Remind me again how I ended up back here?

I unsuccessfully stifle a growl as Nowaki leads me up the stairs to the hospital he works at. My memories are a blur, but somehow he managed to goad me into returning to this depressing place.

As if the college I spend five or six days a week at isn't depressing enough.

We trudge through the two sets of automatic doors into the lobby. That smell again. How is it that every medical facility in the country has that same smell?

Nowaki greets the receptionist in his usual charming way. It's a different girl than last time, but they all react to him the same way: blushing, shy smiling, twirling their hair in their fingers…it pisses me off. As if he'd be interested in them!

We make our way to the elevator, weaving through the fairly heavy traffic in the lobby. We join another person waiting for the elevator and stand quietly side by side. Nowaki indulges himself in a sleepy yawn my gaze wanders around the lobby. My eyes end up back to the reception desk, where….

HEY!

I catch that girl making googly-eyes at Nowaki. Worse yet, she has a friend with her! No, an accomplice!

Unacceptable!

Mustering all my willpower, I shoot her the best Demon Kamijou Glare I can cook up on such short notice. That'll teach her to covet other people's partners!

To my dismay, she doesn't pale and deflate like my students always do. Her face just sort of screws up in confusion as she makes an inaudible comment to her friend. Bewildered, they both continue to stare at me and exchange words. Then…

Crap!

They laugh!

I instantly lose my nerve and stare down at the ground, eyes wide. How can this be?! No one gets caught at the business end of the Demon Glare and lives to tell the tale, let alone laugh at it!

Salvation arrives in the form of an elevator and I gratefully throw myself inside. Shamefully, I squeeze myself into the furthest corner. My eyes are glued to the ground as Nowaki enters next, followed by the woman who was waiting with us. I hear the clicks of the selected floors' buttons and the elevator doors close with a pleasant "ding."

Nowaki warms right up to my side but tilts his head forward to get a better look at me. "Hiro-san?"

I glance up at him, face ablaze. Damn you for looking down at me! Why are you so tall?!

I swallow hard and try to calm my nerves. I shouldn't be getting so worked up over a couple of snarky kids! Even if they did challenge my authority….

Damnit! Am I losing my edge?

"Are you feeling alright?" Nowaki presses when he doesn't receive an answer.

Of course not! I want to shout. But it's not like I could admit to what just occurred. Admit to being…jealous.

Ugh!

At a loss for words, I respond the only way I can think of. In one swift movement I wrap my arm around his and grip his bicep. I bury my face in his arm too, flustered all over again.

Shut up.

"Oh," he says softly. I can't see his face but I can practically feel him smiling ear to stupid ear.

My heart races when he lowers his head to rest it on mine.

All too quickly, we reach our floor. Nowaki takes a slow step forward to signal our departure.

I begrudgingly let go of his warm arm.

Nowaki leads me down a series of halls, empty for the most part aside from a supply cart here or medical resident there. It's a totally different part of the hospital from the last time we came to visit. How long has it been?

"Here we are," Nowaki says. He offers me a loving smile as he reaches for the door handle. Tch, what a child. He's been glowing ever since we left the elevator.

He knocks twice out of courtesy before pushing it open. He holds it open for me, patiently waiting for me to enter.

I step cautiously past him. This room's layout is much different from the last one: more open and less…sickly and cramped. There are three beds, but two of them are vacant.

"Good morning, Kusama-san," comes a sleepy greeting from the third bed. My gaze settles on Yuki as she struggles a bit to sit upright.

"Yuki-chan!" Nowaki says warmly as he approaches her bed. The door falls shut behind him. "You're looking well-rested."

"Yeah," is all she says in reply. She's clearly happy to see him, though. She also looks better than she did before; she looks like she put on a bit of weight. It gives her a healthy glow. The fact that she's in actual clothes as opposed to a hospital gown is further proof that she's doing better health-wise than before. I'm surprised at the relief I feel.

Yuki looks over at me and watches me take my coat off. "It's nice to see you again, Kamijou-san," she says. Jeez, so formal. Are we entirely sure this person is only eight years old?

"H-hello there, Yuki." I offer her the best smile I can as I neatly place my coat on the back of a chair near her bed. Nowaki goes around to the other side of the bed so that we flank her and pulls another chair up to her. "Oh, Yuki-chan! Have you been making more drawings?" He scoots even closer to peek at a stack of papers on one of the side tables.

I sit down in my own chair and crane my neck to see. Indeed, there are a few old-looking boxes of colored pencils, a little stack of papers, and a couple books. Colored pencils? This kid's even too grown up to use crayons!

"Mhm." Yuki fidgets with the edge of the bedsheet, seemingly too shy to show off her work.

