Okay so here's the next one.

I did a little research with Taichi's condition, but admittedly, I had chosen to tweak a few parts of it. I hope no one is going to bite my head off with this. I've seen this happening in my head so many times that I just had to write it like that.

Thanks, LauraNeat0, for finding the previous chapter a good one. I certainly hope I don't disappoint you with this.

Okay, on to the story!

V

Chihaya felt as if she herself had gone deaf, all of a sudden.

He has sensorineural hearing loss, Ayase-san. It was a hearing defect that he had been diagnosed with years ago.

The doctor watched as her expression seemed to change each minute. The words seemed to sink slowly into her brain one by one, but it's as if she couldn't make sense of them. The only thing she understood and her brain could accept were the words 'hearing loss'.

No… no, no, no. Please. No.

"T-That can't be true." She muttered, eyes wide and lost as she gazed at the doctor. He didn't respond immediately, eyes watching her guardedly and cautiously. "That's not true!" She exclaimed, her vision starting to blur as her eyes filled with tears.

"I wish I could say the same, Ayase-san, but no. That is the truth. Mashima-kun's condition has started years ago, back in his high school days. I have tried convincing him to take the necessary precautions but-"

"He's only twenty two! H-He's still young and… h-how could he have hearing loss? Taichi had never neglected himself. How could that even happen…?" But even as she was saying the words, she started to doubt it.

"Hearing loss chooses no age, Ayase-san." Ryuzaki-sensei explained, sighing. "The same is true now for any other terrible illnesses you may encounter today. Even twenty-seven year olds may have Alzheimer's now…" He wiped his glasses with his handkerchief before putting them on again. "The point is, his condition isn't getting any better. If even, it's getting worse."

Was there no end to the hurt? Chihaya wanted to sob, but she could only sit there, frozen and unflinching on her seat, eyes wide as she stared uncomprehendingly to the doctor. She wondered if Taichi had felt like this several years before.

Of course he did. Of course…! She cried internally, finally understanding the incredible pain her friend had gone through. Every time she remembered the pain and agony reflected in those golden orbs of his, she felt as if someone was slicing her heart with a knife.

Ryuzaki-sensei stood up and clicked the switch for his reading lamp, pulling out one of his drawers and pulling out a long, brown envelope. He opened it and perused through the files. When he found what he needed, he handed it to her.

"These are his files. Though some of it may be too technical for you to read, you will get a general idea on his condition." He seemed to doubt for a moment. "I wasn't exactly allowed to show you this, but given the circumstances…"

With shaking hands, swallowing hard and feeling scared of what more she will be able to find out, she read, and read.

No… Please, Kami-sama, no… This isn't… It couldn't be…

But the words she was reading seemed to grow bigger as she tried to understand them, and each time she did, it felt like they were mocking her.

"Meniere's disease?" Her head snapped up to look at the older man in question.

"Yes. Mashima-kun's sensorineural hearing loss was classified as a form of Meniere's disease." He explained, crossing his hands over his chin and looking at her seriously. "There is no exact known cause of it. It may be due to family history, or head trauma. Either way, it affects your hearing. Your iinazuke's condition started with his left ear, if I remember correctly. Now, though, it has affected his right ear as well."

All the color drained out of her face. "And you're doing nothing?!" she practically yelled at him. "Sensei! H-How could you have allowed him to let this go on for so long? How was it that no one seems to be aware of what was going on with him? Why isn't anyone doing anything to cure him?!"

"Because he chose to live with it." He said in a deep, regretful voice, momentarily stumping her.

Momentary silence filled the room with his response that Chihaya had to ask. "What do you mean, he chose to live with it?" Her voice sounded suddenly small as opposed from earlier.

Ryuzaki-sensei leaned back into his chair, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "How long have you known him, Ayase-san?"

