Chapter Text
“Love Breathing, Second Form: Love Pangs!”
“Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!”
“Flame Breathing, Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!”
Neige sliced cleanly through a demon’s body, landing on solid ground as the remaining chunks turned into ash mid-air. Sebek charged forward, tearing through a line of demons with a simple motion. Ace maneuvered through his own horde, moving like a silent predator as he cut off heads and heard them fall to the ground with thuds before disintegrating. “Thank you very much, Trappola-sama!” a young slayer thanked him, eyes wide with both fear and gratitude.
“Don’t thank me yet, not until we're out of here! Keep your breathing constant and don’t hesitate!” Ace ordered as he stepped back, watching the rest of the slayers fight against the demons. There weren’t too many, and the shadows had stopped moving. They could leave the group alone for now. He gave his fellow mages a nod before he started running down the hall.
“Keep it up! Don’t die here, you hear?! Fight until the end! This is the last fight!” Sebek called to them, following after the redhead. Neige did the same.
“YES!”
“No matter where we go or what direction we take, it looks the same regardless! It’s like this place is endless!” Neige said, looking around.
“I know. And the worst part is that we got separated from Leona-sama, Sunako and Nagisa when we fell.” Sebek huffed, gritting his teeth “This has to be some sort of Blood Demon Art, no other explanation makes any sense to me.”
“Especially because, if this were the work of a mage, then the blot would have been too much for them to bear! They would have overblotted already!” Neige nodded “Just what kind of Blood Demon Art could create this?!”
“One of a twelve kizuki, that’s for sure!” the redhead shot back as a demon jumped at them, claws out and ready to attack. Ace ducked and slid down, while Neige used his katana to cut the head off with ease.
“Amateurs, the lot of them!” Sebek huffed “Even so, they’re stronger than the regular demon!”
“But that just makes them more confident. And in turn, it makes them dumber.” Ace assured “But we can’t keep dwindling about this. We have to keep going no matter what.” he added, jumping over to another building’s hall. He landed with ease, his momentum causing him to roll on the ground. Neige and Sebek did the same, the former flipping mid air before sliding down the hall, while the latter using Thunder Breathing to reach with ease.
“Any clue of where Leona-sama could have fallen?! He also got separated from Sunako and Nagisa!” Ace asked.
“He went sideways to the left, I think!” Neige said “I don’t remember well! I got separated from nee-san too!”
“She’s with Iguro-sama, so she’ll be okay! And she’s a Hashira! She’s strong!” Ace assured, looking ahead. His sister is one, too. He knows she’s strong. He knows she’s smart. He knows she could live, wouldn’t die. And yet, her plan could never leave his mind.
Just then, the flapping of wings could be heard, causing him to look up. His eyes widened when he saw a Kasugai Crow maneuvering through the space of the endless underground world they’d been thrown into, a strange paper around its neck. The redhead blinked. Right, the crows had fallen too! He never even noticed! And what was that paper doing there?! Was there something written with blood on it?!
“KAAAAWWW! ATTENTION! DECEASED!” Ace felt his blood freeze “KOCHO SHINOBU IS DEAD! SHE FOUGHT VALIANTLY AGAINST AN UPPER RANK KIZUKI, AND WAS DEFEATED!!” the redhead’s footsteps came to a halt, eyes wide as he watched the crow dive deeper into the chasm, still repeating the words. Shinobu was dead. His sister was dead. She died against an upper rank. She passed away.
“K-Kocho-sama is..!” Neige gasped, bringing his hands up to cover his mouth. Sebek let out a shaky breath at the announcement.
“Kocho-sama…” he uttered under his breath, fists clenched “I swear, your sacrifice will not be in vain!” he declared proudly, turning to the group “Ace, Neige, let’s move and-” his words died in his throat the moment he caught Ace’s expression. His eyes were wide, lips trembling and tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
“Nee-san… Dammit…” he choked out, bringing his arm up to wipe at his tears. He couldn’t be crying here. Not right now.
“Ace-”
“It’s not the time for anything other than fighting. Not right now.” Ace cut off Neige with an urgent tone “For our sake, we just- We have to keep going.” he said.
“…Right.” Sebek nodded, and Ace could practically hear the hesitance in his voice. The redhead understood. But there was no time for tears. No time to cry. Not when they’re constantly teetering in between life and death. Not here. Once he was back at the Butterfly Mansion, then he’d cry.
“It's your fault.”
He gasped at the sound of the voice, the moment he took a step, he ended up finding himself in a black void. He blinked. “Where..?” he murmured under his breath, looking around. It was pitch black.
“It's your fault.”
He felt a cold hand creeping up his neck, fingers curling around it. Squeezing. Putting slight pressure. It wasn’t enough to choke him. But it was enough to keep him still. His eyes widened, breath hitching. He could feel the moist, slightly sticky texture of blood on his skin. It made goosebumps travel down his spine. It felt like a mix between the strength of Upper 3, and the sheer, freezing touch of Upper 2
“He's dead because of you. You weren’t strong enough to protect him.”
Ace gasped as he envisioned his brother’s body, a hole punched through his stomach, blood pouring out into a pool that was forming right below his feet. “N-No- That's not-” he choked out.
“She dies because of you. You weren’t strong enough to come to her aid during her fight against Upper 2.”
