Author's Note: I hate myself for starting another fanfic when I haven't even finished most of mine... But I couldn't resist, the Kuroko Tetsumi inside my head was kicking me in the brain for not writing about her in a year. So here is another Kuroko Tetsumi fic (not related to Beautiful Redemption at all).

Disclaimer: I do not KnB or IIS.

By Jezmaiya

(If I Stay Adaptation with a Twist, warning: I do intend to make you all cry.)

Genderbend, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Suspense, Friendship, Family.

Kuroko X ? (I already know who though.)

Btw, I'm going to AMG 2017 tomorrow! So I should really be sleeping right now.

They say it only takes one second for your entire life to change.

One moment, one event to change the path of your destiny.

Well, how true that was…

"Kuroko Tetsumi, your time is up: Do you wish to live or die?"

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Once Again.

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The wake and burial had been a solemn affair, it wasn't anything grand or spectacular – no, it was a simple, quiet one. Just like how Grandmother Kuroko had been. It was one that Grandmother Kuroko would have appreciated to have organised for her. Her passing had been sudden, one that nobody would have expected to happen so soon. One day she was there, the next, she was gone. The funeral took place in grandmother's hometown, it was a beautiful place where Grandmother Kuroko had been born and raised in. She had lived there for a majority of her life until grandfather passed before she decided to move to Tokyo where my father, her only son, lived to fill in the void that her husband had left in her heart. Secretly, I had hoped that perhaps the passing of my grandmother would cease the tension that had been built between my parents. Selfish of me? I know.

My teal eyes flickered over to where they stood, speaking to other relatives, their backs faced each other. The large gap between their standing figures was evident and could clearly be observed by anyone, it was obvious that their once sweetened relationship had strained and gone sour. Things had become difficult at home, and I was hoping that hopefully the grief would have brought them close together again. "It must be hard on you, Tetsumi," A thin hand slide itself onto my shoulder, I resisted my instinct to jump from the sudden touch as I forced a smile onto my lips, turning to face the middle-aged woman. "You were very close and dear to her." Ah, it was her.

"Yes," I replied, a small sad smile taking over my expression as my lips turned downwards slightly. "It is unfortunate." It was no secret to anyone that I had a close relationship with my grandmother. "I had hoped that she would have lived until my graduation." I said, admittingly.

The middle-aged woman sighed, "Well life doesn't always work in our favour, dear." I nodded. Her eyes drifted over to my parents before she forced a fake smile onto her lips, she was just like the rest of them. "Well, it was nice seeing you again," her face flickered to where her husband stood, waiting by their car. "Goodbye, Tetsumi, dear." She embraced me in a brief hug before pulling away.

"Goodbye, Aunt Hisako."

I watched her leave before my gaze flickered back to my parents, "What a heartless girl." My ears perked from Aunt Hisako's comment. Discretion had never been her strongest trait. "I tried to extend my kindness to her, and never once did she smile gratefully at me. Her face never changes, it's always so blank. What a cold-hearted grandchild." Muttered the woman under her breath as she got into the car with her husband. "That family won't last." She was just like the rest of them, faking their grief. Always trying to score brownie points, never truly expressing what they truly felt. Why bother coming to the funeral if you didn't truly grieve the loss of a loved one?

As the sounds of their car engine reached my ears, I let out a breath of relief. 'Good riddance.' My eyes watched the vehicle as it drove away. My hands dug into the pocket of my black dress as I took out my phone, flipping it open as I stared at my inbox. Nothing. No new messages. 'Aomine-kun and Momoi-san must be busy.' My mind wandered to my boyfriend and my best friend, his childhood friend. It wasn't odd for them not to message me, they were often busy with their own things. Aomine had basketball club activities, and so did Momoi as the club's manager. It was fine, I understood that we all had things to prioritise. Shutting my phone, I returned it back to my pocket as I made my way towards my parents. "Shall we go home now?" I asked, speaking up once the last person has departed.

