For the first time in a long time, it rained.

She stared outside the window of Kohi to Kashi as she unknowingly gripped her warm cup of tea for the warmth. She loved the rain. She loved how the skies would turn grey and how it would roar after lightning pierced through the clouds. She didn't always to love the rain though, she used to find it gloomy and dark until her grandmother told her five year old self that the rain would water the plants so that flowers and fruits can grow. She loved it ever since.

It hasn't been two weeks since she found out that somehow, the Dark Reunion fit into her past, although, she was pretty sure it wasn't called that. It was a bit too tacky a name. Everyday, she would think about what Mineo Nobuaki would tell her. She was certain that he had all the answers or at least an important clue that would tell her about her past.

Of late, she hadn't been herself. Her friends went the extra mile to cheer her up, but of course, when they had to go home, she was left again to ponder on her thoughts alone.

She watched the rain and scoffed when she remembered how her classmates viewed her; intelligent, put together, happy, helpful, kind, etc. She wasn't vain, but that didn't mean she wasn't aware that majority of the people she met thought of her as someone perfect (except her height probably)- someone all figured out.

'If only they could hear my thoughts.' She thought to herself. Ever since her memory was jerked, her thoughts had been dark, full of self loathing, guilt, pity and a feeling of being a failure. It reflected in her eyes as Aren pointed out one time during lunch that her eyes had become somewhat dull.

He was right though, wasn't he? Her parents had said that too and even pleaded she open up with them, but she smiled and said that everything was all right. In their heads, they had hoped that Kusuo could get through the girl, but were disappointed to find out that she had blocked him out too.

'Kusuo.'

He had been extremely patient and kind to her despite her zipped lip. Though he wasn't the type to show emotions, one could tell that he was concerned. Emiko knew that Kusuo didn't need another burden on his shoulders knowing that he was preventing a volcano from exploding, but somehow, just having him there, it was like a reminder that things were going to be okay and his presence alone was comforting to her. That note he wrote her, she kept it in her wallet and would look at it whenever she felt like spiralling down.

Of late, she had been unlike herself. Unmotivated, lazy and the times she did train, she was sloppy. She knew it, but didn't do anything about it. Usually, studying would help her get her mind off of things but nothing seemed to stick. She'd find herself doing absolutely nothing, yet tears would come down from her eyes.

She left the cafe, realising that she left her umbrella at home. Luckily she had a light jacket on and dashed back to her house before the storm turned out to be a full out typhoon.

A pair of golden eyes watched a pink haired figure run gracefully against the rain feeling a sense of familiarity as they saw the girl. Before they could get a good look, their vision was obscured by millions of water droplets.

Almost a month has passed by and in the past few days, school had been a bit weird, if Emiko would say so herself. Perhaps it's because Kusuo wasn't around. Even Kaidou and Nendou weren't there. She later heard that they were in London because Kusuo's limiter was destroyed and they needed his older brother to fix it. It's only been about two days since they left and luckily, nothing catastrophic has happened, although the class has been unusually quiet. Maybe because no one was there to blurt out loud, random things, or anything about impending doom. It was especially quiet since the object of her affections wasn't around, the blue haired beauty didn't need to really show off her fancy feathers. Emiko, the usual jokester, because of her situation, was also really quiet herself, so in other words, school wasn't just a bit weird, it was, like her eyes, dull.

During the teacher's lesson in geometry, Emiko stared out of the window, not really paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying. Instead, she was looking up at the sky wondering where the rain had gone.

'Almost a month. A month is almost up before I can see Nobuaki. I just need to talk to him and I'll be fine again.'

"Hiro-san? Hiro-san!"

Emiko quickly turned her head to the direction of her teacher's voice and noticed that she was the only one left in the room.

She quickly stood up from her seat "Yes, Ma'am?"

"After you fix your things, meet me at my desk in the Faculty Room."

Instead of answering, Emiko nodded and rushed to fix her things. Afterwards, she knocked on the door of the Faculty Room, did a bow as she entered and headed to her teacher's table.

