I kept shifting around in my bed, pulling the covers all over and having them entangled around my body. I had been doing this for the past... well, possibly two or three hours now. I couldn't sleep. It must have been around four in the morning, more or less.

I let out a deep sigh, which wouldn't be the last.

"Mrrrrow?" My furry companion looked at me, her green eye unblinking as she leaned her nose near my face, her ears perked towards me as she swayed her tail. 'Can't sleep?'

I smiled gently at her, sniffing and wiping my cheeks. I barely felt my face and eyes, everything started to feel numb and my eyes were dry. "I know," I whispered. "I know he's fine and all, but...." I raised my hand and gently scratched her chin, making her close her eye and lean into my touch with a few purrs. "... I just can't sleep. Not after everything that happened today." I stared at her unblinking. "Do you think it was all just a dream?"

My hands were clear now, and so was the rest of my body. After I spent nearly two hours in the shower, almost having a panic attack in process as I repetitively scrubbed every inch of my body and hands clean - in a very violent way, if you excuse me - and changed into my fuzzy, warm and comfortable pajamas, I should have felt better. Not gonna lie, a good cleaning and a relaxing bath was something I needed, but no matter how much I scrubbed and cleaned my hands, I could still somehow see, feel and smell Baji's blood on me almost everywhere.

Everytime I looked at my hands, for a few seconds I could even see them soaked in blood and scare myself, leaving me panting and trembling.

It wasn't that I was disgusted from Baji's blood that much, it was the feeling of blood lingering and haunting all my senses that kept bringing me back, making me fear that maybe once I drop my guard and close my eye, I will go back to that place and time.

And maybe this time, Baji's heart will beat no more.

I sighed again, not finding it in my power to cry, nor have any kind of anxiety attack after so many today, I was both physically and mentally exhausted to even do that.

"It's okay," I kept telling myself as I gently pulled Angel in my arms, letting her cuddle close to my chest. She purred and curled into a ball, yawning and pressing her warm body against me. I could feel her deep, constant purring and the vibrations sent some calm waves to my body, senses and heart. "It's okay..." I whispered once again, hugging her close and letting my eyes gently close as I curled around my cat.

Baji was okay - or at least alive, so that was all I needed. That should have been enough to put my mind in ease and let myself relax, but the constant traumatic memories replaying non-stop, regardless of whether I closed my eyes or not, kept reminding me that Baji had been a step away from death and I watched it happen. I almost had Baji die in my arms.

During that moment, it really felt that I lost him forever, and that feeling alone was the most dreadful feeling I had ever felt in my life.

And I could only wish I would never have to feel the same thing again ever.

"Meow!" Angel meowed sweetly, raising her head at me and gently patting my face and cheek with her paw. 'Snap out of it!'

I looked at her with tired, red puffy eyes. My eyes watered and closed a bit, a tear running down. I sniffed and smiled, chuckling in a bittersweet way, my lip trembling. "You're so cute... look at you." I gently pushed my nose against her soft paw, not even caring of the possibility of her scratching at me. ".... I'm sorry I left you alone all day. I should have been here for you..." I used my finger to gently press her paw, which made her playfully pat my hand. "... playing with you and spending time with you. You know, doing.... cat stuff together." Angel started rubbing herself against me. ".... I know you cats are mostly independent creatures and... you didn't have any trouble without me here all this time." I glanced away at her two cat bowls that had been filled with food and water by someone, even when I was out that day. "...." I sighed and hid my face against her colorful fur. "I'm sorry. I just brought you home and I'm already a terrible cat mom." I muttered quietly. "Already neglecting you...." I laid there silently for a while. ".... I was really scared." I whispered against her. I couldn't see anything aside from darkness as I kept my face against her body, hugging her close. "I just couldn't leave him, you know?" I sighed, "I'm just so stre-"

"Mrrawww!" Angel meowed and placed her paw on my mouth as I was speaking, touching my lips. She proceeded to bump her face gently against mine and rubbed herself all over her way to my neck. I coughed a bit and waved my hand around to get rid of any cat hair flying around me, but I chuckled gently. She softly laid her face against my neck, her body rising as she herself sighed and closed her eye, curling herself around me once again.

I looked at her demeanor and started giggling, smiling geniuenly. I hugged her, "Aw... And here I thought you were a good listener. I'm hurt that you don't want to hear me vent." I joked, sighing and slowly relaxing upon her warmth. "Okay, I get it.. It's late and you want to sleep. We both need some sleep." I corrected and softly smiled. ".... You're right, though. Why am I worrying and stressing so much right now? Everyone's okay and alive, so...." I inhaled and exhaled, pulling the covers closer to my body and grapsing onto my pillow, my eyes narrowing.

Yeah, all is good. Exactly. I'm just exhausted and possibly traumatized from today, but tomorrow is a new day. I'll wake up nice and bright and head straight to the hospital. I'll feel much better and calmer when I see he's doing okay. "... I'll go visit him tomorrow." And see Ryoko and everyone visiting him. I hope they're doing okay.

My fingers were gently running around Angel's soft fur as I watched her body slowly rise up and down with every breath.

Kazutora's smile flashed in my mind, with him holding onto Angel.

My hand stopped, remaining motionless.

".... I wonder if Kazutora is okay."

-------------------------------------

Harry was whistling a quiet tune in the kitchen, wrapping a few sandwiches and fruits with tissues and placing them inside a bento box.

He shifted his gaze at me, his brown eyes softening and a gentle smile graced his lips. "Ah, good morning, sweetie. Didn't expect you to wake up so..." He stared at my tired face for a few seconds, his expression grimacing in sadness. "Honey, you didn't get much sleep, did you?"

So, it was more evident than I thought. I groaned, closing my very tired eyes and rubbing them gently. I didn't even walk to the bathroom yet to see or clean myself, so I didn't know to give Harry a warning about my face. Angel was following right beside me, swaying her tail and meowing happily.

Harry sighed softly and continued preparing the food and stuffing it inside. "I figured you'd be tired from yesterday so I was planning on letting you sleep in, but since you're awake and not going back to sleep-?!" "--Meow!"

He paused and looked at his feet to see Angel sitting next to him, swaying her tail and pawing at his leg.

He glared down at her softly. "... No. This isn't for you. It's for Ryoko, you eat your own food."

My ears perked at this. "... Ryoko?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, glancing at me, "We're visiting the hospital in a bit. "We did offer Ryoko a ride to her house last night when we were leaving the hospital, but she refused and decided to stay in the hospital for Baji, remember? I doubt she has eaten anything all night." Harry started finishing the final touched. "Not gonna leave my friend like this. We're paying Baji a visit and bringing Ryoko something to eat."

I then noticed someone entering the house. It was H/n, he was already dressed and he walked in with a colorful bouquet of flowers. There was a note stuck against them writing 'For Baji'. H/n noticed me and gave me a small smile and a nod for good morning. It seemed like he left to the florist while I was asleep to get flowers for Baji. I didn't expect that from him.

I blinked at them, changing position as I was standing. "... Were you planning on leaving without me? You should have woken me up sooner."

"Well - I wasn't planning on waking you up so early." Harry said and started wrapping the bento box in a bag. "You needed to get plenty of rest - which you obviously did not. I'm sure you had trouble sleeping last night and I didn't want to disturb you, I'd wake you up later."

"It's fine," I waved my hand, walking towards the bathroom to get all cleaned up. "I'm awake now." It was evident from my face, the way I walked and spoke that I was not doing very okay and I was completely restless with less than two hours of sleep. Either way, even if I did want to sleep further, I just couldn't. I needed to get to the hospital and see Baji as soon as possible... and hoped that Ryoko was okay. I wondered if anyone was already there, visiting. "I'll go get ready. I won't take too long."

"We are not going anywhere until you have breakfast!"

---------------------------------------

It was taking everything in my power to keep myself calm and not start running across the hallways of the hospital, and even if my heart was thumping fast, I needed to walk normally alongside H/n and Harry. Yuri was at work.

