After what had felt like a lot more than an hour, a nurse had arrived in the waiting room, telling them they could go check on Haruki now.

Not wanting to ruin their family moment, or make it uncomfortable for any of them, Isuke had stayed behind while Haruki's siblings paid her a visit.

Initially, she had expected that she would have to spend hours in the gloomy waiting room, so when Fuyuka, Aki and the two others had returned to pick up their belongings and leave after less than an hour, it had surprised her to say the least.

Upon noticing her confused expression, Fuyuka had explained how she didn't want to leave her other siblings at home with only a babysitter, as they were probably worried about their sister. Isuke had thought that made sense and decided not to hold her up further.

Now that the others had left, she got up from the uncomfortable couch and headed down the hall, towards the room where they had placed Haruki. The nurse that showed her the way didn't say much of anything, and she was rather grateful for that. She didn't like it when people tried to make friendly small talk, especially under circumstances like these.

"How is she doing?" Isuke found herself asking. While she wasn't interested in pointless chatting, she did want to know how the other girl was holding up.

"She is just asleep now," the nurse answered without turning to look at her, "She collapsed from lack of sleep and food, probably combined with a large amount of stress. She will be fine after a good night's sleep and a few days of resting."

She breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that nothing too serious had happened to Haruki and that she would be alright again in just a couple of days.

"That's good," she replied to the woman's statement.

"You care a lot about that girl, don't you?" spoke the woman, her voice a little softer than it had been.

So much for avoiding the pointless small talk.

"Excuse me?" Isuke snapped. She hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but the question had caught her off guard.

"Sorry, it's none of my business," she apologized, "I just happened to see your run-in with that receptionist, and I could tell you were worried."

So that's what it had looked like? She'd been sure she had merely looked like a total bitch who was just freaking out, yelling at the poor man who had only tried to reason with her.

"I guess," she mumbled, a little embarrassed as she thought back to the incident.

"If you don't mind me asking; what's your relationship, anyway?"

"It's… well, it's complicated," she sighed, having figured that was the most suitable way to describe things between them right now.

"It always is with you kids, isn't it?" she nurse laughed heartedly, "But I'm sure you'll be able to sort it out."

Shortly after ending their conversation, they arrived outside a room. The nurse moved on, leaving Isuke there alone.

She had been certain that when she got there, she'd throw the door open and rush to Haruki's side, but now that she was here, she found herself hesitantly opening the door and shutting it quietly behind her.

She approached the bed carefully, settling in a chair just beside it. She looked at Haruki's unmoving form. She really was just sleeping.

It looked as though she was worn out, and her skin appeared to be slightly paler than usual, but apart from that she was only asleep.

"It's been a while," she whispered, as though she was afraid of waking her, but she knew she wouldn't. "I'm so sorry, Haruki… for everything."

She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't been such an idiot. If she hadn't been so insensitive and if they had never argued in the first place.

Would Haruki be in the hospital now? She doubted it.

She knew people didn't put the blame on her for this. Fuyuka didn't judge her for it; she had even said Isuke had supported Haruki. She also couldn't know for sure, but she didn't think Haruki would blame her either, had she been awake.

Yet, she still blamed herself for it.

"You know," she continued to speak to the sleeping girl, "It's pretty stupid. All those times I've called you an idiot…" She paused to chuckle humorlessly, "Well, you are, but I'm even more of an idiot than you are."

She must be the biggest idiot in the whole world. Not only had she driven her away by keeping secrets, being so insensitive and claiming to understand things she was entirely clueless about, but she'd also destroyed the bonds of trust between them by kissing Sumireko.

Why had she even done that? How could she had been so foolish?

That kiss… It hadn't meant anything to her. It hadn't meant anything back then and it didn't mean anything now. She had only really used as a distraction to keep the agonizing thoughts and emotions at a distance.

She hadn't thought of it as cheating, or even as rebounding. It had been a moment of weakness, or rather of selfish stupidity, on her side, and she regretted it.

