So... how've you all been these past... whoa, three years? Time flies. o_O A lot has stuff has happened to me and in the end, I have waned away from fanfiction. That said, I've felt guilty these last few years because I left you all at one hell of a cliffhanger. However, I couldn't write the next chapter because after that cliffhanger, my muse for this story up and left me until about three days ago where it popped in just long enough for me to finish this chapter.

Will I write fanfiction anymore? I honestly don't know. I write original stuff now and I'd rather focus on that. Who knows though; I might update something once in a blue moon.

Sorry for any inconsistencies that might come up. On my computer I have rewritten versions of the previous chapters, but I can't remember if I updated them or not. In any case, any information that's found in this chapter is the updated information so go by what's said here. My writing style has probably changed seeing as how it has been a while. I hope I'm still funny enough. o_o

littlefirebird was kind enough to beta for me so if you see any mistakes, blame them on her. :D And now that I'm done pushing my responsibilities onto somebody else, here's the chapter! Please review? ^^

Natsuki could hear a slow, steady beeping in the background, images from her dream quickly slipping away and soon forgotten. Her limbs felt like lead, as if she hadn't used them in days, and there was a heavy pressure pushing down against her waist. A cold shudder coursed through her otherwise motionless body.

Beep…

Her green eyes slowly fluttered open, her mind still drowsy, I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Like my dream was trying to remind me of something. She blinked a couple times, scanning the unfamiliar ceiling as she tried to clear her head.

Beep…

What happened? Natsuki strained her hazy mind to remember. I was walking home from the amusement park with Shizuru before four men attacked us. Everything after that is a blur.

Beep…

The dentist frowned thoughtfully, I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually. Her gaze traveled downward as she started to lean up on her good arm, Now, where am- … Is… Natsuki blinked, … Is that Shizuru's chest?

A relieved gasp came, "Natsuki, you're awake!" Shizuru straddled Natsuki's waist, the front of her blouse lifted above her chest, revealing a tasteful red bra only two feet away from Natsuki's face.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep!beep!beep!beep!beep!… The heart monitor next to Natsuki hospital bed started to go haywire.

"W-w-what're you doing?!" Natsuki exclaimed, her face as bright as a cherry.

"Hm?" Shizuru looked down, "Oh this? Well, you were shivering so I figured I'd lay down with you to warm you up!" she beamed.

"You can do that with your shirt on!"

"But then how am I supposed to exchange body heat with Natsuki?" Shizuru pouted.

"It works even with clothes on," Natsuki responded, unimpressed.

"Yes, but it's so hard to grope you with that hospital scrub on."

"…" A moment of silence passed before Natsuki reached over and pushed the panic button next to her cot.

"Natsuki, of course I'm joking!" Shizuru reprimanded. "I haven't done anything like that to you yet!"

"'Yet'?!"

Just then the door slammed open and a woman ran in with an air of urgency, "Kuga-san! Are you alright– Oh." All the woman's panicked energy drained out of her she looked upon the scene with a deadpan glare, "Fujino-san… I should have known."

The brunette glanced over her shoulder and gave a charming smile, still holding her shirt up around her collarbone, "Ara, Sagisawa-sensei! Good morning; lovely to see you again."

"'Good afternoon,' you mean. You've been in here for the past four hours." Youko sighed, shifting into a casual pose, "If I've told you once, I'd told you a thousand times: quit harassing my patient."

"And I've replied just as many times: this is perfectly normal in our relationship," Shizuru responded matter-of-factly.

"Unfortunately," Natsuki added.

Youko raised an eyebrow at Natsuki's confirmation that this was, indeed, normal for the couple. She quickly moved on, "Kuga-san, about four minutes ago we received notification of a dangerous spike in your heart rate and I rushed over." The doctor continued, walking towards the hospital bed, "However, I believe I've figured out the cause and will promptly take care of it." Youko reached over and yanked Shizuru's shirt down whilst giving the candy storeowner a pointed look.

Shizuru pouted, "I was going to warm Natsuki with my body."

"You can 'warm her up' all you want later," Youko responded while reaching for the clipboard at the end of Natsuki's bed, "but now that she's awake, I need to check up on her."

Natsuki frowned, confused, "Wait, people are allowed to stay in the bed with patients?"

Blue eyes met green, "Normally no, but we make an exception for Fujino-san, least any more of our security team suffer from bouts of amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"Mm, it started the first night you were staying here, Fujino-san insisted that she be allowed to stay past visiting hours and sleep with you. After about twenty minutes of trying to reason with her, we finally resorted to having two security guards escort her out. We sent in two of our guys, but five minutes later they came back out, empty-handed. When we asked what happened, they said they couldn't remember. They tried again, but came up with the same results.