As we reached the area outside Baji's room, we saw Ryoko talking to one of the doctors. The doctor nodded and left. The woman crossed her arms and went to sit down on one of the chairs but she looked at us, her eyes widening in surprise. It was evident on her face and the dark circles under her eyes that she hadn't gotten any sleep there, either.

We approached her and Harry took her in a quick, comforting hug before he gave her the bag with the food. "Here, you're gonna need this. You look like you haven't eaten anything."

"You didn't have to..." She smiled wamrly as she accepted the bag, then looked at H/n and me and wrapped her arms around each of our necks, pulling us close to her and hugging us. "I'm so glad you guys are here... Thank you."

"We couldn't leave you two here by yourselves." I said and gently pat her back. We pulled away and H/n raised the bouquet of flowers. "These are for Baji."

"You guys are sweethearts," She wiped a tear from her eye before she glanced at the door behind her. "You can put them in his room."

At the realization that we were permitted to enter his room, H/n and I exchanged glances and we started heading to Baji's room. Ryoko and dad followed behind.

My heart was beating like crazy and I couldn't even form thoughts in my head as I started picturing a billion of scenarios happening now. Trying to depict seeing Baji with different ways and his expressions and words different with each different scenario, as if trying to predict the next seconds.

H/n grasped onto the handle of the door, twisting it and opening the door as we stepped inside.

"....." I stared almost blankly at Baji, my footsteps slowing down and eventually coming to a stop as I landed my eyes on him.

His eyes were closed and his face was pale, not as pale as yesterday, as far as I could tell. He was wearing a baby blue hospital shirt and he was covered by white sheets. His hair was sprawled everywhere around him.

There were a lot of cables all over him and different sorts of needles linked on his arms and body. He also wore an oxygen mask and the heart monitor connected to him was beeping with the beat of his heart.

"He's been like this since yesterday." Ryoko answered quietly, staring at her son. "Doctors said they don't know when he will wake up."

-------------------------------------------------

As usual, silence was occupying the house and almost every single corner of each room. Aside from the television that was playing a random show, volume lowered to almost zero. The sound was just enough to create some kind of quiet white nose for the ones occupying the living room.

The two siblings were blankly staring at the television, with serious and tired looks on there faces. It had been a while since Yuzuha finished helping her brother cleaning and re-patching some of the minor wounds he got from the Valhalla fight and after that. During that time, they were quietly having their own conversation, mostly Hakkai telling Yuzuha parts of the fight that happened less than a day ago, more or less. He didn't have any other choice, especially when Yuzuha looked worried over her brother's condition. He was fine, in comparison to some others that Hakkai made sure to mention. Nothing he couldn't handle.

The two, after all, had been going through much worse. A few scratches and bruises here and there were nothing new and foreign or difficult to either of the two.

".....u-um, hey Yuzuha-" Hakkai stumbled over his words, looking down and anxiously playing with his thumbs. They were both sitting next to each other on one of the couches, the light of the television flashing right on them.

Yuzuha looked at Hakkai. He almost flinched at her attention, mostly due to the fact that he was quite nervous and unsure of how to bring a huge detail up, one that he wasn't too sure of how Yuzuha would react. Since... The feelings would be very mixed.

".... Y/n was there, too."

Yuzuha's eyes frowned and hardened a bit.

"D-Don't worry-!" Hakkai jumped in right before she could said anything, "She's okay, I promise. She's unharmed, just..." His face twisted in hurt, sadness and guilt as he remembered what she went through there and everything she had done, especially for Draken and Baji. From what he knew, she had shoved herself in danger more than once for someone, even if it meant her getting hurt, scared or covered in blood.

Just like he remembers her.

"How- What happened?" Yuzuha interrupted, fully facing Hakkai. "Did someone force her in? Why was she there?"

"I dunno," The blue-haired boy shrugged. "I was just fighting and I remember she appeared out of nowhere. Don't remember exactly when and how, because... Well, I was too busy keeping eyes around me - but she had help! People were there to protect her, H/n was there too, so she was fine, I didn't have to worry about her much..." He excused, which was a pretty understandable and valid excuse. How could he go running and playing prince charming when he was in risk by getting attacked by every single enemy in his area? He was pretty far from her, too.

Not that he was proud of not having had the chance to be of help.

It was a shock for Hakkai to see her after such a long time - years even. He never expected Mikey of all people, to actually introduce her to everyone. It was just so random back when it happened, maybe it was before the Moebius fight - or was it after that?

He was almost left with his mouth dropped open when he saw how much she had changed and the fact that Mikey knew her and was so soft on her and friendly. And not just him-

He couldn't deny it, but deep down, he was more than happy to get to see her again. He had almost forgotten about her after she left for years and didn't return soon. He was sad for a while, even if the two rarely ever interacted with each other - she was so, so kind and sweet! It was great to see Yuzuha making friends with such a nice person. Someone to even stand up for the two even against Taiju.

And her voice, her kindness - He would never forget the way she stood up for him and Yuzuha against Taiju that one time she was staying over. Even if Hakkai had accidentally broken that damned vase, Y/n didn't want to let neither of the Shiba siblings get hurt, even putting herself in the warzone if it meant protecting them. If it weren't for her, the two would have received a very strong beating for sure. Taiju was already short-tempered and he wasn't happy with destroyed furniture.

Hakkai could only remember staring in pure horror as Taiju stormed her way, raising his hand and fist at her, he couldn't even push himself forward to help or protect her - it was Yuzuha that did. It was always Yuzuha being brave and protecting everyone. Even now at the Valhalla fight, although Hakkai had seen that Y/n was surrounded by people who were doing fine protecting her without his assistance, he still couldn't help but feel helpless, knowing he still was unable to do anything to help her, even after through all these years.

She approached him, back then, she gently treated his wounds and she hugged him - the last people he could remember hugging him were his deceased dear mother and his sister. He couldn't even remember Taiju being there or his father holding him. Maybe he was too young.

But Y/n gently hugged him, providing him with a safe enclosure for him to feel safety and warmth in. He never knew he could feel such warmth in another person's arms like that, especially a girl. He felt so nice and safe, he could still almost feel and hear the sound of her heartbeat that day when they were children.

Y/n did so much for them, brought so much good into their family, both him, Yuzuha and even Taiju, yet Hakkai had still yet to do anything in return for her, and that was eating him from the inside.

The more Y/n had started being present to their lives in the past, the happier Yuzuha felt and even the amount of abuse Taiju had been inflicting on them started to decrease by a bit. He wasn't sure if Yuzuha had noticed at that time, but he for sure did. He thought that maybe, if Y/n continued to stick around more, she would bring more happiness and peace into their household.

But that went away the moment she had to leave the country. It didn't take long for Taiju to go back to his usual abusive tactics. The bruises started showing up again.

It saddened Hakkai a lot for a few weeks when he learned that she was not coming back anytime soon, it was a dramatic change that affected him, but of course, after a while he got used to it and Y/n started showing up in his mind less and less.

Until she appeared again and she even showed up a few times with Toman in dangerous situations, and that made him panic.

He was too scared and timid to approach her and talk to her - Oh no- no way! He would just stand there like an idiot and pass out. He kinda did want her to notice him and see that he was there in the crowd, too, and had been. He had noticed her. But of course, he doubted he had been noticed by her due to how many people were in Toman, she wouldn't focus on every single head there. Nor would she even remember him at all.

At the same time, he had been too... too weak and cowardly to do anything and protect her. Not like it was his job or anything, nobody told him that he had to do that, but knowing how much she had done for them and he did nothing to return a single favor left a burden on his back.

"Remember all that about Baji I told you, well..." Hakkai continued, "Y/n was, um...." He cleared his throat, "Pretty scared and sad about it, but no worries, Baji is alive as I said and she's fine. Not harmed," He reassured, although he did want to skip some details.

When Hakkai saw her for the first time after years when Mikey called her with him, he was ecstatic to tell Yuzuha about the news. He knew she would be delighted to hear that her best friend came back from abroad after four years.

