FINALLY! I had such trouble writing this. I don't know why, I just had a huge writer's block for this chapter...as well as getting distracted whenever I started writing. ^_^; This is unedited, so I'll probably go back and fix the errors. Don't be shy to tell me where those errors are because it's easy for me to skip over them on accident. Well, hope you enjoy it for those who have been reading. Enjoy! :)

IMPORTANT NOTE: For those who have been following this fic since I first posted it, I would recommend going back to read the whole fic over again because I made some MAJOR changes. Just a heads up.

Reminder: This is still a flashback, just to remind everyone of that.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters whatsoever

Chapter 4: Looking for the Answer

"Hey! Hey! Rita! Riiiiiiitaaaaaa!" a red-headed boy with equally red eyes said as he ran up to a girl with short brown hair and a red hair band.

"What?" Rita replied, glancing up with disinterest from the book she was reading with annoyance evident in her tone.

"Did you see Sync?" Mao asked while excitedly waving his arms.

Rita narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, so? What about him?"

"He's not wearing his sunglasses! This is the first time he's ever taken them off! Everyone always wondered what he looked like without them!" Mao exclaimed as Rita just rolled her eyes.

"But the most shocking part about it is that he looks like Ion!"

Rita scoffed before returning to her reading. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

Mao lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if they're related…"

The brown-haired girl let out an annoyed sigh before snapping her book closed and standing up. "It's not any of my business."

With that, the brown-haired girl walked away, leaving behind a confused Mao.

Everywhere Sync went, he could feel everyone's stares fall on him. He knew this would happen if he ever came to school without his sunglasses.

Whenever he would feel someone staring at him, he would glare over at them, causing them to immediately look away and continue chatting nervously with each other.

However, as soon as he walked away they would look over and start talking about him again.

A mad-mark appeared over Sync's head as the unwanted attention was starting to aggravate him.

The door to the student council room abruptly opened, only to have it slam rather loudly afterwards.

Ion and everyone else in the room look over to see a rather frustrated Sync standing in the middle of the room.

"Sync?" Ion said in slight disbelief. "This is a surprise. You usually steer clear of me at school."

The rest of the middle school student body started whispering amongst each other after noticing some distinct similarities between Sync and Ion. Sync shot them a warning glare, causing them to jump before continuing their work.

The spiky-haired boy ran a hand through his hair in annoyance before turning his glare back on Ion.

"This is all your fault! Everywhere I go, everyone starts talking about how we look alike. I can't take it anymore!" Sync shouted.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Sync winced upon hearing the voice before glancing over to see a boy with short blue hair and glasses walk over to the two of them. As he made his way towards them, Sync narrowed his eyes, casting a dark glare over at the young man though he didn't seem at all affected.

"We are in the middle of important business and you're disrupting-" the blue-haired male started while pushing his glasses higher up onto the bridge of his nose before a mad-mark appeared over Sync's head.

"Stay out of this, four-eyes! This is none of your damn business!" Sync shouted while pointing accusingly at the older boy. "This is between me and him, no one else!"

The boy visibly flinched before regaining his composure while gritting his teeth in frustration.

"You would dare say that to-"

"Enough you two. You can settle this afterwards." Ion said in a commanding voice while standing to gain their attention.

Sync and the older boy paused momentarily before giving the other one final glare.

"Hah, like that's ever going to happen." Sync scoffed before the older boy grunted in annoyance and walked back to his post.

Ion let out a weary sigh before he sat back down and rested his chin against his knuckles. "Anyways, what exactly do you want me to do about this little situation of yours? Erase everyone's memories?"

Sync gritted his teeth in great irritation before looking away. As much as he wanted to pin the entire blame on Ion, he just couldn't considering it was mostly his fault anyways. He let his guard down, allowing his sunglasses to be knocked off his face so easily. There was also the fact that he came to school without thinking about any way to conceal his identity.

When he had tried to fix his sunglasses, he had accidentally poked the broken lens out. He attempted to put it back in but ended up shattering it in the process. Sync had to use nearly all of his willpower to keep himself from throwing the remaining pieces of his sunglasses out the window.