Startled with the random subject change, she looked at the doctor with a confused expression on her face, but nonetheless, she tried to answer the question. "We… We were childhood friends. We went to the same elementary school with another childhood friend –Wataya Arata. We lost contact during our middle school years, but then Taichi and I reunited back in our first year of high school." She looked down into her hands as she spoke. "Since then, it had always been about karuta for us. Or maybe, just for me," she chuckled dryly, "I had always been known as a karuta baka in our high school. I bullied him into joining the club, after all."

The doctor was staring at her as she reiterated their story. She didn't know what made her tell him this, but something about his silence urged her to continue, even if he was practically a stranger. "I had always thought that we would always be together, -me, him and Arata. But I was wrong." Here, tears once again formed in those auburn eyes of hers. She really seemed to be crying a lot today. "Near the end of our third year, he had suddenly grown distant. I was too happy and oblivious to even notice what it is. Before I knew it, he was just… gone. Without any explanation for the past years."

He looked at the wall clock situated on the wall opposite of his desk. "Was I correct in recalling that that was the year he had joined the qualifiers for the Master challenger match?"

She looked at him in quiet surprise. "That was the year."

Ryuzaki-sensei was staring at her, as if willing her to think. "You fell out of touch with him, yes? Which means you're not exactly his fiancée." He said matter-of-factly, at which she flinched, looking scared that she had been unknowingly busted. "Well… alright. So maybe you weren't really his fiancée. Hearing how long you've known him was still enough." He rubbed his forehead. "I haven't always agreed with his decisions, but he chose not to tell anyone regarding this, anyway. Mashima-kun has always been stubborn when it came to personal matters. He never wanted to bother anyone with his problems…"

"Which means even his family did not know?" Chihaya was beginning to get mad again. "How had he even managed to hide it from them all these years? From us? Didn't he even think that we at least deserved to know!?" She had stood up, unable to contain her emotions with just sitting. It felt as if her heart was breaking all over again for him, and there was nothing she could do to help. It made her feel useless at all.

"He had his own reasons, or so he says." He explained warily.

"This is hearing loss we are talking about!" She exclaimed angrily. "How long was he planning to hide it from us, anyway? And why," she hissed, "isn't he doing anything about it?! Is his condition incurable? What else do I not know about this?"

Ryuzaki-sensei didn't so much as even flinch with her exclamation. "There are treatments, which can help the loss of hearing. In Mashima-kun's case however, we need surgery in order to fix the bones in both of his middle ears. It will greatly help improve his condition."

"Then what are we doing here? Why aren't we rushing off to contact his family and have a surgery procedure done?" She tried to control her voice, but she couldn't stop her fists from shaking. Why weren't they doing anything? They are wasting time!

This question, he was afraid to answer. "Listen carefully, Ayase-san. Even if I have the world's miracle drug at my disposal, I cannot help someone who doesn't want any help."

The response had her stumped. "W-What?"

He was looking at her squarely in the eye as he weighed his response. "Mashima-kun chose not to have the surgery. And I understand, I truly do. Because even if we did have the surgery, there is a seventy-thirty chance that he will not hear again."

She felt as if someone had punched her through the gut, and her knees buckled that she had to hold on to the chair when she felt herself losing her balance.

That's… not true… No…

"Seventy-thirty. Which means…" She trailed off, even if she knew the answer. That is why she wondered why she even bothered asking anyway.

"The greater percentage was the greater risk of him not hearing again." He responded gravely, but his voice sounded with pity. "He chose not to have the surgery. He had only managed to live with it this long because he had been taking certain medications in order to ease the episodes of hearing loss attacks."

She wrung her face in her hands, and allowed herself to cry. She felt so broken, so useless. She hadn't known. All this time, she hadn't known the suffering her best friend, (did she still even had the right to call herself that?) was going through. She had been blissfully unaware of his condition, and she had allowed herself to think that he was just being so prideful and selfish when he had chosen to stay away from them.

From her.

Now that she had thought about it, he had been trying to protect her, and maybe even everyone, choosing not to say anything because he hadn't wanted them to be hurt, preferring to shoulder everything alone and in silence. It also clearly conveyed that he didn't want them to be bothered, and knowing him, he most probably hadn't wanted any pity.

