-14-

"He said that? Ha!" Parad laughs hard. "Ah...he's not a fun person, huh?" He stops laughing and looks me in the eyes.

I nod my head. "Yeah, he's not very fun at all. Uh...is Kuroto done hunting for me yet now that he's upset at you?"

"Uh..." Parad looks away. "I wouldn't count on that, Elkie. Just because he's mad at me doesn't mean he doesn't want to snatch you up. And you know what? I don't blame him for wanting to snatch you. You're cute and a lot of fun." Oh, that is a nice one!

"Oh, that's right..." I am dumb for thinking he'll just switch targets just like that. "You're not working with him anymore, right?"

"No, I'm not."

"Hey, can I borrow her for a moment?" A sinister voice asks, making my heart sink. "I promise I won't lay a hand on her and it is an urgent matter."

I look over as Kuroto stares at us. "K-Kuroto!" 

Parad pulls me closer to his warm body. "What do you want with her, Kuroto? You should just leave us alone!"

I put my arms around Parad, embracing him tightly. "Let me go and talk to him. If I need help, I'll scream," I state. I have to be brave right now and fight my own battles. 

"Elkie..." Parad turns his head and looks down at me. Why is he so tall? It is so unfair!

I look over at Kuroto and swallow hard. "If you don't want to hurt me at all, promise not to. Only then I will go with you."

"I will not hurt you, Elkie. That is something you know I will not do," Kuroto tells me. "I promise that you will be alright after I'm done with you."

"Just come back safe." 

I release Parad and look up at his face. "I will."

He nods and vanishes, leaving pixels behind. I turn to Kuroto and look him over. He looks so nice dressed like that. He's handsome, but he's crazy. He's also not my style at all.

"Elkie Winters, are you enjoying all of this?" Kuroto motions around us. "You should know what I'm talking about right now."

He knows that I'm not from this world. So, that must mean that he knows I'm lying about my home world. But how?

"Enjoying what?" I don't like the sound of this.

"You're lying to Parad about the world you are from in order to keep him entertained. In keeping him entertained, you're ensuring that your life is spared. You're truly from a world that doesn't have us in it."

I shake my head, eyes going wide. "You're wrong." He's not, but I can't admit that.

"I would know since I'm the one who brought you here. You see, I somehow gained awareness to my situation here. However, I'm bound by the laws of this world to live out my character's will." 

My heart pounds hard. "You did what to me?"

"I brought you here and then I brought your friend here. For some reason, I had to bring you both here. It is a complex thing that I don't fully understand, but I want to. So, I need your help."

"You need my help? Why should I trust you?" I can't trust him, right? 

"I want to understand what is going on to us in this world. Why it is going the way it is going? Ever since you showed up, it has slowed down dramatically." 

"What has?" I have to know.

He smiles. "The world here is crumbling away slowly somehow. When I brought you here, I used a blank Gashat to."

"I would have guessed something entirely different. Kuroto, I would have guessed that you were trying to get into my world to take it over," I state. "But that wouldn't be the case ever at all. It never crossed your mind, right?" So, this world is falling apart somehow?

"I would never leave my own world. Ever." 

"Good."

"If you are wondering, I picked you randomly. However, I don't think you were all that random to the world here. You were picked because of your desire to come here."

I am not understanding this at all, but okay. "I can't help you at all though, Kuroto. I'm pretty dang useless on my own."

"Useless? Sure, at times," he responds, nodding his head. "But you're not completely useless. Not to this world."

"I don't know how to save your world!" I shout. "I don't know what you want me to do for you guys!"

He sighs, turning away from me. "You just got to stay alive and be someone from this world. Then we'll figure out where to go from there. However, I must warn you, I know what is going to happen to me and you may end up on your own. Once we know who is making this world crumble the way it is, I'll let you go."

Someone somehow gained awareness of this world not being real and probably started crumbling this world, right? That is what makes sense to me. I don't know about him, but that is my idea about what happened. 

He turns back to me. "Someone or something is trying to destroy this glorious world! I don't know why they would since this world is a wonderful place full of wonder."

"Kuroto, you're a complete idiot. I can't help you when I can't even help myself."

"But you have helped yourself. You helped yourself when it came to Parad. I see that you're enjoying a little romance with him. Aw, that is so sweet!" Kuroto exclaims, grinning.

"Oh, thanks?" I guess that is a compliment.

"Break up." Or not.

"Why do I need to break up with him? He's ultra hot and my fictional Japanese boyfriend who is a Bugster? A freaking Bugster!" I shake my head. "No, I'm not breaking up with him. Never ever."

"It isn't like you can actually be with him for the rest of your life. You don't even love him truly."

It isn't like I don't care for Parad. I adore him and he's so sweet. I love being with him at the most random times. 

"He's one of my favorite characters. How do you expect me to dump some character I adore?" I don't get why he's making this hard on me. 

Kuroto steps towards me and gets in my face. "Break up or else I'll tell him who you really are." He looks so cold right now. "Elkie, this isn't some game for me. You're going to hurt him more than anything if he finds out on his own. If you end it now, it won't come out at all."

"This is a show about games. I'm allowed to play it like it is one." That's right, right?

He glares. "You need to end things with him as soon as possible before he gets really upset at you and hurts you. I get how hard it is to end a relationship you love and cherish, but sometimes it has to happen. And you know what? It is meant to happen now."

"So, like how you're going to give up being a main villain at some point? Come on, we all know you're not main villain material." I smirk.

"Oh, you want to be like that?" He rolls his eyes, groaning. "Stop being difficult!"

"Fine, I'll end my beautiful relationship that I love so much! I finally got a hot boyfriend that I've always wanted and now I'm going to lose that! Wow, thanks so much!" I hate Kuroto so much right now.

"Thank goodness! And you know what, Elkie? You're allowed to date any guy who is normal here. Just date anyone who isn't Parad."

I don't get what is so wrong with dating Parad. I love being with him and staying by his side. What am I going to do now with my days here?

"Normal?"

He smiles and nods. "Yes, normal. You know, someone like Hiiro?"

"Ew, no thanks." Gross.

"Well, he is too busy wanting his deceased girlfriend back. But you can always try to get him, right? He's a good choice for someone like you." 

I sigh heavily and shake my head. "Kuroto, you know that I'm not a good match for Hiiro. I'm not like his beloved deceased girlfriend, Saki."

Saki isn't anything like me. I frustrate Hiiro more than anything and he isn't that appealing to me. It is what it is.

"Well, you don't have to go for him if you don't want to. You can always go out with someone else around there. You can even date Taiga."

I gag. "No!"

"It was worth a shot. I seriously don't know who else is available to date who would be a good fit for you. I don't think a very nice guy is your type of guy with how you pick them." He looks me over. Is that supposed to mean something bad? "All that matters is that you're ending it with Parad. I wish you luck in doing so because it will crush him."

"I seriously hate you, Kuroto."

"Sure you do." He grins. "Good luck."

He walks forward, leaving me alone. Okay, now what? I go and hunt down Parad and end things all alone? I'm not allowed to mention Kuroto, I'm sure. No one is going to believe the "Oh, I am here because Kuroto brought me here" excuse. Oh, they won't even believe the "Oh, Kuroto told me to dump you so I am" one either!

I groan. "This isn't fair..." 

Life is unfair. Even in this wonderful world, it is just plain unfair.