60 Chapter 60 Promise me to get better!

Today was the early morning of the 8th of June, a Sunday and something unusual was happening in the Soteria unit headquarters of District 4, it was going to happen on the 4th floor to be precise and it all started with the opening of the elevator doors...

"Good thing, that on Sunday mornings people clock in a bit later..." Emiko, that was wearing her usual wool sweater, long high-waist skirt, and shawl that draped around her shoulders, said as she got out of the elevator and looked to all sides making sure that no one was inside the various office cubicles of the 4th floor of the Soteria headquarters.

And this was what made Emiko's presence unusual, as it was something weird for any employee of the Soteria, to come to work early on Sunday.

"Very well then..." Emiko thought as she gave one last look around before she began to walk towards her office, which was rather close to Yumeko's and once she got close to it, Emiko looked at the wooden door, with an opaque window that had "Vice-lieutenant Munesuki" written on it.

Something that Emiko looked at for a bit in silence, before placing her hand on the door's handle.

"As if I deserve, this kind of title..." Emiko said with a sad tone, as she opened the door and looked at her office which looked more or less like Yumeko's but the shelves were on the left side and the metal drawers were on the right side but despite that, they looked pretty much the same.

Even the desk and chair were identical there was only one thing that made it possible to differentiate them and it was the framed front page journal articles on the walls of cases that Emiko solved together with Yumeko during their time as interns in the Soteria.

"Let's see then...I'll have to pack up the framed pictures of Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan that are on my desk, take the lollipop bags that are in the drawer behind my desk, the notes for the next classes. And after that, I just have to take and sort out a few documents for Yumeko-chan and I'm all done..."

Emiko said as she used her fingers to count the things she had to do in her office and as soon as she finished, Emiko went behind the desk and drew a magic circle with her right hand from where she took out a small handbag that she placed on top of the desk, she then proceeded to open the top drawer that had a few notebooks, that Emiko took out of it and placed them inside her handbag.

"These are all of my notes for the next few classes...now next is..." As Emiko said this she closed the top drawer that had the notebooks and opened the bottom one, which had several bags of lollipops with different flavors.

"I always buy too many of these, don't I?" Emiko said as she briefly smiled while she took the lollipop bags out of the drawer and put them in her handbag.

"Now the last thing to put in the bag..." As Emiko said this she closed the lollipop drawer and looked at the 3 framed pictures on top of her desk, one frame had a picture of Naoki, with her arms crossed and Miyubi standing next to her while she smiled, the other frame had a picture of Naoki and Miyubi giving peace signs with Emiko standing behind them smiling.

"Honestly, I can never get enough of these two angels..." Emiko said with a happy tone, as she grabbed the frames with the pictures of Naoki and Miyubi and put them inside her handbag while she smiled, but it didn't last long, as Emiko grabbed the last frame that had a rather old photo in it, but even though it was old, it looked fairly new and on that framed picture was Yumeko with her arms crossed.

And Emiko with her hands resting on top of each other and they were both wearing her Misaiko school uniforms, with the Soteria armbands on and a banner reading congratulations over them and for a moment Emiko looked at this picture in complete silence.

"This...takes me back...we took it after we graduated and became full-time agents, here in the Soteria..." Emiko said with a happy tone, as she smiled a bit.

"Honestly Yumeko-chan changed quite a lot...well at least she doesn't look like a delinquent anymore..." Emiko said as she looked at Yumeko in the picture that even back then she always had her hair tied into a ponytail but something that stood out was her loose school uniform and long school skirt that covered her legs completely, leaving only her shoes visible, something that made her look like a delinquent girl.

"I wish...I could say the same about me, I didn't change a bit, to be honest..." Emiko said with a sad tone, as she let out a sigh while she looked at the picture and saw her old self, but make no mistake, it was Emiko in the picture but, her expression, her look, and her aura was completely different if we had to describe it, she looked both like an aloof girl and someone you shouldn't mess with, if you valued your life just a little bit.

"What do you mean by "I didn't change a bit"? You changed way too much, compared to our time in Misaiko!" A joking voice said this to Emiko and when she looked forward to seeing who it was, she saw Yumeko, that had her hair tied into a ponytail and wearing her usual business suit while she leaned on the door with her arms crossed.

