Chapter 56: True Feelings Arc - Humpty Dumpty

Hey, I'm back! This time, I'm posting from my third week of high school! (•w•)

Yeah, that's why I'm slowing down with these chapters significantly, if you haven't caught on yet. Still, I'll try to update as soon as I can, though procrastinating is harder than it looks.

It took me a while to come up with this chapter, but in the end, I had mixed feelings about it. It is entirely OC-centric, and I deeply apologize for that. However, the lesson of this chapter, I guarantee you, is pretty crucial, especially for my younger readers. But please don't flame me if I did something wrong, as almost 90% of the stuff I write in this story is not from a professional's point of view. I have not experienced a lot of things in the story, as you may already know.

The title has a secret meaning to it. If you read the entire chapter to the end, it should be an easy allusion to understand.

Anyway, on with the long-awaited chapter. Remember to let me know in a review if you learned something new or enjoyed the chapter.

Disclaimer: I, of course, own nothing.


Warning: This chapter may contain sensitive material for those who have been through a sour relationship and touches serious topics. Proceed with caution.


Kaiya's POV

"For the last time, you can't go to the arcade today! You know that it's a school night! And you're grounded for a month, remember?"

Yukio crossed his arms rebelliously, not buying it. Even though it had been three days since he had really messed up in Hoshi no Sushi, he had never really taken the punishment seriously.

"But onee-chan!" he whined, crossing his arms defiantly as usual. "It's not like I'm going to kick another person in the jewels there unless they really get me upset, which will probably not happen if I go alone!"

"Don't say such things so casually!" I warned, slightly curious if Yukio had spent way too much time arguing with Hidan. "Plus, when did you get the idea that I would let you go to the arcade by yourself? For goodness sake, you are only eleven years old, Yukio-chan! I'm not letting you wander by yourself except for when you're coming home from school, and that's after picking Kagami-chan up! I only allow that because of parents nearby and how close your school is to our house, but the arcade is several blocks away!"

My little brother grumbled, holding up his beloved skateboard that he had just prepared to leave with. "Oh, come on! I just recharged Ricky's batteries..."

"Otouto, skateboards do not have batteries—"

"I'm just making my imagination flow!"

Shaking my head and throwing my handbag over my shoulder, I sighed at his stubborn behavior. "How about this, otouto? I'll lift your punishment by one week if you help watch over the Akatsuki and Kagami, but if I receive any complaints from anybody besides Hidan, I will tack on two extra days for every one that I receive. Are we clear?"

Yukio's eyes sparkled with interest, and he immediately performed a salute. "In the blessed name of the mighty Alfalfa, I understand!"

Rolling my eyes, I draped my handbag around my shoulder, quickly checked to ensure that my ID was inside, and headed out the door, where my brother was already waiting for me.

"Was it otouto?" he questioned, raising a brow while tapping his foot rather impatiently. "I could hear him shout through this wooden thing."

I nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, though the situation is all taken care of now. Now let's get to the restaurant, shall we? However, since it's Saturday, we can simply walk there instead of the usual hurrying."

A week had already passed since the whole dilemma with Yukio and Arashi, but the icy-eyed boy refused to speak to me and Naoki. It had not been our fault, but we just went with it, not wanting to aggravate the situation any further. Arashi didn't really scare me, but at the same time, it was never a good thing to provoke the ill-tempered college boy.

Naoki would scowl upon mention of the employee's name, but did not try to do anything about it, instead trying to work his best at his job all week. However, his actions had demonstrated that he was definitely frustrated with Arashi and his attitude towards him and the other workers.

For example, on Wednesday, Naoki had yanked on Minami's shoulder and attempted to get the woman to fire the college student, who also seemed to be causing trouble for other customers as well. Once again, Minami had simply shaken her head, stating that she still had trust in Arashi when it came to cooking. It had been quite difficult to believe that the boy still cared deep down inside, but every time this thought had come up, I had done a double take and had reminded myself that Arashi was rather similar to Naoki's slightly cold behavior, but exaggerated to the max.

