-77-

I stare at the nearly empty hallway of the hospital and blink.

Where is everyone located at? It shouldn't be this dead in this hallway. We literally have a ton of people available for rounds. Is there something going on that I should know about? Some sort of meeting perhaps? 

"How is it so freaking dead?" I shake my head. "Where is Emu even located?"

Hiiro told me to be in this hallway to do my rounds this morning, but there is literally nothing going on here. I did all the work already. So, what is it? What is going on that is so much more important than being here in this hallway with me to work? Isn't Hiiro an overachiever? 

"Elkie."

I turn around and jump, my heart pounding as my eyes land on Emu. 

"Oh, did I scare you? Sorry, I didn't mean to," Emu says, holding out his hands towards me. He places them on my arms and smiles. "I thought you were paying attention."

"No, I wasn't paying attention! I was busy wondering where in the world the people working here are at! Emu, is there a meeting?" I am going to forgive him for scaring me since I love him so much.

He shakes his head. "No, that isn't what is going on. How about I show you what is going on, Elk?" 

I raise an eyebrow. "So, there is no staff meeting I forgot?"

"Nope," he responds. "You didn't forget anything, Elkie. Well, kind of."

"What in the world did I forget?" I don't get it.

He removes his hands from my arms and drops down, getting onto one knee. He reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a black box. Is he doing what I think he is doing right now?

"Elkie, I know that we've already discussed this before, but I really want to do this properly," Emu says, eyes going to mine as he holds up the box. "Elkie, I love you so much. And you know what that means?"

I swallow hard, nodding. "Yeah, that you want to spend your life with me." He wants to spend his entire life with me. 

"Yes, that is what I want to do. We've had so many adventures together and I don't want to let go of you ever again. So, that is why I got this box here," he tells me, popping the box open. "Elkie, will you marry me?"

How can he even ask such a stupid question? Is there even a reason besides doing this properly? Do I even need to give him an actual answer? I think the entire universe knows I will marry him without any hesitation.

"You're thinking that I'm dumb for doing this, right?" he asks. Mind reader.

"A bit, but I get why. You have to show off," I respond, laughing. "And you know you're my dumbo. You're smart, but at times you're dumb."

"The entire hospital staff is watching us, so you better give an answer soon. Hiiro really wants some cake." 

"He got another cake?" I shake my head. "That man and his sweets."

"He always wants some more. He literally begged me to let him buy one for it just so he can have some. He is always finding a way to have something sweet to eat. I blame Saki for his need for sweets."

"Hey, give an answer already!" Parad shouts, appearing beside Emu. "I've literally been waiting for so long. I just want to get some cake just like Hiiro does." 

"It seems like the Bugster has spoken," I state, laughing. "Emu, yes, I will marry you. Sorry that someone had to push me to answer sooner than I was planning to."

"We all knew it would be a 'yes', Elkie," Parad comments, once again adding his two-cents to the equation. 

Emu stands up and takes out the ring, grabbing my hand. My eyes stare at the ring, which is a simple silver band, and I smile. It is perfect for us. Our relationship is complicated, but so simple to understand. It is complicated because I'm not from this world and we had to deal with the threat of so many different things.

Emu slides the ring onto my finger and leans in towards me. I place my lips against his, kissing him before he can kiss me, and his eyes go wide. I close my eyes as he moves a hand to my cheek, cupping it softly.

"Congratulations!" Jennie's voice exclaims.

"Yes, congrats!" Kiriya.

"I am so happy for you," Taiga's voice says, sounding less than thrilled. Seems legit.

I open my eyes and pull back from Emu, looking around us as our friends and staff surround us. Hiiro moves forward, holding a box in his hands, and he looks at Emu. Yeah, he's definitely happy somewhere inside his Hiiro head. 

"Congratulations, Emu," he says. "I wish I could call you my Intern, but you're not one any longer. You're just a doctor now." 

