Emi was sitting on a bench, a few stray tears escaping her eyes. 

Sota's sweater was on her body, the fabric far too big on her. 

Sota felt a little guilty for having thinking about how cute she looked with the sweater paws, the bottom of the sweater falling all the way to her thighs. 

He had returned after a few short minutes of being away, a plastic bag, and a drink in his hands. 

He had a warm chai tea, that he handed to her carefully. 

She took it in between the sweater paws, taking a deep breath. 

Sota took the rest of the contents out. 

Just two bottles of water, a package of jolly ranchers and some instant noodles inside. 

"Can I have your shirt, please?" he asked softly, pointing to her wet shirt that was sitting beside her on the bench. 

She moved the sweater away from her hand before picking it up and handing it to him. 

He refolded it neatly and placed it inside the bag before packing some of the contents up inside of it. 

He opened one of the bottles, passing it to her gently. 

She grabbed it and took a sip before handing it back to him. 

"I'm sorry." She let out. 

"Don't." Sota replied softly. 

"You haven't done anything wrong. Nothing to apologize for. I would come get you no matter where you were." He said, his heart racing a bit as he poured his sincerity into the words. 

Emi looked between his eyes for a moment before letting out a breath. 

She set the drink on the bench behind her and scooted forward, wrapping her arms around his torso. 

"Thank you." She mumbled, the sound muffled into his chest but he heard it loud and clear. 

He wrapped his arms around her, his heart simultaneously aching and beating fast. 

"Of course," he replied. 

"Of course." he said again, burying his nose into her hair. 

She let go of him eventually, but he kept his arm around her, his instinct to protect her was so strong. 

Like she was made of the most delicate glass in the world. 

"Listen, if you," he began after a while of her calming down. 

She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow slightly. 

"If you want to... talk about it... Whenever, I'll... I'll listen. It doesn't have to be right now. It doesn't have to be at all if you don't want it to be but... I'm, I'm here for you." He stuttered out. 

Emi sighed, "I don't want to talk about it right now but... Maybe later. Back at the hotel." She replied. 

He nodded, "Of course."

Emi smiled at him, and his throat tightened. 

The smile was slightly broken but it was there and it was Emi and Sota was glad to see it. 

She leaned back into his chest, his arm tightening slightly around her. 

"I really appreciate you being here." 

"I'm glad to be here." 

"Ready to go?" he asked as Emi grabbed a few Jolly Ranchers from the bag. 

"Yeah," Emi breathed, feeling much better. 

She was obviously still upset with everything that had happened but Sota managed to calm her down and bring her the comfort that she needed in order to bring her back to reality. 

He brought her out of her own head in the moment. 

She stood up and stumbled a bit. 

Sota grabbed her elbow protectively. 

Emi shook her head slightly, trying to ground herself. 

The whole ordeal left her a little shaky in general. 

Sota handed her the plastic bag. 

"Hold this." 

She grabbed it and he turned around, squatting slightly so Emi could hop on his back. 

"What?" Emi let out. 

"Hop on." He smiled back at her. 

"I'm heavy." 

"I play baseball. Heavy is good." 

Emi hit his arm lightly and he laughed. 

"I promise I can handle it. Hop on." 

She was hesitant but hopped onto his back. 

As he stood she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly, but not too tight as to choke him. 

"Okay wow this is really high." she said, looking around. 

Sota laughed. 

"Comfy?" he asked. 

Emi nodded, unintentionally nuzzling against the back of his neck. 

He would have gone weak at the knees, but he didn't want to drop her. 

"Let's go." he said, beginning to walk. 

Emi felt so safe, she couldn't recall the last time she had felt this safe after something so upsetting. 

She tried to push all thoughts of Joji from her mind, focusing on developing different height jokes to say to Sota. 

She really felt so tall. 

She was fairly short compared to Sota, so being the subject of a piggy back ride by him was wild. 

After a few minutes into the walk, she asked, "Are you tired, yet?" 

"Exhausted," he joked, putting strain in his voice on purpose. 

Emi chuckled lightly before digging the candy bag out. 

"Which one do you like?" 

He looked down at the bag. 

"Green Apple." he said. 

Emi dug out a green apple candy, unwrapping it and holding it to Sota's mouth. 

"Here," 

He was glad she was on his back and couldn't quite see the rouge that appeared in his cheeks. 

He took the candy between his teeth and Emi threw the wrapper back into the bag. 

Sota looked to his right and saw strangers smiling at them. 

He ducked his head and smiled to himself. 

"Let's make the ramyun when we get back to the hotel. They have a coffee pot, we can use it to boil water." 

"Mn." Emi hummed in agreement. 

Haru was still asleep by the time they made it back to the hotel, so Sota offered to host Emi in his room. 

She agreed.