FNF Multiverse

Chapter 20.3 - Follow your dreams, pt. 2

Don't know Kakegurui? Watch the anime.

"Surprised?" Andrea smirked. Benjamin could do nothing but stare at Cherry's glowing, blue eyes, staring judgementally at him, while her smile seemed almost forced. Or maybe that was his perspective. "We all know what happened that day," Andrea started slowly, stepping forward. "An unfortuant accident. Or maybe it was on purpose?" She gave a wide, maniacal grin. "And I wonder why." She placed her hand on Benjamin's shoulder, and he didn't try to nudge it off. "Because of you. You took her from safety. You put her in danger. And look how that ended up," she whispered in his ear, pulling a classic Kakegurui face.

Recovering from his intial shock, Benjamin forcefully pushed Andrea away and backed up towards the entry frame. "How?" he seethed through gritted teeth.

"Everyone remembers Cherry, deary. Who could forget your mistake that night?" Andrea grinned. Her tone had shifted to something much more menacing. It reminded Benjamin of his mother, and he hated it. Benjamin broke into a run, just barely passing the entryway before Andrea shouted "Guards!", and two large, strong security guards blocked Benjamin's way. He knew better than to try to push past them, after seeing his own family's bodyguards. Benjamin slowly turned around again, attempting to look as angry as he was feeling. But of course, Andrea only laughed. She found the bluenette's feeble acts of defiance cute and rather hilarious. Grace was right. This fool was so easy. Now, time for the final strike.

With a wild smile, Andrea walked towards Benjamin, whose face was stern, but his body was trembling. "We only want to keep you safe, little Benji." Benjamin cringed at the familiar pet name. "Isn't that Grace's little nickname for you? So cute. You two would be so cute together." She raised her hands and her voice. "They're offering you the perfect life back home. So why do you reject them? Why do you choose to stay here and struggle with the challenges of real life?"

And it was over. With the way Benjamin hung his head and looked away in shame, Andrea knew she had won. After all the crazy dark magic stuff that happened back at the abandoned mansion, and after losing Picon, Benjamin was losing hope as well. There was no happy future for him, even out there, he had realized by now. Maybe if Picon was with him, it would be different, but...he wasn't. He was gone. And all because of Benjamin. He's the one who chased Picon away. So, what was the point? He could go back home to the Fairest household, and live happily in the world of the famous, living the corrupted lifestyle of the famous...

"Let me guess - you have a car ready to take us back to the mansion?" he grimaced. Andrea only nodded with a knowing smirk. Benjamin hated the small red glint that passed her eyes, more salmon than crimson.

Andrea snapped her fingers at the bodyguards, and they marched away. She trusted Benjamin not to run away, and Benjamin didn't move a muscle, waiting for further instructions. Andrea held his hand as they both walked out of the room and through empty hallways to a back exit, clearly used for fire escapes, so they wouldn't be seen by the crowd. Benjamin braced himself for the loud alarm, but it never rang. There was a white limosuine parked on the road. One of the Fairest's servants was driving, looking at the oncoming passengers through the open window. Andrea still had her victorious smile as she quickened her pace towards the car, dragging Benjamin with her, who was reluctantly following along.

Just as they reached halfway though, a voice yelled, "STOP!"

Andrea paused and whipped her head to the source. Benjamin recognized that voice. It was the voice that always kept him positive, because he knew if he heard that voice, he was safe. He turned around with a wide smile, tears falling from his eyes.

"Picon!" he cried.

"What's up, Softie?" Picon smiled. He pointed a thumb at Andrea. "Where do you think you're going with this slimy rat? Moved on from me already?"

"No no, I could only love you, Toughie! You remember!" Benjamin broke free from Andrea with an unexpected amount of force, causing Andrea to let go of her hold. The singer ran towards his loving boyfriend, his one match that would never burn out in the snowy darkness, and jumped in his arms. The couple was reunited once again.

It took a few seconds for Andrea to recall the familiar name, but soon it registered just who this Picon was. "You! You're the one who's been keeping Benjamin away from his true love!" she growled indignantly.

"Love?" Benjamin chuckled bitterly. "I don't love Grace. Picon is the only one I love. And you can't keep us apart any longer."

No, no, no! Andrea was losing her grip over him! She had to improvise. She couldn't let Picon ruin their plans again! But what could she do? She looked at the couple, so unbelievely happy with each other, staring into each other's eyes with true love. Not the kind of love Benjamin and Grace were supposed to share. Andrea considered leaving the plan altogether, but she had one last tactic. She swiftly put out her hand near the servant, and was handed a knife, which she pointed threateningly at the two. Picon pushed Benjamin behind him, bringing out his own knife. "You can't do anything we haven't already faced," he snarled.

They stood still for a few moments, glaring at each other. Clouds begin to gather in the sky as it started to rain. It had been pouring for the past few days, so this was no surprise. Benjamin immediately remembered the letter and moved his hand to keep it safe from the rain, but stopped himself. There was no point in keeping the invitation around. He made sure Andrea could see the way he tore it into pieces, threw them on the ground, and stomped on them for good measure, smudging them into the small collections of dirty water. This caused Andrea to snap. She ran towards the couple with her a wild expression, her sharp knife gleaming. Picon got in a stance, holding his knife in self-defense. Right as Andrea was about to slice, she hesitated at the last second, seeing Benjamin's worried, innocent expression, and thought, "Screw this." She threw the knife to the side. It clattered on the ground and slid away.

"I can't destroy true love...to bring fake love...I'm not a heartbreaker," she muttered to herself, her morals enacting a full-out war in her brain. She didn't know whether to kill the street thug on the spot, or leave him to keep Benjamin safe. In the end, she decided to leave. She chose option C - run away from the problem so she wouldn't have to face it head-on. "Follow your dreams," she barely whispered, walking over towards the knife. She didn't watch as the sweet lovebirds ran away together, hand in hand, instead focusing on picking up her weapon and making her way to the car.

The servant gave her a disapproving look. "Shut up," she snapped, throwing the knife at him with deadly precision. The servant caught it in between his fingers. Andrea got inside the car and closed the door. The rain started to pick up. She looked out the window, as the car began to drive, streaks of rainwater blurring her view. And despite her worries about how she was going to explain her failure to Grace and the infamous Fairests, she couldn't help but think, "I hope, wherever they are, that they make it out of the rain."

Benjamin and Picon did safely make it to the shelter of a closed store, sneaking under the small gap under the shed door. It reeked of seafood, but that wasn't important. Once inside, the couple exchanged kisses and hugs as they reviewed what had happened while the other was gone. Picon couldn't stop apologizing to Benjamin.

"How could I have forgotten about you? You're my entire world," he beamed.

"It wasn't your fault! And that doesn't matter, you remember now," Benjamin blushed. "And thanks for saving me. You came at the best time possible."

"I know, there's no way I'll let Grace or anyone else take you away from me again, blu," Picon smiled warmly.

"But I've been wondering. How did you come at the exact right time? And how did you get your memory back?" Benjamin inquired.

"I'll tell you everything. And to be honest, I had some help," Picon grinned, pressing their foreheads together. Benjamin sat on his boyfriend's lap and listened intently. He loved Picon's stories.