"Have a seat." She said as she went through her papers to look through her documents. "Every month, we get an average on the performances of students in each and every subject. How you did in quizzes, exams, papers, P.E., and other requirements and we print them out here." She brought out a few printouts of the said documents and handed them to Emiko.

"These are the documents for a whole year. You needn't take long to search for your name because you were consistently in the top three."

Not knowing why, Emiko felt herself become irritated at where the conversation was going.

"Now, I'm no stranger to lapses in grades, or sudden drops-I know they happen."

'Then perhaps you could just get to the point instead of prolonging this.' Emiko thought irritatedly.

"...During the time you've been here, you were consistently at the top. I would understand if you dropped down to at least five, or even ten spots, but you're all the way down to the bottom two. Okay, so maybe it's just been this month..."

'You're concerned, I get it.' She thought sarcastically. "So what do you want to tell me?" She snapped. She realised her rudeness right away and added a quiet and polite "What is it, Ma'am?" She bowed her head down apologetically.

Initially, the teacher was going to tell Emiko to straighten up because it wasn't like her, but, after seeing Emiko's eyes, she saw that they were somehow troubled, she noticed how easily Emiko snapped. She remembered how she kept her classmates at a distance all of sudden. It was a completely different person. Initially, she was going to tell Emiko to straighten up because she could do better, but instead

"I... I just, I hope you get through whatever you're going through." The teacher managed to say, somehow a bit scared of her student's dark aura.

Emiko's features softened slightly. "Thank you." Not waiting to hear another word from her teacher, she stood up, bowed and left.

That same day...

"The Saiki's have arrived from London and they're inviting to dinner at their place!" Ena exclaimed happily.

"That's wonderful!" Eito said excitedly hoping to infect Emiko with their enthusiasm.

Emiko was quietly sprawled on the couch glad that they had made it home safely.

"Please give them my regards. I don't think I'm well enough to go." She said quietly.

Her parents said nothing. They were really worried about their daughter and nothing seemed to be getting through to her. The past month, they'd say all sort of comforting things hoping to alleviate whatever pain she was going through but she'd always just brush them off.

It's not like she wanted to keep her parents at bay, though. It was because they went through so many things for her already. They changed their names, left their hometown, their jobs and families just so they can give her a new life. What was the point of all that if she told them that she was planning to return after all? What failure would they feel if they knew what she was going through?

"Okay, Emi. When we're gone though, it will just be a while, but, try to play the cello. Music always seems to help, doesn't it?"

Emiko nodded. When her parents left, she took a shower and wore the cosiest clothes she could find and lay down on her bed.

'The cello...' She hasn't played the instrument in so long. What her mother said was true though, it always calmed her down whenever she was feeling erratic.

She went to their storage area and dug up her cello. She brought it to the living room and tuned it. She put rosin on her bow and positioned herself to play. For the first time in a while, she allowed herself to giggle. She felt nostalgic as she held the instrument and the last time she played it was three years ago. It wasn't too small for her, as an indication that she probably hasn't grown much. She was nervous to play anything as she was worried about how it would sound like. She smiled and read the notes on her music stand and started to play.

As she played, she felt glad that she took her mother's advice. It was quite fun and relaxing and hearing the different notes did a number on her irritated soul. Still, the way she played was

'Awful.' She nodded at the thought as she quickly realised that the voice wasn't hers.

She whipped her head and saw Kusuo leaning on the wall a few feet a way with his arms crossed.

"Well, now I feel bad that someone else but me thinks that I played horribly." She joked. She then frowned. "Ever heard of knocking?"

'I texted you, but you took a while to reply so here I am.'

"Good to have you back."

'Good to be back.'

"How was London?"

'Besides the pastries, it was worse than your performance.'

Emiko grew a tick mark. "No one was supposed to hear that except me, you know!"

'Yeah, but what was I to do? I couldn't just sit there when all your parents thought about was how worried they were about you.'

"But you didn't really-" She cut herself off and tried to hide a blush. Was he worried about her? She shook her head. Why wouldn't he be? They were best friends after all. "Y-you-I-I just need more practice!"

Kusuo smirked. 'Here.'

He set a small paper bag on Emiko's lap.

"What is it?"

'A bomb.' He said sarcastically.