Turned out, she already knew about Y/n returning before Hakkai learned. But still, he still told her about Y/n.

To this very day, he did make sure to leave some heavy details about the Moebius parts and her getting hurt in any way to Yuzuha. He didn't want his sister to worry more than she did. She wouldn't react nicely to knowing exactly in detail what Y/n had been through all this time and upset her, especially when nothing could be done about it now. So, Hakkai just made sure to keep things shorter than they were.

"Say," Hakkai asked, "You haven't seen or talked to Y/n ever since she arrived and it's been some while now. Why is that? Did you girls have a fight or something?"

"No, not at all!" Yuzuha denied with a single shake of the head. She smiled shortly, "I've actually been looking forward to seeing her. It's just that..." Her tone got quieter and she gently placed a finger over her face, that had some patched wounds and big, ugly bruises and cuts along with other parts of her body. Her smile faded, and Hakkai winced when he saw her like this. It always hurt to see his sister this way, but he had gotten so used to seeing himself and his sister being covered in ugly marks like these for such a long time that it had become an everyday look for him, a normal thing for his eyes to see even if he didn't want that.

Yuzuha lowered her gaze, "I just need some time... for these to get better and heal. Make-up is not enough to fully cover these yet..."

They were both immediately silenced upon hearing slow, dangerous and loud steps of a pair of boots, menacingly waltzing somewhere outside the living room, making their way to the exit door of the house. But during that slow, never-ending and agonizing moment, the entire place felt once again, like a horror movie scene, with deadly silence increasing the anxiety while waiting for something bad to happen.

Taiju wouldn't just appear out of nowhere and terrorize them out of the blue, but considering how crazed and unhinged he had gotten over the years and how easily he could be irritated, even by a very tiny word or action, such as forgetting the lights of an unoccupied room open could end dramatically. They never liked dealing with the consequences of doing anything to anger him in any way.

They both had to be scared. Every single kind of look, glance, word, sound mistake could lead to serious and unpleasant situations, they were never looking forward to meeting his fists and anger. Every single movement of his brought them on edge, his moving presence over the house bringing a terrifying, threatening aura that reminded them they could not be fully comfortable and relaxed and drop their guard. He was like some sort of devil or reaper, moving somewhere and you'd get the chills and fear that something would happen if he looked at you in the eye.

They constantly had this feeling of insecurity or even felt like they had done something wrong and Taiju would start yelling at them and hit them again, even if they had actually not done anything in the first place. Even them forgetting to do the chores and laundry or doing something incorrectly could have them begging for mercy.

Well, it mostly depended on his mood. He was pretty unpredictable after all, so this could mean that they would either get away with something with a simple glare or scold in the best case, or in the worst...

The younger Shiba siblings remained silent for half a minute, even after they confirmed Taiju had left the house.

Hakkai's eyes were wide and tense and he could feel himself sweating a bit. He swallowed hard and blinked a few times, his gaze moving to Yuzuha, who had closed her eyes and exhaled. She looked down at her palm. "I don't want her to see me like this right now." She continued, referring to the bruises she has on her face and body. She couldn't have her best friend seeing her in this condition looking like that everywhere. She wanted Y/n to be happy, not worried. Even if it meant delaying their time of meeting, telling her she was sick, finding a few excuses not to see her yet and even ghosting her messages and calls every now and then. Poor Y/n was trying to reach out to her, and Yuzuha was afraid she would get worried or mad at her.

She frowned and tightened her fist, looking up in front of her again. "I'll give it some time for them to return back to normal first." She smiled determined, taking her hand away. "Then I'll definitely see her again, Hakkai."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you, sweetheart."

I nodded at Ryoko as I handed her the warm coffee I got for her that she desperately needed. She took a soft inhale of the smoke that was coming out from the opening of the lid, exhaling softly as I went back sitting on the seat I was occupying on one side of Baji, Ryoko sitting on the opposite side.

She took a very tiny sip, looking down at Baji. "As I was saying, once Keisuke wakes up, I know he will hate me for it, but I mean it when I say this whole stupid delinquent shit for him is over." She huffed, sniffing and holding her coffee tighter, her brown eyes frowning, "I don't care even if he is growing up and he can make his own decisions, if his decisions lead him to this, then this is where I need to step up. I need to take more responsibility - I am still.his mother and need to set boundaries. I let him go down the wrong path, gave him too much freedom-" She sighed in frustration, hiding her face. "God, I'm a shitty mother..."

"Don't say that," I whispered gently, taking my eyes off Baji, my face twisting in hurt by her own self-hating words. 

"But look at him-" She raised her hand, looking at him. "Look what he did to himself, and I wasn't even there to stop it!" Her voice trembled and she looked at me, her eyes tearing up again. "Where did I go wrong? I- Did I neglect him? I wasn't there for him, I should have been spending more time with, talking with him about everything, his day, his feelings, his worries-" She paused, looking at him. "... If he would even open up to me, that is. He's very secretive about lots of things, it really gives you the false idea that he's fine... What has my boy been going through? I wasn't there for him." She placed her coffee on the empty chair on the nearby table, exhaling and laying her elbows on the bed, letting her head hung low. "I wasn't enough for him."

I stared at her in silence as she said all these things, the only sound being Baji's heart monitor and Ryoko's occasional sniffles.

I slowly stood up from my seat and walked over to Ryoko's side, sitting on the chair next to her and gently rubbing her back. "You're a wonderful mother, miss Ryoko. And Baji loves you a lot." I looked over at Baji's sleeping face. "He wouldn't be happy listening to you talk like this. You raised him very well." I smiled gently, looking down. ".... He's strong and kind, he's helpful, always there when you need him..." Images of his smile started flashing on my mind from a young boy and as he started growing up. "He makes you smile and laugh even on the worst days and he teaches you a lot. Takes you on adventures, help you see that world differently..." I looked at her, continuing to rub her back. "Baji is wonderful and so are you. You didn't do anything wrong. You know how he is."

She raised her face a bit, looking at Baji with a frown. "Then why did he do this?"

"...." I stared at Baji and went silent at her question.

I started recalling previous day's events, where Baji and everyone were talking, and people's faces flashing up. Baji, Mikey, Kazutora...

I blinked my eyes, quickly returning to reality. "... We'll find out later, that's not the nost important part right now. We should just... focus on him now and hope he wakes up soon. I'm sure he'll tell us himself when the time comes." I said shortly, staring unblinking at Baji, hoping that from this moment to the next, I would see a flutter in his eyes or a small, any kind of physical movement that would indicate he is coming back.

Ryoko sighed again, straightening her posture and rubbing her eyes. "Time will tell." She exhaled, before clearing her throat and changing voice tone, looking at me. "Are you planning on staying longer?"

Harry and H/n left earlier than me after spending nearly an hour here in the hospital, but I insisted I stayed longer. I didn' want to leave do soon yet, and they let me since Ryoko was here, too.

"Yeah," I hummed, "Don't worry about it. I'll just call H/n to pick me up with the bike later."

"I wouldn't mind giving you a ride home."

A few knocks on the door interrupted us and we turned our heads to the door opening. A certain blond came rushing in, panting a bit, his wide green eye scanning the room, moving to Ryoko, me and then Baji. He exhaled a few times, softly closing the door behind him and walking in, "I-I'm really sorry for coming uninvited like that-"

"We were expecting you, come here, take a seat." Ryoko slowly stood up, taking a hold of her coffee. "Here, I'll let you guys chat, gonna go out for some fresh air."

Ryoko left the room and Chifuyu walked inside, sitting down next to me. Before I could speak- "I know, I'm already informed." Chifuyu stared at Baji with a solemn expression. "H/n told Mikey and Mikey told everyone.."

I hummed, looking at Baji, as well. "Yeah, the news weren't that pleasant, huh."

"Well," He exhaled deeply through his mouth, "I mean.... No but, at least it's better than if it had ended another way. I just hope he wakes up soon."

I nodded, "He will."

