“Why did you guys turn off your phone?” Juri asked Haruka and Shintaro once everyone had gathered at the rendezvous spot.

Their time in the aquarium had ended, and almost everyone was here.

“We couldn’t contact you guys at all.”

Haruka frowned and defended their case with, “We got here on time.”

Having looked around, Shintaro asked, “Oh, we’re missing Ryosuke...and Mi-chan.”

“Home,” everyone who knew answered.

“Home?” asked Haruka. “When? Why?”

Juri let out an evil laugh. “Ryosuke’s constipated!”

Hearing this, Haruka and Shintaro laughed along.

“Then, what about Mi-chan?” Haruka asked after calming down. She eyed the group once again, hoping to find her friend.

“She took him home,” answered Yuta, monotonously. To him, he thought he did a good job hiding the fact that he was disappointed, but everyone could see right through it. “I think we should head back.” He turned around. “A boy and a girl alone... It’s not good.”

Haruka shook her head while chuckling. “Senpai, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t,” added Juri.

“He’ll never see her as a girl. They’re only good friends.”

Yuta slightly smiled, showing he was trying too hard to be convinced but wasn’t.

“Actually,” interrupted Sugita-san, “I don’t think we can leave this place. We saw a security guard locking the place up.”

“They’re closing us in?!” everyone exclaimed and crowded around the two adults. “Why?”

Rie had a worried expression. “There’s a weather alert of a possible blizzard in a half-hour or so.”

“So, we’re stuck here?” Haruka questioned as she reached for her boyfriend’s arm.

“I believe so.” Sugita-san and Rie heaved a sigh, also expressing their disappointment.

*

Mirai and Ryosuke had gotten off the bus and would have to walk half a mile before reaching Coach’s house. They would’ve gotten to their location sooner than expected had it not been for the uncooperative weather. The sun hid behind the dark gray clouds, snow leaked non-stopped from the clouds, and the icy breeze wasn’t friendly either, making any living thing shiver upon its touch. The teens immediately stayed glued together and were in sync with shivering. Their faces were as pale as the fresh-fallen snow, and the only feature with color was their lips—a faint shade of pink. They were afraid they wouldn’t make it to their destination.

Mirai sneezed but didn’t properly cover it because her hands were warming up with Ryosuke’s, so she sniffed the remnants of her running nose as she spotted haven up ahead.

It was a 7-Eleven.

She brightened up. “Ryosuke! Let’s take shelter in there!”

They paced to the building, stepped inside, and bathed in the hot air conditioning.

“I can buy them here too,” she said, leaving her friend to look around.

He followed her. “What you getting?”

“Pads.”

He looked away and cleared his throat in embarrassment.

She saw his reaction and laughed to herself. She found her item and brought it to the counter. Two customers were in front of them, and closely behind her was Ryosuke. The friends saw the mounted TV at the top right corner and watched it as they waited.

It was the news. A female news reporter was live on-site on the street with a green cotton jacket and a brown scarf around her neck. She was holding a microphone closely at her chin and maintained a professional posture and voice while the strong wind continued to breeze by. She explained that there was a high chance of a winter storm.

The teens looked at each other with worry. They quickly paid and left and then braced themselves for the cold again. About twenty minutes later, they made it to Coach’s place. They entered the house, closed the door behind them, and dropped to the ground. Once they had normal body temperature, he locked the door, and she ran to the room to change. He searched for the remote to turn on the TV and as soon as he turned it on, the lights went out, and he heard her yelp from in the room.

“It’s a blackout,” he shouted for her to hear as he put the remote back.

Seconds later, she rushed out of the room and bumped into him, and he knew she was scared.

“What are we gonna do now?” She looked around the room with worry.

He grinned. “Wait for them to pop up.”

She looked up at him. “Them?”

“Ghosts.”

She pressed herself closer to him. “Don’t say that!”

He laughed, amused.

She knew he was messing with her, but she didn’t mess with things of the supernatural and would never joke about it.

“I’m kidding. They’re more scared of you.”

“Stop talking about them,” she whined and was on the verge of crying.

He hugged and rocked her side to side. “I got you, man-girl. No one can touch you when I’m here.” What helped change the subject was his talking stomach—it growled.

They looked at each other and laughed.

“Let’s check if there’s anything to eat,” he said, and she nodded. He held her hand, kept her close, and led her to the kitchen. What guided them was the faint light from outside the windows. As he searched the kitchen for food, she was pasted on his back and wouldn’t let him go. “We can make a sandwich.” He listed the ingredients they had. “Sounds good?”

She nodded while still hugging him from the back.

He placed the ingredients on the kitchen table and started making a sandwich for themselves.

“Don’t put so much in mine,” she said from behind.

“No, you need plenty. How you attract guys with a figure like yours, I’ll never know.” He turned around and looked straight down at her chest. “Stuff these babies up, and you’ll—”

She pinched his cheek and forced him to turn around to focus on the sandwiches. “Don’t talk about them.”

“I’m advising you.”

Once he was finished, he pulled two chairs together and had her sit first.

