A few hours later, Takashi came out of his daze and could now speak freely. Hana then nudged Miho, reminding her of her promise. Miho stood up, asking everyone to clear the room. They complied, leaving the two of them alone.

Takashi looked puzzled. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Miho's heart sank. "I-I made a promise to everyone once we began to fear you'd die ...that if you lived I would tell you...I love you."

After her confession, his piercing green eyes locked eyes with her and he began to smile. He then grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and smashing his lips to hers.

"Miho. I love you too...so much," Takashi said, "Does this mean I'm your boyfriend now?"

"Of course it does," Miho replied, kissing him again.

For several minutes she simply laid with him as he held her. They soon drifted off to sleep. Hana went back into the room to check on them. The peaceful sight brought a smile to her face for the first time in a week.

On the following day, everyone was forced to leave except for Nonna, who was the only relative. Nonna felt so guilty since then. She needed to apologise.

She then breaks the silence and addresses him in English. "Takashi, I know I almost killed you and it would have been my fault. But, please don't hate me for it. I beg you. Forgive me please."

"Nonna, you're all I have left. I would never hate you. Even if I were to die, I would forgive you, no matter what."

Nonna proceeds to hug her younger cousin tight, tears streaming from her eyes.

Time skip...

For the next week, Takashi recovered in the hospital and was released a few days later. However, he still needed to stay at home to rest and heal up. Miho visited him every day to help him with the pain. Saori and Yukari also cooked for him occasionally, Hana brought flowers, Anzu brought dried potatoes, and Mako...came over and slept. Takashi attempted to get them to not worry about him so much, but was unsuccessful. Despite his protests, Miho also canceled the next two practice matches, one of which was against Kuromorimine.

Two days later…

Miho was busy cleaning Takashi's wounds with alcohol when we heard a knock on the door. It's Maho and Shiho, strangely.

Shiho pulled the cancellation paper from her pocket and asked, "What's the meaning of this? I only allowed you to fight Selection University so you could face Kuromorimine again."

"He is my Vice-Commander and I can't just leave him", Miho protested.

"You don't need him. Find another Vice-Commander," countered Shiho.

"Yes. I do need him," Miho said, visibly angry.

Maho stayed silent and placed her hand on her mother's shoulder.

"I see. He better be worth the effort. You're going to introduce him to me at some point. Just, not while he's in this state."

With that, Miho shut the door.

Miho returned to his side, finishing the bandages and giving him a soft kiss on the forehead before leaving to go home.