-22-

"Why are you sitting there like it is the end of the world for you?" Hiiro asks me, placing his cake down on the table. It is sitting on a cute plate, which Poppy probably decided was a good idea to have.

"Because...it is the end of the world for me."

"Did something happen between you and the Intern? Did you two fight over him beating you in a game?" Hiiro questions, not looking interested in me and my problems. 

"We didn't fight over a game, Hiiro. But if you have to know, something did happen between us." 

He picks up a piece of his cake, not using a knife once again. He loves to cut things. He doesn't always cut his cake up, but sometimes he does. 

"If you're trying to get with the Intern romantically, you should be more direct with your approach. If you two keep being so indirect and taking things back, you will never get together. You were so brave with Parad, but you're not being brave with him."

I shake my head. "You're so wrong on that. What I did with Parad wasn't brave at all."

"You lied to his face and acted like you two had history together in another world. Being near someone as dangerous as he is and being able to lie so easily is very brave. I'm honestly amazed that he fell for it with how smart he seems to be."

"So, you want me to go up to Emu and be honest with him about what I want from him?" How would that even work? 

"The Intern isn't going to admit his feelings for you, if he has them, because he doesn't know how to express them without worry over them. He's not sure if you want to be with him or not. But if you need help, I'll gladly help you with getting with him."

"You want to help me with getting with someone? Are you even sure what you're saying right now?" 

"I own his soul with his training right now. I can cancel it and have him do something different."

"What do you even have him doing?" I bet he's making him watch other workers to stuff up there. Hiiro has to be down here in case something happens.

Hiiro looks down at his cake as he pops it into his mouth, taking a bite of his cake. He is just lucky that he's not in punching distance for me right now. I would have to get up and bop him in the face.

He swallows what he has in his mouth and puts the fork down, looking up at me. "I will make the Intern come down here and you two can have alone time with each other. I know you two will like that a lot."

"And how will that help us?"

"I'll come up with something. Do you want to get with the Intern or not? If you're still unsure about him and not over your ex-boyfriend you loved so much, you can just shut up and not take my help."

I know that I want to have something Emu, but does Emu feel the same way? I don't want to engage in a relationship with him if he doesn't know what he wants with me. I'll only be with him if he wants to be with me no matter what. When the truth comes out, I don't want to be dumped.

"If he really likes you, Elkie, he'll stay with you once the truth comes out. I know Parad wouldn't have stayed with you since he is immature and childish. He will probably attempt to kill you the moment he does find out. He's not someone you should have gotten involved with period."

He's not wrong about that at all. He's the type who would try to hurt me since he feels his emotions deeply. He won't admit that, but he does. If he is mad, he fights it out. If he is sad, he'll go and pout.

"I'll go and get the Intern's attention. You stay here."

Hiiro stands up, picking up his plate, and he turns. He's just going to leave me here wondering what is going to happen now? What is his deal?

~.~

"Elkie, are you alright? Hiiro told me that you were feeling sick and I rushed down here as soon as possible!" Emu asks me, touching my head with his hand. "You don't feel warm at all. Did he lie to me to get me to stop doing what I was doing and to have you be watched by me?"

Hiiro managed to get him down here with such a mediocre lie? He really should practice lying. I could come up with something better than that. 

"I'm fine, Emu. I guess that is what he was going for."

He removes his hand from my head and sighs a bit. "I can't believe him. Should I go and yell at him for ditching you? It is rude to do such a thing to someone like you since you're so kind to him when you don't have to be."

"No, that isn't what I want at all! Emu, he sent you down here so we can have a talk with each other!" 

"Why are you shouting at me? Did I do something wrong?" 

Why does he have to be so cute about this? No, he didn't do a thing wrong. I'm just frustrated about things.

I shake my head and grabs his hand, holding it. "You didn't do anything wrong, okay? He only lied to get you down here because I wanted him to. Emu...what do you think of me? As a man, what do you think about me as a woman?"

