"Just for saying that, I'm going to try to help you."

"You just said you didn't know how to, though."

"I don't. But I'll think of something. Give me the rest of the night to think and by morning I'll have some way to help you. I know I will."

"That's unnecessary. What you need to do is go home. I'm sure your family is worried about you and if they find out that you're here with me, your mother will undoubtedly smack me. She doesn't like me very much."

"Oh, that's right! The whole reason I came to your apartment in the first place was to apologize for my mother and thank you for saving me. I was talking with her this morning at breakfast and I found out what she said to you when you brought me home and all those things she was saying about you. I'm really sorry about her."

"It's no problem. I've had worse comments made about me. She was rather kind with her words compared to most."

"Still. Oh and it's really late and since the phone lines are still down, I have no way of getting home. So you're stuck with me until I can get home."

He was glaring at me now. It was comforting, in a way, I mean, after all, it meant he was getting better or at least returning to normal.

"Fine. You leave first thing in the morning, though."

"But I don't know how to get home."

"Then how did you get HERE?"

He was so frustrated and it honestly made me want to giggle and pinch his cheeks. It was kind of cute, his little angry face.

"Daisuke showed me the way. Him and Riku left after I found your apartment. They told me to call for a ride home when I was done visiting you. I guess it slipped their minds that the phone lines were still down."

"What about the hospital? How did you know how to get here?"

"I didn't. I found a random bus stop and told the bus driver to take me here."

His eyes were wide and I think I saw one of them twitch. He was so frustrated now and he didn't even try and hide it. So much for that mask he always wears to hide his emotions.

He let his head fall in defeat and that earned him a small giggle from me. He glared at me from behind the strands of hair that covered his face and I ruffled his hair. Victory was mine. Well so far, anyway.

All of a sudden the doctor from earlier opened the door. He was carrying a clipboard and smiling at the two of us. He walked over to Hiwatari's other bedside and handed him the clipboard.

"You'll be able to leave first thing in the morning, tomorrow. We saw nothing wrong with you and you seem perfectly healthy. I think you might have just over worked yourself and had some sort of psychotic episode and during the process you hurt yourself. You do have high stress levels, after all. If you'd like we can prescribe you some medication to help control that. Otherwise you're free to go in the morning. Just sign here."

Stress? Stress! The best doctors in Azumno spent hours examining him and come up with stress as his reason for being here! Ha! I mean granted, they don't know about Krad, but come on. Stress?! It was so stupid; I couldn't help but laugh a little. The doctor gave me a weird look, but I really didn't care.

It was funny, the things people came up with, but in all seriousness I'm glad Hiwatari will be able to check out without having to reveal his secret other side. It's a secret for a reason, right?

After Hiwatari signed his release form, the doctor took the clipboard back and left. Now he was just looking over at me. Staring.

"What?"

"I'll walk you home in the morning."

Oh. My. God. Him? Walking me home? I mean, I know he carried me home last time, but why is he offering now? He probably just wants me not to bother him anymore. Well to bad! I want to help him and I can't do that without being around him.

"But I don't want to leave you all by yourself with that monster. I want to help you. Besides you don't know where I live and you're too injured to do much of anything."

"I've been alone with him all my life, so what makes now any different? He's done far worse to me, but those other times I was left alone with no help. Besides, didn't I just get done telling you that you're the reason he hurt me. You HAVE to leave me alone. And I do know where you live because I've already taken you home once before. My memory isn't so short that I'd forget a house such as yours so quickly."

Oh, that's right. It slipped my mind that he carried me home. Funny that I was thinking about that not more than a few seconds ago. I feel kind of stupid now… but I won't tell him.

"Hiwatari… being alone won't stop Krad. You need to be with people. Talk to them, tell them how you feel, make friends. All of that stuff. You need to get close to people to get rid of him."

"I've already told you that if I get close to people, he tries to hurt them. He wouldn't hesitate to kill them. I don't know if I'd be able to stop him if I actually started caring for people."

"Could Dark have done anything to stop him?"

"Dark could fight him, but if he tried to kill him, he would also kill me. It actually surprises me that he didn't kill Krad when he had the chance. He didn't because of me. He didn't want to kill me. Fighting Krad alone wouldn't stop him; only weaken him… and me too."

