Your eyes patiently rested on the boy in front of you, watching his every move. There was no real way of telling what the cards in his hand truly looked like. Of course, over the course of the game, you had picked up on the subtle ways his facial expression shifted whenever he was lying. That was the point of the game.

Despite only having one eye, Yamanami sure had a way of picking up on other people's false assertions. Which was why you were trying so hard to figure him out. If you could pick up on his lies and get his chances of victory to a near zero, you had the biggest shot of winning this round.

He slowly picked up two of his cards, shifting them over to the messy pile in the middle of the table. Placing them face down, he spoke up shortly after. "Two kings."

Taking a quick glance at your hand, you pursed your lips. There wasn't enough evidence to prove his declaration false in your own collection of cards. And telling by the silence of the other people seated at the table, they didn't have anything to refute it either.

You shrugged, nonchalantly placing your fingers on top of the seven of hearts in your hand. You placed it on top of the pile face down, resting your chin in your free hand. "One ace."

"Two ones." The boy to your right had placed his cards down only seconds after your play. Your eyes widened at his speed, quickly glancing down at the cards in your hand. A shit-eating grin creeped up your lips as you counted up the ones.

"Bullshit, Rika! You're lying!" you exclaimed, the grin only widening as his expression faltered. His confidence backed off as he grumbled a few words under his breath, leaning forward to flip the cards he had just placed down.

The one of spades and the eight of clubs.

"Dammit...!" he grumbled, scratching the back of his neck. With hesitation, he begrudgingly took the whole stack of cards in the middle. Miko Mask let out a stark laugh from the other side of the table.

"Holy shit, kid! And to think you came into this saying you would win!" she barked, holding onto her stomach as she continued to laugh. "Let's see you win with a hand as big as that!"

You let out an airy giggle as you shook your head. She was correct, Rika did talk quite a big game before the round started. Challenging not only you, but Yamanami and Miko Mask as well. He encouraged Dealer Mask to keep an eye on the game to make sure 'nobody would cheat' in his own words. How the hell do you cheat when you're playing Bullshit?

You're sure there was some type of way, but it would probably be much easier to win by not cheating. Your brain couldn't even come up with a single way to cheat in this game. The entire point was deception... in fact, the name of the game varied from country to country. One of the names it went by was Cheat, for God's sake!

"You kinda walked yourself into that one, Rika..." Yamanami muttered, covering the bottom of his mouth as an attempt to hide his laughter. Dealer Mask contributed with a small snicker herself, causing Rika's cheeks to redden.

"It was one screw up..." he muttered, furrowing his brows in embarrassment. You gave his shoulder a firm pat as a minor attempt to make him feel better. Before the game could continue, the sound of a door opening rang out through the room.

With a wide grin still on your face, you looked up to the door. Rika did the same, his reddened cheeks going back to their natural color at the sight of his sister.

"Oh, Yuri. It's nice to see you up and going."

She nodded at you in an attempt to acknowledge your words, but you could tell by her fidgeting hands that she was anxious to get to whatever she came in here to do. Her eyes quickly found your own and she tilted her head towards the door.

"It's time...!"

With her exclamation, you glanced at the window behind you, eyes widening in surprise at the state of the sky. The sun was nearly about to begin the early stages of setting, which meant that you had somewhere to be. You almost hadn't realized the amount of time that passed during your multitude of back-to-back card games with the group at present.

With that, you set your cards face down on the table, turning over to Dealer Mask. Raising a brow, you gestured towards the stack of thin paper resting on your old spot. "Wanna play?"

She seemed up to it, as she returned your question with a nod and sat down in your seat, allowing you to exit the room with an excited Yuri by your side. Turning your head over your shoulder before you left, you gave the group a quick wink. "Good luck. Let me know who wins later!"

Before you could get any type of response, the door behind you had already slammed shut. Yuri's arm was wrapped around your own as she dragged you down the hallway, a grin on her face.

"Aren't you excited?" she questioned, turning to you with bright eyes. You gave her a small smile as she dragged you down the hall. Careful not to trip over your own feet, you affirmed her beliefs with a simple nod.

"Of course."

She squealed. "Me too! This is almost like those matchmaking games I used to play!"

"Is that so?" you hummed, deadpanning while scratching your cheek with your free hand.

She nodded while continuing her prance down the hallway, quickly coming upon the stairwell. Turning to you, she placed her hands on your shoulders, causing you to tense up and give her a small, shocked smile.

