-54-

I feel like I got hit by a truck. What does that even actually feel like?

I open my eyes and wince, light burning my poor babies. I forgot that it is bright out there in the world. Now, what is going on here? Why do I feel like I just got oofed by some noob with a sword in Roblox game? 

"Oh, you're up?" Parad? "Emu went to do something, so he left me in charge of you. Oh, Cronus is looking for you, but he's not going to find you as long as you're hidden down here in the CR." 

CR? Why did they bring me to the CR? Is it because I didn't follow orders? It isn't like I could let the story go down the wrong path. 

I turn my head towards the sound of Parad's voice and my eyes land on his preppy looking face. "Hey," I say, my voice a bit hoarse. "Do we have water down here?" 

"Oh, we do!" He turns away from me and grabs something. "Emu has been bringing things constantly down here. I know we're enemies and all, but that doesn't mean we can't put our differences aside for a moment for you."

I push myself up, sitting up in the bed, and I cough. "What happened again?" It feels like it was a dream, but I know it happened. 

"Hiiro hit you by accident with his attack. We all thought you were going to die." 

So, I can die in this world? That is something I need to avoid moving forward. I'll be sure to do so from now on. I don't think throwing myself between two people needed to be done. Actually, three. Graphite was there.

"And Taiga?" 

"He's not someone you should worry about right now." He turns back to me and holds out a glass. "Drink up."

I take it from him and look down at it. "Parad, about what I said..." 

"Emu told me everything along with Kuroto. You were told to break up with me because of it. I am not happy about what you did, but I can't punish you. My feelings for you may have started on a lie, but I truly do love you."

I look back up at him. "You love me still?" I can't believe this!

How can he love me still after what I did to him? I lied to him just to stay alive! He wasted his time on me because he felt like I was this special being from another world. Of course, I'm pretty special now that I am the one who has to fix this world. 

"I do." He nods. "I'm hurt from what you did, but I understand why you did it. You were afraid of what would happen and you know what? It was a fair thing to do when I threatened you. You played the game better than I did when that happened."

I nod my head. "Right..." 

I bring the cup to my lips, taking a sip of the cool liquid, and I close my eyes. I feel like I've seen better days. Now that Parad knows what is up, I have to assist him in keeping true to his character. Of course, my existence is going to change a few things up. At least I'm not making the storyline get too off course. 

"I'm only allowed down here because of how close we used to be. They wouldn't let me down here otherwise," he tells me and I swallow the liquid in my mouth as I open my eyes back up. "They wanted someone to keep an eye on you. They didn't want Kuroto to do so."

I place the cup between my legs. "Kuroto has caused a lot of trouble."

"I can tell that he has. He is the reason why there is a crazy man trying to kill me," he responds, stepping closer to the side of the bed. "We don't have anyone down here at the moment. Do you need me to get you anything? Should I call Emu?"

"No, I don't want to disturb him while he is working. He will come and see me any moment on his own," I state. I trust him to come and see me when he is ready to. "I don't want to force people to make time for me. Their lives can't always revolve around me."

"Hey, don't say that!" He places a hand on my head gently, touching the top of it. "You're worth spending time on. Elk, you're important to all your friends. Even though he's not the biggest fan of you, Graphite wished for you to get better." 

"Graphite?" That man wants me to get better? For what? To beat me up?

"He cares for you." 

I shake my head. "Really now?" 

"Yeah, he does." He pats me on the head. "You're starting to sound better. You really took a huge hit."

"Hey, she's up!" 

"Emu!" I turn my head as Parad removes his hand from my head. "Hey..." 

He smiles as he moves towards us, looking a bit tired, and I smile back. I know he has been working hard on fixing things. I wonder how everything is going up above. I have no clue how long I've been out of it.

"How are you feeling? You look a lot better now that you're healing up," he asks me, stopping at the end of the bed. 

