A Farewell to All Futures

Impetus of Fortune

Warning: Mental breakdowns, excessive swearing (it's Nikei, what did you expect from the guy who got Johnny demonetized?), negative thoughts, self-hatred

***

Okay, Nikei was starting to get pissed.

Over the last week, Mikado had been following him around a lot, trying to make conversation with him often, and showing him those stupid magic tricks. And Nikei means that literally, doing tricks with his magic.

Just what the hell was that goddamn wizard trying to do? Showing off all those tricks, not giving a single damn while looking at Nikei expectantly for his reaction. Like hell would he give him one, why should he give that wizard some kind of benefit of the doubt?

But the question still lingered in his mind, even after Mikado left to go elsewhere. Why was that guy so clingy when it came to him? Was it something he said or did? And why did he constantly show off his magic to him constantly? Nikei had already known that he was the Ultimate Wizard, so there was no need to emphasize that!

Was it because he was naturally clingy and just found a new person to cling to? He was quite enthusiastic about inviting Nikei to live with him in his down, regardless of the journalist's own thoughts on the matter. But why him specifically? Now that he thought about it, it was probably because he discovered that Nikei, Hajime, Emma, and Iroha were Children of Utsuro - as the wizard had called them - just like him. Nikei was the leader, so that was probably why he was so attached to him.

Or was the wizard merely hiding his ulterior motives until all of the group trusted him? He seemed too simple and eager to please to do that, but that could be a farce. He could be hyper-competent and was merely showing his magic off to Nikei at every opportunity to convey his superiority.

Nikei's hands balled up into fists at the thought. Perhaps he invited him to live in dorm to blackmail or make a mockery of Nikei. To show that information to the rest of the Children of Utsuro and tell them that he was a scared, insecure wreck of a man that they never should have made their leader in the first place. To take his role and superiority away from him and leave him broken, powerless, and alone.

With a quiet knock on the bedroom door, Nikei snapped back to reality and noticed that his body was trembling like mad. Gazing at the door,  he wondered who was outside doing such a thing. Then he remembered that he had specifically told Mikado to knock first before entering their room in case he was busy, and told him to knock quietly as to not startle the journalist.

"Don't come in yet! I'm-I'm changing clothes!" He lied, praying that Mikado would fall for it.

"Oh, okay! Just let me know when I can come in!" The blonde replied. Whether or not he had caught Nikei's lie, he certainly didn't show it in his voice. That worried Nikei a little.

The journalist put his hand on his lower chest and began to take deep, albeit shaky, breathes as Emma taught him to do. Out of the four of them, Emma was the most prone to panic attacks, so it made sense to him that she was the best at calming herself down too. He repeated the action as he cleared his mind and slowly began to calm down. He prayed that Mikado wouldn't suspect a thing. Wait, he could fix that.

He went over to the dresser and pulled out a shirt and a pair of pants and disheveled them, leaving them as a heap on the bed. "You can come in now!" He called to the door, and Mikado entered. Nikei took the clothes from the bed and put them into the laundry hamper that each bedroom in the residence building had gotten, and Mikado seemed to believe Nikei's lie. Thank god for that.

***

Another day, another instance that Nikei had to put up with Mikado's constant need for attention. The wizard had come to him with his excitement clear despite not displaying strong emotions on his face. Chalk another one up to the list of reasons why Nikei thought he was strange: Mikado barely shows any emotions. Hell, even Kokoro makes an effort to try to express herself even if she can't easily describe her own emotions.