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"Is she back yet?"

"No"

"…How about now?"

"Krory…no…"

He sighed and plopped down on a chair in the corner of the Komui's office watching them work.

"What about now? Is Miranda back yet?"

Reever looked up from the pile of papers he was attempting to organize, Krory looked like an overly excited puppy waiting for his owner to return home.

"No! I told you she was on her way two hours ago!" he growled in annoyance," Go wait for your girlfriend somewhere else!"

Krory's jaw dropped," M-my what?!"

"Aw don't be so mean Reever, I think it's cute!" Komui grinned from ear to ear, sipping his coffee that Lenalee had just delivered.

"S-she's not my girlfriend!" he stood up, his face deep red, from blushing or in anger no one could really tell, "We're just really good friends!"

"Sure…" Reever rolled his eyes.

"Really!" Krory stood up and growled," Fine I'll leave!" he stomped off. They all watched him go, nearly breaking the door when he slammed it shut behind him.

Reever sighed in relief," Hey, are they really together?" he asked Lenalee, who came back and gave him his coffee.

"No, they're just best friends"

"Are you sure? The only time I've ever seen one of them alone is when the other is on a mission like now" Komui sipped his coffee, which was almost gone now.

"Well yes, they've been with each other for a while now but I think it's good don't you?" Johnny piped up suddenly," They're both alike and are the only ones that understand each other. Cause we sure don't!" he laughed.

"That's tru-" Reever was caught off by the sound of the main screen beeping.

"Oh! Hey guys she's here!" Tapp waved to the others and pointed at the screen.

"Well what do ya know, she is…hey wait…Supervisor! There's a Finder missing!" Johnny called out.

"Yes…I know…" Komui sighed," We lost one in battle"

Lenalee walked over and looked at the screen, Miranda had her head down while Lavi appeared to be trying to talk to her only to have the Bookman scold him.

"Oh…that can't be good…"

"Miranda! C'mon! It wasn't your fault!" Lavi followed her to the hallway leading to her room, he went on trying to convince her that the death of the Finder wasn't her fault but she ignored him.

"Lavi! Give it a rest!" Bookman growled.

"What? It's true! You can't hold your Innocence that long and with that kind of attack! No one could besides he kne-"

"Lavi…" she cut him off, it was almost a whisper. He stayed quiet.

"Could you please report in for me?"

"But- OW!" Lavi winced as the Bookman smacked him over the head.

"Yes we will, please get some rest Miranda," he said with a polite smile with Lavi in a chokehold.

She put on a fake smile and silently went into her room.

Lenalee watched this from the floor above, she was right, Miranda would blame herself and hide in her room. She bit her lip and decided that it was best to leave it to Krory this time, and ran off to find him.

"Knock knock"

"Krory?" she peaked in his slightly opened door, he was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with "Connect Four" waiting on the floor.

"Hm?" he jumped up, thinking it was Miranda but couldn't help but look slightly disappointed when Lenalee walked in.

"Oh…hello Lenalee"

"Krory, she came back," she said immediately, knowing what he wanted.

"She is?" he looked confused, usually she would come straight here.

"Yes but…we lost a Finder and…"

"Where is she?" he stood up, he knew what that meant.

"Her room, please talk to her"

"Thank you Lenalee!" he said before running off.

She watched him take off like there was no tomorrow; she smiled a bit…then looked around the hallway to see if there was anyone else around. There wasn't anyone out now and she silently followed him, letting her curiosity get the best of her. Best friends…she really didn't think so, but there was only one way to find out!

He stopped in front of her door, he could hear her small sniffling from inside. He felt all of excitement be replaced with gloom and sadness; he hated it when she cried…it just…

"Miranda?" he called out gently, while tapping on the door.

Nothing.

He tried again," Miranda…are you ok?"

He pressed his ear against the door, she was whimpering something…it sounded like words but he couldn't tell through the door. He sighed and took a hold of the doorknob, luckily it was unlocked.

At that exact moment he began to open the door, something happened and now he could hear her.

"Innocence Activate…"

Suddenly golden rings he recognized as apart of her Innocence ability appeared, encircling the room, door, and him.

"Time Stop!"

There was a bright light, he winced and held up his free arm to block his face. A moment passed and the light disappeared. He blinked, the gold rings kept a constant spin around the door and as he peaked inside, there were larger golden rings all around her room.

He looked behind him and found everything in black and white. Lenalee, who was hiding behind the corner of the hallway, was frozen in place. Time really did stop, yet he was caught in the Innocence activation.

Her ability was truly amazing…she created her own world, her own bubble away from everyone else.

"Miranda…Miranda…unlucky Miranda…" she sang in between her cries and whimpers," Don't be so gloomy you stupid looney, looking for a job today? You'll be fired soon anyway…"

"Miranda please stop…" he finally said, walking in and closing the door behind him. He found her sitting on her bed, clutching a pillow like it was a life-line in the darkness of her room

"K-Krory?" she gasped, quickly burying her face in the pillow and wiping her face clean to hide herself.

"V-vat are you doing here…how?" she looked around the room and at the Time Record, which floated in the middle of the room spinning constantly to keep Miranda's portal of time alive.

"I was touching the door when you activated it, sorry about that…"

"Oh…" she sat quietly, looking away. Now what? She created Time Stop to get away from everything and everyone…

"I was told you came home but you didn't come by, I got worried" he grabbed a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"What happened? Are you ok?"

