"Now it's your turn to imagine!" Aichi whispered menacingly. His eyes sparkled as psyqualia surged through them, releasing it's power. "Imagine, Kai-kun! You falling victim to the power you helped create."

Kai struggled to breathe as he fell to his knees in defeat. At first he thought the pain he felt in his chest was just the motion figure system at work, but he quickly put that thought aside. The subtle agony he felt wasn't the system. It was too familiar for it to be that. It was the feelings he kept bottled inside, he finally realized; his feelings for Aichi. He clutched at his jacket, above his heart, where the pain was most concentrated. After a moment, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. As expected, he was met with the calm surface of Cray.

"Aichi..."

He looked around the planet, and sure enough, not far from him stood his blue-haired adversary.

No...

His friend.

Only...it wasn't.

Aichi chuckled to himself. For what reason, Kai could only guess.

It honestly scared him to see Aichi like that; his wicked smile reminded Kai of Ren; and in that black suit of armor; It sent chills up his spine as Aichi began moving toward him, wielding Blaster Dark's sword so easily.

"Eheheheh...do you understand now?" Aichi asked the spirit before him. A thin smile graced his lips as he stopped in front of Kai and pierced his blade into the ground with a sharp clink.

Kai didn't bother responding. He felt sick to his stomach. Everything he had done was in preparation for this very moment. And it had all been for nothing. He was out of options. I should have just left it alone, he told himself. It was inevitable that Aichi would become like Ren. No matter how much it hurt him to finally admit that, Kai couldn't deny a feeling of relief. At least he would finally be able to leave Aichi for good after this without feeling like he hadn't tried.

That's right, Kai thought to himself. I couldn't save Ren.I can't save anyone.

Once again, Kai felt despair welling up inside him. It was over. He couldn't save Aichi. He couldn't correct his mistake. Just like with Ren. He should have known there was nothing he could do about it.

But then, whenever he thought he was at his breaking point, Kai would think of Aichi's first fight with him. How much the boy had admired Kai. How precious Blaster Blade was to him. A single bit of proof that not everything he had done had been in vain.

And then Kai remembered. Aichi was different than Ren. He had an inner strength that Ren just did not possess. Ren was even weaker than Aichi. Which was why he had given in to psyqualia so willingly.

Aichi's dark voice forced Kai back to the reality at hand.

"I'm strong, aren't I?" Aichi smiled maniacally at his own question. As if he didn't really expect an answer.

"No..." Kai let the word slip. He didn't want to play this game anymore. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut and let their fight end? He'd already lost. All that was left now was the final blow.

"Tell me!" Aichi demanded. "Tell me I'm strong! Kai-kun!"

"No...Aichi. You're not strong. This isn't you." Kai spoke softly without looking up.

Aichi's eyes became furious at Kai's words.

He quickly reached out, grabbing Kai by the collar and lifting him off of the ground.

Kai winced in pain, but didn't try at all to fight back. He deserved whatever was about to happen to him. He could never forgive himself for letting Aichi get like this.

"Why?" Aichi screamed defensively. "Why don't you ever acknowledge me?" He sounded like he was about to break into tears. "Will I ever be good enough for you?"

Kai impulsively shivered at Aichi's comment and swallowed hard, wondering what he should do. What he should say. He didn't know what Aichi needed to hear.

"I..." Kai tried to speak. Once again, his mind was flooded with memories. A kind smile; those turquoise eyes gleaming with admiration-or something more; a young boy looking down at his Royal Paladin deck with pride and thankfulness. For a moment, he saw them again as kids near the park, the moment they first met.

"I tried," Kai admitted, closing his eyes in immense guilt. "I...I didn't mean for this to happen to you, Aichi. You must hate me for leaving you." He paused, making a promise to himself. "But I'm here now. And I'm not running away anymore."

Aichi gasped as if Kai's words had broken through some sort of mental barrier.

"I tried, but I couldn't stay," Kai continued. "I couldn't face what I had done to you. It was too painful going through that again, like I had with Ren. I knew encouraging you would only make it worse. That's why I did my best to stay away from you."

Aichi's eyes flickered for a moment.

"No! You're lying!" Aichi looked unsure of himself. "You never cared! But I'll...I'll make you care!"

Kai gasped suddenly as Aichi's hands were around his throat. This couldn't go on for much longer. He was running out of time.

"A-Ack..." Kai choked on his words, fighting as hard as he could through the pain.

"Ai...chi..." Kai swallowed hard and fought to keep talking. "I was...always...watching you..."

Aichi's expression didn't change as he listened to Kai. He looked crazed.

"Aichi...think back! Remember when I gave you Blaster Blade? The Aichi I know...would never do this..."

Aichi looked distant all of a sudden. As if psyqualia had placed a self-defense mechanism on his mind.

"The image of you I have in my head," Kai added,"...like the image you had of me when we first fought...it's real!"

"It's okay, Kai-kun." Aichi spoke as if he were tired. "Don't worry about what I said back then. I was weak. But you'll notice me now. You'll stay with me now. We'll both stay here." He smiled crookedly. "We'll be together forever. And I'll show you how strong I am."

"Aichi...this...isn't you." Kai pleaded. "When you imagine yourself, what do you really see?"

Kai looked on at Aichi as his eyes shifted colors, like all those times before when he had noticed. But this time, they flickered violently as if something were blocking the psyqualia from taking hold.

He noticed Aichi's breathing suddenly turning rapid as he screamed in pain. But this time-the voice...

"Ka...Kai- kun..."

Kai gasped as he saw hollowed eyes looking back at him, filling with tears.

Aichi dropped Kai as he fell to his knees.

Blaster Dark was vanishing.

"Kai-kun...I...I-!" Aichi sounded terrified, trembling as if he'd just been awakened from a horrible nightmare. He gasped rapidly, trying to breathe. His eyes were still hollowed out as Kai quickly got to his side and embraced him.

"Aichi!" Kai didn't know how, but Aichi. The real Aichi, was back. He only hoped it was permanent.

Around them, Cray started to vanish until finally they were alone in the underground fighting area.

"I'm sorry, Aichi." Kai spoke sincerely. He still hadn't let go of the boy, afraid that if he did, he would lose him again.

Aichi's eyes returned to normal in Kai's arms. But he was still shaking, trying to make sense of everything he had experienced the last several months. He still wasn't sure where he was or what he had done or where he had been. But Kai was here with him now. This he knew for sure. It wasn't another dream where he was losing him.

It brought more tears to his eyes as he dug his fingers into the folds of Kai's jacket and thought of how deeply he'd missed the older boy. How much he had needed him to find him all this time. To show him where to go. He buried his crying eyes into Kai's shoulder and held nothing back.

Kai let the boy cry and was finally able to let go of his pain and release some tears of his own.

"It's alright, Aichi." He whispered. "I'm not going anywhere this time."