A/N: Another update! Thank you for being so patient with me, I'm in the middle of incorporating writing into my daily schedule. Hopefully eberything will be sorted out soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 14

"He said what?" Shouta gaped at what his wife had just told him.

"I don't know what's going through his mind right now. I hope he isn't getting cold feet…" Sawako answered quietly. She was feeling a little shaken after her phone call with Pin and had just filled Shouta in on their conversation, when she started feeling dizzy.

"Sawako? What's wrong?" Shouta reached a hand out and put it on her shoulder to steady her. She gripped his hand tightly and forced herself to breathe deeply. She was feeling weird, it felt like she had a knot in her stomach and her head was pounding. Stress. That was the feeling Sawako was experiencing. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this pressured and worried.

"We have to talk to Mai-chan and find out what's going on." She rasped, before a coughing fit took over. As if she wasn't feeling bad enough she started feeling feverish. She hated being sick.

"We will, first thing in the morning. You need to get some rest Sawako; you have a pretty high fever." Shouta sounded awfully calm, despite having a million thoughts in his head. His first priority was Sawako. She was only making her illness worse by overthinking and being worried about Pin. It was very unlikely that they could reach Mai-chan at this hour, but he decided to call her anyway and sent her a text as well.

They stayed up a little while longer, Sawako murmuring about what she could do to get Pin to talk and they texted their friends, to hear what they knew about Pin's sudden change of heart, but they were as confused as the couple was. Shouta and Sawako both went to sleep, feeling rather disgruntled. Everyone agreed that Pin was feeling cornered and would change his mind again, come morning.

The following morning, the ill noirette went to see her doctor, who prescribed her some antibiotics and told her to get plenty of rest. He also swabbed her to check for pneumonia and told her to expect a call with the results in a few days. Meanwhile Shouta and Ryu had gone to Pin's place - Mai-chan lived above her clinic - and tried to reach him. Sawako arrived shortly, and asked to speak to Pin alone. They knew where Pin kept his spare key, so they had let themselves in, but he had locked himself in his bedroom.

"Pin-sensei? It's Sawako." She knocked on the door a couple of times.

"Go away, Kurohaya." Pin's muffled voice resounded from inside. Exchanging looks with Sawako, Shouta stepped closer to the door with Ryu.

"Come on, Pin, we just want to know what's going on." Shouta nearly pleaded. Having known Pin most of his life, he was afraid the former teacher would do something drastic. Their decision to wait the previous night seemed bad now. Ryu was busy dialing on his cell phone, trying to get in touch with Pin's fiancée, but with no luck. He faintly remembered Chizu mentioning Mai-chan's weekly visit to her deceased family's graves.

"Shut up and go away." For being an adult, Pin was acting very bratty. Shouta ran a hand through his hair and desperately looked over at his best friend, who just shook his head.

"I'm better off alone, leave me." A soft thud came from the door, indicating that Pin had slumped down with his back to the door. He muttered something very faintly, which made the Kazehaya's freeze up.

"Why do you think that?" Shouta asked exasperatedly. He faintly registered his wife's hand on his arm and Ryu starting a conversation on the phone. He felt blood rushing in his veins, and anger seeping through him. Pin's words had felt like a punch to his gut. I was better off dead, anyway.

"…you know it was over for me two years ago. I should have died that day." Shouta felt like punching Pin again. To think he had the audacity to say something so horrible! Sawako had fallen silent beside Shouta, who was on the verge of breaking down the door to his teacher's house. Out of the corner of his eye, Shouta noticed Ryu take off at incredible speed.

"You-" Shouta had just opened his mouth when Sawako interrupted him. Her eyes were starting to fill up with tears and she slowly stepped closer to the door.

"You think you aren't good enough for Mai-chan." She half breathed, half stated. A single tear fell down her cheek as Shouta watched her stand in front of the closed door. A couple of seconds passed, before Pin answered, ever so softly.

"She can do so much better than me." His voice was so raw from emotion that the Kazehaya's almost felt the tears that were running down his face. They heard him take a shuddering breath, before speaking.