"But if we could weaken him, you could start getting close to people. Maybe even find your Sacred Maiden."

"He wouldn't be down long enough for me to do that and I'd probably be bed ridden for most of his down time. Face it, Miss Harada…. you can't save me. No one can."

I could not believe he was giving up so easily. He's the Satoshi Hiwatari. Boy genius, young prodigy, the smartest kid in our class. He lived to solve puzzles and yet he had given up on this one. Completely given up on freeing himself and being happy.

"You know I expected more out of you, Hiwatari. I would have never figured you to give up on something like this. Especially when your freedom and happiness are on the line."

"Everyone always expects more out of me, Miss Harada. You aren't the first person to be disappointed in me. And in case you haven't noticed, this isn't something that with a little hard work and time can be solved and fixed. I've taken into account every alternative I might have had and they've all been rejected and wrong. What else do you expect me to do?! If I try and stop him he'll kill people! I don't want to be responsible for that! Knowing I could have done something to stop him!"

His voice was cracking now. I felt bad saying what I did. I know this can't be easy for him. I have to wonder how all of this makes him feel. What happens to him when he goes home to an empty apartment every day? How does he feel when he sees all of the happy couples walking by? Who takes care of him when he's sick? Who listens to him when he needs to vent? He doesn't have anyone to lean on. He's taking this all on all by himself. No one's guiding him and he has to figure everything out alone. Do everything alone. And spend every day alone!

I was crying now. Thinking about him. About how hard everything must be. How so much is expected out of him. I couldn't imagine going through what he is. Doing everything alone. I wouldn't be able to survive it. I need people in my life. I need to come home to someone who's waiting for me. I need someone to take care of me when I'm sick and listen to me vent when I get mad. Someone to let me cry on their shoulder and accept me for who I am. I need someone who doesn't mind seeing me lose my composure. I need people for all of those things. All those things he has to do alone.

"Miss Harada? Miss Harada, why are you crying? What's wrong?"

I looked up at him and actually saw genuine concern in his eyes. It was strange, all of these things Hiwatari had been doing. Taking care of me during that storm, taking me home, asking me for help, opening up to me, offering to walk me home, and now he was being concerned about me. How else is this boy going to surprise me?

"It's just… you're alone. You're always by yourself. And you do it to protect people. I couldn't imagine living that way. I need people for everyday, trivial things. I never thought about how hard life was for you. Why you did the things you did. I just thought you were weird that way. But I was wrong and the more I think about it… the sadder it makes me. Hiwatari, I'm so sorry."

"Don't pity me. Please, don't pity me. I don't need your pity. Miss Harada… this… is all I've ever known. It's not as if happiness was ripped away from me. If it was, I don't know. Krad's been a part of me ever since I can remember. If I had been older, had friends and an actual social life and then all of a sudden he came along and ripped it away from me, I'd understand what you mean by not being able to live without people in my life. It must be nice… having people care about you. But I wouldn't know. And because I don't, it only makes it that much easier to deal with."

"But you shouldn't have to. You shouldn't have to deal with this. Especially not by yourself."

"But I do. That's the way it is and always has been. Don't cry for me, Miss Harada. Krad ends with me."

The room went silent for a few minutes. I calmed down and stopped crying. I wiped my eyes and looked over at the clock on the wall. It was five minutes to midnight.

"It's late Miss Harada, you should get some sleep. We'll be leaving pretty early in the morning."

"All right."

After looking at the clock, hearing him speak, and looking back on everything that happened today, I felt a wave of sleep overcome me. I curled up in my chair and drifted off to sleep.

"A/N: I've been meaning to write this chapter for a few days now. Finally got my lazy ass to do it. It's just hard to write anything good if you're not in the right mood for it. Anyway, I hope I stayed in character. I know Satoshi seems kind of off since he's revealed his secret to Risa, but he had to open up some with her to make this plot work. I tried to keep him cold, though. But I mean hey… he's developing feelings for someone. You can't be totally ice cold when your unknowingly developing a relationship with someone xD. Please review!"