"May I see them?" Nowaki continues. My heart flutters a bit at how sweet and gentle he is with her.

Yuki wordlessly picks up the first few drawings. I scoot in a few inches to get a better look as she shows them to Nowaki. "Oh! These are wonderful!" he exclaims the second he lays eyes on them.

If her track record is any indication, they really must be spectacular. If she can understand classical literature, I wouldn't be surprised if she has other talents in the arts. Does her work outclass Van Gogh, Kunisada, Utamaro…?

I crane my neck and finally lay eyes on one of her drawings.

Ah.

How mediocre.

This is even more average than the work of an average child! Is that green circle on top of the brown rectangle supposed to be a tree?

I frown a bit out of disappointment. Right when I thought I had her figured out, she surprises me again. I look up at Nowaki, who is still positively beaming.

"What an eye you have! This landscape is beautiful," he's saying.

It's truly the most ordinary drawing I've ever beheld.

Still, Yuki's face is becoming slightly red at the praise. "Thank you," she murmurs through a little smile, bowing her head a bit. She clasps her hands in her lap.

Nowaki looks expectantly at me from across the bed. My eyebrows furrow. He dips his head in her direction and his eyes flash between us.

God.

"Uhh, Yuki," I begin shakily, trying to follow Nowaki's lead. He nods enthusiastically and glances at her to make sure she hasn't caught him in the act of dragging a compliment out of me.

She hasn't.

"Your drawings are very…cute," I finally choke. It's hard enough for me to highlight the positive aspects of my own students' work, how the hell am I supposed to compliment this drivel?!

Nevertheless, Nowaki basically radiates sunshine. He turns his attention to Yuki, who still bashfully has her bowed.

"Oh…thank you," she says. She pulls her knitted hat down further but we both see her smile grow.

I look back at Nowaki, who meets my gaze with more encouraging nods. I shoot an exasperated look back at him. His face falls a little and he adopts a more pleading expression. I frown harder at him.

Nowaki looks around desperately until his gaze falls on the stack of drawings on the side table. He locks eyes with me again and tilts his head toward them a few times.

I purse my lips. God, I'm gonna lecture him so hard later.

"May I see some more of your drawings?" I ask, shooting Nowaki a death glare. It seems to bounce right off his cheeky grin.

Yuki's gaze is focused on the foot of the bed, but she briefly looks me in the eye. "Yeah," she eventually says, reaching slowly for the pile. She hands me a stack of four or five papers. On top is a drawing of what appears to be a housecat. For whatever reason it has bright yellow and black stripes. On second thought, could it be a tiger?

Before I can finish working through my confusion, the door behind me opens. Startled, my head whips around. I catch Nowaki looking too.

"Hello, everyone!" the man practically shouts. He saunters toward us and my stomach sinks when I realize who it is.

Tsumori.

I turn back around and grip Yuki's drawings a bit tighter.

"Senpai," Nowaki says carefully. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you, Nowaki!" Tsumori laughs as he approaches us. His footsteps stop while he's still behind me. "You chose to spend your day off here?"

Nowaki nods and smiles again. "I feel like I hardly got to spend any time with Yuki this week. I'm so busy during my shifts that I planned to come back today for some quality time with her." He looks at Yuki and grins, but her smile is gone. She looks away.

"Ahh, Nowaki, you really do have a heart of gold," Tsumori drawls. "I bet little Yuki-chan here is just so happy you're here!" He doesn't seem to notice that she has clammed up.

Nowaki turns his attention back to Tsumori, but he glances at me first. He offers Tsumori a little smile but I can tell he's uncomfortable. "Senpai, how did you even know I was here?"

Tsumori laughs deviously. "Chiaki-chan tipped me off," he says, his voice obnoxiously singsong-y.

Who the hell is Chiaki? Could that have been that insolent brat at the reception desk?! I'll give her a piece of my mind!

"I could hardly believe what she was saying!" Tsumori continued. "I couldn't believe that my Nowaki had come for a visit but couldn't even spare a minute for poor old Tsumori!"

His Nowaki?!

Nowaki frowns a bit. "Well, erm, I don't mean to be rude, but…Hiro-san and I wanted to spend some time with Yuki-chan, just the three of us."

"OH! Where are my manners?!" Tsumori titters as he zips around me and places himself at the foot of the bed so that he occupies both Nowaki's and my own field of view.

Wonderful.

"I completely forgot to say hello to my good friend Kamijou-san! Kamijou, how are you today?" His lips split into a wide and rather patronizing grin. Why is he acting so obnoxious? This is a lot, even for him.

"I'm fine," I growl as I sit back, crossing my arms. I refuse to go along with his stupid act.