But unlike Arashi, Naoki didn't always verbally berate people or address his seniors with a rude attitude. Both boys, I was certain, had hearts, though Arashi's was probably tangled up or possibly even broken.

That day, both Naoki and I had resolved to figure out what was going on inside that ill-mannered boy's head. Though at the same time, I was having slight second thoughts on our conspiracy, since it felt wrong of me to invade the boy's privacy. If anything, he would probably yell at us even more for doing so.

Naoki, on the other hand, already seemed to be worked up.

"As soon as I see that jerk," he promised, clenching his fists, "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"

"How so?" I questioned, both curious and miffed that he was so focused about this one boy over his work duties. "Minami-san might fire you for starting a fight in the restaurant, and eventually, our whole family will be banned. Weren't you trying to stop Yukio from misbehaving on Monday? Now, you're starting to act just like him on that day, and we aren't even at Hoshi no Sushi yet."

My brother sighed, cooling down slightly while holding his arms behind his head. "I guess you're right, onee-chan. Maybe he did have a bad score on a final, but at the same time, that isn't something that would make him act like that for a week. If I got a terrible mark on an exam, I probably would be in a horrendous mood for only a day. Minami-san also said that he used to be a lot less cold than he is now."

"Something in is life must have come up," I tried to conclude. "Maybe his family is sick or in the hospital or something, like Kagami-chan."

"To be honest, I don't really think that's it," argued Naoki, crossing his arms. "If he cared so much about family, then why would he have been so angry at our imouto, even though he clearly saw that she had casts and crutches?"

"Perhaps he didn't," I suggested, though at the same time, I didn't believe that what I had just said was true. "It's been only a week since I've known him, but based on his behavior, Arashi is extremely quick to assume and acts threatening while doing so in order to ensure that whoever he talks to has their attention on him."

"But he's still observant," Naoki retorted, huffing all the while as we conversed about the person that he despised. "He'll correct our slightest slip-up, even if it's something as simple as forgetting just one spice."

"Aren't you exaggerating a bit, though? Your job doesn't pertain to the kitchen."

"I still go in there to get drinks for the customers, so technically, I can eavesdrop on anything I hear inside."

"It's rude to eavesdrop, otouto."

"So? We do that all of the time nowadays. Plus, I can't really help myself when it comes to him."

"Well...I guess you're right."

The conversation gradually began to drop after that, both of us wanting less and less to deal with the icy-eyed college boy. By the time we reached the restaurant, we had gone completely silent, like animals keeping vigil over their families.

Without another word, we both proceeded to head inside the building, catching the ever-strong whiff of rose incense again. I was curious on how such a powerful fragrance never really reached the tables, but then again, it was probably drowned out by the scent of seafood.

As soon as I had stepped, in, I had half-expected Arashi to greet us with a harsh remark about how late we were, despite us being early to work again. Much to our surprise, there was nobody standing there and waiting for us, which made my eyes widen slightly in shock. While I remained puzzled at the situation, Naoki's expression broke into a grin.

"Perhaps he finally took a day off," he said while grinning. "It's about time that we go a day without that cold-hearted guy around the kitchen and making us all feel uncomfortable."

Unfortunately, our somewhat joyous thoughts were scrapped as soon as I spotted the mop of black hair at the conveyor belt, busy sorting through various nigiri dishes. As soon as I saw him turn around and flash his eyes at us, I tapped my brother's shoulder, who instantly perked up and stared at the one person who had incited his annoyance.

"Oh, just great…" Naoki mumbled quietly, crossing his arms. "Just when I said it, too. Can't he just give us all a break?"

I didn't answer until about what seemed like a minute later, for I was occupied with observing his actions and appearance as of that current moment. Arashi would have certainly noticed our presences in the building by then, especially if he was so close to the bell at the top of the door.

Why hasn't he scolded us yet? I pondered, crossing my arms slightly. Shouldn't Arashi be doing kitchen work, not restocking and sorting through sushi? And there's something with his eyes as well...they've lost their usual coldness.

Indeed, the boy's eyes were notably less pale than before. They had a slightly livelier look to them, but still looked bored and unamused. His eyebrows weren't scrunched down like before, and his lips weren't curved in a definite frown...though he wasn't smiling, either. It was almost as if he was actually enjoying what he was doing, rather than complaining as he usually did.