She looked around her and felt unsafe. She would be unguarded on all three sides except for where he was. She realized he knew of her childish worry when he took out his phone and the flashlight and placed his phone on top of the table.

“Better?” he asked.

“Wow, your phone’s more useful than you.”

“Keep talking, and I’ll leave you in the dark.” He pulled his phone closer to him.

“I’ll leave you hungry.” She pulled his plate to her side.

He pouted and slid the phone back to the middle, and she smiled and slid the plate toward him. They enjoyed their small and quick sandwiches as they talked and bickered as usual. When they finished, he picked up the plates, but she stopped him.

“I got it,” she said. “You made it, so I wash.” She took the plates, walked to the sink, and washed them.

He picked up his phone, stood behind her, rested an arm over her shoulder to tell her that he was there, and shone the light down on her to help her see better. As he stood by her side, he checked on his mobile games but saw that he had received some texts from his brother. He read them.

Kota: I don’t want you to worry much @ 4:08 p.m.

Kota: but I also don’t know how to tell you guys @ 4:08 p.m.

Kota: he’s sick @ 4:09 p.m.

Kota: he has the Kawasaki disease @ 4:09 p.m.

When he had gotten through his brother’s texts, she was finished with the dishes and had turned around. He stayed frozen at his spot, eyes never leaving the screen.

She figured he was focusing on his games, dried her hands on his shirt, interlaced her hand with his free hand, and dragged themselves out of the kitchen. “Let’s call Coach and—”

He pulled her into a tight hug, and the embrace muffled her saying his name. He secretly looked at the text again and re-read the last line from his brother as his grip on the phone and his hugging tightened.

“Ryosuke, you’re hurting me.” She weakly tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge. At last, she hugged him back, believing that was something she needed to do.

He buried his face on her shoulder and turned off his phone.

*

Night had arrived, and the friends hadn’t come home nor did Mirai and Ryosuke receive a call or a text from them. Mirai and Ryosuke assumed it was because of the storm. The good thing was that the electricity was back, so the two teens could finally turn on the light and the heater and watch T.V. They had grabbed a blanket from the girls’ room to keep them warm as they sat on the couch, with him playing games on his phone and her being busy with Rie’s list.

“Nee-san likes to collect hangers,” she said. “Maybe I should do that too.”

“Yeah, so you could stop throwing your clothes on the floor.” He was immersed in a PvP match and didn’t look at her.

She frowned and looked at him. “Excuse me, but the clothes on the ground in my room are yours.”

He looked up from his phone, recalled how her room looked, and smiled. She was right. He was the only one who threw his clothes—especially his shirts—on the ground. He focused on his game again until a text from his brother reminded him of his son’s situation. He was about to reply but when her phone also vibrated and she was about to retrieve her charging phone, he stopped her, telling her that it was from his brother but left out the important truth regarding their son’s hospitalization. “He said he’s gotten better with the little brat,” he lied.

“That’s great. My son’s easy to get along with. Who could resist that cutie?” She pouted. “I miss him now.”

His eyes worriedly went back and forth from the message and her. “How much do you like the brat?”

She turned bashful. “I like him a lot. I thought I’d vent my stress of all those babysitting worries on him but when I see him, joy fills me up. It’s a feeling—no, a connection—he gave me. It’s something I can’t explain, and it’s something I never had when I was with my other kids. What I have for him is special.” She then frowned. “How dare you make me confess such cringy things to you?” She playfully nudged him and focused on her work.

He looked at his brother’s texts on his phone.

Kota: the doctors took him to get incubated @ 9:29 p.m.

Kota: I overheard that surgery may be needed. I don’t want to make the decision myself @ 9:29 p.m.

Kota: what do you want? @ 9:29 p.m.

*

Mirai and Ryosuke gave up on waiting for their friends and decided to sleep in the living room in case their friends arrived in the middle of the night. She had the couch while he used his coach’s futon that was stashed away in the garage. In the middle of the night, once he had confirmed her sleeping soundly, he found her phone, input the passcode—the date they became a family—and went to her messages. He found her unread messages from his brother and hovered a wavering finger over them.

He bit his lip and glanced at his sleeping, innocent friend. Unlike his indecisive finger, his heart was determined to do what he planned to do. He took a deep breath. His free hand reached for hers and held it. He looked at her and whispered, “You’re his mom, so you don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I’m your friend, and I don’t want you to worry.” He closed his eyes, and his thumb deleted all the recent texts from his brother regarding Natsu. He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I’m sorry, Mirai.”

*

Kota woke up to the vibration of his cell phone from beside him on the couch. He was in a private room at the hospital. At first, he wanted to ignore the text but recalled that he was waiting for an important response, so he checked his phone.

The response had come.

His eyes read the words, and his brows slowly inched close together in confusion. He even re-read the texts to confirm his understanding.

Ryosuke: hows the brat? I searched up the disease but there was too much info and it got confusing. @ 2: 26 a.m.

Ryosuke: so let me know something will he be ok? @ 2:26 a.m.

Ryosuke: btw continue 2 keep a close eye on the brat and lets meet up at the Mickey’s close to the park on monday at 4 @ 2:27 a.m.

