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Chapter Text

Are you familiar with the term ‘chuunibyou’ ?

Probably not.

Well, let me give you an example.

Take Uzi Doorman, who all throughout middle school, walked the halls with the right side of her face covered with her hair due to “The solver will destroy any mirror it comes in contact with”. She had dyed her hair purple and decorated her uniform with chains and crosses.

She was quickly labeled a freak and bullied for it up until the beginning of high school. By that point, everyone had moved on to different things.

Now, Uzi’s just trying to graduate.

Or, take this 16 year old boy (he’ll be important later).

He lost his parents at a young age along with his younger sister. The two were quickly adopted by a family only for those parents to be killed in a car crash, leaving their children to take care of themselves.

His younger sister suddenly got into the magical world and said she was possessed by something called ‘The AbsoulteSolver’.

The boy was quickly dragged into the nonsense of it all, now wearing an eyepatch on his left eye and decorating his school uniforms with nonsensical things.

He was sucked into chuunibyou as a coping mechanism, never fully knowing how to get out of it.

Uzi dug through her closet, trying to find her uniform for school that had been buried there over the summer. “Come on, you stupid thing,” she mumbled, still trying to find it.

A knock rang on her door, she shouted out and her dad slid her door open. “Hey, Buddy. Just found this in the living closet and was wondering if you wanted it back,” he said. Uzi glanced up at him and noticed a black notebook in his hands. 

A memory suddenly struck her and she quickly snatched the book out of his hands. “I THOUGHT I BURNED THIS! ” she shouted, sliding her door shut with her foot.

“Talk at dinner?” he dad asked through the door.

Uzi hummed in response and waited to hear his footsteps recede. When they did, she looked over at her window. She walked over to it and slid it open, slipping through onto her balcony. Since her and her dad lived in an apartment building, it wasn’t too uncommon for them to have an easily accessible balcony.

She sat criss-cross applesauce on the balcony and pulled out her lighter, placing the book in front of her. She tried to light it, failing miserably. Uzi groaned under her breath and continued to try and light it.

Out of the corner of her eye, a pair of flailing legs peeked from the top of her view. She raised an eyebrow and rose to her feet. The legs were slender with what looked like dress pants on, black dress shoes with white laces fully selling the look. 

Uzi walked over to them and noticed the rope swaying in the air. Clearly the person was trying to get down.

She extended her arms, letting her hands wait for the shoes to fall into. They flinched, realizing her presence before allowing her to steady them. She slowly guided them onto the railing and slid her hands away before they were squished.

Uzi gazed up at the person, realizing just how tall they were. The dress pants were quickly explained by being completed by a suit. One bright yellow eye stared down at her while the other was covered with a white eyepatch. They had white hair that swooped to the side, a strand of hair acting as an antenna, swaying side to side. They were slender with ghostly pale skin that shimmered in the moonlight behind them.

“Did you see?” they asked, Uzi’s mind immediately going to the worse thing.

“N-no,” she stuttered.

They smiled. “Do you wanna see?” 

Uzi’s eyes widened as the wind blew. She raised her hand to try and protect herself from the wind. The person stayed perfectly still, seemingly not affected by it.

They lifted their hand to their eye, slowly pulling their eyepatch off. Uzi could feel a tense atmosphere surrounding the two and the eye underneath their eyepatch started to glow.

Uzi blinked and in that brief moment, they had vanished. She looked over the railing, making sure the person wasn't dead on the ground or something.

Instead, she saw them slowly sliding down the rope, dismounting once they reached the ground and running towards the front of the building.

The next day started off just how every day before had. She woke up late and was late for the train. Then when she was at the train station, the train was just leaving, making her late for school.

She groaned loudly and sat at the bench, waiting for the next train.

As Uzi waited for the train, she heard the sound of shoes approaching the bench and sat down.

She glanced up from her phone. There was the person from last night, eyepatch still on and all. This time, he wore her school's uniform for boys, a black blazer with their school crest (a yellow hexagon with the same colored arrows pointing out of three of its sides, resembling a triangle. Uzi’s was custom made purple, while most people had theirs corresponding with the color of their eyes. It made sense why his was yellow. The rest of the uniform was your typical school uniform, except his was decorated with trinkets and pins.

Uzi's eyes widened and she immediately went back to looking at her phone.

The person seemed to also pull out a phone, a chain with a yellow X and a crucifix hanging from it. Uzi attempted to ignore them, failing miserably. 

She didn’t have much time to process their presence however due to the fact that seconds later, they stood up and walked away. She raised an eyebrow and watched them walk off.

Uzi raised her eyebrows. That was fast . She thought.

Right as she went to go back on her phone, the train hissed and pulled to a stop, indicating it had arrived.

She stood up and walked to the train, taking a seat inside. The person's face suddenly appeared in her mind and she sighed. They either have severe eye problems in one eye, or they have chuunibyou. Please god, let it be the first one.

Uzi walked into her classroom, the suffocating aura of awkward teenagers quickly surrounding her. She noticed everyone’s last names had been taped onto the top of the desks and groaned internally. Curse the teacher for assigned seating.

She walked through the aisles of desks, taking in everyone's last names. Most of them she recognized due to being in their class before. Once she found her seat, she plopped her bag next to her desk and sat down.

She glanced behind her, noticing Thad’s last name on the desk. Thank god it wasn’t Lizzy behind her. She then leaned to her left, reading the last name on that desk.

Elliot.

Huh.

That’s a very common last name.

Yet still, she’s never seen anyone with that last name before.

Well, excluding that one girl with pigtails that was her tutor when she was young. Other than that, she’d never seen that last name before.

However, the seat was quickly taken by the person from earlier. They looked down at her and waited for her to notice his existence. Uzi quickly took notice of them and stared back. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at their eyepatch. They didn’t respond, simply shifting slightly in their seat.

She reached forward and was about to pull the eyepatch off, noticing that their entire eye was pitch black, only a yellow X being the visible thing.

But, her hand was quickly moved away and she plopped back in her seat. The person readjusted their eyepatch and sighed softly.

"Well, Well, Well, if it isn't Uzi Doorman," Lizzy's voice called from the front of the class. Both Uzi and the Elliot kid looked up at her, their eyes widened (well, Elliot's visible eye at least). "You still going on with that 'AbsoluteSolver' shit, freak?"

"No one cares about what I did back then anymore," Uzi protested. "You're just making yourself look like a dumbass."

Lizzy sneered. "That's what you like to think. Truth is, people still think about your embarrassing past that you oh so desperately tried to cover up," she walked up to Uzi's desk and leaned on it. "And last time I checked, you still think that stuff is cool. Maybe we should look around your room, see what's in there."

Uzi's eyes narrowed. "Don't you fucking dare."

"It's pathetic the fact my brother even acknowledges your presence," Lizzy said. "You're just that forgettable I'm surprised he even remembers-"

She was quickly cut off by a black and yellow repel umbrella smacking into the back of her head. Lizzy gasped and looked over at who had smacked her, it was none other than the Elliot kid, now standing and holding the umbrella with it closed and the handle extended. Lizzy fell backward, holding the back of her head with her hand.

"OW! YOU ASSHOLE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Lizzy shouted at them.

Her shout caught their homeroom teachers attention and looked up, seeing what was going on. "Uzi and Niko," he called, making the two look up. "Just what exactly is going on over there?"

"They were about to fight me!" Lizzy exclaimed.

Uzi and Niko rolled their eyes in unison. "He didn't even leave a mark on you," Uzi said.

"Uzi, Niko, to the principal's office immediately," their teacher said, pointing to the door. Uzi stood up and stuck her tongue out at Lizzy, giving her a middle finger. Niko simply put his umbrella away and jumped over Lizzy, antenna swaying from side to side.

The two walked in silence, Uzi almost feeling the pulsating feeling of Niko's heart by him just standing next to her. Hers quickly picked up the pace too, pounding in her ears. She then remembered something. "Hey, weren't you on my balcony last night?" Niko nodded. "What the hell were you doing? If it weren't for me, you could of fell."

"I was trying to get to mine and my sister's base," he replied simply, his antenna's swaying speed slowly picking up its pace.

Oh yea. He definitely has it. Uzi thought. "And where is that exactly?" she asked.

"Near Austria," Niko said.

Uzi's eyebrows knitted together. "And you were planning on traveling hundreds- if not, thousands of feet in the span of one night and return to your house before anyone noticed?"

"It's not that far away," he protested. "It's only a couple of towns over."

Uzi was dumbfounded of what she had just heard. "I'm sorry, what? Austria is in Central Europe, we are in Asia. That's a pretty big difference," she noticed the two were approaching the principal's office and stood on her tiptoes, grabbing his antenna. "Come on, we can skip for a bit. No one will care."

Niko fell to the ground and tried to grab at her hands to pull them off. "Uzi! Stop! That hurts!" he whined as he got dragged across the floor.

"Stop whining and maybe I'll stop," Uzi said, yanking harder on it, making Niko scream. She looked around, finding an empty clubroom. She walked over to it and slid the door open, throwing Niko inside. He flopped on the ground, antenna drooping in pain and legs falling onto the ground one by one. Uzi slid the door closed and took her shoes off. "Get up," she demanded, kicking him softly on the side of the head.

All he did was groan in pain and mumble something into the floor. "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you," Uzi teased.

Niko lifted his feet only to plop them back on the floor. He lifted his head off the floor and glanced up at her. "It's N," he said. "Niko's too long of a title."

"'Title'? What kind of title do you have?" Uzi asked, putting quotation marks around the word title.

"N Elliot, Trusted Servant of The Host of The AbsoluteSolver," Niko said. "Adding Niko at the front just makes it longer."

I can't tell if he has worse chuunibyou than I did or if he actually has decency. Uzi thought. "Okay, next question. 'Trusted Servant'?"

Niko nodded. "My little sister is the main host, making me her servant. And last time I checked, she tried to possess you, temporary host of the AbsoluteSolver."

Uzi squeaked and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "How do you know that?" she hissed through her teeth.

Niko's antenna began to sway at rapid succession. "Every host is connected to one another in one or another-! OW!" he was quickly shushed by Uzi pulling on his antenna.

"I want a realistic answer," Uzi demanded.

"ISAWITONYOURNOTEBOOKLASTNIGHT!" Niko shrieked at her, desperately trying to get Uzi's hands off his antenna.

The thought quickly struck Uzi and she let go of Niko's collar and antenna, wallowing in her own embarrassment. Niko rubbed the top of his head and gazed at her as she groaned loudly to the ground. "I should of burned that months ago," she mumbled.

"Why?" Niko asked, sitting criss-cross applesauce. "I think it's pretty cool. Of course, Cyn would never allow me to hold any secrets from her. I'm terrible at keeping them anyway."

Uzi glared up at him, watching his visible widen slightly and antenna start to sway again. "Of course you find it cool," she grumbled. "What is this for anyway?" Uzi pushed herself up and flicked his eyepatch, making him say a soft 'ow'.

"It's mainly for protection purposes," N explained. "But I can take it off. Just not for a long time."

"What will happen?" Uzi asked, cringing internally due to realizing she was actually interested in this.