"We tried again with two more teams of guys, but they didn't fare any better. After that, we figured it'd just be best to let the two lovebirds rest together; the last thing we need are security men with spotty memory."

Natsuki was staring at Shizuru's innocent look, What did you do to those poor men?

Shizuru responded by simply making a zipping motion across her mouth, her red eyes glinting mischievously.

"Anyway, I'm going to ask you some questions for documentation purposes. Is that alright?" At Natsuki's nod, Youko began, "Can you recall anything from the attack three days ago?"

"Three days ago?" Was I really out that long?

Youko explained, "You received a concussion from a blow to the shoulder three days ago. The pain caused you to black out. At around 5:08 p.m. the hospital received a call from Yuuki-san and we rushed out an ambulance picking up you and four men."

"Four men… The guys that ambushed us?"

"Ah, so you remember, that's good. No sign of memory loss…" The doctor mumbled the last part to herself as she continued to write on the clipboard.

Shizuru jumped in at Natsuki impatient look, "Yuuki-san and your other friends arrived soon after the man hit your shoulder. She jumped in and grabbed a lead pipe just in time to block another blow."

"Great, this means I owe her. She's going to be gloating about 'how she saved my ass' for weeks," she grumbled, causing Shizuru to giggle at Natsuki's scowling pout. Wait, why were they there in the first place?

"As for your injuries, your left humerus, your upper arm bone, has an oblique fracture. That means it's been split apart at an angle. It's nothing too serious, we've already gone in and fixed you up and put the stitches in, but it'll take some time to heal. Second is your left scapula, your shoulder blade. It's not as bad as your arm, it's still in one piece, but it did splinter a bit on impact. It's not any cause for worry, but we ask that you don't move it much and let the bone heal itself.

"We've gone ahead given you a shoulder and upper-arm brace. I'm going to have you stay one more night here in the hospital and if you're feeling up to it, you're free to leave tomorrow," Youko finished with a smile.

Natsuki responded in kind. "Thanks, doc."

Youko chuckled. "No problem. Healing people is what I do." She then turned back to Shizuru who was still sitting on her girlfriend's lap, "As for you, you're going home at the end of visiting hours."

Shizuru mock-gasped. "But doctor! How ever will I administer my healing aura if I cannot have skin-on-skin contact?" Shizuru asked, enjoying the flush of her girlfriend's cheeks light up in her peripheral vision.

"I'm pretty sure she'll manage." She then shook her head and turned back to her patient, "I'm going to ask that you come back in a couple weeks so we can check up on how you're doing. Does your insurance cover this all?"

Natsuki had to fight down a grin. How many times has she asked that same question throughout her career? "Yeah, I can pay for it." She admitted it wasn't the most appealing job, but being a dentist paid well. So why did she live in an apartment on her kind of salary? She simply didn't see the point of one person living in a house when she can live comfortably in a smaller space.

But my apartment is a little small for two people. Maybe I should start house searching… Wait! She had to fight down yet another blush, What are you thinking, stupid?! She's not living w-with you that way! She's just staying at your place while her place is getting fixed… She'll move out when her apartment is done… Suddenly, Natsuki's heart felt really heavy.

"Natsuki?"

At Shizuru's voice, green eyes looked up and met with red. Youko had exited the room by now. The candy-store owner had a concerned look as she regarded the younger woman, "You look sad. What's wrong?"

I do? Natsuki tried move her right hand but quickly flinched when pain shot of her arm. She couldn't move it much anyway because of the two braces strapped around her torso. She quickly scrambled to make an excuse, "Um, my injury. I'm not going to be able to work like this, so Mai and Mikoto have to fill my slots." She gave the best smile she could muster at this point.

Shizuru didn't look convinced and Natsuki couldn't blame her. Those excuses sounded bad even to her. But still, Shizuru only showed her discontent for a second before putting on an easy smile, sparing Natsuki form a real explanation, "Ara, is Natsuki disappointed I won't be able to work my healing aura on her body?"

Natsuki blushed, remembering the emphasis Shizuru put on 'skin-on-skin' contact earlier, "Idiot! As if I'd–" She paused, blinking. "Wait, just Natsuki? No -chan?" She then remembered their confessions. "Oh right, the ferris wheel."

"Yes, just Natsuki. No -chan."