My mother jumped from my sudden appearance. "Oh, Tetsumi, dear," she said, turning to look at me. "Why don't you go ahead first?" She asked me, her eyes flickering over to my father who was busy attending to a phone call. She frowned, her lips forming a thin line as she watched him speak. "Your father and I have some business to still attend to." She stated, her eyes flickered back to the man. Lies, she just wanted me away from them when she tore into him about that phone call. She was always like this, pushing me away from the conflict. Just like Grandmother Kuroko had done. I wasn't a child anymore, I could clearly see with my own eyes, what was happening to them. "We called a cab for you." Her eyes looked over my head, I turned as I watched the taxi enter the premises. "Look, there it is." It parked at the entrance, the driver remained in the front seat, waiting.

"Okay," I replied, turning. There was no point in arguing with her, she wouldn't change her mind anyway. I might as well leave and get an early start tomorrow. "I'll call you and father once we reach Tokyo first, and then later when I get home." I told her, my mother smiled at me, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Thank you, Tetsumi." She told me, leaning down to kiss me on my forehead. "You're always so understanding, such a good girl. You took good care of your grandmother, and I know she's looking down at you, watching over you right now." She whispered soothingly into my ear. That brought a smile to my lips, it was such a contrasting statement to what Aunt Hisako had said about me. Then again, that woman didn't really know me. "You should probably say goodbye to your father before you leave."

My eyes glanced back over to the man, he was still preoccupied with his phone call. His face looked exasperated as he spoke into the device with urgency. Mother's lips formed a thin line once more in annoyance, "It's alright, he seems busy." I protested, his eyes met mine as he lifted his hand to wave goodbye, I waved back. That should suffice. Glancing back at my mother's face, it was clear that she was still not pleased, but it's not like I could do anything about his phone call. "I should get going, it's rude to keep the driver waiting." I gave her a small hug before making my way to ride.

"Be safe, take care." Said mother. "I'll see you at home then."

"Will do." I called back monotonously. When I reached the taxi, I opened the door and slide into the back seat. The driver glanced at the back seat questioningly with confused eyes, orbs squinted together, 'Of course…' "I'm here." The man jumped at hearing my voice as he readjusted the mirror, pointing it directly at me as I stared back at him. My winter coat folded neatly on my lap. Despite the weather, I saw no reason to wear my coat. It may have seemed odd, but the cold had been rather soothing on this depressing day. My gaze redirected to look out of the window, father had just gotten off the phone. Mother was already on him as she strolled up to him, her face turning into a frown, it wouldn't be long before they started arguing now. "It's just me, we can go." I told him. 'Please leave now…'

The driver stared out of his window, he must have seen the same thing and read the atmosphere. "I get you, kid," he replied as his hands moved to the wheel. The car moved slowly as it backed out of the cemetery. "Fighting is normal between married couples all the time, but that didn't look like it was going to be the usual kind of marriage fight. It's best to get out before things get messy." Advised the man beneath his breath, he stared at me from the side mirror. "You seem pretty used to it though," he commented. That was accurate, "So, how long has this been going on for?"

He was also pretty sharp, and a bit nosy. "As an expert on matters like these, you should be well aware about how sensitive and private matters like these are kept from the ears of children, and outsiders." I told him, my eyes narrowed as they stared back at his reflection, our gazes met. "I prefer not to say." That only led the man to smile at me, he didn't say anymore as his focus returned to the winter road. Ice lightly dusted the car's paths as rows of snow covered rice fields passed by the window, catching my eyes. "It must be a snow day." I noted, lowly. The snow only seemed to cover the surface of the rice fields, I bet it was still muddy beneath the surface. Mud was thicker than water after all. It wouldn't freeze as easily.

"Yes, it is," replied the man sitting behind the passenger wheel. "All schools in this area had been cancelled, but I don't think that's the case for your school since you're in Tokyo. A little snow wouldn't slow down anything." That was true, it was easier to get around and travel about in the cities compared to rural places like these, that sat on the outskirts of the city. "Say, which school do you study at, Miss? If you don't mind telling this outsider that little piece of information."

That last part brought a small smile to my lips, at least I knew he wasn't offended by my previous defensive remark. It might have come off as incredibly rude to some people, but I'm pleased to know that he wasn't bothered by it. "Touo," I answered, "I study at Touo Gakuen." I turned towards the front, my eyes pulling away from the window as I met his kind warm gaze.

The man was smiling, "Sounds like a good school." He told me.

Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, he was just trying to make small talk to make this journey a little easier. Lighten the atmosphere a bit. "It is –LOOK OUT!" The words came flying out of throat before I knew what was happening. The car that came from the opposite lane had begun to spin out of control, the ice beneath the wheel must have been too slippery for the driver to handle. The vehicle before us spun, it's wheels moving out of control before shifting its path into our lane as the car headed straight for us. The road was empty, it was only the two of us for miles around, but it was also incredibly narrow. The driver gripped tightly onto the wheel as he tried to drive the taxi around the oncoming car, the movement was so sudden that I felt my body slam against the window. Just when I thought we had avoided the oncoming danger, the worst was yet to come as the cab flew off the path of the road as the ice below had deterred the direction of the wheels beneath us.

"Shit!" My eyes shut as I felt my heart soar out of my chest as our vehicle flew forward into the rice fields below. What happened next?

I don't know.

I don't remember experiencing it at all, but when I opened my eyes…

I was standing outside in the snow. My eyes gazed back to where two ambulances and various police cars were parked on the road, people were scattered everywhere. 'We were driving up there a few moments ago…' I then turned forward, 'But then we flew off the road where we should have landed… somewhere over here…' There were people surrounding the wreckage of what I could only identify to be the taxi that I had previously been sat in. The vehicle was half sunken in the mud of the rice field, windows cracked as it was all scratched up at its sides. Oh no… 'The driver!' I looked around, spotting for the kind man who had been driving me. I couldn't see him, where was he? I wanted to shout his name from the top of my lungs, but wait… 'I don't even know his name…'

"He's gone." That statement caught my ears as I turned around to stare at a group of medics behind me, they stood overlooking something, my eyes squinted as I noticed a shoeless pair of feet between the legs of the medics– a body. My blood turned cold in an instance.

'No… please don't let it be me…' My feet moved forward. They were slow steps at first, but gradually I found myself taking longer strides before I stood behind them. I held my breath as I found the courage to peek in between the gap of the two medics, and look at the body. It wasn't me… it was the driver. They had covered his face with a white cloth, but I could still identify him through the clothes he had worn. "So, he's dead?" I asked. There was no response. I turned to the medic, my finger lightly tapped the man's shoulder. He didn't turn. That was odd. Even with my low presence, they would still have noticed me by now. "Excuse me, sir." I tried once more, but he still didn't notice.

The medic continued to speak to his colleague, "He was gone before we even pulled him out of the wreckage." That caught my attention. Wait a minute…

How did I get out?

No matter how hard I thought about it… I don't remember ever getting out of the car…

"How's the other victim from the taxi?" Asked the man.

"They're taking a look at her now," answered the other, the medic jabbed his thumb to another circle of people, except this group of medics were more frantic and in a rush. "The cops have been trying to call her parents. Don't know how they're going to explain this though. Two car crashes, both vehicles landed on the opposite sides after slipping off the main road."

"Did they find a phone?"

"One of the medics just found it in the dress pocket a while back." That sounded exactly like where I put my phone. I found myself moving towards the other group of medics, they were rushing about with equipment, one man was preparing a stretcher.

'Please,' I didn't realise I was begging. 'Please let it be the person in the other car…' I caught my breath as I stared at the face clasped between the palms of the medic. "No…" The words came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. That… is that me? … that can't be me, I mean, she looks like me with that teal hair, and that black dress she was wearing, but how can that be me? I was standing right here in front of them. "That's not me." I whispered. Why couldn't they hear me? "I'm right here." Unless… 'I'm dead?'

The medic that had been clasping my face ushered for her co-workers to bring the stretcher closer to the body, "Easy does it," she told them. "We don't want to risk breaking anything else in this girl's frail body." I watched as they carefully lifted my body off the ground before sliding me onto the stretcher. I looked like a battered ragged doll. "Get her to the hospital now!" The same medic ordered as she jogged beside my body, they moved further away from me. Wait, where were you going? Where are you taking my body? I ran after them as they climbed back up to the road where the ambulances were parked, they placed the stretcher in one of them. I crawled as quickly as I could into the back of the ambulance with the medic who had been watching over me, I watched her caress my face. Her eyes stared down at me with pity, "You're going to be alright." She told me. "You're lucky to have survived that crash, you were the only one who did. Now, just hold on a little bit longer."