"What do I think of you as a woman? I think you're pretty and kind. Are you looking for me to answer it in a different way?" He is so lost. "Because I don't know what you're trying to get from me right now."

"Why do you have to be so cute when you're clueless? Emu, I want to know if you have feelings for me or not?" I need to find out now before I waste my time trying to understand if we truly like each other or not.

He gasps. "Oh, that is what you've been disappointed with me about, huh? Well, I do like you a lot. So, yeah, I do have feelings for you. Why are you wondering that? Don't you just want to be friends with me?"

"I thought I did at one point." I release his hand and turn away from him, moving over to the coffee and tea machine. "But things change and feelings change. I know it is too early for me to move on from my ex, since we broke up not too long ago, but spending so much time with you has made me feel so many different things."

He's an amazing guy and I would be honored to have someone like him as my boyfriend. But he has to want me to be his girlfriend in order for him to become my boyfriend. If he doesn't, I'll just be miserable for the rest of my time here.

"That is exactly how I feel, but without the moving on from an ex-boyfriend thing. I have felt so many different things since I met you, Elkie. Anytime I see you smiling, I get butterflies in my stomach." 

I turn to him, looking him in the eyes. He feels the same way I do, but without the ex-boyfriend thing? I mean, I could have guessed the ex-boyfriend part. He has shown no interest in any guys when he is around me. Just ladies.

"When I saw you show up that day, everything changed for me. Maybe not dramatically, but it changed and I don't want you to go home ever," Emu states. He doesn't want me to go home? But don't I have to?

"I don't even want to go home now because of being here has been so amazing." I feel like I'm going to start sobbing and make this moment a mess. "I...I don't want to go home and lose everything I have found here. My world isn't as amazing as yours."

He steps closer to me and he pulls me into his arms, embracing me gently. I close my eyes, sobbing. Yep, crying time. Good job, Elkie! Really, I can't control myself most of the time with how I feel.

"You don't have to go home, right? You can always stay here at my side and help me save lives here at the CR."

I wish I could do that, but I don't think I'm allowed to. Kuroto has made it seem like nothing good will happen at the end of my stay here. I don't know what he is up to, but I hope it isn't like what I am thinking it'll be.

"I'm sorry that I didn't notice how you felt. I really thought you wanted to be friends with me only since you seem like don't want to lose my friendship."

I look up, staring at him. "You don't have to stop being my friend even if we're together, alright? I'm sorry that I made you think a certain way. But...if you think about it, we both did that to each other."

We both were running in circles just to try and avoid this exact moment. I don't know if we were both scared or just worried about what would happen to us. I just know for sure that we both didn't want to upset the other with our feelings and change things between us for the rest of our lives here. 

"It is like that drama I watched with you. I know you didn't really get it, but I did explain it. I'm from another world and have come to yours." I'm not going to tell him the truth right now. I'll wait until I can see his heart completely. 

"Yeah, it is kind of like that."

"Now that you two are finally in love and happy, can you both just stop being on edge all the time with each other? Also, Elkie, wipe your face off. You look like a mess and if you keep crying, you'll mess up his clothes with your tears."

I look over as Hiiro shoves cake into his mouth, staring at us. When in the world did he get here? And why isn't up there still? How can he make fun of me crying right now? I'm was really into the moment before he ruined it.

"Hiiro!" Emu whines, pulling away from me. I love his little t-shirts here wears under his little coat. I love the style of doctors.

"It was a touching moment and I wish I could have recorded it so Poppy could see it."

"Oh, but I did! Poppy was here all along watching!" Poppy exclaims, appearing out of nowhere. Seriously? Did she have to spy on us with Hiiro?

I think that I'm going to have to get used to this from now on. But while I'm getting used to that, I think I need to see what I can do for this world. And in order to do that, I need to speak to Kuroto again without anyone seeing us talk.

I have to save this world for everyone in it and the man I really like.

A/n: I know, not as dramatic as one would hope for a confession. But I really do like how it ended up and it comes off really nicely in my opinion. I wanted a soft and sweet type of confession and I am happy with it. But how will it go once Parad finds out?