And that was when I noticed it.

The locket.

It wasn't a common heart-shaped locket, like the ones that Konan kept in memory of Yahiko. Instead, it was a sky-colored diamond, reflecting the kitchen lights shining above him. The only reason that I knew that it was a locket was that there was a tiny hinge on the side of it.

Of course, this kindled my curiosity and brought it to life.

Just as I was about to walk over and ask him what the matter was, Naoki reached out and pulled on my arm, stopping all of my intentions to move before I even had the chance to.

"I think we should just report to the kitchen," he suggested, though I could tell from his tone that he was just about as curious as I was. "Even if he calls us out as late, it's Minami-san that makes the final judgement here. Besides, we've got all day."

However, I could easily sense the nervous edge in his voice, as if he was afraid of provoking Arashi when the college student was in this slightly more amiable state...if it could be referred to as amiable. Even though we continued prattling lightly next to the employee, he didn't turn to glare at us, let alone even look at us.

When we got to the kitchen, I spilled my thoughts to him before I could let him bound off to see our boss. "Hey, did you notice that necklace he was wearing?" I forcibly whispered to him, causing him to flinch slightly.

"Yeah," he instantly whispered back, scrunching his eyebrows slightly. "That's the first time I've seen him wear it...onee-chan, there's something about that diamond that's causing him to behave differently today."

His response surprised me slightly, since Naoki was not exactly known in the family for being so observant. However, I kept this thought inside of my head and responded, "Good observation, otouto. Maybe when he comes to work in the kitchen, he'll be able to display healthy behavior and become more friendly, even if it's just for a single day."

"Still," he continued, "that necklace is a locket, onee-chan. I really want to know if he has something inside that blue diamond, and why whoever gave it to him preferred a diamond shape rather than the classic shape. Not many people would ever buy a locket for themselves unless they were really vain, which is a trait that Arashi hasn't even displayed once."

"I'm not sure," I countered, my mind deciding to think a little bit differently. "I don't think that it's a good idea if we invade his privacy like that. If it's a locket, it must be something extremely precious to him, and it just doesn't feel right to take it out of something such as curiosity."

Naoki threw his arms up in pest. "But—"

"No buts," I told him sternly. "If you still want to investigate later, then I'll do that with you. But for now, let's get to work and not think too hard about it, alright? A calm, productive work day sounds very nice, don't you think?"

Of course, I was somewhat lying when I told him those words. I was just about ready to invade Arashi's privacy if it was going to help his manners, demeanor, and attitude, but even though I was trying my best to hide it using my tone and words, the flash in my eyes must have given it away to my brother.

"I know you want to," he stated blatantly, crossing his arms once again. "Onee-chan, I may not always be an observant person, but trust me when I say that you can't hide your lies from a lot of people. It's in your eyes and the way they flash that show your curiosity. Besides, you began this conversation about the locket around his neck."

At first, I opened my mouth to deny it, but finally sighed and accepted his words. Naoki, after all, enjoyed living up to his name. "Well...yeah, I guess you've got a point there. You have no idea how badly I want to see what's inside that diamond locket right now—"

"Believe me," he interrupted, staring right into the depths of my gray eyes. "I know."

"Anyway," I continued, "a matter like this shouldn't affect us so much, especially if it is not part of our work. Besides, is it really our business to do something like this? We barely know Arashi, Naoki-chan. This isn't the time for us to draw conclusions out of thin air."

"Y...you're—" he attempted to argue, but I could see his curiosity fade within the murky brown pools that were his eyes. "You're right, onee-chan. I suppose it can wait another day."

Even though it seemed rather evident on our expressions that this was a matter that we had just shelved for another day, I was still actively thinking about it. The thought wouldn't sway from our minds, almost like a parallel to when I couldn't help but ponder about Kagami and Tobi's relationship. Now, I knew that they thought of one another as brother and sister, but that wasn't important at the moment.