Shizuru's had face softened as she looked at Natsuki and it took the dentist a couple seconds to recognize the look in Shizuru's eyes. Love. Natsuki found herself unable to look away, her face all aglow. "Shi-Shizuru…" It was all she could manage under that caring gaze.

Shizuru smiled and shifted forward on the cot, pressing a small kiss to her girlfriend's forehead, "Get better soon, okay?" She giggled softly at Natsuki's shy, mumbled reply and couldn't resist giving those cute lips a quick peck, "My brave Natsuki-knight…"

The door suddenly slammed open, causing both of them to jump. "BUBUZUKE!" came the angry roar of a lion. Or a pissed off assistant manager. Either-or.

"A-ara…" Shizuru trailed off, the color draining from her face a bit. "Haruka, what a pleasant-"

"Don't give me any of that! You've been skipping out on work for the past three days! Three!" In stormed said blonde, holding up three fingers in emphasis.

"Haruka-chan, this is a hospital," Yukino tried to calm the other down. "We have to be quiet."

"I am being quiet!" Haruka answered loudly.

Reito walked in and took over the conversation for fear of getting kicked out just as they arrived. "So this is where you've been hiding, Shizuru-chan. We had to leave Tate manning the store just to find you."

"Of course! I couldn't very well leave Natsuki alone, now could I?"

Reito eyed the two, seeing their close proximity and had to bit down a smirk, "I see."

Natsuki was trying to get Shizuru off her lap at Reito's knowing look. "Get off!" she whispered so only Shizuru could see, pushing at the other's legs. Instead of getting off, Shizuru made a show of sprawling out on top of her girlfriend, causing said girlfriend to freeze up under her. Still, she looked at her friend and coworker as if she were lounging casually on a couch, "You see, it gets very cold at night in the hospital, so I took it upon myself to sleep at her side to keep her warm."

"Shi-shizuru…"

"Such self-sacrifice should be commended," Reito joked.

"In front of everyone…"

"Indeed."

Unable to take it any more, Haruka broke in, "You disapprove for three days and we find you cuddling in a hospital bed?!"

"It's 'disappear,' Haruka-chan."

"I don't care what word it is, we're taking her back to work right now!" She reached over and grabbed each of Shizuru's legs and started to pull.

Shizuru let out a yelp and quickly clung onto one of the side-bars on Natsuki's cot, holding on desperately as Haruka pulled. The bed started to swerve, even when the wheels were locked; Reito and Yukino scrambled to the other side to pull on the other bar and try to keep the bed straight, fearing for Natsuki should any of the equipment malfunction. All the while Natsuki tried to keep injured her arm steady, but it was becoming difficult.

After another push of the panic button and a heavy reprimand from a nurse, Shizuru was standing with her friends inside Natsuki's room, the five of them catching their breath.

"You know," Natsuki started, "now that it's been brought up, I don't think I've ever seen you work, Shizuru. I'm starting to think you don't."

Shizuru pouted, "Ikezu, Natsuki. I'll have you know I went to culinary school and started my business after moving here from Kyoto."

"I don't believe you went to culinary school," Natsuki stated bluntly, skepticism written all over her face.

"And why not?"

"You burnt down your apartment by leaving cooking oil right next to a burning oven."

Shizuru sniffed indignantly, "That was only a one-time thing."

"It shouldn't happen at all!"

Haruka spoke. "I hate to admit it but she's right, Kuga. We were in culinary school with her and when we all graduated, we moved out here to start a shop. She's kept our business up and running for nearly ten years now."

She looked at her girlfriend and tried to picture her as business-savvy. "Still kind of hard to believe."

"Answer me, Kuga, if you would be so kind: how many specialty shops do you know of on this island that sell sweet treats?" Reito asked.

Natsuki used her good hand as she counted, "Well, there's Shizuru's for starters… Then there's that one chocolate shop that opened eight months ago- no, wait. It closed down four months back." She started again, "There's Shizuru's and then…" Natsuki went down Fuuka in her mind street-by-street, her eyes widening bit-by-bit when no other places came to mind. Wait… that can't mean-

Natsuki look up and was met by the most deviously satisfied smiled she'd ever seen cross Shizuru face. "Go on…" Shizuru drawled, nearly purred, looking very much like the cat that caught the canary. Natsuki felt a shiver run down her spine, not the good kind.

"There's only yours…" Natsuki answered shakily. She reasons she couldn't quite put into words, Natsuki was suddenly very happy she had never even considered taking up cooking as a career choice.

"And has been for almost the whole time our shop has been running," Yukino ended.

