When Hotaka arrived at the new location, he gave a hum, not expecting it to be so simple. He would have thought, with all the redhead's money, he would have made something a little nicer. Then again, he was strapped for time, having to find a perfect place on such short notice. Besides, everything inside was nice and cozy, so the purple-haired male didn't have any complaints. On the contrary, he was ecstatic to be there. He even had a little extra surprise for the younger girl. He just hoped she'd like it.

Knocking on the girl's door, he waited for a response, using the meantime to brush himself off of any dirt or dust. As an afterthought, he panicked, wondering if there was a mirror around him that he could use to check his appearance. In the end though, she opened the door before he could rush away. His breathing stopped for a moment as she became visible to him, and within an instant, he was seduced all over again, not that he knew.

"Hello," she said simply, the male gawking at her reaction.

He expected to be welcomed with open arms and smothered with pride. But, like it had been since he'd met her, his line of thinking was far from the truth. Instead, the girl he had come to adore and obsess over had lost her flame. Her eyes were dull and she gave no smile. She didn't even seem to lighten up at his presence. Insecure, he brought his hand to his mouth, covering his frown. Maybe she would have been happier if he had flowers with him.

"I...Hi!" he chuckled nervously, darting his eyes inside the room before worriedly gazing away.

"Did you want to come in?"

"Can I?!" he squeaked, given a small nod from the girl.

With stiff arms and legs, he began to walk into the room, amazed. Probably because it was made on such short notice, it wasn't yet very tailored to her. Sure, there was a bookcase and some books inside of it, but he was regretful at the lack of pictures. He would have thought a girl's room would have had pictures of her when she was a child or recent ones with friends. His heart skipped a beat at the thought that she might have a picture with him. The thought fascinated him more than it should have. He was in a picture with her? The male blushed, nervously bringing his hand back up to his mouth.

Hotaka continued to look around, noticing a small plushy on her bed. It was a rabbit. Did she like rabbits? He resented himself for not knowing but brightened up at the sight of an open book on the floor near the leftmost wall. The male didn't even need to get close to see the Afruan writing on it. He blushed at her interest in him. She liked him so much she wanted to learn his history, his religion, his language, etc. There was nothing more flattering than that. Nothing.

Suddenly, he snapped out of it, realizing he shouldn't have been snooping around her room. Rather, he should have been focusing on her well-being. Ever since her episode, she had been either deep in sleep or deep in regret, both things he didn't want her to go through alone. Even now, when she had invited him inside, she was staring at the wall, looking through it to the outside, where it had gotten somewhat dark.

Snow fell down outside at a slow pace, but instead of sparkling as he was accustomed to, it was darkened by the lack of light. The sun had gone away, replaced with the moon, leaving the small flakes of ice to be cast in shadow. They were dark, void of most light, except for when they moved through the singular beam of moonlight that slipped through the house's shadow. For a moment, Hotaka forgot where he was, and (Y/n) seemed to be just as enraptured, her hollow eyes gazing at the darkened snow rather than the ones slightly illuminated.

"Do you feel any pain? Or confusion? Is your amnesia...Well, are you better, or...? I'm not sure what exactly Shota did to you, just that - "

"Ezdan. I'm surprised he managed to get his hands on some."

"Is...that medicine? Like Athainian medicine?"

The girl smiled callously, turning to sit on the bed. Like a puppy, the purple-haired male followed suit, eager to hear her speak more. There was just something about her voice that made him want to sleep in her arms forever. As he trailed behind her, he began to stand awkwardly in front of her as she sat, his eyes trailing away quickly, the male beginning to play with his fingers. His face gave away his embarrassed thoughts.

(Y/n) would have liked to pull him to the bed and pinned his hands over his head. She wanted greatly to touch him all over, especially his muscular chest. If she could do that, she probably would have been over the moon. There was no denying half of the blood rushing in her veins; the half that wanted the strong, the strong, and nothing but the strong. And Hotaka was strong, indeed. Strong enough to kill her "guardian angel" when even she couldn't.

"Come sit," she smiled slightly, the male hesitantly following her request, only for her to lay down on his lap, "How was your day?"

