-19-

Hiiro lifts his work up to his mouth, eating another piece of cake. Like he needs to eat two cakes in such a short period of time. Also, who gave him the right to after ruining my morning with Emu? We were having such an amazing time together.

He puts the fork down and swallows, eyes going to me. "You look down. Did I ruin your day somehow?"

I glare. "How would you feel if someone called you while you were eating cake with someone? And that someone happens to be a good friend to you? Huh? What do you think I'm feeling right now? Joy?"

"You should be happy that you're not spending time with him."

"Why would I be happy about that?"

"So you can think about how you're going to save the world while he works on improving himself. He has to prove that he is a capable doctor," Hiiro answer, looking back down at his cake. 

"Emu is already capable of a lot of things and you know that." He's smart and kind. Sure, he's not as bright as Hiiro and Taiga, but that doesn't matter. He's himself and I like that a lot about him.

Emu is going to be an amazing doctor one day and Hiiro knows it. I bet he's just jealous that Emu is empathic and caring compared to him. Hiiro needs to relax and figure out if he wants to truly help people with a mopey face or not. It wouldn't kill him to smile more, right? 

"You're suddenly very defensive over the Intern. Are you already moving on from your ex-boyfriend?" Hiiro asks, not even looking at me. He picks up his fork and puts it into the cake, cutting it with the side of it. "We ran out of knives somehow."

I look away. "Oh...we did?" That might have been me. I was using them for tossing them at a picture of Hiiro. They were plastic, but they were all I had. I don't have actual knives. 

"I wonder where they went to. You will have to go out with the Intern at some point and get more. This time I'll make sure they won't go missing." He's not happy he doesn't have a precious knife. He should have cleaned the regular ones. It isn't like we need the plastic ones. It is wasteful.

"I'm going to pour myself some tea." I stand up and turn to the tea maker. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Answer the question about if you're moving from your ex or not."

I turn to him, forcing a smile onto my face. "I am not moving on from anybody. I'm just hanging out with him as a friend. Okay? AS A FRIEND!" I had to shout that last part. Emu has been clear with me that we're just good friends and nothing we do is romantic.

"That seems like pretty strong denial." He puts the fork into his mouth and chews, closing his eyes. Seems like pretty strong denial? Yeah, sure it is!

There isn't a thing going on between me and Emu. We're just close friends and nothing more. Sure, we got drunk together and sang songs. But that doesn't mean there is romance in the air for us. 

"What did you two even do last night together? You were shopping, right?"

"Right." I nod. "Did you see my new outfit?"

"Seems like an outfit a girl would get to impress a cute guy they like. Are you trying to impress the Intern?" Hiiro is so out to get me right now!

"No way!" I shake my head. "Emu's my friend, okay? Just like how you're my friend."

Emu is really cute, but we're not into each other romantically. Besides, he's not the kind of guy who wants to date someone like me. He's definitely going to find a woman who is breathtakingly beautiful and great at something.

What kind of girl does Emu even like? Does she like to wear pink and be girly? Or is she into gaming and reading medical books to learn more about what his world is like? Now I'm curious about him.

"I am back from fetching your clipboard you left in your office, Hiiro!" Emu shouts, feet rushing down the stairs. "Oh, you're still here, Elk?"

I look at him and point to the tea maker, which can also make coffee if I wanted it to. "Yes, I'm still here. Someone wouldn't let me leave." My eyes go to Hiiro, narrowing into the best glare possible. I can't see my face, but I know my glare is the best.

"Someone is being like you when you have a tough round in a game, Emu." Hiiro is basically calling me salty right now, right? "Thanks for fetching it. I have a lot to do tomorrow, so you will handle anything I need handled down here."

Emu places the clipboard down next to Hiiro. "I didn't read it because I didn't care for it and I know about hospital policies and what not. Just don't leave it behind ever again," Emu tells him and he looks at me. I doubt Hiiro left it behind on accident. 

"You want something to drink?" I have no idea why he's looking at me and what he wants from me. 

"I'm good." He smiles. 

I smile back and nod. "Alright."

"Get a room." Hiiro stands up. "I'm done with my cake now and I'm going to head up. I'm going to talk to my father and be right back done. Poppy is inside her game right now and I think that means you shouldn't disturb her. I wasn't listening to her when she was talking to me." He was probably thinking about the one thing he loves so much: sweets.

"Okay, bye." I am not going to miss him.

"Yeah, bye." Emu feels the same. I can tell.

Hiiro nods his head. "Whatever you two say," he says, turning away from us with his things and heading away quickly.

I turn to the tea thing and pick up a cup. "Can you get me some water?" 

"I can do that."

Emu moves beside me and I look at him as he removes the thing from the machine. I would remember the name of it, but I'm too focused on his side profile. Has he always looked this adorable when doing something?

"Was he mean to you at all while I was away?"

"No." I look back at the stuff. 

"That is good." He lifts the top of the machine up and pours the water into it, eyes on it to monitor it properly. "I was worried that he would be with how long we took to get here. I didn't expect him to make me do errands."

"I'm sorry that he made you do errands." It is kind of my fault. Hiiro is messing with Emu to punish him for being out too long with me. "Hey, I know this is random, but what kind of woman do you want? You know, as a girlfriend?"

