"(Y/n)," Takuya intervened, stepping in front of the girl in hopes of calming her down, "I...took care of everything, okay? Nothing's going to - "

The white-haired male found himself trapped in a tight hug, giving a muffled sound of surprise at her affection. Of course, he lost himself in it, completely forgetting - or perhaps not caring - about the fact she had just murdered someone. Adoringly, he hugged her back with one arm, the other one hanging limply by his side. Even so, it was enough for him to feel her warmth, giving him a big smile.

"Takuya!" Isao trembled, "She just - She might hurt you! She has a knife with her! I don't think you should - "

The ravenette received a glare. Did he really think Takuya was going to give up the love he was getting just because she happened to have something sharp? He also didn't understand why everyone looked so grim. (Y/n) didn't do anything wrong. He knew that. Even if no one else did, he knew how scared she was deep down. And though he hadn't ever seen her take a life before, did it really matter?

Ichika stared at the scene, choked up. She had absolutely no idea what to say or do in the situation. Her surprise at the girl's kill almost paled in comparison to the way Takuya reacted to everything. She hadn't been too far behind him when he came running towards his girlfriend but he had already slaughtered five people by the time she entered the room. Moreover, without any remorse, the male was soaked in fresh, warm blood, only seeming to care about being next to the younger girl.

Did she expect Takuya would ever kill someone? No. Should she have? Well, there were the signs. He had tried to choke both her and Isao to death before, mostly because of their tampering with his and (Y/n)'s relationship. The only reason he hadn't killed them was because his friend pulled him away while the younger girl told him to stop. So, if he could try and kill his mother - whose words he listened to devotedly - it was entirely possible for him to carry out the act on some random passerby. Still, her disgust was covered by the fear brought about by the (h/c) haired girl's glares. So the woman reached for her phone, flinching as her son spoke.

"Mother. You're not calling the police, are you? They'll take her away."

"You promise?!" Kota interrupted with a squeak, quick to snap dozens of pictures to pay her back for the one she stole of him.

As expected, the older male was none too fond of that, even leaving the comfort of his girlfriend's arms to stalk towards the baku. Kota, dense as he was, didn't sense the anger, playing around when Takuya tried to steal it from him. He began waving it in the air with giggles, treating it like a game. His friend had to raise his voice considerably to even get him to see his anger.

"Delete it!"

"Why? She took one of me, so I took a few of her. It's totally fair!"

"Do it right now or I'll - "

"Or what, Maya? You can't talk to me like that! Just because you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean - "

Kota shut his mouth with one last peep of petulance as Takuya pressed his knife to his throat. It was only meant to be a warning. That was obvious. If he had been serious about it, he would have cut into the male's skin. Even so, the pink-haired male's lip quivered. There was that feeling again - the one where he felt like he was going to die. And though he knew Takuya would never hurt him, that feeling didn't go away no matter how many times he told himself that. And, so, he let go of his phone, letting the male erase any trace of the girl's crime.

Takuya moved to shuffle back to (Y/n) again, only for him to be held back. Confused, he glanced behind to see his mother with a tight grip on his shirt. The woman was not staring at him though. She was only fixated on the younger girl, flinching at every strange little word she said or twitch she made. Just because she hugged the male before didn't mean he was safe from harm. Ichika wasn't keen on risking Takuya's life. He was worth far too much.

"Mother?" the male mumbled apprehensively, "I have to go comfort (Y/n) now."

"You will do no such thing."

"I-I know I still have to finish my lesson, but it really is important that - "

Everyone darted their heads over to the younger girl as she repeated that word. Lesson. She said it like it was new to her, only for her to understand more and more what it was, her memories flooding back to her. It was hard to distinguish between them, enough so that she couldn't put names to the faces of the people in front of her, just emotions. And that woman brought about such horrible emotions in her that she gripped onto the knife again.

"That girl is going to kill us all," Ichika flinched, taking multiple steps back with the male, "I knew there had to be something wrong with her head."

"Nothing wrong with me," the younger girl shook, "You. You're what's wrong."

Takuya smiled again, giving a ditzy look at the realization she had the mental capacity to speak. Though her tone terrified everyone else, he was just glad she could put together words. If it was like that, she could tell him exactly how to help her. The male wanted to ask her if she was hurt, if she was scared, if she needed a hug, etc. but he didn't get the chance to. His mother yanked him back again, threatened by the girl.

"M-Mother, wait!" he objected, "I don't want to go! If she's speaking, she can tell me what's wrong! That's what I'm supposed to do, right? I'm supposed to fix everything for her? That's what you taught me, so - "

"For the love of - ," the woman roared, yanking her son by the hair, "She murdered all of those people and we'll be next! What don't you understand?! There's no reasoning with that! We are getting out of here!"

