DISCLAIMER: Everything here does not belong to me, only the plot does. All characters here belong to the amazing Hideyasu Takahashi.
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"Hi. My name is Jack and, I'm not normal."
"Okay, okay, I admit, that was cringeworthy!", said a silver-haired boy too, what seems to be, his look-alike but with a red suit, cape, mask, and various other things. The floating boy laughed, "Cringeworthy? That was cringefest worthy!!".
They both seemed to be in the former's room. Upon more observation shows that said boy lives in an apartment alone. Well, not really.
After his laughing fit, the floating boy calmed down, "What were you trying to do anyway, Jack?". The boy, now named Jack, hesitated before a blush covered his cheeks. He muttered, "None of your business, Joker!".
Joker just laughed as he hung around Jack. After a while, he frowned then pouted. "Jack!", he called out, "I'm bored!", he whined.
"And I don't care.", Jack said with a deadpan tone. Suddenly, a tune was heard throughout the room.
A, I, U, E, oh matsuri Baka sawagi~
Ka, ki, Ku, ke, komikaru tekunikaru!-
The tune stopped as soon as Jack got a hold of his phone, recognized the ID of the caller, and accepted the call. "What do you want?", was the remark that first came out of his mouth.
"Wow, such a warm welcome. I feel so blessed.", came the sarcastic reply of the caller. "Yeah, yeah, what do you want, King?", I asked. "Queen said we should go to the arcade together. Just like old times, eh?".
"No.", was the deadpan response. "No? Listen here, I didn't want to do this either but Queen told me.", he said though he stressed the last part. "This is Queen we're talking about. She does not take 'no' for an answer!".
"Ughhhh...", groaned Jack. "Fine.", he sighed in defeat. "When, where and what time?", asked Jack impatiently. "Tomorrow, the arcade at the --------- mall, 15:00 (3 pm)."
"Okay, I'll see you and Queen there.", said Jack. After he put down the phone, he noticed it was quiet. Too quiet.
"Hey Joker, you've been quiet. Why's that?", he asked the spacing out floating boy. He must've been in deep thought because when Jack called him out, he looked surprised.
"Huh? W-What?", asked Jack. "Dude, what's wrong?". asked Jack. Joker contemplated a bit before giving Jack a teasing smile, "Aww! You do care!! How sweet!".
Jack hid his face in his hands with his face feeling oddly hot. "Ugh! Why did I even think you were off?", he asked no one.
And as if that never happened, he went on to do whatever. Once Jack was out of Joker's view, however, his smile dropped.
I can't help but feel...
He shook his head, dismissing any thought before following Jack on his routine, annoying more than anything.
...something's wrong.
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"C'mon Joker! We're leaving!", Jack said. "Yeah, yeah! I heard you the first time!", said an annoyed floating boy. "Just let me fix my mask!"
Joker fixes his mask then heads out the door along with Jack. They meet up with King and Queen at the designated meeting spot.
Once they spot him King waves him over. Queen looked almost furious, "JACK! You're finally here! You slowpoke!!".
"Well, I'm here now aren't I?", said Jack. Joker just watched them interact with a small smile. He sighed before thinking, 'I wish they could see me... meh, it doesn't matter anyway.'
They entered the arcade with Joker following but Joker still couldn't shake the feeling of unease.
A few hours later...
It was getting dark but Jack, Queen, and King were still at the arcade. "Hey, guys!", called out King, "It's getting late, we should head home."
"As much as I hate to admit it, King's right.", sighed Queen. Jack went to open his mouth in protests, but Queen beat him to it. "We're going."
Jack just pouted while Joker was complaining. "You just had to kill the mood, King!", he said as he glared at King, despite knowing King couldn't see, hear, or touch him.
"Fine!", Jack yelled as they headed out. After a few moments, Jack spoke up, "Hey, I had fun today, so, thanks.". After that, Jack quickly looked to the side, cheeks suspiciously red.
King and Queen just looked at Jack and smiled, thinking that he was embarrassed to say that, but in reality, he was red with anger. He was fuming at Joker for making him say that.
You see, Joker forced Jack to do that. Joker didn't even remember how he did it, all he knew is that it was hilarious, "Hahahaha! You did it! Hahahahaha!".
