Earthers like those fuzzy things. Don't they?

“You’re more perceptive than I thought, if you’ve figured that out.”

Akechi was confident that his betrayal hadn’t yet been discovered. The Phantom Thieves stupidly trusted him, and it wasn’t hard to keep their trust. All he had to do was smile prettily, flatter them a bit on how optimized their modus operandi was, and pretend he was as naive as they. In other words, just another day in a faker’s life. Easy. 

“Despite how we’ve both agreed to end our partnership after this … I’ve been enjoying it. Our excursions in both the Metaverse and the Palace have been rather exciting.”

And all too easy. He had to pretend he was like the rest, with one persona. Thankfully, the enemies he encountered fell swiftly to Robin Hood, never once necessitating Loki. 

“It’s almost a shame to know they’ll soon end.”

"I’d say you’re not as hard to read as you may think,” a warm, charming smile curved on his lips, perfectly mimicking the other’s, veiling the hidden meaning of his words under false modesty.

And yet, it was disconcerting, not knowing exactly how deep his lies ran. Other than safeguarding themselves against the threat of being stabbed in the back, they could do nothing as long as his true intentions still remained a mystery. Akira, he could do nothing.

Was it really all an act, or was there some truth in his words, despite everything?

“My offer still stands,” the smile vanished, gaze fixed on the other’s. “If you happened to change your mind, we all would gladly welcome you as a permanent member of our team.”

Somewhat playfully, he added:

“Eugh…” He couldn’t be sure why, but those words made his skin crawl. “Uh… Thanks, Iggy.” It wasn’t as if he had said anything bad. Maybe, it was the fact that he was getting married, and on top of that, to be compared to his father- someone he looked up to so much…

Noctis definitely didn’t feel like king material. Yet, he’d be fine as long as his dad continued to rule.

…however long that might be.

“Luna’s, uh… nice,” he piped up, although no one had directly asked his opinion, and for a while he’d been too skittish to voice it. “Haven’t seen her in like… twelve? Thirteen years? Um.”

“Seeing her will be good. I… I hope it doesn’t turn out…” He sighed. “I hope she isn’t in love with me.” There was no way he could stomach breaking her heart if her were true. How awkward would a loveless marriage be? He did love her, but, not in that way.

The advisor let out a dispassionate snicker. What else could he do but laugh, when both of them were facing such a cruel trial?

“I’m sure he understands her duty the same you do, Noct,” he would have wished to have at least one piece of useful advice for him, yet that was all he could say if he was to be honest to him. Love was certainly something that didn’t happen just like that, much less between two people that had been apart for more than a decade — but he didn’t even know Lunafreya, after all.

Although he probably would, soon.

He sat at the table, in front of the prince.

“Make sure you have everything packed before we part,” he reminded, for what seemed to be the millionth time. No, he didn’t mean to be so hard on him. Ignis’ voice softened.

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” 

Terra might have frowned a little bit. He hadn’t seen his own two friends in some time and while he often got to see the Committee and the trainees, he was often left to his own devices and that sort of left him lonely.  It would have been nice to have someone to chat with.

“I’m pretty much done here and was going to grab something to eat. Did you want to hang out?”

“Ah, sure,” he realized how quick he was to change his mind, and could only hope that Terra hadn’t noticed it as well — embarrassing.

Admittedly, Swan was a little worried about the boy getting close to the monster like that, but she chose to trust that he knew what he was doing— she would want the same treatment after all. It wasn’t like he gave her a chance to object anyway.

“If you and your friends can weaken him, I’ll finish him off!” she called out to the boy and his animal companions. The monster tried firing more projectiles at the boy as he approached, but Swan quickly destroyed them using another Sparkling Cannon. If he was going to get in close, then the least she could do was make sure the monster couldn’t get any surprise attacks in.

Swan focused on long-range attacks, making sure not to accidentally hit her new ally. Meanwhile, the monster was trying to punch the boy with fists covered in pumpkin-like gloves.

“Got it!” he answered, really confident about what he was doing. Beating a giant monster? Piece of cake. He did that almost every day.

“Thanks!” he turned back just for an instant to flash a smile towards the girl. Sora had that gift (or flaw) of trusting people horribly fast, but he was sure that as long as she had his back, he was safe. Yes, they could make it.

Now that the creature attacked him at a closer range, it was easier for him to avoid, dodging its blows with practiced skill and jumping out of its reach in the right instant. When he got close enough, he turned to confirm that his friend was already in position. Just on time.

“Goofy!” at his signal, the knight bent down. Sora jumped over his shield and was catapulted. He readied his Keyblade, ready to land a blow on the witch-like creature on his way down.

“We’ve been training together, so I guess he’s used to me.” Kairi shrugged, still smiling. “Or, we just became really good friends! You could even say that we’re ~best friends~” Hopefully, she wasn’t teasing Sora too much. She didn’t want him to get really upset, after all.

“Really?” She frowned. “It must be something important. Well… I’m sure he’ll come back soon!”

“We always find each other. No matter what… So, we don’t have to be scared.” They’d been scattered across the universe twice, and always reunited. There was at least a little hope in that.

“But I’m his friend too!” although they weren’t even that close. Not as much as him and Kairi could be. “And Riku too, he— He tolerates him, I guess.” No, even Sora wouldn’t go as far as to say those two were already friends.

“We sure do. And if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to reach myself...” and though the thought of it was scary... it was also reassuring to know that even if he failed, Kairi would be there for him as well.

“If he dares to take too long, we’ll go drag him back together.”