"Sweet children, do not ever get in my way again... Or I will CRUSH YOU." 

****

"Ahhhh, Tetsu why didn't you wake me up?" a groan could be heard as a long-haired albino male crawled out of his bed, rubbing his sky blue eyes in protest. "You always wake me up for breakfasttttt..." 

The door suddenly slammed open at that moment, making him jump. His head swiveled over to the source of the noise, revealed to be a lavender-haired male wearing a purple jacket and a HUGE scowl. 

"Akira, you were supposed to be up AGES AGO!" he scolded the other, unaware of how confused his so-called friend was. 

After all, he was pretty sure his name WASN'T Akira. 

He had been very specific when he told his Eve (a lie, but no one needed to know about that) that he was to be referred to as Hugh the Dark Algernon III! 

Plus, that person was definitely not Sendagaya Tetsu!

He rushed to a mirror and promptly ignored the other, finding one on his bedside table....

And screamed at the top of his lungs. 

"W-What the!? Who is this person?! What kind of tomfoolery is this?! If this is your meaning of a prank, Lawless-" he hissed, but soon winced as the headache escalated sharply, "A-Agh! What's wrong with my head!?" 

"Akira!" the other guy was soon beside him. "Calm down, what's going on?" 

Hugh had had enough hearing that name AND all the commands he had been given by this bossy child! How dare he! 

"I am NOT Akira!!!!" he snapped angrily, although this only caused a bigger ache. "Agh, stupid headache! What is going on here!? I demand to speak to an Eve!" 

"A what now?" the other sounded so confused Hugh nearly cried out in frustration. Who was this boy and why was he NOT HELPING AT ALL!? 

"Argh, stupid humans!" he scowled as he tried to get out of bed, only for vertigo to hit him HARD. He swayed left and right, feeling the world spin around him before gravity gave him a huge hug, knocking him out cold. 

****

"Good morning, Hugh," a gentle hand was what nudged Akira awake, causing a red-eyed vampire to blink and rub his eyes. 

For a minute, as he struggled to adjust to the lighting, he thought that the other male was either Inugami-san or Kabane-kun, since Shiki would only kick him off the bed. Maybe Inugami-san when he wasn't busy... Shirona Akira did tend to sleep in a lot. 

But once he got used to the bright lights and could see well, he realised, with a kind of dread settling into his mind, that this was NOT anyone he knew. 

Panic immediately settled into his mind, and he jumped, yelling out an attack to get him to back off no matter how nice he seemed, "Ice Blast-" 

Just as quickly as he jumped, Akira was soon back on the ground, no ice, no magic whatsoever. Only a pounding headache remained to tell the tale. 

"H-huh what?" Akira mumbled. "What is going on? I... don't have my ice--" 

A sharp increase in the headache out of nowhere made him scream in pain again as the world blurred and mixed and matched. Akira could only hold his head. 

"Please please please stop it hurts too much I want to breathe I can't breathe--" he choked. Why did it hurt so much....?

He could barely hear anything but his own heartbeat, pulsing hard and threatening to break through the ribcage due to how painful it was. Was losing his brother not enough?! Was his suffering for so long not enough!? Why did the world hate him so much!? Why why why?!

Why was it only him who had to go through the worst obstacles?...

The black soon claimed him once more, and Akira slipped into the realm of the subconscious, crying out for help. 

But no one ever answered...

****

"Akira, are you okay?" a red-eyed male which resembled Hugh in a weird way asked him while the spider boy Shiki helped the old vampire up."We were worried that you had gotten hurt or something."

"You collapsed out of nowhere. We're glad we brought you straight to Hana-obaasan's place, otherwise you would have been in trouble," the older man said. 

"R-Really?" Were human bodies really that weak? He hadn't known about that. Huh, that was new, he supposed. 

"Y-Yeah..." the two nodded in understanding and shared a telepathic conversation before the red-eyed male said, "Akira, are you okay? How did you get a headache out of nowhere?" 

Uh oh, he didn't know anything about this place, or if these people were the ones who did it. If they wanted to play dumb, so be it. He took on a softer, shy tone, "I'm sorry... I guess it just popped out of nowhere. I-It was a dumb nightmare anyway..." 

"No nightmares are dumb," the lavender-haired male scoffed quietly. There was a worried edge in his tone, though, and his eyes had softened. 

"I-I rather not think about it," Hugh mumbled. "C-Can I..." 

His sweet tooth chose that moment to act up, and he finished his sentence, "Can I have some desserts?" 

The three actually froze on the spot, before they slowly turned to each other. 

"Alright then, let's go," the older male seriously said, and the other two nodded. 

For a minute, Hugh panicked that he had done something stupid, but he was proven wrong soon enough as the three men threw their hands over, "Jan.....ken!" 

Hugh simply faceplanted in response. Whyyyyyyyy? Why was it him?

****

"Hugh, you okay?" the blonde male asked the moment Akira opened his eyes. 

Oh, so it wasn't a bad dream. Dang it. 

"I-I'm fine..." he chose to answer as he got up. "J-Just a bad headache...."

"I see," he still looked worried. "Do you want anything that I can get for you?" 

At that, Akira lost all rationale and he chirped up, "Cake! Crepes! Ice cream!" 

Then he stopped, and the worry clouded his mind again. What if that was not the kind of thing this 'Hugh' liked?! 

