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MissingNo. has wandered its way to where it was supposed to meet with HOBaRT. It was thankful it had the ability to travel across dimensions, otherwise it would have no way of being able to meet up at all. HOBaRT really couldn't move, so the only place they could meet was in their kitchen during off hours. HOBaRT was in their usual spot when they noticed MissingNo. approaching.
"Oi! G'Day MissingNo.! It's been a while, what's up mate?"
MissingNo. had moved up to HOBaRT's side, nervously looking down at its old friend. A few years had passed since the tournament, but the two have kept in touch as well as a glitchy mess of pixels and a sapient mixer can. It was refreshing for MissingNo. to finally have someone it could call a friend. Before the tournament, it was all alone, scared of its own powers and completely aware of its existence and how it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't until the tournament and being able to meet HOBaRT and all the others that it was able to learn how it felt to have friends, and receive kindness from others despite the danger it poses to others. It joined the tournament to be seen, to finally be noticed, but it found so much more than that...even so...
HOBaRT was different. Even though it absolutely decimated him in the losers bracket, he was never once bitter, nor was he ever even afraid of it. All the others still felt unnerved by its presence, but HOBaRT never once complained or even expressed discomfort from being around MissingNo.; even when MissingNo. lost control of its instincts, he stayed right where he was and never held it against it. MissingNo. also just couldn't get enough of him, it found him just the best to be around, and he always found a way to make it laugh despite how uncommon it is for it to do so. HOBaRT made MissingNo. feel something it never, ever expected to feel...love.
It sounds insane, but it's true. MissingNo. had fallen for the mixer, hard. MissingNo.'s mind was so fixated on him even during the tournament, but it chalked it up to the wonder and mystique of finally having someone to call a friend. Over the years however, that feeling never faded; in fact, it grew larger. Every time they talked it was like nothing else in the world existed to MissingNo., it could feel the grasp on its powers grow stronger and less unstable when around him, it just felt...good. HOBaRT simply made MissingNo. feel happy, he made it feel accepted, and wanted, and way too many other feelings to describe; and MissingNo. finally had the chance to tell him today.
"H-Hello HOBaRT...I'm...f-fine today, I'm...h...a...p...p...y...to see you again...f-friend."
MissingNo.'s nerves were beginning to creep up, it needed to tell him, today. It needed HOBaRT to know how it felt, it just had to time it right; sooner rather than later was ideal, but MissingNo. had to get their bearings straight.
"Nice havin' ya here MissingNo., 'was startin' to miss havin' a voice. Good thing ya started to pick up on my *whrrrrrrr*s yeah?"
"...It is nice to hear your voice again...it is...v-very nice to listen too..."
"Aww ya cheeky bugger! That was right kind of ya to say, thanks mate! Yer voice is pretty great too.
"M-My voice?...T-Thank you...it isn't but...th-thank you..." MissingNo.'s pixels shifted a little and a small but noticeable blush formed on its ghost's face, HOBaRT chuckled at the sight.
"Ey, give it a fair go. I think it's lovely, it suits ya just perfectly! I couldn't see ya with any other voice at least!" HOBaRT laughed heartily. MissingNo. loved that laugh, seeing someone it loved having fun just being around it made it feel so, so special. At the same time though, it scared MissingNo.. It had hurt almost everyone it loved, it didn't want to hurt HOBaRT too.
"...I can't ruin this...he's so happy to see me…so...maybe he likes me too?...But...if he doesn't then..." MissingNo. thought hard to itself, it loved HOBaRT so much, but only now, when they're finally face to face did the possibility of him not feeling the same way finally cross MissingNo.'s mind. If HOBaRT weren't to feel the same, that could destroy the relationship they already have, which, ironically, scares MissingNo.. It'd rather never tell them than completely destroy their relationship, but it had to, it was eating away at it, to the point where it was becoming more erratic and losing control of its own abilities.
"T-Thank you...HOBaRT, b-before anything else...I need to...tell...you...something..."
"Oh yeah? What's up mate?"
"...Well...H-HOBaRT...we've been such...good...friends...for a l-long time now-" MissingNo.'s pixels were beginning to shift more erratically, the space around it started to distort as it spoke. HOBaRT knew this was a sign of nervousness, and kept quiet to make sure MissingNo. could say what it needed to say. "-a-and...I've been wanting to say this for a while now..."
