For days upon days, I didn't move an inch from my bed. My food and studying materials were all delivered to me by Haruto. To my surprise, I ended up receiving many 'get better soon' presents. Not from different people, of course. They all came from Kaoru.

He was rather unconventional with his presents. I was running out of space in my bedroom as Kaoru insisted on sending me tremendous amounts of those blue snowbells I was so captivated by. It got to a ridiculous point where I had to ask Haruto to start burning the flowers he sent. It was a wasteful thing to do, but I was getting tired of these 'loving' antics.

Ironically enough, my own father did not come to visit me even once. He was perplexed about my current state of wellbeing, but not too concerned, considering he didn't even attempt to delve deeper into the matter. In any case, I didn't want to draw an ounce of suspicion to myself. So, I convinced Haruto to lie for me.

"Please Haruto, I'll never be trusted to leave the house ever again. Not even with you!"

I was grovelling on the forest floor before Haruto. You could say I was practically begging on my knees.

The shift of power between us made Haruto visibly uncomfortable. You could see it in his eyes. He hated being the one having the upper hand in this scenario. Power could be troubling when the decision you had to make could potentially ruin the lives of others.

Haruto crossed his arms and averted his eyes in frustration. "And how do you suppose we deal with Sanada-san?"

Truthfully, I had no idea what we should do. I would say fire him, but something told me he was far more dangerous than he let on. Perhaps surveillance was necessary on such a tenacious pest.

He also had a lot of information on my mother. Therefore, I might need him to learn more about her someday.

I guess that left me with only one option. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"We do nothing."

Haruto stood there flabbergasted. He didn't want to adhere to my wish. But he knew it was futile to argue. I won't deter from my decision.

Taking a spoonful of the creamy broth, I gulped down all of the vegetables. It was nice to admire the skyline from the comfort of my own bed. A view like this isn't something you're always that lucky to have.

I had sunk further into my bed and wrapped the silky rose-coloured sheets around my body. I felt like I was rolling myself up in a taffy wrapper. I didn't want to leave my bed. I was practically stuck to it.

Taking great pleasure at the moment, I closed my eyes in pure bliss.

""

Not even sleep was safe for me anymore. The darkness only reminded me of that voice. In a panic, I broke out into a hot sweat and clumsily spilt the contents of the soup all over my bed.

I let out a high-pitched scream. The piping hot broth had burned my skin. I hated making a big scene about something so trifle, but I had only reacted out of impulse. Haruto is probably going to come rushing in now and worry about me.

Sure enough, he played exactly into those expectations.

Haruto came barging through the door in a feral frenzy. "MISS! ARE YOU OKAY?"

He quickly seized the arm I was desperately clutching onto. I tried my best to put on a fake smile to reassure him I was okay. But even an idiot could tell I was faking it.

"Come, let's run your arm under some cold water. I'll clean this mess up afterwards."

Complying with Haruto, I stood up from my bed. What I didn't expect, was to be princess carried by Haruto.

"K-KUROSAWA-SAN! IT'S ONLY MY ARM THAT'S BURNT, NOT MY LEGS!" I anxiously stuttered.

Haruto made no attempt to respond to me. Maybe not responding was some kind of sneaky tactic of his. Perhaps he knows that I'll feel bad if I keep shouting at him to stop. I would look like a brat berating him for something so trivial as to carry someone.

Heh. Well played Haruto, I guess this is checkmate for me.

When we reached the washroom, I was let down to stand. Looking towards Haruto, I wasn't sure what to say. Perhaps 'Thank you?' I didn't exactly to be carried here. But it was the most respectful thing to say.

Just as I mustered up the words, I quickly stopped myself from saying them. Why was he blushing?

I don't think I've ever seen him blush before. It almost made him look 'normal'? That might sound like an insult, but I don't mean it like that. It's just Haruto has always been closer to that of an emotionless android than a human being.

I was far too deep in thought, that I didn't even notice him washing my arm under the sink. I could only focus on one thing.

