"Maybe I should cut it short." Sakuno said, while her mother was brushing her long hair on the hospital bed. "It's going to be troublesome to take care of it with just one hand."

"You definitely shouldn't." Ayana said, with a smile. "Your hair is so beautiful, it would be a waist. I will always be here to brush for you. Syuusuke-san too."

"Thank you, Kaa-sama." She smiled to herself.

Their conversation was interrupted from a knocking on the opened door. Ayato was there, with a shy smile.

"Hello. I'm sorry for interrupting."

"Takagi-san." Ayana said, gently. "Please, come in. I didn't even realize it was visitation time already."

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Sakuno?"

"Of course." Ayana responded on her daughter's place. "I will go arrange something for her to eat later. Please, be at ease."

"Thank you." He sat by the girl's bed. "Tezuka-san is so kind."

"She sure is." she said, emotionless.

"How are you?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Fine." The girl lowered her eyes. She didn't want to see him or talk to him.

"Is there anything I could do for you? Do you need any help?"

"My family is taking care of me." Her words were harsh. "You don't have to worry."

"Of course I do." Ayato touched her hand. "I'm your father."

"You're not my father!" Sakuno shouted, removing her hand abruptly and looking at him with hard eyes. "My father is Tezuka Kuniharu! I might have your blood, but you're nothing to me!"

The Takagi head was wordless towards the girl's anger.

"A lot of horrible things happened because of my connection to you! Your son stabbed me, he tried to kill my most important people and now I'm here, with a broken wrist, unable to go to school! I'm missing a lot of classes and the kendo club that I wanted to enter so badly! My hand is probably going to be ruined for the rest of my life!"

Sakuno's long hair was covering her face and her breathing was hard and fast.

"And, Ryoma, I even lost Ryoma." She told to herself inside her mind. Her hand was closed tightly and she was biting her lips to avoid crying in front of him.

"I'm really sorry." Ayato said, after a while. His voice was serious. "I never wished for those things to happen to you. I'm so sorry being my child brought you so many problems."

"Your words of regret are not going to change anything!" she looked at him with hurt scarlet eyes. "I don't see you as a parent and I never will! I don't want to have any proximity to you and that crazy son of yours!"

"Sakuno!" Ayana appeared on the door and her serious voice called her attention. She had an upset look on her face. It was the first time Ryuzaki saw her mother with such expression. "Why are you treating Takagi-san like this? Apologize!"

"That is okay, Tezuka-san." He showed a small smile. "It was stupid of me to come here. I should know better. I will take my leave now. Thank you so much for everything." He made a polite reverence to Ayana, before leaving.

"Takagi-san…" she watched him walking away on the hallway before turning to her daughter. The girl averted her eyes and Ayana sat on her bed. "You had no right to talk to him like that. I know you are frustrated and sad but, it was not his fault. He was the one who saved you. He has being calling every day, to ask about you and he is very concerned on your recovery."

"Of course he is!" Sakuno looked at her mother. "It is out of guilt!"

"It is out of love, Sakuno." Ayana said, touching her hand. "He loves you. When your father woke up from the surgery, Takagi-san came in here and kneeled in front of him, thank him for everything that he did for you, for us to raise you. That man's forehead was on the ground, for you. I was the one who informed him about your surgery being over and he cried like a little boy in front of me." The Tezuka lady smiled gently at her. "He cares genuinely about you. You should at least acknowledge that and treat him respectfully. Your father and I taught you better, anyway." Ayana hugged her child, being careful with her arm. "I talked to your doctor a while ago. He said since your hand is healing properly, you can be discharged by next week. Your father also will leave the ICU, so I'm sending you back to Tokyo with Syuusuke-san."

"Really?!" she looked at her, hopeful.

"Yes. You will be able to go to school. You are also want to see Echizen-kun, right?" her mother smiled gently at her and it hurt the girl's heart. Sakuno held Ayana tightly, already counting the seconds to see her boyfriend again.

#########

Ryoma rose from his school desk when the bell rang. He slowly picked up his backpack and went down the stairs. He couldn't wait to return home and sleep. Those days had been absolute horrible. He wasn't able to sleep properly or study properly. The tests were coming and he was sure he would fail all of them.

He was already out of school when he stopped as seeing Syuusuke leaning on a wall near. He was wearing the yakuza's dark suit and smiled at seeing him.

"Hello, Echizen-kun." He stood up straight when seeing the boy.

