Hey guys! I know that I've been gone for a long long time, but yes, I am alive. I have no excuse really, but school is really taking its toll on me and I can't really find the time to write anymore (except maybe when I try to run away from all my school work but that's not really a good idea now, is it?) So to those of you who still read FYF:AR, thank you for your patience, really. You guys all deserve a Nobel Prize for your patience, but don't worry, I don't plan on dropping that story any time soon. I just can't seem to remember where the next chapter was meant to go because I left it half done and now I am completely lost. I will still continue that story but please don't expect frequent updates. I love you guys to the moon and back!

So this is dedicated to all those avid readers of the FYF series, those who stood beside me right from the very beginning ever since I began writing here on FF almost 5 or 6 years ago. As well as to all those who still keep in touch with me through PMs, even if I'm a stupid ass who gives out late replies (seriously FF should have an app that's similar to Facebook so it would be easier to check in with y'all), especially those who came to know me personally.

Small warning: I am not a med student and my course is a far cry from anything medical and I don't really read up on med books so pardon me if I say something wrong. Everything I wrote is simply based off what I could remember (I could've researched more on MD but I didn't have the time soooo please just notify me if there was some kind of mistake!)

Some references from the FYF series will be made but it's just for some minor details. (I just realized this when I got much older but naming an entire story series "Facing Your Fears"is a little embarrassing huh? You can check it out if you're interested but I wrote the first installation when I was like 11 or 12 or something and without proofreading at that so really, expect a lot of mistakes.)

Stay

A wise person once said that we are all bound to meet people that seemingly would change our lives. We'd feel inexplicably connected to this person, a stranger, even more so than anyone else we've met in our lives. Maybe they're angels that were sent to us so they could guide us through difficult times, support us when we are weak, give us a reason to live once we've lost all hope. Perhaps this person will be important to us, they'd mean more to us than any other person that we'd known for the longest times, perhaps we'll consider them to be our better we'll grow to love them, and perhaps they'll love us too. It's fine to take things as they are, simply enjoy the feeling and cherish the moment.

But just a word of advice: we may come to love this person, but we must remember that love does not equate to ownership. No matter how much we love them, they will never be ours. Maybe their purpose was to save you, guide you, protect you, and once they fulfill this purpose, they will leave. No matter how much we beg, plead, cry or ask, we cannot force them to stay. The person who once meant everything to us will become a stranger once more.[1]

"Okay now, Haruto-kun, take deep breaths for me okay?" A young woman asked kindly as she held a stethoscope to the chest of an even younger boy, no older than the age of 7. "Okay, that's great. Thank you very much!"She added with a smile, jotting down her observations on paper.

"Did I do good?" The boy eagerly asked, a wide grin on his face. "Mommy said that because Mikoto-sensei is the one in charge of me, I'm gonna get better faster than any other kid and then I'll be able to run with Naru outside!"

Misaka Mikoto smiled gently at the young child, her hazel eyes glinting with emotion as she lightly ruffled his hair,

"You did great, Haruto-kun, but no running with Naru-chan until I say it's okay for you to do so, alright?" She said, lightly tapping his nose. "You have to drink your medicine and eat all your vegetables so that you'll get better even faster! For now, you should continue your mobility and muscle training exercises with Taeko-sensei alright?"

"Sure! I can go and practice with her now, right?" Mikoto nodded, before pressing the buzzer and asking for a nurse to bring in a wheel chair for the little boy. Once she said her thanks, she felt small hands lightly grasping the fabric of her white coat. "Say, Mikoto-sensei...can I ask you something?" He asked, a small blush dusting his cheeks.

"What is it?"Mikoto sat on the edge of the bed, eagerly awaiting the child's inquiries.

"I'm turning 8 in a few days, remember?" He started, turning his head away from her. "My birthday is on the 1st of May, right?"

"Of course I remember! Did you want to throw a birthday party for you with your friends? If you want, I can ask permission from the Director so you can use one of the function rooms."

"Really?'' The boy immediately perked up at her words, but then suddenly stopped. "No! I mean, that's not what I meant!"

"Oh? I thought you would've wanted to spend it with your friends and Naru-chan?" She asked, puzzled that she was wrong with her guess. "Did you want something else then? If it's something I can help you with, then I'll be glad to do it for you."