"Y-Yumeko-chan! What are you doing here?" Emiko asked with a surprised and curious tone, as she looked at Yumeko.

"Well, I had to come and pick up a few things I need from my office...but to be completely honest, I came here to see you, after all, whenever you're suspended you come to pick some things from your office, while no one's around...so I was bound to catch you..." Yumeko said as she stooped leaning on the door and entered Emiko's office.

"Emiko...you know that you don't need to come here and pick your things in secret like this, right?" Yumeko asked as she got close to Emiko.

"I know that Yumeko-chan, but it's a bit embarrassing to come and get my things while everyone's around..." Emiko said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away from Yumeko.

"Come on now, Emiko, every time you do this it feels like you just got fired or something! No one besides me and Captain Terima know the real reason why you got suspended, so it's alright to get your things normaly..." Yumeko said while she placed her hands on her hips and let out a sigh.

"I know...but it feels wrong to lie to everyone about the reason why I have to suspend my activities here, in the Soteria...especially to Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan...I might as well just be fired once and for all after what I have done..." Emiko said with a rather sad tone, as she placed the frame she was holding inside her handbag.

"Emiko, please don't say that, it's..." As Yumeko said this she was interrupted by Emiko,

"Yumeko, I know...I know that this was the last straw for Captain Terima...I know that if it wasn't for you talking with her, I would have been kicked out of the Soteria for sure this time..." Emiko said as she looked a bit down and the bangs of her hair began to cover her eyes.

"After you talked with Captain Terima the other day...she called me to her office, to tell me I was going to be suspended...I wasn't surprised or anything, after all, it was to be expected after what I did...but what made it worse was the sad and depressing look she gave me while we talked...I...I didn't hear half of what she told me during our talk...looks like...I finally did it, Yumeko...I finally made Captain Terima lose all respect she had for me...I failed as a Soteria agent..." Emiko said with a sad tone as she looked down at her handbag and water drops began to fall on it.

"Honestly, if Mitsuyo-senpai was here...she would give me the same look and I deserve it...she wasted so much time and effort to train me into a proper agent and this is what I give in return as thanks...I become an uncontrollable, hot-headed idiot that acts before thinking of the consequences...and that can't keep still and do her job right..." Emiko said with a sad tone as she sobbed and tears kept falling from her eyes.

"Looks like Emiko finally hit reality, after having talked with Terima and thinking about what she did...I...I should have talked with her right after it, but I had so many reports to take care of...the fact that Michiko agreed to move in with me and get her documents ready...I just couldn't get a break to talk to Emiko and I had to leave her alone with her thoughts for two days...and I call myself her friend..." Yumeko thought as she looked down then at Emiko, that began to clean her tears a bit, with her sleeves.

"I...I don't deserve anything...I don't deserve my rank in the Soteria, I don't deserve the respect and praise I get from our co-workers, I don't deserve to be Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan's supervisor nor do I deserve their respect...but most of all...I don't deserve your friendship or kindness when all I do is causing trouble..." Emiko said as she kept cleaning her tears and a long silence filled the room for a bit.

"Just what kind of nonsense, are you spouting there, Emiko?" Yumeko asked while she walked towards Emiko and let out a sigh.

"Listen, I know that if it wasn't for what happened to Mitsuyo-senpai, you would never do these kinds of things, that's just not the type of person you are and I won't shame you for what happened, because you had a strong reason, but even with a reason...it still was wrong of you to do something like that...but at least you admit that you did wrong and you feel bad about it, this just proves to me that the "Emiko" that both I and Captain Terima know, love and care about is still here..." Yumeko said as she made a small pause, as she was finally, in front of Emiko.

"You're a good Soteria agent, no, your one of the best we have and you worked hard to deserve this spot, to deserve the respect you get from everyone, so don't go saying that you don't deserve anything..." Yumeko said with a comforting tone, as she gently hugged Emiko.

"Yumeko...I can't believe that even after all this...after doing so many mistakes, after those things I said to you the other day...your still willing to trust and keep being my friend...I...I don't deserve this, especially from you..." Emiko said with a sad tone as she looked a bit away from Yumeko.

"That's just the way I am, Emiko, I can't be angry at someone that despite making mistakes, does them with the objective in mind of keeping the people she likes safe and even if it was something you shouldn't have done, you feel bad for it in the end...that's why I refuse to abandon you and that's why I do all of this...because there's still good in you and I want to have you back the way you were..." Yumeko said with a comforting tone, while she hugged Emiko a bit tighter and smiled.

