I miraculously dragged my tired body back home however, thanks to my exhaustion levels which came from staying up all night, my ass came thru the front door, totally forgetting about how I snuck away in the middle of the night. But I soon realized climbing thru my open window wouldn't be any different because an angry mob was awaiting me inside the house. Dad, mom, and even Kazutora were aware I wasn't at home the whole night.

"Michi where have you been? We were worried about you." I guess only dad was slightly furious. Kazutora looked confused but curious, meanwhile, mom was only worried about my safety. I decided to deliver a half-truth with lies sprinkled on top.

"Sorry, one of my friends was scared to be all alone in the hospital, so I snuck out to keep her company... hope you're not mad..." I explained though soon couldn't stop myself from yawning.

"Why haven't you left a note to inform us about it?" Right they couldn't contact me because by mistake I left my phone behind.

"It slipped my mind, sorry." Unexpectedly Kazutora came closer, wait did this boy really just sniff me?

"You do really smell of hospital air." I tried to catch the hospital smell with my nose which he was babbling about but couldn't. Was his sense of smell better than mine?

Mom patted my head telling me how next time I should leave a message behind and we left this topic at that. I stuffed my empty stomach with food mom had so nicely prepared and then I decided to dive under covers to catch up on sleep. Before that I put on the alarm to wake me up in like 3 hours, I didn't have the luxury to mess up my sleeping schedule, even if it was in the middle of summer. I still had responsibilities to keep track of. I changed into pj's and as soon my body hit the bed I passed out.

I woke up confused when the alarm started to ring, I really wanted to head back to sleep, I stared at the ceiling considering my choices, but that's when I heard shouts from mom coming from downstairs.

"Michi!" I picked myself up trying to understand what she wanted but heard Kazutora's voice next.

"Some guy claims he's your friend! Can you verify because mom has never seen him before!" He was already calling her mom, how precious. I tried to organize my thought the only people I could think of coming unannounced was Keisuke and Senju, but neither of them fit the bill. I decided to walk down in pj's only to see Kakuzo standing in the door frame.

"Kakucho! You finally decided to visit!" I said while turning my head toward mom.

"Not sure you remember, but he's my childhood friend, we have lost contact but I tried to reconnect recently." Kakucho seemed to be embarrassed probably at the sole thought of what I did the last time I saw him.

"Right I do recall someone going by the name Kakucho..." She said being deep in thought.

"Kakucho this is my brother Kazutora." The adoption process may have not yet been finalized, but I wouldn't let the government stop me from calling him as such.

"Is he also a delinquent?" Wow, did Kazu-chan really have to start their meeting like this?

"I am." Kazutora then looked back at me.

"Maybe it's your fate to become a delinquent as well Michi, everything points at it." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Keep your strange theories to yourself." So I said but I knew his hunch was accurate, but I kept the act so mom wouldn't find more things to be concerned about.

"I wasn't aware you had a brother." Kakucho suddenly said, by chance was he disappointed that information wasn't shared with him?

"That's because it's a new development," I said as I started to push him inside.

"Come in don't be shy, we can hang out in my room," I said and dragged him upstairs. I felt so much more energetic now when I had someone to distract me from my hazy state.

"Did I come at the wrong time? Were you sleeping?" He asked as I brushed it off like it was nothing.

"Yea, but that's because I stayed up all night, so I had to wake up to not mess up my sleeping schedule." I made the bed and took some clothes to change into.

"I will just change quickly, sit whenever you want," I told him going out to the bathroom on this floor. When I came back this weirdo was still looking around like he was afraid to put his butt anywhere. Most likely in fear of dirtying up something. I just sighed and sat on the bed and used the wall as support and clapped on the spot next to me which he took now when I added pressure.

"I was about to push you onto the bed myself," I said as he looked at me with a shocked expression.

"Why do I have this feeling you became bolder than you were in childhood?" I puffed my chest with pride.

"Maybe I am, what are you suddenly scared to be around me?" Yes, this guy was funny to tease as well.

"Anyway, why did you suddenly show up, you wanted to hang with me or came with a specific reason?" I asked, the aura surrounding him became more serious all of sudden. Oh, great was drama incoming?

"Actually I came to seek your guidance Michi." Was I so trustworthy in his eyes?

"I don't have many friends to turn to, so sorry if I'm burdening you too much, we just reconnected and all." He needed to start talking and feeling less sorry like I would care.

"Come on then ask away." I encouraged him to finally let it out.

"You see... one of my... er.. friend is suffering from depression I assume, I'm not so sure what I can do to help him." Hold up, was this guy talking about Izana? Right, wasn't he in a really bad state when Kisaki approached him? Wasn't he still like grieving Shinichiro's death?