"That chocolate shop didn't stand a chance," Reito sighed, shaking his head almost sympathetically.

"She brought it down in four months, that's got to be a record or something," Haruka added.

Shizuru was in a mode Natuski had never seen her in before. She wore a business smile, pleasant and inviting, but aloof at the same time. It was the type of expression Natsuki saw on CEOs in movies she watched, never expecting to find it so naturally placed on her girlfriend's face. "Ara, I just figured it was high time we had a chocolate event. I can't really help it if only one cocoa manufacturer is willing to ship to Fuuka and they had limited stock readily available."

This was a side of Shizuru she hadn't seen, the side when Shizuru really got down to business and put her all into her work. Was this the side that all her competition see, Natsuki wondered, the hard-working one with a mind for business and a strong ambition? Or did they see the happy-go-lucky, carefree one that loved to push Natsuki's buttons, just to sooth her into a pleasant lull. How many more sides did the mystery that was Shizuru have?

I barely know anything about her, Natsuki concluded.

Shizuru tilted her head. "Natsuki? You have a very peculiar look on your face. What's up?" And just like that Shizuru was back to the way Natsuki knew her, bright eyes and a happy smile on her face.

But I'm sure I'll see every side of her eventually. Until then, I'll just have to wait. Natsuki smiled back, "Nothing major. Just something I thought of."

Shizuru was about to respond, but Haruka grabbed her collar and started to drag her towards the door. "I don't want to go! Natsuki~!" Shizuru whined, reaching back for her girlfriend. All she found though was Natsuki waving her goodbye with an amused grin on her face.

The door closed behind them and Natsuki adjusted her cot into an upright position. Finally, nice and quiet. She leaned back into the mattress before hearing her stomach growl. I wonder when lunch is served. Not that I'm looking forward to hospital food, she grimaced.

Just then a knock came and the door parted to reveal her three closest friends. They all look relieved upon seeing her, but Nao quickly schooled her face into an indifferent look. They walked in, Mai and Mikoto going up to Natsuki at the bed while Nao leaned against the wall nearby.

"We heard you woke up," Mai started. "We thought you might be hungry." At this, she held out a platter of the food being served downstairs and asked Mikoto to open up the cot's built-in tray. At the sight of the food being set down in front of her, Natsuki could feel her stomach quietly growl. Seems she was hungrier than she thought she was.

"We also thought you might be dead," Nao finally piped up, her trademark smirk on her face as she eyed the braces on Natsuki's left side, "but you seem to still be alive and kicking. Thanks to me."

Oh great. Here it comes. "Barely. You couldn't have jumped in any sooner?"

"Hey, I can only guarantee saving your life. I can't guarantee what condition it's going to be in," Nao answered with a smug grin on her face. She started to inspect her nails, "Oh yeah, I'll be expecting that pay raise in a couple days, boss."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Don't hold your breath."

"Cheapskate." Nao glared from over her nails.

Mai broke in smoothly. "I thought for sure Fujino-san would be here. She's been worried sick and has barely left your side these past few days."

Shizuru… Natsuki couldn't help but smile. "She left a couple minutes ago. Her friends are dragging her back to work."

"Ah," Mai laughed.

"Speaking of work, we need to discuss work." Natsuki gestured to her healing arm, "Seems I won't be able to move this arm for a while."

"We came to see how you were doing and you start talking about work?" Mai sighed, "Then again, I really shouldn't have expected otherwise."

"This needs to be discussed. I'm down a dentist because of my arm and now I only have one certified dentist and an intern."

"You should really see about hiring more people, Natsuki. We're getting more popular and the work load is getting tough."

Natsuki nodded. I know, I know… She was just wary of new people. Nao was her childhood friend and she met Mai at med school. It had taken her a while to open up to Mikoto a few years back, and now she'll have to employ more people. She turned to the redhead, "Can you see about opening up a couple positions and put up an ad online?"

"Can you see about getting me a bigger office space?"

Natsuki was about to retort in her usual dismissive manner but paused. If I'm going to get more employees, then our building is currently not be big enough for more people. Nao's going to need more office space for files and such. She sighed, Looks like I'll have to renovate the whole building. Good thing her job paid as much as it did. "Looks like we'll be expanding a lot of things soon." And wasn't she just thinking about buying a bigger house earlier? Why does it feel like I'm taking a step forward in my life? she thought, fighting down a blush.

Nao blinked, not expecting the answer she got. Her face then broke out into a rare, genuine grin. "Yes! Fucking finally!"