There was silence after that as Chifuyu started looking all over the place and Baji, seeing all medical equipment everywhere and on his body, his eyes scanning the place and heart monitor. He looked back at Baji again.

".... Can you really believe what happened yesterday?" He asked. "I don't. It feels like a fever dream, or like- I don't know. It didn't actually happen." He frowned. "But to see Baji here like this.... I never expected to ever see Baji in a hospital like this in a coma."

"Me neither," I agreed. "He's just always running around with his thick skull, always in trouble, one way or another... It's weird to see him like this. Unnatural, even. It's like this isn't Baji." I said, my gaze softening upon observing his face. Eyes closed and lips shut in a straight line. Face pale and hair spread over his shoulders and pillow. ".... He looks so peaceful, though."

Chifuyu snorted quietly, "Yeah, I'm sure that the moment he opens his eyes he'll probably look like a dracula." I giggled at his words, "Yeah, he'll wanna punch us in our faces by the shit we're talking about him."

Although our temporary smiles were suppose to lighten the mood, it somehow made the atmosphere feel more bittersweet and heavy.

"I don't know about you," I decided to break the ice, "But I actually feel a bit calmer in comparison to yesterday. I couldn't sleep at all last night. I was too busy thinking about Baji, but now that I am here and I can see him..." I stared at Baji's face, resisting the urge to gently hold his hand and caress his cheek. "I feel at peace."

Chifuyu stared at me and then back at Baji. "... Yeah, you're right. I feel the same way, too. Didn't sleep last night either."

The look on his face was blank, his eyes were baggy and his face was pale. He was just staring at Baji unblinking. He looked like he was holding back on emotions. And he had been through the beginning, but his brave and courageous facade slowly started to crack.

"Do you need a moment with him, Chifuyu?"

He looked at me as I asked that with a lot of consideration and warmth. His lower lip twitched slightly, indicating that he was about to speak, yet no word came out. His eyes told me enough.

I gave him a gentle, sympathetic smile and a gently rub on his shoulder. "Take as much time as you need, I'll be right outside." He blinked and raised his hand and opened his mouth to spill words of protest, but I had already got up and headed outside the room, closing the door behind me and giving Chifuyu and his captain some space and time to themselves.

----------------------------------

I stared down at the screen of my phone as I was sitting on one of the chairs outside in the waiting room, staring at the missed calls and unanswered text messages I sent to Yuzuha for the past few days now, yet there was no sign of her. She had told me she was sick and busy at times, which was understandable but at some point I started getting worried whether she was just ignoring me or trying to avoid me for whatever reason, or worse, something had happened to her. I had been tempted to even show up to her house uninvited, but the two things pulling me back was the recent incident that didn't really put me in the best position to do much...

And the second one, which was something that made me feel even a bit embarassed, was, well...... The eldest Shiba sibling.

Taiju.

It had been four years since I last saw him or even heard of him.

When Yuzuha and I were texting or calling - which was suspiciously rarely -, she would sometimes tell me Taiju had been treating her and Hakkai better but after a certain point she completely stopped mentioning anything about him. After a while, I just started assuming things were getting better so I didn't question much.

I was curious to see just how much Taiju had changed, both in personality and looks. I could imagine him being more mature and calm with the time, which was a pretty reassuring thought, but at the same time the traumas from the past were still ringing the 'danger' bells that made me feel too nervous to suddenly show up to their house. Fearing that Taiju would be there and for whatever reason beat the shit out of me.

Even a big part of me felt like this was an exaggeration, but still, knowing some things about how abusive he used to be to his siblings had me fearing that for some people and in some cases, old habits die hard.

How was Hakkai doing? Sometimes my memory would be quite hazy and I would forget details Yuzuha would tell me about things, but she would occasionally bring up Hakkai once in a while.

The only thing I could remember was that Hakkai's fear and awkwardness around girls did not deteriorate in the slightest. This had me thinking that maybe it would be a good thing for Hakkai to visit a therapist?

But the most important thing for me was to see Yuzuha again. I missed her. I missed her voice, I missed her smile, her pretty eyes, beautiful hair and our time together.

It truly felt like reconnecting with her would heal parts of me.

That's why I was feeling so worried over her suddenly disappearing like that and replying after days and a long time, just giving me reasons she couldn't answer me or see me.

I had turned on my phone while sitting outside Baji's room to keep myself distracted, and it mostly worked. But it was not a positive distraction.

Oh well. I'd just keep trying to contact her, and if she still kept disappearing... maybe I would actually end up showing to her house, hoping that Taiju wouldn't kill me and that Yuzuha was fine and safe and wasn't avoiding me on purpose to whatever reason.

There was a click from the door and it opened, revealing Chifuyu coming out after around thirty minutes. His eyes were a bit more puffy and I could see parts of his face and cheeks be a bit wetx indicating that he had gotten a bit emotional there. He sniffed and rubbed her eye with his wrist to clean the traces of tears. I didn't judge.

Ryoko, who had returned back to the hospital didn't notice Chifuyu, since she was too busy speaking to the doctors.

"Hey, do you wanna go somewhere and eat breakfast?" Chifuyu asked, trying to play it cool as he approached me. I stood up. "I figured it's still early, and I don't know if you had anything to eat earlier."

Chifuyu was really considerate. Thanks to dad, I did have breakfast, even if it was light. It was just enough to keep me energized, although I couldn't stomach a lot through the anxiety and stress.

I could just stay here with Baji for longer, I didn't want to leave him, but it didn't seem like Chifuyu had breakfast himself. Since he offered to go together, I would have felt terrible to refuse his offer and let him stay hungry or him going on his own. It was also a good opportunity for us to spend some time together more.

Plus, Baji was alright. He was resting and his mother was here for him.

I nodded with a smile. "Sure, just give me a second and I'll be back." I said, heading inside Baji's room again, closing the door.

I slowly walked closer to his side, taking a few seconds to observe him gently. I looked down at his pale hand, his knuckles were covered with some wounds from fighting and punching, but it wasn't anything severe. I placed my hand on top of his.

"Chifuyu and I are going out for breakfast. Sorry I can't stay here longer." I frowned but then quickly smiled softly. "I promise, I'll be visiting often. Maybe everyday too, if I can. I'll... I'll be keeping you updated about things as much as I can. Okay?" I slowly leaned closer to him and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, closing my eyes and letting my lips linger for two or three seconds further than I intended. I pulled away, rubbing his hand and looking down at it. "Wish you could have joined us for breakfast. I'm sure you'd be dying for some food right now, like yakisoba-" I paused, cringing at my choice of word 'dying' in this situation. I shook my head, biting my lower lip. ".... sorry."

I sighed and pulled my hand away slowly. "Please, wake up as soon as possible. People are worried about you and they miss you. I miss you... So don't keep us waiting. We have a lot of stuff tondo together once you wake up." I smiled at him lovingly. "I'll wait for you, and I will be by your side until and after you do. No more stupid decisions thatput your life in danger. You already worried us all enough, your mother, too." With a heavy heart, even though I wanted nothing more but to talk to Baji for hours and sit by his side and see him wake up, I knew I couldn't do that. And he probably wouldn't want that, either. He'd want me to take care of myself, just like everyone. But that didn't mean I wouldn't visit him frequently and talk to him, about Toman, my day, us, anything and everything.

I needed to be there from now on, by his side and cherish him, protect him and do everything in my power to make sure he wouldn't end up like that.

God, we really should never take our loved ones for granted. I need to cherish them all, more.

----------------------------------------

Chifuyu and I had settled down to a cozy little cafe with a nice, warmn temperature and relaxing music playing in the backround.

It was almost weird for me to feel this relaxed again, considering everything that had happened.

But everything was alright. Right?

I was staring at the food and drink I had ordered right in front of me in the cute cutlery I was given, and Chifuyu was talking and enjoying his breakfast right in front of me.

I could only suppose that knowing where Baji was and me having seen him had helped me tremendously. After all, all I needed was to ensure he was okay.