"…I…just…I don't…" she held her pillow closer. Now she was stuck. Although he was her friend if not her best friend…she didn't feel like talking…but…

Miranda looked from the corner of her eyes to see him. His eyes screamed, 'Please let me help'

She took a deep breath," Our Finders vere wounded, I vas suppose to protect zem…but…I couldn't…" she bit her lip and buried her face in her pillow, her shoulder shook violently as she tried desperately to hold in her cries.

"If I vasn't such….such a coward..." she mumbled, letting her feelings pour out in front of him but she couldn't stop," If I vasn't such a failure…zen…maybe….maybe…"

He didn't say anything; he silently stood up and sat next to her on the bed. She didn't seem to notice, or really care that he was that close to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

She leaned into him and he wrapped the other arm around her, holding her close.

"It's ok…"

That was it. Two words.

All this time, most of her life she was given speeches of hope, words of encouragement and anything else to cheer her up. Yet none of them helped, she shrugged them off with a fake smile.

"It's going to be ok" that was all he said and the dam broke.

Miranda wept, crying out all of her pain and sorrow for the lost Finder she could've saved. He held her close as she cried onto his shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she whimpered over and over again.

He didn't say anything, he just let her cry and she was grateful for that somehow.

She froze up when she felt something dropped on her shoulder. She opened her foggy eyes and turned to see a small wet spot on her shirt.

"…Krory?"

"I don't like to see you sad…" he sniffled a little.

He was crying…with her?

"V-vat?"

"It makes me sad to see you so sad"

She was speechless.

She looked up at him and he looked down. He had his goofy smile but with tears streaking his face as if he were the one in distress.

"It's silly I know, but it is sad to see you like this"

His smile. What was it about his smile that just made everything better?

"Thank you…so much…" she finally hugged him back, her sniffles coming back but feeling much better since he was there.

He hugged her back, resting his cheek on top of her head. He knew what it was like to be so sad, regardless of the reason, and he always wanted to have someone to give him a hug. It should be no different for her.

"Innocence…deactivate"

As Lenalee snuck around the corner, following Krory, she noticed something strange. As he opened the door, he suddenly disappeared.

She gasped," What on earth…" she ran over to the door, which was now closed.

Did something happen?

She reached for the door handle and slowly opened it, she was just being a good friend, and making sure everyone was ok. That's all. Really.

She peaked her head in and peered into the darkness, so far she could only see Miranda's Time Record lying in the middle of the floor. She opened the door all the way and went inside quietly.

"Hello? Mirand-" she stopped herself and froze in mid step.

There on the bed was Krory, sleeping soundly on his back with his arm around Miranda's waist, also sleeping, on top of his chest, clutching his shirt.

Best friends? Now she really wasn't so sure.

Lenalee slowly backed away; fearing one of them would wake and see her. It was best she kept this to herself until she knew for sure what was going on but now wasn't the time for that. She left and gently closed the door before briskly walking away.

Moments later it was Miranda who was the first to wake, at first she yawned and unconsciously snuggled closer to her source of warmth.

But as if someone dumped a bucket of ice cold water on her head, her eyes snapped opened in realization that her pillow of choice was breathing. She froze up, feeling his hand on her waist pull her a little closer.

OhGottOhGottOhGottOhGottOhGottOhGott her mind raced.

She's never had him…wait…she's never had any male this close to her…ever and to have him touch her like this…it was just too much to take.

But…he didn't mean it, ve fell asleep, his hand slipped…besides…he's not zat kind of guy… she took a deep breath, trying to rethink everything.

Though she didn't move, she stayed on his chest and still clutching his shirt, listening to him breathe softly. She sighed, well…it wasn't bad or anything…she didn't move because it was nice.

Maybe zis isn't so bad…

But what happens when he wakes up?

OhGottOhGottOhGottOhGott she became nervous again.

Finally, after arguing with herself for awhile, she slowly lifted her head and turned to look at him.

He was out like a light, he mumbled something, which caused her to go pale and freeze, thinking he was about to wake up, but he just yawned and fell right back asleep.

Heavy sleeper…zank Gott… she sighed in relief and sat up silently. Now what?

She stared at him for a moment.

His long bangs clung to his face as he slept, she wondered how he could breathe from under it. She bit her lip, it was there…in his face…begging for it to be moved.

Before she knew it, she was reaching out with a very shaky hand and gently brushing his bangs out of his face.

He was actually…kind of cute.

He just laid there, sleeping peacefully with his mouth partly open due to some of his mumbling he did every once and awhile. She smiled sadly at the dried tears on his face, if anyone knew how to cry, it was Krory, and he really didn't hold back when he cried with her.

"Danke…" she whispered before withdrawing her hand, letting his bangs fall back into place.

She yawned, though she stopped time and it was still early in the evening, it felt like hours in her own time bubble not to mention she kept it up for so long.

Nothing to do but go back to sleep, she carefully slid back into her place next to him, though the bed creaked and squeaked her every moment and every noise she froze in place, making sure he didn't wake. But it didn't even faze him; she sighed in relief and gently placed her head on his chest like before.

"Arystar…Krory…" she unconsciously mumbled, lingering in-between consciousness and sleep. She could faintly hear his heart thump against his chest, it slowly lured her back to sleep before she mumbled to herself," I zink…I love you…"

Danke - Thank you

SWD