"Really? You'll do anything?!" Seeing the boy's enthusiasm, Mikoto couldn't hep but smile wryly at him.

"Of course. Anything for my best little patient!" She answered, with just as much enthusiasm.

"So then you'll marry me?!"

"Of course I'll marry y-wait, WHAT?'' Mikoto paused for a second, staring incredulously at the young child before her who had just seemingly proposed to her.

"I'm turning 8 in a few days and Mommy said that Mikoto-sensei is 26! I'm getting closer to your age! I can marry you then, right?" Haruto stated brazenly, taking the older woman's hand into both of his, making her blush and stumble upon her words.

"H-huh? B-but, Haruto-kun...don't you think I'm a little too old for you?" She asked, trying to pry her hands away from his grasp. "We're 19 years apart for goodness' sake!"

"Nuh-uh! Mommy said that Mikoto-sensei is still pretty young! And you don't have a ring on your finger like Mommy does and you don't even have a boyfriend!" Mikoto visibly flinched at the young boy's words, but tried to brush it off with a nervous laugh. 'He's just a child Mikoto' she thought to herself. 'Get a grip on yourself and pull it together!'

"But what about Naru-chan?" Mikoto tried to bring the child's attention to someone else. Someone that wasn't her. "Naru-chan is pretty cute and you get along pretty well, right? Plus you're the same age! You'd be able to play all you want with her once you get better!"

"Naru can be my best man at the wedding!"

"But Naru-chan is a girl, though?"

"But she acts like a boy!" He retorted. "Mikoto-sensei is a lot prettier and more girly! And you're really nice and gentle! You're the perfect wife!"

"Now that's just rude!" The door suddenly slid open, revealing a little girl with messed up hair that was forcefully tied into medium high pigtails. She was wearing a yellow shirt and denim shorts paired with pink socks and sneakers. Behind her were two women who were snickering loudly at the situation. "As if Mikoto-sensei would ever marry the likes of you! And what part of me is like a boy huh?"

"Hey there, Naru-chan!" Mikoto greeted happily, thankful for the girl's interference. "Did you come to visit Haruto-kun? See, Haruto-kun? Naru-chan is worried about y-"

"Hmph! Who cares about that ugly idiot!" Naru stomped indignantly as she made her way towards Mikoto, clinging onto her waist once she got to her. "I'm here to protect you from this idiot!"

"Who's the idiot here, stupid Naru!" Haruto asked with a cute little glare directed at his childhood friend.

"You are, obviously, stupid face!" Naru stuck her tongue out and made a face at him. "Mikoto-sensei is too kind to refuse when you're desperately forcing her to marry you! Someone needs to stay by her side and make sure that no ones takes advantage of her kindness!"

"Alright now, kids. I think that's enough." One of the women who were behind Naru a few minutes ago entered the room, wheeling in a wheel chair. She was a kind looking woman with glasses who had her medium length black hair tied back into a simple pony tail. She wore the usual white and blue scrub suit prescribed to the physical therapists of the hospital. "Haruto-kun is going to be late for his training if you keep that up."

"Oh thank God you finally decided to show up." Mikoto sighed exasperatedly.

"Taeko-sensei!" Naru greeted happily. "Please go ahead and take stupid Haruto so he can go ahead and do his training while I stay here with Mikoto-sensei!"

"Hey! That's no fair!" Haruto immediately responded, sending her glares that she simply ignored, much to his irritation.

"Naru-chan..." Taeko smiled kindly as she squatted down to face the little girl. "You know, today is Mikoto-sensei's day-off. She shouldn't even be here today, so she can't stay to play with you all."

"Ah, but it's not like I have anything to do-" Mikoto interjected, but was stopped when the other woman decided to enter the room, closing the door behind her.

"And I guess this is where I come in." She said with a smile, flipping her long black hair back. "Come on, Mikoto-san! It's your first day-off and you want to spend it here, in the hospital, in your place of work? You're defeating the purpose of having day-offs!"