"Ow! M-Mother, that hurts! Please let go! I want to stay with - "

The pressure on Takuya's scalp was immediately alleviated the moment his mother was tackled to the ground. (Y/n) missed her first stab, the woman petulantly moving her head out of the way of the knife. It was fine though. All the younger girl had to do was grip onto her jaw to stop her from doing it again. And though the woman kicked and fought back, it could be best summed up as an inconvenience. All it really did was get in the way of the inevitable. She died once and she would die again. (Y/n) was sure of it.

"Do you want to be stabbed in the neck again?" the younger girl asked simply, pushing the knife down despite the woman's attempts to push her wrist away, "I know he was nice and clean about it, but I won't be. This is going to hurt. I promise."

"Isao! Isao, help me!"

The ravenette was completely motionless. It wasn't as though he wanted Ichika to die. Well, maybe there was some small part of him that found a bit of relief in seeing her with such a terrified expression on her face. But he never wanted her to die. He was just too much of a coward to even get near the scene. His legs were shivering, numb and weak. Though he tried to take a step forward, they only buckled out from beneath him, sending him to the floor. So, instead, he shut his eyes tightly and cried, pretending not to hear the woman screaming for his help.

For the life of him, Takuya could not talk the younger girl down. He tried physically pulling her away, tried bribing her with the promise of her favorite cafe, tried getting in the way of the two. All of those efforts ended in failure. She continued to push the knife towards the woman, obsessed with killing her. Her screams only fueled her, and, of course, no one aside from Takuya was trying to stop her. Kohaku had learned his lesson, Isao was held in place by his own cowardice, and Kota was deciding what to do.

On one hand, the baku so enjoyed watching (Y/n) go insane from the sidelines. She was spitting out gibberish about the woman having been killed before and how she would remind her of what it felt like to die. Honestly, it was better than any show Kota had ever seen. His only quip would have been that Takuya was getting in the way. It wasn't necessarily making the (h/c) haired girl stop her little murder spree, but it definitely did slow down her momentum. She seemed to hesitate whenever the bunny-like male was getting in the way. It was weird.

He thought about getting in the way, too. It would have been a great way to tear a rift between the two. Just thinking about getting Takuya to side with him again made him smile. After all, the younger girl was trying to kill his mother. Takuya loved his mother. So, if Kota went and saved her, he would regain all the affection he had before (Y/n) appeared. He just didn't want to get hurt in the process. Even so, if only to spite her, he decided to throw his hat in the ring, taking the utmost delight in shoving her over.

"Kota!" Takuya yelled, furrowing his brows, "You promised me you wouldn't hurt her!"

"C'mon. I'm saving your umi."

"Who...?" (Y/n) mumbled, pressing her hands to her head as a massive headache came over her, "I don't...I don't know you. Pink?"

"Like you could ever forget me."

"Did I forget...again? No. I'm sure. He didn't have friends. Just me. You're lying."

"I'm not stupid enough to lie to a f - I mean, um, I'm not! But I'm not gonna let you kill Maya's umi!"

"That's...not his name."

"Fine, 'Takuya'. Whatever you wanna call him."

(Y/n) almost dropped the knife, pressing her hands harder to her head as she screamed. Things began to separate from one another, the white-haired male becoming his own person - not who she was mistaking him for. As soon as it became obvious what she was confusing, grief flooded back to her in between the clarity. She began to cry upon the realization that he was dead yet again; that she couldn't protect him because she had already failed.

Even so, as the grief overwhelmed her, she glared up at Ichika again. It didn't matter that she wasn't that boy's mother. She was Takuya's mother; equally in need of a knife between her eyes. So, she gripped tightly onto the weapon again and went back in for a second shot. Of course, Kota got in her way, the pink-haired male calling her a psycho and fighting back despite shivering in fear. After the first time she had threatened his life, he was understandably terrified of her. But then he realized something.

(Y/n) wasn't strong anymore. Those days of sleeplessness, starvation, and paranoia made her weak. She could barely fight past him, struggling just to keep on equal standing with him. By no means was Kota strong, of course, but a grin spread on his face - dispelling his terror - once he realized she was weaker than him. All of a sudden, despite his prior fear of her, his arrogance came flooding back to him, allowing him the confidence to rip away her knife.

"Give it back!" she yelled, falling over her own feet to retrieve her weapon, "I'll kill that woman no matter what!"

"Oh, yeah?" Kota giggled, side-stepping every attempt the girl made, "How are you gonna do that when you can't even stand up properly? Hm? Hm? You think Maya'll ever forgive you for doing something like that? He loves his umi like crazy!"

"I know! And she's done nothing but take advantage of it! If I let her live, he'll end up like...like..."