I shot another glance back at my brother, but he had already ventured off into the kitchen, probably seeking out our boss. Heaving a sigh of relief, I went towards where I assumed that he had gone, flushing the very thought out of my head and replacing it with the thought of replenishing fresh sushi from the kitchen.

But even if it had stayed in our heads, it wouldn't have caused that big of a problem, would it?


Naoki's POV

"Sir, this isn't the drink that I ordered!"

The very thought of Arashi's necklace had already started a huge problem.

I could barely concentrate on work, even though that was the third customer complaint that I had already received that same day. Both the necklace and their complaints bothered me, but I tried my best to look normal and apologize profusely.

"Excuse me, I am terribly sorry," I responded, dipping my head to the lady as I swiftly replaced her Diet Cola with a mango iced tea. "You can have it free of charge, if you want."

To my surprise, the woman rapidly shook her head. "No, I couldn't. I'm sorry for snapping at you, especially since you're pretty young. I was just having a rather rough day today, even though I usually enjoy my Saturdays."

I forced a smile onto my lips at that. "Well, thanks for understanding. I guess there's just something on my mind as well, too."

She seemed to perk up slightly at that. "Is it a girl, good sir?"

A faint wave a pink rose up to my cheeks at that suggestion, but luckily, it quickly faded. "No, it's something else. I don't really have a reason to date, so that's not it. It's just...my friend is having a couple of attitude problems recently. But when I saw him today, he looked more upset at something else instead of irritable like he used to be."

"Ah, I see," she commented, taking a sip of her tea. "But don't immerse yourself in it so much. Still, if it bothers you, then you should go and confront him about it if it's causing a problem for not just you, but other people as well."

Nodding politely, I grabbed my tray and began to head back to the kitchen. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll be sure to take that into consideration. Have a nice day."

"Oh!" she cried in surprise, nearly spilling her drink. "Really, you don't need to say that!"

Smiling, I shook my head generously, though I inwardly cringed at how unusually polite I was acting. "It's fine, really."

And with a relieved sigh, I headed back into the kitchen, since that woman was the last person that I needed to serve. These breaks didn't last very long, but at least I knew that it would provide me with a chance to question Arashi about what was going on.

I'm sorry, onee-chan, I mentally apologized. But I can't stand this feeling of not knowing what the situation is anymore…

Strangely enough, I didn't feel like procrastinating about this at all, unlike what I often did with my homework. This time, I felt like observing my surroundings and analyzing their actions, similar to the way Kaiya would do it.

What would Kaiya do in this situation? I asked myself as I looked around the kitchen for the college student. To my surprise, he was nowhere to be found, not even cutting vegetables in the corner. Spotting Erika nearby, I tapped her shoulder, which caused her to swiftly drop her kitchen knife and turn around.

"Have you seen Arashi?" I inquired, though my tone had returned to normal, rather than the one I had been using with the lady whose drink that I had messed up.

Erika shrugged. "If he's not in the kitchen, then it's likely that he's getting more ingredients from the storage room. Sometimes he takes a while down there, but he tells us that the room is very disorganized. He's the only one that can go and get stuff from there, aside from Minami-san and a couple of other employees that don't take a Saturday shift."

Dipping my head, I thanked her, the proceeded to head to the corner where the door to the storage room was. A large red sign with the words Authorized Personnel Only were written in bold, but I could care less about it right now.

I wonder how long Arashi has been down here, my brain pondered, recalling Erika's words. Perhaps if he's too occupied with locating the ingredients that he needs, then I can snatch that locket and peek inside.

The only thing that stood in front of my path to the truth was that darn locked door.

My eyes darted around in search of what could be the keys, even though it was a rather stupid thought that they would actually be lying around unattended. Plus, this was not a comedy anime series.

In slight frustration, I leaned back against the door and sighed, realizing that I probably wouldn't be able to unlock it, anyway. All of a sudden, I tripped over my feet and began to fall backward, the door being pushed open by my weight.

Oh, I thought to myself, that's how it's going to work.

Immediately, I stood back up and tiptoed quietly into the storage room, carefully closing the door to avoid any suspicion from anybody. A small light above my head flickered, barely illuminating the stairs that were lined in front of me. Pulling my arms close to my chest, I shivered lightly — it was freezing. Not the best day to forget a sweatshirt at all.