"Nice to see you too, Ruiko." Mikoto sighed, greeting her long time friend, Saten Ruiko. She wore a loose fitting, white button up blouse with bluish slacks cut a few inches above her ankles paired with white shoes. "But it's not like I wanted to have this day-off. I would've been perfectly fine even if- "

"You haven't taken a single day-off since you started working except for holidays, Mikoto-sensei. The Director personally gave you a day-off. If you could call it that. He practically gave you a week!" Taeko explained as she helped Haruto onto the wheel chair.

"The Director?" Naru asked quizically. Ruiko smiled before walking over to the young girl and fixing her hair. "The big old guy with the beard?"

"That's right, Naru-chan" Ruiko laughed as she re-tied the girl's hair. "But he's no ordinary old guy, he's Mikoto-san's father."

"I swear..." Mikoto sighed. "Isn't he abusing his power? Giving his daughter a week-off just like that! It's not like he does that to every other doctor in this hospital!"

"Seriously, Mikoto-san..'' Ruiko sighed as she finished fixing Naru's hair, patting the girl's bangs so that they'd stay down. "You must've set a record for the longest time of working without taking any leaves or absences. It's been nearly two years! That's why you and me are gonna go and have a girl's night out with Kuroko-san and Kazari, just like the good old days."

"Even if I did try to escape, chances are Kuroko would come after me with her teleportation and just bring me back to wherever we're staying at for the night." She sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way out. The two women eagerly awaited the young doctor's reply as the two children simply sat there, completely unaware of what was happening. "Alright fine, but I'm only taking two days off, got it? I can't leave my patients unattended for an entire week!"

"It's not like you're the only doctor in this hospital, Mikoto-san. This place has the best pool of doctors! You don't have to worry about your patients, but well...Tabigake-san knew you wouldn't take the entire week off." Ruiko smiled as she watched her friend get up from her position on the bed.

"If he knew me so well then why give me a week-off at all?" Mikoto mumbled under her breath as she knelt down to face the two little kids, one who was currently seated in a wheel chair and the other who stood protectively beside him. "Sorry I can't play with you guys today. I promise I'll play with you next time, okay?"

"Ruiko-nee always takes away Mikoto-sensei from us..." Naru pouted as she stared at the scuffs of her shoes.

"Sorry about that kid. But we need to spend some quality time with Mikoto-sensei or else she's gonna end up as a lonely, successfully rich doctor with no social life. " Ruiko grinned as she stood beside Mikoto, a hand to her hip.

"She's not gonna be lonely!" Haruto interrupted. "She's gonna marry me! And I'll be with her always so she'll never be lonely!" His abrupt declaration made Taeko and Ruiko snicker once more as Mikoto just blushed and shook her head.

"Thanks for that, Haruto-kun, but you should really just focus on getting better, alright?" She said with a smile as she stood up and let Taeko wheel him out, Naru following shortly behind them. "Remember not to push yourself too hard and always listen to Taeko-sensei, okay? Be nice and watch over him for me, okay, Naru-chan?" She called out once more as the two kids smiled at her and gave a big wave of farewell before the door closed behind them, leaving Mikoto and Ruiko alone in the room.

"Those kids are just adorable." Ruiko stated as Mikoto took off her white coat and stethoscope. "I'd bet that once they get into middle school, they're gonna start acting weird towards one another and then they'll realize that they loved each other the whole time they were bickering."

"Don't you think they're a little too young to be thinking about love?" Mikoto asked skeptically. "Haruto-kun needs to focus all his energy into getting better so he can actually go to school properly by the time they become middle schoolers." She stated, her voice sounding gruff and tired. Ruiko immediately frowned as she followed Mikoto out the door, the sound of the young doctor's low heels clacking against the tile floor.

"How bad is it?" She finally asked as she realized that they were walking towards Mikoto's office. "Is his condition improving at all?"

"His condition is improving, but it's not really enough to consider him getting better, if you know what I mean." Mikoto answered lowly as she checked her clipboard which had the young boy's files. "We've managed to strengthen his structure, and as you can see, he looks normal, almost as if he doesn't have muscular dystrophy . We've also managed to slow down the degeneration of his muscles, but it's still not enough. We still can't find the cure."

"Isn't his physical therapy going smoothly? Taeko's the best physical therapist in Academy City and she's been at his case for as long as he's been diagnosed with MD."