Taichi… you absolute moron…

She was speechless. The situation… his decision to keep it from them, dammit, it was so Taichi. It was so like him not to say anything regarding what he had been actually going through.

What hurt the most here is that he hadn't trusted her enough to even tell her. Did he think that she was too weak and brittle to not be there for him at all?

Or did he think that she was going to leave him alone?

"W-What are we going to do then?" She hiccupped, trying her best to wipe her tears and keep from crying too much. As dire as the situation can get, she couldn't allow Taichi to do that to himself. If she had to drag him to a surgery room then she will do it.

"I have told you all of this because I believe you can help," Ryuzaki-sensei admitted, crossing his hands once again over his chin and eyeing her apprehensively under those glasses of his. "Mashima-kun is the closest thing I have to a younger brother. I had met him during his last year of high school, and I have to say, that kid had impressed me."

"He has always been smart." Chihaya agreed, twiddling her thumbs and biting her lip. "Sometimes too smart. Like how he hid all of this until now."

He sighed. "A genius, one might say." He added. "But Ayase-san, as an older brother, I cared for him. And really, I don't want him to throw away every little thing he had cared about just because of… this. Of what he was going through. I know, the surgery has very little chance to help. But I don't want him to self-destruct either."

Chihaya stared at him, willing herself to understand what he was saying and what was not being said. And with a flash of understanding, it suddenly dawned on her.

"You… You want me to convince him to take the surgery, don't you?"

He was looking at her cautiously once again. "In a sense, yes. But as I have said, there was very little chance that it will help. I just wanted to actually ask you to look out for him." He said carefully, gauging her face for her reaction. "I wanted to ask you to take care of him, because heaven knows, I've tried, but you and I both know it isn't enough. And honestly, he had chosen to keep it even from his own family."

"He was shutting me out." Chihaya said matter-of-factly. "I'm not sure if…"

The doctor just stared at her that she trailed off, realizing that earlier she had made the decision not to let everything be a replay of the past years. "I will take care of him," she finally said, now sounding sure. "He doesn't have to be alone now." She cleared her throat. "But I'm not sure if I want to convince him to take the surgery."

"You will know what to do," Ryuzaki-sensei responded. "If there is anything my thirty years of life in this world had taught me, is that there will always be a time that you will know what to do even when you don't know it now. Have faith, Ayase-san."

She nodded. "I hope so." A tear fell from her eye.

Give me another chance, Taichi. Let me be there for you.

The problem, Chihaya realized later, is how she was going to tell her friends about Taichi's condition. Just thinking about it made her heart break all over again, and somewhere in the back of her mind she understood why he had chosen to keep it from everyone.

Should I even tell them?

She would realize, later on though, that she didn't actually have to lie about it.

In her absence, Komano and Nishida had arrived, and were talking to Kana-chan in hushed tones outside of the doctor's office. Having her sharp hearing, she had no trouble discerning what was being said.

"So the doctor is talking to her." Komano said in a low tone.

Nishida nodded, as Kana-chan glanced between the two of them. They were so absorbed with their conversation that they hadn't even noticed that she had already gone out from the office. "And he was probably going to tell her what Mashima has. Well, good. Finally. At least everything is out in the open now."

Her eyes had widened hearing what Nishida had said. Everything is out in the open now?

"Do you mean to say that you actually know what Taichi is going through?" She asked in a high voice, her fingers curling into a fist once again as the three jumped and whirled around to look at her.

"C-Chihaya-chan!" Kana-chan gasped aloud as she stormed over to the three of them. Before Nishida could take a step back she had already grabbed him by the collar.

"Tell me the truth. Did the three of you know that all this time Taichi has been suffering from hearing loss!?" She demanded as Kana-chan and Komano tried to step between them and break her hold. Her tear ducts started to fill once again as she held Nishida fast by his collar.

