It was a little after seven on a chilly spring evening. Supper was over, the dishes had just been done, and the five teenagers were scattered around the large living room, enjoying the evening and the company. At least, Kento amended to himself with a grin, some of them were enjoying themselves. Ryo, sitting at the dining-area table, was struggling with the English homework he hadn’t finished; Rowen was beside him, trying to explain some of the more bizarre English-grammar rules. ‘Irregular, that’s what they call ‘em. That’s an understatement!’

Across the room, in one of the easy chairs, Sage sat reading, glancing over at the television from time to time. Beside Kento, Cye sat perusing a large graphic novel and also glancing at the TV occasionally. Kento wondered sometimes why they ever bothered to turn the machine on; the only time any of them really watched it was when someone had stuck a movie into the entertainment system. But he supposed it was a force of habit by now; and besides, it filled the silence, making it cozier in the room.

‘Hmm. Not bad,’ he decided as the first song on his borrowed CD ended and the next one began. ‘They don’t scream like most metal bands. Well, they do scream,’ he amended a moment later. ‘But at least they scream in tune and on key. And they don’t cuss, either, that’s unusual. Refreshing.’ Leaning over, he propped himself up on an elbow and used his free hand to tug at Cye’s graphic novel. The older boy gave him a mild glance out of gentle green eyes and obligingly angled the book so Kento could look at it.

~Who’re these?~ Kento asked curiously through the mental link, the easiest way to communicate when one’s ears were full of earphone. He knew most of the anime series, and this was definitely not one he recognized.

~It’s called Elf Quest. It’s about this tribe of wolf-riders who are threatened with extinction by humans,~ Cye replied. ~Pretty good, isn’t it?~

~Sure is. Great art. Decent plot?~

~More than decent. It’s a husband-wife corporation, I think they’re in New York,~ Cye explained.

~Hmm! Hey, this fellow here looks like you! Except for the ears.~ Kento looked up with a grin.

~That’s…I think that’s Woodlock. Yeah. He’s a major pacifist.~ Cye smiled and flipped the page back, and Kento blinked at the picture before him.

~Whoa, man,~ he exclaimed, sprawling on the sofa and putting his chin in his hands. ~It’s Rowen as an elf!~

~Except for the hair, yep. And he even has excellent vision. But his personality is very different,~ Cye explained, and flipping back to the beginning of the book, proceeded to name the characters and outline the plot. Kento got so caught up in the unusual American anime-story that he lost track of the music, except for the occasional pause when a song ended and a new one began.

“It starts with one-”

Kento blinked and turned to look over his shoulder at Ryo, wondering what his friend was saying. Then, quite suddenly, the sound of music and rap-lyrics being chanted registered in his brain.

“All I know-”

Kento sat up with a startled blink, catching something about a pendulum swing…

“To watch you go-”

The husky boy looking down at the CD-player in amazement as the singer held the note, taking note of the track number. The last song, he’d gone all the way through, how had he not noticed this?

“I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. I had to fall, to lose it all… but in the end, it doesn’t even matter-r-r-”

~Kento?~ Cye asked.

“I don’t believe it.” Kento hit the stop and pulled the earphones off, turning to look over at the dining room table. “Ryo?”

“Hmmm?” The Ronin leader glanced over his shoulder.

“When’d you join a band?”

Ryo turned around in his chair, looking surprised. “Do what?”

“When’d you take up singing?”

“What are you talking about?” the other boy laughed, pushing his sleek black hair out of his eyes.

“Oh, just this.” Kento flipped open the CD-player, aware that everyone was giving him perplexed looks, and got up. Finding the remote, he clicked on the stereo and, a moment later, selected Track 12 to play. Turning to his friends, he waited for their reactions as the music started. This time, he noticed the piano opening and the chka-chka of the beat.

“It starts with one…”

Cye’s eyes widened; Sage started and Rowen double-took. Ryo didn’t move, but his gaze shifted from Kento to the CD-player.

“All I know…”

He wasn’t mistaken. They all heard it too.

“It's so unreal…”

The rap lyrics- it was hard to tell if they were the background or the main part of the song- were all about time; time like a pendulum going out the window. A bit cryptic for Kento, though he’d be the first to agree that time was a precious commodity.

“To watch you go-” Again, that pure long-held note while the other vocalists sang, or chanted, of waste and keeping everything inside and everything falling apart-

“I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. I had to fall, to lose it all… but in the end, it doesn’t even matter-r-r-”

Kento crossed his arms on his chest with a small smile as the clear, light voice of the singer faded into another rap chant, half-amused at the entranced expressions of his friends and half-entranced himself. The lead singer had a beautiful and clearly well-trained voice.

His voice also sounded exactly like Ryo’s.

“I tried so hard…”

A shiver went down Kento’s spine and his smile faded. Those words, in that voice-

“It got so far…”

“In the end-” Another long held note, and the similarity was no longer amusing; it was eerie.

“I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. I had to fall, to lose it all… but in the end, it doesn’t even matter-r-r-”

“I’ve put my trust, in you, pushed as far as I can go. For all this, there’s only one thing you should kno-ow…”

“I’ve put my trust! in you! pushed as far as I can go! For all this! there’s only one thing you should kno-ow… I tried - so - hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter! I had - to - fall, to lose it all… but in the end, it doesn’t even matter-r-r!”

