Sen blinked, “What? Really?”

“No, he isn’t.” Hao quickly denied. “He’s some obsessed loser drama king who wants to be Sasori’s future husband.”

Said obsessed loser drama king crushed the rose is his hand. “How dare you!” He cried, literally, with tears of rage suddenly streaming down his face. He struck a ridiculously dramatic pose. “I am the Prince of Angels!” He declared. “And no woman but the magnificent Contessa of the Dark will suffice!”

“Why don’t you chase after Brighid Grey?” Hao asked incredulously. “You are the Prince of Angels, not of kappas.” He reminded him, needlessly.

Belthazar looked even more insulted. He huffed, his handsome face scrunching up. “Oh, of course! Everyone expects that, don’t they? The Prince of Angels and the halfbred angel Contessa of Light – Perfect couple, no?” He ground his teeth. “How boring! How cliché! No, no – Only Lady Sasori will do!”

“Cliché?” Sen copied, her tone offended. “As if an angel prince marrying a demon isn’t cliché, either! You should marry who you love, not who’ll get you the most shock value!”

Belthazar narrowed his eyes. “I do not love Lady Sasori? Is that what you claim? You know nothing!” His eyes closed completely, but in rapture. “Anyone would fall in love with her after hearing her sing!”

“Oh, boy, here we go…” Hao moaned, letting go of Sen so he could smack his forehead. He apparently believed them to no longer be in any danger. Still, Sen jumped and moved closer to him again.

“She may be a demon,” He shouted, making Sen wonder if the people in the other rooms would complain. “But her voice is that of an angel! Sweet and melodious, yet so strong! She has the power of Shoshana Bean, but the femininity of Emmy Rossum! She is, in short…” He took a breath, red in the face, be it from blushing or the energy it took to nearly-but-not-quite sing his words out. “My DREAM WOMAN!”

Sen scratched her head. “Um… Well, I’m very happy for you, I think…” She adjusted her glasses. “But that doesn’t explain why you kidnapped us?”

He cried once more. “She hasn’t returned any of my calls or letters! I had to do something to get her attention!” He grinned suddenly and cockily. “And what better way then to kidnap her precious chosen one?” He cackled at his own brilliance. “Admittedly, the ugly, awkward teenaged boy wasn’t in the plans, but I’m sure he can make himself useful by cleaning my shoes until she gets here.” He said dismissively, pulling back the curtain to the closet to reveal a mountain of shoes.

Hao’s mouth dropped at his insult. “Ugly?” He demanded. “Who do you think you’re calling ugly?”

“You.” Said Belthazar simply and unremorsefully. “All men except for me are ugly and unworthy.”

“You great prat—” Hao started, advancing on him. Sen restrained him with her arms around his torso and Sad and Happy restrained him with gun barrels against his head.

Belthazar chuckled. “Well, well, best get to those shoes, eh? And be careful with the leather, it’s quite expensive.”

Sen growled. “He’s not cleaning your damn shoes! You brought us here, and you are going to treat us like guests!” She demanded, sounding braver than she felt.

He blinked at her. “My god…” He breathed, striding over to her and lifting up her chin. “You are just fabulous!” He grinned. “I could SO see you as Glinda from Wicked! Fabio, isn’t she a total Glinda?”

Fabio, that is, Happy, nodded. “Yes, sir!”

“What do you think Giorgino, isn’t she Glinda?” He asked of Sad, who nodded.

“I’m not Glinda, I’m Sen!” She protested, taking back her chin. “And that’s Lady Sen to you!” She dared. Belthazar merely gasped happily and fanned himself.

“I just love her attitude!” He exclaimed. “I mean, she’s no Sasori, but really,” He winked at Hao. “You got a nice catch there.”

Hao, still miffed about being called ugly, replied seriously. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Belthazar flipped his hair. “Of course not. What would she be doing with someone as unworthy as you?”

Sen clutched his arm tighter. “Who are you to say such things? Obviously you’re not too worthy yourself if Sasori won’t even return your calls!”

At that, he choked, as if stabbed in the heart. Fabio replaced his gun from Hao’s head to Sen. “How dare you speak that way to Prince Beltha—”

“No!” He cut in, clutching at his snowy hair in agony. “She’s right! The fabulous little wench is right! That I’ve had to stoop so low to get Lady Sasori to notice me…” He sniffed. “But… It will all end just fine!” He said in determination, fishing a cell phone from a purse on the table and pressing some buttons on it.

Sasori’s hotel room.

Sasori yawned in boredom, not at all tired. Hoshiko and Jewel were both already asleep and Midori was in the bathroom brushing her teeth to do the same. She was something of an insomniac, however, and usually slept less than three or four hours a night, if that. Not wanting to wake the sleeping girls, she put her cell phone on silent and checked her mail. She had about twelve new messages, but only one managed to catch her eye.

Chosen One was its headline. Well, one can hardly ignore a message like that, especially when one was involved with said “chosen one”. She opened it.

Eight seconds later, Sasori was rolling on the floor with laughter.

Belthazar’s hotel room.