"Look, there's nothing we can do about it now. People were bound to find out eventually. You just have to accept it." Ion said calmly as he watched his brother brim with rage.

Sync rolled his fists into tight balls as they trembled slightly at his side.

Although he absolutely loathed the idea of accepting Ion's words, deep down, he knew he was right.

Forcing himself to swallow his pride, Sync stiffly stomped out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind him. The force rattled the stack of papers on Ion's desk and caused a couple books to fall of the shelf of a bookcase.

Ion winced slightly before letting out an exasperated sigh at his brother's behavior as he rubbed his temples.

"Are the two of you going to be all right? It's not good for siblings to stay mad at each other," a girl with long blond hair and crystal, blue eyes asked in concern.

Ion gave her a weary smile before running a hand through his neatly brushed hair causing everyone in the room to glance at each other uneasily.

With everyone's attention focused on him, Sync couldn't find any opportunities to disappear or go off somewhere alone. The boy internally groaned as his mouth twitched in annoyance.

He could hardly concentrate on the lectures due to everyone's staring holes into him. Even some of the teachers would stare at him in surprise, astonished how they never knew.

Sync felt like as if the day had gone on forever and had bolted out of the door once the bell rang for class to end. It had been a living nightmare as he found himself the talk of the academy.

Being left alone was normal for Sync, as if he was invisible to everyone around him. But with everyone's gazes falling on him twenty-four seven made him feel quite uncomfortable.

He trudged down the path into town, eventually leading him to the abandoned mansion he likes to hide out at.

Ever since he was kicked out of his parents' house, he had been living in a run down-old apartment complex. It was better than living on the streets, but Sync hated staying there. He never considered that rat-infested place as his home and only went there to sleep and sometimes cook.

His parents paid for his rent and gave him some money for food, but hardly enough to for a substantial meal. Most days he would save the money his parents sent to him, making him have to skip a couple meals a day. There were times where he felt faint after training and nearly passed out from using too much energy. Some of the teachers would question him on his health, but were always ignored. Sync didn't need anyone worrying over him as he felt he was doing fine on his own.

He often bought fruits and vegetables, since they were the cheapest foods to buy. When he saved enough, he would treat himself and buy bread or pasta since meat was always rather pricey. If he could get a job he would, but he was still too young to apply for a regular paid job much to his frustration.

Though he was somehow allowed to live on his own, he can't find a job due to his age. Sync found the information rather ironic but decided to let it go.

"Ugh…" Sync groaned as he rubbed his temples.

His stress level had been at its peak since his little dispute with Ion earlier, giving him a massive headache by the end of the day.

Sync was surprised how long he was able to suppress his anger and frustration. Usually he'd get into a fight or end up breaking something by now.

However, he decided to keep it bottled up so he wouldn't get into any more trouble from skipping an entire week of school without a word. But the stress took its toll and resulted in a great throbbing in his head. It wasn't a migraine, but he could tell that one was on the way.

Sync groaned once more in annoyance and pain before resting his forehead against a nearby lamppost, ignoring the questionable stares of several people who happened to walk by.

The pain was starting to become unbearable as Sync struggled to remain conscious. Everything around him started to turn blurry and his breathing became uneven. He swore under his breath as he broke out into cold sweat.

"Sync…?"

Sync slowly opened his eyes and glanced over to see Arietta looking at him with a concerned expression.

It had been three days since they last saw each other at his secret hideaway. Initially he though it would be a little awkward to see her after a rather dramatic exchange of emotions. However, his head hurt way too much for him to really care.

"Are you okay?" Arietta asked timidly, taking a couple steps closer to him.

Sync let out weary sigh before moving his head away from the post and rubbing his temples.

"I just have a headache, that's all. Nothing you need to worry about," Sync groaned as he motioned for her to leave him alone.

However, Arietta didn't understand the notion and continued towards him. She hesitantly reached up and gently placed a hand over Sync's forehead.

The green-haired boy immediately jerked away from the sudden contact with a bewildered expression. "What are you doing?!"

Arietta quickly pulled her hand back, blushing slightly at the realization of her rather bold action.

