SkyGem: Hey y'all! It's finally December first! Yay! Anyways, I need to be going to school now, so I'll only be updating this for now, but when I get back, I'll do my best to put up the next chapters of "Sticks and Stones" and "Being Human." I can't update all my fics today, so I'll do them in batches of three! The next batch is tomorrow. So be patient for now, ne? Hope you like this chapter~

Ryoga

I knock frantically on the front door of the Momoshiros' house.

The door is opened only seconds later by the redhead known as Eiji, and I nod my thanks. Then, running past him, I take the stairs two at a time, and arrive before the bedroom Ryoma was in.

Taking a deep breath, I quietly open the door and peek inside. When I see the scene in front of me, I breathe a small sigh or relief.

"Ryoma," I say, and my little brother looks up at me with a face streaked with tears.

"Onii-san," he says, getting up from where he's sititng.

Going up to him, I sweep his hair out of his eyes, and dry his tears. "Are you okay?" I ask, and he smiles shyly at me.

"I'm feeling good," he says in an almost apologetic voice.

"Thank kami-sama," I say, wrapping my arms around him. "I was so worried," I say.

He seems to hesitate for a second, but then he returns my hug. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Ryoga."

Letting out a small, relieved laugh, I say, "There's nothing to be sorry about, Ryoma. What happened just now wasn't your fault."

There's a moment of silence before Ryoma says, "Yeah," in a quiet voice, then pulls back to smile at me.

"So, do you want to go home now?" I ask.

Ryoma immediately shakes his head and says, "I can't go yet. I have to apologise to everyone, and tell them what happened."

"You don't have to tell us if you're not ready," says a voice from the doorway, and we all turn to see Momo standing there with the others, all nodding in agreement.

Ryoma

I look back at the doorway to see that the others are back. They're all looking at me with worried eyes; this time, I don't let myself feel scared. I keep telling myself that they're my friends, and that they would never hurt myself, and it works. I don't feel scared of them.

Disentangling myself from my brother's embrace, I turn to look at them with a tentative smile on my face. "I want to tell you," I say in a shy voice. "I know you guys are really worried for me and want to help, so the least I can do is let you know what's wrong."

They all smile back and slowly walk into the room, settling on the ground or on chairs that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere, but not on the bed. They left the bed free for me, giving me space so as not to make me feel uncomfortable.

I smile, to show that I appreciate their sentiment then take a seat, Ryoga sitting on my left and Takeshi on my right.

Taking a deep breath, I start my tale, "A few days before we were supposed to return to Japan, I got separated from aniki and my parents..."

As I'm talking, all the terrible memories that I've suppressed for the longest time return to me in a flood, but I can't remember anything from before, which seems to me the real tragedy. I want to remember the people sitting around me.

As I finish explaining to the others what has happened to me these past years, I keep my gaze locked on the floor, not able to meet anyone's eyes.

When I feel Ryoga wrap one of his arms around me, and feel a tear drop onto my face, I realize that this is also the first time he's hearing the full story. I look up, wanting to say something to him, but am rendered speechless when I see the pained expression on his face.

Gazing around the room, I see that everyone has tears in their eyes and expressions similar to Ryoga's on their faces. It's an odd feeling; I've never had anyone cry for me before. Back at the instituation, children like me were an everyday occurence. Seeing people cry and be sad for me makes me feel...loved. I'm not happy that they're upset anything, but it gives me fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

"Ochibi-chan..." says Eiji, seeming at a loss for words. He makes as if he wants to hug me, but then thinks better of it, and wraps his arms around his torso, looking at the floor. "I can't believe my little ochibi-chan had to go through so much..."

Suddenly, a loud noise makes me look at Takeshi, and I see that he's punched the wall.

"T-Takeshi?" I question, feeling slightly scared.

His expression is fierce as he growls, "I swear, if I ever get my hands on them, I'll..." He trails off, as if thinking of all the possibilities.

"Is there any way we can possibly help you recover, Ryoma-kun?" asked Shuichiro, looking concerned, his eyes shadowed.

I smile uncertainly, feeling suddenly shy. Shaking my head, I say, "I just want you guys to stay with me...and please don't be offended if I sometimes get upset for seemingly no reason at all."

By now, they're all staring at me intently, and when I finish speaking, they all start nodding enthusiastically, wanting to do whatever they can to help me 'get better.'

There's another moment of silence before Syuusuke smiles widely (though it seems a bit forced) and asks, "You're going to be attending Seigaku, right Ryoma-kun?"

I shrug, saying, "I'm not sure. I haven't discussed that with my parents yet. I think I am..."

"Wah! Ochibi-chan should definitely come to Seigaku! That's where we all go! And then, Ryoma-kun can join the tennis club too!"

I nodd slowly, a smile coming onto my face, and I can't help but notice that Eiji is now sitting on his hands, as if to physically restrain himself from hugging me.

After a slight hesitation, I say playfully, "Ne, Eiji-nii, when am I going to get my welcome back hug?"

The red-head's eyes widen, and a Cheshire grin spreads across his face. Fyling across the room, he tackles me into a bone-crushing embrace. "Nya, I missed hugging Ochibi-chan soooo much! Don't ever leave us again, okay?"

"O-of course not," I choke out, trying to breathe.

"Oi! I wanna hug him too!" interrupts Takeshi, seeming to have recovered from his earlier mood. Before long, I found myslef in the middle of a group hug, (Tezuka and Kaido were unwillingly pulled in by Eiji).

SkyGem: Hey everyone! Sorry this story has been on hiatus for so long~ and so out of the blue too XP. I'm really sorry. It's been so long since I've written for the PoT fandom, and I must say, it feels awesome to be back. I just needed to take a little break XD. Anyways, this fic will be done pretty soon, maybe one or two chapters left, just letting y'all know. So, for now, please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, ne? And I'll be updating whenever I have the time! Ciao~

P.S. Haha, those of you who follow my KHR story "Raising a Family" might know how I feel when I say that when I type Momoshiro's first name, a picture of everyone's favourite rain guardian pops into my head XD. I've gotten too used to typing out their first names; now, whenever I write a one-shot or something, I actually sometimes put in their first names without thinking XD.