Ichika woke up and attempted to blink out the sleep from his eyes. He looked to his right at the little digital clock on his nightstand which displayed 7:00 am. Ichika groaned and turned back around. If he remembered correctly, today was Saturday so they had no classes, the fact of which let him give out a sigh of relief.

As he attempted to get up, he felt something restricting his movement: an arm to be exact. Ichika looked down to see a sleeping Houki with her arm over his chest, her mouth slightly open and emitting a small snore.

At first ichika panicked and wiggled around in an attempt to escape Houki's grasp. He was almost successful before he heard Houki mumble in her sleep.

"Hm?" Ichika inquired, curious what the samurai uttered.

"Ichika… please don't leave me."

Houki mumbled before furrowing her brow in what looked like panic while tightening her grip on Ichika.

Ichika's eyes widened before his mind rebooted and reprocessed the situation. He then laid back down with a concerned look on his face before pulling Houki closer and embracing her with Houki responding by nuzzling into Ichika's neck while the panic on her face was quickly replaced with a look of quiet content.

"Ichi...ka…"

Ichika could only smile at the sleeping beauty before mumbling into her hair.

"I'm right here Houki…"

Ichika closed his eyes and returned to sleep with Houki pulled close to him.

(2 hours later)

Houki's eyes slowly opened as her mind started to restart. The first thing she noticed was the warmth enveloping her. At first she was comfortable but then her conscious brain processed the situation she was in. She realized that she was wrapped in Ichika's arms. In his bed. Half of her wanted to panic and hurt Ichika, while the other half could only exclaim in excitement at being with her love. As Houki attempted to escape the rather comforting embrace of Ichika, her movements started Ichika awake. Houki looked up with wide eyes to see Ichika regaining consciousness.

"I...Ichika. " Houki managed to stutter out before Ichika looked down at the girl in his arms.

"Good morning Houki" Ichika replied before yawning, "did you sleep well?"

"Y-yeah, I d-did" Houki said, with much difficulty.

"Care to explain to me why I found a purple haired samurai in my bed this morning?" Ichika inquired.

Houki's blush intensified as her brain attempted to find an adequate answer.

"I...I had a nightmare…" Houki managed to say, before looking away, hoping that Ichika wouldn't think less of her.

"It's alright Houki, I'm here for you when you need me" came the carefree reply from Ichika, a smile on his face.

Houki looked at him with a blush on her face, wondering what to do next.

'Come on! Just confess to him! He's right there!' She thought to herself.

"Ichika? Can I ask you something?" Houki managed to say.

"Sure, you can ask me anything."

"What do you think of me?"

Ichika paused to think of his answer as Houki looked up at him expectantly.

"Well, Houki-chan, I think of you as a great childhood friend who I had the pleasure of reuniting with after a long time."

Houki's expression became panicky as she thought of the possibility that she'll be only but a friend to him. She looked down in despair and began to get up from Ichika's embrace and walking to the restroom.

"Houki?" Ichika said, "Is something wrong?"

She then stopped and turned around to face Ichika, but found that she couldn't do it, and instead opted to look at the ground.

"Yes! There is something wrong. Everyday...everyday I fear the possibility of you being with another girl. Everyday I fear that I'll be forgotten because you're with your girlfriend. You've always been there for me and no matter how many times I say that I don't need anyone, that I'm strong, I always find myself coming back to the memories of you! They mock me, Ichika. They made me depressed and hopeless everyday for 6 years after I had to move away! Everyday I wondered when the next time I would see you again…"

Houki finally looked up to see a shocked Ichika who slowly walked over to her and held her by the shoulders before looking down and laughing.

"And here I thought I was the only one."

Ichika said with bitter laughter.

"After you left, I had a huge hole in my life, one that you used to occupy. The hole made put me in misery and confusion. I constantly asked myself why you had to leave. 'Was it me? What did I do? What could I have done?' were all questions that I asked myself for a while. My sister was even concerned for my wellbeing, often wondering how a girl could rip so much out of her little brother."

Houki looked on in shock at Ichika's confession. It shocked her that her departure had been a cut to both of them. She suddenly felt remorse for believing that she was the only one that suffered, for feeling that she was the only one with a hole in herself.

Houki closed the gap between her and Ichika and embraced him. Ichika's eyes widened at the sudden contact and looked down to see a saddened Houki, quietly crying into his shirt.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry…"

Houki mumbled between sobs and convulsions with much difficulty.

Ichika quickly returned her embrace while stroking her hair, mumbling sweet nothings into her ear. He led the the both of them to sit on the bed once more where Houki continued to let out six years of grief and frustration.

After a while, Houki's sobs were reduced to slight sniffles in Ichika's embrace, her body still slightly shaking from the emotional overflow.

"Y-you t-think we could be more?" ,Houki said with hesitance in her quiet voice.

"Pardon?" Ichika asked "I didn't hear you."

"Could we be more than friends?" Houki asked before looking up at Ichika with a newfound hope.

Ichika's eyes widened as he looked down at the girl in his arms. He thought about all the moments of the past they had shared. The time when he called out a bunch of kids for calling Houki a tomboy. The time when Houki insisted that he call her by her first name. All the memories made Ichika think to himself before a clear decision came up in his mind.

Ichika came back to reality greeted by Houki's expectant gaze. He could feel Houki's fast heart beat while awaiting his answer. He smiled before replying.

"Yes, Houki-chan, we can be more than childhood friends." was Ichika's simple answer.

Houki's face slowly changed to one of pure elation and joy as she pulled Ichika close to her.

"Really?! Do you really mean it?"

Houki inquired with a smile on her face wider than ever.

"Yes Houki, I'll happily be more than childhood friends than you."

Ichika lowered his face to plant a light kiss on Houki's forehead, leaving Houki a blushing mess.

"Oh I know what will cheer you up. Let's go out later, Houki. We can go the the city, how does that sound?" Ichika suggested.

"L-like a d-date?" came the nervous response from Houki, although with barely masked anticipation.

"Yeah…like a date."

Houki dove into Ichika's arms as a large smile bloomed on her face.

"Yes! Yes! Of course!"

"Then let's go get ready"

Ichika said before helping her off the bed.