"Solver stuff. I'll go absolutely ballistic and kill everyone in this city. Then I'll move on to the whole planet. Then I'm not quite sure what will happen after that," he said. "Perks of being a failed science experiment. What about you?"

Uzi crossed her arms and looked away from him. "I'm not telling you! I probably don't even remember what exactly caused it in the first place!" she protested. "Plus, I gave that stuff up years ago. I'm honestly surprised you're still into it."

Niko was about to respond when the PA went off. "Can I get Niko Elliot and Uzi Doorman to the principal's office please?"

As Uzi walked home from school, phone in hand, she noticed a car parked outside her apartment. It was one of those fancy cars with no roof. It was a beautiful ruby red and a pile of boxes stacked up in its back seat. She raised an eyebrow and jogged over to the car, running her finger along the side of it. Her eyes widened and she looked for the owner of the car, quickly finding a pair of keys in the cupholders. There were two things she noticed on them, a keychain that had the name 'Elliot' written in cursive and a golden key (presumably a house key).

She was about to reach inside to grab them when another hand beat her to it.

"Grab," a robotic yet playful voice narrated, snatching the keys. Uzi jumped back and stared at the person in front of her.

There on the other side of the vehicle was a young girl (about 15, possibly 16) with the same silver hair as Niko that was tied into two low pigtails, little black bows clipped to the bottom of them allowing to stay in place. She had pale skin with freckles on her cheeks, an antenna bouncing in the air. She wore a short black dress with a corset in the back, her deep golden eyes examining her inquisitively.

"You must be the girl my servant is constantly talking about," she said, putting one hand on her hip and crocking her head up with her other hand.

Servant? Uzi asked herself. Oh no, don't tell me-

"I must say," the girl continued. "You are rather short for your age. If you are about the age of my servant, you should be a bit taller. Though, given the fact he was pushed up a grade that adds something to the-"

Uzi quickly droned out what the girl was talking about, suddenly realizing something.

NIKO'S YOUNGER THAN ME!?

"Shuffle," the girl narrated, shuffling forward and lifting herself over the car to reach for Uzi.

Uzi stepped back slightly and stared at her up and down.

"CYN! GET INSIDE, IT'S FREEZING!" a cold voice shouted, catching both girls' attention. The girl- Cyn pulled away from her reach and skipped inside the apartment building.

Leaving Uzi dead in her tracks.

Chapter Text

Uzi sighed and sat at her desk, tapping the back of her mechanical pencil. Her homework sat in front of her. Well, more like work she forgot to do over the summer to catch up. Nightcore blasting in her ears. She groaned and threw her pencil down, deciding to pull an all-nighter over the weekend because of it. She pulled her headphones off and was greeted by a loud bang from the stairwell.

Her eyes narrowed and she raised an eyebrow, walking out of her room. Her dad was passed out on the couch so she tiptoed towards the door. She opened it and was greeted with Niko, nearly flattened on the stairs with piles of boxes atop the flight of stairs. She snorted and put her hands on her hips.

"And what exactly are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Thinking about how much time I just wasted," Niko mumbled into the stairs.

Uzi closed her front door and pranced up the stairs, knocking off the side of the head to get up. He softly exclaimed but didn't move. "What are these?" she asked, pulling a box down and opening the flaps. Inside her an assortment of trinkets and fake weapons.

"The Angel of Death told me to bring my stuff in from the car before she leaves," Niko explained. "That is my stuff."

Uzi eyed the boxes, counting about 6 in total. "So, judging by what's in the box I just looked in. It's all worthless junk. Got it."

Niko's antenna swayed from side to side yet he still stayed on the stairs. "It is not 'worthless junk'. It is very valuable stuff, thank you very much!"

"Mhm, keep dreaming, buddy," Uzi teased. "Why don't I bring up a few boxes and help you unpack? What floor do you live on?" Niko pointed up to the apartment above. "You live above me? Actually, I'm not surprised."

She folded the flaps of the box back up and lifted it up, prancing up the stairs to the upstairs apartment. She opened the door, thinking nothing of it and placed the box near Niko's kitchen. She left to grab another box when she heard a soft shuffling sound. She paused and raised an eyebrow, turning slowly on her heel. What the hell was that? she thought.

Niko was making his way past her when he glanced over to the kitchen. "Hi, Cyn," he greeted, picking up the other box and walking to his room.

Uzi froze and turned slowly to the side, seeing the girl she saw yesterday by the car in the kitchen. She seemed to have been standing there for a while due to her bones cracking when she moved. Her antenna didn't move half as much as Niko's did, instead she narrated every single thing she did. She watched Uzi with much intent, studying her. "Shuffles away suspiciously," she narrated, walking away while keeping an eye on Uzi until she slid her door closed.

Uzi felt a shiver send itself down her spine, quickly being sent out of her daze by a dagger zipping past her vision and stabbing into the wall next to her. Her breathing hitched and she felt a hand on her shoulder, slowly pulling her out of the apartment.

"And you told me to keep dreaming," Niko said slyly.

"Yea, that was before I found out your sister was a fre-" her mouth was quickly covered by Niko's hand and he closed the apartment door with his foot. Uzi pried his hand off and flicked it away. "Touchy subject?"

Niko's visible eye narrowed and he glanced at the door. "You don't know what she'll do."

"Is that a general question or-?" Uzi asked.

"You know I can't answer that."

Uzi knitted her eyebrows together. "What kind of cryptic answer was that!?" she exclaimed.

"A cryptic one," Niko smirked, walking back down to grab another box.

Uzi however, was quick to follow him. "She's the culprit for your chuunibyou, isn't she? You're her servant. Which one of you started this? If you don't want this, I know a way to get rid of-"

She stopped herself from saying anything else, realizing that Niko's nails were digging into the box he was holding, the soft sound the box made in protest being the only sound for a while between the two. 

Uzi's eyebrows furrowed and she tilted her head to the side slightly. "You good-" she started before she was cut off by Niko saying "Leave".

Her eyes narrowed and she reached out slightly before pulling back. If her chuunibyou was as severe as Niko's, she could almost feel the AbsoluteSolver radiating off of him. She walked away from him, clinging onto herself. Maybe she had gone too far with the questions.

Meanwhile, at the top of the stairs, Niko stood still and watched her leave. Once he heard the sound of her door closing, tears started to stream down his face.

He took off his eyepatch, not daring to want to ruin it. Surprisingly, his contact didn't move. It stayed in the same spot. The tears poured down his face and he wiped them away, hearing their soft plink onto the ground.

After a bit of his absence, he heard the apartment door open. He didn't bother moving, knowing exactly who it was.

Her light steps slowly approached him. "Big Brother?" she asked.

N looked over his shoulder, allowing her to see his broken state and she understood instantly. This had happened before, she remembered and knew what to do. Cyn walked up to him and took the box out of his hands, groaning about how heavy it was before hugging him tight.

Cyn felt N’s knees bend and he tightened his grip on her. The two stayed like that for a bit before bringing his things up.

Uzi woke up to the sound of a trumpet on her balcony. She groaned and turned over, seeing Niko on her balcony railing, one leg on a box whilst blowing into a trumpet like he was stranded.

She plugged her ears and opened her window, making Niko notice her. "Good morning Uzi! Hope you had a great night's sleep!" he exclaimed.

Uzi unplugged her ears and rubbed her eyes. "How long have you been there?"

Niko thought for a second and leaned on his trumpet. "About 15 minutes."

"15 minut- you know what? Never mind," she said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I have come to announce to youuuu," he extended the U to add emphasis while he reached in his pocket. He pulled out a banner and rolled it out. "The Solver Society!"

Uzi blinked at him, staring at his genuine excitement. She reached up and pulled him down, pulling on his antenna. "YOU WOKE ME UP FOR THAT!? ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS!?" she shouted at him.

Niko was shrieking at her to stop and trying to grab her hands. "I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE COOL!" he exclaimed, still attempting to get free.

"Did you even think about how exactly we're going to form this 'society' you're going on about?" Uzi asked, finally setting him free.

"Easy, ask one of the teachers to be our representative. Then, go to the room we crashed in on the first day of school. Then, we get people to join!" Niko explained, raising his hands in the air when he was finished.

Uzi then proceeded to whack his forehead several times with the side of her hand. "Are you serious!? That will never work, you dumbass!"

"You didn't have to say it like that," Niko whined. "Plus, I think it's cool."

"You're not biased. You think everything associating with the AbsoluteSolver is the coolest thing in the world," Uzi protested.

Niko sighed dramatically. "Because it is. And last time I checked you-"

"Say one more word about that and I will pull this antenna out of your head!" She pressed reaching for it.

Niko squealed and ran to one side of the balcony, protecting his head. "No! It's my most attractive feature!"

Uzi took that as a challenge and lunged. The two quickly scrambled around the balcony, Niko running from Uzi whilst she tried to yank his antenna.

Meanwhile, leaning against Uzi’s door frame was her father, taking the occasional sip out of his #1 Dad mug. He watched the two high schoolers have their scuffle and sighed. Exactly like how you were to me, Nori. He thought.

"So, if you had to pick between any of your adoptive siblings, which one would you pick to be stranded with?" Uzi asked while they walked to school after their scramble.

The two had gotten onto the topic of siblings, Uzi quickly learned that Niko had a big family. The oldest of his adoptive siblings, Tessa, was an astronaut trainee certainly training to go into space, she had just turned 26. Next in his adoptive family was Jackie (J as Niko calls her) who had an office job for the coperate company JCJenson. Niko didn't talk very highly of her. She was 24.

Then there was Viktoria (V as Niko called her), who was the job hopper as Niko called her. She hopped from job to job in multiple different areas, whether that be as a chef in New Orleans to an accountant in Japan. She was the main culprit for Niko and Cynthia moving to Uzi's town in the first place. For she had just gotten a job here that paid well. Niko and Cynthia came along due to not being old enough to live on their own (which Uzi thought was a good thing seeming as how the two seem like the type to burn water) and not wanting to go with Jessica due to personal reasons. Viktoria was only 20 and was already acting more responsible then your average 17 year old boy.

"Tessa," Niko said as he flipped his phone closed, the cross slightly smacking his fingers.

Uzi raised her eyebrows. "Why not V or Cyn? Don't you live with them?"

"V's... complicated and Cyn's my biological sister," Niko explained, yet still sounded cryptic. He had a habit of doing that.

"Ah, I see," Uzi said. "I should of known you and Cyn were related."

"Nah, it's okay," Niko said. "It's not an earth shattering thing if you get my sibling order wrong. Sometimes I get them mixed up."

"My, my, my. It must be the person who made my servant upset," Cyn's voice echoed through the trail the two were walking through.

Niko pulled out his umbrella and extended the handle. Uzi readied her fists (as if that would do anything).

"I see we have our weapons out," Cyn observed. The two heard the sound of a large gun rotating its ammo. "Cracks knuckles, I can play too."

A loud gun shot fired towards Uzi and in the spilt second before she was shot in the head, Niko stepped in front of her hand had his umbrella open, acting as a shield for the two of them. Uzi's eyes widened and she watched him toss the umbrella in the air. It spun around and transformed into a revolver, landing perfectly in his hands. He gestured to his other side and Uzi looked down, on his other side was another umbrella identical to the first.

