Lui woke up the following night. He was actually a person who never woke up at night, but something inside him seemed to have woken him up. Lui turned on the other side so that he was looking into the room. He saw that the small lamp he put on the table for Free was on and there was also light behind his curtain. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that Free wasn't lying on the sofa, so he sat up. Inwardly, the blue-haired hoped that his roommate hadn't left, but as long as there was no indication, he didn't believe it. Carefully, Lui got up from his bed and when he stood on his injured leg, he grimaced slightly. It still hurt, but he didn't let it stop him. He hobbled over to the window and pushed the curtain aside. In the garden lay the big silver dragon, behind him, Lui could see golden scales, so Fafnir was still there. Lui opened the sliding door and stepped out into the cold night. He wanted to go straight to Fafnir to see if Free was with him, but stopped when he heard the blonde's voice.
Free couldn't fall asleep all night, which mostly led to him talking to Fafnir about his problems. Even if his spirit animal couldn't answer, he knew that his dragon understood him.
"I hope Lui isn't mad at me...I should have taken better care of him." Free stroked the golden dragon's head while it lay partly on his lap. "He would probably say now that it wasn't my fault, but I knew the dangers and should have informed him. I could have prevented it..." Fafnir snuggled up to his owner. "I know I can't go back but I still feel bad. I don't want to lose Lui as a friend...He may be grumpy but I know he's a lovely person...So caring, nice, helpful...handsome...sweet...I really like him a lot" Free laid his head a little on Fafnir's. "I'd like to have him as my soulmate...But I don't know what signs you're giving me for that...I haven't been in the tribe long enough to know...Do you think Lui would tell me if he knew we were meant to be together?" Fafnir looked back a little. He felt the other boy's aura. "I'm sure he definitely would" Free yawned and snuggled up against his kite. Fafnir gave off a pleasant warmth that was slowly making the blond tired. "We'll be moving on soon. As soon as Lui gets better and the four of us have gone on a trip, we'll move on." Free noticed Fafnir's gaze, which lay on the sleeping silver dragon. "I know you will miss Luinor...So will I..." De La Hoya closed his eyes. "The last few days here will be beautiful, I promise you." Finally Free fell asleep.
Lui didn't know how to feel. He felt a look at him and when he looked up he saw the green eyes of the golden dragon. He knew that Fafnir suspected that he very well knew the answer to Free's question. But Lui felt like he was finally too deep into this lie to tell Free the truth. Free thought so well of him and what did he do? He continued to consciously lie to his face, how could Free forgive him then?
Fafnir could sense the blue-haired boy's discomfort, which is why he woke up the dragon next to him. Luinor looked up and saw his master. He got up and walked towards his boy. Lui looked up and met his dragon's pink eyes. Luinor stretched his wings to shut out the world around them. Shirosagi smiled a little. He knew his spirit animal meant well, but he just felt bad. Luinor tilted his head to the side and watched the boy a little. Lui kept trying to keep his smile up, but the more he tried, the more his smile deformed and the smile turned into a sad face. Now he tried to hold back his tears, which didn't work either. Luinor retracted his wings. He brought his head closer to Lui so his human could put his arm around him. "Am...am I really a bad person?" Lui sobbed while squeezing his eyes shut to hold back tears.
"You are a wonderful person, Lui"
Shirosagi released his kite and looked around. He looked at Free, but he was still sleeping. Was that just an illusion? No, that sounded too real to have been an illusion. Lui looked at his dragon, which just looked at him. It wasn't him, was it?
"Lui?" The blue-haired teen grumbled when someone spoke to him. "Lui, wake up" He grimaced a little when someone nudged his cheek. "Lui!" His purple eyes slowly opened. He jumped when he looked into black ones. "Good morning" "Free...?" Free smiled. "What? Why are you waking me up?" "I made breakfast and you should come in" "In?" Lui looked around and only now noticed that he was lying cuddled up to Luinor and that outside. Somehow this was weird since Lui very rarely slept outdoors. He sat up and stretched, cracking his bones. He yawned and then got up, Free immediately supported Lui, who had apparently already forgotten what had happened. Lui didn't know if that was the best or the worst night. He felt rested and not at all at the same time. "Shall we go in?" "Mhmm..." Free laughed a little when he saw the tired expression on Lui's face. He helped the smaller one back to his room and let him down on his bed. Lui flopped into bed, which elicited another laugh from the blond. "Don't fall asleep again. Otherwise I'll eat your breakfast" "Mhm" "I'll get it" "Mhm..." Free left the room while Lui was still lying on the bed and was about to fall asleep.
