To clear up confusion, TaroxAdd is a side ship with a little fluff and implications here and there. So I guess there's slight yaoi..?

And here's chapter 9! This'll complete the Digital Mask part, so after that, we're free!

Digital Mask: Part 3

You fidgeted a lot while waiting for Rena and Mimu to show up. Chung repeatedly patted your shoulder in an attempt to calm your nerves, although the only thing it accomplished was making you give him a weak smile. He shrugged.

"I'm not surprised their late. Besides, Rena said Mimu'd need some encouraging."

There was a quiet knock on the door, startling the two of you.

"Sorry I'm late!" Rena's voice called from behind the door. "E-I mean Mimu was kinda shy getting out the door!"

You nodded. "It's okay. Come on in!"

Rena opened the door, and stepped inside, motioning for the person behind her to follow her in. The stranger sighed, and you squinted, cursing the shadows for hiding their face.

Jesus christ, this is like a cheesy reveal in an anime.. you thought, watching the person-who you guessed was a girl-step into the room. Mimu waved shyly at you, an awkward smile on her face.

"Eve..?" Chung's slack jaw quickly turned into a grin. "Ooh...I should've known."

IT IS JUST LIKE AN ANIME WHAT THE FUCK.

"Y-yeah." Eve tucked a hair behind her ear and her feet shuffled nervously on the floor. You forced a smile.

"Uh..s-so..you're...?"

"Yeah. I'm Mimukara, the Battle Seraph." Eve smiled.

Chung laughed. "That explains why you kept your name secret. You were afraid we'd freak out after finding out you were just Eve."

"Just Eve?" Eve huffed, her demeanor changing in an instant. "You're not..mad? Or shocked? Anything?"

Chung shrugged. You on the other hand, were still gawking at Eve. Eve glanced at you and immediately looked at the floor. "Well..at least [Name]'s surprised."

The sound of your named snapped you out of your stupid ass expression and you shook your head. "What? Oh..yeah. Well, how can I not be?"

Chung rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You didn't know? With ALL the hints the writer gave you?"

CHUNG SHUT UP I'M TRYING TO KEEP THE FOURTH WALL INTACT FOR ONE FUCKING CHAPTER. ONE. CAN YOU DO THAT FOR ME?

Chung just grinned, lifting his head towards the ceiling. "Nah."

You're a fucking asshole.

He chuckled. "I know."

Rena cleared her throat and glanced up at the ceiling, because she was telling me to shut the fuck up. I complied and continued to narrate and type the story. Seriously it's been like several thousand years.

"Anyway," Rena said, "Now that we all know who we are, what now?"

You jumped as your phone went off in your pocket, blasting Owl City. You checked the caller ID, and squinted when you saw the bold, taunting words.

Caller: Taro

You sighed. It's probably a prank call. Should I answer it to humor him? You debated in your head wether or not to answer your brother, and Chung nudged you.

"You gonna get that?"

You groaned and nodded, clicking the answer button. You weren't expecting what you heard.

"Hey, you mind if I pick you up early?"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I didn't get fired, or anything like that. They just let me off early. We're closing for the day because there was a shooting not too far from it."

"Oh. Mmk. So, when are you gonna be-"

"I'm already standing outside."

"Damn, bro."

"You coming? Or are you doing something?"

"Nah, I'm going."

"K. I'll see you down here." As soon as he finished his sentence, he hung up. You pursed your lips together. Taro's voice was forced, like he was holding back tears or anger.

What happened at Add's..?

"Gotta go?" Eve asked, looking out the window and down below to the busy streets. You nodded and stood up. Chung clapped a hand around your shoulder and nodded at you.

"See ya around, [Name]."

"We can all meet on Solace later, right?" Rena smiled. "I'll be on around 7."

"Same for me." Eve muttered. Chung grinned.

"Seven it is then. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but I gotta go. Taro doesn't sound too good."

Eve glanced at the door. "Then hurry and go."

Without another word, you took off and rushed to the entrance, where you saw your brother waiting outside. He glanced at you and forced a smile, but even from 10 feet away you could tell his eyes were dull, and the bags under his eyes seemed more prominent, in true anime fashion.

"Hey, [Name]. Sorry for dragging you out when you're-" you held up a hand, silencing him.

"It's fine. Let's just go home and then we can talk it out. You look like shit." You patted his back, and he swallowed and nodded. Taking his hand in yours, you began to walk home, and you shivered at how cold his hand was. You could barely keep his hand in your hand for long periods of time without it falling out from how bad he was shaking.

What happened to you bro?

The moment you and Taro made it up to your apartment, Taro shut the door, locked it, pulled out his phone, and started angrily scrolling through it, looking for something.

"Taro, bro are you okay?" you tapped him on the shoulder, and he edged away from your touch, a scowl forming on his face.

"I'm looking for his stupid number."