"...He doesn't even like you back…"
"...I-I haven't said it yet because it was never the right time...b-but now, I can't hold it back a-any longer..."
"You will hurt him, just like everyone else…"
"HOBaRT...it has been a...l-long time coming...but..."
"You don't even deserve this, you worthless pile of pixels."
"...I-...I-..."
"Yes, MissingNo.?"
"͚͚̘͐̌̃̽͏Ï̸̠ͯ ̶̡̨͔̯̌ͭ̔ͫͣ͢W͚A̪̮̪̲ͪ̇͌͛ͅṆͦ̈̚͢͝͠T̸͙͖̺̞̹̅ͦ́ͯ͏͜͝ ̨̼̬T͕͘Ơ͑͊̇̓̕ ͈̗̠̭ͣ̎́̕͘͠ͅŔ̢̕͢Ḯ̵̸̡̇͆̀͠P͓̞̥̜͏́͡҉̨ ̸̧̺͕͍̠͔̕͜͟Y̡̛̰̽͆͘O̥ͅU̝̿ͫ̄̾̀҉̸ ̴̭̺́͢͜A̙̩̯̣̦̓ͨ̈́P̩̰̜̮ͪ̏̑̀A̘͝R͉̪̗ͥ͆͟Ṭ̮̲͎̀͛̆̄͘͜ ̬̦̥̎̐̓̋͞ͅS̴͋L̶̻̖̟͓̿̅̾̋́́͝Õ̡̻̤͓̃ͨ̓́̀͢͠W͓̠̌̚͝L̶̹͚̯͙͗͟Ỵ͉̦̝̎ Ạ̴̭ͨ̽̕͢͜͞Nͣ́͘D͓̱̹̭͓ͬ͒͒ͩ ҉҉͡A̮̣͔G̘͎͌̐̿́́̀́̚͟͝Ö̙̜N̟̪̳̲̻ͬͤͭ̊̌́̕͡͏̸Ī̳̼̉҉̸͜S̳͏̸҉͟I̛̦̣̤̞͎͊̎͋̓̑͞Ņ̛̯̻͕͍̓̉̎̇̋́͜Ģ̫͚̖̤͢͟ͅĻ̴̡̱ͨ̓̓̇́Y̞̮̳̫͙ ̲̙̳̜̜͜͜U̼̇N͓ͦ͌͒ͭȚ̫̘̣̺̈̎ͥ̓̚͠͏̧͘͡I̢͂̀̚͞Ľ̷̸̩̞ͭͤͥ̚ ̛̠́͢͟͝Tͬͅ͏Hͮ̀̀͜E̗̠ͬ̇̓̓ͤŖ̢̲͇E̼̙̖̫̩̎̋̓̚̚͏̢́ ̹ͬ̏ͥI͕̠͓͔ͦͫS̨̬̘͔̫͐ͭ͘̕͟͞ ̝͇ͪ͋͂҉̴N̜̤͇͌̌̃̏̓͏̷̛͘͢O̸̢̜̗͍̊͒̅̇̐͢T̰̙̘Hͤ̃ͮ͜͏I̴̠̜͒͢Ń̫̣͓͟G̨͎̦̉͂ͮ̕̕ ̸̸͎̒͐̌ͤ͂͠Ḻ͚͉͘͟͏̧E̴̡̛̬̖̘̺ͦ̀̀F̠̼͚͔̙̓̒̽T̷̲̮͇̀́͞͡,̸̸̸̩͗̏̊̀͘ ̴̴̘̤̼̲͔͆͗̄ͫͣ͘Ỳ̢͕̲̠̯͠Ȯ̧̲̖͢͝U̴̸ͪ̉̌͘ ̘̘̹̹̹ͪ̓͞W̛̮͜ͅƠ̧̛̤͞R̖̟̩̺ͧͮ҉̛̛́Ţ̢̦̺ͤ̋͠͠H̩̮̒ͪL̓͋́̓́Ẹ̷̴̼̰̼̳̄̍̋͟͜S̝̻̞ͪ̀͜͡͡S̷̷̢̫͝ ͖̀͑͏̶̀͘P͈̯͇͈̀ͦI̸̩̜͍͟͏҉L̠̼̹ͥ̈͟͝͝҉E̢̘̫̐͘͘ ̵̡̢̰͈̱̞͐ͣ͗̀͜Ö̝̙̯͇̋̒̏̒͟F̛̤̔͘͞ ̷̯̻̮̆͒̂͒͜ͅ҉̶S̛̭̪̳̜͠͏C͖̤̘̜̎͛ͪ̎ͥ͟R͎A̡͚̘̘̠P̴̗̥̖̓̀̕͜͠ ̻̜̤͋͂͋M̟̮̠͒͆̊̐̓͡Ȩ̶̴͓̙ͪ̕͜T̵̶̢̯̳͊ͧ̑͘͜A̷̰̝͡͏̧L͎ͩ̿͘.̅̀ͫ͂ͭ͡
A loud crash could be heard as one of the kitchen windows spontaneously breaks, the lights in the room flicker on and off rapidly as they let out sparks. MissingNo. glitches erratically as its form shifts back and forth causing the space around it to distort. HOBaRT suddenly starts whirring rapidly as his mixer begins to mix at a lightning fast speed, threatening to either fly off or short circuit it...until everything goes silent once again.
"Aaaa...ahh...n-noooo I'm sorry I'm so sorry...I'll just...go over here...aaaa..." MissingNo. bolted to the other side of the room and tried to disappear, but just...didn't. All it ended up doing was cowering in a corner in plain sight of HOBaRT.
"MissingNo., it's alright. Nothing happened buddy, everything is alright."
"B-But...I...I lost control again...I-I could have hurt you again...I'm sorry...." MissingNo. was trembling in its corner, mortified that it almost hurt the person it was just about to confess to, just because it couldn't control its own urges. It started to...whimper? It couldn't cry, but it was making softer whimpering noises that could equate to it.