He couldn't remember how long he was awake that night, but it felt like he'd only slept a few minutes up to that point. When Free came back, Lui was napping again. The blonde smiled and put the tray down. He approached the blue-haired and lifted his lower body onto the bed, then pulled the covers over him. It didn't look like Lui would wake up again for the next few minutes, so Free let him sleep. He took the tray and left the room. Lui went on sleeping contentedly.
He woke up around 11 a.m. when the smell of pancakes hit his nostrils. At first he thought he only dreamed it but no, the smell was in the house. He pushed his covers aside and sat up. His legs dangled off the bed. He still had some pain in his left leg but it wasn't as bad as the night before. Just as he was about to get up, the door opened and Free walked into the room. "Good morning" The blond smiled. "Morning" "Have you been awake long?" "No, just woke up" "I hope I didn't wake you up...I made a lot of noise" "No, it's fine. I slept well" "I noticed that" Lui raised his eyebrow. "I woke you up at 8 o'clock and put you in your bed where you fell asleep again" "I did?" "Yes, you did but that was no problem. I ate your first breakfast and now I'm making pancakes so if you're hungry I can bring you some" "You can make pancakes?" "I found a book that said how I should do them and I just tried it out" "I'd like to try some" "Okay, then I'll get some and stay awake this time" Lui blushed slightly and nodded . Free left his room to bring the pancakes upstairs. When he got back, Lui felt like drooling. They smelled so delicious and looked really good too. "I hope you like it" Lui looked at the pancakes. "They look really yummy. I'm sure they'll taste good. I'd just like to eat them at the table" "Oh...I'm on it" Free cleared the desk and put the tray on it. He supported Lui until he sat on the desk chair. "Thank you" "No thanks. Enjoy it" Lui took the fork and the knife, cut off a piece and put it in his mouth. "They taste really good" "Yes?" "Didn't you try any?" "No, I wanted to make them for you." Lui held out the fork that had a piece of the pancakes on it. "Try it." Free came closer and opened his mouth a little. Lui put the fork in the blonde's mouth and Free closed it.
It took a moment for Shirosagi to realize what he had just done. His cheeks turned bright red.
"Tastes really good for my first try. It was fun to make too"
The blue-haired needed a moment to get a clear thought again.
Why had he just done that? That was so incredibly embarrassing.
"But you should eat them. You need a lot of strength to get well again." Lui just nodded with red cheeks while he slowly put the fork in his mouth.
Lui didn't understand how Free could be so calm.
De La Hoya noticed the smaller boy's rosy cheeks. "Do you have a fever?" Free put his hand on his pale forehead, which darkened the red on Lui's cheeks. Embarrassing...embarrassing...that was so incredibly embarrassing...yet kinda cute that Free cared about him like that. "No, your forehead is normal warm." He took his hand back and the red on Lui's cheeks disappeared immediately. "Eat up and then lie back down. Maybe you caught a cold from spending the night out" "Hmm...maybe" "Anyway, I don't want to keep you from eating. I'll be out in the garden with Fafnir and Luinor" Lui nodded and Free walked out.
Lui sighed and looked at the pancakes. They weren't perfectly round, but they were delicious. It was cute that Free was trying so hard to adjust to the modern world. How could he be so mean to him? Free didn't deserve it... He deserved to know the truth but Lui was scared of what would happen next. How would he react in Free's position? When someone doesn't tell him that they were his soul mate, even though that person knew he was actually looking for his soul mate. He would go completely nuts, be disappointed and angry. He would never forgive that person for keeping this a secret... So how dare he tell Free the truth?
Maybe he got into it too much and Free would forgive him, but what if not? Free ended up running away from home just to find his soulmate. Lui could just pretend he found it out himself...But then he would lie to Free again...However, he would never know...but Lui couldn't have a relationship with him that was built on lies.
But what if he found out the truth and was angry? Then their future together would have gone too.
Either way, no matter what Lui will do, it was all over between the two. They had no future together in his eyes.
Lui tried not to show anything for the next few days. This subject occupied his thoughts much more than he had hoped. He really didn't want to hurt Free, which is why he distanced himself from him like he did at the beginning of their meeting.
Free noticed his friend's behavior and didn't know what was going on. He was afraid he had done something wrong... Maybe Lui was mad at him for not paying attention and for injuring himself. He didn't know and it was driving him crazy. He didn't want Lui to be mad at him, after all he was his only friend.