It was understandable that he wouldn't wake up from one moment to the other with such a huge trauma that his body went through. Surely, it would take him a while to come back to his form, but also the image of his serene expression made my heart slow down and feel warm enough for me to feel a bit relaxed.

..... I was really looking forward to seeing him awake and talking to him, though.

My negative thoughts were shaken off as Chifuyu was yapping. He was doing a great job at keeping me distracted with easy topics, so it was safe for me to say I was doing alright.

Chifuyu's phone started to ring and he almost flinched, pausing on his words. "Oh, uh, excuse me, one sec-" He muttered as he searched through his pockets for his phone, taking it out. His eyes widened, "Oh, it's Takemitchy!" He informed and picked it up. "Hello?"

I could faintly hear a rather high, upbeat tone speak from the other side of the phone from the distance. From the voice and tone, even if Chifuyu didn't tell me, it was rather easy to understand that it was indeed Takemitchy. Although, I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Yes, I did," Chifuyu replied, looking around. "He hasn't awaken yet, obviously. Y/n was there, too. We left like twenty minutes ago, we're having breakfast at a nearby cafe." Chifuyu explained and I played with my food as I listened to Takemitchy's voice, until Chifuyu started talking again. "Oh, you're with Hina?"

My ears perked up at the name.

I hadn't seen that girl for a while now, probably ever since the Moebius incident.

"Oh, you're on your way? What a coincidence, great. We'll see you outside." Chifuyu hung up the phone and smiled at me. "It's Takemitchy - He's with Hina and they are actually nearby. They're heading our way now, let's go greet them."

We both made sure to pay and walked outside of the cafe, refreshed with a well-fed stomach as we stop there together, waiting for Takemitchy and Hina to arrive.

After five minutes, we could see them both heading our way. Hina and eye made eye-contact. She smiled and closed her eyes- and oh my lord, she was adorable I felt my heart do the thing.

"Y/n, Chifuyu!" Hina ran our way, greeting us but she spread her arms and gently pulled me in a soft hug. "How have you been? It feels like ages since we last talked!"

"Hina-chan, hi!" I hugged her back, happily. "Great to see you again!"

While Hina and I were being all cute and happy for the sudden meet-up, the boys next to us were more relaxed and serious - most likely due to the fact that they have been seeing each other a lot and did yesterday too, and they were talking about Baji. But I couldn't pay much attention to them, since Hina had it.

She frowned, "You don't look too well. I'm... sorry about your friend, hope he gets well soon!"

"Ah..." I smiled bitterly. "Yeah- Don't worry about it- I'm fine. Just had a little less sleep than usual... And yeah, Baji will be fine. Thank you." I immediately changed the topic as I looked at her. She was wearing a cute pink top with baggy jeans, a cute hat and a darker shade of pink jacket on her paired with her brown boots, some accessories and some make-up. "I love your outfit, by the way. You look gorgeous!"

"Awww, thank you!~" Hina giggled, putting her hands on her cheeks bashfully, "How kind of you!"

My smile slightly faded as I heard Takemitchy speak, "..... so Draken and I are heading to the juvie to see Kazutora. We have some things to talk to him about..." He blinked, scratching the back of his head.

Chifuyu blinked too, staring owlishly at Takemitchy, before his face darkened slightly, eyes narrowing. "Oh, I see..."

Kazutora.

I stared at Takemitchy, almost tempted to tell him that I wanted to come along, because deep down, I wanted to see him and talk to him myself.

At the same time, everything was still fresh and intense, even Chifuyu didn't seem to know how to feel about everything and Kazutora.

Plus, Takemitchy and Draken most likely had things to discuss with Kazutora privately, maybe it would be too intrusive if I tried to interfere.

"But..." Takemitchy said nervously, almost whispering to Chifuyu but he was not exactly whispering, since he was heard pretty well by Hina and I. "I'm out with Hina right now and he hung up before I could ask him if we could go later... I don't want to leave he-"

"It's fine, Takemitchy!" Hina smiled cutely at him, catching him by surprise. She looked at me, hands behind her. "Y/n, do you have any plans for today, or are you busy with your boyfriend right now?"

.......

....... My what?

"U-Um, sorry wha..?" I blinked a few times, slightly tilting my head with a small, confused frown and slowly pointed at myself. But then I noticed her glance between me and Chifuyu. I looked at him and the moment I saw him flinch and turn red and flustered, I got what she meant.

"Eh- wait, uh- this is just a misunderstanding! I'm not-" Chifuyu blurted bashfully, waving his hands around, "We're not- uh-"

Hina gasped, her cheeks flushing and she covered her mouth when she realized that she did in fact misunderstand the situation, thinking of Chifuyu and I as a couple. "Oh, um-! I'm really sorry- I didn't-...!" She clearly misunderstood the situation and saw the two of us as a couple, since we were together and stuff.

Damn. This is awkward.

I swear, these two totally look like a couple from another perspective! Oops- or maybe they could have a crush on each other and not have opened up and made it official? Since they are both blushing and- or I just made them nervous, eek..!

...... So, does Y/n have a boyfriend in the first place or....?

"It's fine-" I laughed nervously, tucking some of my hair behind my ear and glancing over at Chifuyu once. "Not really, I'm free..." I swallowed a bit, asking Chifuyu but afraid I was giving the wrong impression. "What about you, Chifuyu?"

"I'll have to get going home." He casually said, clearing his throat and avoiding eye-contact with me for a moment, pouting a bit. "I promised my mom to help her with some stuff at home today."

Hina was observing the two of us, lost in her own thoughts for a bit, before she smiled again softly. "Then, how about we spend time together since the boys are leaving?"

Well, this was nice, actually.

It would be a lie if I said I didn't want to go back to the hospital to Baji, or even go with Takemitchy and Draken to see Kazutora - maybe not now, but soon - ...

But who could say no to her pretty eyes fluttering at me? Just looking away from her felt like a divorce, let alone deny her request.

Alright, maybe exaggeration and she has a boyfriend but still, she is incredibly pretty.

Either way, I wanted to spend time with her. And it would do me some good to relax and take my mind off things. I deserved a moment of relaxation, too.

-----------------------------------

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Hina said, taking off her shoes the moment we stepped inside. I almost stumbled for a second on my feet but held my balance and removed my shoes too. "And I brought a friend."

Hina's parents were sat on the couch and their gazes turned to us.

I smiled and greeted them politely, my voice softer and a bit higher than intended. "Hi! It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Y/n N/n!"

The beautiful woman with long, light brown hair tied in a loose ponytail looked at me and smiled happily, stepping up and heading our way. She held her hands together, "Welcome home! Hina has mentioned your name before." She was very hospitable and was just as friendly and gentle as Hina was.

I could already and definitely tell where Hina got both her looks and personality from.

Wait- Hina has already told them about me? That was surprising, considering how we barely knew each other that well... But very very sweet.

Hina didn't have any resemblances with her father, though. He looked more quiet and stern, his gray eyes did hold some kind of authorization. His black hair was shiny and he was wearing a suit. He looked... rich? He adjusted his glasses, only giving a small nod as a greeting before going bad to his newspaper.

"Sorry for the mess, I wasn't really prepared for a guest..." Hina said sweetly as we entered her room.

She was talking about a mess, but mess where?

All I could see was a beautiful, soft pink room. The walls were a very soft light pink color while her curtains, the bedsheets, chairs and other things were different shades of it. She had a few plushies around, some photographs and other decorations. A few books were sprawled over her bed and table. It had such a cozy energy.

"I love your room, Hina!" I complimented, the way my feet could feel the fluffy pink carpet was very comforting.

"Heehee~ Really?" Hina giggled and blushed. "Come on, sit wherever you are comfortable!" She said as she quickly took her books away from the bed and quickly fixed the bed sheets. As we sat down, I made sure to sit carefully, since I didn't want to ruin it after she fixed it. "I can turn the AC on if you want."

"Oh, no thank you I'm alright with the temperature."