"Let's calm down Ayase-"

"I wasn't talking to you, Tsukue-kun!" She snapped at Komano who involuntarily took a step back, despite of the fact that he was actually taller than her now. As did Kana-chan. "Stay out of this. I want to hear it from Nikuman-kun! Did you-"

"Yes!" Nishida cut her off, not in the least bothered by her holding him by the collar. "Yes, Ayase. We know. We knew that he had hearing loss already. Satisfied? Or did you want to find out how we knew?"

She started to cry as her grip on his collar slackened. She felt incredibly betrayed. How was it that no one ever bothered to tell her? How was it that they had kept it from her, who was his best friend, who was supposed to know about it? How!?

"W-Why," she began in a shaking voice, "Why is it that no one told me about this? Why," her grip on Nishida's shirt collar tightened into fists that she didn't care whether she was ruining his shirt now, "Did you choose to keep it from me? What else did I not know? What else are you people choosing not to tell me?!"

"Chihaya-chan-"

"Do you know how it feels to be kept in the dark all these years, to not know what was going on?!" Her voice was loud now, not caring whether people passing around them actually stared, "All this time I thought he had kept it from all of us, and now I find out that you actually knew about his condition? And you call yourself friends when you're actually conspiring together?"

"Now look here Ayase-"

"It's painful here!" She exclaimed, slapping her chest, glaring at Komano once again. "I bet you wouldn't understand what I'm feeling right now. You're not the ones who haven't been trusted enough to even know about it! You're not the ones he had decided to avoid, whom he had decided to run away and hidden from the last three years! You wouldn't know how it feels to me right now!" She exclaimed, breaking into a sob.

"Exactly." Nishida responded in a quiet voice, and everyone seemed to stop with that single statement. He was looking at her as she held her hand over her mouth, eyes wide and seeming surprised. He lowered his head. "Ayase, that is why he had decided never to tell you what was happening to him."

She couldn't make sense of his words.

"Do you know how it feels to love someone with your whole heart and never wish them to be hurt?" He said, praying he wasn't giving her too much information. "Do you know how it feels to watch someone you care about fade away slowly?"

"What has that got to do with it?" She asked, sounding somehow confused.

Nishida's eyes narrowed even more. "It has everything to do with it. Right about the time we finished the team match and gained the Regional Championship, Mashima was already having trouble hearing correctly. He had hidden it from all of us not wanting to distract us with our current goals, Ayase. Not long after that, Harada-sensei has been diagnosed with Meniere's disease, and Mashima had been the first one to know." Nishida looked so sad that her tears had stopped flowing for a while. "We were there when he found out. Remember the time that he suddenly had to go because of an emergency?"

Chihaya could recall it clearly. They were having one of their practice matches that time, preparing her for the Queen match with Shinobu-chan. Taichi's phone had rang, which he had gotten up to answer immediately. When he took the call, all the color from his face had been drained. She remembered asking why he had looked so pale, and how he had opened his mouth to reflexively answer her question and closed it again, forcing a smile which hadn't even reached his eyes, telling everyone that he had an emergency and had to go home. As always, her being the airhead she was, she had shrugged and allowed him to go.

"Harada-sensei's wife had called him, telling him that the doctor was asking to see him. And that was how he had found out." Nishida sighed. "I'm not supposed to know about it, but I heard him talking to his phone that day. I went out and bought snacks right? That was how I had found out what was happening to Harada-sensei." He explained, as her hands finally dropped to her side.

How on earth did she not notice what was going on between the two men who she had valued most in her life? Where was her brain?!

I didn't know… I never knew. Harada-sensei… and now Taichi…

What kind of a friend and student was she!?

Nishida's expression never changed out from the sadness he was feeling. "Mashima had juggled the little time he had during our final year. We were all preparing for our entrance exams and individual matches, but he managed to find the time to visit Harada-sensei once in a while." Nishida's eyes had opened, but his eyes looked faraway, distant, remembering the events in the past which, she had not, shamefully, known about. "I know how it had affected him so much to see his mentor like that. To see the man you look up to so much fade away slowly… to watch the man you once knew change… I could only imagine what he had gone through."