Treading silently, I slowly made my way down the small flight of stairs, eventually reaching the ground. My footsteps were extremely light as I moved across the room, which was slightly brighter than the top of the stairs. If Arashi really was down there, then I did not want him to note my presence and get him angry at me.

That's when I spotted him out of the corner of my eye, squatting in the middle of the room. He was leaning against a couple of iceboxes, a bag of lettuce sitting beside him. In his hands were his locket, and I could instantly tell that it was open.

Arashi was doing nothing, which I found quite odd of him, considering how much he worked and cooked during the day. Furthermore, the expression in his face differed even more than the one that he had displayed that morning. He also seemed to be uttering something, but I couldn't pick any of it up. Almost all of the frost in his eyes had disappeared, leaving behind a pair of sky blue eyes that were filled with...regret?

To be honest, I couldn't tell.

Like a ghost in the dead of the night, I snuck a little bit closer to Arashi in order to get a better glimpse at him and his expression, ducking behind piles of iceboxes to conceal my presence. In my head, I knew that one slip-up would throw away my shot at figuring out what was up with the college student.

Eventually, I ducked directly behind the icebox pile that he was leaning against, Arashi still unaware of my presence. At that point, I could decipher every word that he was saying, his whispers having become more clear.

"Kin," he sighed softly, almost in a wistful manner. "Was there something that I did wrong?"

Inwardly, I gulped, my instincts taking over and turning around to peek at the locket. My eyes widened to the size of saucers as soon as I caught a glimpse of the photo that Arashi was looking at inside. It was tiny, but I could still determine what it depicted.

On one side of the picture was Arashi, but nowhere near close to the employee that I had gotten to know and despise for a week at Hoshi no Sushi. He was smiling, almost as if he was a child again. There was a figure standing next to him that he was putting his arms around, but I wasn't able to identify them. In addition, the figure was crossed out in red ink.

I didn't need my older sister to tell me what had most likely been going down in Arashi's life.

"Nobody believed me when I said that I just wanted to own a small restaurant," he continued to lament, "not even you. You wanted to go out with somebody who wanted to be an engineer: someone who's smarter. I thought that you would let me be who I wanted to be, not tear my life apart."

This is definitely not going to sound pleasant.

"I've never been able to understand why you needed to turn all of my friends against me, either," he sighed, staring bitterly at the photo. "Was it the way that I announced my dream? My childish behavior? How I just wanted to enjoy college before the major exams would pop up? Kin, I don't understand anymore. Is being who you want to be...that terrible of a thing?"

Without even realizing it, I unconsciously shook my head. It definitely wasn't.

"I loved you," Arashi whispered, his voice cracking. "I would have done anything for you, just as long as it didn't change who I wanted to be. But you really didn't love me, did you? You became so distant, and you yelled at me every time I didn't do something exactly the way you wanted. You slammed poor Minami-san verbally, without even bothering to think about what she has probably gone through. You blamed me for everything in front of my family, and soon, even they began to scold me for things that made no sense. You broke up with me and rubbed salt in the wound by bragging about your new significant other right in front of me. And yet...after all of that...I still love you, Kin…"

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the top of the locket, and for a moment, I thought that I could see tears waiting on his eyelids.

"Are you happy now?" he grumbled, his voice cracking a bit. "I became the cold, serious person that you wanted. I stopped treating people with kindness because I know that they would easily turn their back on me for the stupidest things. Now you're back again to haunt me on this day...your twenty-third birthday…"

Instinctively, I let out an audible gasp, surprised by the information. Turning hot, I slapped them over my mouth to ensure that I had done nothing, but it was already too late.

It all happened in a blur of moments. Arashi swiftly turned around and apprehended me, his icy gaze returning to his eyes. Anger was visible in his expression as he violently shut his locket and slammed a hand on my chest. Before I could react, he had me pinned to the wall with one hand, both of my arms stuck behind my back.

