#thebetterrascal

Xiao could feel his tiny heart clench in his chest when his family said their good byes. But at that particular moment, he was far too young to understand why they were so upset. “Don’t be sad Mama, Papa.” he murmured under his own breath so quietly that nobody could hear it but himself. He pressed his tiny hand against the glass containment chamber he was put in, and gave a smile.

He was heading off to a new adventure! He was going to be back soon, but he was definitely going to be homesick. He had loved his home planet, after all. But that was but a mere sacrifice for the amazing life he had ahead of him.

Before he could’ve said anything out loud, he felt the glass transport chamber vibrate beneath his bare feet, before he could feel himself move away from the family he had once knew. Farther…farther…farther…farther…until the space station was but a speck of gray, his parents nowhere in sight any longer.

He had been allowed to take with him a few trinkets from his home planet, which lay scattered in his transport vessel messily. Only a few hours had passed since he had been deported from the space station, but it felt like it had been days.

The deep, infinite space that lay before his eyes had made Xiao feel so…lonely. Lonely, sad, and cold. He pulled a blanket he had taken with him over his tiny, frail frame and wiped a few tears that had ran down his face. He was supposed to be having fun, making friends and doing his best. So why was it like…this?

He turned around in his vessel, and faced a similar one that was travelling parallel to his. Salty tears droplets fell from his eyes, running down his face before floating like tiny bubbles in front of him. In the other vessel, he could see…someone else? A boy. A boy his age! He was faced backwards, put in a sort of elaborate costume with a hat on his head, almost like a plaything, soft white hair flowing behind his back with his neck skin a dark shade of brown.

Xiao could feel his breath catch in his chest out of awe. He found a million questions run through his mind at the same time, but couldn’t utter a word. Who was he? Was he like him? Were they going to the same place? Could he turn to face him?

The boy shifted just the slightest, leaning the side of his head against the glass walls of confinement. His deep, blood crimson eyes met Xiao’s soft, sunset like ones, his eyes almost devoid of any emotion. Xiao wiped his tears off of his face, and gazed at the boy intently as he wondered if he felt the same way he did.

Sad, alone, and cold.

Even if he was sad, he hated seeing others feel sad. He wanted to touch his sadness, and make it go away. He wanted to say ‘It’s going to be okay, you won’t be alone. Because I won’t leave you.’ but he couldn’t say anything.

Cyno heard the quiet sobs of the boy in the glass vessel opposite to his own, and tensed up slightly. He had heard his caretakers talking about this training facility they were supposed to be sent to. Trained for years for some sort of competition where could be only one winner. The losers would be eliminated, or at least that’s what he understood.

Knowing the fate he was condemned to, he silently cried himself to sleep in despair. His other fellow ‘pets’ only jeered at him and couldn’t be happier to send him away. He was ‘fathers’ favourite, and him being gone forever meant that the position would be up for grabs. As much as he despised home, it was certainly better than an almost guaranteed early demise. That is, considering he will survive, which was a miniscule chance.

He turned his head, his left cheek pressing against the cold glass, his every breath coming out in frosty mist as their eyes met.

His eyes…

Cyno turned to fully face the boy, who floated in his vessel along with the other items in his vicinit, fully letting himself go as he flowed with the gravity. His hair was wild and had a messy cut, coloured a dark navy shade of blue with turquoise highlights. His skin was incredibly pale, the only shade on his face being his rose tinted cheeks.

But his eyes…they reminded him of the sunsets of his home planet. They were one of the things that had brought him true happiness in his days. Why were his sunset eyes looking at him like that?

Mesmerised…

Don’t look at me like that..

It hurts…

A series of clacking sounds from the transport vessels echoed into the deep space, then suddenly, the glass vessels seperated, shifting their gears before moving away from each other in the opposite directions. The boy with the sunset in his eyes pressed his hand on the glass with an almost frantic look in his eyes, not wanting to be left alone, and Cyno had found himself doing the same.

The amount of new found affection in his eyes was strange, but he found himself wanting to know more. To touch his skin, to hear his voice, and to see his smile again. He couldn’t bring himself to forget the smile of the boy he saw, it almost bringing him a ray of hope.

His smile could be called beautiful.

But he may not get to see it again.

Cyno put his hand to the end of the confined space, clawing at it with his tiny, nimble fingers, trying to grab the boys hand before he left forever, and the other did the same. When it was in vain, the boys hands crumpled into tiny fists of despair.

They were floating away from each other, Cyno’s hands still against the glass and the other boy breaking out into sobs as more tears ran from his scrunched eyes. In an effort to say his goodbye, he waved at Cyno, as he tried to control himself.

Cyno’s hand slowly edged away from the glass, before giving a tiny wave. He didn’t put his hand down until the other was but a dot in the vast space as his heart filled with unspoken and unfelt emotions.

‘Please don't go’ his heart cried out ‘i don't want to be alone anymore'

Xiao woke up in a cold sweat, shaking all over. Where was he? What had happened? The ground beneath him was soft, covered with grass that almost felt real, and the sky looked ethereal. But beside him, fast asleep on the ground, was the person he loved the most.

His god.

His universe!

Xiao pressed a kiss to Cyno's left cheek, who stirred by the display of affection.

"Mmmh?" he mumbled softly as his eyes fluttered open, holding a hand to his cheek. "Oh," Xiao stuttered a bit, his face heating up just the slightest "I didn't intend on waking you up, I apologize..."

Cyno stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, fairly upset at the interruption of his rest, but couldn't bring himself to get that angry at Xiao. "Meanie.." he muttered, scratching the skin behind the collar on his neck "you dummy."

Xiao scrunched his tiny face in thought, thinking deeply about something when the words that come out of his mouth were "Wanna go bother Kokomi?"

Cyno sleepily nodded his head, his eyelids opening and shutting with every second. Xiao dragged him by the arm as they ran off into the sunset, laughing and intertwining their fingers.