"It's going as well as it possibly could but PT isn't really the cure. It helps in the alleviation of some of the symptoms." Mikoto sighed as they reached her office. She slumped down on her comfortable desk chair, placing the files on her desk. "Since MD is mostly hereditary or is caused by mutation during the early stages of development, I thought that if we studied more on the patient's DNA we could figure it out, but I guess it really isn't that easy."

"Hey now..." Ruiko chided, standing in front of Mikoto's wide oak desk. "This disease has been around for as long as humans have been alive. Of course it's not gonna be easy! If it was, then Einstein or some other genius would've found the cure to it already!"

"I know that...but Ruiko..." Mikoto swerved her chair around so she could face the wall where her diplomas and certificates were placed immaculately in frames, along with a few pictures of her with her friends and family. Among these was a frame which had a green Gekota stationary paper filled with numerous Thank you's and a single small square frame which held a tiny semi-wilted cherry blossom petal. "Treating MD is the only thing I have left to live for..."

Ruiko silently stared at her friend, unable to find the proper words to say back to her. What could one possibly say to that open declaration of hopelessness? 'Í can't really blame her though... Losing people she loved one after another just like that. How could you live every day of your life knowing that things would just never be the same again?'

"Mikoto-san..." Ruiko choked out after several troubling minutes of silence.

"I'm sorry about that." Mikoto smiled sadly at her friend, picking up her bag from the other table and rummaging through it's contents. "I probably shouldn't have went off and blabbered stupid stuff like that. You were saying something about a girls' night out?"

"Mikoto-san, you know that we'll always be-" Ruiko tried to say, before she was once again interrupted by the young woman whose hazel eyes reflected nothing but sorrow and a tinge of desperation.

"It's fine." She said lowly, standing up and placing the files in order. "Thank you, but I'm fine. Talking about things like this will surely ruin your mood, and we can't have that if we're going out with the girls tonight." Ruiko kept her gaze on Mikoto, before shaking her head and sighing.

"You know, you're only a year older than the three of us." She said, following Mikoto as she went out and locked her office doors. "You don't have to act like Kuroko-san's onee-sama or anything, even if she still calls you that. Isn't it about time that you outgrew that facade of yours? No one sees you as the Ace or the Princess or as an Angel anymore."

After a while of not hearing a response, Ruiko said no more as the two of them silently walked in the hallways towards the parking lot. Once they were seated in Mikoto's car, with her in the driver's seat and Ruiko riding shotgun, Mikoto simply sat still for a while, not starting the car or even pushing the key into ignition.

"Mikoto-san?" Ruiko asked, unable to bear the silence anymore. Mikoto sat still for a few moments more before turning the key, her car roaring into life.

"A lot of things in this world are easier said than done, Ruiko." She said icily, not bothering to turn her head to face Ruiko as she simply put the car in reverse and drove away from the parking lot.

"The same way a lot of things in this world are actually quite easier than you make it out to be." Ruiko retorted just as coldly after a few more seconds of silence. With that, Misaka Mikoto had nothing left to say, and they spent the rest of the journey in silence.

"Uh oh..." Uiharu Kazari sighed as she stared at the message on her phone. "Looks like Ruiko failed, Kuroko-san. It seems as though Mikoto-san still gets extremely touchy with the topic." She called out to her friend who was busying herself in the kitchen.

"I figured just as much..." Kuroko sighed as she brought in a tub of popcorn into the living room of her penthouse. "What's their status as of now?"

"It seems like Ruiko talked back to Mikoto-san and Mikoto-san gave her the cold shoulder for half an hour. She only started behaving normally when she asked Ruiko what kind of clothes she should be packing for the night." Kazari duly reported, a habit she had not lost ever since her days as a Judgment officer.

"I guess this result is better than last year's attempt. At least she ends up coming with us this time. You ended up floundering about and crying the minute Mikoto-neesama snapped and she stormed off and went back to work."

"I already apologized for that didn't I?" Kazari whined as she placed her phone onto the table, hugging a pillow to her chest. "Seeing Mikoto-san like that...just really surprised me. How come you're never the one to try and talk to her? You've known her the longest out of all of us!"

