Ken could almost feel steam coming out of their ears as they tried not to move so as not to wake up Daigo. He was breathing softly through his nose, his head slumped over Ken's lap. He seemed almost . . . at peace.

"Aww," Litsuko cooed. "So precious."

Valt began to giggle like an idiot. Jin held up his phone and snapped a picture of the spectacle.

"Sooo sending this to your sister," he announced confidently.

'Fuck you,' Ken mouthed at him, blushing furiously.

"Well," Asa began with a smirk, "unless you're a heartless monster, Ken, you're gonna be stuck there for a while."

Ken growled at her like an angry hound, but said nothing. They didn't mind sitting here if it meant granting Daigo some comfort. In fact, they were happy to do it. Just like they were happy to come over with the others, make him lunch, and watch a movie with him. They wanted to hold him for as long as they could, and then some. They wanted to protect him from being hurt again.

"Welp!" Valt hopped to his feet and stretched his arms over his head. "I gotta get home and fit in some practice."

"Yeah, me, too." Jin agreed.

"I gotta do my weekly tarot reading," Litsuko added.

"I'll stay to wash the dishes." Asa concluded.

One by one, everyone departed from the living room - all except for Ken, who stayed on the couch, watching over their sleeping crush. Cautiously, they reached out to touch his hair, gradually moving their hand to caress his cheek. They brushed their thumb under Daigo's eye, as though to wipe away a tear. But Daigo didn't flinch or stir. Even in dreamland, he knew that he was safe.

Ken could hear the stream of water from the kitchen as Asa began washing the dishes. They leaned their back against the couch and tried to close their eyes, but they couldn't fall asleep without their earbuds in, blasting music into their eardrums. Asa scrubbed vigorously at the pots she had used.

Ken wanted to let Daigo sleep, but they couldn't resist: they carefully lifted Daigo up into a hug, supporting his head and bending over to embrace him. As they did so, they could feel Daigo starting to wake up.

"Oh - h-hey," Daigo lazily hugged them back. "Did I fall asleep on you?"

"Yeah," Ken replied in a soft voice.

Daigo fell into silence, nestling into Ken's arms. This moment was so perfect, so tender. Not a lot of noise. Not a lot of butterflies. Just . . . them.

"Where'd everyone else go?" Daigo asked as he finally pulled away.

"Asa stayed behind to do dishes." Ken answered. "The others went home."

Daigo nodded in response and tried and failed to suppress a yawn. He noticed that he was still sitting in Ken's lap, but he didn't make an effort to scoot away: he was comfortable where he was. Ken's cheeks were colored an adorable pink shade, but they weren't completely flustered. That fuzzy feeling in Daigo's gut was a nice break from the numbness that had been hanging over his head like a storm cloud. But he knew that it would return soon.

"Thank you for everything, Kensuke."

A look of concern momentarily came over Ken's face. But before they could say anything, Asa reappeared and announced that she was leaving, having finished doing the dishes. She seemed unfazed by the sight of Daigo perched on Ken's lap, and she swiftly left after Daigo thanked her and she said goodbye.

"Wanna hit the road and get in some practice?" Ken suggested after a long moment of silence.

Daigo at last managed a smile. Ken always knew the right thing to say.

"Sounds good."

The two put their shoes back on and headed to the park, stopping by Ken's place beforehand so they could pick up their launcher and their bey, Guardian Kerbeus, a strong Defense Type. Similar to the way Ken loved spending time with Daigo, they knew that Doomscizor was Kerbeus's favorite bey to battle against, even though he - Kerbeus - usually lost.

By the time Ken and Daigo had arrived at the park, the sun had sank beyond the horizon, though it would be a few hours before it would begin to set. It had been a while since the two had battled - Ken could almost hear Ryota calling out, "ready . . . set!"

"Three! . . . Two! . . . One! Let it . . . rip!"