"I-I was just making sure you didn't have a fever…" Arietta said shyly while looking to the side to avoid Sync's gaze.

Sync lifted an eyebrow, giving the timid girl a questionable look. She was extremely confusing to him and he just couldn't quite figure her out.

He didn't even know why he came to school in the first place, especially since he didn't have anything to hide his face with. He considered taking a piece of cardboard that was in the recycling and making a mask out of it. However, on second thought, Sync didn't want to look ridiculous* and would probably attract more attention that way.

Education never meant much to him since he accepted the fact that he would never be able to outdo Ion in that aspect. He also wasn't too fond of the idea of "four-eyes" scolding him for skipping out on a week's lesson plan.

So why did he come?

Before he could come up with an answer, his stomach suddenly let out a rather loud growl.

Arietta couldn't help but giggle at Sync's expense as the boy turned red from embarrassment.

"Sounds like you skipped lunch again," Arietta said. "You should really take better care of yourself."

Sync grunted in annoyance before turning his back to her, trying to hide the massive blush on his face.

When he took a step, he suddenly felt disoriented and stumbled slightly. He quickly leaned back a little and brought a hand to his head to try and steady himself.

However, the pounding in his head returned with a tremendous rush of pain, causing a curse to escape the green-haired boy's mouth.

"Sync?" Arietta said as she slowly walked closer to him.

Sync gradually sank to his knees as he clutched his head tighter. Everything felt like pure agony and there was nothing he could do to stop it as his migraine came into full effect.

"Sync! Sync speak to me! What's wrong?" Arietta cried as the boy in front of her writhed with pain, clutching his head as if it was going to split apart.

A bead of sweat slipped down the side of Sync's face as he struggled to keep everything together. But the pain was immense and he wasn't sure how long he would be able to hold out.

"What's going on out here?"

Arietta whirled around to see a woman with short, silver hair and blue eyes. Though she didn't know her well, Arietta recognized her as one of the teachers from the high school section.

"Sync's in pain! Please help him!" Arietta cried.

The woman's eyes widened in alarm before quickly coming to the two students' sides. "Sync, talk to me. Where does it hurt?"

"Ngh…!" Sync muttered through gritted teeth as his whole body started trembling.

"It looks like a migraine…" She turned to Arietta. "I will try my best to help him. But migraines are powerful things so I might only be able to soothe a little of the pain."

Arietta nodded. "Please, anything to help."

After a few hours, Sync finally woke up, having fallen asleep after taking some medicine.

"Ah, good, you're awake," the silver-haired woman said as she came over and sat down on a chair that was sitting next to the bed.

"…Who are you?" Sync muttered.

"I am Professor Sage. I teach history and healing artes in the high school section of the academy." The woman introduced herself.

Sync had heard of her. She was known as the youngest teacher working at the academy, along with being the strictest.

"Where am I?" Sync asked sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck.

"You passed out from a migraine. You've been asleep for about four hours," Professor Sage explained.

Sync cursed under his breath before the woman lightly hit him over the head with her clipboard. "Watch your language."

"Peh," Sync grumbled while rubbing his head.

He glanced over to the side to see an empty chair next to the bed. His eyes narrowed before looking down at his lap, feeling somewhat disappointed, much to his confusion.

"So she left, huh?"

"Well, actually-"

Before she could finish, the door to the nurse' office opened and Arietta rushed in with a tray of food.

Sync stared at her in disbelief as Arietta's pink eyes lit up upon seeing him awake.

"Sync! You're awake!"

"Uh, yeah," Sync said, his usual poker face coming back. "I thought you left."

"I did for a little, but that was because I went to go pick something up for you," Arietta said as she walked over and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

She placed the tray onto Sync's lap, which had a bottle of milk and a ramen bowl sitting nicely on the tray.

Sync eyed the food in front of him with a confused expression before glancing over at Arietta questionably.

"What's this for?"

"Professor Sage said that it would be best that you eat something considering you hardly eat anything." Arietta said as Sync merely grunted.