"Don't you get it? There's no future for her with me. She's… She's so amazing, being able to heal people like it's no big deal. Me? I can't even walk up the stairs without clinging to the railing. I'm nothing. She won't be happy with me." Sawako could feel Pin's pain through the wooden door. His accident two years ago was still haunting him, preventing him from pursuing happiness.

"Don't you get it? Mai-chan wants to be with you. She wants to marry you and spend her life with you!" Shouta tried to reason with Pin. The man was so out of it, he couldn't even hear how stupid he sounded.

"Pin-sensei, when Shouta proposed to me, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. We had our whole lives in front of us, the two of us together, and nothing else mattered to me. I knew what Shouta had gone through with his family to be with me, I knew of his sleepless nights, I knew how torn he had been, I knew how easily he always blamed himself for everything and I knew of all the sides of him.

"But what I didn't know was that he would be the one to take care of me when I was sick, he would calm me down when I got upset, he would care for me and love me with every fiber of his being. That was something I found out along the way. So you can't just assume that Mai-chan won't be happy with you until you've tried it for yourself." Sawako's words seemed to hang in the air, the impact of them following like a second wave.

Shouta looked at her with amazement. Sawako had never told him any of this before. He had no idea she saw him like this and he momentarily forgot why he was standing outside Pin's door, he saw only the love of his life, her eyes brimming with tears. He was so focused on Sawako, he didn't notice two figures appearing beside them. Sawako took a deep breath before she spoke.

"If you can't believe in yourself, at least believe in Mai-chan." The couple could hear Pin rush to his feet and quickly stepped away.

"…Why don't you all get it?! She'll be much happier without me!" Pin yelled and tore open the door. He looked awful. His eyes were puffy and the circles under his eyes seemed to absorb all the light around him. His hair was messed in every direction possible, and his clothes were all wrinkled, and yet, he had this crazed look in his eyes. Until his eyes fell on the short person behind the Kazehaya's .

"You don't get to decide what I feel." Her voice alone commanded attention, and all the fight in Pin's eyes disappeared. He fell to his knees on his doorstep, his eyes never leaving his fiancée.

"I fell in love with you of my own accord, and I won't leave you because you were in a horrible accident." Mai-chan spoke as she stepped forward, closer to the heap of Pin on the floor. Sawako was so relieved to see the brunette, she exhaled a silent sigh of relief. If anyone knew how to handle Pin, it was Mai-chan.

"You already make me so happy, Kazuichi. I can't even see myself with anyone else than you, so stop being so damn hard on yourself. You were in an accident that most people wouldn't have survived, and you recovered from a practically shattered leg. That in itself is amazing. You always make me feel good about myself, and even though you tease me about my height, you always show how much you love me." Mai-chan had reached Pin and kneeled down to put his face in her hands. She spoke so softly and with such honesty, Pin was rendered speechless. All the horrible thoughts he had had for the past few days were gone, and in front of him was an angel, willing to give him salvation.

"I want to annoy you for the rest of my life, okay? We'll figure everything out one step at a time, don't worry." She had a glint in her eyes and a smile that immediately melted away all the tension in the air. Pin closed his eyes and nodded, placing his hand over hers.

He still had his doubts, but seeing Mai-chan in front of him, hearing her say everything would be fine, was enough to make him think that maybe, just maybe it really would. With Mai-chan by his side, he could make it. He had to, he owed her that much. With a deep sigh, Pin got up from the floor, kissed his fiancée on the forehead and went back inside, leaving the others behind. He was too drained to interact with anyone.

"Sawako-san, Kazehaya-san, long time no see!" The bubble brunette approached the couple as soon as she had made sure her stupid fiancé had gone back inside and was tucked into bed. Meanwhile the Kazehayas and Ryu had been standing outside, filling each other in.

