Momoko's POV:

The girls had just left my house a little while ago. I was reading my favorite comic when I received a text message, but I ignored my phone. I didn't even want to look at it. After a while I went down to eat dinner with my family. Then I went back to my room to get some clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was done, I went back to my room to sleep. However, I was met with an unpleasant surprise.

"Yû-Yûsuke! What are you doing here?!" I claimed.

He ran to cover my mouth, since I had spoken too loudly.

"Momoko, what's wrong with you?! Go to sleep! Now!" mom yelled at me from her room.

Yûsuke released me and I glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?! How did you get in?!" I asked him, speaking in a lower tone.

"I'm a superhero. Also your window is open" he replied and started inspecting my room.

"You still haven't answered my question" I glared at him.

"I sent you messages, but you didn't answer me. So I decided to come" he answered me.

"Yûsuke, why did you come?" I insisted, "answer me or I'll start screaming."

"Now you threaten me?" he asked me.

"Just like you did when I stalked you" I reminded him.

"Fine. I'll tell you" he seated on my bed.

"Is this about Nagisa?" I crossed my arms.

"No. It's about my family" he replied.

His expression suddenly changed a lot. I sat next to him, worried. It was obvious that something bad had happened.

"My brothers and I decided to tell our parents that we already knew the truth, but we ended up discovering that there's more" he said and made a pause, "now it turns out that mom is sick. She has cancer. And worst of all, Yoshito knew it and said nothing to us. Ryu was so angry that he said horrible things to them and left the house."

"Damn, Yûsuke, I don't know what to tell you" I was shocked.

"I know, I feel exactly the same. I didn't know how to react. On the one hand, I'm furious at so many secrets and lies, but, on the other hand, the thing about mom took me by surprise" he explained.

"It must be very hard for you" I told him.

"Actually, I now understand Ryu more than anyone. We've all been hiding things from him. Dad and mom hid from him that we're adopted. I did it too when I found out. Yoshito didn't tell him that mom is sick. Everything has become a web of lies" he told me.

"Well, in my opinion, what matters most here is that your mom recovers. The rest is resolved by simply speaking the truth once and for all and forgiving each other" I said.

"Yeah. You're right. Although we don't know if my mother will be able to recover. Apparently what she has is very serious" he said.

"Well now it will be different. Now that everyone knows, you can all fight together as a family" I tried to cheer him up.

"True" he chuckled.

"So you run away from home too?" I asked him a few seconds later.

"No. I just wanted to unburden" he confessed.

"And why didn't you go talk to Nagisa?" I dared to ask him.

"Tss" he scoffed, "are you jealous?"

"No!" I denied.

"So why do you mention her?" he asked me and stood up.

"Because she's your girlfriend!" I answered him.

"Look, she's not my girlfriend! She's my friend!" he sounded kinda mad.

"Then why did you kissed her?!" I asked him.

"I didn't kiss her, she kissed me!" he replied.

"Yeah, right!" I crossed my arms.

"It's true! I swear! I even talked to her and said I don't see her the same way!" he told me.

"And why not? She's very pretty and it's seen that she likes you very much" I rolled my eyes.

"Because I don't like her!" he insisted.

"Don't pretend in front of me! It's obvious that you also like her! Just say it, it's not like I'm going to be mad at you" I turned around.

"I already told you I don't like her! I like y-!" he abruptly fell silent and became nervous, "I like- someone else!"

"So why are you still here? Go with her and tell her!" I told him, with a lump in the throat.

"I can't" he lowered his voice.

"Why?" I asked him, still mad.

"Because I'm a coward" he admitted and turned around.

Suddenly his vibes had completely changed. I was surprised that my family didn't wake up to our discussion. Surely they believed I was watching television. Going back to the main topic, maybe Yûsuke was right and I was jealous of Nagisa. However, I still didn't understand why. Was I falling in love with Yûsuke? It couldn't be possible! Yûsuke was just my friend and my partner! But, if that was true, Yûsuke liked someone else anyway. I had no chance of being with him.

Yûsuke's POV:

Yes, I was a true coward. I was right in front of her and still I couldn't tell her that I was in love with her. It was the stupidest thing I had ever done.

"You're not a coward, Yûsuke. I've seen you fight robot monkeys and giant robots" she told me.

"On the battlefield perhaps, but in real life I'm a coward. Brick is brave, not Yûsuke" I responded.

Momoko sighed deeply and looked at me with determination.

"You know what? If Yûsuke is a coward, then Momoko is too. Let's speak the truth once and for all. It's what you wanted, isn't it?" she told me.

I looked at her in surprise.

"Is she talking seriously?" I thought.

"You wanted to know why I went looking for you on your birthday, right? Well here's the truth!" she asked me and closed her eyes.

I saw her take something out of the dresser next to her. I admit I was scared, I had no idea what she was trying to do. I even thought that she was going to kill me. But then I saw that she had a small gift box in her hands and that she held it close to me.

"Happy birthday, Yûsuke-kun!" she exclaimed with a nervous expression and a blushed face.

I couldn't help but blush too. She had really surprised me. She kept her eyes closed, just waiting for me to take the present. I thought about it for a few seconds, I was still in shock. Finally, I took the box and looked at it. I could feel her nervous gaze on me. I still couldn't believe it. I didn't think Momoko was going to give me a gift. I was wondering what was inside.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I thought.

"Wo-won't you open it?" she asked me.

I looked at her again, waking up from my hypnosis. She looked so cute with her flushed cheeks and nervous expression.

"Yes" I affirmed.

Then I looked at the gift again and began to gently open it. I was very surprised by what I saw. At first it was kind of confusing to see just an old-style watch, but when I pulled it out I realized it had a chain. Apparently it was a necklace. Then I noticed that it had a button on the top, so I pressed it. The clock magically opened and revealed a photo inside. I gasped in surprise when I realized it was a picture of me and Momoko.

"Wait! What does this mean?!" I thought, "Is she trying to tell me something with this?"

"What do you think?" she asked me.

"It's-it's" I stuttered, "I'm speechless."

"Do you like it or not?" she growled.

"Y-yes! Of-of course!" I rapidly affirmed, "it's just that- this looks like one of those gifts couples give each other."

"What?!" she blushed, "it's not like that! Best friends give away that kind of stuff too!"

"I don't think we're much like best friends" I scratched my head.

"Yûsuke! Don't be so rude to me! Just take it and get the hell out of here!" she yelled at me and pushed me toward the window.

"Mo-Mo-Momoko, calm down!" I tried to hold on to the edge of the window to keep from falling, "at least let me transform!"

She didn't even listen to me, so I quickly transformed and jumped out the window. She reluctantly closed her window and closed the curtains.

"What the heck is wrong with her?!" I thought.

Anyways, I decided to go home after that. Tomorrow I had to go to school. That's if my parents don't decide to take the day to talk to me and my brothers.

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That's all for today! But we still have some things to solve! What's going to happen now with the Kurosawa family? I hope you enjoyed this three chapters marathon! Watch for your notifications to read the next chapter! Don't forget to vote!