Cross Worlds

Chapter 37-3

Esen coughs on the ground, body enveloped in smoke. "Holy shit..."

Riku stands over Esen, holding out his hand to help him stand, but magic charging in his other just in case. "Is there a third phase to this boss fight, or can I consider this my win?" Riku asks with a calm, kind smile.

Esen chuckles softly himself, grabbing Riku's hand and standing. "Honestly, I could probably push you a little bit harder. However...I think I'm happy to give up my position to you, Riku Reality. After all, you've proven now both your strength and your will to me. I don't need to use every ounce of power I have to know that."

"And I'm not the type to complain about you not going out and giving me your rank through pity. I'll happily take your title, and when the time comes, I'll fight you at your best and still win." Riku grins.

"The fact that you're able to go head to head with the Teikoki when you only awakened your magic mere weeks ago is a feat in and of itself... You'll be a monster when you've mastered your power, that's for sure." Esen lightly smirks to himself at the thought.

"Aw, you flatter me. I've still got a long way to go though...like fighting with someone who's been in the resistance for a long time and doesn't trust me..." Riku mutters, looking off into the distance of the fake field around them.

"Ah, you're talking about Chiyako aren't you?" Esen snickers. "Yeah, despite how forward she may seem, she's gonna be a pretty tough nut to crack! I wish you luck with that."

"No advice to give whatsoever..? Well, can you at least tell me more about yourself now, since I beat-" When Riku looks back, Esen is gone. "What? Oh come on! How do you expect anyone to trust you like that?!"

"Perhaps that's the point." A chuckle comes from the control pad at the center of the training room. Riku looks to see who it is, watching as the field turns to an empty white room once again. "Congratulations on ranking up, Riku Reality." Chiyako smiles, leaning on the console.

Riku stares at her, a bit surprised. "Chiyako..? What are you doing here? Actually, how did you even-"

Chiyako briskly walks over and presses a finger against Riku's lips. "I was following Esen around, and when I heard you were looking around and accepted his challenge to duel, I went ahead and found him myself and asked him to keep me invisible so you wouldn't see. I was...intrigued. I wanted to learn more about you, and what better way than watching you fight the Teikoki member ranked just below me?" Chiyako smiles softly, pulling her hand away.

"I-I guess you make a good point..." Riku mutters, feeling conflicted. His gut is telling him that she's up to something, but obviously his heart and mind are all out of whack due to the older woman's actions.

"Then again, we could both learn plenty about each other in my bedroom~" Chiyako winks, caressing Riku's cheeks and leaning just a bit closer. "Interested..?~"

Riku's heart nearly bursts out of his chest, and he quickly teleports next to the door. "I-I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline! I'm nowhere near mentally prepared for that kind of thing!" Riku turns to dash out of the room.

"Wait, I'm only teasing!" Chiyako laughs. "I'm well aware I should wait until you're a man for that sort of thing. There is something I want to say to you before you go, Riku Reality." Riku turns to look at Chiyako, his voice catching in his throat. Chiyako is right in front of him, red eyes glowing menacingly as they lock gazes. "If I do find out you have something to do with our resistance leader's disappearance, you're aware I'll take your head without blinking, yes?" Her gaze is so intense he just barely realizes the magic blade being held at his neck. He literally feels rooted in place.

However, Riku takes a deep breath and meets Chiyako's aura calmly. "As I told you all when we met, I don't have any idea why F...umiya decided to leave the resistance. It's not like I chose to be born to look just like the guy, nor did I ask to ever make contact with him. If you want your answers, you'll have to ask him yourself directly. But, if you ever do suspect that I'm behind it for some reason..." Riku smiles, looking into Chiyako's eyes with a warm and kind expression on his face. "Then go ahead and strike. I won't back down, I can promise you that."

Chiyako pauses, staring at Riku with a placid expression on her face. Suddenly, she smiles, and gives him a small peck on the cheek. "Goodness, look at me like that and it'll be hard to resist taking your first real kiss." Riku blushes, eyes going wide and mouth slightly agape. Chiyako giggles and the sword in her hand vanishes. She speaks as she walks around him. "Perhaps you truly are trustworthy, but he smiled the same way you did, and he disappeared...so I won't trust that smile so easily anymore." Chiyako looks back at Riku and gives him a simple, but sad smile. "I'm sorry Riku, but you'll have to prove yourself first if you even want me to accept any challenge you might ask of me in the future."

Without another word, Chiyako walks out of view, Riku just standing there silently and watching her. "..." Riku lightly clenches his fist at his side. "Just what the hell could've happened to make you leave, Fantasy? How could you just walk away from something like this..?" Unfortunately, Riku is left without answers. Whenever he asks Fantasy, he's either busy or has some sort of excuse as to why he can't see his counterpart in The Cross.

"You bastard... You told me you would explain everything! You can't really be that busy can you?!" Riku growls, wanting to throw his watch against the wall, but he decides against it. The watch is the only connection he has to the other world and Riku Fantasy. While it could easily be fixed, he doesn't want to risk forever losing connection with his alternate.

"Why won't you just tell me..?" Riku sighs, going to his room where he plops down on his bed. "I still have eight other resistance members I've gotta get through if I wanna stand shoulder to shoulder with Artemis, and even if I do that, there's no telling whether or not I can actually get them all to trust me..." He covers his eyes with his forearm.

"So much has happened in the past few days, and the battle to claim this kingdom hasn't even begun yet... Should I just keep fighting and trying to climb the ranks as much as possible until then, or should I be doing something else..? What else can I even do to prepare..?" Riku narrows his eyes, seeing Makou and Reina's smiling faces once again. "I can't let them down...no matter what. So...I'm just gonna keep doing my best." Riku jumps out of bed, stretching and popping his muscles. "So I guess I better try talking to Chiyako again." He grins.