It was about 4 in the evening when Ryo woke up. He had a sound sleep. Looking at the face of his still-sleeping 'Sugar boy' he felt complete in his heart. He knew that he would have work again as City Hunter of Shinjuku, because perhaps more occasions of deaths than he knew about. Persons, when die, do not come back ever. Everyone is not as lucky as he is. They need someone to protect them. Ryo felt that City Hunter was definitely needed again in Shinjuku. But before that, he needed Kaori to be safe and sound enough to be able to accompany him….. wait a minute…. "Was the accident intended for her? Or was it for Ryo?" Ryo recalled that he had his informers search in the underworld for his information, but the priority for the present was Kaori. He looked at her face again. She had scars on her face, due to the accident, her hands had marks too. It was evident what she had gone through for the past year. Ryo's mind was in flames seeing her like this, but he controlled his anger knowing that it would do him no good now. He had to wait for Kaori to be completely well. "I will tell her now. It seems that I won't be able to live without her anymore. She has become my habit. It has become my habit to listen to her foul words from morning to night and get hit by her hammer often in a day. She hits me, foul-mouth me, but does she love me? Does she feel what I feel about her? How should I find that out?" Ryo thought in his mind.
When Ryo thought all this, Kaori was awake. She was looking at Ryo with large, deep eyes. Only She could read his mind a little. No one else could do that, not even Umibozu or Saeko. Living with this man for over 6 years had given her an experience to understand him better than anyone, but even she couldn't read the flames burning in his mind. She could only see him absent-minded, deep in thought. "Hello Ryo! Seems Saeko did listen to me. What took you so long to come here? Where is this place? Doesn't seem to be a hospital, does it? And by god, What have you done to yourself? Why do you look so pale and thin? Didn't I give you a shave yesterday? You look humiliating. So, any new cases with a fine-looking lady? What happened with Onisama's case? Is she alright?"
Ryo was deep in his thought when he heard Kaori's voice, which brought her back to his world. Kaori was speaking. He could live for eternity; pass through any obstacle just to hear the voice once more. Ryo looked in those large, deep eyes and forgot where he was for the first time in his life. As he cupped her face in the palm of his hands, she blushed deeply but was at a loss for words. She could hit him if she wanted to, but perhaps she wanted this too, because she closed her eyes and raised her face, and….. Their lips met. Kaori and Ryo both could feel a shiver spiraling down the spine in their bodies. Their kiss deepened and after sometime, Ryo drew himself back. Their eyes met, and both of them said more with their eyes than they could possibly say themselves, just then the Old Doc called him out. "Come to my chamber" he said and started to climb the stairs. Ryo followed him silently to the second floor. When they reached there, Ryo saw Tomo Chan waiting with a large polythene in her hands. "There you go, doctor, I've brought everything you ordered for. Help yourself" Tomo Chan said. "Go on Ryo, have something to eat. You haven't eaten anything except wine for the past few days. I know that. Umi….." Ryo's mind suddenly awared him as he saw something sparkle in the evening sun through the window. He jumped over Doc and Tomo Chan who were in front of the window and all of them were tumbling down the stairs in a moment. Ryo got up in a flash and ran to the window to take position, but he couldn't feel anyone anymore. Tomo Chan had a twisted ankle and The Old Doc had a sprained elbow. Other than that, there weren't any serious injuries. Ryo has a bright smile in his face as he looked through the window. The evening sun gave a oriflammic glow to his face. It seemed he had had an answer to a puzzle. He turned back, and got down the stairs waving his hand for Doc and Tomo Chan. He came back to the room Kaori was in, only to find her lying back on the bed. Her face was red with shyness, but it was emanating an aura of happiness. The Doc seemed to have followed Ryo, "So, Kaori…. You seem to be alright to me, aren't you? You can go home very soon. Ryo, may I have a word with you? It's urgent." When both of them were out of the room, the doctor closed the door, and turned towards Ryo "She seems to know nothing about the time that has passed. You need to make her aware of this. I may be wrong, but this is a normal thing for patients who wake up from a coma. She has absolutely no idea that a year has passed since that day. You need to be patient with her Ryo." "Doc can I take her home?" asked Ryo. "Yes you can. She has no internal injuries. I have checked her thoroughly. When do you want to take her?" "Now" answered an impatient Ryo. "Then let me complete the paperwork, and before that, let me ask Saeko to come here. Is that ok?" "Do it your way Doc, I just want to take her home with me. It's been a year since she is away. Anyway, completing paperwork will take time. Call me when you're done. You know where to find me." Ryo came back downstairs to Kaori. Kaori was still leaning back on the stack of pillows. "God, she's grown so thin. She looks so weak. Yet her eyes are so lively, full of life and hopes. Perhaps that's the reason I fell for her." thought Ryo, and proceeded towards the girl who was watching him intently. He said nothing and just sat on the chair beside her bed and gazed at her. To tell the truth, perhaps he couldn't say a word even if he wanted to. He doesn't know why. Kaori spoke after a long time, "You're away from home for a pretty long time. Go back Ryo, there can be a client waiting at the door. And I'm sorry for not being able to cook yesterday." she said with pouting lips. Ryo fell for her again seeing the soft glow in her eyes. Both of them doesn't know how much time they'd been sitting like that until Saeko entered and called "Ryo! You seem to be a bit carried away I see. You couldn't even sense me entering. Your senses are going dull." Kaori immediately looked away, and Ryo had a bright smirk on his face. Saeko again spoke "You can go home Kaori. You seem fine to me, what about you doc?" The Old Doctor beside her, smiled and nodded in approval, "Yes Kaori, you may go home with Ryo but be careful not to get into accidents like that. Ok?" Kaori nodded with a beaming face, and tried to get up but she couldn't. Ryo had to help her. It seemed that she had problem in standing after laying for about a year. "Let's go home Kaori….." Ryo said, looking at her. Kaori had tearful eyes, yet she nodded, smiling.
Both of them headed out of the clinic in the evening sun towards their own apartment. The oriflamme rays of sun brought a unique glow to his face. He was finally going home…. he still couldn't believe it in his mind.