Unfortunately, this nice little moment was ruined by three men that grabbed them and dragged him inside a dirty alleyway.
Two of the three men held King and Queen by their arms as the third one slammed Jack against the wall making him hit his head. Hard. Then the man pointed a knife at his neck so close that he could feel the blade on his skin.
"Jack-!", yelled King and Queen but the two men shouted a short, "Be quiet!", before taking out knives of their own.
"Give us money or you and your friends get it!", hissed the man holding Jack. Jack's hair shadowed his eyes as he went limp in the man's hold.
Then, he let out a short chuckle, then another, and another, until it turned into full-blown amusement filled laughter in a matter of seconds.
"Heh, heh, sorry, sorry.", he apologized as he calmed down. By then, the man's arm went slack in shock.
"Just answer me this...", he said calmly. He lifted his head to show glowing, electric, blue eyes, piercing into the man's very soul.
"...what makes you think you can hurt me?"
And with that, the men screamed.
Later...
"... and that's the last of 'em.", Jack-, no, Joker muttered to himself. In front of him were the three men from earlier except unconscious and bruised.
"J-Jack...?", hesitantly called out Queen. It took a few seconds for Joker to realize they were talking to him. He turned around to face them, eyes the size of dinner plates, "Oh crap."
He looked like he was thinking about what to do before he just looked down and muttered, "Ah! Screw it!", and with that, he fell unconscious.
"Whoa!", yelled King as he caught Jack. "We need to get him patched up.", said Queen. King nodded. He picked up Jack, bridal style, then proceded to go to a nearby local clinic.
"He has a minor concussion, a small wound on his neck, and some bruises, but aside from that, he's fine.", said the doctor. At this King and Queen sighed in relief. "You can take him home just make sure he gets a lot of fluids and make sure he stays in bed.".
"Thank you so much!", thanked Queen as King carried Jack, bridal style, out the door.
"Let's go to my place.", suggested King. "Alright...", replied Queen distractedly. She and King had a bunch of burning questions in their minds but Jack's well being is more important right now.
When they got to King's place, he said, "I'll set up the futon for you, Jack can sleep on the couch.". Queen nodded and watched as King placed the former on the couch.
The Next Day...
Jack sleepily opened his eyes only to shut them immediately due to the light shining in through the opened curtain, "Hmm...?", he hummed as he woke up.
"Morning, sleeping beauty!", greeted King as he exited the kitchen with two cups of coffee. Jack attempted to sit up and successfully did it but with a lot of effort.
"You should take it easy, Jack. After what happened yesterday, you need the rest.", said King. "What exactly happened yesterday?", asked Jack.
"You don't remember?", asked King, surprised. Jack shook his head before saying, "The last thing I remember is being slammed against a wall before I saw black. Now that I think about it, Joker's oddly quiet...", he whispered the last part to himself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Jack quickly scanned the room, releasing a small sigh when he saw Joker sleeping on the floor. "So, what happened after I blacked out?".
"Well, after that guy slammed you against the wall, these two men held Queen and me in place while the guy holding you threatened us. We didn't hear what he said but after that...", trailed off King.
"Well, what happened?", questioned Jack as he gulped some of his coffee. "... you started laughing. None of us could see your eyes but the moment you looked up we could see that your eyes were glowing and you asked them, and these are your exact words, '...what makes you think you can hurt me?'.".
When King mentioned his previously glowing blue eyes and the question, he chocked on his coffee.
Flashback...
We see a young Jack playing with young Joker.
"Rawr!!!", shouted Jack as he tackled Joker. "Rawr! I'm gonna hurt you so that I would win because I am the magnificent Jack Jones!!! Rawr!!", shouted Jack.
"Hehe! Not if the mysterious Kaitou Joker can stop you!.", playfully responded Joker. "I know your weakness!", said Joker with a mischevious glint in his eyes.
"Tickle attack!!", yelled Joker as he tickled Jack. "HAHAHAHAHAHA- NONONONO- STOOOPP IT- HAHAHAHA!", laughed Jack. "Besides...", said Joker as he tickled Jack.
"...what makes you think you can hurt me, anyway?"
Back to the present...
"...after that, you beat the men up and knocked them unconscious. I think you even forgot we were there. Anyway, when you turned around and saw us, you muttered something then passed out. We brought you to the local clinic, got you patched up, and now here we are.", finished King.