"Look, I'm okay mate, don't cry. Everything is alright, okay? Look at me MissingNo., I'm okay, and I'm still going to be okay every time you lose control like that, alright?"
MissingNo. looked up at HOBaRT. "...B-But what if you ar-"
"No buts, alright?" HOBaRat interjected. "I'll be okay, no matter what happens mate."
"...D-Do you...do you promise?"
"I promise, MissingNo.. Now, come closer alright?" MissingNo left the corner it fled to and came back to HOBaRT's side, still nervously glitching as it hasn't quite calmed down just yet. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"
"A-Ah...w-well I feel like...n-now might not be the best time anymore..."
"I don't wanna force you to tell me, but it seems pretty important to you. It'll be alright, you can tell me, like I promised, I'll be fine no matter what."
"O-Oh...well...then...ummm..." MissingNo.'s little ghost looked away, and its mess of pixels bowed its head. "H-HOBaRT...can you make...another p-promise?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"...No matter what...can you promise me we'll always a-at least be...friends?..."
"That's probably the easiest promise I'll ever make in my damn life, I'll always be your friend MissingNo.."
"T-Thank you....then...umm...HOBaRT...I-..." MissingNo turned to face HOBaRT, wanting to face them as it finally said what it had been wanting to say for years now.
"Yes, MissingNo.?"
"...I love you, HOBaRT..." MissingNo.'s ghost blushed deeply as it finally confessed its love to the most important person to it in the entire multiverse. "...You're the only one...who has stood by my side n-no matter the circumstance...you make me...feel...goood...I love you so...so...so much HOBaRT."
"...MissingNo.?"
"..."
"I love you too."
The amount of joy MissingNo. felt after hearing those few simple words from HOBaRT was immeasurable. Its smile grew large and it near instantly wrapped its ghostly hands around HOBaRT in a mock hug.
"W-Woah there, easy does it."
MissingNo. ignored HOBaRT's pleas as it nuzzled into him, feeling happier than it had in a long, long time.
"T-Thank you....thank you so much HOBaRT."
"Hehe, you're welcome love~."
MissingNo. was content to continue holding onto HOBaRT. Finally free to express its unbridaled affection; its glitching halted momentarily as it hugged its new lover.