Uzi took it and opened it, spinning it around and transforming it into a railgun. She laughed maniacally and grinned.

Niko grabbed her wrist and jumped into the sky, looking below to try and find Cyn. Once he spotted her, he pointed his gun and started to rapidly shoot at her. Uzi squinted, trying to find Cyn herself so she could shoot her.

Niko aimed the railgun at a random spot made her pull the trigger. A bright green light erupted from the gun and the two were fired backwards. They both screamed and tumbled in the air, Niko flying off into a tree with his eyepatch burned away. Uzi slammed into the ground face first.

Uzi groaned and sat up, holding her head in her hands. She looked around, noticing Niko above her dangling from a tree branch. "You good?" she asked.

All she got was a small groan from Niko before his body went fully limp. "I'm never trusting you with a railgun again."

Chapter Text

"I'm terribly sorry but we cannot represent a group with your subject, " their English teacher said. "Try the Home Economics teacher."

Niko and Uzi said their thank you's and left. That was the fifth no they've gotten in the past free period they both had. The two sighed in sync and Niko crossed off their teacher's name off the list. "Okay, so in conclusion, there's only one person left we can ask."

"And who's that? Jesus Christ himself?" Uzi asked.

"Sadly no," Niko said. "The drama teacher."

Oh yes. We completely forgot to mention. Niko and Uzi's drama teacher was absolutely insane. Uzi always joked that her and Niko would get along lovely.

Uzi groaned into her hands. "You're asking, not me."

The two walked down to the gym and opened the double doors. Niko immediately got smacked in the face with a volleyball by Thad.

He screamed in pain and held his face, blood flowing from his nose.

Thad rushed over and started apologizing profusely. "Holy hell, I'm so sorry, N and M's. I didn't mean to-"

Niko waved his hand in the air but continued to hold his face. "Nah, it's okay. Some tissues would be nice though."

Thad quickly ran off to the male washroom while Uzi helped Niko get up and over to the stage to keep his wound elevated. "I think my solver protection stopped working," Niko mumbled into his hand.

"Probably because you didn't call on it in time, idiot," Uzi chuckled, holding the back of his head.

Niko gasped hopefully. "You do remember, Uzi," he exclaimed. "My strategies are working."

Uzi’s eyes narrowed and she was going to pull on his antenna (which was swaying side to side happily) but she didn't want to put him in more pain.

"Sure it is, Buddy. Sure it is," she smiled.

Niko sighed contently. "You know, if I wasn't in pain and feeling like I'm about to pass out. I would hug you."

"And I would push you to pull on your antenna until it breaks," Uzi countered with a smirk. Though, the thought of Niko hugging her didn't leave her mind.

Thad returned shortly after with some paper towel and tore some off for Niko. He gladly took them and placed them under his nose, slowly tipping his head down. As he did this, Rebecca ran over to them, hands fanning herself. "I heard the scream and the drama students wanted to know what happened. Is everyone oka-" she gasped loudly when she noticed Niko. "Oh my god! What happened to you? Do you need to go to the Nurse's office? I can walk you there if you wan-"

"I think he'll be alright, Rebecca," Thad interrupted. "So, run back to drama and tell everyone everything is okay."

Rebecca flicked her bright blue hair and scoffed. " Fine , but I have cheerleading practice after school. Maybe you'll want to stop by, cutie," she flirted, making Uzi flinch and cringe.

Niko simply sat there, completely oblivious to what Rebecca had just told him due to being light headed from his nosebleed.

Drama can be many things, whether that be the art of theater or something told around the lunch table mainly by teenage girls. Drama can also mean being overdramatic if you refer to it as a 'drama queen'. But, there's one thing that drama never is. And that's honest. Drama must be started from somewhere, whether that be at a rumor or a script. All drama is is copy pasted fact that has been slightly altered. But, almost nobody knows who has the original. 

And after the whole 'volleyball and nose bleed' incident. Rebecca thought it was a great idea to spread around the rumor of her and Niko being together. Niko being as oblivious as he is, didn't know anything about this and simply continued on with his daily activities (which included not even interacting with her). 

Uzi however, noticed the drama and the rumor like a sore thumb and wanted to get under Rebecca's skin for it. She knew that it wasn't true, nor would it ever become true. When she had Chuunibyou, she completely blocked away any sort of romantic feelings she had, saying it would 'interfere with the solver's abilities'. If Niko is anything like her (or worse) then he most likely did something similar and will most likely reject her if she ever does ask.

Yet still, Uzi came to the conclusion shortly after she asked herself if Rebecca even knew that Niko had Chuunibyou. No, no she did not.

Most people with chuunibyou want people to know that they have it. And Niko was no different due to his decorated outfit, eyepatch, and questionable chains hanging from his phone. However, he didn't shout out that he has it every five seconds or tell everyone he is the 'servant of the AbsoluteSolver'. Maybe if he did do that, maybe they wouldn't be in this situation.

However, while in class doing some work, Uzi overheard from the other side of the room Rebecca talking to her friends about the rumor.

"He's so cute!" she exclaimed. "If you excuse the eye issues."

"So that's what's under his eyepatch?" one of her friends asked. "I thought he wore it to cover up pink eye or something."

"No, you idiot!" Rebecca shrieked. "On the first day of school, he told me that he was born with Amblyopia."

"But, don't people with that usually wear glasses? I understand the eyepatch bit but-"

" Stop trying to be smart with me, Emily ," Rebecca sneered.

Uzi's blood boiled and she almost snapped her mechanical pencil in half. She had to figure out how she was going to expose her for spreading this fake rumor. But how? Niko was that deep into his fantasy he wouldn't dare take it off willingly .

However, almost as if on cue, Niko came into the room with his eyepatch off and allowing people to see his contacted eye. "Hey, Uzi," he greeted. "My eyepatch broke, do you have a spare? Mine are at home."

Uzi smirked and looked over her shoulder, watching as the girls' faces dropped while Rebecca's friends slowly turned towards Rebecca. 

"No, I don't. But I think there's some in the office," she said.

"Ah, thanks. See ya later!" Niko called as he ran out of the classroom.

Uzi watched as Rebecca's friends started to interrogate her about lying to them about her relationship with Niko and whether or not anything she's ever said has been real. Of course, Rebecca began to panic and try to defend herself.

Serves her right . Uzi thought before going back to her work.

Lunch period came and Uzi sat at her and Niko's usual table. She pulled out her phone and quietly awaited Niko's arrival. She knew he wasn't going to very quiet when he got to the table, in fact he wasn't very quiet ninety percent of the time.

And today was no different. For the second he arrived in the cafeteria, he sprinted up to the table while saying her name over and over again. When he got to the table, his hands gripped onto the table to stop him from slamming into it. Uzi looked up at him, seeing the wide grin on his face.

"And is there a reason you're looking like you just hopped out of Wonderland?" she asked.

"WE GOT A REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE CLUB!" he shouted, holding the piece of paper in her face.

Uzi slammed a hand on his mouth to make him stop and took the paper. Sure enough, on the bottom dotted line was their homeroom teacher's name. She raised her eyebrows and removed her hand from his mouth. "Huh, you actually did it," she mumbled.

Niko sat down and put his hand on his hips. "Aren't you proud of me? And that's not even the best part!" he leaned down and pulled out paint brushes and star lights. Uzi assumed he got them from his many boxes he had. "We get to decorate the room!" 

Uzi sighed into her hands. "And when do you plan on doing this?"

"We both have a free period next so I figured to do it then," Niko said, taking out his lunch and moving the tomatoes away from the other food.

She raised her eyebrow at this and snickered. "Do you not like tomatoes?" she asked, gesturing to what he's doing.

"The color red attracts enemies," Niko explained. "Plus, I don't really like the color red."

"What a creative way to say that you don't like them," Uzi snickered. "You know that I used to know a solver user that was associated with the color red?"

"I've heard of her," Niko said, eating a bit of his food. "We fought each other and I won. Her stupid face and Russian speaking mou-"

"NIKOOOOOOOOO!" Rebecca called, making Niko's antenna shoot up. He looked over at her and noticed her running up to him. He squeaked and pulled out his umbrellas, opening them and making them act like barriers around him. Rebecca smacked into the umbrellas and fell to the ground with a yelp. "Um, Niko? You okay?"

Niko stayed behind the umbrellas, believing they were protecting him from this random girl. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" Niko asked, sounding genuinely scared.

This seemed to break Rebecca in multiple ways as she just simply stood there with a surprised expression. The whole cafeteria fell silent and watched as Rebecca made a fool of herself in front of everyone. An uproar of laughter towards Rebecca quickly rose and she shuddered. Rebecca quickly scrambled out of the cafeteria and Uzi watched her leave, giving Niko a thumbs up to come out of his hiding mode.

He did just that, retracting the umbrellas and reattaching them to his sides. He turned back to face his food and picked up his chopsticks. "That was weird," he chirped, taking a bite.

Chapter Text

The cold and peaceful breeze of the September evening surrounded N as he ran. His sister approached, toying with him.

N looked around and noticed a children’s playground ahead. He turned his head, peeking over his shoulder to see where the Angel of Death was. When he couldn’t find her, he quickly slid into a small box that held up the slides of the playground.

He took a minute to breath, peering through one of the many holes to view from.

In the distance, the Angel of Death approached, holding a large battle axe. Her large wings slowly emerged from her back. N covered his mouth and pulled his legs to his chest.

“Give up, N,” her cold voice said, making sure to press venom into every word.

N was about to respond when his attention was directed to a bark. It sounded young, a puppy. His visible eye widened and he looked around for the puppy, his eyes landing on a small golden retriever. A small smile spread across his face and he slowly stood, trying to get the small puppy.

Only for the Angel of Death’s axe to slice his hand, making him scream in pain. The burning sensation from the cut shot through him, yellow blood pouring out. He turned, following the axe with his eyes.

The axe returned to the Angel of Death, her deep golden eyes shooting daggers at him. Her silver hair blowing in the wind. “You can’t win this imaginary fight, N,” she pressed, spinning her axe and getting ready to throw it again. “And you know the power I hold over you.”

“But yet, you know exactly what will happen if I come with you,” N protested, pressing his thumb against one of his teeth, drawing blood. The blood quickly turned into a large sword that stabbed into the ground, it resembled the sun, golden blade with yellow and orange handle. He picked it up and raised it as if to challenge her. “And do you wish to beg?”

The Angel of Death’s eyes widened before she smirked. “Do your worst, N,” she snickered. “See just how powerful your attacks are.”

N smirked and jumped up, preparing to slice right through her. Instead, a barrier surrounded her and pushed him back. He smacked into a rock and fell to the ground, sword blade shattering and falling to the ground.

“Whatever Cyn got you into, this has to stop,” the Angel of Death said, walking over to N and kneeling to his level. “This isn’t healthy. And I think you know that too.”

N’s visible eye narrowed and he looked up at the Angel of Death, taking in her features. Just before she knocked him out cold.