And then it was his sister. He didn’t even know how her body looked. But all he could imagine was her sickly pale skin slowly turning purple from the poison, her veins pulsing. “S-Stop-”
“Everyone always ends up leaving you because you're so weak. Maybe you should do everyone a favour and die.”
“Shut up- SHUT up- SHUT UP!-”
Ace woke up with a strangled gasp, eyes snapping open in surprise. He quickly sat up, bringing a hand to his chest, his heart racing. His breathing was uneven, too. He managed to break through Total Concentration Breathing Constant. Wow. What an achievement. He should really just get a medal, or something.
He practically willed himself to calm down, restarting the breathing technique. Once that was that, he looked around. He was in his room in Heartslabyul, with his three other roommates. Who were actually still sleeping. Deuce was even snoring, which would have been a lighthearted sight to behold under any other normal circumstances. The redhead let out a shaky breath. He brought a hand to his face, running it down and plopping back down onto his mattress. There was no way he could actually fall back asleep after such a horrid dream.
The worst part was that this was not the worst nightmare he has ever had. No, he's had worse. Way worse. But it had been a while since he actually had them. It felt wrong being able to properly sleep without having some sort of hallucination by his side practically breathing down his neck or some nightmare that was terrifying enough to keep him awake.
‘…No matter what I try, I can't fall back asleep.’ He sighed, sitting up. No dice. All that came to mind were the same words repeating over and over again, like a hammer smashing against a nail several times. So annoying. Like a stupid roach.
He kicked off the sheets from his body, putting on his slippers and stretching. He grabbed his hair clip, putting it on in a very loose ponytail before leaving the room quietly. He walked down the steps and never ending halls of his dorm, eventually spotting the kitchen. He walked over, grabbing a glass and beginning to fill it with tap water. He took a deep breath, bringing a hand to his face.
He never really witnessed her body, if he really thought about it. He just hears the announcement. Even though once he reunited with Kanao she told him what she saw, it was just that. What she saw. Knowing his sister, she most likely had sustained a lot of injuries. Upper 2 was no joke, after all. That was the third strongest demon. The fact that they were able to defeat it was a miracle. Even if it was just him coming in at the last second.
He took a sip of the water, throat content. Still, it was not enough. He could not get the nightmare out of his mind. To be honest, he wasn’t really that surprised. “Fuck my life, I guess…” he sighed, shaking his head.
“Ace?” a voice called, scaring him and sending him into fight or flight mode. His head snapped around, seeing Riddle standing by the door. The red-eyed boy let out a shaky, relieved breath.
“Housewarden, I beg you not to scare me like that.” he wheezed, slouching forward.
“I apologize. It was not my intention to startle you.” Riddle sheepishly said, a bead of sweat rolling down his face “I was not expecting you to be awake at this hour.” he admitted. Ace gave a small chuckle.
“Had a not so nice dream, and couldn’t go back to sleep.” he shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. That did not exactly work, since Riddle just looked concerned.
“A bad dream?” he repeated. He seemed to hesitate, but he approached, walking over to him.
“Would it be okay to ask about it?” he asked, tilting his head. Ace let out a laugh.
“Housewarden, I’m going to be completely honest with you,” he smiled “you do not want to know what it was about. For your own sake.” Riddle made a face, maybe he wasn’t exactly expecting that answer. And Ace understood. Maybe a part of the second year expected him to open up. But he seemed understanding about not opening up.
“I understand.” he nodded “Would it be okay if I also happen to serve myself a glass of water?”
“Go ahead.” Ace nodded. Riddle took it, grabbing a glass of water and filling it up. He took a sip of it, leaning against the counter, resting his arms there. Ace leaned his back against the counter.
“Did you have a bad dream too?” the red-eyed boy asked, eyes closed. He felt the other stiffen beside him.
“...Yes.” Riddle exhaled. He sounded uncomfortable, as if he didn’t want to talk about it. And Ace merely hummed.
“Don’t force yourself to talk about it if you don’t wanna.” he told him “These kinds of things are uncomfortable to talk about, especially when you don’t know people well. It's awkward, and you sometimes don't want it to come out. Other times, you're just terrified at the thought that the person would look at you differently. Or with pity.”
“You sound like an expert about it.” Riddle observed quietly, raising a brow. Ace snorted.
“I just learned from the best people I could’ve possibly have had in my life.” he shook his head “They taught me everythin’ I needed to know. Especially how not to be a piece of garbage.” he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. Just allowing himself to remember the good times with both of the Hashiras that took him in as a student. Those would be times he would always hold close to his chest.
“I used to be a piece of shit before. I think I still am.” he admitted.
“I don’t believe you’re that.” Riddle told him. Ace blinked, surprised.
“Huh?”
“You saw the situation that was going on in Heartslabyul, and rather than standing on the sidelines or submitting to my tyranny, you sought to fix it, although it was in a… not very peaceful manner.” Riddle chuckled “You’re not a piece of garbage. You’re a human being.” Ace inhaled quietly at that. Huh. Hearing it be said out loud by the shorter felt different than what he thought it would be like. The good kind of different.
“Same could be said for you, Housewarden.” he smiled “You’re not a piece of garbage. You’re a human being.” Riddle assured him, his eyes so gentle and soft. Something that Ace never believed the sophomore would've been capable of earlier this month.
“I suppose you’re right,” Ace managed to muster a small laugh "after all, your word is law, Housewarden." he received a gentle shove in response, with Riddle shaking his head in amusement.