"W-what are you doing?" I stammered, staring at the suddenly angry boy with wide eyes full of terror. I struggled against his hand, but kicked nothing but the air as he continued to hold me against the wall. Wiggling one of my hands free from behind my back, I immediately raised it and looked him dead in the eye, ready to strike his jaw.

Why I did not send the fist in his direction was something that I couldn't say. All of a sudden, my body felt as if a strange force was causing it to recede, all of the retaliation that had been present in my eyes swiftly extinguished. My arm dropped to my side and fell limp like a dying creature, though I knew that I wasn't dying.

After all, Arashi's actions were enough to prove that he wasn't going to truly hurt me. Instead of being around my neck in a common chokehold, his hand — and only one hand — was pushing me into the wall, but just enough to ensure that I couldn't easily slip away. His face was contorted with what seemed like anger at first glance, the more that I stared at them, the more I realized how wrong I was. It was definitely hard to detect, but the truth was that it looked more like...grief?

And that's when I saw them standing on the edge of his ice-blue eyes.

Giant tears.

"Why…" he choked out, jetting what he probably wanted to be contempt into his voice, only to be overwritten by the sound of his voice cracking from the tears. "You heard the whole thing, yet...why are you...so naïve?"

I donned a confused expression at that, even more so when I felt the pressure being removed from my chest. In my mind, I had expected him to at least insult or yell at me, but this was definitely something that I wasn't expecting. "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, Arashi completely removed his hand, clutching the sides of his head with them. "Argh! There it is again! Your freaking ignorance!"

"Slow down," I instructed him calmly, remembering how my older sister tended to deal with these situations. "Breathe in, and breathe out again, Arashi-san. Tell me, why are you giving me that look?"

Arashi opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out were dried-out pitches before he abruptly broke down into sobs. "You don't understand...you don't understand!"

I attempted to place a hand on his back, only to have it immediately slapped away. "Look, I don't know too much about relationships in real life, but what your girlfriend did was just utterly stupid. I don't know you very well, but I'm sure you're a—"

"Liar!" he retorted harshly, causing me to involuntarily shrink back against the wall of the storage room. "For Kami's sake, you're only fourteen years old! Fourteen! What the hell could you possibly know about me?"

Annoyed of being accused, I tried to bite back, but the college student slapped a hand to my mouth. "Can you imagine what it feels like, Naoki? To watch all of your friendships die? To get accused hundreds of times for things that I never did? To feel betrayed by the one who had vowed to stayed by your side? To become a disgrace to my own family? All because you tried to be yourself?"

Shoving his hand off of my mouth, I quickly voiced my thoughts, ignoring the fact that he had referred to me with my real name for now. "Well...no I—"

"Shut it!" Arashi roared, rivers pouring out of his eyes at that point. "You're just like them! You're another one of those delusional children who remain totally clueless to everything around them! You can never understand how others feel inside! When a heart breaks, you think it splits right down the middle perfectly, don't you?"

"But it doesn't…"

"Exactly!" Arashi raised his foot and stomped on the ground, causing me to jump back due to the noise. "I don't care how many of those cartoon things you draw to try and prove your point...it doesn't work that way! A heart will never and can never split evenly down the middle, just like that! It smashes into not two, but hundreds of pieces that can never be put back together again! Deep down, everybody knows that! And yet, here you are, still expecting me to get better with a simple breathe in, breathe out!"

He finished this statement with dilated pupils, his eyes still pouring out tears. Arashi could no longer contain his emotions, and in response, my expression softened at his words. For once, I let his rudeness and aggressive antics go, realizing what he had just implied.

So instead of biting back a retort like I had intended to, I perked up and said, "Arashi, do you want to talk it out?"

The black-haired boy seemed relatively surprised at my answer. An eyebrow raised, he paused for a little while before silently nodding, wiping his tears away. I took a seat beside him, and he began to tell his tale.

"Silver and Gold," he started, his gaze becoming more and more distant with every syllable. "That's what Kin and I were known as. I met her in my senior year of high school, and both of us immediately hit it off. Eventually, we became boyfriend and girlfriend, but even so, there was always this one setback in our relationship...I, according to her standards, was way too childish."