I laugh and put an arm around Emu, pulling him closer to me. "He's mine. All mine now, Hiiro. Perhaps you can have Kiriya."

"Nope, I'm my own," Kiriya says, chuckling. "Hey, are we going to head to the break room soon? I really want to have some cake. Oh, Parad, did you invite that girl you're into?" 

"I invited her, but she's running late," Parad answers. "She'll be happy to know she missed the important part of this."

"Hey, is this the right floor? It must be if you're here," a voice says and I turn my head, eyes landing on Sakura as she comes to a stop with a bag in her right hand. She holds up the silver bag and grins. "Hey, congratulations! I got this at the gift shop."

"Sakura!" Parad exclaims.

"Hey, where is Kuroto and Poppy?" I ask curiously.

"CR. They're keeping an eye on things for us," Kiriya tells me. "We didn't want to have something popping up in the middle. I think Saiko is down there as well to monitor things for us as well. She said she would call if they needed anything."

"Kuroto gives his blessing," Parad tells me as he moves to Sakura's side. "Sakura, I'm so glad that you came here to see my friends officially get engaged. They've been together for a real long time. They had a long distance relationship for a bit."

That long distance relationship was without contact too. It is amazing how long we've been together. Despite being apart, we never considered ourselves available to the world. Wait a second! Where in the world is my friend Walter at?

"What's wrong?" Parad asks me, looking a bit concerned as he stares at me. "Did you forget something?"

"What is Walter up to?" I turn to Hiiro.

"Working. He couldn't get off. He found a job at some fancy restaurant that needed an English speaker. He's working to find better, but he's enjoying it so far," Hiiro answers as a woman goes to his side. "And this is Saki, the woman I will marry eventually."

My eyes go to the woman beside him, taking her in all the way as she smiles softly at me and Emu. She looks cute and soft. Her hair is nice and neat compared to how mine probably looks right now. I kind of rushed here to work because Hiiro told me how important it was to be here on time. It turns out he just wanted me here to be proposed to. How neat.

"Hello," Saki says. "Congratulations, Elkie and Emu."

"Both starts with the letter 'E'." Parad is being so obvious right now. "Hey, Sakura, would you like some of the cake that Hiiro is holding? Once we get to the break room, you can have some. Hiiro and Saki picked out the cake for this special occasion."

Jennie moves around Hiiro and Saki, approaching me. "It is so great to see you moving up in the world!" she exclaims, giggling. "Just like me and Taiga. We're very happy together and it is about time you be happy together with Emu."

I grin, nodding. "It is. Isn't it amazing that this is happening to us right now?"

I know I have no way to tell my family about this, but I'm sure they know I'm happy. I think they can feel it. In this world, I will always be happy as long as Emu is at my side along with my friends. We're going to build a wonderful life here together.

"I love Elkie a lot," Emu tells Jennie. "I am going to take good care of her and she's going to take good care of me."

"In order for her to do that, I got her a gift," Jennie says, turning a bit to her purse. She reaches into it and pulls out a book, which looks like a cooking book. "This is to help her make you good meals when she has free time. Do not eat tons of fast food." She turns to us, holding it out.

I take the book from her and laugh. "You know us so well."

"Eating out is bad for your body. It clogs up your arteries and causes heart issues. So, to prevent that, you better cook ahead of time and freeze your meals. That way you can pop them into the microwave and then eat." Jennie is really good at this kind of thing now isn't she? "It is what Taiga does now that we both have fun working together."

"I am not gong to come home and cook when I work for long hours. Also, Nico gives her blessings too. She, however, did not get a gift for you guys. She said something about how Emu already has enough gifts." 

I turn to Emu and he turns to me, grinning and laughing. 

"He does," Jennie says, agreeing with Nico's opinion on the matter. "He got the greatest gift when Elkie came back to Japan."

"Elkie did too," Emu states, smiling even wider. "She got to have me back officially."