"Thank you for taking care of Kazuichi. I forgot my cell phone in my office drawer yesterday, so I didn't receive any of your calls or messages. Chizuru-san came rushing over and got in touch with Sanada-san, who picked me up." The doctor explained. She had been looking for her phone for hours when she randomly checked her drawer for a pen and found a ton of missed calls.

"I see. What's wrong with Pin-sensei?" Sawako asked and glanced sideways at Shouta, who hadn't spoken much in the last fifteen minutes. He looked distant and in a world of his own.

"I think it was his new medication that caused his depressive thoughts. He has been feeling intense pain in his leg and back, so he was prescribed strong pain killers that had too many side effects for my liking. I'll have to talk to his pharmacist and doctor. I guess he was getting cold feet and the medicine just made it worse." The brunette explained.

"Will he be okay?" Ryu spoke up, not wanting to leave yet. He had never seen Pin act like this and was a little freaked out. Shouta wasn't that much of a help either, he seemed to be so deep in thought that he wasn't even listening.

"Yes, I'll take care of him. Don't worry." Mai-chan assured the three friends. They talked some more before Ryu left for work, waving goodbye.

"Sawako-san you should go home, too. You seem tired." The physiotherapist suggested. She had heard from Ryu how the Kazehayas had been on a trip and Sawako had caught a virus or something, so Pin calling off the wedding must have been stressful for the both of them.

"Ah, I already went to see my own doctor and he said it wasn't anything serious. I just caught a cold." The noirette explained. She was feeling better than she had the past few days and was certain she would recover soon.

"You'll only make it worse by stressing about Pin." Mai-chan countered. She could see the exhaustion on both their faces. Shouta especially looked very worn out.

"…call us if you need anything." Shouta slowly spoke. He locked eyes with the short brunette, who calmly looked into his. After a few seconds she nodded.

"I promise. Now, off you go." She cheered with a bright smile. The Kazehayas bid her goodbye and walked home in silence. Sawako kept thinking about how heart-broken Pin had sounded and Shouta just looked stiffly in front of him.

"What did the doctor say?" He asked his wife as they reached their house. Sawako looked up in surprise. She had completely forgotten to tell him.

"Oh, it might be pneumonia, but he said it was unlikely." The noirette recalled. There had been a virus going around lately, so it was more likely to be that than pneumonia.

"I see." Shouta replied quietly without looking at his wife. Sawako of course noticed this and stepped in front of him.

"You know he didn't mean that he was better off dead, right?" She asked him challengingly. His eyes were unfocused and he didn't answer. Pin's accident had been replaying in his mind ever since his teacher uttered those words.

"Shouta, look at me. You saved Pin's life that day. If you haven't pushed him away, he would have been killed by the two vehicles." Sawako firmly grabbed Shouta's face and forced him to look at her.

"..but I'm the reason he-" He started, but was stopped by Sawako again.

"No you're not. Pin-sensei likes goofing off and shouldn't have been balancing on the railing in the first place. No one could have predicted that the brakes of one of the cars would have failed." Sawako reasoned. Shouta remembered the horrible sound of the wheels screeching.

A little over two years ago, he and Pin had been walking through Kitahiro. As usual, Pin had been teasing Shouta about something unimportant, when Shouta challenged him to balance on the sidewalk for a whole minute to make him shut up.

Pin had been delighted and wanted to show off his skills, but Shouta just shook his head and looked at the incoming traffic before starting to cross the street. He remembered Pin yelling to wait for him and watched him jump the last meter and down onto the road. Pin hadn't seen a car speeding to make it through the now yellow light signal, and started running over the zebra crossing. The driver saw him and tried to stop the car, but he had been accelerating too fast and wouldn't make it, so he tried to steer round him. Pin had heard the driver honking at him, but froze when he saw the car nearing him at incredible speed. Shouta had just managed to grab his arm and hauled him to safety, when the car crashed into a larger truck making a turn, but still managed to hit Pin's legs.