"I think my parents are happy when I bring company here." Hina said, looking around with a smile as she pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I don't usually bring friends over that much, but lately I've brought here Emma-chan.. Like two times or something."

"You're talking to Emma?" I smiled, sitting comfortably and looking at her.

"Mhm!~" Hina nodded. "She's such a sweet and caring girl!" She twirled her hair a bit, "I couldn't call her over because just a while ago she went on her way to the hospital with Mikey to see Baji."

My eyebrkws were a bit raised at that. What a coincidence, they went to see Baji right after I left from the hospital. Had I stayed a bit longer, I would have most likely seen them on their way.

"... You know," Hina said with a rather embarassed chuckle. "When I first met Emma, it was... kinda weird, because due to a, erm... misunderstanding, I actually thought that Takemitchy was cheating on me with her."

My mouth almost dropped low at this.

Hina noticed that immediately because she tensed up and shook her hands, chuckling. "N-No don't worry, everything was fine, we kinda spoke and sorted things out and it really was a misunderstanding... Nothing was actually going on between them, and the two of us started talking, and we have actually been bonding a lot!" She spoke positively. "We've been talking and going out quite a bit, honestly. My parents like her, too."

"Yeah, Emma is amazing!" I agreed. "We've been childhood friends.. She's truly amazing to have around." My heart felt warmth as I remembered her smile and the times we spent together. "And I'm glad you two are getting along!" I said with a smile.

I was really surprised by what Hina said about the misunderstanding between Emma and Takemitchy.. I didn't know anything about that, but honestly it's not like I had to. I didn't need to stick my nose into everyone's business.

Because either way, Emma was already in love. She would never go after another guy like that, especially one like Takemitchy.

Not to be rude or anything, nothing personal against him, but he really was not Emma's type in any way.

Emma was too much of a lover girl and loyal to do anything like going with someone else, especially a guy with a relationship.

Hina spoke again, interrupting my train of thoughts. "She's told me a lot about you and Draken." She gave a closed eye smile. "Honestly, it's really cute to see how Emma likes someone as strong and scary and Draken. But he is very kind and gentle, so it doesn't surpise my why she likes him."

"Hehe, you're right!" I giggled. "I thought the same. It's kinda funny because she's a cute girl and then you see her crush - a tall delinquent with a head tattoo."

And honestly? She's so real for that.

"I think they look good together." She put her hand over her mouth, her cheeks reddening slightly. "To be honest, I kinda thought that she had a crush on you at some point-" My ears perked up at that in surprise. "The way she talked about you, I kinda thought that maybe she had a crush on you or you two were a couple or something like that-" She blushed, looking away. "Uh- s-sorry, just silly thinking! I had totally misread the situation, I didn't mean to say it like that-! Not like there would be anything weird with that- I do know now that I was wrong and you two are best friends-" She was embarassed by what she told me.

Emma could get very passionate talking about the people that she loved and now that I was thinking about it, she was very open around me and letting her emotions out. It felt like she wouldn't hold back much like how she did around other people or even with Draken. I never thought much about that, because we are besties and she felt so comfortable around me, but maybe to someone else this could have been interpreted in a different way?

I laughed a bit, shaking my hand. "It's okay, no worries!" I reassured her. "We're just friends, really." I sighed calmly. "She's already in love with Draken and has been for years. As long as she is happy, I'm happy, too."

Hina stared at me carefully, smiling a bit. She looked down at her hands. "Hey, Y/n... Sorry if this is personal, you don't need to answer this, but... Remind me again-" She looked at me with eyes sparkling.

"Are you in a relationship? Or do you have eyes on someone?"

"Oh, I'm not in a relationship," I chuckled a bit awkwardly, "But..." That question had me silent for a bit, as I thought of every face, words, smiles and actions that have been exchanged with certain people that most definitely did something to me.

Baji popped in my head almost straight ahead. His eyes, his smile and voice.

The words exchanged between us during that moment...

I told him about my feelings deep down, the things I had been feeling and would have never opened up about. Had it not been for the previous day where we almost lost him, had it not been me spilling all those things I felt because I feared that I would never see him again...

I felt the strong desire to tell him what I wanted him to know since I believed this would have been our last moment together, and I wanted to open up to him about my feelings.

Remembering our last conversation was almost impossible for me, I couldn't think about it without breaking down sobbing uncontrollably again. And the more I thought about it the more I wanted to run back to the hospital and magically wake him up instantly, even if it meant kissing him until he did-

Everything I whispered to him were coming straight from my heart. Everything I said was real and I was not taking anything back.

Baji never failed to put a smile on my face and cheer me up even on bad days, he was just charismatic like that. Even when we did the moat stupid and risky things, I simply had a lot of faith in him in everything. Blind, may you say, but still.

Even someone like Yuri, my overprotective father trusted Baji, if that didn't say enough.

The cat plushy he got for me, Baji Junior had always been a reminder of how precious Baji was and how blessed I was to have him in my life. Even during the four years I was away, whenever I felt lonely, sad or was troubled in any way, I would always cling onto Baji Junior, never letting go of it or sleeping without it in my arms. As much as I was embarassed to admit, I would desperately hold it closer against me in hopes of it giving me the same warmth and coziness as Baji's body and embrace.

It was true, no matter whether I wanted to deny it or not.

I was in love with Baji.

And to think that he himself felt the same felt like a dream.

But it wasn't like anything was official or something. And right now, that was one of the least of things I was thinking about during such moment. All I prioritized was Baji's well-being and him waking up.

Plus... Another thing that had me confused - and a bit stressed out - was the fact that I've experienced moments where I've felt something with some other people, too. Some were just minor things that weren't very important, but either way I've found myself reacting to and feeling strongly about some other of my friends.

Hanma was another example.

It wasn't like all this time I never saw him as a friend, I most certainly did, and his love and affection for me was real, genuine and protective, too.

But lately some of our moments had made me feel ... more confused in a way. There was something about looking at Hanma, hearing his voice, his giggles and him showing me his care in his own ways that made my heart beat fast and my cheeks warm.

"Don't worry, I'd never get mad at you. No matter which side or who you cheer for, it doesn't change the way I feel about you."

Hanma had always been chaotic, and he did have the habit to tease me and joke with me, even make those silly flirting comments that would make me giggle and blush, but usually not think too much of them.

However, his words and actions were slowly getting more... affectionate and intimate in a way, and those moments always made me feel intense and bashful. Those soft caresses, the hugs he gave me, even those occasional forehead or cheek kisses, they never once made me feel uncomfortable, unsafe or as if I was being preyed upon. They were filled with love, respect and gentleness, even if Hanma was not a gentle or sweet person by nature with anyone.

"You're my Y/n."

He'd always be a bit cheesy and flirty with me to make me laugh and lighten the mood, which always worked, but last time the two of us spend our time together and he told me those words... I could tell there was a lot more between us.

It felt as if he was indirectly telling me something - maybe even directly. Maybe his words were so straightforward and clear, but I was too busy staring inside his eyes, watching every characteristic on him as he held my face under the tree and almost leaned close enough.

How could I think or react like that, where I barely had a clear head and Hanma was making my heart speed like crazy?

And why did I keep staring, expecting and picturing the scenario in which he would lean closer and actually press his lips against mine - what would his lips feel like?

And I knew very well that the feelings inside my chest, body and face weren't feelings of fear or discomfort at all.

God, the way he looked at me and carefully touched my face and embraced me, the way he spoke to me and used silly nicknames and teases- what was he doing to me?

I never once in the past took any of his behavior in a weird way, even if I pretty much learned that he was kind of a strange person. I knew he was just being comfortable around me and I felt just as comfortable, but lately he was making it more difficult for me to keep track of my emotions around him, and I didn't know if Hanma was the same and I was overreacting or exaggerating or if he was showing some very clear signs that it was not in my head.

Then, aside from Baji and Hanma, there were more faces that had me questioning some things about my feelings and sexuality. Sure, there were also the people that I simply found charming and attractive yet didn't know much about, but it wasn't anything serious. Maybe it was just me finding some people attractive and cute in terms both physical and in character that drew me in a bit.