"That's precisely the reason why I can't be the one to go and convince her." Kuroko sighed as she plopped down on her black single seater. "I know exactly what makes her tick and given my temper, I might just go ahead and make her explode at me. Given that magnitude, I'm not even sure if we'd ever be able to repair our bond after something like that."

"Mikoto-san always gets volatile when it's a week before her birthday..." Kazari thought out loud as she stared at the ceiling, the flower crown she used to wear reduced to a small bunch of flowers that tied her medium length hair and hung loosely on her shoulder. "It's been two years huh? Somehow I can remember everything as if it just happened the other day."

"Oh trust me." Kuroko muttered darkly. "The desire to kill gets stronger and stronger every time I see Mikoto-neesama so depressed and mournful all because-"

"You can't kill someone who's no longer here, Kuroko-san." Kazari's words gave way to a temporary pause as Kuroko tried to piece herself together once more. She looked at her phone and noticed the date: April 26. They both knew that today was just the beginning of the week-long struggle. "You know, come to think of it, I never really understood why Touma-niisan did the things he did. He loved her with everything he had. We could all see it as clear as day. Wouldn't he normally consider Mikoto-san's feelings, given the situation back then? How could he just..." Kazari trailed off, her mind losing the ability to find the right words. The light buzzing of several appliances around the room could be heard as neither of them spoke.

"Maybe it was precisely because of that." Kuroko answered simply as she saw her electronic picture frame flashing pictures of their younger years, of her beloved Onee-sama with him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kazari asked, watching Kuroko as she made a move to stand up and pick up the frame from the table.

"Maybe it was because he loved her too much." She angrily shut down the electronic picture frame, throwing it inside a random drawer, not caring if it broke. "And for that...I'll never forgive him."

Silence enveloped the room once more, before small cluttering noises could be heard.

"Kazari~! Kuroko-san~!" Ruiko's voice called out as she walked into the living room. "I brought along Mikoto-san. Did you guys finish preparing everything?"

"We're as prepared as we possibly could." Kuroko smiled, acting as if the tense aura from before didn't exist. "I'm surprised you managed to drag Mikoto-neesama from her work. Considering the fact that she almost never has the time to spend with any of us." She added poking fun at her once revered upperclassman.

"Now come on, you know that that's not true, Kuroko."Mikoto huffed, dropping a small duffel bag onto the floor. "I'm not always so busy that I don't spend time with you guys. We go out for coffee every once in a while, don't we?"

"And that's about everything." Ruiko walked across the living room, taking a seat beside Kazari and grabbing a handful of popcorn. "You never go shopping with us, you don't go to the movies with us, you don't even join in on our sleep overs!" She counted off with her fingers, her mouth still full of the savory treat.

"You know, to be fair, I think we are a little too old for sleep overs, Ruiko." Kazari noted with a smile as she turned to Mikoto, beaming happily. "It's nice to see you again, Mikoto-san. I must say, it has been quite a while since we last saw you."

"And here I thought you were actually on my side on this one, Kazari." Mikoto crossed her arms, feigning annoyance before she sat down. "Though I really am sorry girls. The kids at the hospital really need all the help and attention they can get. Treating MD is like a race against time. We need to find a way to stabilize them before they're rendered unable to walk. I just want to do everything I can for them. I mean, you met some of the kids right?"

"Yes, we've met quite a few of them. Is that Haruto still after your hand in marriage?" Kuroko suddenly asked, appearing behind a blushing Mikoto, carrying a tray of iced refreshments. "God knows how long that kid has been trying to formulate a plan to trick you into marriage."

"How come everyone knew that Haruto-kun saw me that way?" Mikoto muttered, grabbing a glass and gulping it furiously, as if to hide her embarrassment.

"Some things just never change I guess." Kazari answered good-naturedly as she took another glass from the tray.

"Ah, but he did finally set his plan into motion though, Kuroko-san." Ruiko commented, taking Kazari's glass, making the smaller girl frown before she bent over and picked up another one. "The little devil asked Mikoto-san for a favor for his upcoming birthday with this kitten-like expression on his face. Mikoto-san said yes even before she knew what he was asking for."

