「私のすべてをあげていいなら、君に奪ってためなんです」
I'm willing to give you my all if that's what it takes to win you over.

BONUS: One of the OPENING QUOTES will be in the chapter. It is in bold and italic.

OMFG!! 2K VOTES?!?!?

I LOVE YOU GUYS

THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT ❤️☝️

SORRY FOR TAKING TOO LONG TO UPDATE, I HOPE YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND 😭😭

THANK YOU AGAIN 😭😭

This book became so popular when I wasn't active. Thank you so much reader-tachi 🙇‍♀️💜
I gained a lot of notable rankings ✨

Also
Omg please don't hate me; I realized I only updated after almost two years TT

***

It's been about two weeks since Natsume's offer has been going through my head. It's like his voice is stuck in my cranium. I didn't even think of wanting to leave this household but work sure did make me want to run away from this block.

I was even more busy with my work as a flood of patients came in last week. Our company's sister hospital sent these patients as they couldn't handle anymore than about 50 of them. They left 40 more for us and there's only three psychiatrists and two psychologists in our branch. We're pretty much booked— which makes me get home pretty late.

Today was the latest that I got home so far. 10 pm. Good thing I drive my car so that nobody trails me back home or attemps to kidnap me.

I carefully took out my keys and opened the door, making sure that I didn't wake the kids up. As I entered, I gently shut the door as well.

I sighed as I hung my keys and took off my shoes before going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

"Late again?"

She was startled to hear a voice in the dark.

"Azusa? You're still awake? Working on another script or is it a fake?" I asked, still annoyed by the CD prank he held on me.

He laughed, "it's real. Masaomi-nii was waiting for you, you know."

I shook my head as I took the pitcher of water and a glass then filled it up.

"Well, I'm busy. I don't have time for you people trying to start small talk and casually flirt up. It's not gonna work on me." I spat before taking a sip.

"You know that it's everyone, right? 13 brothers against each other." He stated, coming out of the dark and sitting by the kitchen counter.

I shot a glare and replied, "obviously. Most of you are at each other's throats."

"So you accept that we're all courting you?"

"The children will have to understand that— they're children. Which means Iori, Fuuto, Yuusuke, and Wataru are already a big 'X' on your stupid list." I explained.

"Are you trying to say I have a chance?" Azusa asked.

"Sure— if you can be normal for a day and not look at me like I'm some television screen that you watch all day." I said, placing the glass in the sink before going up, not bothering to even talk to Azusa anymore.

Honestly, I gave up talking pointless conversations with the boys. I ignored them every time that they warned me of each other or started to flirt with me.

Masaomi has agreed to be friends now. He was really speechless by his own actions and words that night so he cut the romantic feelings on his own. Technically we're both like coworker-siblings now.

At least that's 5 boys down, 8 to go.

I carefully walked to my room and got ready to sleep— I changed my clothes, freshened up a bit, and brushed my teeth. As I laid in my bed, I grabbed Hikaru's novel. Lately, it's gotten me attached ever since I read the plot. Also, it makes me feel relaxed as the book is really good. It's just a perfect combination of happy, angst, and mystery.

Chapter 26:
一人の花

The boy glanced at the empty park and saw her once more. She was definitely a beautiful sight to see. In fact, even if a thousand people were in the park, only she would be the purest one.

She might be the only flower that has bloomed.

That night, I fell asleep while holding the novel. It seemed very close to my heart.

***

The next day, I woke up with the sunlight streaming out from the holes of my curtains. It was too bright honestly, and since it was too bright I knew I was late for work and had forgotten to turn on my alarm last night.

I guess I'll just have to call myself in sick a little later.

I lazily got out of bed and freshened up, then I went downstairs to make myself and the kids some food.

"Hey. Good morning, Haru-san. Is it your day off?" Yuusuke asked as he spotted me making breakfast.

"Good morning. No, I happened to sleep past my alarm since I forgot to set it. I'm just gonna call in sick later." I told him.

"Cool, you need rest. What's for breakfast?" He asked, sitting down at the dining table.

I laughed, "egg gyudon."

"I'm good as you're cooking. Even if it's just eggs." Subaru said as he entered the kitchen area.

"Hehe, take your seat if you don't want a black eye." I threatened him as I pointed my spatula.

He carefully retreated to his seat.

Soon, Ema, Wataru, and Iori followed and we ate breakfast together before I drove them to school, making sure no one from work would catch me on the road.

After that, I got home and decided to ring up my office. But before I could press the numbers, somebody spoke up.

"There's no need for that. I already called in for you while you were away." Ukyo said as he walked into the living room.

"Thanks, Ukyo-san." I told him with a smile.

"My pleasure. Perhaps you'd want to have some tea with me later? Of course, in the afternoon when you're done with work." He offered.

I nodded, "sure. That would be nice."

"Great."

As soon as we were done talking, I headed to my room and worked on filing my patients' papers. It was a handful that stressed me a lot. Some of them don't even have proper guardians which make it harder to assess and talk to the patient as there's no related person available to talk to.

Some part-timers were applying for an assistant job for the while so I'm checking their application forms too. I mean, it's better if I talk to them and see them in person with an interview but my schedule is too tight. I can't meet up with them even if they visited my office since I have a really long line of patients to attend to each day.

It's not the best to simply filter an application, but it's the only choice I have at the moment so I'm going to have to deal with whoever seems the most suitable for the job.

Honestly, once my head started to ache, I just wanted to ditch work and get back to Hikaru's novel. But obviously work had to come first before anything, though I did make sure to drink some medicine when I felt my migraine hitting me.

"Great. It's already twelve. I need to eat." I told myself as I went downstairs to boil some hot water for my instant cup noodles.

I enjoyed my lunch as it was the only lunch break where I didn't have to rush since I was at home. It felt nice to just relax and enjoy a comforting meal. Cup noodles wasn't ideally a healthy meal but hey, it's good stuff.

Past my lunch, I continued to work for about an hour or two and finished the patient list, but unfortunately, not with the application forms.

At that point I was just really tired so I was excited to have some tea with Ukyo-san. It would be a good way to talk and relax my nerves from all this nerve-wrecking work.

***

"Thanks for inviting me for tea. I feel better." I said as I softly inhaled the aroma inside the teacup.

"I'm glad to be able to help. I'm not much of a doctor, but I'm a good listener." He said with a smile, "now tell me, the boys have been bothering you, haven't they?"

I sighed, "yes. Tsubaki, Subaru, Iori, Fuuto, Louis, Wataru, and occasionally, Azusa. Yuusuke seems to have gotten the picture and he's backing off, I think." I told him.

He nodded, "they're all crazy. I don't think they can match you well. Except maybe Subaru?"

"What makes you say that? He's too annoying sometimes." I said as I put down my teacup.

"I think he's the most mature out of the children in this house. Though I don't think he can offer you anything but his kind acts." He said.

"Really now? Ukyo-san, can you say that you can offer more than he can?" I asked, trying to intimidate him.

He laughed, "how about... My everything...is that okay? Because there's nothing else I can gamble."

I ignored his comment and continued to sip on my tea. He silently left the living room as soon as he noticed that I was not amused about the situation.

These boys... they're starting to drive me insane.

SCORES:
HIKARU - 3
UKYO - 4
YUUSUKE - 4
SUBARU - 3
IORI - 2
LOUIS - 2
MASAOMI - 2
NATSUME - 5
AZUSA - 3
TSUBAKI - 2

Published: July 4, 2019; 4:39 pm