Uzi groaned and turned over, feeling water spray onto her face. She tried to wipe it off, however more came. She slowly opened her eyes and straightened her hand, knocking the person who was spraying her on the top of the head.

The water stopped and a small ‘ow’ escaped Niko. He rubbed his already bruised forehead and covered it with his bangs.

“Niko, what are you-” Uzi started before her eyes widened. Niko was in her room. Why was he in her room!? “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE, YOU PERV! ” she shrieked, shooting out of her bed and pushing him outside her window.

Niko groaned as he slammed into the railing of Uzi’s balcony. “It’s N,” he muttered.

Uzi picked up the thing he was spraying her with. It was a metal watering can with a sprayer to spray the water rather than pour it. She slipped through her window and knelt down to Niko’s level. “What exactly were you doing in my room? You do know that it's incredibly creepy for a boy to be in a girl’s room without their consent, right?”

“I have older and younger sisters,” Niko said.

Oh yea, forgot. Uzi thought. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

Niko took his water sprayer back and placed it on the ground next to him. “The Angel of Death was after me last night,” he explained. “I needed somewhere to stay. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Uzi hit his forehead with the side of her hand again, earning yet another ‘ow’. “Just wake me up next time, idiot,” she said. Niko nodded and held his forehead, a small smile on his face. “So, who is this ‘Angel of Death’ you’re talking about?”

“My sister, Viktoria,” Niko explained. “She’s always after me specifically. Never Cyn, just me. She constantly demands for me to give up and stuff like that,” he pointed behind Uzi. “By the way, I have also brought a companion along with me.”

“Companion?” Uzi asked, turning around. “Who the hell are yo-”

There sat on her bed was a small golden retriever, tail wagging happily and its tongue sticking out. Uzi picked up the puppy and plopped it in Niko’s lap. “Nope, I am not allowing a dog in my room.”

“But, Uzi,” Niko whined, holding the puppy up to her face. “I can’t keep it and it needs a home.”

“Why can’t you keep it? You seem like the type of person to absolutely adore these,” Uzi stated.

“Alas, neither Cyn or the Angel of Death can be around dogs. Or any animals really. So, we’ve never been able to have a pet. I’ve had to rely on pictures,” Niko said, sitting criss-cross applesauce and setting the puppy in his lap. He pet the creature and scratched under its ear. “So, I was hoping you could take care of it for me!”

Despite having chuunibyou, he does seem like he knows what he’s doing. Uzi thought. “Okay, are you sure the dog doesn’t have a home?”

“I found it at the playground whilst in battle last night,” he said while allowing the small puppy to chase the cross on his phone case. “It didn’t have a collar or anything so I took it with me. It's better than staying outside with no one.”

Uzi groaned internally and sighed. “I’ll take it for now. If you move out of the apartment at any time, you’re taking it.”

Niko’s visible eye widened and a smile spread across his face. “Really!?” he exclaimed.

“Don't make me take it back,” Uzi said, smacking Niko's forehead with the side of her hand. “Just wait here for a bit, I'm gonna get ready.”

Niko nodded and continued to play with the puppy, making it spin around and snuggle into him. He giggled softly and the puppy jumped up to his face, licking his left cheek. Niko pieced together what the puppy was so concerned about and lifted his eyepatch, revealing his contacted eye. The puppy yipped and jumped again, sending Niko down.

Meanwhile, Uzi got dressed into a white t-shirt with black leggings, a black hoodie atop it all unzipped. She reopened her blinds and slipped through her window to see Niko being absolutely pounced on by the dog. "Okay, seeming as how this dog is mine now, we'll feed it first then we'll get going."

Niko gave her a thumbs up and attempted to try and get the dog off of him, failing miserably. Uzi smiled and rolled her eyes, reaching over Niko and taking the puppy. Niko sat up and wiped his hands in his shirt, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "You're very cute, puppy. But you ruined my shirt."

Uzi put her free hand on her hip. "Why don't you go change and meet us at the door?"

She then saw something she never expected to see in her whole life. Sure, Niko's ascension back to his room started off normal with him jumping up onto the railing. However, a normal person would have just pulled themselves up using the railing above or the rope conveniently in front of them. Niko on the other hand, grabbed the rope in front of him and hopped into the air, twirling himself around. He hooked his feet onto the railing above and hung upside down for a split second (allowing Uzi to see his bruised forehead) before somehow contorting himself backward onto the railing above. She could have sworn she heard every bone in his body crack.

Uzi raised her eyebrows and the puppy whined in her arms, missing its old companion. She sighed and looked down at the puppy. "Come on, Buddy. Let's get you something to eat."

Once Niko had finally arrived from his detour of getting ready, the two were off. However, they didn't get very far however due to a pot ladle smacking Niko in the forehead, sending him down to the ground. Uzi's eyes widened and she watched the ladle spin in the air, returning to its rightful owner.

The woman standing across from them was tall and slim, sun-kissed skin with spots of white splashed around her body. She had silver hair with blonde tips cut into a bob cut, dark golden eyes that seemed to be endless pools, an endless abyss.

"Who's that?" Uzi whispered to Niko as he got up.

"The Angel of Death," Niko said simply, pulling out his umbrella and spinning it around in his fingertips.

"Who's this?" the woman asked, gesturing to Uzi with her ladle. "Her hair looks like she took a highlighter to it."

Uzi took personal offense to that and noticed her vision start to swirl slightly, large white feathery wings sprouting from the woman's back. Her ladle was now a large battle axe. Holy shit . Uzi thought, realizing what was happening.

Niko pressed his thumb against his front tooth, drawing blood. The blood floated above his fingers and the solver symbol appeared around the droplet, morphing into a large sword. He grabbed the handle and spun it around, throwing his umbrella at Uzi for her to take. The umbrella transformed into a railgun and Uzi grinned aiming at the Angel of Death. 

Niko pointed his sword at the Angel of Death. "What do you want, V?"

"For you to give up this nonsense!" Viktoria shouted. "It's not healthy for you! Your mind will become corrupted just like Cyn's! I don't want that happening to you!"

Uzi's eyebrows knitted together. Just how far gone was his sister? she thought. The better question being; why was he like this?

"Nothing will bring them back and you know that!" Viktoria shouted, making Niko shudder. "You know that they're gone and there's nothing you can do about it. Accept it-"

Before she could finish, N threw his sword at her. It just barely scraped her face. V's eyes shook, glazing her finger over her newfound cut. Uzi's eyes widened and she glanced over at N, noticing the shimmering tears in his eyes. He pulled his eyepatch off and called his sword back to him. The sword snapped back into his hand like a boomerang and made a loud SLICE.

"Oh, do you want to play this dance again?" V asked with a smirk, readying her battle axe.

N was quick to jump up into the air, disappearing. Uzi jumped up as well, spinning her railgun on her finger. She backflipped onto a nearby tree and watched V, who was spinning her battle axe in her fingers. She slammed it into the ground, causing everything to be pushed by the shockwave. Uzi gripped onto the tree for dear life, in fear of falling off.

Meanwhile, N simply jumped over the force and transformed his sword into a laser gun. He closed his non contacted eye and aimed for V's axe, firing. The axe quickly sliced in half, the blade falling to the ground. V groaned and picked up the blade, throwing it at N's face. N jumped up and front flipped in the air, slamming the heel of his foot in V's forehead. She fell to the ground and Uzi was quick to press her railgun against her head. 

V shuddered slightly before smirking. She called upon her axe and slammed it against Uzi's forehead, making her be pushed back. Her railgun fell to the ground and Uzi tumbled to the ground. Slowly, the delusion started to fade for Uzi. The world started to dull and V's axe turned back into a ladle. She walked up to Uzi and knelt down to her level on the ground.

"I have one thing to say to you," Viktoria grabbed Uzi's face and pulled her up. "If you influence him into his delusions any further, I will not hesitate," she hissed. Uzi's eyebrows knitted together and she looked at Viktoria up and down. She took this as an opportunity and smacked Uzi in the forehead with her ladle, knocking her out cold.

Later that day, Uzi stood in her bathroom mirror, flicking her hair around to try and cover the big bandage on her forehead. After a while, she gave up and sighed, brushing her teeth and walking into her room. Outside her window, she saw Niko's rope dangle from the balcony above. She opened her window and slipped through, walking over to her balcony and peering over. When she saw nothing from below, she looked up, seeing the illuminating light from above. 

A small smile spread across her face and she stared at the rope, swaying from side to side in front of her. It wouldn't hurt if she went up there, right? Niko did it to her this morning.

She climbed up her balcony and grabbed the rope, launching herself forward. She pulled herself up the rope and slowly made it up to Niko's room, hearing the soft sound of girls talking. Uzi peeked her head up over his balcony railing, seeing that his window was open. His desk being on the wall next to the window made it easy to determine where he was. His pc was on, playing some sort of show that had too many bright colors for Uzi's liking. In front of said pc was Niko, arms crossed on the desk and head laying atop them. His face was pointing towards the window, allowing Uzi to see him. 

His eyes were closed, indicating he was asleep. His eyepatch was off, it most likely falling off earlier that evening. Uzi climbed over his balcony and slipped through the opened window. She looked around his room, seeing many posters of dogs and hanging weapons such as swords and guns. His bed was pressed against the wall, bright yellow bed sheets with black stitching. Yellow lace strung from the ceiling above his bed. Uzi looked back to his desk, realizing what exactly he was watching. On the screen, she saw five girls dressed in sailor uniforms with different colored tiaras on their heads. One of them in particular had blonde hair tied into space buns with hair resembling pigtails still hanging.

Uzi's eyes widened. Honestly, I'm not surprised he likes Sailor Moon. She thought, reaching over him and pausing the episode. She picked up a blanket on the floor and flicked it in the air, draping it over Niko's shoulders. Uzi tiptoed over to the light switch, flicking it off. She walked back over to the window and was about to slip through again when she looked back, observing Niko sleeping.

After a little bit, Uzi shook herself out of her thoughts and lightly smacking herself. She then left, deciding to go to bed herself after that.

Chapter Text

N opened his eyes slowly, rubbing one of them to get the sleep out of it. He lifts his head up and looks around, realizing the sun was up high in the sky. His antenna shot up and he pushed himself up, a woozy feeling washing over him. He was quickly sent to the ground and groaned.

A light knock sent a shockwave through N's body, causing him to wince in pain. "Big Brother?" Cyn asked through the door. "I'm coming in," she opened the door slowly and noticed her brother and his state. "Gasp, my servant! Falls on knees. Are you alright?" she asked, grabbing N's face with her hands. "Did you battle an angel last night?"

N shook his head as best as he could. "Maybe in the realm of dreams but there were no angels last night."

Cyn draped the back of her hand over his forehead. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, waving her hand in the air. "My servant, you're burning up! You cannot go back to our base of operations in your condition! Fear not, for I, The Main Host of The AbsoluteSolver. Shall help you in your desperate times-"

"What are you two idiots doing?" V asked, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"My servant is in critical condition!" Cyn announced, pulling N's head up to press it next to her own face. "What did you do to him yesterday? I heard you engaged in mortal combat."