She remembered the time Taichi had looked depressed before the Eastern qualifiers, and how she used to ask him where their mentor was. How he would hesitate before telling her that Harada-sensei had gone on a vacation so suddenly, and that he was only feeling tired recently.

She wanted to sink low into the ground. She had never deserved his friendship. She dared to call herself his friend, when in actuality, she never knew what he had gone through.

"He had chosen not to tell you because he hadn't wanted you to be distracted." Nishida added, turning to look at her once again as she looked down to the ground, her eyes already shedding more tears. It was so embarrassing to admit, but it seemed that this was the only thing she could do now. "You know how he is. He had never stopped thinking of the team. He hadn't wanted us, you, to lose your focus, especially since you were so enthusiastic when you finally made it to the challenger match. And then," he had paused for a while, letting his words sink in slowly, "he and Wataya had faced each other in the Eastern qualifier finals. I know how it painful it is to lose, to come in only second, to fail at the thing you wanted the most, -to be so close to it and failing to reach it. But nothing would be even more painful to find out that you won't be getting the chance to do it again."

She had looked at him.

"Right after losing the match, Mashima had been diagnosed with hearing loss." Nishida muttered, avoiding her gaze. "He lost with a two card-difference right? I remember him telling me that his hearing had suddenly fluctuated during the second round. I urged him to let a doctor look into it. And that was when he found out." He let out deep breath. "He wasn't planning on telling anyone, but I had grilled him about it. And that was how he had told me." He watched her staring at him as she sobbed quietly. "I tried convincing him, Ayase, to tell you. Heaven knows I have tried convincing him for years to let you know. But Mashima has his pride, and even then, he was only thinking of you. As I had said, he hadn't wanted you to lose your focus from what you wanted to achieve, because you had been busy with preparations for entrance examinations and the queen match." Nishida held onto her when her knees buckled. "Believe me Ayase, he had meant well. He hadn't wanted to add to the strain and stress we were all feeling that time. And since he hadn't wanted you to be hurt because of what was happening to him and Harada-sensei, he had chosen to stay away from you in order to protect you. He believed that that was the right thing to do."

That was the final blow. She collapsed on the ground, breaking down. Kana-chan, crying herself, rushed forward to try to assist her to stand up, but she felt as if she had lost control of her legs already.

Taichi… Taichi you moron… why haven't you told me? You selfless idiot… You brave man…

"I'm sorry for not telling you. I had wanted to, but… he asked me never to tell you regarding this. He had his reasons, and really, I believed that he did believe that you were better off not knowing."

She couldn't take it, -the pain was too much. She felt as if her heart had been cut out of her chest and left her bleeding. "I-I never knew… all this time I hadn't known!" she exclaimed wildly, clutching onto Kana-chan as if trying to find something she had lost. "I didn't deserve to be called his friend. I didn't deserve to be even known as the captain of this team!"

"Shh, Chihaya-chan-"

"How could I not notice it? How could I have been so blind?" She sobbed, beginning to pull at her hair in frustration. "How was it that I hadn't known what was happening at the time? How!?" She didn't know what to do with herself. "This is all my fault. This is all my fault!"

"Chihaya-chan!" Kana-chan exclaimed, catching her hands which were pulling at her hair in frustration and keeping it at her lap. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault that he had chosen to keep it from you- from all of us." She whispered, wiping her tears from her cheeks in a very motherly way. "You shouldn't blame it on yourself. The only thing that we could do right now is to stay with him. Support him. You, especially," she made her look at her eyes to make sure she is listening, "he needs you now. You have to stay with him."

Chihaya looked at her with the look of someone who was lost. And then slowly, she realized, Kana-chan was right.

What was she doing, crying like there was no tomorrow? Taichi… Taichi wasn't dying or anything. Yet. Though she knew that it would be better for him not to suffer, now that she fully understood, now that she know, she had to be there for him. There was no excuse for him to continue avoiding her further, and if she had to chain their wrists together for her to be able to do that, then she will do it.