"What do you want?" Ryoma asked, with narrowed golden eyes.

"Wow, that's a scary face." Syuusuke chuckled. "I'd like to talk to you for a while. Can you give me some time?"

"Fine. Let's go to my place. I don't want anyone of school to see such a suspicious person."

"Aren't your parents going to think it's weird?"

"I live alone." He said, already walking away.

"Okay!"

Fuji was amused. They were on the boy's living room. He looked around and found the place extremely organized and clean for a teen leaving by himself. Ryoma returned, bringing a small stray with two cups and one small pot. He served Fuji some tea before sitting across from him on the short table.

"Thank you for your kindess." He drank a little. It was lemon tea. The afternoon was ending and the sunset was entering the room from its open doors. "You have a horrible look on your face, Echizen-kun. Is everything all right?" he looked at the boy's hands. His knuckles had light bandages on them. "Sakuno-chan had the same injuries not long ago."

"How… how is she?" he asked, quietly.

"She is recovering well. She will return to school next week."

He looked at him, surprised.

"Already?"

"Yes." He smiled. "Aren't you missing her a lot?"

The boy averted his eyes and Fuji noticed he was very troubled.

"I don't know." He took a deep breath. "I don't know what to think about her. About everything that happened." He completed, sadly. "About us."

"You know, Ryoma-kun, loving a yakuza is very hard." Fuji's voice was gentle. "I should know because I'm a yakuza myself and I love a yakuza too. For someone from the outside, I can only imagine it's even more difficult. On those past years, I always thought Ayana-san was the most amazing woman ever. I watched her go through so many scary things, with her husband and children. I watched her crying silently by herself, so she wouldn't worry Tezuka-sama or Kunimitsu. She always has a warm smile on, even when she is terribly afraid. She is still just a regular person that loves yakuza. She can't use a sword, fight or even use a gun. Her love and care is the only thing she can offer to her loved ones that are bleeding."

Syuusuke held the small cup and looked at his own reflection.

"I know Sakuno-chan really cares about you and she is very sad with you taking such distance from her."

"She lied to me." He lowered his face. "While I was waiting for her surgery, Takagi-san told me about a fight she had with his son before. We had a promise to each other, that she wouldn't do such a thing while we were dating. She lied." Fuji noticed he was truly hurt. "She looked straight to my face and lied about it. And then, her brother told me about her first mission, how she already met me and didn't say anything, so…"

"You're wrong." Syuusuke interrupted the boy. "Sakuno-chan didn't remember about you at all."

"What?"

"There is something you must know, Echizen-kun. I was Sakuno-chan partner, but I was not on that mission in particulary. I was only put together with her later, because, after that day, we found that she was not going to be able to deal with it."

"What do you mean?"

"Sakuno-chan was only twelve when she started on the elimination group. Altought she behaved properly and calmy on the missions, she had night terrors after them." His blue eyes were sad, filled with those memories. "She would cry and scream at night, every night, after a mission. It was too much for a young girl to take in. Tezuka-sama's father called a special doctor to deal with that. Sakuno-chan was always very skilled and he wouldn't let go of her, even with her suffering."

"What happened to her?"

"She was hypnotized after every mission." Fuji looked straight at the golden eyes. "She doesn't have any recollections of her missions or the people she met back then. It lasted until she was 15 and she was able to deal with it by herself."

"Are you…kidding me?"

"I'm not. She has no memories about it."

"So…"

"She didn't lie, Echizen-kun. Sakuno-chan really didn't know about you before."

He noticed the boy closes his hands, hard, before talking.

"After what happened, I stayed in shock for a long time. I was not able to go to school for many months. My parents had to stay with me and they lost a lot of money because they couldn't attend to the tennis events they usually cover. That is why they travel so much. They dont complain or talk about it, but I know they are doing it for me. They feel guilty about what happened, because they lost me for a second."

"I'm really sorry." Fuji said, sincerely. "But, things were never easy for Sakuno-chan as well. Specially now. I don't know why she lied to you about the promise, but, I'm sure she fears losing you. She even risked her own life for you. You are her first connection to a regular life, Echizen-kun. You're very special to her."

Ryoma's heart was tight with his words and his mind was even more confused.

"So, please." Fuji touched his hand, surprising him. The blue eyes were serious. "If you want to break up with her, do it properly. Talk to her and say the words. Do not leave her in the dark. It isn't fair to her."