"How about I die, too?

So we can stay together forever."

— — —

Oh, give them a break.

They had gone through too much. Too much pain, agony, regret, despair. They had gone through too much tears and heartaches. They deserve more laughter and smiles.

Fortunately, the Gods answered their prayers.

No one knew what happened, really.

Mitsuba Sousuke happened to be strolling around outside of the school, reliving some of the good and bad memories since he was allowed to.

While Minamoto Kou was bored because Hanako told him that his assistant and him are going to take care of a small rumor and the blond should take a rest. Kou eventually gave in because Yashiro smiled at him and gave him a gift — of course he'd only do it for his cute senpai.

"It better not be the same rumor Senpai told me. . .that damn confession tree," Kou grumbled under his breath, even though he knows himself Hanako wouldn't do the same mistake twice.

Kou trudged on, mind still occupied with some fantasies of him being all manly and buff, exorcising all the evil apparitions with one try. Speaking of—

I should definitely try to exorcise some evil spirit today! Kou thought, a smile on his face. Even if it's just only one!

Then their eyes met.

Kou's smile momentarily disappeared, before he beamed and walked towards the surprised boy. "Oh, hey, Mitsuba!"

Mitsuba blinked. "Oh. . ." His face morphed into disgust. "It's you."

Kou whacked him on the head. "Don't act so disappointed!" The blond then grinned at him, causing the other boy to also smile back. "What are you doing here?"

Mitsuba shrugged, and looked up at the dim sky, faint outline of stars littered on the sky. "I just got bored and wanted to take pictures."

Kou followed his gaze, instantly relaxing at the sight. "Yeah, me, too. I was planning on hunting down some spirits." Mitsuba scooted away from him, a dark expression in his face. Kou sputtered, "not you!" He sat down on the grass, eyes still glued on the sky. Mitsuba hesitantly followed suit.

Mitsuba tilted his head at the sight of the paper bag Kou was still holding. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at it.

Kou looked down on his hand and lit up. "Oh, I know! Let's share this!" He then opened the paper bag and gave Mitsuba a strawberry-flavored donuts with sprinkles on top. "Here! Take it!"

Mitsuba stared at the donut for a moment. He really wanted to take it, but. . ."What? Does this have some poison in it or something? Are you taking advantage of an adorable boy like me?" Mitsuba then placed his sleeve-covered hand near his mouth, smiling cockily.

Kou pinned him to the ground. "Shut it, girly face."

Mitsuba whined, flailing his arms around. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! Let me go, pervert!"

Kou let him go, and held out the donut again, and this time, Mitsuba took it and mumbled a small thanks. The two stared back up at the sky, donuts in their mouth.

"The sky is really pretty today, huh?"

"Not as pretty as me, though— ow! Okay, okay! Stop pinching me!" Mitsuba pouted when Kou removed his hand from his cheeks, rubbing the spot Kou pinched. "Loser. . ."

Kou pinned him down again.

"Ouchie! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

The younger Minamoto sat down again, chin raised as he stared up at the sky. "You do know that. . ." He began, staring at Mitsuba with blank eyes. . ."you're already dead, right? I can't poison you."

Mitsuba flushed. "I knew that! I was just testing you!" He angrily bit down on his donut, munching like a hamster — Kou was unsure whether Mitsuba was acting cute on purpose, or if it's just how Mitsuba really acts.

Kou chuckled. "Yeah."

"This strawberry donut tastes yummy, where did you buy it?" Mitsuba asked after a moment of silence.

"Hm?" Kou glanced at his friend, still on the process of eating his own donut. "No, senpai and I made that. She sort of begged me to help her because the last time we made donuts, it was really yummy."

Mitsuba eyed his half-eaten donut with surprise. "You and Radish-senpai made this?" He bit down on it again. "Surprising."

Kou glared at him half-heartedly. "Right. It was for Hanako, but we made a lot absentmindedly so senpai gave me some and said I deserved it." He grinned and stuck his hand inside of the paper bag. His grin morphed into a frown. "What!?" He peeked inside of the paper bag. "No! We ran out of donuts!"

Mitsuba looked at him, and handed Kou his donut that was on his other hand, not bitten yet. "Here."

Kou blinked and slowly took the donut. "Wow, I never thought Mitsuba of all people would share me his donut. Thanks, man."

Mitsuba scowled at him, despite the smile on his face. "Shut it, hella-lame traffic-safety earring boy."

— — —

I'VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN

GIVE THEM A BREAK!

I love my children so much ❤️