WHY WAS HE BLUSHING?

Was washing one's arm arousing? I know social norms are different here, but that's just too odd for my liking. I needed an answer, so I foolishly blurted out the one thing I could think of.

"Why are you blushing?"

Haruto raised his eyebrows in response. It was clear as day from the shock in his eyes, he didn't expect me to address the elephant in the room.

"It's... it's warm in here."

Liar! It's cold!

"I'm... I'm going to turn around and let you... eh..." he trailed off.

I was still puzzled about what he was saying. That was until it clicked with me. I needed to change.

...

So that's what this was all about. He should really have just come out with it. But realistically, couldn't he have just left the room while I changed?

After taking my nightgown off, an idea popped into my head. Deciding to be a minx, I toyed with him.

"Pervert."

In an instant, a tomato faced Haruto turned around to defend himself.

"NO! YOU'RE MISTAKEN!"

Do you ever just wish the ground could swallow you up? At that moment I did. I wished for it a thousand times. It didn't even register with me that there was a chance of Haruto turning around to unwittingly catch a glimpse of my naked body.

Neither of us said a word. This is the moment where the girl typically slaps the guy for looking, right? Even if I wanted to play along with that overdone cliche, I couldn't.

Feeling embarrassed, I just continued changing into one of the flowing dresses that were in here. I couldn't help it, my brain told me to get changed as quickly as possible.

Agh! I even made eye contact with him as I changed! Can you believe that?

Not that Haruto is any less guilty as I am. He just kept staring at me for the entirety of it. I could pass it off as him being frozen and not knowing what to do... but I think his mind was running rampant with thoughts of trying to control himself.

We didn't say a word as we left the washroom. I hung my head in shame. I didn't know what kind of appropriate ice breaker would be called for in this type of situation. I expected that we would return to my bedroom in complete silence. But that wasn't the case.

In the blink of an eye, Haruto pushed me behind him. I was unsure of how to react and why he would do this. But as I poked my head around his shoulder, the answers to my questions were made abundantly clear.

"Hello Miss Uchida. Kurosawa-san."

S...Sanada-san? I didn't expect him to have the guts to show up so soon.

"Why are you here?" Haruto said threateningly.

"I didn't get the opportunity to uphold my end of the bargain to Miss Uchida. Therefore, I came here to deliver something."

As I stepped aside, I got a better visual of the item in Sanada-san's hand. It was a jewellery box. Could this have belonged to my mother? But why would he have this? More importantly, what does this mean their relationship was like?

Before I could interject in the deadlock, Haruto piped up in my place. "I suggest you leave her alone."

"I'm afraid that's not feasible. You see, I'm not going anywhere. And if you speak of any of this with her father, then I'll see to it that you've disposed of."

'Disposed of'? He... He doesn't mean 'kill', right?

I knew I had to act quickly before the tension got worse. If I didn't, I fear someone will lash out.

Outstretching a hand behind Haruto, I motioned for Sanada-san to handover the box.

"We're not bringing my father into this. My business lies solely with you" I calmly proclaimed.

He handed over the box to me with ease and smiled. "Clever girl. We will resume our lessons as usual next week."

And like that, he walked away. Haruto's eyes didn't leave him until the pest was fully out of sight. I too felt uneasy in making merry with him, but I wanted to learn more about my mother. It's a shame that my only lead must come from such a detestable man.

I suppose I should make do with this gift and open the box. But in doing so, I was greeted with a surprise. There was a photograph among various pieces of jewellery.

The photo itself was strikingly familiar to me. In it, you could see my mother who strongly resembled that statue I saw prior. But I'd argue that the statue didn't capture nearly enough of her beauty as the photograph did. But besides that, my focus was drawn to the action of my mother. There she sat cradling me in her arms. And right beside her stood my father, smiling albeit. I don't think I've ever seen my father that happy before.

I decided to flip the photograph around to fully inspect. And wouldn't you know, there was writing on the back. 'I'm sorry for leaving you my darling'.