"Great! Nowaki, listen," he says as he turns to face him. "There are a couple of things I want to talk to you about, so if I could borrow you for just a teensy bit…."

"Senpai, I'd rather not-"

Tsumori grabs both of his hands and pulls him to his feet. "Come on, it'll just be a little while!"

"Senpai-!"

"Hey!" I leap to my feet. "Let him go!"

"Relax, Kamijou! Can't you even be apart from him for ten minutes? Nobody likes clingy people." He shoots me a smug look as he drags Nowaki toward the door.

Fury seethes from every pore in my skin, but for Nowaki and Yuki's sake I force myself not to punch Tsumori to oblivion. Nowaki looks back over his shoulder and looks at me apologetically. Even after the door closes behind them, I still feel myself bristling. I don't move until….

"Kamijou-san?"

Oh. Right.

I turn around slowly. Yuki looks up at me with her big, emotionless eyes. She watches silently as a figurative cloud of steam bursts from my body and I flop into my chair.

Why does this always seem to happen? Any time we have anything slightly good going for us, something has to ruin it. I lift a hand up to rub my forehead. The room suddenly feels cold and colorless without Nowaki's warmth.

I consider bidding farewell to Yuki to chase after that instigator Tsumori. Yeah, all I have to do is-

"I don't like that man," Yuki suddenly says.

Wait…what?!

I snap up into a sitting position and lock eyes with Yuki, who seems a bit unnerved at how fast I just moved. "What did you just say?!"

Yuki hesitates. "Umm…nothing," she finally says.

Ah, crap. She probably thinks she's in trouble! "No, uh, I heard you! I was just surprised." I compose myself in my chair and lean toward her. This just got interesting!

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yuki says quietly. "I didn't mean to say it…."

"No, I'm glad you did! You see, I hate him too!" I jump out of my chair a bit and grab the edge of the bed, unable to hide my excitement. Finally, someone else who hates this jackass!

Yuki's barely visible eyebrows rise in obvious concern for my emotional state. But I remain poised with bated breath for her response. We stare at each other for what feels like hours before she finally opens her mouth.

"Why?"

"Why?!" I retort instantly. "He's obnoxious! He acts like a bigshot, a know-it-all!" I start pacing by the foot of the bed. "He comes in to Nowaki's life and latches onto him, god knows why, and tries to rub it in my face! He acts like he knows Nowaki oh-so-well when he's barely known him two years! And to act like that with ME?!-" I throw my hands up in exasperation-"who knows Nowaki and has been with him coming up on ten years?! It's absolutely absurd!" I throw my hands back down onto the rail at the end of the bed, panting.

It takes me a second to realize what I just said…to an eight-year-old child.

I snap up into a proper standing position and awkwardly clear my throat into my fist. Jeez, who in the right mind has a meltdown like that in front of a kid…?

My eyes travel slowly up the bed to see the damage I caused. Yuki sits very still, her eyes wide. And then….

Then…

She laughs.

To my surprise and embarrassment, this kid starts laughing at me. She brings a frail hand up to cover her mouth as she giggles uncontrollably and I just stand there like an idiot. The gods really aren't holding anything back today, huh.

"I'm sorry, Kamijou-san!" she manages to say between gasps. "You're so mad, and your face is so red!"

I'm truly at a loss for what to do.

"Kusama-san said you do that a lot," she continues as her laughter finally peters out. She rubs what must be a tear from her eye.

The corner of my mouth twitches. "Does he, now?" Despite feeling a fresh surge of rage, my shoulders sag and I hand my head. I slowly sink into my chair again. Under all the embarrassment of getting laughed at by a child, I do feel a glimmer of happiness that I made that kid smile. I don't recall that ever happening before.

Yuki nods, still smiling. "He talks about you all the time. More than anything else, I think."

My face flushes again and I find I can't meet her eye. Pathetic! So I just stare at the drawing of the cat/tiger. Surprisingly, Yuki keeps talking. Her demeanor is completely different than it was when I first met her; are we certain this is the same kid?

"Kusama-san told me a secret: he said that he loves 'Hiro-san' like a daddy and mommy love each other."

….

WHAAAT!?

I jump to my feet again and lock eyes with this kid. My hair must be made of fire by now, steam must be shooting from my ears-

-and she grins-

"Yuki-chan," I warn.

She giggles and pulls her knees up to her chest to hug them. "He says you love to get really mad, but it's never scary."

For what seems to be the millionth time today, my conviction evaporates. If I can't even intimidate a little girl, who am I kidding? I plop into my chair and bring my fingertips to my temples.

The next time I see Nowaki, he's gonna get punted to the moon.