"It's true. You need to keep your strength up and I hardly believe that your eating patterns are considered healthy," Professor Sage inquired as she glanced at the tray of food. "Though I don't think ramen is the most healthy choice of food for a migraine."

Arietta blushed in embarrassment before looking down at her lap. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I really didn't know what to get so I just went down to a local grocery outlet."

"It's fine for now, as long as he gets something in his stomach. However, I will have to recommend that you eat more fruits and vegetables with low citrus content and also try and avoid processed foods," Professor Sage explained. "And do make sure you eat at least three meals a day."

Sync narrowed his eyes at the food tray before him and pushed it away from him. "I'm not hungry."

Arietta looked at him skeptically before removing the lid to the ramen bowl, filling the room with the oriental smell of noodles.

A rather loud growl sounded from Sync's stomach as he stared down at the large bowl of steaming hot ramen.

"Not hungry, hmm?" Professor Sage chuckled as Sync blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Although he was hungry, he couldn't bring himself to accept this food. Not only did he feel a little awkward, as he never really ate in front of people, but he also felt uneasy about paying someone back.

He always did things on his own accord without the help from anyone else. No one had ever done something like this for him before. However, if he said he didn't appreciate it, he would be lying.

Arietta tilted her head to the side, confused as to why Sync was only staring at his food. "It's going to get cold if you don't eat it soon. Or do you not like ramen?"

"…N-No, that's not it…It's just…" Sync stammered before his stomach let out another cry for food.

He glanced uneasily from Arietta to the food.

Noticing his discomfort, Professor Sage stood from her seat and walked over to the door.

"I'll be right back. I have some paperwork that I haven't filed yet," the silver-haired woman said over her shoulder. "Make sure he eats while I am out."

Arietta stared at the woman in surprise before quickly nodding.

Professor Sage smiled softly before stepping out of the room, leaving the two to have their space.

Though it was only the two of them, Sync still felt uncomfortable. He had never eaten with anyone, more so because no one ever invited him. What made it more awkward was that Arietta was just watching him. Isn't there anything else she could be doing?

"What's wrong? Do you not like ramen?" Arietta asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"…Could you not stare at me like that? It's making me uncomfortable." Sync said as he glanced at her with an annoyed expression.

Arietta's face immediately lit up from a massive blush spreading across her face before looking off to the side.

"O-Oh…sorry." The pink-haired girl muttered.

A pang of guilt slightly tapped against Sync's chest. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, not that he cared, but he didn't like people watching what he was doing. If he were to make a mistake, everyone would surely notice.

He glanced over at Arietta from the corner of his eye, seeing that she was now placing her attention on the floor. At that moment, his stomach let out another loud growl and he quickly placed his hand over it in a vane attempt to soothe it. If he didn't get a bite to eat soon, he would surely pass out again.

Finally, pushing his insecurities aside for the moment, Sync hesitantly picked up the chopsticks that were placed beside the bowl.

Swallowing a rather large lump in his throat, he slowly brought the first bite into his mouth. Upon contact with his tongue, a combination of warmth and flavor overtook his senses. The experience was both intriguing and surprising. After a few more bites, Sync began to enjoy his meal and allowed himself to relax despite Arietta being in the room with him.

Arietta turned back and looked at Sync in surprise, seeing a rather child-like awe and a soft glimmer in his eyes.

It almost seemed as if he was eating dare she think happy. In all the time that she had known him, Arietta had never seen Sync look so peaceful before. Even when he was relaxing on the field, he always looked bothered and grumpy. She couldn't help but think that it was a little cute, though Sync would probably murder her if she ever told him.

He had started eating his ramen slow, but once he had gotten comfortable, he had devoured the whole bowl in mere minutes as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Sync pushed the tray away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before patting his rather satisfied stomach.

Arietta couldn't help but let out a small giggle, earning her an annoyed glare from the green-haired boy.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that…" Arietta giggled again as Sync raised an eyebrow at her. "You seem to be enjoying yourself. It's different from the way you usually act towards things."

Sync stubbornly looked away before unscrewing the top to the milk bottle. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

After taking a few swigs, Sync let out a content sigh. "I just haven't had anything this filling in a while, okay?"