"One, stop swinging him around like that, you don't want to make it worse," V said, taking N from Cyn and swinging him over her shoulder. N stayed limp like a ragdoll despite being taller than V. "Two, you get ready for school while I take him to the hospital. Notify his friend with highlighter hair that he won't be in school today and get the schoolwork he needs for the day."

"Do not call her a highlighter-" N started before a wave of nausea washed over him and he covered his mouth.

Cyn stood up quickly, hands extended just in case N fell or anything. "He'll be fine," V assured. "Come on, I'll give you a ride. Your school is near the hospital."

Cyn climbed out of the convertible, closing the door behind her.

"Now, remember I'll be back to pick you up at around 10:30. Got it?" V asked, pushing her sunglasses up. 

Cyn nodded, her antenna swaying from side to side. "Get better, Big Brother!" she called as she ran, earning an incredibly weak looking thumbs up from N before him and V sped off down the road. Cyn sighed and she walked into the school.

Okay, if I was my brother, where would my homeroom be? She asked herself. She ran up several flights of stairs and checked the class lists for his name. 

After a little bit of searching, she was knocked out of her intense thinking by a girl talking to her. "Hey, pigtails," a female voice said above her. The girl tapped her in the head and Cyn looked up at her. The girl who was desperately trying to get her attention was none other than popular cheerleader, Lizzy. Here she was, blonde hair tied into a high ponytail with a pink bow with her cheerleading uniform on. "You're Cynthia Elliot, right?" Cyn nodded. "Fantastic, I need a favor. I need you to get your brother to get with my fri-"

"My brother's not here today," Cyn said simply.

Lizzy blinked at her. "Well, where is he?"

"At the hospital."

"The hospital-" Lizzy began before pausing. "You know what, what are you on the 11th grade floor for?"

"I'm looking for my brother's classroom. I need to get his paperwork for the day," Cyn chirped.

"Well, tell you what? I'll bring you to my classroom and you grab your brother's work. We're in the same class so it shouldn't be too difficult," Lizzy said.

Cyn nodded and Lizzy guided her down the hall. Once they got to the classroom, the classroom was immediately hushed. Lizzy raised an eyebrow and looked over the sea of her classmates. "Why did you go quiet? Keep talking, losers!" she demanded. The class instantly exploded in chatter again.

Cyn glanced over the sea of teenagers. "Grimace," she mumbled.

Lizzy walked up to the teacher and whispered something. The teacher nodded and pulled out a file. Lizzy thanked the teacher and turned around. "And here is his work," she said.

Cyn's eyes widened and she took the file. "Thank you, Lizzy."

"Now, head off to class before you get caught up here," she ushered, pushing Cyn out of the classroom.

Uzi sighed softly and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. After hours of work, she finally got the clubroom looking relatively suitable for them to start decorating it. All she needed was Niko so they could get started. Almost on cue, the door slid open and a smile appeared on Uzi's face.

"Hey, man. I got the room done, you like it-" she started, turning around. Instead of seeing Niko, she was greeted with Cynthia. She held a large folder in her hands and stared at her. "Why are you on this floor?"

"I was instructed to tell you of my servant's absence. He is currently going to the palace of angels with the Angel of Death," Cynthia said, looking around the clubroom.

For those who do not understand the talk of chuunibyou. What she said was "I was told to tell you that Niko is currently at the hospital with Viktoria."

Uzi's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean he's gone to the hospital?" she demanded.

"My servant was not in good shape when he awoke, therefore, the Angel of Death took him to the hospital," she replied.

Uzi blinked several times. "Is he okay?" she asked.

Cynthia shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."

I see where he gets it now. Uzi thought. "Are you getting picked up early?" Cynthia nodded. "Okay, school can wait. Cancel your ride. You're coming with me."

Cynthia's eyes widened. "But, primary host of the AbsoluteSolver. I can't just leave with you."

"Yes, you can. I give you permission," Uzi countered. "Plus, don't you want to get your brother something?"

Cynthia looked as though she was going to protest when she exhaled softly. "Sigh, let's go."

Uzi smirked. "That's what I thought," she murmured softly. Her and Cynthia began to walk out of the school and walk to the train station. "By the way, you mentioned a while ago that Niko was moved up a grade. Why is that?"

"It's mainly because of our older adoptive siblings," Cynthia explained. "When Louisa and James adopted me and my servant, they expected excellence at school. However, due to the orphanage we were in not giving them his birth details or anything. They just assumed he was a certain age and stuck with it. If you ask me? I don't understand why he feels guilty for their deaths. They were nothing but cruel to us."

Uzi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Big Brother never told you?" Cynthia asked, earning a head shake from Uzi. "When we were only young, my brother being around 5 while I was freshly turned 4. Our parents were slaughtered due to our existence. Saying that they had committed many sins at the cost of our existence," as Cynthia spoke, colors started to swirl around her and Uzi. A small shack appeared in front of them. It was a cute little house with flowers surrounding a rock path leading towards the front steps. "My servant, unaware of the events about to take place, came outside to investigate the commotion."

The front door of the house opened, revealing a small boy with silver hair. He wore a yellow and black t-shirt with a golden retriever on it with black shorts. Uzi could immediately recognize the boy due to the antenna swaying atop his head. She had to say, Niko looked absolutely adorable when he was smaller.

"He saw them get slaughtered," Cynthia continued, flinching slightly when two gunshots ran through the once colorful scene in front of them. Two bodies fell to the ground and Uzi could almost see the life in Niko's eyes disappear. "He screamed and screamed for someone to help. No one came."

The once colorful scene in front of them had turned into mostly grey, the only colors showing up being faint yellows and blues. They were sporadic, only appearing on Niko's shirt, eyes, and the sky above him. "In a desperate attempt at doing something, he called 911. However, after waiting and waiting. No one came. Our parents were long dead by then. One of our neighbors had noticed the scene and called child services."

The scene in front of them shifted, turning into a large orphanage with large gates blocking it off from the world. "We were sent to an orphanage shortly thereafter. And although, we wanted parents again. We knew that they wouldn't be the same. Plus, no one wanted us," Cynthia walked towards the orphanage as the doors to the gates were pushed open. "That is, until when I was 9 and my servant was 10. Big Sister Tessa arrived."

Uzi turned around. Behind them, 5 people approached the orphanage. They all wore fancy attire, that of rich families. Uzi only recognized one. That being V, solely for her bob cut hair. "Tessa quickly fell in love with my servant and begged James and Louisa to adopt us. After trial and error. She got her wish. However, they treated all of us horribly," the scene shifted again, showing multiple instances as to what Cynthia was talking about. "They abused their power over us and used it for their gain. It wasn't long however, when tragedy fell again."

"On the day of Niko's 13th birthday, Tessa and Jackie - who had already moved out at this point - came to visit. That is, until the mansion we called home erupted into flames, killing James and Louisa," Cynthia continued yet again. "Despite everything they had done to us, my servant cried so many tears that day. The guilt from both our and our adoptive parents' deaths had gotten too much."

Cynthia looked up at Uzi, making sure she was still listening. Uzi ushered for her to continue. "With Tessa and Jackie only being on holiday, once they returned to work, we were left with the Angel of Death, due to her being 17. Shortly after that, I discovered another world full of everything we could have ever hoped for. Of course, I told my servant about it. However, he had already made up his own identity, getting it from somewhere I will never understand. Then, you came into our lives. I... don't think I've ever seen him so energetic to be around someone."

Uzi's eyes widened. Every host is connected to one another in one or another. Niko had told her. Could he have possibly gotten it... from me?

Cynthia noticed Uzi in her deep thought and waved her hand in front of Uzi's face. This sent Uzi out of her trance and she looked down at her. "Sorry, just thinking. What day is Niko's birthday?"

"The 14th of February," she replied.

"That's ages away. What does he like?"

Cynthia raised an eyebrow but shrugged off her suspicion. "Golden retrievers. That's his favorite breed of dog. This one show- um. Thinking. What is it called again? I know it has magical girls in it."

"Sailor Moon?" Uzi asked.

"Yes! That's it. He likes that. He shows great interest in getting the books of it."

He reads manga? Probably not much though. I can work with that. "Alright, thank you."

N groaned and slumped in the front seat of the convertible. V glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. "It's just the common flu, you'll be fine in a few days."

"My abilities have been weakened after my battle with you," N mumbled. "What have you done to me?"

"I did nothing to you. All those nights of sneaking out have finally caught up to you and now you're paying the price," V explained. "I officially put you on bed rest for the week."

N glanced over at her and managed to muster the willpower to put his eyepatch on. "Aren't we visiting Tessa on the weekend though?"

"If you're not better by then, I'm sure she'll understand why we're not there," V said, earning a hum of acknowledgement.

The two fell into a silence, the only sound between the two being the soft hum of the car. V glanced over at N, the fact that she couldn't see the left side of his face bugged her. That was the side facing her, and due to his eyepatch, there was no way for her to tell whether or not he was looking at her or not. It never bugged her before, just the simple fact that his eyepatch was part of his chuunibyou always did. But for some reason, now it bugged her.

"I was talking to her earlier, Tessa I mean," V spoke, earning yet another hum. "She's worried about you, you know? You never call her, or tell her how you're doing. She wants to talk to you about this, Niko. She's your sister, you can't just leave her in the dark like this."

"I do talk to her," Niko replied.

"Yea, when we visit her and when she visits. That's not talking, Niko," V protested. "You can be open up to people about how you feel. You're our main priority."

That's selfish of me. N thought, gripping onto his legs. He was about to say something back when another wave of nausea washed over him and he lurched forward. V's eyes narrowed and she quickly pulled over. She reached into the backseat and pulled out the metal bowl she got from home just in case. She handed it to N, who looked like he was about to unravel.

"I told you to try and not throw up on the way home," V said, handing N a bottle of water. He took a sip and V took the bowl back. "We're almost home, you think you'll be okay until then?"

N nodded, not having enough energy to give a response.

The two resumed their drive home, that being the only time N ever threw up on the way.

Uzi put a mask on and climbed up the rope, being careful not to drop the box in her hand. She reached the balcony and noticed the window was open again. She slipped through and Niko looked up at her, as if this was common occurrence. "Hi, Uzi. What brings you to my room?"

"I heard you had fallen ill so, I have brought you a get-well soon gift. Don't think this will be a regular thing," Uzi replied, handing the box to Niko quickly.

Niko sat up and lifted up the lid of the box, quickly being greeted to all 12 volumes of Sailor Moon. He gasped and smiled down at her. "How did you know!?"

"Me and your sister were talking about it and she brought it up. My dad got me them a few years ago but I don't really like magical girl stuff. So, they're yours now," Uzi said. She was hoping Niko couldn't hear the smile in her voice.

Niko acted like a kid on Christmas. "You know, if I wasn't sick and didn't want you to get it. I'd hug you."

"You've said something similar before, dummy," she chuckled. Uzi sat on his desk for a bit as the two talked. Periodically, Uzi would feel her cheeks heat up at random things Niko did.

She prayed Niko couldn't see it under her mask.

