aiichiro only stayed in her bedroom after taking a shower, not bothered to turn on the lights and curling herself up with her blanket as the scene earlier continues repeating in her mind.

the door swung open as a ray of light shines into her room. baji leaned on the door frame, wearing his valhalla jacket.

"valhalla is having a meeting now, i need to go." he announced before walking to her bed. he kneeled down to kiss her forehead.

as he was about to walk away, a grip on his jacket stopped him making him turn behind. the girl tightened her grip. her boyfriend gave a small smile, letting her hand go from his jacket.

"you wanna go?" he asked her, sitting on the edge of her bed. she looked away. either thinking about whether she should follow him or thinking about what had happened between her and father earlier or maybe just both.

at last she decided to go with him as they reached the ground floor. they walked to the old arcade since baji didn't have his motorbike with him.

"are you sure you don't wanna wear sweatpants? its getting cold and you aren't bringing your jacket along." she nodded, her arm slowly hooking with his as she moves closer to him. her eyes stuck to the pathway.

they continued walking until they finally stood infront of the old arcade, where hanma and kazutora was standing, probably waiting for baji.

aiichiro decided to wait and sit outside since being in there makes her have goosebumps all over and the air inside was very suffocating for her.

a drop of liquid fell onto the ground, followed by more. the girl looks up to the sky but the raindrop fell on her face. she gasp, wiping it off and walking closer to the entrance of the arcade. the rain was suddenly pouring heavily.

"oh noー" she shouts in panicked when a flash of lightning strikes with the loud drum sound. she squats abit, closing her eyes shut and cover her ears, her heart beats rapidly.

soon she quickly grab the handle and pull the door open, going inside as the rain gets progressively heavier. she breathed in and out loudly.

her eyes opened as the view of valhalla members close to her only stare. she yelped, tears about to form in her eyes. she again squats down with her eyes shut closed, covering her ears with her hands.

she continues doing so until she felts a large piece of fabric wrapped around her body. she removes her hands away from her ears as she slowly looks behind.

seeing baji made her calmed down. he grabs her shoulder and guides her to stand up. he brought her to the same row of high chairs that they sat on before and told her to rest there.

the meeting ended as some of the members went home and some scattered around the place in groups and do their own things.

baji turned his head to where she was. the girl was sleeping, her head resting on the counter infront of her. his lips curled up to a smile as he admires the sight his girlfriend sleeping peacefully.

"poor girl getting scared by the thunderstorm." hanma said, having a bit of sympathy.

"atleast she is finally able to sleep well." baji responded as the other male's lips shaped into an 'o'.

"what happened?" hanma got curious and proceeds to ask him, resting his chin on his palm. baji kept quiet for awhile before answering.

"what a busybody.. she went through quite a big problem earlier." he said. about to walk towards his girlfriend to wake her up, his legs stopped moving when his friend said something.

"you've grown weak, baji" kazutora spoke, putting both hands into his pockets.

baji quickly turns his head to the boy.

"that'll do no good. the results will not come out as planned after the brawl." he continued talking, this time he looked at aiichiro. baji gritted his teeth slightly, clenching his fist.

he walks towards kazutora, grabbing his collar. hanma only grinned at the sight of them about to fight. but baji doesn't want to and let go of kazutora's collar.

"you care too much about her, about mikey and the others. its only been two years since we last saw each other." he said, his eyes becoming slight emotionless as his gaze never leave baji's.

"and since you do care about her safety, you should consider breaking up so she wouldn't have to go through such a dangerous life."

baji looks away, grunting. he walked to aiichiro and woke her up gently. both of them walk out of the place. they stopped infront of the door as the rain was still falling heavily.

aiichiro stretched her arms up and as soon as she puts them down, she noticed baji was in a gloomy state. she tap his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"what's wrong?" she asked, concerned about what happened during their meeting.

the boy shook his head and gently push her hand away, continuing to frown. of course, she isn't going to give up that easily, after all he did to make her happy, she should give back that happiness to him.

she removes the jacket that she was wearing and hand it back to him.

as he grabs it into his hands, she ran into the rain. baji stretched his hand forward to grab her back under shelter. but when she grabbed onto him, she pulled him towards her, causing him to get soaked in the rain as well.

"aiichiro.. you'll get sick. lets hurry back-" he said, covering her from the head to her shoulders with his jacket. about to drag her back to where they stood, the girl splashed a puddle of rain to him.

baji gasped before giving accepting her challenge and grin, kicking another puddle to her back. they continue having fun under the rain, running back to the apartment while splashing rain onto each other.

when they reach the apartment building, they seek shelter. aiichiro shook her head side to side, getting almost all the rainwater out from her hair.

she looks at baji, who was still laughing and smiling so happily. it made her lips curled up into a big smile to see him happy again.

"baji-kun" she called, tapping his shoulder. the boy turned to her. "you've always try to make me happy.. i should make you happy too." she continued.

"what is that all about?" he asked, confused to her sudden words. she puts her hands against his cheeks and moved it close to her face.

"if there is anything that is bothering you, i will help. its alright if you don't want to tell me what is but i would do anything to make you smile like that again." she said with a serious expression on her face.

baji grabs her wrist as his most genuine and softest smile is plastered on his face. her eyes grew wide, her cheeks turning bright red at the sight of him smiling like that.

he pulls her closer to him, slithering his arms around her waist. using his index finger and thumb to have her look up, they stare into each other's eyes, getting lost in them.

their lips came in contact as aiichiro wraps her arms around his neck.

they pulled away and continued hugging each other. he sunk his face onto her shoulder, holding her tighter.

"wow damn, didn't know kids your age are cheesy like that." the both of them pulled away and look at where that voice was from. aiichiro's smiled came back when she found out that the voice belonged to her aunt.

she ran to the woman and hugged her tightly.

"i tried my best to finish every paperwork in the office so i could come back home." hatsuki explained, patting her niece's head while she continues to hug her.

baji walked abit further away from them. "i'll just head home now since your aunt is here."

"not so fast, young man. the rain is still pouring." she points up to the dark cloudy sky. a smirk also appeared on her face. "and your clothes are in our apartment.. just stay here until the rain stops."

he nodded, thanking her for the offer. the three of them went inside the apartment and aiichiro immediately went to take a nice warm shower.

baji only played with keichiro as he waits for his turn. hatsuki called for baji and he quickly walks to her.

"im sure you and aiichiro are hungry, so i cook up some curry for you both. enjoy them while theyre still hot." she said, wiping her hands with a clean cloth.

"thank you again, i'll eat them when im done showering." he responded.

after awhile, they finally went to sleep while the stormy rain continues. aiichiro starts to whimper as the loud sound of thunder made her flinched. she was about to cry but felt an arm tightening their grip around her.

she opened her sleepy eyes abit and saw him sleeping next to her. giving her the comfort she needed for such a noise night, her whimpering stopped as she leans her forehead to his chest.

the next morning, baji left the apartment to head back home.