"That is kind of random, but understandable to ask at some point. I did ask you about your love life before." He puts the thing down back where it is should go and picks up one of the k-cups. "I think I want someone who compliments me very well. I do like beautiful women, but I'm sure most people like beautiful things. Like you. You like beautiful things as well, right?"

"I do." I understand what means. Just because you like beautiful things doesn't mean you will end up wanting to be with something beautiful on the outside. 

"I just want someone who works well with me and has her own appeal." He pops the cup in and closes it. "There, start it up."

I press the start button and turn to him fully, smiling. "Thank you."

He looks at me, laughing a little. "I don't need a thank you for doing this. You did most of the work just by standing there." Now he's just being nice to me since he did all the work and doesn't want me to feel bad about it.

"Do you enjoy your job?" 

"I enjoy it a lot." He looks away from me as the machine starts filling up the pitcher thing. I still can't think of the name for whatever reason. It is like when I'm around Emu, I'm dumb all of a sudden. Not like I was that brilliant before.

"I'm glad that you found something you enjoy." I wish I could find something that I enjoy other than being in this world. At least I'm not Kuroto's target at all. I was worried about that for the longest period of time.

"You seem kind of bummed. I think you want to find something you enjoy, right? Don't worry, you will for sure." 

I look back at his face. "Are you sure about that?"

"I am sure about that. How about the CR? You love being here don't you?"

"I guess I do love being here with you all. You keep me entertained with Hiiro and Poppy. Also, the Director is really kind." I hope Hiiro's father is doing well. I haven't seen him that much lately.

"Does being here remind you of being with your ex-boyfriend at all?"

I shake my head as I look down at the machine. "No, it doesn't. He doesn't work in the medical field, but a different line of work. I think he is a model possibly, so he was out of my league to begin with." I can't say he's a Bugster for a job. 

"He's not out of your league. You're a great catch." 

"Sure." Kuroto made me lose my relationship and I feel like punching him for doing so. I wasn't ready to end things with Parad.

"You really are. I wouldn't mind dating someone like you, but we are friends so it wouldn't be with each other," Emu says, laughing a little. Well, I know that we'll never date now. I think he just put me in the friend zone. 

"Ah, right." That is disappointing.

"Did I say something wrong?" His face drops. 

I shake my head. "N-no, it isn't you. It is me." I pick up the pitcher and hold it over my cup, pouring it into my cup. I feel sad now for some reason. Why am I feeling so bad for him doing that me?

"Are you sure about that? I feel like I did something wrong by mistake. Elkie, I didn't mean to upset you with that. It isn't like I'm saying you're not someone worth dating." 

"I get what you mean." That I'm just a friend and will stay a friend. "It's cool that you think that and I will let you think that since I think that as well. Besides, I am still into my ex-boyfriend."

"Elkie..."

I stop pouring and sigh heavily. "We're just friends."

It isn't like we're ever going to be anything more with each other. Once I leave this world, I won't be able to be happy thinking about things here and how they were. I'm happy I'm getting a chance to live here and be with all these people I love on the show. 

"R-right." 

I put the pitcher back in its spot and turn to him, looking him in the eyes. "And we're happy just being friends, right? Why ruin something that is fine the way it is?"

I don't know what we did out together while we were drunk, but I'm sure it wasn't anything bad. I'm not going to worry about it that much. He's not the kind of guy who would be impulsive drunk and I'm too shy of a woman to be brave while drunk.

"Uh...right." He doesn't seem so convinced. Does he want to be something more with me? Men are confusing sometimes.

"Emu..." He looks just so cute right now with how soft he looks. He seems like he is troubled about something, but I don't to intrude on his feelings right now. He deserves some privacy. 

"Do...you want to hang out after we leave this place? I know you're chilling at my place a lot, but I mean...you..." He looks away, face turning a bit red. Aw...

"Yes, that would be nice. Why are you asking me that suddenly?" I feel a bit more hopeful now that we can try and get on the same page without misunderstandings. Maybe.

He shrugs his shoulders, not looking at me still. "I...I just want to get to know you better. You're still a mystery to me."

"Ah..." That is so true. "Right. I am a mystery to you still, huh? Sure, let's hang out and get to know each other really well." Without telling the truth about my origins though. I will him who I am one day for sure. 

He looks back at me and nods, grinning. "Alright, let's hang out later. No drinking though." 

"Right, no drinking. Lesson learned." I still want to know what we did before ending up like that on his bed.

Did we do something we shouldn't have? I can't remember for the life of me. It had to be something though. Maybe not something important, but something somewhat relevant to how we got into bed together. 

"I'm back."

Great. That stupid cold doctor is back! I'm going to die before I go out with Emu later!

A/n: And here's the update after dinner! I'll update more later (my hands and back need a bit of a break). However, I'll address what they did together soon. I want to keep it a secret for a bit longer so you all can keep guessing.

Thanks for reading the billion chapters I put out today. I know it is a lot, but I hope you are all enjoying it. Which way do you think this story is going? What guesses do you have about what is going to happen? 

Maybe you will guess it right ;)