"Lui?" Free entered the blue-haired teen's room, who was sitting at his desk and working. "I'm busy, is it urgent?" "It would be important for me to talk about it now, but if you don't have time now, it's fine with me" "Make it short" "I will..." Free sat down on the sofa. "Why are you avoiding me?" "What do you mean?" "I don't know...It feels like when we first met...like you're putting distance to me...did I do something wrong? Or are you angry that you're hurted because of me?" "It's neither" "Then what is it? Don't you want me here anymore? If you want me to go, you have to tell me, I'll go right away. I just don't want you to stop liking me." "It's not that..." "Then what is it?...Don't. ..don't you like me anymore?" Lui turned to Free. He noticed that the blond didn't like this thought at all. "No, it's not you, Free. You're a great friend...It's just...I need to sort things out on my own...I'm really glad you're here, so please don't think that you're the problem...I just need some time to think things through...Sorry it came across as the problem being you. I really didn't mean to make you feel like that"
This answer was definitely not a lie....Partly not. Lui really had to think about some things, but it was on purpose that he distanced himself from Free.
Free looked a little shocked. "Sorry I was so suspicious" "Don't apologize for that. It's not your fault after all" "Is there anything I can do for you?" Lui shook his head. "No, I can handle it. Just keep taking care of Luinor, okay?" "Okay, if there is anything please let me know" "I will, thanks" Free stood up. "I'll leave you alone again" Shirosagi nodded and the taller one left his room. When the door was closed, he sighed. It was all much more difficult than he had hoped. He really didn't want Free to feel that bad, but at the same time, he also wanted some time to himself and not bond too strongly with him. Lui looked at the piece of paper that was lying on the desk and on which he had already written a few words. He would probably never be able to say what he wanted to say to Free directly to his face. It wasn't fair, Shirosagi knew that all too well, but he just wasn't going to make it. De La Hoya deserved the truth, but Lui felt bad, hence the letter. Every word that found its way onto the page was the truth, and that truth stitched his lie together. And every word he added increased his guilt, but Lui tried to fight it...Tried not to let that guilt take over his mind. He couldn't indulge in those negative thoughts, because then he'd already lost.
It was difficult for all these negative thoughts to escape, so he got help. Lui picked up his phone to write Gabe, his best friend. He knew not to leave Free alone, so he asked Gabe if he could bring the rest of the team with him, to which Gabe said yes. Only a few minutes before they left, Lui told Free that they were meeting up with some of his friends. Free had no problem with that as he was happy to meet new people. It wasn't difficult to introduce Free to the rest of the team and soon Lui and Gabe had some time to chat.
"So...who is this Free exactly now? I understand he's not from around here but how did you end up letting him live with you?" Lui sighed. "Let's put it this way...Luinor went absolutely nuts when he felt Fafnir's presence..." "He's your soulmate?" "....Yeah..." "You don't sound too happy about that" "Don't get me wrong, Free is a nice guy but...I wasn't a fan of his at first..." "What did you do, Lui?" "...I didn't tell him about it and so far the lie continues" "You didn't tell him?! Are you stupid?!" "Shut up, Gabe! I don't want him to know about this yet!" Lui was worried that Gabe was too loud and Free would find out about it. But he didn't seem to know anything about it. "You can't lie to him! What are you thinking? That's why he left his homeland, so why?" "You know I'm a shallow person!" Gabe sighed. "You're really impossible. I've told you a number of times that it's not always about appearances." "What is my fault if I'm like this?" "And how are you going to explain it to him now?" "...Well..." "Don't tell me you won't do it" Lui looked down. "Lui!" This time Gabe had raised his voice and the others had heard. "Are you all right?" Gabe pinched the bridge of his nose. "More or less, yes"
"Hey, Lui, would it be possible for us to go to the funfair? We'd like to show Free around a bit" "If he's okay" "Yes, I would be very happy. Would you like to come with me?" Lui wanted to say no at first, but Gabe's gaze wouldn't allow it. "Yes...I'm in" Free smiled. "This is going to be great." Lui returned the smile softly, which caught Gabe's attention. They walked on and Gabe immediately approached his best friend. "It looks like you don't really have anything against Free...you seem to like him after all." Lui looked at Gabe. "What nonsense" "What's stopping you from telling him? I don't think he'll say no." Shirosagi looked back at the blonde. "I don't know...I'm much more afraid that he won't like it when I tell him I knew from the start but didn't tell him...I don't want him to think of me that I'm a bad person...I like him Gabe...But what if this lie destroys everything between us?There is only one person in this world made for one...And if he doesn't love you, what then? What sense would there be in the life of oneself?"
