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Endless white, ah his subconsciousness.
“Noya, what do you want?“ he asked harshly.
“Now, no need for being so unfriendly right from the start.“
“What do you want?“, Guren repeated.
“I wanna show you something.“
“What?“
“Your biggest desire.“ he answered, grinning mischievously.
“I thought we’ve already had that discussion, you said I have an exceptional longing for power. Can I leave now?“
“Yeah, that‘s what I said last time, but I found something funny.“ he started.
”Something that you long for even more than power.“, he added with an even bigger smirk.
“Whatever, just show me already or let me leave.“
“Sit down and watch.“, Noya ordered. So leaving wasn‘t an option.
Hence Guren obediently sat down and before his eyes a memory of his started to play, like a movie.
He watched attentively as this was quite an interesting turn of events. What memory could he desire even more than power?
.
.
.
He saw a sunny day and the meadow where he and Mahiru had met up regularly as kids.
He was the one arriving there.
He looked at his hand which held a flower that grew in this area.
Guren couldn’t remember ever picking flowers for Mahiru though. Then suddenly a person appeared in his vision. But that wasn‘t Mahiru, that was... Shinya!
He was lying in the grass.
But what was Shinya doing there? He hadn’t even known him at that age!
He looked at him smiling, as Guren approached, but didn’t get up.
„Hello~“ he said in a sing-sang voice.
„Hello.“ the younger Guren greeted as he sat down beside him.
He looked at the flower in his hand once more before reaching it out to young Shinya.
„I picked it for you because you told me it was your favorite kind.“
„Really? You went out of your way just to pick a flower for me! How adorable!“
The white-haired boy answered as he grabbed the flower carefully and observed it with a bright smile. Guren looked away in embarrassment.
„I found it on the way here, nothing special.“ he mumbled, which made Shinya chuckle.
„Whatever, how was your training?“ Shinya asked as he sat up to talk to Guren at eye level.
„Any progress?“
„I made quite the progress today! My father said I might get a real sword soon!“ Guren boasted, his eyes nearly physically sparkling.
„Wah! That‘s so cool! You have to show me when you have it!“ Shinya agreed with just as much enthusiasm.
„And how did your training go?“ Guren asked in a careful voice, a sensitive topic.
„I was beaten up by my full-blood Hiiragi siblings as usual.“
„Oh, I‘m sorry.“
„You don‘t have to be sorry, I‘ll just work harder and get out of there and then we can conquer the rest of the world together!“ he ranted happily nonetheless.
„You shouldn’t overdo it. All I can offer are some patches, but at least let me help you with the smaller wounds.“
Both boys believed in that dream it seemed.
Shinya sighted.
„Ah, no need... wah!“
Shinya screamed as Guren suddenly pinned him to the ground.
„I said let me help you with the smaller wounds!“ Guren repeated as he started tickling the other.
„Wahahaha- o- ok! Please s-spare me!“ he begged in between his laughters as he squirmed around in the grass.
„Alright, now hold still.“ Guren ordered and Shinya obeyed while the aftershocks of the laughing fit shook him slightly.
Guren started with pushing the other‘s bangs out of his forehead as his siblings usually went for his head. Luckily today there was only a slight scratch. Guren carefully put a patch there and moved on to the other‘s arms. He checked every body part for wounds.
After he finished, he started investigateing his work again, checking if he forgot anything. Seems he didn’t.
Shinya had, by then, already closed his eyes and dozed off, as the procedure usually took quite some time.
He trusted Guren blindly.
Young Guren seized the opportunity to push the other‘s bangs out of his forehead a second time, as he leaned down and placed a kiss there.
That second Shinya‘s eyes shot open again, burning from embarrassment.
„What was that?“ he asked.
„A kiss. I learned from father that you give the people you like kisses.“ he stated as he sat up again from leaning down.
„You like me?“ Shinya asked again, sitting up as well.
„I do.“
„Haha I do too!“
They smiled at each other happily, the former embarrassment on Shinya’s side vanished completely.
Instead he seemed quite confident now.
„So it‘s sealed, we‘re gonna stay together and when we‘re older we‘re gonna conquer the world together, promise?“ he said, beaming a smile as he reached out his pinky.
Guren looked at it and blinked at Shinya’s reaching hand for a second. Then he started to laugh.
„Why do you wanna take over the world so badly?“ he asked as he grabbed Shinya‘s pinky with his own.
Shinya chuckled one last time and then the movie-like memory ended.
.
.
.
The present-Guren thought about it for a moment.
This was his biggest desire?
What exactly was the object of his desire in all of this?
„But that never happened...“ he mumbled, looking at Noya who had also watched the not-so-memory play.
„I know.“ his demon answered.
„So what is it that I desire?“ Guren asked in a confused voice.
Nothing made sense.
„You wish it was him from the very beginning.“ Noya plainly stated.
Guren made a confused noise.
„Instead of Mahiru. You desire to have known Shinya from your childhood on.“ he added.
„But that doesn’t make sense, at that time he was going through living hell!“ Guren argued just a bit too loudly.
„That just makes the desire even more intense! You desire that the system were different! You desire that your past was a different one! You desire for family names to have no meaning! But most of all you desire that damned boy to be by your side!“ Noya screamed back at him.
„I desire... for Shinya to be by my side?“ he repeated.
„More than anything else.“
He laughed dryly. That boy really has him wrapped around his finger.
„So quit sitting around here and get your man!“
„I won‘t listen to dating advice from a demon, thanks.“ Guren replied as he got up.
„But I‘ll go and see if Shinya would be alright with conquering the world together, even if he doesn‘t have that, more or less, memory.“ he added as a smile formed on his face.
Conquering the world together with Shinya... didn’t sound so bad to be honest.