I'd gotten Sana to sleep, calming him in my way. Light touches, soft caresses. Coaxing him to sleep, despite the bombshell that had gone off in front of us.

Shion of Hexenpunk. He had no idea that I knew who she was. That conversation I'd had with Keitaro, about Kugeln. Knowing that Annie's band had gone under a name change. I didn't know they were with Fleeting World, but now I was suspicious of Keitaro.

During that phone call with Keitaro, he'd said he knew Prima and that he couldn't tell me anything about Annie because of that. He'd said a friend of his had dated her, and that's why he knew her. That may have been true, but it was only a half truth. He knew her from Fleeting World, too.

As soon as Shion had said she was from Kugeln, I knew who she was. In fact, in the bathroom when she'd scared us? I had to take a guess. There aren't many women in Fleeting World, with them primarily being a company which represents visual kei artists. She could have been a secretary, maybe someone who works in a different department, maybe a hair stylist or someone like that. But, her clothes gave it away. The way she carried herself, and her overall look.

She'd seemed too familiar in the bathroom. She'd jumped to me, saying she knew about my blog. Like she knew me already. She hadn't said a word to Sana or Nobu. It was because of these things, all of these things, that I knew who she must be. She was someone from Kugeln, but I hadn't known who until she formally introduced herself to me.

Sana had been trying to tell me who she was after she left with Nobu. But, I knew already. There was no need to explain. After Sana confirmed that she'd been a part of Hexenpunk, that was all I'd needed to know.

I knew that she hadn't spoken to them in years. This awful thing that Hexenpunk had done. It was complicated, so many emotions between all of them. But, I know for a fact that you aren't supposed to abandon your friends. I knew that more intimately than ever, because so many of mine hadn't contacted me in months.

I was now underneath Sana in our customary pose. My arms were around him, holding him securely to me. Under my arms was Shion's poncho sweater, too. The way she'd given this to him, and helped me arrange him on the couch. That didn't sit right with me. She was being so friendly, after not talking to him for years? Who does that? It was like a stab.

Part of me wanted to say it wasn't any of my business. That this had nothing to do with me, and I didn't know enough about it to have many feelings. But, it wasn't true. This had everything to do with me, because she'd hurt Sana. The way he was panicked about her. Upsetting himself and his body, that much upset. It had everything to do with me.

Where had this suddenly all come from? Why now? We were already dealing with a crisis. Nobu had called emergency services hours ago, and as far as I knew, we hadn't heard back from them. Our food supply was dwindling. All I had for Sana to eat was some nuts. Who knew if the water supply was compromised now? With the flooding, there was no telling.

It wasn't safe for us here. Deep inside, I wanted to take him into my arms and get him out of here myself. But, the idea of that... Getting him down all those stairs. Getting to the first floor, and who knew how high the water was? Nobu and Masaki had come back hours ago, and it was already as high as Nobu's knees. I knew what it was like to try to walk through the ocean when the water was that high, and for me the water downstairs would be on my thighs. Holding Sana and trying not to fall... It made me want to shudder. It would be impossible.

I wanted him to be in the hospital, to be safe. It was the safest place for him until this was over. It was selfish, but that was all I could think of to help him. He was doing okay, and he didn't need to be there, but they would be able to get him the right food. There'd be clean water. If he did need something medically, it was all right there.

I didn't want him to be stressed. With Shion here, he was even more stressed out. He'd been fine before she showed up. I noticed he'd started hyperventilating and holding his chest as soon as she entered the picture. He didn't need this right now.

Before I knew it, I had my precious phone in my hand, using up its quickly draining power supply for something even more selfish. But, I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't help it.

Keitaro answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Tetsu? Why are you calling me? I'll come over there right now."

I realized there were tears in my eyes. My breath was shaky. "I want Sana to go to the hospital right now."

"What happened?" The sound of his fancy shoes clicking rapidly on the tile of the break room joined his concerned voice.

"I nee- need him to go. We have to get him out right now, he needs to be safe. We can't- we can't stay here- I- I need-"

"Whoa, it's okay. It's okay. Breathe. I'll be right there with you in a few seconds."

"Okay." Said much smaller than I intended.

The glass was illuminated more and more as he came closer. The door opened, and to my surprise everyone was with him. They came into the room, trying not to crowd us, but they all had their phone lights on, making the room powerfully bright. It was blinding next to the darkness I'd just been in.