It was quiet for a while. Trouble was, Gabe didn't know how Lui felt. He had found his soul mate in Kyo and Shinki and Katana weren't in the same situation as Lui... Still, Brunai didn't want the blue-haired teen to feel so bad. He put a hand on his shoulder, which made Lui look at him. "You shouldn't think like that, Lui. Yes, you think in a difficult situation right now, but you shouldn't think about the negative. I can understand that 'talking to him' doesn't do much, but it's probably the best thing you can do, even if it's hard...don't take too long, because who knows how long Free will stay with you, if you never see him again after that, it'll end up just like if you did it to him don't say at all. I'm sure Free doesn't see you as a bad person...He might just be a lot more open than you about stuff like that and I'm sure if you explain it to him he'll understand," Lui said nothing. He understood that Gabe meant well, but no one could tell 100% how Free really reacted. Maybe Gabe was right, but maybe he was completely wrong?
Just as Lui wanted to answer, Kyo's voice intervened. "We're here! Lui! Gabe! Hurry!" The two caught up with the others. The other four from Rideout bought a ticket. When Free wanted to reach into his pocket, the blue-haired stopped him. "I'll pay" Lui pulled out his wallet and paid for two tickets for then. "Thank you" Free smiled and took the ticket from Lui's hand. "It's okay" The two followed the others. Lui wasn't really into funfairs or other activities where people were shouting and everyone was just jostling. Looking at Free, he saw his eyes sparkle with delight. "I didn't know there were such beautiful things in the world" "You really didn't know there was such a thing?" "No, all these years I was only on the island and didn't know anything about the outside world" "Shall we... maybe ride a roller coaster?" Free raised an eyebrow. Lui pointed to the ride behind him. "You can ride with that?" "Yes, do you want to try it?" "Yes, I'd love to" Lui took Free's hand and went with him to the roller coaster. They had to queue but that was fine. As they got in, Free was still holding Lui's hand. But Lui didn't care, if the blonde felt better that way, then he didn't mind... He also felt better that way. When the roller coaster started, Free was having the time of his life. As they got out, Free looked around. The blue-haired told him that they could drive something else and they went on. The more the two ran through the funfair, the more they forgot everything around them. Even Lui was having fun, although he hated all this hustle and bustle. They drove with every attraction, Free liked the Waterslide but the Horor House? Never again for him. They tried as many snacks as possible and enjoyed their time together. Lui also forgot what he was actually up to.
The two arrived at the exit around 9 p.m. Lui pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call Gabe. As he turned on his phone, he saw a text message from his best friend. He and the others were already gone. "The others are already gone. So let's go straight home or do you want to do something else?" "No, I'm happy" "Okay, then let's go" Hand in hand, the two walked to Lui's house, followed by their spirit animals. "How did you like today?" "It was so great. Thanks for taking me there" "You don't need to say thank you. As long as you're having fun, everything's great" Free smiled. "It was the best day of my life so far" Free stretched his arms up, only now he realized that he was still holding Lui's hand, so he let go of it. "I didn't know there were so many beautiful things in the world. We've always been told that the world around our island is cruel but it's beautiful, the opposite of everything we've been told" "It's not the best, but yeah, it's probably better than what you learned on your island." "Yes." The two continued walking down the sidewalk. "Hey Lui?" "Yes?" "Thanks for this day without you none of this would be possible. You are a great friend." De La Hoya smiled, which made Lui blush. Luckily it was dark and Free couldn't see it. "Like I said, you don't need to say thank you." Free stood in front of the smaller one and looked into his purple eyes. "I have to. You are such a great person, Lui" Shirosagi had the feeling that the black eyes were casting a spell over him. Almost as if under hypnosis, he came closer to the blonde. The two looked deep into each other's eyes. Free came even closer to him, but before he was too close, Lui backed away. Free backed away as well. Would the blonde actually have just kissed him, even though he didn't even know if they were soul mates? Was Free really in love with him? Lui had to say something, the whole situation was just uncomfortable for both of them. "Let's keep walking" "...Yeah, well..." The two kept walking. The way home was quiet. To be honest, there wasn't anything they could say, after all, the discomfort still lay between the two of them. Even in Lui's room they were silent, only wishing each other a good night. But neither of them could sleep that night.