Chapter Text

As Niko and Cynthia rolled around on the ground, clearly in training battle. Uzi had somehow pulled the strings to get Thad and Lizzy to join their club. 

And now there were five.

"Don't hurt yourselves, you two," Uzi called from the other side of the room. The siblings both paused and gave her a thumbs up before standing up and beginning again. Maybe it was because she was an ex-chuunibyou herself or she was slipping back into old habits but a small part of her wanted to know what exactly the two were seeing.

Suddenly, the door slid open and behind it was Thad with a sports jersey on. Clearly he just came back from football. His eyes widened at the sibling battle happening in front of him, watching as Niko pulled his sister off him and put her to the ground. "Um- I'm just gonna," he quickly skidded over to Uzi. "Should I be concerned-?"

"No, not at all. They're not doing anything really," Uzi explained. "Just tossing each other around. Don't mind it."

Thad gave her a thumbs up and looked over her shoulder. "So, what exactly is this?"

"Ask Niko, it was his idea," Uzi said, opening a locker in the back of the room. Dust exploded in her face and she coughed, waving the air in front of her. Once the dust settled, she peaked inside. Inside was an old black typewriter with a piece of paper inside. Uzi raised an eyebrow and knelt down, pulling the typewriter out. She stood up. "Thing 1 and 2, get over here!" she called, catching Niko and Cynthia's attention.

Niko noticed the typewriter and his antenna began to sway. He ran over to the other side of the room and grabbed a table, placing it on the summoning circle. Uzi placed the typewriter on it and sat criss-cross applesauce. The other three sat around her, Cynthia leaning on her brother's head. Uzi pulled the paper out and wiped her finger across it, seeing the page covered in dust. She blew it off and fanned the air. 

In her hand was a letter, written in beautiful prestigious cursive.

"To whom it may concern,

I am the priestess of love and beauty,

On my hunt for AbsoluteSolver hosts, I have stumbled into an enemy, an angel,

Although most would call the fallen angels to take care of them, I would disagree,

For I acquire the temporary host,

Please contact me below if you know her whereabouts. It is very urgent,

Sincerely yours, [REDACTED]"

Uzi's eyes widened and the phone number had been redacted as well. Niko took the paper and motioned to Cynthia to grab something. She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, handing her phone to her brother. He shun the light under the paper. He squinted his visible eye and pursed his lips. "I can't see the whole name due to a incantation that makes me colorblind to the color of this ink and the one covering it. However, I can see that the name underneath starts with an L."

In simpler terms, he said 'Due to me being colorblind to the colors of ink used, I can't see it. However, I did see an L.'

Thad nodded. "What about the phone numbers they mentioned?"

Niko tried to do the flashlight trick again, it completely failing. "I can't see anything."

"They must have put a stronger incantation on the phone numbers to hide their contact information better," Cynthia said. "Luckily for us, I recognize the handwriting and have a book at home with handwriting that is this exactly."

"Ah, of course! I'm sure our teachers won't mind if we leave for a bit," Niko said.

Uzi raised an eyebrow. "What book is that?"

"'Venus: Priestess of The Planet of Love and Beauty's Journal,'" Niko explained. "She found it on the internet and has been obsessed with it since."

"Isn't Venus a sailor soldier?" Uzi smirked.

"And she's my favorite too," Niko smirked back. "But, now's not the time for that. You wanna come to our apartment, Thad?"

Thad's eyes narrowed and he frantically looked around. "Um, n-no thanks. I have- uh- homework to do for next period. Thanks for the offer though. Speaking of which, I better get going. See ya!" he called as he scrambled out of the clubroom.

The trio watched him leave, turning their heads in unison. "That's..." Uzi started, the three eyeing the now closed door suspiciously. "Suspicious."

"Incredibly suspicious," Niko agreed.

"But, the owner cannot be him. I've seen his handwriting. It's not elegant like Venus'," Cynthia stated. "Now, there's no time to waste, grab," she grabbed Niko and Uzi's hands and pulled them to their feet. "The teachers will get suspicious."

Once the three arrived at their apartment complex, they quickly ran up the stairs and to their apartment. Cyn quickly imported the passcode and scanned her left eye. N lifted his eyepatch and allowed it to scan his. The scanner chimed and the door unlocked. Uzi raised an eyebrow and inspected the thing. She tapped it and a crinkling type sound came from it. Figured. Uzi thought.

The siblings ran into Cyn's room. Uzi nearly slipped on her way in there, plopping herself onto the ground. Cyn's room was incredibly neat, a desk with a laptop against the wall with her closet in front of her bed. Her bed was similar to N's but without the lace.

Cyn pushed her closet door open and reached inside, pulling out a large book. She blew a cloud of dust off it, making N cough. The book had a yellow hardcover with yellow cursive on the front. She opened it and sighed contently. "I found this journal whilst on the interwebs," she said. She brushed her fingers over the words. "As you can see, the writing is just like the one on the letter. Meaning-"

"Venus wrote the letter," Uzi interrupted. Cyn gasped, narrating that and squealing softly to herself. "Now, come on. Bring the book to school. We'll go from there."

Cyn nodded, plopping the book in her brother's arms. He stumbled slightly due to the weight change before stuffing it into his side bag. He rushed out of the room and threw the door open. He noticed the railing on the stairs and jumped on them, sliding down them. Due to the length of his legs, he had to extend them out so he wouldn't get hurt.

Uzi and Cyn quickly followed suit, hopping off shortly after he did.

"Curse your long legs," Uzi panted, having ran down the stairs before realizing he had just used the railing.

Cyn hopped off no problem, brushing her hands off. "I don't understand why you're so beat out, Uzi," she smirked.

Uzi flipped her off and pointed to the door. "Our period's going to end soon," she reminded.

The siblings' antennas shot up and the three of them sprinted out of the apartment complex. Uzi cringed slightly, realizing that to any other person, all they'd be seeing is three teenagers sprinting out of an apartment building with a large bag. The trio continued to run, taking a shortcut to make it to school faster. N pulled his phone out and flipped it open. "Our period ends in 5 minutes!" he shouted.

The three of them looked at each other before screaming. "Are we gonna make it?" Uzi asked.

"We'll make it," Cyn replied.

As soon as she said that, their school came into view. Uzi threw her hands in the air and whooped. The trio ran to the back of the school and skidded to a stop before they ran into the door. Well, Cyn tried to. However, N had to hold her back from doing it. "Curse my extended speed."

And by 'Increased speed'. She of course, means that she has wheels on the bottom of her sneakers.

Uzi opened the door as soon as the bell rang. The three's eyes widened and they looked at each other. "Well, see y'all at lunch!"

Lizzy ran into the clubroom and frantically looked around, tearing the whole room apart. Thad was right on her heels and watched his sister. After a bit, Lizzy growled loudly. "You said it was here!" she shouted.

"N, Uzi, and Cyn were going to go get it," Thad explained. "I figured they had brought it back here."

"Well, stop standing around like a log and help!" Lizzy demanded, continuing the tear the clubroom apart. "If anyone finds out what that book contains, we'll have to change everything about us again."

Thad walked over to his sister and looked through the other side of the clubroom, not finding the book. "I don't think it's here, Lizzy."

Lizzy shouted and pulled on her hair. "Then where could it be!?" she yelled.

"We could check with N and Uzi," he suggested. "Maybe they'll have it."

"Of course! But, they'll act suspicious..." Lizzy tapped her finger to her chin, snapping her fingers when she got an idea. "I got it! We make it look like I'm being nice to Uzi by asking if I can come over. Then, I'll find the book and burn it when I leave! Easy peasy!"

Thad hissed through his teeth. "Are you sure that's the best idea? What if the plan doesn't work?

"It'll work, I'm sure of it," she said with a smirk.

"So, this is your apartment?" Lizzy asked, looking around. "I must say, I thought it would look smaller."

Uzi glanced at her. "Oh wow, that was so funny. I forgot to laugh. By the way, N lives in the apartment above so don't mind if you see him doing things outside. You want something to eat?"

Lizzy waved her hand at Uzi. "No, don't worry about me. But you can get something for yourself if you want."

"Alright," Uzi said. "My room's just down the hall. You can go in there and wait if you want. I'll be back."

Lizzy nods and walks away towards Uzi's room. She slides the door open only to find N sitting on Uzi's bed, reading Venus' journal. Lizzy's eyes narrowed and she immediately lunged at him, N quickly moving away and holding the book in the air.

"Give me that if you know what's good for you," Lizzy threatened, earning a raised brow from N.

"Why do you care about this? It's my sister's," he asked, looking over it again, getting an idea. "So, tell me. What's delicate heartache? It sounds interesting."

Lizzy froze, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. She clenched her teeth and nearly lunged at him again. "Give me the book."

N quickly dodged again, rolling out the window and landing on his feet. "What's wrong? Is this book important to you or something?"

Lizzy stared at him and held out her hand. "Please, just... give me the book."

"Not until you tell me what it is," N protested, holding up the book just out of Lizzy's reach.

"It's private! Ever heard of privacy, moron!?" Lizzy shouted.

"I have. I just don't understand it very well," N quickly contorted himself backwards so he's hanging upside down from his room's balcony. He opened the book again and begins reading it again. "Say, your handwriting looks very similar to this Venus person's handwriting."

Lizzy's face quickly turned red from embarrassment and she lunges for N again, missing him again. "Give me that back! It's mine!"

"Ah ha! I knew it!" N cheered triumphantly. He closes the book and puts it behind his back. "So, you're the holy Venus my sister worships."

"Yes! Yes. I used to be a chuunibyou freak. Just... give me the book. Please," Lizzy holds out her hand to take the book.

N looked at her up and before pulling the book from behind his back. "I will give this to you. If you tell Cyn and Uzi the truth of who you are."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine. Anything else?"

"Yes, actually," N held out the book for Lizzy to take. "After your done telling Cyn, you will print her a new one. This book. Is the most precious thing to her other than me- probably. So, you will tell her your identity. And you will print her a personal copy for her."

Lizzy eyed the book suspiciously before nodding. "As much as I don't want to. I know how persistent you are with the whole-" She gestured to N's eyepatch. "Thing."

After Lizzy takes the book back and everything. The two of head out and start a fire before burning the original copy of the book. Watching as the books pages cracked and burned in front of them.

Chapter Text

Lizzy watched as the fire crackled in front of her, an evil aura surrounding her. N was crouched down next to the fire with his hands extended, warming himself up. He glanced over at her and shuffled away. "I don't bite," she said. "Though, don't be surprised if I do."

N looked over at her and rubbed his hands together. "I can sense Angels on you," N informed. "You're lucky I don't battle them anymore."

Lizzy's eyes widened and she turned her head. "If I remember correctly, solver hosts sprout from angels. What gives?"

"I fell a long time ago," N said. "Though, I do miss being like you all sometimes," he moved into sitting criss-crossed applesauce and poked the wood with a stick. Lizzy glanced at N's back, watching as the faint outline of large angel wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. She opened her mouth to speak, however N beat her to it. "Not all solver hosts come from angels. Some are simply born to be this way. That's the part you forgot."

"Hey, it's been a while since I've been Venus, okay?" Lizzy chuckled. "Can I ask you something?"