Mai cheered, "You hear that, Mikoto? We're going to expand the building and hire new people!"

Mikoto frowned, "But I like being with Mai, Nao, and Natsuki."

"We'll still be with you, but now we'll also have a couple more people around the shop."

"Like, more friends?" At Mai's nod, the intern's face brightened and she jumped to huge Mai tightly, "Yay, more people!"

Natsuki grimaced, Ugh, more interns. But seeing her friends' happy faces at the news led her to believe she made the right choice. "Anyway, you guys already have your days filled for the next couple months so we'll have to cancel mine and give the customers refunds."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get on it," Nao said, walking over and taking Natsuki's banana. She ignored the glare that followed and started to munch on the fruit. "Consider this payment for me saving your ass," she said between mouthfuls.

Mai laughed, "You say that now, but you were the one pacing back and forth in the hall after they carted Natsuki into the emergency room."

"Oh?" Natsuki smirked. "Why, Nao, I didn't know you cared!"

"I don't!" the redhead quickly retorted, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment. "As if I'd care about a stupid mutt like you!" At the sound of her three friend's laughter, she huffed and leaned back against the wall, trying to salvage some of her cool.

The laughter died down and Natsuki smiled, "Thanks, Nao."

Nao glanced back before grinning herself, "Damn right you are."

They four chatted for a while as Natsuki ate her lunch, such as filling Natsuki in on what's happened in the last three days, and Natsuki mourning not being able to drive her motorcycle for a while. During a lull in the conversation, Kuga suddenly remembered something:

"Oh yeah, I never did ask: how did you arrive at the fight scene so fast?"

"Er!" Nao froze for a second before stiffly walking towards the door. "I-I'll be going now. Just remembered I got to… um, do laundry…"

"Nuh-uh." Mai grabbed Nao by the arm as she passed by. "This was your plan, so you're going to explain it."

Natsuki frowned. "'Plan'?" She didn't like where this was going.

Before Nao could even try to cover it up, Mikoto quickly jumped in, "Yeah! Mai, Nao and I were watching your and Shizuru's date!"

Nao felt a shiver go up her spine, not even having to turn around to know there was a deadly glare on Natsuki's face. "Oh yeah?" Natsuki's voice was low and foreboding.

"Yep!" Mikoto nodded enthusiastically. "Your girlfriend is really fast in that bear outfit! Oh, and Nao said you were going to mess up your date somehow so we should go along to help, but she had her camera out so I'm pretty sure she was just taking pic-mrph!"

Nao had launched forward and was covering Mikoto's mouth, "Shut up! Do you want to get me killed?"

Natsuki had a smile on her face, but the kind that promised pain and agony for its recipient, "Nao, you and I are going to have a little talk once my arm is fully healed."

Nao shuddered, unable to meet her eyes. Note to self, call in sick when her braces finally come off.

Mai, thinking that Nao had been sufficiently chastised for her wrong-doings, stepped in, "Don't go too hard on her, Natsuki. It's because we were close that Nao was able to step in. That one guy with a baseball bat almost hit you again when you were down, but Nao ran in and blocked the blow. She guarded you until the police and ambulance arrived ten minutes after I made the call."

"I wanted to help, but Nao told me to protect Mai and Shizuru!" Mikoto added.

"It was no big deal," Nao shrugged.

"You and Mikoto were exhausted by the time the police showed up and carted the guys away to the hospital. You guys did a number on them," Mai said.

Hearing this, Natsuki felt her ire dissipate. She couldn't possibly stay mad at her friends when they defended her from four armed robbers for ten minutes.

Mai glanced at her watch. "Look at the time, we should be heading back." She started to gather their things.

"Natsuki, when are you going to leave the hospital?" Mikoto asked.

"The doctor said that I should be able to leave tomorrow."

Mai glanced back to her, "Should I pick you up tomorrow then?"

Natsuki shook her head. "Nah. I'm pretty sure Shizuru going to insist that I drive home with her."

Mai laughed, "That's true." Natsuki's friends then gathered by the door and gave their farewells, "See you soon, Natsuki."

"Yeah, see ya." Natsuki waved them off until the door closed behind them. She sighed, suddenly feeling tired. She was feeling all right, but she had just awoken from a three-day slumber; two different visits so close to one another drained her energy. "Well, I'm in a hospital anyway. Might as well rest or watch TV or something." She looked over at the small table right next to grab the TV remote but paused. Natsuki grinned despite herself.

On the table sat Duran with a cherry lollipop under his paw.

Thank you for reading!