"Just go up to the roof and take a seat. He'll be there soon." She patted your shoulder, stepping behind you. Giving your back a gentle shove towards the stairs, she strutted away. You stared at her as she pranced further down the hall, rubbing the back of your neck.

With a sigh, you slowly began your descent to the rooftop. The view you received when you got there was one of acute beauty.

The sunset was a deep orange, bleeding into a reddish-purple color as it gently graced the clouds. In the middle of the helicopter pad stood a table, inclining you to get a closer look. As you neared the table, your heart seemed to swell up with pleasure.

In the middle of the table sat three candles, the flames flickering with the still air. The table was covered with a scarlet tablecloth, and on top of that were a couple plates with an assortment of chocolate covered berries.

On one side of the table, directly in front of the seat, a letter perched itself up. The front read, 'To My Darling, Y/N.' The handwriting was incredibly neat, and you could tell that it had taken more than a few tries to get the cursive down correctly by the plentiful number of eraser marks. The words intrigued you enough to get you to take a seat, softly opening the paper so as to not accidentally tear it.

As soon as the folds became undone, your eyes began to scan over the contents of the letter. His handwriting wasn't terrible, to your surprise. It was well put together and legible. Maybe he had tried to make it look nice for the letter?

"Y/N,

Do you remember when we first met?

We looked at each other right before Yuri Honjo and Mayuko Nise set off that explosion. But that wasn't the first time I had set my eyes on you. The first time I saw you was when I shot down that police officer. Thinking back to it, I'm glad I made him suffer for what he was doing to you.

My original plans as a mind-controlled Mask were to shoot you, but for some reason, I hesitated. I'm not sure why, considering the code installed into the mask had a sole purpose of driving any human into despair. I wasn't sure why you were different. My subconscious kicked in and I avoided harming you.

I'm glad that it turned out that way.

I was thinking of the reason I evaded hurting you, but no logical explanation seemed to come up. I thought back to my father and the bedtime stories he would tell Rika and I before we separated.

He would tell me stories of him and my mother. Things like how they met, their first date. He said it was a relationship that was meant to be, that their relationship was written down in the book of fate.

I think that may be similar to us, too. That's why I hesitated. When the grenade blew up, my Mask cracked and I regained my consciousness. The first thing I wanted to do was check on you.

The next time I saw you was our first time speaking to each other. When I initially heard your voice, it sounded heavenly. I wanted to hear more. Luckily, I was able to.

You know the story from there.

Day after day, I started to fall harder and harder for you.

I realized I had something with you the moment we had to separate from each other. I had just finished up the fight with the Grenade Mask and his partner, and you were there waiting for me. The disappointment in your face when I said we had to part cause my own heart to ache. I realized that without you around, things didn't feel right.

I didn't want to tell you before I went into Hibernation just in case things went badly and I didn't make it. I'm glad that wasn't the case, because I was able to figure out that you returned those feelings.

After our first fight with Aikawa, I figured out that you had gone missing. I was scared out of my wits. That was the moment I realized I was utterly and hopelessly in love with you. Nothing could ever top the relief I felt when I found you and was able to bring you back.

You're beautiful, understanding. You have so many great qualities that you can't see in yourself, but everyone else does. You're amazing in every way possible.

We've encountered so many different things together in this crazy world, but one thing has always stayed the same𑁋us. And I'm hopeful that it will stay that way.

I love you more than words can describe. Thank you for being my partner through it all.

Unconditionally yours,

Yuka Makoto"

Your eyes scanned across the words transcribed onto the piece of paper over and over. Though, it was difficult to see them with the tears welling up in your optics. Blinking back the tears before you began to bawl, you smiled down at the paper with a tender gaze.

The letter was incredibly heartfelt. To say that you had received something like it before would be a blatant lie.

Unknown to you, the sound of the rooftop door opening up rang out. As you traced the writing with your fingers, a sudden breeze swept through the air. The sheet resting gingerly in your fingertips quickly slipped out of your hands, dancing along with the wind.

You panicked a bit, quickly shooting up from your seat to catch the paper before it had a chance to fly too far. Swiftly turning your body, you were met with the unforeseen view of the letter situated between the fingertips of a gloved hand. Your eyes quickly swept over to the savior of the parchment.

His mask was completely off, allowing you to see his eyes. God, his eyes... they were so pretty. You could stare at them for hours at a time and never get tired of it.

