"Yuto-kun~ have you been listening to what I'm saying?" Rika gave the listless Yuto a strong jerk. the two have gone for their first date after Yuto agreed to her confession the day he had a tiff with Mirai. 

"Itai~" Yuto grumbled while fixing his gaze at Rika.

"I thought you don't know what pain is since your soul isn't here," she coldly passed the remark.

"it's just that I've something on my mind. I'm sorry. why not lets call it a day, I'm really tired" Yuto responded, not with remorse, but with a reluctant tone.

"but we barely shopped half of this stretch. is it about your friends??? they are so troublesome!" refusing to let him go, she dragged him by the arms tightly, clinging onto him as though he was cuffed with her.

"what about my friends?! I forbid you to comment about them~" Yuto warned sternly. needless to say, he was overly angered by her insensitive and derogatory remarks.

"it's that Shida Mirai right? I know you like her before... but I'm your girlfriend now, so I forbid you to think about her! it's my rights too" Rika threw back a response that caused Yuto to fume.

"you're unreasonable. you know what, lets just head home. the whole mood is ruined anyway"

"look who started it! if you paid more attention to me and not think about someone else, we won't be flaming at each other"

"I don't wanna quarrel with you. see you tomorrow, Rika" Yuto stomped off without turning back, even with her persistent yelling.

Yuto dragged his feet towards the nearby bus stop, wandering about his distraction and his unfounded anger.

"Nakajima Yuto, Mirai has made her choice...so stop thinking about her, or you'll ruin even the friendship. thanks to your own cowardly behaviour, you lost without even trying. blame yourself" his inner conscience yelled into his mind. Ryosuke's words at the rooftop of the hospice that day repeatedly surfaced in his mind that he couldn't help but felt tempted to compete with him. he tried hard to hold back as he could strongly feel Mirai's love for him, though they don't know each other for long. initially he thought it was sympathy, anyone would have thought that was the reason, but gradually, it didn't feel like it. she was sobbing so hard when he went missing the other time that it looked like he lost someone very dear to her. having watched that desperation on her face that time, there's no way he stood a chance if he competed with Ryosuke. 

"when i said yes to Rika, what kind of feelings am i bearing? even now, how do i feel of her?" he questioned himself again and again, but there were no answers. Just then his phone rang.

"mos~hi Moshi" his voice softened when he heard a faint cry from the other end. he looked at the caller ID immediately.

"Y-Yuto... Gomenasai... please don't leave me" 

"Rika~ where are you? don't cry, I'll come look for you now~" Yuto asked urgently.

"outside the mall entrance~" he could still hear the inconsistent sniffing sounds. 

"okay, you wait there. I'll come for you! keep yourself warm in the meantime," he walked rapidly towards the direction. there was more guilt than worries, more remorse than other feelings. He shrugged all other negativity away and ran towards her location, that's what a gentleman should do, he thought.

"Rika!" he saw her jumping and moving up and down, with her arms crossed, in a bid to raise her temperature to fight against the freezing cold. 

"Y~Yuto" he was deeply sorry when her teeth was chattering so badly that she couldn't even utter his name properly. tears rolled down her small face, making his heart twist and turn.

"gomene" he didnt know what else to say but sorry. he didnt know what to do but stood there like a woodblock.

"what am I doing, Nakajima Yuto! get forward and comfort!" Yuto fought with his own inertia, not realising what his mental conflict was itself an indication of a seed of uncertainty and mistake. He did as he psyched himself, enveloping her into his arms, smelling her scented hair but with a light frown upon his face. he didnt understand why his heart is so unsettled. "was it a mistake?" he thought as he rubbed her shivering shoulders and limbs.
*****
"look at the kids, dear. it's just like old times when they were still sharing a room, cuddling together" tugged under her husband's arms, the parents of the three kids peeked into Ryosuke's room and were welcomed by a fuzzy scene that warmth their morning. 

"mmm okasan, otousan~" Chihiro was first to wake up by the noise. she rubbed her eyes and saw her brother laying peacefully beside her, with Misaki still wrapping her arms around his.

"wake them up. it's time for breakfast" her father instructed with smiles written all over his and his wife's faces.