N hummed in response and poked the fire again, the flames catching the air like it was candy.  "How do you stay chuunibyou for so long?" she asked, making N freeze.

She saw the eye under his eyepatch move, to look at her. It was always a mystery to her, how he was able to see through an eyepatch and a contacted eye. Not to mention said contacted eye covered a good percent of how normal people see. "Incredible practice," N said, standing up. "I'm heading home."

"'Kay, see ya."

N stayed silent and walked away, Lizzy watching him leave. "Yea, somethings up."

A loud trumpet was what awoke Uzi today. The second she heard it, she knew who it was and what it was for. She sat up and opened her window. N sat on the railing to greet her, trumpet in hand. "Why, good morning, Uzi!" he chirped.

"What is it this time? I was in the middle of a really good dream," Uzi stated.

N raised an eyebrow. "Seeming as how you were saying my name multiple times, I'm just not going to question it," he concluded, making Uzi go bright red. "But that's not why I'm here," he hopped off the railing and spun around. "I'm here to give you an invite to my sister's house for the weekend!"

"Which sister? You've got four of them," Uzi asked, reaching into her room to pick up Biscuit.

"Tessa," N said. "Me, V, and Cyn visit her every year and said we could invite some friends," he reached over and grabbed the golden retriever. "Hello, my knight in shinning armor. How's life with my partner?"

Uzi's face went warm again, she shook it away. "So, how far does Tessa live from here?"

"An about 2 hour drive. She lives near my old home. Since she recently came home for holidays, we'll be able to go out and see her," N said, plopping Biscuit on his head. The puppy quickly started batting at his antenna, making it have to bend away from the pup.

"Sure, sounds fun," Uzi said, earning a small 'hooray' from N. He pulled her into a side hug, making Uzi squeak and attempt to escape. "N! Get off!" Uzi exclaimed, pushing N off her.

N quickly composed himself and adjusted Biscuit on his head to a proper position. Biscuit makes a small sound before going back to playing with N’s antenna.

"So, when are we leaving for this expedition anyway?" Uzi asked.

"Tomorrow after school. I'll ask the others tomorrow," N explained, guiding Biscuit away from chewing his antenna.

Uzi nodded, glancing over the balcony. "So, you decided to wake me up at 6:30 this morning for that?"

N nodded. "And to wake you up because you're gonna be late in..." he checked the time. "10 minutes."

Uzi's eyes widen and she quickly almost pushes N off the balcony so she can get ready.

The ride out to Tessa's was... interesting.

It was the first time Uzi had been away from home with friends since she had that tutor named Jessica. And honestly. It was nice.

N and Cyn were off talking about their own stuff. Viktoria was driving and listening to music. And Thad was in the front seat making conversation with Viktoria and Lizzy.

Uzi would chime in every now and again to Cyn and N’s conversation to make them not almost accidently kill one another. 

When they arrived at Tessa's, something seemed very familiar with the house. Like she'd seen it before. Yet, this was the first time she's ever seen this house. It was a small little house with some yellow tulips in the front yard and a stone path leading up to the front door.

It was a rather cozy house. And she enjoyed the look of it. She was taken out of her trance by N holding out her suitcase to her. She smiles and takes it from him.

They all enter the house, N in front of everyone with Cyn next to him. N and Cyn had matching suitcases. Cyn having a bright yellow one while N had a black one with the same symbols on it as their school pendant. 

N guides them into the house before Tessa practically throws herself at him. Grabbing his face and spinning him around.

"Ah! Hello, Niko! It's so good to see you!" Tessa exclaimed before hugging him tightly. N made a small sound at Tessa squeezing him.

"Good to see you too, Tessa," he pressed, patting her on the back.

While this happened, Uzi looked around the house. It was very cozy on the inside as well. With small rooms and a small spiral staircase, leading to the second floor.

Huh. Very cozy. And she doesn't even live here very much. Uzi thought as she made her way over to the staircase before climbing up it.

Upstairs was a hallway with a couple rooms. Two of them being was she guessed to be the guest bedroom, lined with a comfy looking double bed and a vanity. While, the other room was also rather small. With a desk and a sailor moon figure on it with a laptop next to it.

She walks inside, noticing the posters on the walls and the small bed with a dog plush on it. She could only guess who's room with was.

"Sneaking a peak at my chamber?" N asked from behind her, making Uzi jump.

"Jesus Christ! How long have you been there?"

There N stood, walking into his room with his suitcase in hand. He set it down on the bed before opening the window.

"Not too long. Long enough to notice you have an interest in my room," he chuckled.

"Gee, you know. I could've never guessed this was your room. The Sailor Moon figure. The dog plush. I could've never guessed that this room was yours."

N laughed softly, beginning to unpack. "I'm not exactly good at broadening my interests, huh?"

Uzi shook her head. "You're quite horrible at it," she put her hands on her hips. "Though, I suppose. I shouldn't be surprised. You're the only 16 year old I know who still has chuunibyou."

N's antenna began to sway slightly as he continued to unpack. Quickly feeling the tension in the room after that moment, Uzi sucked her teeth and walked over to the door again, quickly saying something about going to go unpack in her own room, before running off.

After she left, N looked up, his two yellow eyes wide as he wonders where Uzi went.

At dinner that night, Cynthia looked around and noticed that Niko wasn't at the table. She raised an eyebrow and looked over at Viktoria. "Have you seen my servant?" she asked.

Viktoria held up her hand as she brought over some food she made. Suddenly, the sound of a pan hitting the side of the house and shaking it rang through the house. "There he is."

Uzi raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction of the sound. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means he's sneaking out again," Tessa explained, picking at her food before eating some. Uzi raised an eyebrow even further and stood up from the table, deciding to go out and look herself. Viktoria went to go after her but Tessa held up her hand, stopping Viktoria in the process.

Uzi walked out of the house and quickly noticed the frying pan on the ground. Clearly, Niko didn't care to pick it up. She looked around the house before walking out to the sidewalk. Near the end of the street Tessa lived on, was a bus stop. Uzi squinted and quickly noticed the familiar silver hair and antenna. She quickly runs up to the bus stop and sat down on the bench next to him.

N glanced at her before looking back out to the road. Uzi raised an eyebrow at his silence and quickly breaks it.

"Why are you at a bus stop? Shouldn't you tell someone first?" she asked.

N looked over at her again, his visible eye a little bit red and puffy. It was faded slightly. So, whatever happened to make them like that happened a while ago. He sighed softly before looking back out to the road. "I'm retreating."

Uzi's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Shouldn't you tell someone?"

"They won't care. I've done this before."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked out, noticing a bus approaching. "Well. I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to do that," N quickly said.

"I know I don't. But, I'm coming anyway," she pulled out some money as the bus stopped in front of them. They get onto the bus and pay the driver before taking a seat.

They sat in silence for a little bit, their shoulders just nearly touching, making both of their faces heat up. N's antenna began to sway and Uzi's face began to heat up as well. To distract himself, N looked out the window. He was tall enough so that he wouldn't make it awkward and look like he was staring at Uzi.

Uzi meanwhile, has a small panic attack whenever N shifts ever so slightly. She quickly looked out the window as well, trying to get her mind off of this moment. However, when the bus gets to its third or fourth stop. N tapped her hand as if to tell her to come on. Uzi quickly follows him and silently wonders what's going on.

As they walk side by side, Uzi looks around. The place is prestigious and high class, clearly rich people lived around here. The houses were mansions with large rooms and fancy windows, nothing that Uzi was used to. Finally, N took a turn and walked towards a burned down building. The wood looked as though it was about to fall off. But, yet. You could still see some resemblance to an elegant mansion, surrounded by trees and beautiful plants. 

Uzi raised an eyebrow and called out to N as he walked towards the ruins. "What... is this place...?"

N smiled slightly before it fell again. He moved some things around on the ground before picking up a picture frame. He smiled and gently placed the picture back down. "My home..."

"Your... hom-" Uzi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean this is your home? Your home is above mine."

N shook his head. "No... this is one of my three homes," he explained. "It's where I run off to every night when we visit Tessa..."

As Uzi takes a closer look at the mansion. The broken windows. The burned look to it. It didn't look very old. Only about three years old as of being in ruins. That is. Until it finally clicked in her mind.

"This is... the fire...?" Uzi asked.

N smiled slightly. "Good job. Welcome to Elliot Manor. Or, what's left of it, anyway," N chuckles at his own joke before kneeling down again and beginning to move things again. After some digging and moving, he finds what he was looking for. Just as he's about to celebrate however.

He gets hit in the face with a ladle.

A small 'ow' escapes him before the ladle boomeranged back to a familiar sun kissed skinned hand.

"What are you doing here?"

Chapter Text

The second N tried to attack V, he was instantly slammed against the mansion. His head smacked against it with a hard blow that made blood splatter on the wall.

"When are you going to give up this delusion, Niko? They're gone and you know it!" V shouted at him, pulling out her battle axe.

N staggered to his feet, using the mansion to steady himself. However, all he did was fall through it, smacking against the ground. Air escaped from his lungs in a quick breath, as if V physically pulled it out of this lungs. He could hear the sounds of V coming closer to him, continuing her speech.

"You think that any of this is healthy!? Do you know how worried Tessa has been for you because you won't talk to her! All you do is talk to Cyn and that purple highlighter and talk about your powers-" N could feel the tears begin to sting in his eyes as V continued. "If you really want to heal from what happened, you wouldn't distance yourself from the people that can HELP YOU!"

V made her way over to him and stabbed her axe into the ground around his neck, pinning him down to the ground. "I don't think I've ever met someone who was as delusional as you to not go through grief like a NORMAL PERSON! Accept it. Accept that they're gone. Accept that no matter how hard you try. You will NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!"

That's when his tears really began to fall. The memories in his mind stabbing him every single time in the heart with a rusty blade. What they did. Who they were. Why they did it. Everything. All of those memories he had pushed aside. Their faces as they burned with the house they were standing in. The way his hand would smack against N's face when he did something he disapproved of.

The two continued to fight, V using her axe to constantly smack N in his fragile state. It was advantage on her part. However, as soon as there were four holes in the mansion and it began to burn, N looked up at V, tears streaming down his face, his contact had fallen out ages ago and his eyepatch was already flicked away. He was raw... he was vulnerable...

It was a strange sight for V. She never saw N this way before. Not once. He always hid himself when he was in his moment, his height of vulnerability. It wasn't because of some stupid reason like because he was a man or anything. He wasn't afraid to cry in front of people because it made him look weak. He was afraid to cry in front of people because of how much he was hurting... he didn't want to put that weight on someone else's shoulders... no one deserved that... to have to deal with something he has to live with.

Suddenly, a bright green light erupted from the sidelines, making V jump back and N's eyes widen. Uzi tossed her railgun, it sticking into the dirt in between the two adopted siblings. "Shut up, V! You suck anyway!" Uzi shouted, catching both siblings' attention. There stood Uzi, who was staring coldly at V. "Just because he copes with something differently does not mean he's broken, or weird, or abnormal. You do not understand half of the things he's been through... hell, I don't either. And I know I never will be. So, stop yelling at him! Because that's not making it any better!"

