone from my, or from Noiz's party was there.
Noiz lead me off in the direction of the rose garden, but I looked up as he tried to drag me and got distracted. A thought came to mind.
"Noiz, would you like to try flying?" I asked, looking up still, and the pierced bunny boy stopped, looking me over.
"What are you getting at?" He questioned, and I moved closer to him, hands shaking as I wrapped my arms around his chest. I couldn't tell if this was an excuse to feel his warmth or not, but hey, I would try to take him with me as I took flight.
Automatically, his arms wrapped tight around my waist and he murmured something in German as I flapped my wings a few times and took to the air. Looking around, I smiled, managing to keep Noiz up just barely as I let my wings take me off to the side, Noiz looked worried and tense, but we weren't up too high, so I didn't quite understand why. We stayed there for a moment, not saying anything, Noiz finally starting to relax as we felt a light breeze, when it happened.
"Look out!" A voice called from behind me and an orb hit my back, causing me to drop Noiz and hurt one of my wings, thus falling myself.
"Noiz!" I called out, reaching for him before hitting the ground with a thud, him a few feet away from me. We weren't high enough to get enough fall damage that it'd kill us, only hurt us substantially. I groaned in pain, dragging myself over to him and collapsing next to him as he sat up, leaning over me.
"Never do that again." He stated, moving down, his face a few inches from mine, though I was dazed, not sure of what was going on in my mind, and he kissed me, definitely just to heal us both, but with how unfocused I was, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed back with an unknown passion. Only after we were completely healed did I realize what I'd done and move away from him quickly, face red.
"I'm-I'm sorry, Noiz!" I quickly began, waving my hands in front of my red face.
"Stop that." He stated, moving a bit and staring at me, it caused me to grow shocked and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Stop what?" I asked, moving a little bit, my voice weak and confused.
"Stop that whole accident bullshit, what the hell was that just now?" His tone got a bit harsh, making it obvious that he was confronting me completely. I didn't know what I could do, other than be honest, so I looked down and frowned.
"I...Ended up developing feelings for you."

Chapter Text

Everything had started in such an odd manner, with simple talking, and growing closer, and here it was...I admitted my feelings to Noiz, who was sitting in front of me, green eyes trained on me, face stained with only the lightest blush. Instead of responding with words, he moved forward and cupped my cheek, lightly kissing me.
Everything was going right for once, so I got up, after Noiz and I moved slightly away from one another. We began to walk, headed towards the building we were staying before we heard something. Looking out, we saw three children running through the garden, one of them with the Thief skin, the other with the Assassin skin. Following behind them was a small girl in the Princess skin who stopped and stared at me, running up to me, the two boys saw this and ran up as well.
The girl had hair that could be described as 'ginger', she had freckles, a pink variation of the Princess skin, and a look of awe on her face as she looked up at me.
"You're an angel princess!" She stated, moving her hands out at either side, but the boys seemed a bit fixated on Noiz.
"Look at how much metal he has in his face!" The one wearing a green variation of the Assassin skin stated, pointing up at Noiz, the other boy, who was wearing an Orange variation of the Thief skin stared at Noiz and giggled. They were an odd bunch.
"Well, um..Yes, I am an angel princess." I said calmly to the girl, kneeling down and holding out a hand. "You can call me Princess Sei, if you'd like. What's your name?" I asked, tilting my head and smiling softly, she had a gleam in her eye, and she moved a bit, curtseying before introducing herself.
"I'm Princess Mio, and those two are my big brothers, Kio," she pointed to the one in the Assassin skin, "and Nao." Her finger then went to the one in the Thief skin.
"It's nice to meet you three, but Noiz and I should be headed back to our room. We need to rest up to have the energy for whatever may happen next in this event, and I'd suggest the same of you three." I stated, tilting my head and smiling before Noiz wandered to me and grabbed my hand.
"What? A rabbit is holding a princess' hand? That's weird!" Nao called out, and Kio continued speaking.
"Especially because that princess looks kinda like Aoba! That princess is a boy!"
Embarrassed, I glanced down, face reddening before I was dragged away by Noiz, who huffed.
"Jeez, kids are annoying." He murmured, gripping my hand lightly as he continued to pull me along.
"Well, they're...Not that bad. They could be worse." I said quietly, trying to hide that I was getting a bit flustered. The topic dropped from there, and we kept wandering through the halls before finally coming to our room, I went to knock on the door, but instead of that being what happened, Noiz lifted me bridal style and, shockingly, kicked the door in as I gripped onto him tightly, confused and shocked.
"Oi, get out, Sei and I need some alone time." He called, walking over to our bed as I looked around, confused, and Trip just growled, wrapping his arms around Virus before realization struck, and, still naked, he hopped up, glaring at Trip.
"Put Sei-san down." He growled out, his demon tail whipping at the air as he looked prepared to pounce Noiz. I covered my eyes, not wanting to see my childhood friend in the nude, as Noiz dropped me on the bed and got on it, leaning over me.
"T-Trip, please leave!" I snapped, closing my eyes tight, I knew Noiz wasn't going to actually do anything with me, but I didn't want a fight to break out between my teammates. Trip took a moment before letting out an annoyed breath, I then heard the sound of clothes moving against skin, and seeing as I heard that for a while, before I heard the door open and close, I assumed Trip got dressed and left. Opening my eyes, I looked to his and Virus' bed to see that the blond was also gone.
Noiz moved a bit and sat down next to me, stretching out as he relaxed. Looking at him like that reminded me of something. Something I should've asked him a while ago.
"Why were you hacking into my house that day?" I asked, crossing my arms and furrowing my eyebrows. He stifled a quiet laugh, shaking his head and opening a single eye.
"I wanted to get some loot from the Princess' castle. A high level like you in a high security place like that? There had to be something good, but all I got when at your place was a husband. Not that I minded that." He said, a smug tone to his voice. His sharp gaze moved to me, and I felt myself tense up, moving my eyes away from him as I looked to the door, frowning.
"Do you think Trip is going to be mad when he finds out we made him leave for no reason?" I asked, and suddenly I felt myself pulled down onto the bed, Noiz moved over me, fixing my collar before lightly kissing my neck, which caused me to yelp.
"Well, it wasn't for no reason. I do need to get something straight." He stated, moving his lips away from ny neck as he stared down at me, and I shifted beneath him. "You're my husband, sure, but out of this hellhole of an event, and this damn game, are you my boyfriend now?" He asked, a smirk coming to his lips. Instead of answering i took it upon myself to stare at the piercings he had on his face, taking a moment to calm my breathing before I answered.
"Um...Well, I'd like that, but only if you're okay with it." I said softly, my voice cracking a bit as I forced the words out. Noiz moved close again, looking me in the eye seriously.
"Alright, then I guess we're boyfriends." He stated before lightly kissing my lips and pulling away. He got up and opened the door, leaning out and informing Trip that he could come back in with Virus. I just lay where I was for a moment, moving a hand over my mouth and curling up. That...Was something I didn't expect today.
But I needed to bring my focus back to the task at hand, finding out what was going on. Feeling was more vivid. I couldn't see peoples' usernames and levels, nor their classes. If it weren't for me knowing what the classes looked like, I'd never know what I was dealing with.
Closing my eyes and just listening to Trip and Noiz bicker like how I imagine angry siblings would, I begin to think.
'What could Toue be planning?' I ask myself mentally, and I hear Virus begin to stir, a knock coming from the door before I sit up and look, only to see a letter being pushed underneath it. Virus moved and grabbed it drowsily, opening it and looking at the conents.
"All of you, listen. It looks like there's another mini event happening." He stated, looking mainly to me, then to Trip.
This would be interesting...