She had made the decision not to let him go again. Therefore, she had to see it through. She was not too much of an idiot to think that it was going to be easy doing that, -after all, she still have to scale his infamous pride,- but as she had told her cousin, if there was something that she was good at, it was being stubborn.

And Mashima Taichi should know better than to test that stubbornness.

She wiped her tears and stood up, helping Kana-chan up. She looked at all of them. "You're… You're right, Kana-chan. Of course you are." She took a deep breath and sighed. "I-I'm sorry, minna. I shouldn't have reacted like that. I shouldn't have been so… oblivious, in the first place. I have never been so good in reading other people, and I am ashamed to admit that Taichi was no exception."

Komano stepped forward and held her shoulder. "Ayase, it's not your fault that you weren't good in reading other people. But now that you know, then you have to stay with him. Mashima, however much he tried to hide it, needs you. I know you've been hearing it countless times already, but it's true. If there was anyone he wanted to be there for him right now, it would be you."

She looked at Komano seriously. "Sorry for yelling at you earlier, Tsukue-kun. Nikuman-kun."

The two boys nodded, messing up her hair like they do before.

"So… what now?" Nishida asked. "Have you informed anyone from his family?"

She bit her lip. That was an another problem. "I… I haven't yet. I don't know what to do honestly, because his family didn't know as well."

They looked at each other worriedly. "Don't worry about it. We'll find a way." Komano said, trying to ease the atmosphere of dread that has once again, started descending unto them.

She hoped they would. Before it's too late.

He was dreaming. He should be.

Because he had never held Chihaya like this in his arms. Nope. Never. It only happened in his dreams, or when he was daydreaming. But never in real life.

So why is it that her hair felt so ticklish against his neck, that she felt so real and solid within his arms?

His eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry at first, and he couldn't make sense of the shapes and later on, sensations that came with it. Then everything came into focus, as if a television with bad reception getting fixed.

Everything is white. The walls. The light overhead. And then as he turned to look at his side, Chihaya's face came into view, her head pillowed on his chest, her arms wrapped around him, her mouth slightly opened as she snored in a very cute way.

She is beautiful, and he had always known that. Now though, nothing could be more beautiful than the sight of her asleep. He had always been fascinated watching her sleep, even back during their high school days when she had used his shoulder countless times to sleep on in their train ride home together.

If this is heaven, then I sure wouldn't mind dying. He thought, his hand coming up to stroke her chestnut hair.

Then something pulled at his hand with a sharp pain. He looked at his right hand, only to see a gauze plastered on it. He followed it with his eyes, and realized he had a dextrose attached into his wrist.

He was in a hospital.

As soon as he realized that, he began feeling that he could only hear through his right ear. His left felt numb and hollow.

Wonderful. Now I'm only hearing with my right. What else do I have to feel?

"Chihaya." His voice felt like it hadn't been used for days. It cracked like paper. He tried again. "Chihaya."

She stirred slowly, until her eyes opened, immediately coming to rest on him. Then her smile nearly blinded him, if there was such a thing. "Oh good. You're awake." She lifted her head from his chest, and he immediately missed the feeling of her head against him. Of course, he mentally smacked himself from the thought. "What happened?" he asked, turning to look away from her.

A frown formed across her brows. "You mean you don't remember?"

As soon as she said it though, everything came rushing back. Their meeting. The argument. How he felt so hurt, then he had another episode of the attack and…

He fainted.

Taichi's eyes widened. "W-What are you doing here?" His heart started beating twice as faster as he began to panic. She musn't know. No. She musn't know! "W-Why are you still here?"

Chihaya's frown deepened as she registered his behavior, turning to look at his heart monitor which was beeping so loudly, showing the erratic beating of his heart that she was puzzled. "Why are you so upset? Someone has to look after you, you know, and I just couldn't call your family to do that."

He was panicking now. "Y-You don't have to stay." Push her away. She doesn't have to know!

Her eyes were beginning to narrow. "Are you kicking me out again?"

"I can look after myself, Chihaya. You don't have to worry about me." He insisted, even when deep down he wanted the exact opposite.

