Kaiseress is out with her first one-shot and damn is it angsty. What possessed me to write angst, I wonder.

Run Away Again

Zane Truesdale's gray eyes stared blankly out the window. Raindrops slid down the windowpane, so reminiscent of what always caused this depression.

"Stay away from me!" Syrus screamed, his large eyes wide in terror and with a sheen of tears. He ran again, away from the brother who had hurt him so many times.

He's such a child, Zane thought. Then again, I can understand. This is no fault of his; the blame rests entirely with me. Those raindrops…so reminiscent of his brother's tears, his suffering, his fear. Everything that Zane knew he had caused. This is my fault; every bit if it. There's no point blaming Aster or Shroud or even the Underground. It was my choice. It's my fault and mine alone that my brother's gone insane. Of course, really I'm just as crazy as he is, if not worse.

Who am I kidding? I'm crazier than any of them. Who would have thought? Calm, collected Zane Truesdale is the one who finally just lost it. Zane turned away, ready now for what he knew was the only choice he had left.

Everyone knew that Syrus would snap, that the weight of the universe would break Jaden eventually. But it was the one they looked to for reassurance, the once-unbreakable pillar of strength, their Kaiser, who had fallen first, broken. So what if he no longer personified death, destruction, hell, hate, and inflicted it on them as he had? So what if he no longer even dueled? Even trusting, cheerful Jaden's eyes narrowed in hate now.

Zane could never again return to his old life; that much even his confused, hazy mind could understand. And if he could never return to that life, that was no point to this one.

A sad smile graced perfect lips; elegant features became once again as innocent as a child's, not twisted in pain, hatred, rage. For one timeless moment, Zane Truesdale resurfaced.

And the reality hit him far too hard to take. It was over. They would never trust him again, no matter what he did, and though he didn't blame them, it was beyond pain to know that he was shut off forever from the ones he had called his friends. He had attacked his little brother without mercy, and nearly killed him; him and so many others before and after. That was why they feared him, hated him, shunned him.

There was nothing he could do but end it. To start running and never stop. He could never truly escape it, but he might, just maybe, be able to stay just a leap ahead.

End

Okay, that was easily the most angst-ridden thing I've ever even thought about writing. Still, review please. Just don't ask why I wrote it.