Daigo and Ken launched their beys, and Doomscizor and Kerbeus touched down in the stadium. Kerbeus headed straight for the center, while Doomscizor soon began striking it again and again. But Ken wasn't going to go easy on Daigo just because he was grieving - quite the opposite.

"Stand your ground, Kerbeus!" Ken cheered their bey on. A fire came to life in their belly as the battle got more intense.

Again, Doomscizor knocked Kerbeus out of the center, sending skidding across the stadium.

"I don't think so!" Ken cried out. "Send it fucking flying!"

"Screw off!" Daigo snapped.

Kerbeus shot towards Doomscizor like an arrow, knocking it dangerously close to the edge of the stadium.

"You know what to do!" Daigo ordered.

Doomscizor hopped up onto the stadium's edge, soaring into the air.

"Flying Double Strike!" Daigo commanded.

Before Ken could do anything about it, Doomscizor came crashing down onto Kerbeus, the blade in its seal striking its center.

Bish! Kerbeus burst.

Ken sighed in defeat as they squatted down to pick up Kerbeus's pieces; they began to put him back together. Doomscizor soon stopped spinning, and Daigo scooped him up.

"Have you been training since . . ." Ken paused. "Well . . . you know."

Daigo shook his head solemnly: that was all the answer Ken needed. All of a sudden, they caught something out of the corner of their eye, and they turned their head. There was Honcho, standing at the park's entrance, gazing at the two rather wistfully.

Ken's stomach plummeted, and they looked up at Daigo as they brushed their hair out of their face. Daigo's hands had balled into shaking fists, but his face was impassive. Recognizing that he wasn't wanted, Honcho turned his back and left.

"D'you think you'll ever forgive him?" Ken asked with concern, preparing for an outburst.

Daigo sighed.

"Not likely," he muttered with contempt. "I just can't believe he'd be so careless."

Ken nodded. But in reality, they didn't know why they had been so shocked: Honcho had a bad habit of not taking things seriously.

"I don't think I'll ever forgive him, either," Ken confessed in a mumble, as though forcing the words from their throat. Their voice cracked.

Daigo took a big deep breath.

"My mood's been officially ruined," he relented.

Ken produced a sad chuckle. They stood up and put Kerbeus back in their pocket. A question came to mind.

"Hey, Daigo," they began, "if we were animals, what d'you think we'd be?"

Daigo took a moment to think.

"I mean, you'd be a wolf, obviously." he answered. "As for me . . . either a crow or a raven."

Ken couldn't help but grin as they remembered one of their favorite little tidbits about the animal kingdom.

"Fun fact," they said, "ravens tend to follow wolves around a lot in the natural world."

"Really?" Daigo replied.

Ken nodded, still smiling.

"Scientists think that this is just 'cause ravens really like wolves." they explained rather bashfully.

"Huh." Daigo said. "Guess I'd be a raven then."

Ken's smile widened as their eyes met, a quiet understanding. It was a relief to see that Daigo was smiling back.

"Know what?" Daigo piped up suddenly. "On second thought, I think you'd be a fox."

"Why's that?" Ken asked.

An affectionate spark came to life in Daigo's dark eyes.

"Foxes are playful, intelligent, curious . . . cute." he explained casually.

Ken's heart skipped a beat.

"Let's go home," they offered.

Back in the elevator of their apartment building, the atmosphere was uncomfortably quiet as Ken thought back to the state that they had found Daigo's room in earlier in the day.

"Hey, you're still taking your antidepressants, right?" they asked.

Daigo's expression soured, proving Ken's suspicions correct.

"I'll get back on 'em," he mumbled.

"At least promise me you'll take a shower tonight," Ken pleaded firmly, heart sinking. Daigo never broke his promises.

Finally, to Ken's relief, Daigo nodded.

"I promise."

Ding!

The metal doors opened onto the eleventh floor. Just as Daigo was about to get off the elevator, Ken mustered up all their courage: they took ahold of Daigo's arm and swooped in to kiss his cheek.