Log On: KHR Reality

17 - First Battle, Mist Commence

Author's note: The background of the cover page belongs to Miracle Nikki, the dress-up game, but we added our characters' sprites in.

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Utau let out a low growl. Anastasia had left a while ago, but both Kyoya and herself were now stuck in this weird dimension that she knew was made from illusions. They must have been from Anastasia, considering the fact that she was Mukuro's sister. Plus, Utau knew that Mukuro wouldn't set up such nice surroundings for them. Rather, he would most likely cover the entire place with eyes or something...

The raven-haired girl turned to look at her brother. He wasn't in a good condition at all, and the effects of the illusions on his mind weren't helping at all. She had to bring him out of this place, or things were going to be bad. But how?! She had no experience with illusions and Mist Flames at all! What was she supposed to do?!

She knelt down beside her brother and helped him to sit up a bit. "Kyo, are you alright?"

"... I'm fine. Excluding my pride," he gritted his teeth and replied in a frustrated tone before he suddenly grabbed his head. "Ghk...!"

Utau grabbed onto him before he collapsed backwards. "Calm down. Breathe. What we're seeing are illusions. Tricks of the mind that some people have power over, just like Rokudo Mukuro and Ana..." Her voice faltered. She still can't believe that Anastasia really was Mukuro's sister, just like she had suspected.

But something about that look on her face made Utau's heart shatter. Anastasia had looked as if she was in conflict with something. Maybe she didn't want to do this at all?

However, Kyoya suddenly asked, "Utau, how do you know about all of this?"

Her jaw tightened. She couldn't tell him that she knew how their story was going to go, was she? "I kinda went over some of the stuff on Dad's computer. Don't tell him."

"... He'll kill you if he knew."

"Yeah. I know."

There was another moment of silence before Kyoya broke it again. "I get why you're wearing your training outfit... but what's with the extra hat?"

"Why not? It looks cool."

"It's impractical."

"It fits my head perfectly. I'll be good."

Utau proceeded to gaze into the distance. Illusions... Clearing of the mind to rid of the control of the illusionist was going to be difficult. How was she going to do that? She stood up and began to look around. "I'll think of something so that both of us can get outta here."

Kyoya didn't respond. He must have been too exhausted. Utau pursed her lips together and frowned. Tsuna was able to overcome the illusions once he entered Hyper Dying Will Mode for the first time, but this was an illusion based on sight: the most difficult illusion to escape from, based on Utau's opinion. She sighed and sat back down, taking a deep breath. If she cannot think of anything now, the least she could do was to calm down and empty her head of worries. If she began to panic, it wouldn't do any good.

Plus, it would be bad if her brother found out that she was secretly paranoid all the time.

"Calm down, Hibari Utau. You're fine. You're fine..."

Utau closed her eyes, letting her thoughts flow naturally, clearing the migraine that had been haunting her head for a while when she was first thrown into this illusionary world. She felt the tension drain away from her weary body and slowly began to hear the sounds within her body. Her heartbeat; the blood flow...