Thankfully the guy chuckled and patted his head, "So the usual fancy stuff huh? Alright then. You stay here, and I'll go get the food. Don't go out, okay? You're not too well today; you have a fever I think." 

"Got it!" he answered, and once the other guy was gone, Akira sunk into his bed, wondering just what was going on. Even though they had just saved Shiki's mom and sister, and he was definitely running on fumes, life didn't seem to favour him that much. 

What was the big deal anyway with that headache? He thought as he felt his head. Thankfully, it had mysteriously faded off, yet it still brought in some mysteries. How had that even happened in the first place?... 

Why was a more specific reason, but he didn't want to think too hard on the heavy stuff. He would just tell the others tomorrow! Today it was all about eating desserts! It was rare that someone understood his love for them, so he was going to take every opportunity he got! 

****

"This is so good!!!!"

In all his centuries of living, never had Hugh tasted anything like these sweets! They were downright amazing!

Shiki, the lavender kid whose name he had gotten to know, seemed to be praying for safety, "Kami-sama please, just this once save me from Akira. I promise you I won't complain about Aya or anything! All I want is for my savings to be safe!" 

Sadly, Hugh the Dark Algernon III didn't stop for anyone, and that was proven as he got up and said, "Come on Shiki! I want more!" 

"But Akira--!" 

Too late. Hugh was off like a bolt, and he loved being this tall. Sometimes being small sucked, so he was definitely on a sugar high! 

"This is amazing!" Hugh smiled happily, and for once, he forgot all about the planning he and Alicein Mikuni had made...

For once, he just became his real self and indulged in these wonderful sweets, forgetting everything... 

And for the first time in a long while, ever since he was revived and brought back as a Servamp, Hugh felt like he didn't want to go along with the plan. 

But that was stupid, right? 

There was no way he could do that, right?

Seeing all of the sights here began to change Hugh's mind about the plan.

It made him question if watching the world burn was truly the best thing to change the broken pieces of glass. 

****

"MMHMMMMMMM!" Akira smiled as he dug into his 20th plate of pudding. This was so good! He felt like he was on cloud nine eating this. What was it called again...? Erm... Oh right, creme brulee! It was so tasty!

"Do you like it?" the guy, who he had finally figured out to be named Tetsu thanks to the contacts on his phone, asked Akira. 

"They're exquisite!" Akira was definitely crying about their taste. He wanted Shiki and the others to see this! "Where did you buy these, Tetsu?!" 

He gave him a puzzled look, but answered, "I made them, Hugh."

"You made them!?" Akira gasped. "Wow that is so cool! You could be a great baker or dessert maker if you wanted to!" 

He shrugged, "I only do it if I need to. Plus, my parents expect me to take over the inn when I graduate." 

"You could turn the inn into a bakery/cafe!" Akira offered. "There are a lot of ideas on the internet, and who knows, it could boost visitors and guests who stay here!" 

Tetsu blinked, but soon he smiled as he said, "I... never thought of it that way... Thanks for the suggestion Hugh... I think I might bring it up to my family later on." 

Akira couldn't help but feel a feeling of pride bloom in his chest. Sugar highs were generally seen as bad, but Akira thought differently; with the right balance, the glucose rush could be used productively. That was what Inugami-san had taught him, after all!  

He was glad that he could help Tetsu too, and he resolved to save his number in Hugh's phone so they could keep in contact. After all, he did know the best websites to look at.

****

That very day, the two returned to bed, full, exhilarated, and downright happy. Hugh's fever had gone down, and Akira wasn't feeling like the end of the world was coming. Their entire day hadn't been spent on eating snacks, thankfully, since they had to go do other stuff, such as cleaning (Hugh was NEVER throwing out the trash again), preparing some rooms for reserved guests (Akira found it tiring but it was worth it), and washing the dishes (both had horrible luck with Janken). 

Despite that, though, the highlight of their days gave them time to rethink some major problems and questions they had been putting off. 

Hugh thought about the plan Alicein MIkuni had in mind, and wondered if it would really make his wish come true... Was pride, truly worth all the pain he was going to cause his friends and family? 

After some thought, he decided that no, it wasn't, so he was going to confess everything to them, even if it risked their trust in him. That was his resolution as he slowly fell asleep; a step to a better future.

Meanwhile, Akira thought about... his brother. Where was Yui? How was he? Akira began to feel bad for abandoning him like this, but soon he swore that he would make up for it no matter what it took.

And so, with this determination, Akira fell asleep too.

Red and white, almost translucent lights soon moved out of their bodies and returned to their rightful owners, although most of the magic was absorbed by a cloaked figure standing in front of a mural, giving a smirk before disappearing, without a trace left of their identity...

****

After the big reveal, Hugh found the forum and was relieved to know that it had happened to others too, so once he got to chatting with Akira (they bonded over sweets, of course), Hugh sent him the link to the chat and added him in. 

Akira was laughing the whole day, and the others were officially worried for him, especially Shiki, who was definitely not used to Akira laughing so... sincerely....

Meanwhile, despite being in isolation, Hugh didn't mind. He just chatted with the others to wait out his punishment. He offered ideas, theories and even gave Tsubaki or Alicein Mikuni as a lead. 

Akira then did his own research, and found something that was sent to the group as Urgent;

A graph of spikes in magical activity had been detected in Japan.

What did it mean? And how was it related to their case? 

No one had the answer to that question.

****

"New resolutions won't help a thing... they will only be destroyed if they are in the way of HIS dreams..."