"I get it if you won't forgive me this time; if you've had enough…" she spoke, "I mean, I wouldn't be able to put up with someone so unbearable…"

She laughed yet again, although it sounded more like a bitter snort.

How did Haruki even put up with her and all the shit she put her through?

She gently pushed a few strands of flaming red hair away from Haruki's face.

"But even so, I hope you'll forgive me," she whispered sincerely before speaking up again," Guess I'm just that selfish, huh?"

Asking for forgiveness after all this was just… It was too egoistic.

And believing she'd actually be forgiven was too farfetched.

However, despite all of that, she couldn't just give up and walk away. At this point, she couldn't be without Haruki, because…

Because she loved her.

"I'm sorry, Haruki…"

Isuke was brought back to reality by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

The knock was loud, giving the impression that the person had knocked several times before without getting any response.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Afterwards, she stretched her arms above her head, hearing her joints crack loudly. It was no wonder though, as she had slept in a chair with her head resting on the edge of Haruki's hospital bed.

Remembering that, her glance quickly moved to the girl to see how she was doing. She was sound asleep, and in the same position she had been the last time she checked, indicating she hadn't been awake yet at all.

Last night she had promised Haruki she would stay with her until she woke up, but only a while later a nurse had told her that the visiting hours were over and she had to go home. She had completely overheard her and continued to sit there, holding Haruki's hands in her own.

The nurse had tried to reason with her, just like the receptionist from earlier, but had eventually given in, possibly after she understood just how important the girl was to Isuke.

Thus, she had ended up spending the night there.

She had completely forgotten about the person outside until he knocked again.

"Come in?" she yelled, a little confused as to why anyone would need to knock. Any doctors or nurses could just enter freely, could they not?

The door swung open, revealing a tall man with white hair in the doorway.

"Mama," Isuke spoke, surprised to see him here.

"Good morning, Isuke," her Mama greeted with a casual grin. He grabbed another chair and placed it beside hers before sitting down.

"What are you doing here?"

Eisuke chuckled at his daughter before answering.

"Checking up on you, of course," he explained simply, making it seem like this was a usual, everyday situation. "Papa said you totally freaked out yesterday and he had to drive you here in a hurry, and you've been here all night, so naturally I wanted to see how you're doing."

Isuke concealed a frown. She still wasn't on great terms with her parents, after the entire ordeal with Sumireko, but in a way she was sort of happy to see him.

"Well, I'm fine," she grunted coldly, but he didn't seem to mind her attitude in the slightest.

He had been living with her for years, after all, so he was used to her being difficult at times.

"Of course you are," he agreed with her, "What happened to her?" He gestured towards Haruki.

She rolled her eyes and snorted, the sentimental attitude from yesterday starting to fade away as the usual Isuke returned, at least on the outside.

"That idiot wore herself out by taking on too much work," she stated.

"I see," he nodded in understanding, "Do you want to go get some lunch? You haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday, have you?"

Up until then, Isuke had completely forgotten about food. She had left around lunchtime yesterday and had been allowed to enter Haruki's room in the afternoon, and she had stayed there since then.

Thinking about it now, she was actually starving, but she didn't want to leave her side now.

"I'm fine. I can wait for a while."

Eisuke looked like he wanted to protest, for like any parent, he couldn't help but worry for his daughter, but seeing the determination in her eyes, he realized there was no way he could convince her to leave the room.

"You've been very different lately, Isuke," he said out-of-the-blue.

"What do you mean?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in question.

People kept saying stuff like that, but she never really understood what they meant. Fuyuka had claimed that Haruki had changed. She had even said to herself she had to be going soft.

Was that truly the case?

"It was actually Papa who pointed it out for me," Mama laughed. True, compared to her Papa, Eisuke had never been good at spotting stuff like that. "He said you looked so serious and determined yesterday."

"What about it?" she retorted defensively.

"Papa and I always wanted you to find true love, and we introduced you to so many people, but you never took them seriously at all."