When I left this world, I thought I never would see Emu again. I mean, I believed there was a slight chance we could meet again somehow. I mean, I always thought about it. Maybe I didn't believe it truly, but I did occasionally think about it.

"So, are we going to have some cake or not?" Hiiro asks.

"Sure, let's have some cake," I say, looking at Hiiro and Saki. "Come on. Once we have a piece, we have to get back to work."

We can't put off work for forever.

~.~

I place down my bag and sigh heavily.

After becoming officially Emu's fiancee, I finished my work day after having some delicious cake. The cake was a chocolate cake with delicious frosting of some sort. Hiiro wouldn't give out what flavor of frosting it was, but I'm sure it was the standard kind. That little piece of crap better tell me what it is next time because I decided him and Saki can help with the wedding.

Parad appears in front of me, dropping to the ground. "I still can't tell her!" he exclaims, being dramatic about the entire thing. He really should just confess.

"You haven't told her yet?" I ask, shutting the door behind me. "And before you ask, Emu is working late tonight." I was going to do the smexy with him, but that isn't happening tonight. Unfortunate for me.

He sits up and nods his head. "Yeah, I haven't told her yet. I was going to earlier, but I chickened out at the last second. I didn't want to crush her since it is a big deal that I'm a Bugster, Elkie. You know that most people hate me, right? It is because my people infect humans."

I move closer to him and place my hand on his shoulder, staring up at his eyes. "Parad, you just have to be brave sometimes. You saved the world by giving up your life. You're truly a brave person on the inside."

He looks away from my eyes and nods slowly. "Yeah, perhaps I am brave at times..."

"No, all the time. You just don't know it." 

He looks back at me. "How come you were brave enough to give up this world? How did you find it in you to give up Emu?"

"Because it was the right thing to do," I answer, being honest with him. "I couldn't sacrifice the world just for me to be happy. It isn't okay to sacrifice people for your own selfish happiness, Parad. I learned that."

"Yeah, dating me must have taught you so much."

"It really did. You taught me a lot by being my Bugster boyfriend." And my friends taught me a lot. "Even my love for Emu taught me so much. Emu is so pure."

"He is really is pure. Okay, the next time I see her, I'll confess to her. Can you be there though? For emotional support in case I get rejected?" Parad asks me.

I sigh, shaking my head. "You're really going to make me join you, huh? We're a sinking ship it seems."

"That we are." 

"I will be there as your emotional support," I tell him. "But just know this, she's not going to reject you. You're a sweet heart and you're wanting to help the world. Who is going to reject someone who wants to help others and be there for them?"

"It happens. It is called the friend zone." 

I laugh. "Yeah, I guess that is what that is."

He rolls his pretty eyes. "How about we go game now? Then I'll ask Sakura to come by the hospital and confess to her at the bench."

"Why outside?" I raise an eyebrow as he stares at me with a smile on his face. "What?"

"It is so she doesn't pass out when I tell her about it," he tells me. "Duh."

"Right. Okay, let's get gaming now, Bugster Boy."

We have a long night ahead of us. Well, I do. I want my man to come home and be all mine right now.

A/n: I could have made the engagement a lot more flashy, but I don't think that it is their relationship style. They've been through a lot and just want to cross that finish line together. Simple, but complicated.

I am nearly done writing this story (I have to finish the last two chapters). The second to last chapter is the wedding, which I won't do an entire wedding thing for most likely. I do not want to bore everyone with a long wedding, so it won't be super long. It'll be a cute chapter for sure.

The last chapter will be epilogue and has a little surprise for you all (nothing huge, just a surprise that ties into this story and its storyline). I hope you're looking forward to it and can't wait to read it! I can't wait for you to get to it.

Thank you for reading and I know the update is out before the Memory Void one (still editing it up and what not). I will post the chapter soon for those who read that. For now, enjoy this one. I can't believe we're close to the end. :')

See you soon!

Ps: I apologize for any typos, I did type this quicker than I originally planned. I got carried away writing this. Sorry!