"Is he okay?" Yami asked gently. He came near us first, his hands almost touching him. "Did he pass out? I saw he wasn't doing well, but it's going to be alright."

"He's fine," I managed to get out. "He's completely fine. I checked him before he went to sleep. But, I know you have to agree... He needs to get out of here. A small bag of nuts isn't enough for him. I don't know how long we're going to be here. He can't skip meals. We don't have all of his medications. I- I- don't know what to do- He needs to go to the hospital, where they have what he needs. They have his food, and clean water. What if the water here is contaminated from a pipe bursting, or- or something? We need to-"

"Whoa, it's okay," Keitaro said, kneeling down next to us. He was face to face with me. How could they both look so calm? The others were standing next to the table, concerned looks on their faces. Keitaro's hand went on my shoulder. "We're going to figure something out right now. You're right. He can't stay here. I know emergency services are on their way, but maybe we can't wait. You're right, he can't just have nuts."

"Right," I agreed. I didn't know what else to say.

"My concern is how we're going to get him down those stairs," Masaki interjected.

"We'll take it slow," Keitaro said quickly, looking back at him. "We'll carry him. There's a lot of us. We can do this."

Sawai-san's warning appeared in my mind like an unwelcome cold wind, freezing me to my bones and making me want to shake in fear. Her warning, of falling down the stairs with him in my arms. It was almost like a premonition. Here it was, suddenly, that scenario. I began shaking my head before I realized that this might wake Sana.

"No. No, we can't carry him like that. Sawai-san warned me. She said if I fell down the stairs carrying him, then-"

"Oh shit, my mom's right," Yami said in almost a whisper, terrified himself. He looked at Keitaro, who's face was so serious now. "We can't carry him like that. We're not professionals. He has Osteoporosis. If we were to fall, he could get really hurt, and I mean really hurt."

Keitaro's face fell. It was devastating to me.

"You're forgetting something," Masaki said behind them. All of us gave him our full attention. Anything he had to say, I'd listen. Any idea, I'd consider it. Anything for Sana, to get him to safety.

"What's that?" Yami asked.

"Nobu is a professional. He'll know what to do. Where'd he go?"

He was absolutely right. "I'll call him," I offered. "He went off with Shion-san some time ago." Relief was flooding my heart. Of course. How could I forget? Panic was making me dumb. Thinking there was no way out, when there was the answer the whole time. As I pressed my phone to my ear, my comfort was complete. Finally, an answer. He'd be able to give me an answer in a few seconds. He'd told me he'd evacuated people in similar conditions before. He'd assured me, and-

"Hello, you've reached Nobuto Tanaka. I can't come to the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name, number, and message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

What?

I removed my phone from my ear, seeing Sana's sleeping face as I refocused. My lips pressed together, as I redialed the number. I pressed my phone to my ear again. Sure enough, it didn't even ring, going straight to voice mail.

"I think..." My eyebrows creased, my fingers going restless in my sudden nervousness. "...His phone is off."

Yami swore a little too loud. He swung around, and immediately started walking toward the door. "He can't have gotten too far, can he? But, this building is so huge. You all went off hours ago. We have to find him."

"Let's go find him," Davy jumped in. Masaki nodded next to him with determination. Shizue and Hikaru looked at each other and then at us, similar expressions on their faces.

"My phone's out of power, I don't have any light," Yami groaned, coming back. He sat down in a chair aggressively, folding his arms in a frustrated manner. It was like he hadn't heard what Davy had said.

Keitaro turned to them. "We'll go in groups. Davy and I know where Shion likes to hang out. We'll check those places first. We'll lead the way. If we conserve our lights, we should be okay."

"Sounds good to us," Shizue responded, and Hikaru nodded next to her. "If we call their names and there's more of us, maybe they'll hear us, too."

"Good thinking," Keitaro said. "Okay, let's go." He turned to me. He leaned over, and his face became much more gentle. "Try to get some rest, okay? We've got it under control. We'll be back sooner than you know it."

I nodded and my arms went around Sana a little tighter, trying to protect him.

As they left, I let out a sigh. The door closed, and I realized something significant. It made me want to shrink inside. The way I'd been acting. All that panic. I'd been panicking all night. Now it was fever pitch. The way they'd been treating me just now.

Something inside of me relaxed a little, just as Keitaro had asked. I started to rub Sana's back slowly, hoping to get him into an even deeper sleep, but comforting myself, too.

I realized that just as much as I wanted to protect Sana, they were all protecting me, too.