Like, yes, okay some people and friends were attractive, like Mikey for example. He really had changed growing up - aside from his height on the most part, without wanting to be rude. Long hair really gave him some different kind of grace, but at the same time he could still be as silly as little Mikey that stole everyone's hearts and was the center of attention most of the time. Or even Emma, or Yuzuha and girls in general. They themselves were so beautiful, and when I saw Emma again it was another feeling of happiness. Damn, even Hina, Takemitchy was so lucky.

Girls are also really pretty, and there have been times when me hanging out with Emma, or even other girls have made me feel quite flustered and shy. But of course, I wasn't thinking too much on that either, because maybe it was just me admiring my best friend's beauty. Plus, she has had her own love interest for a long time now, so it was not like she could actually be interested in me in any way since she had her eyes on Draken. Lucky him-

Either way, even if I am interested in girls it doesn't mean I can't have a girl best friend with a platonic love and friendship and I knew it very well, I was also pretty much fine and happy with it.

It was just a bit surprising to me how many times people had mistaken me and Emma as a couple, especially with the way Emma would cling onto me, get so close and act very lovely dovey when it came to me, even if she was a bit more composed in general around others. It was most definitely the fact that she was more comfortable around me, considering how we had been childhood best friends.

God, was it even possible or okay for me to feel different things at once?

It almost made me feel guilty, even if I was not even in a relationship in the first place to feel like I was cheeting or something.

I very much knew that I already had feelings for Baji, but knowing that I had been experiencing feelings and interest, both emotional and physical with other people as well, no matter how strong or mild, made me feel very unsure, confused and even a little insecure with myself and with how understanding I was with my own feelings. Cause here was Baji, someone that made me feel like nobody before and every word I told him was real, hiding no truth and telling no lie. But then, there was also Hanma who lately had me thinking about him, and-

"It's complicated-" I sighed, shaking my hand and rubbing my face with an exhale.

"...." Hina stared at me, "Yeah, I can see that." She said softly with a bit of concern. "You look troubled. Did you have a bad breakup, maybe? It's fine if you don't want to talk about it!" She reassured. "But I am here to listen if you want to."

Well, with how soft her voice was and how gentle she spoke, it was almost impossible for me not to feel a bit comfortable.

"It's just that..." I muttered, hugging my legs together and looking around. "I like Baji." I paused, not looking at her reaction, "Love- Baji.. It's really weird for me to say this out loud like this-" I corrected myself, feeling a bit shy. "And... I think he kinda likes me, too."

I didn't want to jump into details and tell Hina about the whole confession thing we shared while he was bleeding in my arms.

Hina smiled and clapped her hands, "Really?! I think that's amazing! You should totally tell him-" she paused on her enthusiasm, her smile fading a bit and she apologetically looked down. "Erm- Of course when he wakes up and when the right is time..."

"But the problem is- that..." I subconsciously interrupted her during her comment as I was too into my head, "I think there's also another person that I like." I noted quietly, making her go completely quiet as she realized the reason behind my hesitation.

"And... I just don't know how I really feel, because I love Baji so much, I would literally do anything for him to be happy, but it just feels weird knowing that there is another person on the back of your mind." I explained, again, without going in too much personal detail and what exactly was going on in my mind. Hina had this therapeutic aura around her that made you want to curl on the bed and have the best and most beautiful sleep, but I just got to know her and didn't feel like oversharing and scaring her off with my intense thinking that was actually making things ten times worse in my head than they actually were.

Hina kept staring at me unblinking. She smiled softly. "Take your time figuring yourself and your feelings out."

I looked at her. She closed her eyes and she placed her hands on her lap. "Just go with the flow and everything will come naturally! Love can never be forced, so you should not be stressing yourself out with something you can't do anything about right now." She looked at me seriously and I was immensely surprised by the amount of seriousness she held in her voice.

"If you want my advice, I'd tell you this. No need to rush, okay? Some things take time, that's just how life works. It takes time and experiences to get to know yourself and figure things out, it's only natural and normal to have contradicting feelings like that. Maybe it's even part of our nature and what makes us... human?" She said, but at the point it was as if she was talking to herself, philosophicating about things. There was a serious look on her eyes that softened with the smile that quickly returned. She waved her hand a bit, closing her eyes. "It's your first time living, you know? You can be confused a d make mistakes or feel like you don't know what is going on or what you're supposed to do - Love can be complicated and we can't always control our feelings, direct them or stop them. Things come naturally. We don't control where our heart is taking us."

The then raised her finger, frowning a bit and she got up like a serious soldier. "BUT!!" Hina emphasized, "We can control our actions! So that is why it's never okay.... to cheat!!"

I stared at her with my mouth dropped open and eyes wide.

 "Whatever you decide to do, always be pure and clear with your feelings and intentions and never cheat on people! Cause it's not right and it's hurtful!" She then relaxed a bit. "Even if you do not strike me as the person to do that. I'm not doubting you Y/n-chan, sorry!" She apologized. "I'm sure and I can tell you are an amazing and very sweet girl who would never do that, please take care of yourself and you'll find who your heart belongs to... eventually! Sooner or later. Because love always finds its way!" She said determined.

"...." My expression did not falter as I kept staring at her like a statue. "Hina-chan... You're amazing."

"Eh?!" She tensed and blushed, quickly sitting down and adjusting her clothes. "I must have looked really weird to you, I'm really sorry! Gee-!" She complained, frowning and pouting, looking down. "I don't know what's gotten into me.. I am just a bit on edge, because Takemtichy is doing it again."

I blinked and raised an eyebrow. "... doing what?"

"Acting strange again!" She complained. "Once he is very cold and arrogant, he ignores me and the next he is very sweet, timid and silly- and it confuses me to the core! It always goes back and forth and I really don't know what's up with him." Hina sighed, placing her hands on her cheeks. "... But I love him, and despite everything, he loves me, too. I hate it when he is distant and pretends to be tough and cold. I think delinquancy has messed with him and at some point I was afraid and suspicious that he was cheating again. But when he's all nice, he really makes me feel happy and.." She smiled again, blushing and giggling sweetly. "I know Takemitchy would never do something like that to me."

I stared at her almost dumbfounded after what she told me. I got to see a bit of Takemitchy myself and I would never imagine someone like him acting the way she described at first.

But someone constantly changing their mood for no reason on repeat around their partner, making them worry and feel bad and suddenly being sweet to them all of a sudden again...

Perhaps it kind of sounded like a strange manipulation trick to keep her with him, so she would believe he loved her and trust him, while he could get away with this toxic stupid behavior.

Damn, was Takemitchy really like that? Was he the asshole I just pictured him in my head to be behind that goofy fake mask of his, or was I just misreading the situation? Cause I was pretty much very ready to tell her to be careful of his behavior, keep her eyes out and stay on guard and talk to someone if she needed any help with this.

Or straight up tell her to dump his ass cause I could treat her better. But I would never want to ruin a relationship that was actually a happy and healthy one. I wasn't a home wrecker or an asshole who ruined relationships and was a jealous low-life ruining people's happiness.

Suddenly, Hina seemed to think of something due to her eyes lighting up. "Hey, Y/n... You said you're stuck between boys?"

"..... uh...." I muttered, "....ssssort of...? Yeah.....?" I myself did not know if this was a question or an answer.

Hina leaned closer to my ear, "What if they fought for you and prove who is more worthy of your heart?"

....

I stared blankly at nowhere at her words.

And then thought of Baji and Hanma dressed like some kind of soldiers, or princes, or whatever hero-villain kind of situation where they were both armored, dressed either very elegantly or goofily and sword fighting with each other while I was on top of a castle in a dress waiting for the victorious man to come take me away. Until more people join, like Mikey jumping in, others like Mitsuya, then Emma, then Hina, maybe Yuzuha too and-

Yeah, there was no way I could seriously imagine something as goofy as this, because I instantly started snorting and laughing a bit at the embarassing yet funny thought.