"How is that a terrible thing?" I questioned out of the blue, stopping him in his tracks. "Onee-chan and both of my younger siblings are childish and appreciate their youth, though Yukio-chan might be starting to think differently."

"That's the thing," he grumbled, positioning his hands underneath his face. "Fantasy isn't supposed to be a crime, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't ready to decide on my future or a career, and I simply felt like being a reserved chef, like my grandmother had taught me. I was one of those high schoolers who refused to grow up, wanting to stay happy-go-lucky."

"Like Kagami-chan…" I unconsciously mumbled. "Is that why you were so hard on her?"

Arashi nodded, his expression full of guilt. "Yes. Your little sister and brother reminded me of what I had to give up in order to save our relationship from failing in my college years, but either way, it failed. I lost Kin, and I can't get rid of this stupid habit of condemning others for the littlest things."

"I'm sorry," I said, not really knowing how else to deal with the matter at hand. "But you shouldn't keep blaming yourself for something you didn't do."

"I don't know," he deadpanned, sighing once again through his tears. "It's still partially my fault. I didn't act upon my own feelings or tell Kin ow I really felt about our relationship. Had I said something, then my friendships and relationships wouldn't have been torn apart. Plus, the college exams are not helping the situation one bit, only adding more and more stress every day, thus making this attitude of mine worse and worse. Now, it's impossible for me to see the feelings of others or be childish again. That's why I envy children like you, who still know nothing of what adults have to go through."

"Me?" I stammered, shocked that he would include me among all of the innocent children that he longed to be. "And don't worry too much about it, I'm sure you'll be able to detect them again. Even more, do you think those exams are worth your time? I procrastinate all of the time on little things like those and watch anime."

I didn't expect a response to that, but to my surprise, his expression lightened up, his lips nearly curling into a smile. "You mean...you too?"

"I what?"

"You know, before college got in the way, I used to be a huge fan of stuff such as Fairy Tail, Naruto, and even Hetalia."

"Really?" I gasped in excitement, a smile spread across my face without even realizing it. "I love those!"

Before either of us knew it, small smiles had spread on both of our faces as we continued chatting about the various animes, quoting random characters and even trying to impersonate them a little. Arashi didn't laugh as much as I did, but he certainly showed a significant change in emotion than the day when I first met him. It was as if we were best friends, no offense to Hideki or anything. Point is, Arashi's true self was nothing like the outer shell of him that I had grown to despise within the week that I had worked at Hoshi no Sushi.

However, the conversation took a slightly bad turn when I asked out of the random, "You know, I've been having trouble ever since onee-chan started liking somebody."

All of a sudden, both of us stopped laughing, and I instantly regretted the stuff that I had blurted out. Arashi sat there, stunned for a moment before perking up again.

"Really?"

I nodded in affirmation. "And I don't like it one bit. They fight over the littlest things and in the most childish manner ever, and they act so irresponsible whenever they're near each other. Plus, this guy she likes...is known for pulling off very stupid stunts."

He took the time to process this information, his eyes shut tightly as if he were a computer. Finally, he uttered a few words that nearly made me trip over the icebox behind me.

"Good choice."

"Huh?" I questioned, shocked beyond words. "Why? Are you saying that you actually support her relationship with this guy?"

Arashi shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know, since I only know about their personalities based on what you told me about them. But then again, Kaiya is serious about doing work here, and I never see anything childish about her when she comes here. If anything, she's on her way to growing up. However, if being around this one guy makes her revert back to her childish, argumentative side, then she's got a good taste, I bet. With him by her side, she wouldn't have to grow up, and she'll be more cheerful around him. Have you thought about it that way before?"

"N-no," I stuttered, my mind slowly analyzing what he had just told me. "Before you told me...what happened, I kind of liked onee-chan when she was serious about something, since she's been both like a mother figure and older sister to me. Maybe Yukio was right when I talked to him about this the other day: that I couldn't see her real feelings hidden underneath her shell."

He blinked at me, smiling lightly. "Well, now you know. Just as long as they don't move too fast or end up demanding anything from each other, then they'll be fine. You have the chance to take her feelings into consideration, so I strongly advise that you do it."