Chapter Text

Virus cleared his throat, forcing himself to stretch a bit, looking over his clothed body with minor confusion, as if thinking 'I didn't put these on.' But, hey, what could you expect from someone who was dressed by his boyfriend and carried out of the room without knowing it due to sleep? He managed to clear his throat, getting his voice in order before he spoke, his voice ringing out clear, and smooth.
"Sei, Noiz, Virus, and Trip, you have all been invited to a feast. Not everyone here will be there, as that would be too crowded, but there will be other guests. You may see someone you recognize, you may not. There will be food, and for those of you who enjoy it, alcohol. It'll be a place to speak, and enjoy yourselves, before the next upcoming event. Come wearing whatever you please, but be certain to sit next to what team members have been invited. If you don't, your safety cannot be guaranteed. Do not bring your weapons, or potions. Do not fight anyone there. A guard will be up to escort you shortly."
The bespectacled man sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose before setting down the letter. He looked over at all of us, shaking his head. "It looks like we're headed to a feast soon." He said, before heading to a chest and putting away his whip and potions. He moved and sat down on his and Trip's bed, Trip followed suit, putting his gauntlets and poisons in the chest, and sitting down next to Virus, who he wrapped his arms and tail around protectively.
I sighed, moving to the chest I was supposed to share with Noiz, opening it and putting in my plethora of potions and staff, Noiz followed, standing close behind, he put in his potions, poison, and claw-gauntlets. He stared at me for a moment before sitting down. I shifted my position, closing my eyes as I flapped my wings a bit.
"So, Noiz, what the hell were you doing with Sei-san?" Trip growled out, leaning forward a bit as he watched the pierced man, Virus' shock showing on his face before he looked over to me, then to Noiz.
"I was doing something." He stated moving a hand over to me, and smirking somewhat.
"What exactly were you doing?" Virus piped up curiously, tilting his head, his eyes trained on Noiz just as tensely as Trip's were.
"I could show you." Noiz said smugly, moving a bit and wrapping his arms around me before he pulled me into his lap. Trip seemed ready to attack him, and Virus kept a hand on Trip's knee to keep him back as Noiz leaned in and kissed my neck, I kept my mouth covered by a hand, flustered and confused.
Virus moved near Trip and began to whisper to the man who looked ready to kill Noiz as he held me in place. Virus eventually calmed Trip down, and just in time, too, as there was a knock on the door.
Trip let go of Virus and got up, opening the door with a huff, standing there was a guard wearing an Orc Warrior skin, they shied away from Trip, and Noiz picked me up, setting me down, everyone followed the guard, me behind Noiz. Soon enough we entered a dining room with a long table, people sitting at many seats. There were four open ones somewhere along the line, and we were ushered to sit.
Toue stood, once everyone was sitting, and my eyes went to him, he cleared his throat, speaking calmly as as someone across the table tried to get my attention, but then paid attention to the man up front.
"Hello, guests. Tonight we have a feast, and at this feast, you'll be allowed to gain nourishment for tomorrow's event, in which you will have to bring your weapons, but no potions or poisons." He stated, grinning. "And I hope you fair well." At that, he turned and walked off, as if leaving the spotlight.
I turned my attention to the food, but noticed long blue hair, and my attention focused on the people sitting across from me, they were Usui, and Mizuki.
"Usui, Mizuki!" I piped up, grinning, Virus and Trip hear my words, and they look over, both giving amused looks as they see me practically jump over the table to hug the two. Noiz, on the other hand, was just straight up shocked. Usui and Mizuki hugged me tight, before they looked to Virus and Trip and grinned.
"I'm glad to see you're all alright." Usui announced, grinning, her gold eyes now moving to Noiz, who wrapped an arm around me, causing both Usui and Mizuki to give a confused expression towards me.
"So, what's happening here?" Mizuki asked, pointing at Noiz's arm as he raised an eyebrow.
"I'm his husband in game, boyfriend out of game." He stated boldly, keeping an arm around me as he stared down my friends.
"Oh, Sei, you didn't tell me you had a pierced boy, I should've known you'd like that type." Usui teased, leaning against her palm. I was too embarrassed to say anything and covered my face. We all chatted casually for the remainder of the night, Mizuki got tipsy, so did Virus, and Noiz. Trip was completely wasted by the end of the night, so I had to lead the group to our room. Trip passed out with Virus, but Noiz held me, and he ensued a heated makeout session before growing tired and cuddling me until we passed out. Time for the darkness.