"I am fine. How's everything up above? Did Taiga make it?" The last time I saw him, he looked brutalized. Graphite showed no mercy to him, which fits for his character. 

Emu looks away from me. "He's fine."

I take a deep breath and release it. "Good."

"Hiiro performed surgery on him. You've been out for a bit recovering," Emu informs me. "Hiiro lost Saki though."

"Saki...is gone?" Hiiro must have returned to our side then, right? He's not working for Masamune and that is definitely going to make our lives harder. 

"I will leave you two be. Emu, I'll see you for our storyline's end," Parad says, telling us that he's getting lost. "Goodbye, Elk." 

"Bye, Parad." I would look at him, but I want to keep my eyes on my boyfriend. "So, am I a target?"

"I'm sure he's going to try getting you infected with the virus. You should stay down here for a bit," he tells me, his eyes returning to me. "Hiiro is doing a lot better right now, so you should be able to act like nothing happened. He was upset he hurt you."

"Kuroto told me to get involved." 

"Kuroto told him that. He knows that this world is messed up and that we need to set it right. Once we finish up the storyline, we can do so. We'll worry about it then, alright?" Emu moves around the end and leans in, placing a hand on my head. "You're so cute right now and I want to spend a few moments with you before I have to do my job some more."

Oh, he's working still? "I see. Wait! Cute?" I shout, my chest aching. "Ow..."

"You should rest up still. You're not in good shape despite looking better. You're going to be sore for quite some time," he tells me, patting me on the head like Parad did before. Of course, his patting is a lot better to have happen to me. "And yes, you're cute."

"No fair..." He's cuter than I am. "So, Taiga is all good?"

"Jennie and Nico are with him as he recovers. He's a tough cookie," Emu says, removing his hand from my head. "He's doing well in his recovery so far and I'm sure he's wondering why Hiiro helped him."

"Can I see him?" 

"Once you're able to go up or he can come down. You're not allowed to move around until I say so," he tells me, placing his butt down beside my leg. "I don't want you to put yourself through too much trouble to get around. You need less stress right now."

"Treating me like a patient, huh?"

"You are one right now." He leans in and places his lips against my forehead. "Elkie, please rest up while you're down here. You're going to be taken care of. Don't worry, I'll be sure to bring you some things to use."

I nod, sighing a bit. "Fine."

"At least you're not pouting. If I could take you home without a problem, I would. I am just worried that Masamune will be on the hunt for you. He's not happy right now and I can tell you that. I'm pretty sure Parad is on his hit list." 

"Parad?" Hit list?

"He wants him eliminated so I can't stop him. I have a plan that might work, but I can't tell you it," he tells me, leaning back in and pressing his lips against mine quickly. "Okay?"

"Emu..." He's not going to tell me his new fancy plan? 

"You're going to be fine, Elkie," he tells me. "I'll check on you soon. Kiriya will be down here to watch you any moment, so please be good to him. He's a good friend to me and I would hate for you two to not get along."

"Oh, we get along. We're good friends already," I reply.

Emu gets up. "Good. I am glad to hear that you two are good friends. I was worried that you two wouldn't be able to get along outside of Genm Corporation." 

"I can't wait to see him again. I hope he is doing what he believes is right still." I trust Kiriya than a lot of people back home. "Emu, thank you for stopping by." I love him so much and I'm glad he cares enough about me to pop in and out.

"I love you," he replies, grinning. "You also don't need to thank me. It is natural for me to want to come and see you down here. You're the only woman for me in this lifetime and the next."

I hope that he'll be that for me as well. I don't need any other man but him. 

A/n: What's this? Another chapter? Noooooo! 

I wasn't originally going to go and post this, but I decided to. :D I was going to save it for next week, but nah. xD You can have another chapter. We're going to have a few chapter break from storyline stuff so we can have some Elk/Emu content (yay) and some Kiriya moments too. 

Thank you for reading and putting up with my random chapter updates.