"You stupid idiot!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Stop playing it cool! You ran all the way here didn't you?! I've never seen someone keep up with a dog like that! You wanted to save Akane that badly, didn't you! So stop acting cool! Kotaro, listen up. If you want something, you have to take it."

"Kotaro,"

"Ugh!" I instinctively raise my hand up to the person's neck when I woke up. But before my vision even cleared, I felt the girl's presence and her fear circling around her.

I look down at her with my hand still on her neck and held a blank stare. Her emotions were written all over her face and her scent as she stood motionless in front of me. I then looked down at where my hand was placed and see that it was the exact position from where her bruise was on her neck. Slowly, I move my hand away from her neck and finally moved from the window sill.

It looked to be late at night as I saw the moon risen high in the sky. I must have slept longer than I have since Akane died. Sleeping has been hard for me because of the dreams I continued to have. These dreams seem like a happy ending but they are all mistakes I have made. Goemon helped me realize that I shouldn't hold back anymore. And without his stupidity, I wouldn't have came out to Akane.

"I'm sorry."

The girl quietly mumbles to me as she walks up to me with a damp cloth. Kneeling down in front of me, she took my hand that was covered in dried blood and began to wipe the blood off as gently as she could. Her hands were small compared to mine, and her touch seemed invisible. I'm guessing she doesn't have much of anything. Voice, feeling, emotion. She seems to be transparent.

Wiping off all the blood off my fingers and hand, she pulls out some ointment from her pocket and lightly dabs on the medicine onto all the cuts on my fingers before pulling out a roll of bandages from the same pocket. She covers all my fingers on my right hand, plus my hand, before nodding to herself in silence and gently placing my hand down into my lap. Standing up from in front of me, she picks up a tray from the top of my dresser and places it down next to me. I thought that she was gonna leave me alone, but she surprisingly sat in front of me again with legs crossed and hands in lap. I raise an eyebrow in confusion as she picks up the plate full of fried tofu and a pair of chopsticks and held it up to me.

"What?" I ask her after we just sat like this for a few moments. But she doesn't respond as she just shrugged her shoulders and held a cube of tofu with her chopsticks.

She held up the piece of tofu and opened her mouth up wide. Then bringing the tofu to her mouth, she exaggerates herself eating the piece of tofu. I couldn't help but tilt my head to the side as I saw her act this way. The girl picks up another cube from the plate and held it up to my lips. I sat motionless for a few moments before I just barely parted my lips and when I did, the girl takes the cube and eats it. My eyes widened as she just shrugs.

So that's how she wants to play it.

When she picked up another cube from the plate, I took a gentle grip of her hand and held it still for me to be able to take the piece of tofu and eat it. And the face on the girl lit up as though she was at the Otaru Snow Light Path matsuri. And for the first time, I got to see her smile widen from ear to ear. And I had to admit, her smile is very beautiful.

"You smile." I tell her.

"You do too." She replies with a point of her finger. And I didn't realize, but I was smiling a bit. This was the first time in three months that I have actually smiled.

The girl picks up another cube of tofu from the plate and brings it up to my lips again, making me roll my eyes and eat it. And as I ate the tofu, she also took a cube and ate it. She continued to back and forth feed me in silence for a while but before long, we ate the whole plate of tofu together. She looks down at the empty plate and hops around in her seat as she finally made me able to eat. I think the last time I ate was two weeks ago when Saizo and Sasuke shoved food down my throat. So I technically didn't eat it.

She places the plate down on the tray and gives me the cup of green tea with the same herbs in it as the last one I tried. I held it in my left hand and looked down at it as the girl picked up the tray and place it on the dresser again. I continued to look up at her when I went to take a sip of the tea. But as I did, my mind went back into the past.

"AHHHH!"

"Princess!"

A flashback of when we were in the river got to me and I felt all of the warm tea go down my throat, making me feel like I was drowning. I began to cough violently as I leaned over and held my neck. The girl quickly runs up to me and begins to pat my back. I suddenly grew irritable and I roughly grabbed her arm, pushing her to the ground as she shook in fear.

"Get the hell out!" Getting loose from my grip, the girl ran out of my room and down the hall into her room with tears streaming down her face.

I gritted my teeth as I sat up on my knees. Looking down at the cup on the floor, I grabbed it and threw it roughly against the wall, making it shatter into many pieces. Standing up, I paced around the room with anxiety overflowing in me and my body began to feel weak. Leaning against the wall for support, I punched the wall and screamed out.

"Fucking damnit!"

Turning my back to the wall, I lean against it for support as I slide down to the ground with my hands on my head.

Akane… I can't live without you.