"Y-Yumeko..." Emiko said with a faintly embarrassed tone while she blushed and hugged Yumeko back and they would stay like this for a while in silence...

"I...never thought that you would go so far for me after everything that's happened..." Emiko said with an embarrassed tone as she stooped hugging Yumeko.

"But of course I would! Your still my friend and I will always be here to always help you with whatever you need!" Yumeko said with a confident and determined tone as smiled, while she stooped hugging Emiko, something that made Emiko laugh.

"Honestly, Yumeko-chan...if my high school self and I met again and I told her we became friends, she would probably dropkick me out of a window..." Emiko said as she kept laughing, something that made Yumeko blush.

"Your lucky, Emiko! If I told my high school self, that I became friends with you, she would do all types of suplex known to man to me, before throwing me out of a window..." Yumeko said as she also began to laugh and soon enough Emiko's office filled with both of their laughs, as both Yumeko and Emiko remembered her very rocky relationship when they first became high schoolers and Soteria interns, and so after they finally calmed down with the laughs...

"And if Mitsuyo-senpai saw that we became such great friends..." As Emiko said this, she and Yumeko smiled.

"She would cry tears of joy while hugging and telling us that drinks and food were on her, next time we went out!" Both Yumeko and Emiko said at the same time as they smiled and remembered the woman that was once their lieutenant and mentor in the Soteria unit.

"Not just that...she would probably throw some fireworks and make a party here in our office if she saw that..." Yumeko said with a happy tone as she smiled.

"Not going to lie, she would do that without a second thought..." Emiko said as she also smiled.

"I'm really happy, that your giving me another chance after everything I did and told you, Yumeko...honestly I don't think there's a way I can thank you for this..." Emiko said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she looked down.

"Actually, there's is a way you can thank me for this..." As Yumeko said this she scratched her cheek with her index finger while Emiko gave her a rater curious look as she tilted her head.

"You can thank me, once you come back from your suspension, by never doing the same mistakes again and be the Emiko we all admire here!" Yumeko said with an honest tone as she smiled at Emiko, that became silent for a bit.

"I...don't know if I can promise you that, Yumeko...it's just like I said...whenever I hear threats doesn't matter if they are fake or real...I can't control myself... it's...stronger than me..." Emiko said with a sad and depressed tone as she held her right arm with her left hand tight.

"I already told you...what happened to Mitsuyo-senpai wasn't your fault and I know that this is me asking too much from you...but please, don't let this chance you were given slip away now...and I promised you 4 years ago didn't I? I promised that I won't find the person that did this to Mitsuyo-senpai and the grimoire to bring her back from the curse without you, Emiko!" Yumeko said with a determined tone as she clenched her fist hard, while she looked at Emiko, that teared up a bit.

"Yumeko..." Emiko said as she placed her head on Yumeko's chest as she cried a bit and upon seeing this Yumeko began to head pat her.

"I'm really sorry, Yumeko, it's going to be hard to not do the same mistakes again...but I promise that I'll try my best, to not make everything you did be in vain..." Emiko said as she kept her face buried away in Yumeko's chest.

"It's ok, Emiko...I know that you will get better..." Yumeko said with a reassuring tone, as she head patted Emiko a bit more and so a bit later after Emiko cried a bit more...

"I'm sorry for making you see this side of me, Yumeko-chan..." Emiko said as she regained her composure.

"Don't worry about it, Emiko, It's ok..." Yumeko said with a reassuring tone as she smiled and gave a handkerchief to Emiko.

"No...one day I have to make it up for you..." Emiko said as she grabbed the handkerchief and cleaned her tears, while she briefly blushed.

"But speaking of which, since you're here, I might as well give you the documents and files that you'll need, during my absence!" As Emiko said this she turned towards the iron drawers and opened one of the top drawers from where she took a very big stack of papers and files, that when she placed on her desk that sounded like it was going to break at any given moment, upon placing the paper on top of it.

"E-Emiko...what's this?" Yumeko asked with a dumbfound tone and expression as she pointed at the stack of papers.

"Well, just like Captain Terima said you will be the one responsible for all my current missions or investigations during my suspension..." Emiko said as she looked at the stack of papers, then at Yumeko.