“I’ve got a response!” The angel prince exclaimed. “I’ve got a response!” He clicked a few buttons on the phone and, with a huge grin, began to read the message. Eight seconds later, his grin fell. “WHAT?”

“What?” Fabio and Giorgino parroted.

“You got the wrong girl!” He accused, pointing at Sen. “Lady Sasori informs me that the chosen one is not that girl! She says that the chosen one is safely in her own possession!”

“WHAT?!” Sen and Hao both exclaimed, their eyes wide. Sen was at once relieved, astounded, somewhat jealous, and afraid. Relieved because the pressure to do things she wasn’t capable of was gone, astounded because, well, who wouldn’t be? She was jealous of this other girl, whoever she was, because she’d taken the light off of her, whether she’d wanted it or not, and afraid because… Well, did they still need her now? What would happen if they didn’t? Would they drop her back off in Cheshire and forget she had ever existed? Would they keep her around like a pet, saying things like, “I can’t believe we thought that plain girl was the chosen one! Haha!” behind her back? Or was Sasori bluffing? It didn’t seem likely, if she was truly the chosen one, Sasori wouldn’t risk her like that. Or was that what she wanted Belthazar to think? Wanted Sen to think?

“But what do you do with her, then?” Giorgino asked, scratching his head in confusion. “We can’t just take her back, the kappa’s son will attack us!”

“You wouldn’t have had this problem if you hadn’t kidnapped us in the first place.” Hao not-so-kindly reminded them. Belthazar threw one of his shoes at him. Hao squeaked and ducked.

Sen’s patience hadn’t been up to par all day – This wasn’t helping. She threw the thrown shoe back at Belthazar, who also ducked, even though her aim was way off. “Since you no longer need us,” She growled. “We will be on our way, thank you!” She grabbed Hao’s hand and began to drag him with her outside, nevermind that they’d both have to walk or that they didn’t even know where they were, or that there were armed men right behind them. They didn’t come after her, though. She wasn’t the chosen one. She wasn’t important anymore.

“The nerve!” Sen started ranting, even when they weren’t yet out of hearing distance of their captors. She was too riled up to care, and felt simultaneously important since she had actually gotten kidnapped and insignificant since she wasn’t the one they were supposed to have kidnapped in the first place. She still couldn’t fully believe that. All that time, hearing ‘chosen one’ this and that and going through all those different things with all the new people she’d met and being told and keeping most of all those secrets… She stopped and turned around abruptly, crying onto Hao’s chest.

Hao exhaled, knowing full well what she was crying over. “He’s not going to leave you.” He told her softly, though, underneath, his tone was almost as lost as she herself felt. “…And I’m not going to, either.”

“Why wouldn’t he?” She asked thickly, phlegm getting stuck in her throat. “And wouldn’t you?”

He forced her chin up, curling an arm around her waist. It felt good, but Sen couldn’t help but be nervous from it. It was quite an intimate position, after all – Though, the intimacy wasn’t the problem. The fact that she shouldn’t be doing it was. “You think too little of promises, Sen.” She took notice of how he left off the ‘-chan’ he normally tacked on to her name. “Sebastian is your boyfriend. That’s not something he takes lightly. In fact, he told me,” He stressed this, reminding her that he was his best friend. “That he’s afraid you’ll leave him if he acted too possessive – He’s been trying to give you plenty of space, when, really…” He smiled apologetically, as if Sebastian could hear, “He wants to hold you all the time.”

“He said that?” Sen breathed. Hao nodded. He hadn’t actually said that, but Hao had long since learned how to interpret Sebastian’s emotional mule-brayings.

“And I…” He went on, addressing her other fear. “I hold no title with you other than friend… But to me, that is enough.”

Sen noticed a lot of things when people spoke – How they looked, their expressions, their tones and body language. She could often instinctively tell if they were lying, even if she couldn’t prove it. But she never could find the words to bring them up. They often went ignored. This was the first time she ever remembered finding the words and the courage, even the outright gall, to utter those words. “No it isn’t.”

Hao stared for a moment, shocked. Then he closed his eyes in grief, letting her go, even pushing her gently back, and turning his head from her. “…I love him too much… I couldn’t… Not to Sebastian.”

“But you love me.” She pressed, just as surprised by her own words as he was.

He nodded grievously. “I love you.” He affirmed, adding, “I’m in love with you.”

“…” Sen wanted to say something to that. But she couldn’t. The heart was sometimes quicker than the brain, and the brain was sometimes quicker than the heart. But in this moment, Sen’s brain and heart worked together in perfect harmony, telling her something. Something simultaneous joyful and terrifying. “I love you, too.”

She was in love with him as well.

“But I love Sebastian,” She added in a hurry. “I love him, I would never do anything to hurt him…” She looked to him, and once again a realization hit her. Hao had been very vague when saying who he liked. Including how many he liked. “You love Sebastian, too.” Well, that was a given, but… “You’re in love with him, too.”

“Yes. I am.” He was quiet, ashamed.

Sebastian loved her. She loved Sebastian. She loved Hao. Hao loved her. Hao loved Sebastian.

There was only one link missing from that potential chain.

“…You can’t lie to him.” Hao told her, a fact and not a command. “You couldn’t lie to keep this from him. Even if it hurt him. Could you?”