Ryosuke: I wanna c d brat @ 2:27 a.m.

Ryosuke: and dont tell her about this at all @ 2:27 a.m.

Ryosuke: let her smile for a while @ 2:27 a.m.

Kota looked at the infant in the incubator in front of him. “Buddy, your father has a point. She’d break down if she knew. But not telling her…”

*

Mirai woke up to inaudible murmurs from outside the door, got scared, and thought of the worse, so during her attempt to get up, she had forgotten that she was on the couch and slipped down to the floor right beside Ryosuke. She tugged him to wake him up.

“What?” He pulled the covers over him, eyes closed.

“There are people outside, I think.”

He opened his eyes, looked at the door, and heard what she had heard. He saw the doorknob rattled, and got up, and she followed suit. He put her behind him as he reached for one of the foldable chairs beside them. He would use it as a weapon if he had to. The door opened, and he raised the chair over his head. Thankfully, he didn’t get to use the chair because the first person he saw was Sugita-san, and behind Sugita-san was the entire group.

“You guys just got back?” asked Ryosuke, the chair still high above his head, as Mirai peeked a look from behind him.

Sugita-san nodded, eyes locked on the chair. He slowly put up his hands. “It’s us, Ryosuke. I want to be welcomed differently.” He pointed to the chair.

Ryosuke laughed. “Sorry, we thought you were some bad peeps.” He put the chair away.

“We were locked in at the aquarium because of the blizzard, and there was no service, so we couldn’t call.”

“Everyone’s phone died this morning too,” added Rie. She went to hug Mirai. “I hope you two were okay.”

Haruka and Mayu joined in on the hug too.

Mirai hugged the girls back. “Yeah, we were. We had each other.”

Ryosuke looked at her and raised a brow. “You mean you had me. You couldn’t go anywhere without me.”

“I was afraid you’d get lost.”

“In this house?”

“Yes.”

He pinched her cheek.

“Glad to know you two survived,” said Sugita-san. “But I was more worried about something else than your survival. It was two teenagers alone without adult supervision, you know.”

Mirai laughed. “You won’t ever have to worry about that, Coach.”

“Yeah, Coach,” quipped Ryosuke. “She’s a guy.”

She sent him a soft punch at his arm, and a bicker ensued while Sugita-san and Rie told the group they’d be upstairs to catch up on some sleep and for the gang to do whatever they want.

Juri ran to Ryosuke’s side and asked, “Feeling better, man?”

“What you mean?” asked a confused Ryosuke in return, whose hands cupped Mirai’s cheeks.

Mirai had a feeling she knew what Juri meant, so she stifled her laugh.

“It’s okay,” said Juri. “It’s a natural thing.” He rested a sympathetic hand at Ryosuke’s shoulder, and Ryosuke looked at his friends and noticed their attempt to not laugh.

“It’s okay if you want to hide it,” said Haruka to Ryosuke.

Ryosuke slid his hands away from Mirai and carefully asked, “Hide what?”

No one answered him.

He looked at Mirai and snapped, “You did something, didn’t you?”

She looked at him innocently. “Did what?”

“Whatever you guys know.” He knew that whenever all his friends , the root of it was always her.

She couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore, so she grabbed her phone and showed him the text she had sent to the group regarding his fake constipation, which she had purposely left him out.

He read it and gasped.

“Yesterday, I had to take you home because of your business.”

“You mean your business.” He glared at her lower half.

She acted as if she didn’t know what he was referring to. “It’s okay. I won’t tell them that you almost didn’t make it.”

“You liar. After all that I did for you, you—”

“Exactly, after all that you did, it’s only right for me to let our friends know and join in on the fun too.”

“But you know what really happened.”

“What really happened?” questioned Haruka, looking back and forth between them.

Mirai shrugged, leaned in close to Ryosuke, and whispered, “It’s not like you’re gonna say it, or are you okay with it now?”

Ryosuke gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. He turned to his friends with a blank expression and monotonously said, “I was constipated and needed to use the bathroom and almost couldn’t make it.” He watched his friends laughed and when he saw Mirai giggle beside him and the phone in her hand, he smiled. He’d do anything to keep that smile going.

Whilst the friends were laughing, they forgot they had an audience—Taisuke and Yuta.

Both seniors tried to look composed and unbothered. Especially Yuta.

*

The weekend was almost over, and that meant the teens were finished with their responsibility except that they didn’t complete everything on Rie’s list, but she didn’t mind. Since Sugita-san was going to school with them the next day, he opted to take them to school, including taking Mayu to hers. Since Mayu attended school in the opposite direction, they dropped her off first. She got to school in time while the rest missed first and second periods. Sugita-san helped explained the situation, and the kids were excused. Sugita-san then thanked the teens again and went off on his own.

Before the teens broke up to head to their classes, Ryosuke did something no one expected.

“Senpai,” he said, and Yuta turned around. “You and man-girl didn’t get some time together over the weekend, so what about a date after school with her? She’s got nothing to do.”

Mirai panicked. She didn’t know where to look or what to say, but she sure knew she didn’t like that her friend was sacrifici