Chapter Text

Getting exactly what I expected, endless darkness, I began to think, wondering what in the world was going on around me. Why couldn't I open my eyes? Why did it sound like I was in one of those rooms I was in at times as a child? But, as I tried to think, I heard a voice.
"...Sei...It really is you." The voice was that of an old woman, and I heard footsteps moving to me, I heard a chair dragged up, and I assumed the woman sat down in the chair, looking at me. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't bring you to live with Aoba and I..." She murmured, tone sorrowful, regretful. To be honest, I felt confusion boiling in my chest, and she must've seen it on my face.
"Can you hear me?" She asked, eyes widening somewhat. "Clench your fists if you can." Her tone sounded almost hopeful, and I used what energy I had to do so. A quiet laugh escaped the old woman's mouth, before she sighed and shook her head. "Do you want to know what I'm talking about?"
I clench my fists harder, before relaxing my hands, hoping she got the message. Of course I wanted to know what she was talking about. Whoever this old woman was, she obviously knew Aoba. She may have been the one who raised him.
After a few long moments of silence, I finally heard her speaking up again, and with my eyes closed, I could picture what she was saying at least somewhat.
"Alright, alright. Just like your brother in that way." She murmured, before beginning her story. "My name is Tae, and I used to work for Toue. A long time ago, he had plans that I didn't know of, I just wanted to do neurological research, but, with my research, Toue did something else. He created two little twins who had no pigmentation in their skin or hair. They were connected by that hair, they were you and Aoba." She sounded a bit troubled as she spoke, before another breath left her lips and I heard her shift in the chair. She continued her story shortly after.
"Neither of you were breathing. We had to sever the tie between you to see if that would save you. It saved you, Sei. You started crying, and you were kept by Toue, so he could research you, Aoba wasn't breathing though, so I took him to bury him...When his eyes opened. After that I ended up bringing him to an orphanage, and years after, my daughter and her odd husband adopted him." A quiet chuckle escaped her lips.
"Nine and Haruka, they left to travel a lot, leaving Aoba with me, and at some point they stopped coming back, until now. But...Of course they came back when Aoba found himself caught in Toue's trap..." Suddenly, I heard the door open, and footsteps come in, I heard a voice, a voice that I knew by heart.
Toue's voice.
"Tae, I believe you've overstayed your visit to Sei. You should come see your grandson before visiting hour is over, though." He explained, his tone having hidden notes of resent. I heard Tae standing, and a huff escaping her lips before she walked out of the room, then I heard Toue's voice again.
"You shouldn't believe everything she says, Sei. After all, who raised you as his loving son?" He asked, before walking out.
But I knew that Tae was telling the truth, that much was apparent. If only I knew what his plan was...

Chapter Text

When my eyes opened and I sat up, I saw that Noiz was still asleep, curled up and clinging to a pillow. I looked to the other side of the room to see Trip asleep, clinging to Virus, who sat up reading a book. I tilted my head, smiling somewhat before speaking up.
"Did you sleep well, Virus?" I asked, and the blond's eyes left the pages of book, moving to me.
"Ah, good morning, Sei-san. I slept well, but not as well as the other two seem to be sleeping." He joked, smiling somewhat, before his face changed to a blank one and he stared at me tensely. "...Sei-san, I'm curious."
"Huh? What about?" I question, shifting a bit and bringing my knees to my chest. I was honestly curious about what could be on his mind.
"What have you been 'dreaming' about since we got stuck here?" He asked, leaning forward a bit, his sharp eyes boring into me. They weren't bright blue like that when we first met...When did they become that bright?
"I've been hearing sounds like I'm in a hospital, and occasionally people talking to me." I said quietly, staring into Virus' eyes as something began to worry me and I spoke up. "When did your eyes become that bright? I know they've been like that for a while, but..."
Virus' eyes widened somewhat as the question escaped my mouth and he gave a small smile, furrowing his eyebrows, which made his expression look a little worried.
"A week after Toue took Trip and I in. He changed Trip's eyes, too." He stated, and I felt my stomach churn at his words, a hand going to my mouth. I swallowed back saliva and shook my head before speaking again.
"Why did he change your eyes?"
"Because you have a power with your eyes, you haven't used it in a long time, Sei-san, can't you remember?" He leaned back a bit, and frowned when I shook my head.
"Perhaps you repressed your power after you used it on that little boy..." He started, tilting his head before prying Trip off of him and wandering over to me. "You caused a little boy to lose his will using your eyes, years ago. You've repressed the memory and your power, most likely."
"I have that power..?" I asked, and everything began to click, suddenly, the memory flooded my brain. The boy who I left changed. He was odd, and I didn't know what to think of him, so I...Entered his brain. I tampered with something. I can't recall what, or what it did.
"Perhaps you remembering how to use your eyes will help us. You'll have to do that, eventually, Sei." He stated, and I shook my head.
"I don't want to use my power, no, not after whatever happened then!" I stated, closing my eyes, before I felt a hand grip my wrist and I looked over, Noiz was stirring, and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"What the hell is going on?" He asked, moving to look to Virus now, who sighed and moved back to his bed, sitting next to Trip, who also seemed to be stirring, I focused on his eyes, which were doll-like. Just like Virus'.
I shook my head, trying to bury the thoughts, the memory, and stood up, grabbing my weapon from it's chest, I held the staff, looking carefully at it.
"Didn't Toue announce that there would be another event today?" I asked, looking over to everyone else, and Noiz sighed, crawling out of bed and grabbing his clawed gauntlets before pulling them on over his bandaged hands.
"Yeah, that's about right." He huffed, sitting down on the bed and pulling me onto his lap suddenly, drowsily wrapping his arms around me as he buried his face in my shoulder.
I moved my gaze to Virus and Trip, Trip was pulling on his normal gauntlets, and Virus gathering his whip. Virus smirked, his snakelike gaze moving to me before he spoke.
"I'm glad you remembered, Sei-san. Because you realize we'll likely be fighting, given the circumstances." As if speaking on cue, the door was opened, and standing there was a masked white haired man. Virus, Trip, and I recognized him as Alpha Two. He was wearing a mix between the Sad Jester set, and the Idol set. He motioned for us all to follow him, speaking.
"It's time to gather outside for the next event."
We all moved, marching like ants as we headed towards our destination, Noiz sighed, looking tired. We got outside, looking around a crowd of people. I heard someone running up, a cheerful voice calling out "Sei-san!" The owner of the voice got to me, and it was ClearJellyfish. Clear. Looking at him again I felt a pang of pain in my chest and covered my mouth, tensing up. He looked exactly like the Alphas, but he was different.
"Sei-san, are you alright?" He asked, frowning and moving a large beastly hand to cup my two. I nodded and uncovered my mouth, straightening up before smiling.
"I'm fine, don't worry."
As I spoke, I smelt cinnamon, and from behind Clear, ScratchPast approached. I never learned about who he was, or what his name was, so I waited to hear something from Clear, who turned to him quickly and almost hopped up.
"Mink-san! Guess who I found!" He announced, pointing to me, the rest of my group stood near me, and Mink's eyes connected with those of whoever was right behind me, I looked, and that would be Noiz, who furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed tense, but it seemed to be normal for all of them.
Before Mink could say anything, we heard Toue's voice, and I saw him visibly tense up. He looked ready to kill, just at the sound of that voice...
"Hello, everyone, we will soon be starting our next event. This event will be a battle royale. If a team seems evenly matched up after some fighting, we will excuse both teams, but if a substantial amount of damage is dealt to any team members, your team will be automatically excused."
I frowned at those words, holding my staff close to my body. Toue moved a bit, a holographic screen appearing above him, and it seemed to show the rosters.
"The first fight will be between two apparently strong teams. We have Team SNVT, which consists of members Sei, the Angel Princess, Noiz, the March Hare, Virus, the Timestopper, and Trip, the Demon. They will be fighting against team UMCM, which consists of Usui, the Idol, Mizuki, the Reaper, Clear, the Nurse Beast, and Mink, the Fighter."
My eyes widened, and I felt my jaw drop. I'd be fighting against three friends, and a man who I didn't know, but was on the same party as my brother originally.
Why would this sort of thing be the sort of punishment we received?