"Emiko...how come you have so many missions and investigations?" Yumeko asked with a stoic almost robotic tone as she looked at Emiko.

"Since I have Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan, I tend to get or receive more work, it's only normal..." Emiko said as she tilted her head a bit.

"Please don't tell me that you overwork your interns..." Yumeko said with a worried and scared tone as she trembled.

"O-Of course not! I would never overwork my sweet angels like that, Yumeko-chan! And I only give simple work to Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan, while I only ask for their help during more complicated cases or to train them!" Emiko said with a faint angry tone as she pouted.

"I know, but still this is a bit too much...especially since I won't be able to ask Tatsurou or Naoki for help since they will get a small work ban..." Yumeko said as she let out a sigh.

"Looks like both me and Aoki, will have quite the workload for the next few weeks now..." Yumeko said as she let out a big sigh.

"I'm sorry...but well you could ask, Koharu-chan, for help if you want..." Emiko said as she raised her index finger a bit.

"Don't worry about it...we'll manage somehow..." Yumeko said with a reassuring tone, as she gently patted the stack of papers.

"But say, Emiko, what are you going to do now?" Yumeko asked with a curious tone as she looked at Emiko.

"Well...I was thinking of visiting my parents and spend time with them today and afterward, I was thinking of planing the classes for the next weeks...what about you?" Emiko asked as she grabbed the handbag, on top of the desk.

"I see...that's a good idea to spend some time with your parents, knowing them, they will be more than happy to see you...as for me well since I have these files here, I'll take the chance to organize them, before going home..." Yumeko said as she placed her hands on her hips, while she looked at the stack of papers, then at Emiko.

"I'm really sorry about this..." Emiko said as she looked a bit away from Yumeko.

"Don't worry, it's ok, I'll take care of these in a blink of an eye..." Yumeko said with a reassuring tone, as she smiled at Emiko.

"I see..." Emiko said as she also smiled.

"Y-Yumeko-chan...please, take good care of Naoki-chan and Miyubi-chan during my absence, ok?" Emiko asked with an embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away from Yumeko.

"What are you talking about? Of course, I'm going to take good care of them, you don't need to worry about it!" Yumeko said with a reassuring tone as she smiled again, something that also made Emiko smile.

"Thanks...from the bottom of my heart, Yumeko-chan..." Emiko said while she blushed and smiled.

"Well then, I better be on my way...see you soon, Yumeko-chan..." Emiko said as she turned towards the door, but...

"Emiko, I don't think I need to tell you this but...if you ever need help or someone to talk to...both my phone and my home's door, is always open for you..." Yumeko said as she looked at Emiko that stooped walking and glanced at her.

"I know and the same goes for me, if you need help or talking with someone, you can call me Yumeko-chan..." Emiko said as she gave Yumeko a smile before getting out of her office and when she was finally gone.

"It's going to be hard not having Emiko around...but this is for her own good..." Yumeko said as she let out a sigh while turning towards the stack of files and divided them into 3 smaller stacks.

"But for now I better take these to my office..." As Yumeko said this two vermilion magic circles appeared behind her and a pair of hands each came, a pair of hands that grabbed a stack each, with Yumeko grabbing the last and as she prepared to get out of the office, Yumeko stooped for a bit as she looked at the files she was holding.

"I swear...I won't let Emiko do that again...and I'll bring Mitsuyo-senpai back, take it whatever it takes!" Yumeko said with a determined tone, as she held the files tight before making her way to Emiko's office, but...

"But why, did she have to have so much work to do...the rest of my Sunday's all gone now..." Yumeko said with a depressed tone while she let out a sigh...

And then a few hours later, in Tatsurou's apartment, in his room to be precise, Tatsurou was in the process of waking up...

"God...I slept like a rock today...what time is it now?" Tatsurou said while he pulled the blankets back and took a seat on the side of the bed as he stretched.

"Whoa...11:46 am, already?" Tatsurou said as she grabbed his phone that was on the bedside table and checked the time.

"No wonder, I went to bed late yesterday...then I talked with Frida for a while...oh...the mark she drew is also gone, just like Frida told me..." Tatsurou thought as he turned and looked at the back of his right hand for a bit.