"Taichi-"

"I've been doing it for years. Just go home already. I can look after myself." Go away, Chihaya. Please. Just leave me alone.

She was glaring at him now. "Well, I can see that you've been doing such a good job in that department. But no, I'm staying whether you wanted me to or not. Now just go back to rest." She responded stubbornly, punctuating her point by crossing her arms over her chest.

Taichi's hands curled into tight fists as he met her glare with his own. "I don't need you to take care of me. I am doing just fine-"

Her temper burst. "Don't you dare tell me that you're fine! Because you're not fine at all, you moron! You're not! I know everything now, see? I'm done with your stupid martyrdom!" She exclaimed, standing up and glaring at him so badly it was a wonder he still wasn't rolling on the floor in pain.

He froze. She knew? But… why? And how?

"Chihaya-"

"I am not going to let you drive me away again!" She added, tears forming in her eyes. "I won't let you shut me out again. I've had enough." She collapsed back onto her chair as she took his hands in hers, the tears making it's way down her cheeks. "Taichi please. There's nothing to hide now. I know everything. You don't have to protect me anymore."

He stared at her. He was staring at her hard, and as she watched, his eyes slowly turned glossy, until she saw the tears form as well.

Oh Kami-sama… Taichi… He's hurt…

"Who told you?" He averted his gaze from her to the side as the tears fell from his eyes now.

She looked down to their hands. "Ryuzaki-sensei talked to me. And he told me your condition. And… I'm glad he did. Because now I finally know, now I finally understand. You don't have to continue fighting on your own, Taichi. Please, let me stay with you." She pleaded, as he turned towards her again.

I never wanted you to find out… You, of all people…

"I don't need your pity, Chihaya. Leave me be." He said monotonelessly, in a last attempt of hiding from her, because heaven knew how the walls he had built between the two of them for years beginning to crumble now. He slowly slid his hands from hers.

Chihaya squared her shoulders. She knew it wasn't going to be easy convincing him to not give up and to keep their friendship intact, but he was making it especially hard for her. But she was a patient woman, and she'll do whatever it takes for him to see some sense again.

He's a stubborn man, Chihaya-chan. I'm sure you know that. But you need to fight for him. After all, you two are best friends. If he can't fight for himself, then you have to do it for him. Kana-chan's voice rang in her mind, and that gave her confidence. "And what makes you think I'm doing it out of pity? You don't need pity. What you need is a good knock in the head." She said stubbornly, wiping her tears.

He glared at her through his tears. "I'm not joking, Chihaya. I think it's better for you to leave."

"No!" she startled him with her outburst. She was getting mad again. "You don't have any excuse to hide from me now, Taichi. Nikuman-kun had already told me everything, and when I say everything, I do mean everything –from Harada-sensei to you. So please, if you care about me, please don't shut me out again." She pleaded, her tears making another path down her cheeks. "For so long, you've hidden it from me. Do you know how it feels to be the last one to know? Do you know how it hurts to feel that you haven't trusted me enough to tell me?" She hiccupped. "Why did you never eventell me?"

His eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. "I was doing it for you." He responded defensively, like a kid caught by his mom doing naughty things. "I'm not sure how you would handle it with Harada-sensei, and when I found out about mine, I just knew you wouldn't be able to keep your focus with the coming Queen challenger match then." His eyes became unfocused, faraway. "I didn't want you to see Harada-sensei like that. I knew how much you cared for him just as much as I did, and you knowing what was happening would be a really bad idea. He asked me not to tell you, and I realized that he was right. And when I was diagnosed with it, I just felt the same thing…"

He clenched his fists. "I wasn't planning on telling everyone. Even Nishida and the others, they found out about it accidentally. I had to hide it from my family. From practically everyone." He took a deep breath. His fists were shaking. Somehow, even when he knew he should not be telling her this, he felt as if he was breathing more easily now, like he was being freed of poison. "I didn't want you to think of me as weak. I didn't want anyone, especially Arata, knowing that I was beginning to have hearing loss. My heart, -my pride- couldn't bear it." He couldn't look at her straight. "I never wanted you to see me change. To see the person you thought you knew turn into someone entirely different… to see them break slowly and fade away… it was not something I would even wish upon my enemies, much less my friends. Much less, you." He breathed out.

