"Yukiko!" Chie runs up to and embraces Yukiko. As she hugs her, Francis can hear Chie sob.
Yukiko looks at Chie with sad eyes, before she rubs her eyes and hugs her back. "I am safe now, Chie. I am safe now…" She says while sobbing.
The three boys stand at a distance. They look at one another. As Kuma grins happily, Francis and Hanamura nod their heads. Francis then looks to Hanamura, and they both nod.
"You tired?" Hanamura asks after nodding. His words make Francis realize something.
"It's obvious?" Francis asks with a tired tone.
"I am too…" Hanamura says gently, with eyes and a smile matching his tone.
After a while, the group leaves the castle and makes their way to the entrance. As they are about to leave, Francis speaks.
"Sorry, but can you guys go ahead without me? I need some time alone."
"Nah." Hanamura speaks. "We came in together. It's only right we leave together."
"Francis?" Chie asks with concern while supporting Yukiko by her shoulder.
"I am fine." Francis replies gently while smiling. "I just need some time alone."
"We can go to the side so that you have the space to yourself." Yukiko suggests kindly.
"It's fine." Francis replies. "I am not exactly alone here." He says while pointing to the entrance to the Velvet Room.
After Francis turns around and walks away, Chie hands Yukiko over to Kuma and Yosuke.
"I will.."
"Satonaka, he said he wants to be alone." Hanamura cuts off Chie, who looks at him with confusion.
"Listen, there are just times when a man doesn't want others to see him." Hanamura explains calmly. "Especially since you are special to him."
"Why?" Chie asks.
"Well, because he doesn't want to leave a bad image in your mind." Hanamura keeps going.
"A bad image of?" Chie pursues further.
"That he's weak. That's one thing a man does not want to show a woman." Hanamura explains.
"Look after Yukiko for me." Chie says calmly before running after Francis.
"Satonaka!" Hanamura shouts before going after Chie.
Hearing Hanamura shout, Chie stops.
"Are you implying that he's weak?" Chie says with what seems to be boiling anger. "I knew that something was up with him. That he was traumatized by what happened with Konishi. And yet, for my sake, he overcame that trauma and came back here. For my sake, he almost died."
Chie pauses and takes a breath.
"Francis is not weak." She speaks confidently and then runs after Francis.
Hanamura stares as Chie runs off. He then sighs and goes back to Yukiko, who sits next to Kuma.
"Thank you...uh, Yosuke-san." Yukiko says kindly.
"Yosuke-san?!" Hanamura shouts in surprise.
"All of you risked your lives to save me. I just feel like I am closer to you now." Yukiko says while smiling.
"I see." Hanamura says bashfully, scratching his head as he does.
Seeing Hanamura's response, Yukiko looks surprised. "If it makes you uncomfortable, I am fine with Hanamura."
"Uh…" Hanamura stammers. "I am sorry, but moving onto a first name basis this soon is too much for me." Hanamura says awkwardly.
"I understand…" Yukiko says kindly. She takes a breath, and keeps going. "Once again, allow me to apologize for what I said about you."
"It's fine." Hanamura replies kindly. He then looks away. "My Shadow said horrible things to Yamada too." He then looks back. "What's important is you are safe now."
"Thank you, Hanamura-kun." Yukiko says kindly. She looks away for a bit before looking back at Hanamura. "Thank you, for coming back. From what I heard, you have your own share of trouble, yet you came alongside the others to save me."
Hanamura grins while scratching his head. "Truth be told, Yamada was the one to push me to come back." He says awkwardly.
"But you were the one to choose to come back." Yukiko says confidently with a kind and confident smile on her face.
"You are welcome…" Hanamura says awkwardly.
As Hanamura turns to Kuma, he sees the latter grinning at the two. Seeing that, Hanamura asks with slight annoyance in his tone."What's with that grin?"
"Nothing, kuma." Kuma replies cheerfully while grinning.
At the side Francis weakly limps.
"F**k… F**k… F****k…" He curses with panic in English as he breathes labored breaths. As he does, he fumbles with the grip of his katana with his left hand, while his right hand fumbles the sleeve of his shirt on his left side. "I… I wasn't…"
"Francis."
To his surprise, Francis turns around, seeing Chie behind her.
"Chie?" Francis asks in surprise.
Chie approaches Francis, who backs off as she approaches. Seeing him back off , Chie pauses, causing Francis to pause as well.
"I…" Chie looks down for a bit, fumbling the sleeve of her tracksuit as she does. She then puts her hands at the side and looks at Francis confidently. "I heard from Hanamura. About how men don't want women to see their weak side."
She then looks away, covering her face with her face as she does. "Especially seeing that…" She pauses while looking away. "I am…" She pauses, skipping over the words and continuing. "To you…"
She then looks back to Francis. "But you are not weak!" She shouts bashfully.
As she does, Francis releases his grip on his katana and his sleeve.
"You did so much for me! You came back to this hellish place for me! Risked your life for me!"
She then crosses her hands, with one hand at the side of her face. As she does, she looks to the ground for a bit before turning back to face Francis. As she does, she puts her right hand atop her left and puts them in front of her hip.
"Please, let me share your pain. Your fear. Your weakness." Chie says bashfully, a kind huge smile on her red-flushed face as she does.
Francis slumps over, staring at Chie. As he does, Chie walks closer to him. Chie stops in front of Francis and holds his hand. As she does, Francis feels her warmth permeating his hands.
"I…" Francis cries out in English before swapping. "I wasn't sure! I was so scared! So scared that I would fail again! That I would fail you! That Amagi would die! That Hanamura and Kuma would die!"
Francis falls to the ground, with Chie supporting and following him as they both get closer to the floor. He looks to the floor and continues speaking.
"Most of all, I was scared something would happen to you…" Francis says weakly while continuing to cry.
Chie hugs Francis and brings him to her chest as he cries. As he cries loudly, Chie speaks kindly.
"It's okay. Let it out.."
Afterword:
I feel inclined to give some warnings here. From here on out, it's gonna be mostly talking, drama, and slice to life, and a lot of Francis-Chie interactions. Naturally, the story is still gonna progress, but I just went too far with the Chie scenes.
I am terribly sorry, I have a problem with Chie.