She shook her head, not offended. It was true. She could not. “No.” She answered him. “And I won’t. We have to tell him this. We have to know what he feels.”

He nodded slowly. “…I couldn’t either.” His voice sounded muffled, as if there was cotton in his throat. He cleared it and continued, “I’ve loved him so long. Long before you came along. I,” He coughed to clear his throat again, “I resented you at first. I felt like you had taken my chance with him away. I planned to do something bad to you, all the while acting like your friend. But I couldn’t. When the explosion in the kitchen went off, and when I protected you instead of leaving you like I could have, I understood. That’s when I knew that you were going to be as easy to hurt as a puppy.”

Cute but dumb, Sen understood. “And before then… Everything before then…” She was hurt despite knowing it was a past long gone.

“Before then,” He forced out, “I was sure I hated you. If I’d had the time to brood, I would have been quite sick finding out the truth. But when it was all over and done with, Brighid’s attack that is, you and Sebastian…” He smiled mirthlessly. “We were all so normal, the three of us. I felt like there could be a ‘three of us’…” He looked up at her finally. “You’re an odd sort of girl, Sen. Once you’ve wormed yourself into someone’s heart, they’ll never be able to get you out again.”

Sen blinked. Terrible though her memory was, she could suddenly distinctly remembered thinking the exact thing about Hao at some point in time. “…You want us… To be…” She couldn’t even say it, it sounded so odd.

“A triad?” He offered. She had been thinking ‘threesome’, but that definitely sounded better.

“That’s what you want?” She asked again.

“What do you want?” He returned. He didn’t really know himself.

Two boyfriends. Part of a three. She’d been part of a platonic triad with her sisters for as long as she could remember… It would make sense, psychologically, replacing each sister with a member of the opposite sex. But there was so much more to it than that. Who knew if Sebastian was even bisexual? She’d obviously never thought to ask. And how could she now that this seemed to be an issue? She didn’t want to hurt Sebastian. But Hao couldn’t be overlooked, either. But… No. This was immature. There was no way this could work – It’d be a fairy tale if it did!

This whole situation is like a fairy tale. She reminded herself. I can’t expect that to continue. She countered.

“…I’m sorry, Hao.” She said finally, changing her mind to contradict her earlier words. “It… It wouldn’t work. And we can’t risk it.” Hypocritical words coming from her. Kissing Sebastian the night he’d saved her was a huge risk, and she’d come through. Then again, statistically, she’d had a ninety percent advantage over Hao because she was a girl. But, she reminded herself, you don’t even know his sexual preferences. And besides that, if he even likes Hao romantically. Would he be insulted or disgusted that if you even bring it up? No, not disgusted, not when his very own brother is…

Hao seemed to be thinking the same things. He nodded solemnly and understandingly. “Yes. I know. I’ve been telling myself that for several years now.”

Sen covered her mouth with her hand in shock. “Y-Years?”

“Four.” He specified.

He really was in love with him. If Sen could be in love with him after a few months… Good god. “All that time… Have, have you tried—”

“Falling in love with someone else?” He finished for her, as if he was now the one that could read her mind. “I have. More than once – Racheal, Becky and Natasha.” He sighed weightily. “It didn’t work. And I just hurt those girls in the process. That’s why I can’t let Nanami get too close to me. I know she’s just trying to forget about someone else, too.”

So that’s why…

“Hao…”

“Don’t worry,” He interrupted, smiling falsely. “I won’t try and come between you two. I want you both to be happy. I shouldn’t have said anything at all, it’s just, I’ve kept it in so long, I just—”

“Hao,” She repeated, interrupting his ramble. “I don’t want you to hurt, either.” She swallowed at the thickness in her throat. “I just don’t know what to… What to do…” She felt lost and helpless. She couldn’t tell him to find someone else – How could she? How dare she if she could? He’d been in love with him so much longer than she. And how could she say that to someone she loved anyhow?

“It’s alright.” He insisted, his voice soothing. Sen didn’t want to leave it at that, but a voice, a familiar one, suddenly rang in her mind.

Sen! Sen, are you alright? Where are you? Are you hurt?

“Sebastian!” She gasped, feeling very ashamed. She considered telling him about Sasori’s new Chosen One, but was feeling too fatigued to explain. She’d tell him in person. I-I’m okay! It… Sebastian, just come get me… I’m not being held captive anymore… I’m, um… She walked out into the street, the gravel and rough, uneven concrete hurting her bare feet, and looked down to the traffic lights where the street name hung. Apple Avenue. I’m on Apple Avenue.

Apple, I know where that is, I’ll be there right away – You sure you’re not hurt?

Positive. Hao—She coughed in some embarrassment. Hao made sure of it.

Oh, god bless him! I feel like a complete ass now, I wasn’t sure if I could trust him to keep you safe… I should have trusted my best friend more than that.

Ouch. Talk about a kick to the emotional groin. Sen didn’t reply to that.

Sen… He continued after a moment. She looked up, as if he were right in front of her talking. I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. She was about to protest to that, but then he said something that would steal all further words from her and leave only guilt.

I love you.