Chapter Text

The eight of us were ushered to a stadium looking area, and we split, my group and I on one side, Usui's and her on the other. Usui and Mizuki looked at Trip, Virus and I wearily. Clear looked at everyone in that way, whereas Mink looked to the side, not looking at a single one of us. Looking at the other team, I saw Usui pose, and I realized something different, her avatar...
Her avatar had ten arms. Usui looked to me tensely, giving a sad smile, as she moved the arms, and Toue spoke over a speaker, it seemed.
"Let the match begin."
Mizuki grabbed his scythe, Clear moved somewhat, his beastly hands clenched into fists, and Mink looked prepared to fight someone head to head. Before I could even think, I saw Mizuki charge at Noiz with his scythe. Noiz lept into the air, using the ability he had to jump and land safely from higher heights than others, his hands were balled up into fists. I moved a bit, flapping my wings before allowing myself up into the air, I held my staff tight, looking over the fight for a moment, I saw Clear trying to get to Virus, but mostly blocking the hits from the blond's whip. Mink and Trip were fighting head-on, fists to gauntlets. That left me with...
I turned my eyes forward, seeing Usui down on the ground looking up to me, she waved some of her arms, and let out a voice in a song like manner, the sound of it hit me and shook my bones. Idols were formidable opponents, you'd have to get them from behind, where they couldn't hit you, but they also had the ability to create platforms, as I'd seen Usui do before. Moving all of her arms, Usui began to create a staircase up to me, which she moved up slowly, her expression still sad. I moved, flying around to try and get a strike at her. It took me a bit, but I managed to hit her in the back of the head with my staff, and she swung one of her arms at me, creating a platform right in front of me, which caused my body to topple from the sky, and land on the ground. I sat up, coughing a bit. Not being able to see my own health anymore made this dangerous.
I sat up, preparing to heal myself, when I saw Noiz bound towards me, he leaned down, cupping my cheek, he looked hurt, and Mizuki moved to hit him from behind, but froze when he saw the blond press his lips against mine lightly. He pulled away, wiping his lip before smirking. "Don't lose just yet, Sei." He teased, turning and moving quickly at Mizuki. I stood, looking around for a moment to see Clear in a predicament. Usui looked prepared to charge in to help Clear, who was on his last legs, and Virus moved about to whip him, sending what would likely be the final hit, then...Something I didn't expect happened.
Mink charged in, blocking Clear's body with his own and taking the damage from Virus' whip instead. He turned his head to look at Clear, speaking in a tone that was cold, but seemed to hide a faint fondness towards the white haired male. "Heal yourself, and don't die already." Clear's eyes widened at that, and he moved a bit.
"Mink-san..." He murmured before nodding and using the healing ability his Nurse skin gave him, he healed himself, then immediately after, used the same ability on Mink, who let out a breath before moving in after Trip again.
The battle continued this way, Virus and Trip healing each other with kisses, as they were married in the game as well, before a twist occurred between two on the opposing team.
"Oi, mask." He called back, looking to Clear, who moved a bit, blinking a few times, curiosity boiling over in his body, almost obviously.
"Yes, Mink-san?" He called, blocking one of Virus' blows, when Mink moved a bit and spoke out.
"Accept my marriage request."
That caused both teams to freeze in their places, all of which looking to Mink, then to Clear, Clear was just as confused as we all were. He took a moment to think before finally speaking.
"I accept, Mink-san!"
At that moment, it seemed they were binded, much in the same way that people married in game would be, they were fighting stronger, and with more precision. Our team was close to taking them down at that point, but with their rash move, they were pulling back again, when suddenly, a noise went off.
"This match is called. It will be declared as a tie, both teams are equally fit to continue on here." Toue's voice echoed, and we all got to back away from one another, Usui ran up to me and hugged me tight, frowning.
"I don't want to have to fight you again, Sei." She spoke, and I wrapped my arms around her. She was my best friend, so I shared that feeling. We both moved, everyone walking to head to their respective rooms, as I got up some stairs and onto a balcony area, I froze up, hearing a scream. The scream of a little girl...It was that child I heard, Mio.
I looked out, and I saw Mio outside of the ring, trying to get in but being held back by one of the Alphas, who on close inspection, I noted was Alpha One. She was reaching out, tears welling in her eyes, I looked to what she was seeing, and I felt a pang of pain in my chest. Aoba and that man, Koujaku, were being held back by larger men, and they looked pissed, in the ring...
There was Kio and Nao, the brothers of the little girl, Mio. Kio was hunched over on the ground, coughing up blood and crying for his mother, a man in the Mercenary skin slammed a boot into his head, pushing it into the ground, he kept kicking Kio around ruthlessly, and Kio cried, bleeding as he curled up on his side. Nao was dealing with a man wearing the Swordsman skin, and he was backing up, horrified, when the swordsman swung his blade, barely missing the little boy. He moved close, kicking Nao in the side of the head and sending him off to the side. Nao was also crying, he was scared, and reasonably so, when it happened.
I heard a snap, and everyone's attention turned to Kio, who had his neck crushed beneath the boot of the Mercenary, people were rioting, screaming, but being held back. Mio's tears overcame her and she kept calling out to her brother. Nao, at that moment, let out a blood curdling scream, the Swordsman's sword was in that moment, stabbed into his trachea. My vision was stained with the dying and dead boys, blood filling my mind, I turned my gaze to Mio, who got loose, and the larger men were whisked away. The little girl tried helplessly to heal her brothers, choked sobs escaping her mouth.
Aoba and Koujaku were let go, and Aoba collapsed, throwing up. Koujaku moved to him, rubbing his back to try and get him to feel better. I felt like I was about to do the same as Aoba, so I rushed inside, tears pricking at my eyes.
How could someone be so cruel?