"Of course not. Isuke didn't like any of them," she bluntly exclaimed, sticking her nose up in the air.

"But you like Sagae-san, don't you? I can tell you're serious about her," he said simply.

Was he finally understanding it? Was he accepting that she had feelings for someone like Haruki?

It was hard to believe, considering how opposed he had been to it a while back, but Isuke knew he cared for her. He pissed her off at times, sure, but deep down she was aware that he and Papa only wanted what was best for her.

Maybe he had finally realized that she wanted to be with Haruki, and despite her social status, it would make her happier to be with someone she loved.

"Does that mean-" she started in a low voice, but Eisuke must not have heard her, because he kept talking.

"I mean, I still don't like the idea," he uttered, "That girl is so… so uncouth in some ways, and she's poor with no real future plans, and she-"

"Mama!" Isuke interrupted, "It's enough, already. I get it; she's not what you had in mind."

"She's not," he confirmed.

Truth be told, she wasn't what Isuke had in mind either. The first time she'd seen her, she had been all but impressed, but she had grown to love her anyway.

She was sure Mama could, at the very least, grow to accept her.

"But she makes me happy in a way that no one else does."

Eisuke sighed and arose from his chair.

"I still don't think she's an ideal girlfriend for you," he paused and placed a hand on his daughter's head, "But perhaps I'm wrong."

"Are you leaving?" she asked as he walked away.

"Yeah, I figured I should pick up some food for you," he informed, "And Isuke?"

"Yeah?" she answered curtly.

"If you're happy with her, then I guess… I don't have any complaints," her Mama smiled.

"Thanks, Mama."

Now all that was left was to wait for Haruki to wake up and hope they could sort things out.

How would she even begin to make it up to Haruki?

It was obvious that she thought Isuke didn't care about her at all.

She couldn't know for sure how Haruki saw things, but judging by the fact that she had come running after her to apologize even after their fight, it seemed almost like she didn't care how badly Isuke screwed up.

What had really seemed to hurt her was when she saw her and Sumireko kiss.

What had been her words, exactly?

"Since you never even gave a fuck about me in the first place."

Yeah, what hurt her must have been the idea of Isuke not sharing her feelings, that everything she had said and did had been a lie.

That's what Haruki had feared.

With all the stupid shit she had done, Isuke could understand why Haruki would have thought that, but that wasn't the case.

The fact that she was hurt because of that, and not because of something she had actually done and meant, made it a little easier.

It still made her feel just as guilty, knowing it was her actions that had led Haruki to that belief, but it might be a little easier to clear up in.

At least she hoped it would be. She didn't want Haruki to feel bad any longer, and she didn't want her to be alone.

If they could only overcome this, she would never let Haruki be alone about something again. She would help her, and she would try to understand.

She moved her hand from Haruki's and up to her face, gently stroking it across her soft cheek.

Even now, with messy, uncombed hair, pale skin covered in tiny cuts that were apparently caused by falling on shards of glass, and wearing a hideous hospital gown, Haruki was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl Isuke had ever seen.

As she sat there, stroking her cheek as she smiled to herself, she spotted a slight movement. Her eyes widened as she waited for something more to happen.

After a minute or so, Haruki's eyes fluttered and opened slowly. She sluggishly blinked a couple of times, as if to clear her vision, before her dry lips parted and she spoke in a groggy, slightly hoarse voice.

"Isuke-sama?"

Okay, I think I deserve an applause for writing a chapter where no one got hurt, neither mentally nor physically. No, just kidding.

Still, it was kind of nice to not have anyone suffering for once. Well, not that much anyway. And Eisuke finally, although reluctantly, accepted Isuke's and Haruki's relationship. One problem out of the way at least.

Also, really awesome that people recognized by RWBY reference in the title of the last chapter.

Wish I could say for certain when I get the chapters published, but I feel like I can't most of the time, as things don't always go as planned, but I update when I can.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.