Kento stood very still as the piano played again, then faded out, slowly shaking off a sense of unreality. Silence held the room; the other three boys were staring at Ryo, who was staring at the CD player. Kento shut the thing off before it could loop back to the first track and break the spell. ‘Gotta listen to that again. In fact, I think I’ll get Higashi to make me a copy…’

Ryo gave himself a shake and Kento a puzzled look, but before he could say anything, Rowen asked, “Yeah, so when did you get into the music business, Ryo?”

“Hey, that wasn’t me,” the Wildfire bearer answered easily. “Though he does sound a little like me, I guess-”

“A little!?” Sage and Cye repeated in unison. “He sounds exactly like you,” Sage went on.

“Oh, you can’t say that, you know I don’t sing,” Ryo retorted good-naturedly, then looked at Kento again. “Who is it, really?”

Was it his imagination, or were Ryo’s cheeks turning just a bit red? Kento went over to pick up the CD cover and read it. “Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory. The song’s called ‘In The End.’ My bio lab partner and I got to talking about music,” he added in explanation, “and he said I might like ‘em. So he let me borrow it.” He glanced over at Cye with a rueful smile. “That’ll teach me to listen to music and you at the same time, I didn’t hear half of it. Didn’t even know it was on the last track!”

Cye grinned at the teasing and asked, “So who’s Ryo’s voice-twin?”

“Um.” Kento ignored his leader’s snort and turned the CD over a few times before he found the band listing. “Chester Bennington. Sorry, Magical Chester Bennington.” Yes, that was definitely a blush on Ryo’s cheeks. “Real good for heavy metal, too- most of ‘em just scream at the top of their lungs, but this group actually sings. At the top of their lungs, of course, but at least they stay on the note.”

“I’ve never listened to much heavy metal,” Sage observed, eying the CD. “For that very reason. There was bound to be an exception somewhere, though. Going to get a copy?”

“Yeah,” Kento said thoughtfully, putting the disk back into the holder and ignoring Ryo’s slightly embarrassed look. “I think I will. Who knows, maybe it’ll inspire somebody around here to do a duet-”

“Oh, cut it out,” Ryo said testily, but he was smiling. “I really don’t think he sounds that much like me, and I know for sure I couldn’t sing like he does.”

“How can you know that if you never tried?” Rowen inquired impishly, gray eyes dancing. “You could practice for the karaoke contests-”

“Forget it!” Ryo shook his head so that his hair flew into his eyes, then sighed and pushed it back again. “Besides, if I was going to sing something, it wouldn’t be so…intense. What?” he added as the four boys traded incredulous looks. “Well, it is, it’s- it’s really kinda depressing, actually. ‘In the end, it doesn’t even matter’? Lots of things matter, end or not.”

“Well, that’s true,” Rowen said diplomatically as Sage shook his head and Cye simply closed his eyes. “Anyway, turn around and finish your homework.”

“Slave-driver,” Wildfire grumbled, obeying.

~Intense, what does he think he is, if not intense?~ Cye’s rhetorical question murmured in Kento’s mind. ~He always gives everything he’s got, and then some.~

I tried so hard, and got so far…

~I know. And then if it doesn’t work…~

…but in the end, it doesn’t even matter…

~That song,~ Sage unexpectedly joined the conversation; ~It’s almost spooky. It doesn’t just sound like his voice, it sounds like Ryo. Like when he’s really low about something…actually, it reminds me of the first fight with Talpa, before we formed the Inferno.~

I had to fall, to lose it all…

~That’s what went through my mind,~ Cye agreed soberly. ~We did fall to Talpa, all of us, and Anubis and the Ancient too. And it sure looked like we were going to lose everything, for a while. You sure you want a copy of that, Kento?~

~Good point,~ Hardrock agreed, frowning at the thin square in his hand before laying it on the side table. ~I’ll think about it.~

But in the end, it doesn’t even matter-r-r…

***

Ryo picked up the compact disk and regarded it with a frown. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory… In The End. Kento had played it last night. His friends thought the singer sounded like him; he wasn’t completely convinced of that himself, but had to admit that voices sounded different to those hearing them than they did to their owners. And even he had to agree that there was a certain disquieting similarity. It was odd, almost embarrassing, hearing his voice from someone else’s mouth.

The voice was one thing, though; the lyrics were another matter entirely. Haunting, compelling. Despairing. Resigned to fate…

He’d felt like that once.

Kento was right; In The End was exactly like him. It was the song he would have sung, if he sang- if he’d had the heart to- after seeing Talpa absorb his friends, after thinking he had to fight alone and failing to free them- after the Ancient himself had finally given up and advised them to submit to their fate.

But he hadn’t. None of them had. They’d kept fighting, and they’d won. At least, temporarily.

‘Maybe I should get a copy myself and make another verse,’ he mused, replacing the disk with a slight smile. ‘Something about- and in the end, it’s everything that matters… hm. Not bad, if I do say so myself.’

“Ryo? Ah, there you are.”

“Huh? Hey, Cye.” Wildfire felt a tinge of color touch his cheeks, but Cye didn’t seem to notice from his spot near the kitchen door.

“I’m making the list for tomorrow’s grocery trip- anything you want to add?”

“Oh, actually, yeah!” the younger boy responded, and hurried over to the kitchen to consult with the Chef, as Cye was often called.

The disk lay forgotten on the table, its cover gleaming in the light that shone in through the nearby window; light that was slowly fading as thick, black clouds moved across the sky.