V's eyes widened and she looked down slightly. N took this as an opportunity to scramble to his feet and run off, Uzi shouting after him while V stood in silence, staring down at the ground as Uzi ran in front of her, flipping her off.

"N! Come back! We can talk about this!" Uzi shouted as she ran, not particularly caring if anyone else in town could here her.

However, N had vanished out of sight. Seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth the second he started running. Uzi exhaled sharply and decided to head back to Tessa's, hoping to find him there.

When she arrived, however. No one was there. Not even Tessa.

She sighed dramatically and spots a cute little pink bicycle. She pursed her lip slightly and looked around, silently praying that there was a different color bike. Not seeing one around, she huffed and hopped onto it, quickly beginning to peddle. 

Meanwhile, on a nearby beach. Cyn, Thad, Lizzy, and Tessa were setting up fireworks. Cyn crouched down to a small box of fireworks, giggling mischievously as she lit a match.

"Giggle. Fire bring life to this poor little pitiful thing," Cyn stated, slowly lowering the match menacingly. However, the second the fireworks are lit, Cyn's eyes widened and she quickly coward away. "Wait! No. No. Not yet!"

While Cyn had her fit as the fireworks went off, Lizzy was being "attacked" by a stray dog. Being licked to death and tackled while Thad recorded her on the sidelines, attempting his damn hardest not to laugh.

As he's recording Lizzy, he catches a bright pink bike peddling up in the distance. He pointed his phone up and zoomed in on Uzi's approaching form. "Hey, Z! Nice ride! What's up?" he called.

Uzi stopped peddling in front of the railing in front of the beach and called. "Any of you guys see N?"

Cyn popped her head up from the sand and spat out some sand. "Not since dinner time... I fear my servant may be going too close to the sun..."

For people who don't speak chunibyo. Cyn basically said she thinks N ran away.

Uzi smacked her head against the handle bar of the bike and groaned. "Thanks. See ya," she muttered. Then, she was gone again.

Tessa, understanding what's happening, smiled and watched Uzi peddle off. "Go get him, Uzi..."

N stood at the train station, his suitcase in hand and he flipped his phone closed, knowing the Angel of Death was most likely tracking his every move. As the train approached, he looked up and waited for it to stop. As it did, he walked onto the train, sitting down in a window seat and opening his suitcase. He dug through his things he took from Tessa's and found the volume of Sailor Moon he was reading.

Just as he was about to begin reading, the familiar sound of combat boots running up to him caught his attention.

He looked up, his visible eye meeting Uzi's purple ones. She was breathing heavily, clearly was in a rush to get to him. "What are you doing...?" she asked through heavy breaths. "Is it because of...?"

"I'm retreating... I usually do this when I get overwhelmed with emotions that I can't deal with... so, I run away..." N explained, looking down slightly. After a moment, he exhaled softly. "Sorry... you don't have to deal with my emotions. Ignore-"

Uzi suddenly wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, gripping onto his shirt. "Do what you have to... Don't you dare feel guilty for something you can't control..."

N's visible eye widened and he slowly wrapped his arms around Uzi too, resting his head on the top of hers due to his height and it being the most comfortable for him. The two simply stayed like that the whole train ride home.

That is... until they found out that N had forgotten his keys to the apartment he lived in...

At Tessa's...

Chapter Text

Uzi may have screamed when she figured out that her and N were going to be alone for the night. It also caused a weird feeling in her chest...

To bring you back up to speed, N is currently staying the night at Uzi's due to N forgetting his keys to his older sister's apartment in an entirely other town. Now, Uzi was stuck with... well, you know.

She sighed softly and looked up at N. "I suppose I should be a good hostess and offer you some food," she said as she walked over to the fridge. "Um... we have... some tomatoes?"

Uzi saw N grimace in the corner of her eye, knowing he absolutely despised the color red. "Okay, maybe not. I guess we'll have to go with corner store food for supper."

N's eyes widened, his antenna beginning to sway. "I'm not allowed to have that," he said simply. "The Angel of Death strictly banned me from eating it. But, Cyn's allowed to eat it. I don't know why she won't let me."

Uzi raised an eyebrow at him. "Right, V's a cook. You know, I'd trade my diet for yours any day," she joked, standing up. "So, you wanna go try some?" N nodded eagerly and Uzi chuckled softly. "Alright, but if you get food poisoning, don't say I didn't warn you."

She grabbed her car keys off the table and her wallet and the two head off.

Only for Uzi groaning loudly due to her dad taking her car for his way to his work, meaning the two had to walk 3 miles to the corner store. And Uzi ranted the whole way there, while N listened intently.

After getting their food and paying for it, the two sit down on a nearby bench. Uzi sighed loudly and put her feet up on the arm rest next to her. "Finally... I'm able to rest my feet..." she said as she looked back at N, who was laughing at her. She reached up and flicked his forehead. "Shut it."

"Ow..." N mumbled, rubbing his forehead before looking down at his food. "So... how do you open it?" he asked as he tried to pull the wrapper off at the sides.

Uzi snickered at him. "Give it to me," N did so and held his hands out. Uzi carefully pulled the sides and the food popped out, landing into N's waiting hands.

He gasped in delight, his visible eye widening. "That was so cool!" he exclaimed before taking a bite. Uzi smiled and watched him eat for a moment, before beginning to eat her own.

While the two of them ate, there was a comfortable silence hanging over them. N would've called it the solver protecting them. Uzi just called it having a peaceful moment. Uzi would occasionally allow N to try a bite of her food and after about 10 minutes, the two were finished.

"Well, I'd say that was a successful supper," Uzi said as she stood up and threw their garbage out. "Shall we head back or-" she's cut off by her phone beginning to ring. She groaned and held up a finger to N, answering the phone.

It was Lizzy on the other end. "Where did you two losers run off to together?" she asked, Uzi could almost picture her putting a hand on her hip.

"Uh... to my apartment...?" Uzi replied. "Why does it concern you, Lizzy?"

"Because N's sister is wondering where you two went. Not the crazy one, the actually decent one."

Uzi blinked. "Viktoria?"

"Yea, that one," Lizzy said. "So, you two coming back or do we have to haul you back ourselves?"

Uzi rolled her eyes. "I think we're fine, Lizzy. I'm hanging up," before Lizzy could protest, Uzi hung up the call and looked up at N, who had been standing there politely. Uzi snickered. "You could've started walking," she said as she pocketed her phone.

N shrugged. "I know. I just didn't want to. Felt bad if I left you behind."

Uzi snickered and lightly smacked him on the back. "Come on, idiot. We still gotta figure out what you're going to wear."

It was news to Uzi just how odd N's sizing was. She tossed some of her dad's clothes at him. Much too large. Wasn't even going to try with her own clothes due to her being much smaller than him.

Uzi groaned loudly and smacked her head against her wall. "Why do you have to be tall but petite!? This is absurd!"

N simply blinked at her before sitting on the guest bedroom bed. "Any other clothes? If not, I can just sleep in this too."

Uzi glanced at the outfit N was wearing. A t-shirt and... jeans...? IT'S THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER! HOW IS THIS MAN WEARING JEANS!?

...

Uzi also forgot that most of the time, N wore something with a jacket atop it. Most of the time, that being a winter jacket...

So, she supposed it made sense...

"You think you can actually sleep in jeans, dude?" Uzi asked.

N's eyes widened before he nodded. "Yea... fair point."

Uzi's eye twitched before she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'll see what if I can find anything," she said before walking out of the room, leaving N by himself.

A couple moments later, N heard the soft clicking sounds of Biscuit trotting towards the room. He turned to look in the direction of the noise, quickly being greeted by a lick on the nose by the retriever. N laughed and whipped his nose with his finger. "I guess I haven't greeted you yet," he said, earning a yip from the puppy and Biscuit pouncing on him. This sent both of them to lay on the bed, Biscuit instantly starting to paw at N's eyepatch.

"You're never gonna let me wear this, huh?" N joked as he pulled the eyepatch off, allowing the contacted eye beneath to see the light of day for the first time in a while. "Happy?" Biscuit yipped again, earning a sigh and a chuckle from N.

Uzi returned and instantly paused at the scene, her eyebrow slowly arching as she stared before her. Biscuit was now on N's head, pawing at N's antenna. Uzi quickly shook her head out of her thoughts and tossed a pair of pajama pants at N, which he caught. "Here, try those on. I haven't worn them and they're like- huge on me. You should be good."

N looked at the pants before nodding. "Thanks. And if they don't fit?"

"Then, good luck," Uzi replied quickly before shutting the door.

The night was quiet. Too quiet for either of their likings. N stared up at the ceiling, glow in the dark stars were illuminating above him. He wasn't falling asleep anytime soon. He knew this for a fact. He was too awake to fall asleep. So, he slowly got out of the bed, being carefully not to disturb the fluffy creature at the foot of the bed and discreetly slid the door open. He slipped through and slid it closed, carefully making his way to the living room.

Where he found Uzi. She was preparing something for herself, by the sound of it. A bowl of yogurt or something similar. She had her back turned to him. And it was that moment, N felt something within himself. He'd felt it before. Multiple times today, in fact. This tightness in his chest he couldn't quite ignore... This pull he felt as he would walk towards her.

This was not something he should be feeling, not with the solver in his system. Yet, for some reason... and he had no idea what this reason was... he was longing to be near her. While they weren't far apart. He found his feet beginning to make him move forward without his permission. At first he thought someone was nearby, an enemy that needed to be dealt with... but. This was his own free will.

He was allowing himself to feel this. Whatever it was.

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked, carefully attempting to predict what she was going to say back.

Uzi jumped at the sound of his voice, turning around quickly and instantly relaxing. "Jesus, you scared me," she replied.

N smiled. "All I asked was a question," he joked.

Uzi sighed. "Yes, I couldn't sleep either, captain obvious."

N chuckled and slowly walked toward her, standing next to her. "And, might I ask what you're making?"

"Fruit bowl," Uzi said, glancing up at him. "So... if you mind me asking. Why are you still up?"

N shrugged. "Couldn't get my thoughts to quiet down."

She snickered. "I'm surprised you're not wearing your eyepatch," she replied as she cuts up more fruit. "Or did you finally get pink eye from always wearing it."

He giggled. "No. Biscuit doesn't like it when I wear it. So, I took it off."

She hummed softly and the two of them fell into a comfortably silence, only interrupted by their breathing and the sounds of the knife hitting the cutting board. After a moment... N spoke up softly.

"Uzi?"

"Mhm?"

"Can you close your eyes for a second?"

Uzi's eyes widened slightly and she nearly dropped her knife, quickly looking up at N. Internally, Uzi was screaming. But, on the outside, Uzi just simply closed her eyes, her cheeks flushing ever so slightly. However, she could feel them slowly turning brighter as she felt it...

The soft press of lips on her forehead...

The comfortable silence that surrounded them in that moment. Unspoken words that somehow they both understood.

And it all ended far too soon.

As thought time had frozen for that one moment, before it resumed and she felt the slow departure. And when she opened her eyes.

He was gone once more.