Chapter Text

I spent the rest of the night feeling sick, and I curled up in bed, when Noiz asked what was wrong, followed by a worried Virus and Trip, I explained to them what had happened, and what I'd seen, and began to cry. Noiz held me close, lulling me slowly to sleep. When my eyes were closed, I was greeted by the familiar beeping, and darkness.
I didn't hear any voices that night, and I couldn't think of anything other than what I saw, which only made me feel worse. After a long, painful night, the morning seemed to come, and my eyes opened in game, everyone else was already up, Trip sitting next to Virus and staring at the ceiling, Virus reading a book, and Noiz dressed in an OTS suit. It was black, and he looked to me, frowning. "Sei, you need to get up.." He murmured, holding a hand out to me to help me up. I accepted it, and was pulled to my feet, he spoke quietly, sounding less than amused, less than happy.
"We're going to their in-game funeral today." He stated, motioning to the drawers, where I wandered to and found a suit myself, silently changing. I couldn't bring myself to speak, I just did as I was told. Noiz and I wandered out together, I held his hand, and we got to where the funeral would be. Standing there, sobbing her eyes out, was Mio in a black gown. I approached her and put a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to me and hugged me tight. Aoba and Koujaku were there, and when they saw Noiz and I, they looked somewhat surprised, but none of us spoke during the service. We felt too sick to do so. That much was obvious.
After the funeral was over, Aoba and Koujaku approached Noiz and I, and we walked in the garden. In the garden we spotted Usui, who approached all of us.
"Sei, what's going on?" She asked, moving a bit to look over the blue haired men, then to Noiz, and lastly to me.
"We just attended a funeral service for two little boys who were killed in game yesterday." Noiz answered for me, putting a hand on my shoulder, my glassy eyes focused on the ground before I did something I didn't think I would, I spread my wings, and glanced to them as they turned black, my rage showing in my eyes as I began to speak.
"How could Toue stand back and let that happen?" I began, venom dripping from my voice like water would from a leaky faucet. "He just stood by when two boys were killed. He stopped our match, why couldn't he stop theirs?" Noiz seemed shocked, looking at my wings, but his shock turned into anger.
"The guy is a tool, that's how." He answered plainly, and Koujaku huffed, looking away. It seemed he agreed with Noiz. Looking over Usui, and Aoba...Even they had a certain loathing etched into their eyes. No, I didn't hate Toue...But this was unacceptable.
"...I have an idea." I stated, moving a bit, my wings flapping as I looked at the others, a fire in my eyes.
"What kind of idea?" Aoba asked, he'd found out we were brothers, and kept close to me, being protective.
"Tomorrow, Usui, get Mizuki, Clear, and Mink to come out here, late at night. Noiz, Virus, Trip and I will be here. Aoba, you and Koujaku come, too." With that I turned to leave, I heard everyone murmur in agreement, except Noiz, who grabbed my wrist and moved close to me.
"What the hell are you planning, Sei?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows, and I smiled my normal smile, but with a hint of sadness.
"To save us all."

Chapter Text

For the rest of the day, I trained, sparring with my teammates, they seemed confused, except for Noiz. We all kept sparring, not letting up until we were all out of energy and low on health. At that point, I move into my room and sat on my bed, changing out of the suit, which I'd sparred in, and into my normal clothing. Noiz changed out of his suit as well, changing back into his normal outfit. We both sat down on our bed, and Noiz moved a hand over mine, looking forward.
"Sei-san, what's with the wing color change?" Trip piped up as he stretched, staring at my dark black wings, Virus also looked at them, raising an eyebrow, as he was just as expectant for an answer as Trip was.
I lowered my head a bit, flapping my wings before looking to them. "It's all gone too far, so my wings changed, and tomorrow, we're all going out to make some plans. I won't let this carry on." At the tone of my voice, which was serious, despite being as light as normal, Trip and Virus looked shocked.
"Hmn, really now?" Virus asked, leaning to the side before smirking. "Alright, Sei-san, we can agree to this."
After that, I went back to being silent, not wanting to talk. Noiz was just as quiet as I was, the only sound in the room was idle chatter coming from Virus and Trip. Before long, night time came, and to prepare for tomorrow, I let myself fall asleep, clinging defensively to the pierced blond, who held me close.
And darkness washed over me.
This time, something was different, I felt water, and I felt hands on my body, before I heard the voices.
"Ah, bathing Sei-san while he's passed out like this is odd." It was Alpha One's voice.
"If I were more Human, I'd feel uncomfortable, I think." Alpha Two murmured, sounding a bit less alright with this than the first Alpha did.
The two continued like this for a while, a confused soft sound escaping my throat. It caught their attention.
"Ah? Sei-san, are you awake?" Alpha One asked, moving a hand against my cheek. I opened my mouth as much as I could under these odd circumstances, a broken sound escaping my throat.
"Alpha One, let's just continue bathing him. We shouldn't be bothering Sei-san too much at the moment, it could mess up Toue's experiment."
"Master Toue hasn't even fully indulged us in what that experiment is..." Alpha One said in a tone that was mechanical, but dripping with annoyance. The two eventually finished what they were doing and dried me off before putting me into some clothes. I felt myself being carried before I was deposited on that bed again, and after I had something placed against my chest, I heard it, the beeping. The mysteries were really just piling up, and I had no clue what to do or say in these situations.
"We'll learn his plan soon, brother. Let's go." Alpha One said snidely, and I heard their footsteps exit the room in complete synchronization.
Hopefully I'd learn his plan before they did.