'What about the other car?' I glanced back out at the other side, it was too far away for me to make anything out but I could see a group of medics down there. What happened to the other person? The engine began, and soon we were moving away from the scene, leaving everything behind.

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.

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The moment we had arrived at our destination, I found myself running to keep up with the group of medics as they carted me to the Emergency room. They couldn't see me at all, and it wasn't just my low presence anymore –they really couldn't see me. It was as though I did not exist at all, I was like a ghost now. "Doctor Midorima!" One of the nurses called out as a man dressed from head to toe in blue surgical scrubs stepped through the door, the only visible feature I could see were his green eyes from beneath the spectacles he wore.

"Everyone get to their stations, we'll start by stabilizing her condition first," he ordered as everyone in the room immediately moved. I wasn't a doctor, nor a medical student, so I didn't fully grasp the medical terms or things that were thrown around in the air, but I did understand one thing – they were trying to save me.

"Her left lung is punctured!"

"There are various spinal fractures here and here!"

"Minor concussion sustained, there doesn't seem to be any signs of internal bleeding in the brain."

I couldn't tear my eyes away from them as they surrounded me, but I wasn't so curious to step closer and see what they were doing to me either. The man, the main doctor, Doctor Midorima, I couldn't help but watch as he worked tirelessly to fix whatever had been damaged from that accident inside me. He was really dedicated to his work… but I couldn't help but feel sad for him, 'How many times a day does he have to go through this? How many people has he operated on so far today…' I watched his hands move as the nurses aided him, handing him tools after tool. He looked exhausted, his eyes… pitiful. Just like the medic in the ambulance with me. 'Do I look that sad? Or… is it because you don't think I'll survive this operation?' Surely, someone like him whose completed so many operations would have experienced failure. 'They don't all make it, do they?'

"Prepare her a room in the ICU," ordered Doctor Midorima, when the operation was all over. How long had it been? I had been so captivated by the entire process that I had loss my sense of time. "There will be no visitations allowed until tomorrow morning." The man removed his mask and the blue cap that he had been wearing to reveal a mop of dark green hair. The rest of the staff left the room, probably to prepare whatever it was he wanted. It was just the two of us left, the man looked down at me, why wouldn't he? Even I couldn't believe that was me. There was a tube stuck down my mouth, my neck in a brace as a blanket had been pulled up to my chest, but even I could spot the bandages beneath it. "I've done all that I can do for you, Kuroko Tetsumi," he spoke. It felt as though he knew I was there, but he obviously couldn't have, his gaze was looking down at my unconscious, sleeping face. If he was aware of my presence, he would be looking back up at the space across him, on the other side of my sleeping body, where I currently stood. "Now it's all up to you," he told me, he removed his rubber surgical gloves, and held them with a tissue. "Whether you want to stay in this world, or leave."

The doors opened as a group of nurses began to cart me away, I waited, I wanted to see if he was going to say anything else but he didn't. The man turned away, he didn't look back as the nurses took me away, he simply disposed the gloves. "I pity you." I told him, but he didn't react, of course he wouldn't, 'He probably didn't even hear me.' I chased the group out of the room, searching for the nurses who were moving me. I ran, of course I couldn't exactly catch up to them, I wasn't the fastest girl in the world and my sports abilities always had been below average but I made it, slipping into the ICU room just as they began to attach me to all sorts of machines. I must have been the only one here, the rest of the beds seemed empty.

"Tetsumi!" A familiar voice screamed, that sounded just like my mother.

"You can't go in there!" Another voice yelled, it sounded like it was coming from the hallway outside the ICU.

"That's my baby inside there!" There was a commotion outside the doors of the ICU, I couldn't see clearly but it looked like a bunch of nurses were holding back my mother. I ran to the door, my hands pressed against the glass panels of the doors as I stared at my mother's frantic face. I tried to push the handle of the door down but my hands instantly went through, I couldn't do anything. My fist pounded against the door, the door shook but only I seemed to notice them move. "Let me see her! Please! I'm her mother! I brought her into this world!"