Chihiro looked at the 2 sleepy heads and giggled uncontrollably. She sneaked towards the edge of the bed and whispered in Misaki's ears.

"wake uppppp"

as expected, she swept Chihiro's face away and dug deeper into her brother's embrace, wrapping even more tightly around his waist. Misaki's gesture made Ryosuke shrug as well, whining at the disturbance and noise, conveniently picking a pillow and threw it over his own face.

"oi, wake up you two!" he slapped both their arms.

"a while more, oneesan" Ryosuke whined louder than her sister this time. Chihiro took out her secret weapon, the irritable alarm, and rang it.

"yametteeeee!!!!!" the 2 of them flipped out of bed immediately and grumbled with their shagged face.

"go wash up, the 2 of you look horrible" she dragged the 2 out of bed and ushered them towards each of their private toilets before going into her own.

Ryosuke shut himself in the toilet and from the bottom of his heart, he smiled. he drowned his face in a basin of water to freshen up, slightly damping his hair in the process. "it'll be a good day," he told his own reflection through the round mirror. he took in deep breathe and braced the long day in front of him. "Kamisama, please don't take all these away from me"

Finally sitting as a complete family around the dining table, he immersed himself in a sumptuous home cook breakfast, even his long lost appetite is back. the rest looked at him with mixed feelings of sympathy that they have no idea how he lived his days the last year, as well as relief that they found back the light of their life.

with his mouth still full of food, he raised his head after realising every other person was looking at him. "is there anything wrong?" he struggled to take his mind of the delicious food. 

"Baka... eat slowly" Chihiro broke into a laughter while she ruffled through his hair, and the rest chuckled too.

"ah... son, you wanna come with mum for grocery shopping later?" his mother asked with intention to spend some quality mother-son time, making up with her guilt for not being by his side. knowing the severity of the illness, she just wanted to stick by her son even if that's gonna irritate him.

"sounds nice, okasan... b-but I've something on later~" he lifted his head and replied with an apologetic face

"where are you going? you should be resting at home~" his mother got a bit uptight and her voice raised by a tone. Ryosuke knew that his return will be coupled by such reactions over the most minor of things, he knew that gradually he'll be treated like a handicap that every small thing would be done by his family,becoming a good-for-nothing person. He sighed and lowered his head, not wanting to end up upsetting her by rebutting.

"okasan, Ryosuke will be fine. I'll fetch him later..." Chihiro lend her support. she read her brother like an open book, and knew exactly what he's thinking. 

"nichan, call me if there's anything, alright?" Misaki gazed at her brother.

he returned a comforting smile to Misaki and subsequently took a quick glance at everyone. the damped mood was because of him, he thought so, he know so, and it's only going to become a part and parcel of the daily episodes since he has decided to return.

"minna, I know all of you are worried, but please be assured I'm doing all I can to recover. treat me as you would last time, don't change anything because of me. it makes me uncomfortable too" he thought establishing his viewpoint once and for all was a more permanent solution rather than guessing each other's feelings. he has always been direct and forthcoming instead of beating around the bush.

"okasan, okay?" he saw his mother's eyes turned teary again. she unbearably nodded. Ryosuke stood away from his seat, approached her and conveniently wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind her seat, supporting his head by her shoulder.

"Ryosuke~" his mother tilted her head slightly and dropped a kiss by his cheeks.

"trust me. I won't give up but I need you to be strong okay.... all of you too... otousan, oneesan, Misaki..."

reluctantly or genuinely, their faces showed smiles, and that's relieving enough for him. he knew they need time to adjust, he knew they were exchanging awkward glances, he knew he's getting in the way of their conversations so he excused himself.

"I'm meeting Mirai... she's the girl who sneakily arranged the hospice meeting and blew up my secret. (laughs). and she's my girlfriend... see, I'm not gonna date if I'm hopeless right. (laughs).... so I'll get going first... I'll be back by night"

Mirai was useful in this sense... she became a source of hope in my family. the tense smile resolved into a much soothing one. 

"wait up, Ryosuke!" Chihiro caught up. "I said I'll drive you there~" she pulled him in his arms.

"arigatou oneesan... actually I'm still early. do you wanna spend some time with me oneesan?" 

Chihiro knews Ryosuke too well, she knew he was trying to escape