"Speaking of which, I haven't told Shirayuki and Marie that I can use the gauntlet now, might as well tell them, instead of keeping them on the dark..." Tatsurou said as he placed his phone on the bedside table again, while he got up and made his way out of his room and so a few moments later, as Tatsurou was getting close to the kitchen...

"I wonder what Shirayuki and Marie are up to now? Well their probably still sleeping if I had to guess..." Tatsurou said this as he got inside the kitchen and yawned, but he stooped as he saw something a bit unusual...

"Oh! Good morning, Tatsurou! Did you sleep well?" Shirayuki, that was wearing her usual shrine maiden clothes and was standing on top of an iron ladder, asked with a curious tone as she looked at the surprised Tatsurou, that looked at her for a bit in silence.

"G-Good morning, Shirayuki...say, what are you doing?" Tatsurou asked with a curious and surprised tone as he looked at Shirayuki that kept standing on top of the ladder.

"Oh, this? Well, I was about to give Marie a few cooking classes, but the fluorescent light here in the kitchen stooped working and since you were sleeping, Marie and I thought about changing it by ourselves!" Shirayuki said with an informative tone as she pointed at the ceiling where the lamp was.

"I see...but speaking of Marie, where is she?" Tatsurou asked as he looked around for Marie for a bit.

"She went to ask Wise if she had a spare lamp lying around we could borrow..." As Shirayuki said this the door of the apartment opened up and inside came Marie.

"Shirayuki! I'm back with the lamp!" Marie, that was wearing her usual nun's habit and a light blue dress while she held a fluorescent lamp in her hands, said as she came inside the kitchen.

"Oh, morning, Tatsurou! Did you sleep well?" Marie asked with a happy tone as she looked at Tatsurou.

"Morning, Marie...I did..." As Tatsurou said this, Marie walked towards Shirayuki.

"Good to know! Here's the lamp, Shirayuki!" Marie said with a happy tone as she handed Shirayuki the lamp.

"Thanks, Marie..." Shirayuki said while she grabbed the lamp and prepared to change it.

"Wait, Shirayuki, perhaps it's better if I'm the one changing it...after all this ladder is..." As Tatsurou said this Shirayuki interrupted him.

"You don't need to worry, I'll be done in a second...kya!" As Shirayuki said this she lost her balance and fell from the ladder surprising both Tatsurou and Marie that called Shirayuki's name, as they saw her fall and the only thing Shirayuki did was closing her eyes and preparing for the impact...

"Huh? I didn't...hit the ground...!?" As Shirayuki said this she slowly opened her eyes and saw that Tatsurou caught her before she hit the ground and was now, princess carrying her.

"S-Shirayuki, are you ok!?" Tatsurou asked with a worried tone as he looked at Shirayuki that was now blushing, as she held the lamp in her hands.

"I...I'm ok...thanks for catching me, Tatsurou..." Shirayuki said with a very embarrassed tone as she blushed and her ahoge pointed upwards.

"Thank goodness..." Tatsurou said with a relieved tone, as he let out a sigh.

"T-Tatsurou caught me and is now princess carrying me, kya! I'm so, so happy!" Shirayuki thought as she looked at Tatsurou then away as she kept blushing and moved her legs a bit.

"I'm going to put you down now, ok?" Tatsurou said as he looked at Shirayuki that nodded briefly.

"I wish this lasted a bit longer..." Shirayuki thought a bit disappointed, as Tatsurou gently placed her back on the ground...

"Shirayuki!" Marie said with a worried and relieved tone, as she hugged Shirayuki.

"Thank goodness your not hurt! I was so scared when I saw you fall!" Marie said with a worried tone, while she kept hugging Shirayuki.

"You don't have to worry now, I'm ok Marie..." Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone as she smiled.

"I know, but even so you could have gotten really hurt! Tatsurou, nice catch back there!" Marie said as she stooped hugging Shirayuki and gave Tatsurou a thumbs-up, Tatsurou just smiled as he gave a thumbs-up back.

"Now that this is solved, I'll go and change this lamp!" Marie said with a determined tone, as she made her way towards the ladder.

"W-Wait Marie, like I was saying perhaps I should be..." Tatsurou said but it was mostly useless since Marie wasn't really listening to him and was already climbing the ladder.