"I can tell," Arietta said as Sync shot her another glare.

The two sat in an awkward silence, neither one knowing what to say next.

Arietta nervously wrung her hands together, unable to come up with a topic of conversation.

After a while, Sync broke the silence by letting out a grunt. "Hn…thanks."

His last comment caught Arietta off guard as she widened her eyes and stared at him in shock. She could have sworn that her ears were playing tricks on her. However, the expression on his face told her otherwise.

"I don't have that much money right now, so I won't be able to pay you back for a while. So…" Sync muttered with a scowl despite a small blush tinting his cheeks.

He glanced over to look at her, seeing her still shocked expression. "What's with the look?"

Snapping out of her stupor, Arietta quickly shook her head. "N-No, it's just…I never expected you to thank me is all."

"…"

"Anyways, don't worry about paying me back. It's my treat." Arietta said with a small, shy smile.

Sync scratched his cheek sheepishly with an agitated expression. However, he did not object.

He peeled the blanket off of him and swung his legs off the edge of the bed.

As he stood to leave, Arietta abruptly got out of her chair and rushed over to him.

"Wait! I don't think you should be up yet!"

"I'm fine." Sync said as he tried to push past the pink-haired girl, despite her protests.

The two ended up wrestling with one another as Arietta tried to get him to lie back down.

"What the hell are you doing?! Cut it out!" Sync cried as he desperately tried to pry Arietta off of him after she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"You have to rest!" Arietta insisted as Sync's eye twitched in annoyance.

It was obvious that Sync wasn't at full strength considering how his attempts were more desperate and lacked as much force than usual. She should know considering he had pinned her to a wall with little difficulty a few weeks after she had transferred.

His leg suddenly jerked backwards, tangling itself with Arietta's. When he attempted to kick forward, his leg got caught and sent the two stumbling backwards.

Arietta let out a squeak of surprise as Sync quickly whirled around. The two tumbled onto the floor in a flurry of movement and a loud thud.

"Ow…" Arietta moaned as she felt the back of her head throb after hitting the tile floor.

She heard Sync curse above her before she glanced up at him and felt her face immediately turn beat red.

Sync was currently hovering over her, on his hands and knees. Her head were between where his hands were planted on the tile floor with his face mere inches from her face.

The green-haired boy's were slightly widened in shock as the two stared at each other.

From such a close distance, Arietta could make out almost every detail on his face. Though it was tempting to compare his facial features to Ion, she noticed several differences. His eyes and cheekbones were somehow sharper than Ion's, who was more rounded.

After a moment of awkward silence, Sync broke it by attempting to speak.

"Erm, are you-"

However, before he could finish, the door to the infirmary opened.

"I'm back," Professor Sage announced as she entered the room. "How is Sync do-"

She stopped abruptly when she spotted the two on the floor in a suggestive position.

The room fell deathly silent. If someone were to drop a pin in the room, everyone would be able to hear it.

Arietta could feel her face heat up more and more from embarrassment with each passing second.

"T-This isn't what it-!" Arietta was cut off when Professor Sage's expression darkened.

She quickly strode over to the two of them and grabbed Sync by the back of the collar. With incredible strength, she yanked the unsuspecting green-haired boy off of Arietta, flinging him across the room.

"GAH!" Sync cried before landing hard on his back. "What the hell are you – urk!"

Sync instantly froze upon seeing the murderous look in the teacher's gaze.

"What do you think you're doing?" Professor Sage asked darkly, causing Sync to flinch. "I will not tolerate such unsightly behavior at this school!"

Arietta could only watch in utter bewilderment as the professor started beating the living daylights out of Sync by casting several light attributed spells.

"W-Wait professor! It was an accident! We weren't-! Sync's still recovering!"

To be continued...if Sync is still alive that is XD

Phew, so glad I was able to finish this chapter. Hope it wasn't too bad. Yes, lots of crossover Tales characters for fun. :) Don't expect the next chapter soon since this new school year is going to be crazy for me. Hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave a review! ^_^

Can you name all the crossover characters in this chapter?