"You know, if you can't explain whatever nonsense you're saying, that's proof it's nonsense. She's the one that's been taking care of Maya this whole time."

"What? You saw the nightmares, didn't you?!"

"Sure did. It's you. You're the reason Maya can't sleep. Every time he closes his eyes, you're there terrifying him. You cheat on him, you lie to him, you leave him, you steal from him, and on and on and on it goes! If you really cared about him, you'd kill yourself!"

"Kota!" Takuya yelled, "Don't you dare talk to her like that! A-And what do you know about my nightmares?! It has nothing to do with - "

"Shut up, Maya! I'm saving you."

(Y/n) began shaking again. She swore she wouldn't be controlled by her emotions, but there she was. She swore she wouldn't solve Takuya's problems by killing his mother, but there she was. She swore she wouldn't let herself be weak, but there she was. It didn't matter that Kota caused all of that to happen. She still knew deep down that it would only end if Ichika died. There was no way to spare Takuya from pain. It was just the lesser of two evils to kill her instead of letting him be controlled by her influence forever.

So, the girl began strangling her. She didn't need the knife to kill her. And though it exhausted her to close the woman's throat, it was worth the expense of energy. She thought, if she could snap her neck, no one would be able to get in her way. But, of course, like the little brat he was, Kota just had to come along and start fighting her again. Kota screamed at her that she was selfish and evil; that she just wanted to take advantage of Takuya to get everything she wanted.

"Why did you even make him fall in love with you if you were just going to mess up his entire life?! You could have bewitched literally anybody else! Why did you choose Maya?!"

"I didn't!" the girl roared, bursting into tears, "If this was all intentional, why would I have fallen in love with him?! Why would I have put myself through all the effort and pain just to make him happy?!"

"...He's not happy!"

"Because of this bitch! It never mattered how much affection I poured into him or how many times I tried to heal his mind! She was always sapping away his self-esteem and joy, so, of course he's miserable, Kota! That was the entire reason I asked you to get rid of his nightmares! Because he can't even sleep without her haunting him!"

"No...that's not...I saw the nightmares! You were always in...them..."

Kota took a moment to think, trailing off into a realization of sorts. (Y/n) was in the nightmares. That was true. She was always doing something like cheating on Takuya, which, obviously, made him miserable. But she wasn't the voice that demeaned Takuya through it all. Now that he thought about it, that wasn't the girl's voice at all. The shadowy monster that haunted him sounded older. It...sounded like his mother.

"T-That must be because you tricked him! You used magic or something to confuse his mind and make him think that his mother is the bad guy when you're the one that - "

"What don't you understand?! Ichika treats him like a product! She's abused him from the day he was born, and, if I leave her alone, she'll do it until he dies!"

"There's no way that's true! Maya loves her!"

"Because hating her would only make him more miserable! Think about it! He was stuck in this mansion with her while his father was away constantly! If he loved her, he could give himself an excuse for why he had to put up with all of her stupid lessons and beatings! He could get through it as long as he thought it was for love!"

"Then Maya lied to me?! He doesn't love his umi like he told me?! That doesn't make any sense! He wouldn't ever lie to me! I'm his best friend! I know everything about him!"

"Do you?! Because you never noticed when he had bruises on him! Or when he limped! Or when he was bleeding! The scars are obvious to nearly everyone but you because you're so far up your own ass and so selfish you can't even bother to care about Takuya unless it's convenient for you!"

Again, Kota was unable to come up with a response, and, slowly, he began to think about how that could have possibly been true. But, now that he was thinking about it, the white-haired male had always walked around with some kind of wound on him. Even back in elementary, Takuya was always coming out of the nurse's office with bandages all over. He practically lived in that room. All of a sudden - as he thought as far back as he could with Takuya - he gasped. He had gotten in trouble for Takuya having bruises on his back. Was that...actually his mother's doing?

The baku turned slowly to glare at the woman, trying to piece together everything. It was true (Y/n) wouldn't lie to him. At least, he was under the impression that was true, and she certainly had some kind of logic to whatever she was saying. She was right, huh? There was no way she would have gone so far out of her way to stay with Takuya when she was capable of getting someone better and more secure. So...

"You love him?" the male stuttered, glancing quickly between the two, "That...That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You're just trying to make me look like an idiot! That's it, right? You're tricking me again somehow! There's just no way - "

Kota yelped as he was shoved to the side, almost hitting his head on the ground. The fae was stubborn, launching forward again to try and kill Ichika. And while the pink-haired male knew he should have tried to stop her - if only to get more approval from Takuya - but he couldn't. The male laid on the ground, staring at the girl with shaking eyes. He refused to believe that. There was no way she loved him. None. It wasn't even a possibility. Female fae couldn't love something weaker than them. She was...lying. Right?