Emiko rolled her eyes and took the contents of the bag out to reveal a box of assorted tea blends from London. She gasped excitedly. "Thank you! This is so perfect! I love tea!"

Kusuo just looked at her excited face as she read the different kinds of tea blends there were. Of course she liked tea. That was one of the topics she'd always talk about with his mother. It was annoying, really.

"You really didn't have to get me anything, but I appreciate the thought." She said happily. "It's nothing short of perfect! I want to make some right now."

'I'll do it. You go play.'

"Ehhhh! I don't wanna play when someone can hear me." She said shyly.

'I didn't intend to listen. I was going to block out all the sound anyway.'

"Geez. Harsh much?" She smiled. "Please use the tea set you gave me!" She called out as he was in the kitchen.

He was lying when he said he was going to block out all the sound though. He really wanted to hear her play no matter how bad it was. As it's been reiterated in the chapter, Kusuo is also aware about the strange way Emiko has been acting. She barely hung-out with him, or anyone and constantly blocked his telepathy. Truthfully, he didn't know exactly what was going on and he knew that she wasn't going to tell him any time soon. It stung a bit, honestly, that she was hiding many things from him when he would tell her almost everything. She was sure he had her reasons but still.

He wasn't really a patient person and seeing how her behaviour affected people around him, sort of threw out his sense of normalcy. Usually, he would have sorted out the problem to have his normal life back (being the nosy person that he was), but somehow, she resisted help of any kind and that made him feel useless.

As they hung out with each other, Kusuo was frustrated to feel a wall placed between them. Emiko was acting as if nothing has been going on in her life and like everything was completely normal. She avoided topics about herself and was a little fidgety.

'Emiko.' He said sternly.

"Yeah?"

'I'm bothered.'

"Because?"

'Of all the people that I met, you should know that I prefer your company over theirs because you are honest, genuine and wonderful to be around.'

Emiko stayed quiet not knowing where this was going.

'I went hear to check on you and see how you were doing only to feel like I'm being pushed away. Right now, I have no idea who you are and what is happening. All the traits I valued of you are not present. You know how I feel about people who say one thing and mean another... I don't like it.'

It seemed like she even pushed her best friend away.

'Maybe this will be a passing thing, but whenever you feel like you want to be honest with me, I'll just be here. You're my most trusted friend and truthfully, I feel useless right now. I'm a little lost and maybe that's nothing compared to what you're feeling, and usually I wouldn't even care about what most people are going through, but I want to help you and be there for you but you won't let me.'

He stopped.

'This is the most that I've said in any conversation.' He realised. He never really had a best friend before so he wasn't quite sure about what he was saying but the premise is 'Let me be there for you when you're ready.' And with that, he teleported away.

Emiko was left behind to wallow in her loneliness and lostness. She prayed for answers.

'Mineo Nobuaki. I'm counting on you.'

The next few days, school was now no longer dull, but it was awkward. She avoided eye-contact or interaction with everyone. Whether it was guilt, or shame, she wasn't sure. Her friends seemed to have gotten the message and kept away all the while being worried for their friend. She didn't walk to school with Kusuo anymore and got to school later than she usually would.

She ate lunch on the rooftop alone when she heard footsteps running up the stairs only to gradually slow down as they made their was to the top. The door opened to reveal a very exhausted Kaidou.

"H.." He panted. "Hiro..." He wheezed tiredly (the boy needs to work on his stamina) "Hiro-san. Mineo-senpai won't be back any time soon."

Her heart sank. "W-why?"

"No one knows. He was actually a here a few days ago on the day of the typhoon, but was called away right away for some family business or something, but between you and me, I'm pretty sure he's doing some things to help save us from the Dark Reunion."

"Oh. T-thanks for letting me know." She mustered a smile. She sighed. "I don't feel so well, I think I'll go home early."

"Oh, fever?"

"Something like that." She said weakly.

"I'll gather your things. You might want to take it easy."

"Oh no. It's fine, I can do it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll just go with you. Don't you want to go to the nursing room first, though?"

"No, it's okay. I'm fine, Kaidou. Thanks for being worried about me."

"We're all worried about you." He muttered not loudly enough for Emiko to hear.