"Let me out!" The words exclaimed from my mouth as I stared back at the nurses in the ICU, but they didn't seem to moving at all from their desk. 'They're not going to do anything.' Hospital security rounded the corners of the corridors as they headed straight to where my mother was, they paused behind the barricade of nurses holding back my mother. The head security guard seemed to be engaging in a conversation with my father, the expression he wore on his face, it wasn't one I had ever seen him wear at home. A sense of urgency was evidently present on his face as he spoke fiercely to the security guard. 'Mother…' She looked on the brink of breaking down as tears streamed down from her cheeks, it brought a stabbing pain to my heart as I watched her. 'They want to see me…' I banged my fist against the door, my forehead pressed against the glass as I stared at them out there, fighting for the right to see me. "Just let them in… please…"

"TETSU!" My ears perked up at the voice, how could he be here? My head rose as I spotted a familiar dark blue head appear beside my mother. "TETSU!" He yelled again as he tried to force his way through the staff, "Let me see her, that's my girlfriend in there!" Aomine snapped at the staff.

A pink head appeared beside him, 'Momoi-san!' They both came!

Momoi pouted as she turned to her childhood friend. "Dai-chan, stop it! I know you want to see her, we both do." She scolded him loudly, placing a hand on his arm as she tried to get him to stop resisting the people.

I couldn't hear what they were saying so clearly as their voices lowered down, but it looked as though the security guard had gotten fed up with the situation as he ordered some of the male nurses to escort them away. "Wait, where are you taking them?" They looked as though they were putting up a fight. My eyes widened in horror and mortification as I watched one male nurse forcefully grab my mother as they started to carry her away, my father yelled at them, but they grabbed his wrist, binding him as they forced him to follow the head security guard. "LET THEM GO!" I screamed, I couldn't watch them get hurt. 'Don't they understand?! They just want to see me! They have the right to see me, I'm their daughter! Their only daughter!' "Please, stop! You're hurting them!" I could hear myself pleading. Clearly it wasn't just me getting enraged from this scene.

Aomine's fist lashed out as it hit the head security guard's chin, knocking the older man down to the ground. "Let them go! We don't need to be treated like criminals." Roared Aomine, in rage. Everything quickly escalated out of control, and I couldn't do anything but watch.

A bunch of male nurses who had been on standby came running, they tackled Aomine to the ground as they began to pile on him, drawing a strong reaction from Momoi. "Get off him! Get off, Dai-chan!" Her voice echoed through the glass of the door clearly. Aomine didn't seem to want to go down easily without a fight as he kicked about, throwing punches back at them.

"What is going on here?" A strong voice demanded, catching everyone's attention. I looked around before I spotted the newcomer to the scene. He wasn't wearing those operation garments anymore, instead he looked more refined in his office clothes and white lab coat. "This is a hospital," he reaffirmed firmly, pushing his glasses up his nose with one bandaged hand. "Not a zoo." He stared hard at the group on the floor.

"Our apologies, Director Midorima!" Exclaimed the head security guard, his hands nursing his injured chin as he scrambled off the ground. "These visitors were just leaving." He told the man.

'Director Midorima?' But hadn't he just been another doctor working here?

The man, now identified as Director Midorima, to his staff, who was also known as Doctor Midorima glanced down at the scene, his careful eyes flickered at my parents before they shifted to the direction of the ICU as though he was assessing the situation. "You are Kuroko Tetsumi's parents." He identified as my mother nodded.

"We have to see her! Please let us inside, Director!" Pleaded my mother.

The man shook his head. "I'm afraid that we had just gotten her condition to stabilise," he informed them. "I am not so cruel that I will not restrict you from seeing your daughter," stated the man. "However, visitation times for the ICU is limited and very restricted. Not to mention that it ended an hour ago, and I do not intend to break protocol." My mother looked crestfallen, this man had been her only hope. "But… seeing as she is the only one in the ICU at the moment, and a minor, I will allow any guest to visit her and stay by her side starting tomorrow morning. She needs the night to rest alone first." With that the man turned, he walked towards me, towards the ICU.

Wait! What about now though? The nurses dragged Aomine off the ground, one stood on each side of him as they clasped onto each of his arms, proceeding to drag him away. "Let me go! I can walk by myself." He exclaimed as the nurses escorted him away, where were they taking them now?

"After the stunt you just pulled, there's no way I'm letting you walk out of here unsupervised, kid." Retaliated the head security guard, the man was obviously still bitter about the punch Aomine had managed to land on him. "C'mon, you can all go home now and come back tomorrow morning or you can stay the night in the visitor's lounge." He told them sternly.