"And so you chose to hide it… even from me." Chihaya muttered, understanding dawning on her face. She knew how he was talking about Harada-sensei as well. "And so you ran away." Her lip trembled. "You selfless idiot…"

He looked at her. "I didn't want you to suffer with me. And really, I just want to see you smile, to be… I don't know, unaffected with what was happening to me." He gave a hollow laugh. "I guess I was just being protective. And prideful, really." He glanced down to their hands as well, as she had taken it into hers again. "It hurt me knowing that I had no chance of becoming the Meijin. You have no idea how it incredibly hurt, realizing I could never stand with you on the same field. As I have said already, my pride couldn't take it. For so long I believed I could do it, but then realizing that I could never do that again was just a big blow into my confidence that I had to run. To flee and hide. From you… and from everyone." He smiled hollowly.

"Well now, you don't have to run anymore." Chihaya said pointedly amidst fresh tears. "I really don't get why you had to go so far as to avoiding me for years, but you don't have to protect me anymore. I'm not leaving you alone, Taichi. Never again am I going to leave you."

He sighed. "Chihaya please-"

"Pushing me away won't work." She cut him off matter-of-factly. She looked at him with big, pleading eyes. "Let me fight together with you, Taichi. You don't have to hide anymore. I'm here. I'm not letting you go alone."

He stared at her. "I can't guarantee that I will survive the surgery. I'm sure Ryuzaki-sensei already told you about it. Seventy-thirty chance of me not hearing again, right?" He was daring her to meet his gaze. "What will you do once I go deaf forever, hm?"

There was challenge in his voice. She could tell that he was about to give in, but is testing her resolve. A last chance of trying to protect himself. Keiichi had been right about him.

But she would be there for him now. She wouldn't repeat the mistake of not doing anything again like the past years. Of being incredibly oblivious.

"So what if you don't hear again? You're still you, Taichi. Nothing will change." She approached him slowly, finally reaching out and stroking his cheek gently. "We'll still be there for you. I'll still be here for you." She smiled comfortingly. "I will never think of you as weak. Because you're not. Shouldering something like this alone and for years, really, how could I think of that as something weak? Do you really think of me as someone so shallow as to think of you like that?" She demanded, though she wasn't really mad at him.

And that was it. She guessed that she had said the right thing, one that he needed to hear from her, because the tears shone from his eyes again as she wrapped her arms around his slim frame and embraced him gently, allowing him to hide his face on her shoulder as he shook with tears.

She was so relieved to finally manage scaling his pride that she was also crying in happiness. She thanked all the gods known to man that she finally managed to get past his carefully guarded heart, that she finally managed to make him listen to her. She dropped a kiss on his hair, as she felt him return her embrace finally, and her heart felt like it was about to burst out of the affection she felt for this man.

At the same time though, she became aware of a new feeling she was experiencing at the moment, one that she did not recognize.

But she had to shake it aside for now. She will analyze it once she fulfills her promise to him.

"I won't leave you alone again, Taichi. Ever. You don't have to be alone again." She promised, and she felt him nod slowly on her shoulder as he cried soundlessly.

Arigatou, Kami-sama. Arigatou.

It was incredibly difficult writing this chapter, but really, I'm glad they finally made up! Things are looking good for our favorite guy, Taichi. Huh. Finally. That was a major change.

I planned this one out to be an 'explanation' chapter, one that would at least clear things up with Chihaya and make her understand as to why Taichi had to be a martyr. Although I'm not so confident that I had explained everything, at least I hope I did manage to clear a few questions. *please don't kill me* and they made up! I mean, it's just about time. We know how Mashima needed her, even more at this time with what he was going through. I have to give him his happiness, you know.

Okay so next chapter, hopefully, will be a lighter one. See you in the next one my lovely readers ! Toodles!