The rest was a blur for Shouta. He just remembered the sound of bones breaking, Pin's agonizing screams, people shouting and trying to help him and the wailing of sirens. Paramedics had taken Pin to the ER and brought Shouta along. They had informed him that they would have to be prepared to amputate if his leg couldn't be saved. He just saw Pin's face covered by an oxygen mask, feeling numb to the world. Pin had been in surgery for so many hours Shouta lost count.

"-outa. Shouta!" He was brought back to the present by Sawako repeatedly calling his name.

"Huh, what?" Shouta questioned, feeling puzzled. He had forgotten what they were talking about and looked around him in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Sawako placed a hand on his cheek and searched his eyes for discomfort.

"I'm fine, I just remembered… the accident. I'm okay now." Shouta grabbed her hands and reassured her. He hadn't intended to space out like that and found himself unable to remember how they had gotten home. He just knew he had to talk to Pin again and clarify some things.

"Are you sure?" Sawako asked anyway. She could see he was back to normal, but she was afraid he would return to the distant version of him that barely spoke or ate or even functioned. He had been like that after Pin's accident, before they started seeing a therapist, and nothing was scarier than seeing the person you love, become a mere shell of himself. The couple was interrupted by Sawako's phone ringing. It was a call from her doctor.

"Hello Mrs. Kazehaya, I was looking at your medical records and noticed that your family has a history of ovarian cancer. We would like you to come in tomorrow, so we can perform some tests." He informed her promptly. The noirette didn't register it at first, but after a couple of seconds, she came back to her senses.

"Oh… I'll be there." Sawako replied shakily and arranged a new appointment.

"There is no need to fret, Mrs. Kazehaya, you haven't had any of the symptoms, but we want to make sure everything is fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care." With that her doctor hung up, leaving Sawako puzzled and Shouta confused. The rest of the day was spent mostly in silence. They had called Sawako's mom, who had told them not to worry and that Sawako hadn't shown any symptoms, so it was just a precaution. The events from earlier that day were almost completely overshadowed by this new development.

The following day Sawako had classes, but had to leave early for her appointment. Her students could also feel that something was off. Their usual cheerful teacher wasn't herself, but they were too polite to ask her. She kept spacing off and was lost in thought most of the day, and she couldn't concentrate about teaching. Lucky for her, the students of her class asked for a self-study period, which she gladly accepted.

When Shouta picked her up, they talked a little about Sawako's classes, but the atmosphere was too heavy. Reaching the clinic they entered and took a seat in the waiting room. Sawako was starting to feel nervous. She knew there wasn't anything to worry about, but she couldn't help it. If she was diagnosed with cancer, she didn't know how she would handle it.

"Take it easy, love. We'll figure it out." Shouta assured her, before the nurse called her name, and Sawako was led away to be tested. She had blood tests taken and had an ultrasound as well. The person performing the ultrasound on Sawako had been perplexed by a lump they had found, and had printed the image and called for assistance. Sawako had been asked to wait in the waiting room, where she told Shouta what they had tested for until they both were called into the doctor's office.

"Well Mrs. Kazehaya, we were right in checking you. The ultrasound showed mass in your abdomen, and after consulting with my colleagues, we have reached a conclusion. You don't have cancer, but it seems like you are expecting. Congratulations both of you." He smiled kindly and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"We are expecting?" Sawako stuttered. It seemed unreal to her. Shouta looked dumbfounded as well.

"She's pregnant?" Shouta gaped, before a huge smile stretched across his face. Sawako's eyes watered a little and Shouta grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Yes, you are five weeks pregnant." He nodded at the couple, before explaining how the following appointments would take place, what they needed to avoid, what supplements Sawako had to take. He even gave them various pamphlets and references for books that would come in handy.

After their visit to the doctor's they went home and reveled in the fact that they were going to be parents sooner than they thought. Their hearts were filled with anticipation for the following eight months and they talked and talked late into the night.

Yay, Sawako is pregnant! Some of you had already guessed it, so yes, you were absolutely right. Now you know the details about Pin's accident too, and Mai-chan has made an appearance as well. What do you think will happen next? And thank you soooo much for all your reviews, faves and follows. You guys are the best. Until then! (=w=)/