They were moving further and further away from my sight, I couldn't see them anymore as they rounded the corner of the corridor. 'No! Let me out of here!' Director Midorima reached the door as the man entered the ICU. I squeezed past him, barely managing to escape the closing door as I dashed down the hallway where they had been previously. Turning the corner, I was met with another empty corridor. 'Where did he take them?' I looked around for a sign, or some indicator of where they went. He had said something about the visitor's lounge, right? My ears twitched as I heard a faint yell, that sounded like Aomine. My body ran off in the direction the noise came from, I had to see him.

Another dead end… Didn't this place have signs? My teal blue eyes narrowed as I stood in the middle of a crossroad path. Three different routes, now which one should I pick…

"Hey there!" I ignored the greeting, it was probably targeted for someone else. "Um… I was taking to you, Kuroko Tetsumi." My eyes widened as my body halted, I felt my head snap to the source of the direction standing behind me. My body whirled around as I stared at the girl. Chestnut brown hair that reached her chin, brown eyes, a high school uniform? 'Is she an actual ghost?... Or is she like me?' The girl smiled, "Great! Now that I've captured your attention, my name is Aida Riko, and I'm your heavenly judge." She introduced herself with a smile.

Silence. I didn't react, instead, I remained froze in stupor, even more confused by the turn of events. 'Heavenly judge?' Nothing was making sense, the fact that I could see my lifeless body didn't even make sense to me. Now a heavenly judge?

Riko sighed, "As you may or have not realised by now, you survived that car crash that threw your taxi off the road. The other guy, not so lucky and well, he's already gone up to heaven. Now, you, on the other hand, are currently stuck between both the worlds." Explained the girl. "Your body survived the crash, but it didn't exactly come out of it unscratched and it's in a pretty bad situation right now, which is why your soul refused to inhabit in it. So, in short, you're in a coma." She told me. "Now, the doctors can do whatever they want to stabilize you, and keep it running and functioning, but at the end of the day – it all comes down to your choice."

'The same words that Doctor Midorima had uttered.' My orbs widened in recognition. "Doctor Midorima…"

Riko smirked, "Midorima Shintarou experienced the very same thing you did twelve years ago, only it hadn't been from a car crash, but a life-threatening operation that his father had to perform on him." Informed the brunette. "He made it of course, was the fastest one to escape this outer body state."

"Does everyone in a coma experience this then?" I asked her, out of curiosity.

Riko shook her head, "I'm afraid only special cases experience this." She told me, her eyes stared at me seriously.

'Special cases?'

"Let me ask you this," began Riko, her tone changed, it felt heavier now. "If you had to choose: would you choose to continue living in this world, with the life you have now, or will you pass away, and die?"

That wouldn't be a hard decision, "Of course, I would choose to continue living." I told her firmly. "I like my life. My parents love me, and I have a caring boyfriend and best friend who came all the way to the hospital to see me… Why wouldn't I choose to live?" As I spoke, I remembered the scene outside the ICU so vividly. They loved me, and they wanted to see me… and I wanted to see them again!

Riko's smile never flattered. "You don't have to give me your final answer now, Kuroko Tetsumi." She said, the girl started walking, she brushed past me, before choosing to take the path on my left. "But let me ask you one little thing: are you so sure that your life is as perfect as you perceive it to be?" She started walking away from me. "Maybe you should take a look more closely at things one more time before you give me your final answer okay? After all," She turned with a smirk. "Looks can be very deceiving." With that, she rounded the end of the corridor, my feet followed her.

"Wait," I cried out, I didn't want to choose later, I wanted to choose now. "I already know my answer, just let me wake up already!" I called as I reached the end of the corridor and turned, but there was no one. Where did she go? Oh wait, my eyes stared up at the sign hanging by an area, 'Visitor's Lounge'. I felt the excitement build up in my chest as I began to jog towards the area, my ears perked up as I heard familiar voices, the exact words were muffed but it sounded like them. 'Yes, they have to still be there!'

"No, Dai-chan, we're in public! Someone could see us any time!"

"Really, Satsuki? Are you really going to complain about that now when we've done this so many times in public before?"

"Yeah, but…"

My feet slowed as my jog had been reduced to gradual steps, my body felt cold as I registered the words… What?