After she took her things, she tried to get home as fast as she could that she opted to take cab as she was feeling really dizzy. Kusuo watched from their classroom as Emiko left the school in Taxi. Kaidou said something about a senior who wasn't able to make it and noticed that Emiko was starting to feel faint when she heard it. How was that related to her distress? His thought were halted when he heard his classmates talk about Emiko.

"Hiro-san left early."

"Why?"

"She was feeling sick apparently."

"She's been acting really odd this entire month. If it was cold, it wouldn't take that long."

"Right! Or an incurable disease?" They gasped.

People in the conversation started crying "Oh, God! Why are you so cruel?"

Kusuo stopped listening to their nonsense although what if she was terminally ill? He shook his head. No way.

Emiko stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She was so tired. She had been on edge to meet this guy for a month to finally get some sort of clue only to find out that no one knows when he'll return. She was so foolish. She lay out all her hope on this one guy she didn't even know, she didn't know whether he'd have all the answers or not. She pushed away her friends because of her stupidity and flawed reasoning. She bet everything would be fixed and that she would be finally be able to make things happen when she would finally be able to talk to this Mineo Nobuaki.

'How stupid.'

She walked to her mirror and stared angrily at her reflection. "You're stupid." She told it venomously. She looked at the heavy bags under her eyes, she looked at her drying skin because she often forgot to drink water. She loathed everything she saw. How stupid was she...

"How stupid." She sobbed. "H-how stupid."

She looked out of her window to see the vastness of the world and feel herself become even smaller and more powerless than ever before.

"I can't do anything." She cried as she thought of Kenji who was still probably being maltreated back in the institution she escaped.

She wiped a tear with her sleeve. "How stupid was I to believe that I could have made a difference with my powers. I had so many ideals that don't seem like they fit me anymore."

She remembered the times she would lecture people or would save people. She took pride in doing that. She took pride in being able to help, but no longer. How could she when she couldn't save the few that mattered?

She was ashamed of herself.

School went on and Emiko didn't go.

It's been four days since she people last saw her and no one had a clue of what she was doing.

Emiko got into a constant fights with her parents as they told her to straighten up and how she couldn't miss school. She would argue that they didn't understand what was going on and that they shouldn't pry.

Her parents were worried because their daughter was changing and not for the better. She was skipping meals, constantly watching and crying while watching anime. She didn't bother shower as much as she used to, she barely spoke, didn't sleep, didn't study, skipped school, snapped easily and was always frustrated. She would cry in her sleep and scream because of her nightmares.

"Why won't you tell us what's going on?" Ena asked Emiko having enough of staying quiet.

"Because you wouldn't get it" Emiko muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't need you to be involved, I don't want you to be involved, and the only thing you'll tell me is that it will come to pass and so I should suck it up. You'll tell me that I'll get through it. I don't need anyone else to tell me that I'll get through whatever pain this is. My teacher and friends already said it so I don't need you to."

"What makes you think we'll say that?" The mother asked in frustration. "Why are you pushing us away when we only want to help! We only want what's best for you!"

"Because I know you guys! And I know that no one can understand me because no one here knows the hellhole I've been through!"

"We may not know what it is you've been through, but don't you think it hurts us to see you suffer by yourself the past month?" Ena said with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what's going on with me..." Emiko said quietly. "I can't put it into words... This guilt, and this shame. I don't want you to get involved so please... Just let me be."

Ena bowed her head as she teared up. Emiko walked into her room ashamed to have made her mother cry like that.

She really didn't know what was going on with her. Suddenly, she had no goals, aspirations or motivation. She was too stubborn for help. Maybe she was only making things harder on herself... Maybe she thought that she was equipped to do anything only to find out that she relied on luck.

"I'm lost." She sobbed. "I truly am. I'm weaker than what people give me credit for."

She was about to lay on her bed when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID to see Noa calling her.

"Hi, Noa-san." She answered trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Emiko! Please come to the hospital quick!"

"What's wrong?" She asked in a panicked voice.

"Hina, she's giving birth as we speak!"

Emiko was about to congratulate him when she realised.

"She's three months early!"