"Don't worry Tatsurou! This will be done in the blink of an eye, please Shirayuki could you hand me the...heh?!" As Marie said this, she too lost balance and fell off the ladder, making Tatsurou and Shirayuki call Marie's name as they saw her fall and the only thing Marie did was close her eyes and prepare for impact...

"Huh? I landed on something soft...!?" As Marie said this, she slowly opened her eyes and froze up as she saw that she fell on top of Tatsurou, but what made her freeze up, was the fact that upon falling on top of Tatsurou he got his face buried away in her chest, something that made Marie blush toe to head and Tatsurou wasn't an exception.

"S-So soft...wait, wait! What the hell am I even thinking here?!" Tatsurou thought as he kept blushing with this turn of events, but it was also when Marie quickly got off from him.

"Are you ok, Marie...?!" As Tatsurou said this, he saw Marie sitting on the floor as she covered her chest with her right arm and blushed while looking away from Tatsurou and it was at this moment that Tatsurou remembered that the first time he met Marie something like this happened and it ended up with Tatsurou hitting a mailbox...

"I-I'm sorry, Marie! It was an accident!" Tatsurou said with an apologetic and faintly scared tone, as he bowed to Marie.

"You...you don't have to apologize like that, Tatsurou it was my fault for trying to climb the ladder so fast...actually, I should be the one apologizing here for falling on top of you..." Marie said with an embarrassed tone, as she stooped covering her chest as she laughed a bit, something that surprised Tatsurou.

"I...wasn't expecting this...to be honest, I thought that Marie was going to slap me..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Marie, that was still blushing, but it didn't last long.

"Tatsurou! Marie! Are you two, alright?" Shirayuki asked with a worried tone as she got close to them.

"Don't worry Shirayuki, thanks to Tatsurou, I'm ok..." Marie said with a reassuring tone as she looked at Shirayuki, while she got up and smiled.

"That's good to know...what about you, Tatsurou? You're not hurt or anything?" Shirayuki asked with a worried tone as she looked at Tatsurou.

"Don't worry, I'm ok, and besides, as long as you two are unharmed, I don't mind getting a bit hurt..." Tatsurou said while he slowly got up and smiled, and it was at that moment that both Shirayuki and Marie blushed upon hearing his words, but it didn't last long.

"W-What do you mean with that?" Both Shirayuki and Marie said, a bit angry as they got close to Tatsurou, surprising him a bit.

"Tatsurou! You shouldn't think like that!" Marie said with an angry tone as she raised her index finger a bit.

"Yes, Marie's right! You shouldn't be happy about getting hurt if it means that we're going to get unharmed!" Shirayuki said, also with an angry tone while she pouted and looked at Tatsurou.

"It should always be helping without anyone getting harmed, understood!" Shirayuki and Marie said with angry and worried tones as they looked at Tatsurou that blushed a bit.

"Yes...you two are right...I'm sorry about it..." Tatsurou said with an embarrassed tone as he scratched the back of his head while he looked a bit away, from Shirayuki and Marie, that upon realizing what they had just said, they began to blush.

"As long as you understand...it's alright..." Shirayuki and Marie said with embarrassed tones as they looked away from Tatsurou.

"This...was even more unexpected..." Tatsurou thought as he looked at Shirayuki and Marie for a bit, still impressed with what he heard them saying.

"A-Ahem...Well, with that said, let's finally change this lamp! Shirayuki, you hold one side of the ladder, while Marie holds the other, ok?" Tatsurou said as he pointed at the ladder, and Marie and Shirayuki complied as they held one side from the ladder each.

"I'm was trying to warn you, but this ladder isn't very steady, so someone as to hold it, while someone else gets on top of it...I'm sorry that I didn't warn you sooner..." Tatsurou said with an informative tone, as he climbed the latter.

"We should be the ones saying sorry since we didn't listen..." Shirayuki said with an embarrassed tone, as she looked at Tatsurou and handed him the lamp.

"It's ok...as I said, no one got hurt, and that's what matters the most!" Tatsurou said as he grabbed the lamp and prepared to change it but...

"Say, Marie, did you tell Wise the size you needed?" Tatsurou asked with a curious tone as he looked at Marie.

"Well, I didn't know the size so, Miss Wise, gave me this one...why?" Marie asked as she looked at Tatsurou.

"You see...this lamp is the wrong size..." Tatsurou said with a stoic tone as he looked at the lamp, and a sudden silence filled the room.