Jack took a minute to compose himself before saying nervously, "Hah..? T-that's weird...". At that moment, King's only thought was, 'Jack's a terrible liar when it comes to us.'.
"Okay, yeah, tell me the truth.", bluntly commanded King. Jack thought aloud for a moment, "I can't get out of this can I?", asked Jack.
"Nope."
"Fine."
"I'll only tell if Queen's here.", stated Jack. King opened his mouth and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you that-"
"Tell what if I'm here?"
"...Queen, stayed over.", continued King. It took a minute for Queen to realize Jack was awake. When she did tho, she lectured Jack.
Queen stormed towards Jack and slapped him in the face, "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!". She then began to lecture him about what he (Was it him?) did last night.
When Jack's ears stopped ringing and hi cheek stopped hurting, he realized King updated Queen about the situation and both were looking at Jack expectantly.
Jack scratched behind his head. "I guess it'd be better to show you...", he muttered aloud. "Okay, this is going to be weird at the beginning so please ask questions later.".
King and Queen looked at each other. Jack had said 'please', to them. So it had to be important. They watched as Jack got up and stopped at a seemingly random spot. He was looking down on the floor as if someone was there.
"Hey! Get up!", yelled Jack as he kicked the air. Well, to King and Queen at least.
His eyes then went up in the air, he paused, as if listening to someone. His expression then morphed into an annoyed scowl as he started talking, "Shut it! What you did was extremely reckless! You didn't need or have to do that!".
"Because of you-", Jack cut off as if someone interrupted. His expression suddenly softened. "Hey, I know you did it to protect me.", he said softly. He reached out his hand like he was touching someone. "But what you did was dangerous. You could've gotten hurt."
Jack (and someone?) stood in silence for a moment before he spoke up, "As much as I want to continue this, we have some explaining to do.", and as he said this, he turned around towards King and Queen who were both extremely confused right now.
"Jack, who are you talki-", King was cut off by Jack. "Questions later. Now, make sure to pay attention to my eyes.", and with that, he closed his eyes.
Jack's P.O.V., A few moments earlier...
I scratched the back of my head and said, "I guess it'd be better to show you...". Now, I have to show them! Ugh! "Okay, this is going to be weird at the beginning so please ask questions later.".
King and Queen looked at each other, oh, now of all times they take me seriously! I got up and headed towards the sleeping Joker.
"Hey! Get up!", I yelled as I kicked Joker. "Wha..? Hey!!", Joker shouted as he woke up. He floated up and stared at me in the eyes, "What was that for! You don't just do that to a sleeping person-!", I cut Joker off immediately with my expression turning into an annoyed scowl.
"Shut it! What you did was extremely reckless!", I shouted at Joker. "You didn't need or have to do that!", I paused, "Because of you-".
"I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU!"
I stood there for a second, frozen before I softened my expression. "Hey, I know you did it to protect me.", I said while looking at him.
He reached out his hand like he was touching someone. "But what you did was dangerous. You could've gotten hurt."
He closed his eyes and I stayed silent for a moment. "As much as I want to continue this, we have some explaining to do.",
Joker and I turned around to face King and Queen who looked really confused. It was funny really. "Jack, who are you talki-", I cut King off.
Didn't I say to ask questions later? "Questions later. Now, make sure to pay attention to my eyes."
3rd P.O.V.
Jack closed his eyes and, after a moment, opened them up again. King and Queen gasped. Jack's eyes were once again glowing!
"Jack, your eyes-!", they were silenced by Jack raising his hands and flailing them around. "Wait, wait, wait! I'm not Jack!"
"Let me start over.", he said then cleared his throat.
"Hi! My name is Joker! And Welcome to the shining night!"
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Word Count: 2321 words
Woah! Hold up! I did not mean this to have that many words! Wow!
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'm very sorry it took this long! Procrastination and school is not a good combo! I repeat, it is not a good combo!
Now you know the drill (probably), I have a random updating schedule cause I don't have one so if you get annoyed with me...
:P You're the one who picked to read my book. Jokes on you!
Now, I have to go!! Buh-byyyyyeeeee!
Welcome to the shining night!
May the stars guide you through this magnificent sight!