Chapter Text

When morning came, it was obvious that today would be another day of Toue's fights. I heard people being called out to fight, of course, I didn't know any of them, but they were still people. Eventually, I got up, and found something to eat. Noiz wasn't in the room, neither were Virus and Trip.
I was left to my own devices for now, it seemed.
Sitting down on the bed, I stared at my arms, before pulling up the sleeves of my two shirts. The skin was perfect, pale, scarless, almost like porcelain. Just how it was in real life. I then quietly pulled the two shirts off, looking at my chest, which at first glance looked as clear as my arms, but there were a few incision marks on it, which...
Was still just like real life.
Everything was too real, it was bothering me, it was unnerving, annoying, saddening, nerve-wracking, everything. It was just too real to be how this game originally was. I'd know, seeing as I had been playing it since it first came out. I'd been playing it all this time, and only once this special event happen did everything seem as real as it did now.
Maybe it was because we couldn't see usernames, or mana, or health, or levels, or class, anything like that. Or maybe it was because we could feel everything as if the game was directly connected to our nerves. Nothing was ever this real before the event, and it made me wonder, 'Were people uninvolved with the event still playing it like it was normal?'
If they were, than I felt envious of those people. Those who could still live and play normally, who didn't have to deal with death, and fear. Those who still got to go back to the real world, and outside of their homes. Those who got to see their families in person.
I envied them so much that it began to hurt, when it hit me.
'They've probably been temporarily banned from the game.' It was the only explanation, if I thought more about it. Something like this event would be on a grand scale, and even wandering near the event plaza would suck them in, so...Anyone who hadn't entered the first day was likely temporarily banned from the game. They weren't allowed in, as we weren't allowed out. Realizing this, I breathed out, when I heard the door open.
I looked up, my eyes being met with those sharp green ones I'd grown so accustomed to. Noiz sighed and sat next to me, shifting a bit.
"See someone's finally awake." He teased, looking to me, and I gave a sheepish smile, nodding.
"Yes, I am." I said softly, my eyes staying connected to his.
"Are you feeling better?" He questioned, leaning forward somewhat, and a soft response escaped my throat without me thinking about it.
"I won't feel better until we can get out of here and go out somewhere."
Realizing what I said, my face flushed, and I turned my head down to hide it, Noiz blinked a few times, and out of my peripheral vision, I could see him smirk somewhat. He shook his head and stood, shoving a hand in his pocket.
"Well, Virus and Trip are watching the fights, we should find something to do until later on tonight."
For the rest of the day, Noiz and I idly chatted, and I could feel myself falling deeper and deeper, we also just ran around, trying to distract ourselves, and I felt myself smiling, having fun. It wasn't like it was before. I could actually enjoy myself, for once in this god-forsaken event. And it was when I was trying to distract myself for the day, of course. Soon enough, nightfall fell, and Virus and Trip returned, looking almost as blank as dolls as we walked to the rose gardens. We met Clear, Mizuki, Usui, Mink, Aoba, and Koujaku there. I heard a guard walking around and we all ran off to hide, finding an empty area out of sound and sight of most things.
"Sei-san, what's this about?" Clear asked, tilting his head.
"We have to find our way out of here, and we have to save everyone else, too." I explained.
Throughout the next few hours, we discussed a plan. Everyone would fight off the guards when we had to, but Clear and I would also be escorting people out, and healing anyone who was harmed. Once we all escaped the area, Noiz, Usui and I would try to hack into the system, and find a way to turn off the game, safely waking everyone. It was the only real way for this to work, and we'd pull it off.

Chapter Text

Soon enough, I'd escaped back into my room, feeling far too tired to allow myself to stick around the others for too much longer. I sat on the edge of my bed, and Noiz sat next to me. Virus and Trip automatically went to bed, and likely, Noiz and I should've as well, for, when I gave the signal, we'd start our revolution of sorts.
The blond moved his hand over mine, staring at the ground, and my gaze moved to him. He took a deep breath, before finally speaking.
"Are you sure you're up to lead this sort of thing?" He asked, his gaze settling on me, and I smiled softly.
"Someone has to." I said quietly, leaning against him and frowning.
"I guess so." He said softly, moving and kissing my cheek. He sounded a bit worried, and after what we'd seen, I could see why. I moved and in response kissed his lips lightly, before moving and laying down. Noiz moved and lay next to me, wrapping his arms around me like a shield. "You'd better live, Sei." He said quietly, kissing my forehead, and I smiled, nuzzling against him before I allowed words to spill from my mouth.
"I will, but you had better do the same. It's time for bed, now." I whispered, and he sighed, nodding to me before we both settled into sleep, curled up together.
When darkness overtook me, I was greeted by an uncomfortable feeling in my gut, and that feeling was caused by something I didn't expect to hear tonight.
"Master Toue, I want to know your plans." It was Alpha One, and Toue let out an amused laugh, before speaking calmly.
"Alpha One, I didn't expect that from you so suddenly, but, I guess it can't be helped. I'll tell you, but you should be prepared for the truth."
I heard footsteps, and they were likely Toue's, his voice pierced the air, and I listened the best I could.
"I've, as you know, trapped the players of this game. I will keep them trapped, and lure them into a need to stay. The game is a world of beauty, and they can be who or whatever they want. I'll bait them all with that. As I do that, I'll get more people into the game, and I'll let them have their own world there. As time goes on...I'll use their bodies as puppets. I'll take over. This land will be my kingdom, as they create their own in the game. It will be a beautiful occurrence. Everyone will be under my control, and they will be happy."
I froze up, and after that, Toue left the room with the Alphas. For the remainder of the night, I heard beeping, and quiet chatter throughout the halls. I hated this. Toue was trying to control everything, as he always did. But, why was he in my room earlier? Why was he using a game to control everything? I couldn't understand. Eventually, I woke up, and I clung tightly to Noiz, kissing his cheek as I whimpered. He held me close, worried about whatever it was, but he didn't ask. I wouldn't have told him anyways.
Everything began. The day went slowly. We didn't talk much, but Aoba, Koujaku, Usui, Clear, Mizuki, and Mink met up with us. They came along. I'd give a signal when we were to start this, which wasn't just yet. No, I was waiting. I saw that Toue had left to go somewhere, and I moved quickly, standing on a stage. He looked over his shoulder at me, curiosity piquing as my voice rang out.
"Everyone, you can die in here! If you die, you will likely die in the real world, thanks to the connections Toue has set up!" I raised my right hand, waving it once to get more attention.
That was the signal.
My voice rang out loudly, for once, and the others got people to come out, to listen to me.
"If we stay here, Toue will take over, and I know this, because I am his son! We need to revolt, we need to escape! If we don't, everyone we care for will be in danger, and so will we!" As I mentioned my relation to Toue, more people paid attention, soon enough, Clear motioned to me as to say everyone who wasn't a guard was here, and I cleared my throat, continuing my words. I explained it. Toue's plan, and people at first seemed skeptical, until one said;
"This is a part of the special event, let's play along."
It was Noiz. He was turning them towards me, rather than against me, and they all began agreeing, cheering and shouting as I explained what we would do.
"You all, escape! Especially lower levels! If a guard tries to kill you, go fast, or, if you're a high enough level, fight back with all of your might. Gather your weapons, your potions, your poisons, I will free us, we will escape!"
Another cheer escaped the lips of the crowd members, the guards were starting to take notice, I bit down on my lower lip and called out loudly. "The exit will be the large gate in the front, we need our Warriors, Brutes, Beasts, and others of classes that focus primarily on strength to knock it down! We've estimated it has as much health as Arkaiyu, the Dragon Priest! Quickly, the rest of us, Assassins, Mages, you know who you are! Those who focus on things other than strength, will hold off the guards as they work!"
People rushed in the direction of the gate, and I moved to Noiz, grabbing him before taking flight and heading to the gate. People who could fly could try to get out, but it was odd, there was an invisible wall not allowing it. We had to leave through the gate. I moved to the ground as we got close and kissed the top of Noiz's head as I set him down and wielded my staff.
Time to get this revolution started.