"What?!" Shirayuki and Marie said as they looked at Tatsurou that began getting down from the ladder.

"I can't believe we just went through so much trouble, and it's the wrong size..." Marie said with an embarrassed tone as she looked away from Tatsurou and Shirayuki.

"Come on, it's not that bad...I'll just go and see if Wise got a bigger lamp, you just wait here and rest a bit..." Tatsurou said as he finally got down from the ladder and made his way towards the door.

"Ok..." Shirayuki and Marie said as they saw Tatsurou leaving and when he was finally gone...

"I'm such an idiot...I should have checked the size of the lamp before going..." Marie said as she let out a sigh.

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself all the time, Marie..." Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone as she looked at Marie.

"No, Shirayuki. I was the one that suggested that we changed the lamp by ourselves...if Tatsurou didn't wake up and came to the kitchen when you tried to change it, you could have..." Marie said as she looked at the ground for a bit.

"Come on, it's ok now, Marie! I didn't get hurt, see!" Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone as she moved her arms around a bit, Marie smiled as she saw this.

"I'm really happy that Tatsurou was here and caught you, Shirayuki! I really am..." Marie said as she head patted Shirayuki for a bit.

"But say, Shirayuki, weren't you a bit too happy when Tatsurou caught you?" Marie asked with a curious stoic tone as she glanced at Shirayuki that began to blush.

"Well...I..." Shirayuki said with an embarrassed tone as she looked to all sides.

"Come on! You thought that I wouldn't notice?" Marie asked with a faint smug tone as she hugged Shirayuki.

"D-Do you think that Tatsurou noticed? I don't want him to think that I did that on purpose..." Shirayuki said with an embarrassed tone as she looked down.

"I don't think that he did, and I think that he would never think that you would get in harm's way for something like this!" Marie said with a reassuring tone as she stooped hugging, Shirayuki as she smiled, with Shirayuki doing the same, but it didn't last long...

"But now that I think about it, Marie, when you got off from Tatsurou, after falling on top of him...he looked kind of scared, but why?" Shirayuki asked with a curious tone while she placed her hand on her cheek, and her ahoge wiggled around, something that made Marie jolt a bit.

"Well..." As Marie said this, she began to remember what happened when she met Tatsurou and how she slapped him after he accidentally touched her chest.

"Marie...your not hiding something from me, are you..." Shirayuki said with a stoic curious tone as she looked at Marie that had been silent for a bit.

"I-I would never hide anything from you, Shirayuki, never!" Marie said with a nervous tone as she moved her arms around a bit.

"Hmm...if you say so, then I believe you, Marie!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone as she looked at Marie and smiled.

"So, how about we go take a seat on the couch while we wait for Tatsurou?" Shirayuki asked as she began walking towards the living room, and Marie just nodded as she looked at Shirayuki.

"I don't think Shirayuki wouldn't get angry, but for now, I won't tell her that Tatsurou accidentally touched my chest when we first met...I will tell her one day, yes, but not for now..." Marie thought a bit embarrassed as she made her way towards the living room as she let out a sigh...

And meanwhile, as this was happening...

"Good thing both Shirayuki and Marie didn't get hurt...I was so scared when I saw them both fall like that..." Tatsurou said with a relieved tone as he walked towards Wise's apartment.

"Shirayuki...was so light, it felt as if I caught a feather to be honest and Marie...she was also very light..." As Tatsurou said this, he began to blush as he remembered the softness of Marie's chest when his face got buried in it.

"W-What the hell am I thinking!!!" Tatsurou said with a very embarrassed tone, as he hit a wall of one of the apartments with his head, something that made the inhabitants of the said apartment jolt and think if there was an earthquake happening.

"I'm a pervert! I'm an idiot! I should drop dead somewhere!" Tatsurou said with a very embarrassed tone while he blushed and kept his head on the wall for a bit.

"How can I be thinking about something like "that" when Marie, could have gotten hurt pretty bad...I really am an idiot..." Tatsurou thought, as he moved his head away from the wall.

"Well, for now, I have to calm down and put a straight face on, if by any chance Wise suspects anything, she won't let me go, unless I tell her what happened..." Tatsurou said while he let out a sigh, as he began walking towards Wise's apartment, trying to purge the "perverted" thoughts out of his head...