"Did you and Add-"

"I don't know, what do you think?" Taro growled, hissing in frustration and throwing his phone on the couch. "Damn thing!"

"Taro."

"God I'm such a fucking idiot, why on earth I thought that was a good idea-"

"Taro.."

"I'm gonna fucking strangle the life outta that white-haired dick wrangling fuck when I-"

"Taro."

"What?!" Taro rounded on you, giving you a full view of his face. His eyes were swimming with tears, his lower lip was trembling, his hands shaking. His hair was messier than usual, and the bags under his eyes were even darker than yours, and the small dribble of tears running down his cheeks didn't help.

You didn't say anything. There was nothing you could say that would make him feel better. So instead, you stared at him for a bit, and then hugged him. Taro squirmed.

"Stop it, you moron," you whispered, hugging him tighter. "I'm trying to help you."

Taro sucked in a breath, exhaled, and you felt his shaking hands slowly wrapping around your back, and his head burying into shoulder and he let out a quiet whimper.

"I'm such an idiot."

"No you're not."

"He hates me now."

"Add doesn't hate you."

"What do I do?"

"Well first, you're gonna sit here until you stop crying. Then you're gonna take a shower. And then," you pulled away, brushing some hair out of his face, and walking over to the DVD rack and pulling out several Disney movies. "We're gonna have a Disney marathon."

Taro looked much better when he was asleep, you realized. In the light of the movie, Taro's face looked calm. You smiled and paused the movie, glancing at the clock. It was almost 7. Since you were pretty sure Rena and Eve were on earlier than they should've been, you decided to log on and check, angling the screen away from Taro's face so you wouldn't wake him.

Tamoshiru: Hellur.

Mimukara: Heyo, [Name].

Twigception: you're on early.

Tamoshiru: Look who's talking, you nerd.

Mimukara: Are you and your brother okay?

You bit your lip, glancing back over at your brother. You had no idea what had happened, but you weren't exactly on Add's side. Whatever happened between them was enough to cause Taro to break down, and it made you angry. But then again, you knew how Add was prone to assuming the worst about people and situations. You rubbed your temples and began typing.

Tamoshiru: I think so. He wasn't exactly in a good mood when we got home, so we had a Disney marathon.

No way in hell are you telling them about his breakdown. That's only happened once before, and you promised yourself you'd tell no one about his breakdowns. At this point, you were just happy it was a small one.

Twigception: hey man, whatever makes him feel better. you sounded pretty worried.

Mimukara: What happened?

You hesitated, slowly typing out your response.

Tamoshiru: He was just stressed. It's fine.

Eve didn't respond for a while. Rena was in a dungeon, so she probably wasn't going to respond for a while. You blinked at Eve's message.

Mimukara: I can tell you're lying.

Tamoshiru: I'm not, I promise.

Mimukara: You rushed out of the room really quickly. I know you're lying, [Name].

You froze. Fuck.

Mimukara: I don't care if you lied, honestly. It just means I should keep out of your business. Sorry.

You let out a sigh of relief, flinching when Taro stirred. You didn't move until he let out a loud snore, and stifled a laugh at how dorky it sounded.

Oh fuck you just called your brother a whale's penis. Nope. It's not dorky. It's uh...nerdy. Your brother's a nerd. Yes.

Tamoshiru: It's fine, Eve. I just don't feel comfortable telling you guys.

Mimukara: That's perfectly fine.

At that moment, Chung hopped on.

Kurukitu: HEY HEY HYE

Mimukara: *HEY

Kurukitu: Shush.

Twigception: Hello my precious baby~

Kurukitu: Rena no

Twigception: Rena yes

Tamoshiru: You're both pretty. Shut up.

Kurukitu: I love you too!

Mimukara: If we're gonna hang out, we'd better do it quickly. I have to leave soon.

Tamoshiru: Then let's party~

You spent the rest of the night laughing, dungeoning, and PvPing with your friends. Obviously, Mimu and Chung led the charge on most of the PvPing, while you and Rena dominated the dungeon runs. In the midst of it all, Taro's eyes fluttered open. When you glanced up and saw him staring at you with a confused look, you told your friends you had to go and logged off without another word, shutting your laptop and placing it to the side.

Taro flashed you a sleepy smile. "Did I...interrupt something?"

You didn't say anything, you just crawled towards him and pounced on him, hugging him tightly. He didn't hesitate to hug you back, a small, forced chuckle vibrating your neck. "Did I sleep for too long or something?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, [Name]. Thanks for looking after me."

You nodded, burying your face in his chest. Your brother was okay. He was okay.

That's what you told yourself for the rest of the night.

And that's chapter...nine?

I dunno. I apologize for the wait, since I've been starting high school, the homework begins to pile up, and midterms are coming up.

I need sleep.

But I don't really have a date for chapter 10, but hopefully it'll be out by the end of October. I'll see you then!