What kind of silly harem situation was that? Multiple people all handsome and beautiful going after me and trying to win my love? That was funny, impossible and only happened in fiction.

"No, that is so silly!" I giggled.

"Think about it!" She said with a pout, leaning closer to me and pointing my face. "Them doing their best to prove their unconditional love, support and loyalty to you, show who is really made for you, can keep you happy and take you away from the world, and you can live your romance and have your own happy ending!" Hina almost fangirled. "Wouldn't that be such a romantic scenario?" 'And I don't blame the romance dramas I watched revently on Television for this!' Hina thought with flushed cheeks.

And just like that, I was finally able to relax and bond with Hina more, talking about the most serious and sad things to the most funny and silly things, making me go from stressing out about everything and every minor detail to imagining people like Baji, Hanma and all my friends in different scenarios, whether as royals, fighters, aliens and whatever all in silly costumes, everyone fighting for me, the main character and love interest of the story, which even if they were silly scenarios, everybody somehow was still happy, healthy and unharmed, living happily.

Maybe I really just needed a break and get my mind to relax, cause maybe somethings are not as deep as we make them be when we are exhausted physically and mentally.

Of course, excluding the part where someone is fighting for their life in a hospital, because that thing is quite serious.

But Hina helping me realize that I should not push myself with my thoughts and my emotions and take my time slowly with them was something really wise and comforting. After all, time would tell how things would go, and no matter how much I stressed over it, it had zero positive outcomes to overthinking something I couldn't do anything about.

Baji was going to be okay. He had lots of love and support aside from me and I needed to learn how to look after my self, my physical and mental health and learn how to have fun and stay out of trouble.

Getting with your girlfriends can really be therapeutic.

Thanks, Hina!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry Late Christmas for everyone celebrating and Early Happy New Year!

Another year is ending and we are going into 2025. Time surely flies, does it not? It feels crazy. And I have been in Quotev since.. I don't remember, like 2015-2017? I don't remember but the amount of stories I had published and deleted all this time until now is painfully high.

We won't even be noticing when 2025 will be ending and we'll reach 2026, honestly. And this book's anniversary is coming, too! I cannot believe that this story is almost a year old 🥹 *sniff* how fast they grow... 🤧

I wanted to apologize for taking forever to update you guys 😔 seriously I've been wanting to update for a long time now even since November and I have been feeling guilty every day for not managing to post after such a long time. But I kept getting huge writer's blocks and it was impossible for me to work on the next chapter very late at night when I was super tired, especially when I also feel the need to dedicate my time in other things for myself, too.

But of course writing this story is very healing and beautiful to me, even destressing a lot of times 🥹 I just avoid writing when I am too tired or not in the mood for it because I am afraid of doing worse in quality, I always prefer writing when I have motivation, time and energy so I can focus better.

I have to admit this chapter feels very rushed and it was in the end, but I desperately had to update!

I wanted to make a Christmas special and a New Years Eve special chapter, but I barely had the time for a normal chapter so I didn't want to get stressed with more things on my shoulder. The summer special has still been left on part 1, the part 2 has already been untouched forever already so I knew it wasn't gonna go well if I tried to force two specials in a very busy schedule where I hardly manage to upload a new chapter 😀

I swear I have so many ideas for as we go on with the story that I am looking so forward too, but I need to take my time with these 😪

Again, I give you my sincerest apologies for a late chapter that was not as big as I wanted it to be, took forever to be published and was not as eventful, but I hope maybe for you reading this it was nice and enjoyable. We even got a bit of Hina screentime 😌 I kinda feel bad cause I feel like I didn't get her character on point. I haven't done much of a character study on her to help me more, so I relied on the Hina I could remember in my mind watching and reading TR, which was her being sweet, gentle, cute and helpful and supportive. But I wanted her to be a bit more than that and have a lot more on her character too and have bonding time with the MC and shared interests, but I don't know if I managed to get it right. (Also, letting you know it's around 6 am as I am writing and editing this whole chapter that I need to publish tonight, cause if I don't do it now it may take me a few more days to finish so I am pushing myself to do it now while I can :') pain- but yeah just letting you know I'be been writing the ending of this chapter around after 4:30 am so excuse any mistakes, lazy writings or anything going wrong because I am quite tired and a bit unfocused rn hahah)

Consider this as a little gift for New Years Eve. The last chapter of the story in 2024, the year in which it begun. That makes it the 36th chapter of this story? Heh 😎 (also rip Wattpad for not letting me add pictures on my chapters :( but it allows me on Quotev though hehe!)

Again, I apologize if the chapter was unsatisfying and not worth the wait, I understand 😔 and I cannot promise that the next chapters will come early as they can also take me weeks or a few months for me to complete, edit and publish, but I am here even crawling to get the job done if needed 💪 (I guess I can say that I took all this time as a break, because after all if I remember correctly during October 31st on Halloween I did manage to publish around 3-4 chapters at once within 1-2 days, right? Hehe, yeah I definitely had been working very hard during that time on hours to post them all at once, so I just took this time to recover from that 😂)

Oh - by the way, I'm DEFINITELY excited for the animes this hear. Looking forward to the next season of Tokyo Revengers! 🥹 I missed Tokyo Revengers like crazy, it's almost three years for me since I fell in love with it wtf?? Can't wait to listen to the music again, see everyone animated and voice acted and SEE AND LISTEN TO MY BABIES AGAIN AAAAA I MISSED THEM ALL I WANNA CRYYYYYYY 😭😭😭

AAAAAANDD CAN'T WAIT for Windbreaker Season 2!! 🥹 It's such an amazing anime, so worth it I am obsessed and if you haven't seen the first season/haven't read I totally recommend it! The animation and characters are amazing, even if a lot resemble a lot to TR characters (it was weird and bittersweet to me at first but u get used to it and see them for their own characters) and I especially recommend it for anyone that likes Tokyo Revengers 😌. What animes, series and games are you looking forward to 2025? Or screw it, what are you looking forward to in general? New opportunities, trips, hobbies etc.?

May this chapter be a good luck charm for the new year coming 😌 Can't believe this is the last chapter of the year aaaaa! I wonder how many chapters I will have written and finished by the end of 2025?

Thank you everyone who has been sticking with me and my story until this chapter so far 🥹 Your support means a lot more than you believe it means to me! It literally gives me the will and motivation to continue, every comment and your thoughts gives me an insane amount of boost. I'll continue to try hard to make the rest of the story even crazier, even more eventful with more characters -and yandere behavior hehehe- showing up, cause trust me when I say this... I have plans 👀 both with popular loved characters and more neglected characters that are often neglected in other stories that I want to show some more love and attention to- but anyways!

Hope you guys will be able to stick with me further with the story 😌🙏 again, thank you for all the love and support, nothing makes me happier to know that people - even one person is enjoying the work I make. In return, I should be making the story even better as time goes hopefully! But whether or not you stick with my story and decide to drop it it doesn't matter, you should always dedicate your time in the things that truly make you feel happy, relaxed, safe and comfortable and enjoy your hobbies to the fullest.

I truly wish you everyone the best for 2026. I wish 2026 will bring everyone lots of happiness and luck, good health and get lots of wonderful, fun and eventful opportunities to do the things you love, want to do, pursue your dreams, get stronger and happier and be surrounded by the people you love, who love you and together you thrive together and will make wonderful memories with during the next year. Please always remember to take care of yourselves, enjoy the little things in life and love yourself. Take it easy, respect and have patience with your limits, your emotions and even during the nice and bad moments and the rights and wrongs.

And of course along with everything, may you be finding lovely fanfictions, series and animes to enjoy and have your favorite ones continued 😚 hehehe ✨

Have a great day/night everyone, may you enjoy New Years Eve and live special moments.

Stay tuned in 2025 with more chapters and character introductions! And remember - You are all loved, special and wonderful. A lot more than you believe and you are capable.

See you all next year 🥹❤

(♡´･ᴗ･'♡)/\(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