Hey, i just noticed that the ruler thing works again! YAY! XD (does a dance)

.-. Um, right. Anyway... I really like how this chapter turned out. All right, i know ZeonxKoruru isn't possible, but around the time when i first joined FFnet i read a story or two that had the pairing in it and fell in love with it afterwards. So, now y'all get to see my version of it, muwaha! X3

Disclaimer: You really think i own this? Think again.

Oh, yeah, and before i forget, since this collection of oneshots is now officially over, i just want to say: thanks for reading, folks!

:3

(hands out lots of sweets to all the reviewers)

-o-o-o-o-o-

Pairing: ZeonxKoruru
Rating: T
Summary: Change can do a lot to a person, especially when that change is a softy.
Notes: Oh, yeah, um, there may be a few incy wincy spoilers that appear in this chapter. n.n' It's not heavy, though, so read on if you desire. :33

10

Misunderstood

In all my life, I never thought that a pink-haired nuisance would follow me around. When the battle for King was finally over and that bastard Gash Bell burned my book, I began to wander around aimlessly in the Makai, training to myself without giving a care or thought about those around me. One day I stumbled upon her, the nuisance that went by the name of Koruru. She met me and never let me out of her sight—said she wanted to be my friend. Or something like that.

Ha, as if I would need friends! I am far above that! They are merely worthless little bugs that constantly got in your way—why the hell would I need a friend?

And what was strange was that she didn't mistake me for my damn brother, Gash Bell. No, she even questioned whom I was and that she had never seen me before. I merely stared at her, said my name was Zeon, and moved on. Yet that still wasn't enough for her! The annoying twerp kept following me around, constantly trying to get me to talk.

Once I even tried to make her permanently shut up by blasting her with one of my electric attacks, but I couldn't bring myself to do that, not to her. For some odd, damn reason, I couldn't hit this annoying pest.

I hoped against hope that I hadn't turned soft while participating in that fight. Dufaux was anything but a softy, so why the hell was I becoming one?

And I hate softies.

Unfortunately for me, Koruru was a softie. This instantly caused me to hate her, but I couldn't understand why I couldn't attack her, it was way too peculiar for my taste. So in the heat of the moment, I teleported elsewhere, somewhere where she couldn't find me for a good long while.

Or so I thought. Somehow, she eventually discovered my hiding place and forced me to talk, said that she wouldn't move from the spot she stood until I spoke. I had no choice; I talked just a little about myself but not much to become involved in a deep conversation. Yet she seemed to enjoy me speaking with her and she then told me a little about herself. She had a split personality that was inserted into her mind for the fight for king, and it was all because she hated battles.

Again, I hate softies. This girl was so utterly pathetic.

And what's more was that the one who burnt her book was the one and only Gash Bell. I hated that name so much, no, despised it! I would gladly kill that happy-go-lucky bastard anytime 100 times over again!

At that, I snapped at the pink-haired pest and told her to never mention that name in front of me again. She saddened at my words and said that she was rather unhappy herself. Evidentially Gash liked someone else, someone that he had befriended during the war, that he didn't like her as she previously liked him.

"So, are you following me around because I look like that idiot?" I asked.

"No, I'm not!" declared Koruru profoundly. "I already said that I want to be friends with you, and it's not because you look like him! You're different, I can see good in you, Zeon!"

Tch. Good, in me? Ha! Such stupid words! I haven't heard such stupidity since I beat that naïve group in Holland—a place within the human world that I had traveled to with Dufaux.

I didn't know what came over me after that day, but gradually, over time, I began to allow Koruru to follow me around some. Not much, though, just some. I didn't want to be seen with the nuisance, whenever I was seen, anyway, so I preferred to keep my time with her short.

And what the hell happened after that, I had no idea. Perhaps I eventually did form a friendship with the twerp, I didn't know! I caught myself about to smile in front of her at one point. Such insanity… Damn it, something was definitely wrong with me!

So after that, I noticed, Koruru began to change me even more. I didn't like it, not one bit. I was becoming weak like those softies! UGH!

And what was worse was that I couldn't bring myself to tell the nuisance to beat it, I couldn't tell her to leave me alone and never speak with me again! She was always by my side in times where it was so completely irritating. Actually, I think it annoyed me all the time. So she was almost practically with me 24/7, except for when she had to go out and do some things on her own, that of which I really didn't care about.

But then one day I found out that Gash was getting married to some twerp named Tio (I believed this was the one that Koruru told me he liked). After hearing the news, Koruru became distraught and didn't follow me around that much afterwards. I had no idea what was going through my mind that day, but I traveled to where she lived and confronted her, telling her that she should forget about him. He was just some pest and she just had to get over it, that was life. She thanked me and I stayed with her a little longer and I learned more about her that day, more than I really wanted to.

Damn it. I hated myself now for what I did—what I did that day… Curse it! I needed to get a grip, maybe go into training, to do something! But what? Why was I loosening up around this pink-haired demon? Something about her made me act differently and I despised the fact beyond comprehension—almost more than my twin.

One day, sometime after she finally got over the fact that the blonde twerp had gotten married, she even thanked me for staying with her that day. That she didn't care if I had done evil in the past, that I had good in me. She blushed as she said that.

"Ha, that's ridiculous!" I said irritably to the girl. "Those words are so incredibly stupid—they're worse than that bastard I have for a brother!"

"He's not that bad, he's…" Koruru trailed off but then immediately shot back: "He helped me out of a really bad situation in the past! I still consider him a friend, but you're my friend too! You're just misunderstood…"

"Feh," I muttered and teleported elsewhere when I couldn't retort a comeback. I left her to her thoughts for a while and decided to muse over mine as well. Those stupid words, that stupid smile, the frickin' blush! Why was she bothering me?

I didn't understand why I was going through these changes. They're so completely annoying, it just makes me want to take out all the frustration on my brother even more! But I couldn't, he was the stupid king. Oh, well, perhaps one day I'd give him payback for what he did—for what father chose to do in the past, for what happened… I swore I will, even if it was the last damn thing I ever do!

But now that I know what Koruru has said and done, I now think of our relationship somewhat differently. To the greatest extent, she was—is—the only one that has truly considered me a friend, or whatever she'd like to call me. I've always been the one everyone's hated and despised for my cruelty, and that only adds to my reputation. Not that I mind that much. At least those fools will always know who I am and never confuse me for that buffoon, Gash.

Well… maybe Koruru isn't so bad, I wasn't sure. I couldn't tell much anymore these days on what I was thinking. That pesky little pink-haired nuisance always followed me around, and she still does: always talking to me, actually getting me to talk back. What was it about her tat made me change?

I did not think I'd ever find out, but as for now, perhaps I would let her continue to talk and follow me around. I could… use the company.

I'm being a damn softy again.

Koruru… What did you do to me?