"Yuka," you breathed out, a large smile stretching out on your face. He handed you the letter and brought you in for a casual hug. Placing a kiss on the top of your head, he whispered a simple greeting.

"Hey."

The hug was quickly released, followed by Yuka leading you back over to the table. After sitting down (Yuka pulling your chair out for you and pushing it back in, what a gentleman), you delicately folded the letter and stuck it in your shirt pocket.

"Sorry for my tardiness." Yuka seated himself across from you. You reached for one of the strawberries, eyeing it for a moment before popping it into your mouth. You hummed in delight.

Yuka smiled at you gently. You finished up the strawberry before staring down your boyfriend, tilting your head slightly. You rested your chin on your hand.

"I read your letter. You know that already."

"I do."

"It meant a lot to me, you know?"

"Did it?"

You nodded. Looking at his face, you couldn't help but grin. The sunset shone on him, the deep red tones perfectly reflecting off of his skin. Never had you thought you would be able to love deeply again after your past relationship. Following the unfortunate events of your first love, the idea of being in another committed relationship didn't sound appealing.

Yet, here you were.

"I love you a lot." You smiled, reaching a hand out across the table.

Yuka gazed back at you. Your eyes, your hair, your expression... only one word could trail through his head. Perfect. You were perfect to him. Love had never been on his mind for the past couple of years. Sure, he had a girlfriend or two during high school, but nothing compared to you. To say your relationship was an unexpected outcome of this realm was definitely an understatement. But it made him happy.

You made him so, so unbelievably happy.

"I love you more." He reached back, intertwining your fingers together.

You rested your elbows on the table and stood up, leaning forward. He seemed to get the hint as well, mimicking your actions mere seconds later. As the two of you leaned over the table, his free hand unconsciously rose up to cup your cheek.

Your lips connected as the sun passed through the horizon, the reddish hue of the sky converting to a deeper purple. The sensation of his lips on your own felt like magic. He tangled his hands through your hair, deepening the kiss. You happily complied, smiling into the intimate act.

When you first arrived into this world, the only question on your mind was why you were here.

After all, you weren't anything special. Normal, average, plain... those were just some of the words you used to describe yourself.

But then you came across him. Yuka Makoto.

The one who helped you instill confidence in yourself. The one who helped you overcome your insecurities, trauma, and bad habits.

The one who helped you for the better, and the one who will always help you for the better.

With not only him, but the others around you, your life wasn't so ordinary anymore. But if anything, you liked it better this way. Things may not be perfect, but they satisfied you more than you could have wished for.

You separated from the kiss, letting out a breezy laugh as the two of you gazed at each other.

Holding up your pinky, he linked his with yours.

"To us," you whispered.

"To us," he confirmed softly.

You gazed up at the stars just barely appearing in the sky. They twinkled brightly against the dark canvas.

The ordinary tone of your life took a complete U-turn and gave you a whisk of new experiences and people... and to be honest, that was all that you could ever ask for.

chapter factoids:
-In respect for your first date, Kuon hopped out and hitched a ride with Yuri for the night. She's excited to hear feedback from Yuka in the future.
-Yuri was the one to come up with the idea of a date at sunset, while Mayuko suggested it be on the rooftop.
-Rika prepared the chocolate covered berries for the date!
-Every single one of your friends is cheering for your relationship. They want the both of you to live long, happy lives with each other.
-It should be known that you have many people looking up to you. You were a beacon of hope for many of your friends during the time you've spent in this realm. They hold a gracious amount of respect for you.
-You had Yuka wrapped around your finger since day one. He would never word it like that, though.
-He adores every single part of you and is willing to do anything to make you happy. He is aware that you feel the same way.
-Yuka respects you a lot, and is prepared to face anything with you, no matter how difficult.
-This goes unsaid, but Yuka has never loved anybody else as much as he does you.
-Though the future is uncertain, there is one thing Yuka knows for sure. He wants to spend the rest of his life with you.

-
-
a/n:

here we have it folks, the end!

thank you all for sticking with me throughout the entirety of this book, it means the world!

i will be going back and editing out any typos and such in all of the chapters now that the book is finished, as well as posting all the chapters on ao3. also, would anybody be interested in a q&a? it's okay if you aren't, just thought i would ask you lovely readers <3

anywho, thank you all SO MUCH for every ounce of support you've given me. i love all of you to the moon and back, i couldn't have done it without you!

stay safe loves, i adore you all. have a good day/night!

-aly