"I guess you have no means to make him seek mental help." It was Japan, after all, it was probably expensive and socially shameful to admit to mental illnesses, much more now, when we were back in 2005.

"I guess you could just stay by his side and listen to his problems, sometimes just talking about the things that bother you make you feel better." Once you talk it out it feels like you let out all those pent-up emotions from your system.

"I'm not so sure my friend would be willing to share his thoughts with me." Didn't they have this strange king and servant relationship going on, maybe like Mikey Izana didn't want to show his weaknesses to his subordinates? Someone needed to tell those kids, that crying and feeling vulnerable was not a sign of weakness.

"How about this, show your care, love, and support to your friend, make him realize there are still people in this world that care for him deeply." He still seemed hesitant. Was he afraid Izana would beat up his ass if he gave him hugs?

"I see you have a problem performing that as well... how about giving him enough water and sun... take him for walks in the forest, nature can be healing and soothing to the soul." He could do that at least, right?

"You make it sound like my friend is a houseplant." Ah yes, he wanted to sound like a smart ass.

"Maybe we all are since we are creatures made by nature." I retaliated, then I continued.

"Make his environment pretty as well, like decorate it with something so it doesn't look dull. You could clean his house, I assume staring at a mess would spiral him into deeper depression." Cupid jumped on Kakucho's lap and demanded pats, while I thought about things that would put me into a better mood as an example.

"Cook something for him, or I dunno take him to a cat or dog cafe, but only if he likes animals." The fluff coat of a furry friend was always a reason to smile.

"Thank you for putting so much thought into it." I guess he really had no one else to turn to.

"But make sure to take care of yourself as well, it's hard to share the joy with others if you have none, to begin with." I patted his head, maybe it was somehow beneficial to him to have me as a friend, maybe the system knew what it was doing. Then suddenly my phone rang, I looked at the display which informed me Hina-chan was calling.

"Sup, beautiful." was my first response, she was already used to my antics.

"Michi! Takemichi ended up in the hospital, can you accompany me there?" I wasn't surprised by the news but decided to act like it was something astonishing.

"Is Takemichi alright, it's nothing life-threatening right?" I saw Kakucho twitching at the mention of his name.

"Nothing too serious I heard, he just got beaten up again and fainted." I heard some of her complaining about her boyfriend getting hurt yet again and agreed to tag along.

"Sorry Kakucho something came up," I said wondering if he would inquire what this was about, which he did.

"When you said Takemichi you meant Takemichi Hanagaki?" I nodded my head.

"Yes he's my friend's boyfriend but also my neighbor... you know him too?" I asked, he didn't expect this turn of events.

"He's my childhood friend." He admitted.

"Would you want to tag along and visit him? Maybe you can reconnect with him too." I send him a smile, maybe if they got closer, Kakucho wouldn't dare to threaten his life later on. He agreed and so I went to mom to explain where I going. Hinata was shocked that I dragged someone along, but upon hearing that he was also Takemichi's friend we all went inside the hospital. We came across Emma that was crying because Mikey and Draken were fighting. As Takemichi was consoling her he suddenly spotted Kakucho.

"Kaku-chan? What are you doing here?" At least this time Takemichi recognized him faster.

"He's my plus one." I guess my wording created some misunderstanding in Takemichi's head.

"You two are-" I cut him off right there.

"I meant I forced him to tag along when Hina-chan asked me to pay you a visit." He refrained from finishing his previous sentence.

"But how do you two know each other?" He asked, while Kakucho honestly answered.

"She's also my childhood friend." An evil idea manifested itself in my mind.

"And based on whatever promise he gave me it also seems like-" before I could finish my sentence Kakucho put his hand on my mouth.

"Please excuse us." he dragged me away to the hallway.

"Just don't ever think of sharing this information with anyone." I gave it some thought.

"You think that will ruin your reputation or what?" I questioned.

"I want this promise to stay just between the two of us." he put one of his fingers onto his mouth while whispering.

"A secret just between us." I wasn't sure whether he was serious or this was a deliberate scheme to keep me quiet, but that was adorable.

"Sure I guess I can keep it a secret." He sighed with relief. We proceeded to go back inside.

"So what was that about?" I just stated.

"Nothing nothing." While Kakucho and Takemichi were catching up with eachother, girls were inquiring of my nonexistent love life, they were adamant something was going between me and Kakucho, even if I kept saying we were just as stated before only childhood friends.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Izana a houseplant confirmed~ :D

Izana will come in like 15+ chapters, the more you guys know :3