"If you'd been watching all along then you and Taeko should've done something to help me!" Mikoto whined, remembering the dilemma she was in. "If Naru-chan hadn't show up and busted through the door like that, I probably wouldn't be able to handle rejecting him! Do you know how much trouble that could've been? We're 19 years apart for God's sake! I would've been arrested! All my hard work into becoming a doctor leading towards nothing because I couldn't say no to one of my patients! Oh just imagine the shame!"

"I'm more worried of the fact that you were actually thinking of a future wherein you married the child." Kuroko remarked snidely as she sat on a chair near Mikoto, a glass in hand. "Please don't tell me that the reason you've rejected all my advances throughout the years is because of some pedophilia-related fetish?!"

"Goddamnit, Kuroko. You make me sound like I'm already some kind of criminal. " Mikoto muttered, until a bulb lit up in her head. She looked over to Ruiko and winked at her, which confused the younger girl. "But speaking of crimes, you do realize that I could still send you to prison for all those things you did to me back when we were still in school. Stealing my things, stalking me, taking unwilling pictures of me, and multiple accounts of sexual harassment too."

"Please, Mikoto-neesama. As a lawyer, I already declare myself guilty of crimes of passion." At these words, Ruiko finally got the message Mikoto was sending, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Crimes of passion, my ass." Ruiko commented, a smirk gracing her face. "I'd bet you're up on a different level of passion altogether with your Keisuke-dearest." Kuroko flushed beet red as the three other girls merely laughed away at her embarrassment and misery. "Seriously though, years upon years of dating and you still act like some kind of teenager in love whenever we mention his name. Shirai Kuroko, top bar passer, ex-Head of the 117th Branch of Judgment, and given the title of Thorn Queen by all your admirers, blushing and stuttering over a guy! I'd never thought you'd last this long with someone like him, but damn. Look at you now."

"I agree with that one." Mikoto happily added, taking pleasure as Kuroko's face grew even redder, her mouth still trying to find the ability to speak once more. "Kei-kun is so soft-spoken and calm and kind. He's your complete opposite! You've been dating for what? Seven years or something? Give the guy a fewer things to worry about and just accept his proposal why don't you?"

"Wah...Why do you know about that?!" Kuroko exclaimed, standing up from her seat. "I never even told anyone yet so how come-"

"Kuroko-san, no one would ever dare propose to a girl without consulting the girl's closest friends and family first." Kazari answered with a smile, completely amused at how the girl was acting. "He contacted all three of us and asked for Mikoto-san's help in reaching your family and asking for your hand." This was news to Kuroko's ears as the other three girls went on with their expose.

"It was a good thing Papa was well-acquainted with your father." Mikoto stood up to take the glass away from Kuroko's hand before she threw it at anyone, and sat back down. "It was really amusing watching Kei-kun fidget nervously all night. He asked me to accompany him to the dinner at your father's place but when the big talk came in, he politely told me that it would be better if he talked to your family by himself. You can imagine my surprise when someone as calm and composed as Kei-kun went out of the room nearly jumping out for joy, hugging people and thanking them for some inexplicable reason." Mikoto laughed as Kuroko just stood there, absolutely stupefied at the girls' revelations.

"So I guess this means that you haven't given him an answer yet?" Ruiko asked, obviously enjoying seeing Kuroko in such a state. "Don't leave the poor guy hanging and give him a straight up answer why don't you?"

"K-Kei..." Kuroko shook her head and coughed, trying to clear out the high pitch in her voice. "Keisuke has told me that he was in no rush." She said, regaining her composure. "We're still pretty young. All things considered, I'm still a newbie lawyer, and he just started getting used to handling the reins of his family's company. He said that we should both focus on our careers, with our future in mind. He just asked me the big question to serve as some kind of reminder."

"That he'd always be there for you, no matter how busy you get or how seldom you meet and that his feelings would never change?" Mikoto continued with a knowing look on her face. Kuroko looked stupefied once more but then she just shook her head, face palming. "You really shouldn't be surprised. Kei-kun is such an honest guy. If you ask him, he'd answer you with the truth straight up. He knew right from the very start that you wouldn't answer him right away so I told him that I could just zap you unconscious and place you somewhere on a stranded island and get you two hooked up and married but you wanna know what he said?"