Chapter Text

Things got started quickly, I stayed in the air for the time being. All of the strength based people got to work, other than those who were working with me, we all kept guard, with those who didn't have strength based classes. Guards finally began to turn up, and I heard myself shout without thinking.
"Princesses, Priests, Angels, and others with mainly healing based attributes, move to the back! Anyone with wings, take flight for as long as you can manage!" My words didn't catch their attention, but then Aoba's eyes burned gold and he shouted them again. My voice was too soft for most, unless all were being silent, it seemed. They took flight without a second thought at Aoba's words, and I realized...
My brother could control people with his voice, like I...Was told I could with my eyes? But it was different, definitely. I shook my head, sighing, when I heard the gate come crashing down and turned my head, everyone was fleeing, but the guards were upon us, and they were unrelenting. I saw Noiz moving faster than most others, because of his high level March Hare class. It made things more easy for him. There were healers protecting friends, and strangers. People were trying to escape, and I saw Mio get out of the gates. I was grateful that the children were getting out first. I moved to the ground, trying to fend off some of the guards. The guards kept growing in number, as we all began to escape.
Finally, Virus and Trip were close to the door. Mizuki escaped, Aoba escaped, Koujaku escaped. Next went Clear, then Mink, soon after Usui left. Noiz and I were all that was left, and Noiz moved, calling to me. "Let's go, Sei!"
We both made a break for the door, and then a sound was heard, and I couldn't move. Noiz got out of the gate, which looked to be as far as the guards could go, and he turned, staring at me. He looked ready to run back in, but he stopped in his tracks as he saw what he did. I didn't know what was going on, all I knew is that suddenly, I couldn't move, time seemed to stop as Noiz reached out to me, being held back by Mink and Clear, and then I felt pain in my neck for a mere moment before everything went black.
I didn't know what happened.
Whilst enveloped in a familiar darkness, I let my mind wander, a picture being painted in my mind. Noiz's face before whatever had happened did, it was a face...That I'd seen before.
That boy, the one who I'd pushed out of my mind. His bright green eyes were engraved in my skull, he had a singular eyebrow piercing. Who was that boy?
Suddenly, it came to me. I was eighteen then. He'd looked about fourteen. He'd managed to convince someone to give him an eyebrow piercing, and he had sharp green eyes, eyes that looked uncaring, and unforgiving. Eyes that belonged to someone who didn't feel they belonged, for sure. He had short blond hair, and a black hood with green sleeves and green bunny ears dangling from it. That boy had approached me when I was having ice cream with Virus and Trip. He looked like he wanted to have some, and dug in his pockets, muttering something about having forgotten his wallet at home, his tone was annoyed.
"Would you like me to buy you some?" I'd asked, having heard him, and I smiled. He seemed like a nice boy, but when his sharp green eyes met my void-like black ones, he said words I'd never expected to hear.
"What do you want from me?"
I didn't understand, and I blinked a few times, my expression was probably priceless, but his didn't change at all, before he spoke again.
"What is it, my money? Manual labor? Or are you one of those freaks?" He questioned, leaning forwards somewhat, I looked confused, and I opened my mouth, the question spilling easily from my lips.
"What freaks?"
"The kind who want to have sex with a fourteen year old." He said bluntly, causing me to grow confused, and I shook my head, frowning. I lost control for once at that moment, and my eyes, upon connecting to his, caused a spark that lead to both of us falling, though I was caught by Trip, he hit the pavement.
I can't remember much about his mind, but I remember that I found out the boy couldn't feel, and I remember I created a key. I unlocked him from his chains, and that's about all that went through my mind. When we both woke up, that boy moved a bit, murmuring a quiet 'ow' before looking to me with complete shock.
His face was the same as Noiz's one just then, and then he passed out. I was scared, and so I got up, and abruptly left. I thought I'd tampered with something I was not meant to mess with, and harmed the boy by mistake.
That boy was Noiz. We'd met before, and that was why he seemed familiar. That was why he acted like he knew me, because I'd been inside of him once, and he, unlike me, would've remembered that clearly.
I sighed, smiling somewhat and being glad that he ended up alright, that he ended up someone I ended up falling for, and then...I finally opened my eyes. The darkness turned into a white room, I could hear a faint beeping. I sat up, looking down and everything that was attached to me. I carefully, after finding out it would be alright, pulled everything off one-by-one. I then got up, a bit wobbly on my feet, and looked down at the hospital gown I was wearing. I sighed and shook my head, beginning to wander off. My hand was pressed against the wall, and standing down the hall was Toue, who I smiled faintly to.
"I'm sorry Toue, but this is checkmate." I said, and he shook his head, laughing somewhat.
"I never knew my own son would go against me, but, for now, I'll accept this defeat." He said, turning and leaving. He left me to wander, and I found a room where those who'd died in game were. It seemed they were fine, Kio, and Nao. I smiled at the little boys and unlocked the door. It took time, but I went through every door, and opened everyone's eyes for long enough to get into their heads, so that they would do as I asked and be set free.
After a while, I ended up at the last room, and tiredly stumbled in. I moved, and sat down in the lap of the blond. I leaned down and kissed his forehead before opening his eyes forcibly for long enough to look into them, and I ended up in his mind. This time, while still in a black room, there was a bright doorway, and he could walk out any time. He wasn't chained, he was free, but he was sitting there. He was horrified of what had happened to me.