As Kota was lost in his own thoughts, wondering how something like that could be true, Takuya fought (Y/n) away from his mother. He was begging her to leave her alone; to forgive her like he did. But she only reiterated her hatred for the woman, inadvertently spilling out her supposed love for the white-haired male. Even so, Takuya held onto her as tightly as possible with Kohaku's help.

Before long, Isao sprinted down the stairs with a familiar capsule in his hands. At the sight of them, the (h/c) haired girl turned to look at Takuya with a gaze of pleading. He knew exactly what she was thinking, too, unable to look her in the eyes. The guilt flooded his heart, weighing it down so much he had no choice but to let go. He must have thought the threat of the pills alone would make her stop. But she had gone insane. The only thing she thought of was killing Ichika. And so she lunged at her again.

"Takuya!" Isao yelled, forcing the younger male to grab her again and hold her again.

"I-I'm sorry," Takuya whimpered, pressing one of the pills to her lips, "Please, just take it. You'll feel better when you wake - "

(Y/n) screamed in protest, moving her head away and refusing to open her mouth no matter how much the male begged her. Kohaku had to pry open her mouth to give him a shot, at which he hesitated again. Ultimately, he did go through with it, shoving the pill in as quickly as he could, only for her to spit it out and scream again. This time, Kohaku forced her jaw shut as soon as possible, but she still refused to swallow, snarling through her teeth.

She tried to look at Takuya for help, knowing just how to tear him up inside. Even so, as Kohaku opened her mouth, it was the white-haired male that shoved his fingers in her mouth to make her swallow it. She began choking the moment she was released, a look of horror appearing on her features as she gripped onto Takuya, eyes trailing over to Kota as they became populated with tears.

"T-Take it out? Take it out?! I-I can't sleep! I can't!"

"The pill will help! It'll get you to sleep just fine! I promise! I-I just want you to feel better, (Y/n)!"

"You don't...You don't understand! You can't put me back in that hell! You can't! They'll eat me! They'll - "

"It's okay," he tried to assure her, moving to pull her in for a comforting hug, "I'll be here the whole time, so - "

Takuya thought the hug would make her feel secure. He always felt that way when she held him. But, of course, she refused to stay put, pulling herself out of his embrace to make a split-second decision to step right instead of left. Kota pulled his knees into his chest, shivering as she approached him, the girl no doubt going to kill him before he got a chance to torture her in her dreams again.

The baku couldn't even call out his friend's name for help, too terrified of the very real threat in front of him. She was totally going to kill him. He could see it in her eyes and the way she stumbled to get to him; the rabid beastial way she saw him as a target. He choked down his own whimpers, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as she lunged at him, the male hiccuping in fear as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Even so, the final blow never came, the baku glancing up to see the girl stopping her attack as Takuya came in between them. He didn't even seem remotely concerned that she would hurt him, standing there like an unmovable wall, and she could only stare at him with feelings of betrayal written all over her face. Kota saw the energy leave her body piece by piece, the girl falling into the white-haired male's arms before she began to cry. She stayed just like that, murmuring incoherently in between her sobs until she was yanked back into her dreams, Takuya holding her protectively.

The moment she stopped moving, he picked her up, trying to position her in his arms in a way he thought would be most comfortable. Slowly, he glared up at everyone else and warned them not to move. He gave it a second for the threat to fully seep in before he walked cautiously down the hallway, returning without her. Isao and Kohaku huddled up together, at a loss about what to do while Ichika and Kota trembled on the floor, trying to reassure themselves they were still alive.

"Mother," Takuya paused, watching the woman flinch, "If you call the police, I'll kill Isao. Kohaku, if you call the police, I'll kill Isao. Isao...I'll kill you. Now, go away."

"W-What about the - ," Kohaku stuttered, pointing at the corpses.

"Go away."

The brunette shivered, grabbing the ravenette to his side and sprinting out of the room with him, neither one of them looking back. For the rest of the day, they were nowhere to be found. Ichika should have been the same. After experiencing the (h/c) haired girl's desire to kill her and her own son's willingness to take a life just as easily, she should have realized she wouldn't get out unscathed. But, as she began climbing the stairs, she tried to turn and verify Takuya was still under her control. The stupid woman.

"You're not finished with your lessons!"

For the first time, Takuya scoffed at her. There wasn't a trace of fear in the huff, a look of boredom even crossing his face. She couldn't find it in her to yell at him again, merely burning bright red and fleeing, leaving the male to stand over his petulant friend. Kota tried to find the words to explain himself. Really, he did. But nothing came out. Not yet. So, Takuya walked away to clean up, giving both males the chance to think. And think. And think.