"Not really." Kuroko answered. "I don't think I can handle-"

"It was a rhetorical question. I didn't need your answer." Mikoto said, rolling her eyes before continuing eagerly. "But anyway, he said that you'd probably want to take your time with all this. He said that since you'd been so obsessed over me in your younger years, and since not a single one of us in our group had a normal teenage life, he wanted you to enjoy your years as a young adult. He wanted you to build a name for yourself in your career, and strengthen your identity as a person. He didn't want to tie you down with marriage, he just wanted you to live your life on your own terms, doing things that make you feel fulfilled and happy. I'm just a friend of the person he was in love with but I was positively swooning when I heard him say that in the car." She finished, turning to see Kuroko who was once again red in the face, utterly embarrassed but completely blissful nonetheless.

"I probably would've questioned his sanity and ask him why he was dating Kuroko-san again." Ruiko commented with a light shrug, making all of them giggle like a bunch of school girls.

"But it really is amazing, isn't it?" Kazari muttered wistfully as she smiled at their small circle of friends. "To think that we all used to be just a bunch of middle schoolers hanging out after class and during weekends, getting into trouble every now and then. But now, look at us! Mikoto-san is a widely-known doctor, Ruiko became a grade school teacher, I became a computer engineer for Academy City, Kuroko-san is finally a lawyer and even though she hasn't technically answered him, she's engaged!"

"I'm actually surprised that Kuroko-san got over her obsession with Mikoto-san." Ruiko laughed, remembering all the duo's antics. "She was the weirdest out of all of us, but now she's the only one who actually has a love life?! Isn't that just weird?"

"Ah! But I always thought that Mikoto-san would be the first to get married though!" Kazari's small laughter was suddenly the only thing that was heard in the room. Kuroko and Ruiko knew where this was going, but she somehow didn't take the hint. "Remember when we were still in high school and Touma-niisan asked us for the best way to propose to Mikoto-san? That was..." Once the silence grew uncomfortable, Kazari suddenly realized her mistake and promptly shut her mouth. "I'm sorry." She mumbled lowly, lowering her head "I just got swept away by the nostalgia of things and well...I guess I said something I shouldn't have." No one spoke a word as Kazari nervously played with her thumbs, waiting for any kind of response.

"You know..." Mikoto said, finally breaking the thick, suffocating silence around them. "I know why Papa always gives me a week off before my birthday. The same way I know that you guys are planning something every year. I've been keeping count you know? You failed the last attempt, but this time, I came. I came because I wanted to tell you guys that I appreciate everything you've done for me, but really, nothing you do will ever make anything better. It would be best if you just focused on your own lives and stop trying to fix mine."

"Mikoto-neesama..." Kuroko called out as gently as she could. "You honestly can't expect us to leave you to your own devices for this...this hell week!" She sputtered out bitterly.

"Hell week huh?" Mikoto repeated her words, her voice full of hurt tinged with light amusement. "That's awfully fitting for the week that I lost so many things."

It all happened a week before my 25th birthday. During that week, I was so overcome with grief, I thought I'd never recover from again.

It was the week that I lost all 9,969 of my Sisters. And the week that I lost the one who pulled me through majority of my struggles.

The week that I lost Kamijou Touma.

-chapter end-

If you managed to get this far, then congratulations! Truth be told, this was supposed to be just a one shot but it was too damn long, so I decided to cut it up.

[1] This was actually based off something I read online somewhere, though I can't remember where. I'm pretty sure that the original text was far more eloquent than this, and I'm pretty sure I worded it differently, but I just wanted to be sure that I won't get sued for anything. I just used the main idea that some people really just come into our lives for a purpose and that they'll leave us once they've achieved that. The key points were 'strangers', 'owning', and 'purpose'. To whoever wrote that piece I read and based off these lines from, all credit is given to you and I deserve none of it. I think it was a post from an art group on FB? Though I'm not really sure.

Welp? It's been a long time since I wrote anything. How'd I do? Tell me what you think about this okay? I honestly think I've been reading way too much fanfiction recently (especially CCS fics) but hell yeah!

Thanks so much! Till next time!