I walked up to him, and he looked to me, relief flooded his features and he stood, wrapping his arms around my small frame.
"Sei, so you were freeing everyone." He said quietly, looking me in the eye, and smiling. "You were killed back there. You were stunned and an axe came down on your neck..." He said quietly, looking away. A frown crossed his features then, and he bit down on his lower lip.
I moved a bit, cupping his face in my hands before finally speaking.
"Noiz, it'll be fine. We can escape now. I'm alive, in body, I promise, when you wake up, I'll be right there." With that, I moved and kissed him lightly, and it was the best kiss I'd ever had, frankly. I could tell here, that he was as in love with me as I was with him, and it made me feel so much better about everything.
I blinked my eyes open, and sat up, Noiz opened his to see me on his lap and pulled me close. He, being less cautious than I was, pulled everything off of himself abruptly, minus his hospital gown, before moving and kissing me. Our lips meshed together, and everything felt so amazing, finally, being in the real world with him again.
Soon, his tongue moved a bit against my lips, and I was too relieved now to be reluctant, I allowed my lips to part, and he allowed his tongue to explore my mouth. Soon the kiss grew more heated, and his hands went down my lower back, ending up against my butt. I broke the kiss, biting down on my lower lip before moving my hands to his chest and speaking.
"...N..Normally I'd be against the sort of thing, but...Do you want to, um...You..You know?" I felt embarrassed as I spoke, sounding like a confused teenager about the sort of thing, and really, that's what I felt like. I never really experimented before so I didn't know what I was doing. Noiz took a moment before nodding, we began to kiss again as he managed to get my hospital gown off, then moving and getting out of his own. His eyes stayed glued on me, raking over my body.
I felt my face heat up, and my eyes went to Noiz, he was a bit built, but not too muscular really, he was more slender than anything, but there was more muscle mass on him than on Virus, or on me. He kept his gaze on me, and moved his hands against my sensitive skin now, eliciting a confused sound from me, before I spoke up.
"I-I'm sorry I'm not that amazing when it comes to my body..." I managed to get out. He stopped moving his hands, and stared me in the eye.
"Don't say that, you're perfect." He bluntly retorted, moving and leaving a light kiss against my collarbone. Soon I found my hands running against his chest as he kissed at my neck, soft groans escaping my lips. I wasn't used to such sweet sensation, but I welcomed it, and I ended up moving my hands down, trying to get him to feel as amazing as I had already begun to, despite Noiz not having done anything too much. I pressed one of my hands against his crotch lightly, despite it still being covered by his boxers, he shifted his hips somewhat, moving his lips from my neck, where he'd sucked enough to leave a mark. He smirked a bit, raising an eyebrow.
"Already getting a little impatient, huh?" His voice rang out in a teasing tone, and he moved getting out of his own boxers before shifting and pulling mine off. He stopped, staring over me lovingly before allowing his eyes to connect to mine. "So, what should we do? I don't suggest any fun back here today," He moved a hand against my ass, causing me to yelp, as he continued speaking "Seeing as I don't have any lube." He decided to leave the choice up to me, and I moved somewhat, trying to think as something finally came to mind.
"How about, um..." I pressed myself against him, moving my shaky hands to lightly grip both of our penises, and I leaned my head against his shoulder, trying to pump both of us at the same time. As Noiz saw that, he shook his head and laughed.
"Alright, but let's make it a little easier." He whispered in a husky tone, he moved my hand to just be focused on him, and he moved one of his hands to me, lightly gripping my member, he began to pump, instructing me in a low tone to do so as well. I moved my hand as he moved his, soft groans escaping my mouth. Noiz pressed his lips to mine, our quiet grunts and moans becoming lost against the others mouth. We'd continued this way for a while, before Noiz began to move his hand faster, and I felt my back arch somewhat, I broke the kiss, and gasped for breath. Soon enough, I felt enough pleasure to be calling out the blond's name, still trying to move my hand, but we heard a click, and both froze.
Aoba and Koujaku had opened the door, and were holding hands, though they were shocked to see what they did, and if there were ever a good time to use the term 'boner killer', it would be then, and there. I moved and quickly pulled on my clothes, face burning red, as Noiz smirked and shook his head, pulling his clothes back on.
"Jesus, Aoba, interrupting us, much?" He asked, and lightly grabbed my hand as we walked to the door, and before Aoba or Koujaku could do anything against Noiz, a man with red hair and eyes walked up, setting a hand atop Aoba's head.
"So there he is. Well, Aoba, Sei, let's go home. My name is Nine, I'm Aoba's dad, and we're bringing you home with us." He explained, tilting his head and smiling, a woman with long pink hair ran up, trying to get her breath.
"Nine! You're not trying to bring him in already, are you? He's an adult!" She said, straightening up and pouting, and she saw my hand being held lightly by Noiz's and pointed. "And he has a boyfriend!"
"Why don't we just bring him in, too? It can be a big happy family! Even Koujaku can come live with Tae and us!"
"Do you really thin she'll accept that?" Haruka asked, sighing before shaking her head.
Really, my adventure was only just beginning, and I was glad it was happening with Noiz, who I glanced at and gave an awkward smile to, he leaned down and pecked my temple, eliciting a growl from my twin.
Fairy tale endings could really happen, huh?