"Still," I mumbled, shifting the current topic, "where are all of these compliments coming from all of a sudden? You yelled at her so much every day."

"I was still upset," he confessed, lowering his head in shame. "But since you actually listened to me and tried to figure out what was wrong with me, I was able to see the feelings of others again. But even so, I don't know if I can keep this behavior up, since I'm sure I still have a short temper."

"It's alright," I comforted him, helping him stand up again. "It takes practice and time to be who you are again, but eventually, you'll find the light, and the light will find you. If you need anything, you can always come and talk to me, alright?"

Wow, I thought to myself in realization. I sound so much like onee-chan...

But of course, Arashi didn't mind. Grabbing the bag of lettuce and proceeding to walk out, he flashed a genuine smile in gratitude. "Thank you so much, Naoki."

"I'm sure that over time, your heart will heal," I told him with a smile on my face. "And you just made me grow three feet taller today. Thanks to you, I think that I can see into my sister's heart a little bit better now."

He gave me a soft smile in return, all the hatred gone from his gaze. "Let her do what her heart tells her to do. If the boy she likes enjoys her childish antics or shares them, then I'm sure he won't be like Kin in any way."

And with that, he opened the door, heading out with the bag of lettuce in his hand. As I stared at his fading figure, my mind began to whir to life, pondering how I was going to try to apologize to Yukio, Deidara, and my sister for being so blind to their desires.

Onee-chan, I thought, as if trying to send a message telepathically to her, if this is what makes you truly happy, then I'm with you. After all, the time to make decisions is drawing to a close, considering that you're going to turn eighteen in a little while...

From that moment, the true meaning of two lines dotted with pure innocence clicked inside of my brain: ones I had remembered Kaiya saying to me as a child. The only difference was that they were referring to a more realistic situation rather than a fantastic nursery rhyme. Under my breath, I recited them as I watched Arashi leave the storage room.

"All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again…"

But even so, at least they would eventually make a little progress.


A/N: Today, I'm not going to post a question. Instead, I'll discuss why I wrote the chapter like this instead of the usual "Akatsuki explore our world and learn lessons" style, especially since I'm sure some of you may be a little confused about what just went down.

Arashi was experiencing an emotionally abusive relationship, but didn't realize it until too late. This event caused him to abandon his childish side and turn into the ill-mannered, irritable jerk he was in the previous chapter, simultaneously snatching away his innocence. Since he experienced such a mature crisis, he lost contact with everything child-like about him and believed for a while that people are truly meant to be serious and straight-faced.

However, deep down, part of him knew how much he truly envied being an innocent child that was always draped in gentle oblivion. That's why he couldn't harm Naoki when he had the chance to, as well as why he was so cold towards both Yukio and Kagami in the previous chapter. I understand that this whole thing is really rushed, but unfortunately, if I continue focusing on Arashi, then the story will become way too OC-centric and indistinguishable from general fiction stories.

The reason why I referenced Humpty Dumpty is due to its connection with Arashi's situation. Once his heart broke, his world also shattered: in a way, falling off of that wall meant losing his innocence. After all, no matter how hard one tries, innocence is something that you can never regain once you've lost it. This is why he condemned Naoki for being so oblivious and unaware that he too, may one day fall off of his own wall.

Remember, folks. You are only a child once, and you are only innocent once. Cherish both of them, and I'm sure that you'll live a long, happy, worthwhile life. I'm not saying that you can only be unhappy when your innocence fades, but once it's gone, it's gone.

Therefore, my advice to you all is to appreciate what you have now, for you may no longer have it as the time continues to pass.

And that was just one thing that I learned after entering high school. Even though I may be stuck at 5'1" ever since the beginning of eighth grade, being at high school makes me grow an inch taller with every passing day, even though I still remain the same height in appearance. Just because the body stops growing doesn't mean the same applies to your mind.

I hope that you all take this into consideration one way or another. And if you read all the way through, then Kudos to you.

Have a safe and wonderful rest of your day/night, and keep on loving what you have.

— Tenshi —