The purple-haired male's nose started bleeding. He believed it to be because of his nervousness. It was anything but. Regardless, his nerves only worsened, (Y/n) tracing circles over his thighs. Those were strong, too. She was delighted, allowing herself to grin just slightly while evaluating him further. Even so, she listened to every word he spoke; ever the dedicated student.

"You'll never believe it," he blushed, too scared to look down at her to make eye contact, "I had an argument with our professor today, and...well, I think I won."

"Really?"

"Yes, I-I brought up the midterm, and I argued about your test, and I - "

The (h/c) haired girl twitched, quick to back away. She had never intended for him to see that. Even so, as she tried to retreat, the male gripped her hands and stared with awe into her eyes. He genuinely adored her for her answer, despite her previous assumptions, and in his adoration of her, he hugged her tightly. She didn't know what to do, but, in the end, she hugged back, resisting the urge to kiss him. Yes, she must always resist the urges.

"I know I looked at something I shouldn't have! But that was...That was incredible! I-I didn't think you would take what I told you seriously! But then you went and...Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," she muttered quickly, pushing him away.

The male thought back to what she had written on another of her free-response questions. It was a tirade about "stealing the past" in which she seemed more angry than in any other of her responses. She had spiraled into it, cursing those who took away what made them "them". Though he couldn't really understand what she meant the first ten times he had gone through it, he finally got it.

"That's alright. I'm just happy you thought about me - us, I mean us! And your words...they inspired me! I used them to argue with the professor, and the entire class walked out with me! Can you believe it? I-I stood up to him! I...Well, I even called him a 'bastard'."

Shyly, the male chuckled, thinking back on the feeling of freedom that welled up in his heart. It was so invigorating to do whatever he wanted like that and to say whatever came to his mind. His cheeks turned red at the thought that the girl in front of him inspired it. She gave him the courage and lent him her words to prove he wasn't lesser than. Filled with gratitude, he placed an appreciative peck on the back of her hand, the girl flinching.

"So, thank you. Thank you so much, (Y/n)."

The girl had to bite back her smile. She had to resist the urge to completely take over his mind. Two out of three goals had been accomplished. She had gotten him to fall in love with her and she had given him the ability to be "selfish". All she needed now was for him to take them both to the next level, enough for him to completely dismiss her dark side. Then, and only then, she could claim him as hers, granted that the others didn't prove themselves more.

"I-I noticed you're learning Afruan! Or, at least, you were looking at that book over there. Would you...like help?"

The girl smiled. Of course she would like help. The two of them spent the next few hours going over what she had learned. He wasn't a great teacher. He wasn't even a good teacher. But he was earnest, and it made learning all that more fun. The purple-haired male would tell her all about the little things like how "heavy" was made up of the elements of the characters "bones" and "sad". She would laugh at that and he would only get even more encouraged, telling her about the other funny literal translations.

And when she asked to write the things they had learned, he demonstrated them for her. That being said, because he had been using the writing since he was a child, it was far more natural for him. The writing style falling from left to right also didn't help. As such, she very quietly asked him to help her write. He had been very nervous and tried to turn her down, but, in the end, could anyone that in love refuse their beloved's request?

He stood behind her as she sat down at the desk, the male shakily placing his hand on top of hers. Slowly, he guided her hand to write "snow", his irregular breath and beating heart distracting the girl slightly. She began to blush, too. Even when they finished, the male quickly moved back to give her personal space, she continued to stare absent-mindedly at the paper. Her emotions were getting the best of her. Again.

"Can you teach me how to...write your name?" she questioned quietly, caving in to her urges despite the taboo.

"M-Mine? Wouldn't you rather write - "

"No. It has to be yours, okay? So, just teach me."

Hotaka took a moment to compose himself, rattling out near-curses in his own language. Thankfully, she hadn't yet learned such insults, so she wouldn't be offended, but he was nervous either way. He came back to place his hand on hers, trying to keep as much distance between his chest and her back as possible. As he was, he was practically stretching his right arm to touch her hand, the male sweating profusely.

"Ah. This isn't going to work. You have to be closer, Hotaka."

"What? No, I can't go any...closer," he blushed, nearly whispering the last word.

"But you have to. Please? I want...you...to be as close to me as possible."

Hotaka's face went beet red at her whining. He couldn't refuse her no matter how hard he tried, and he tried very hard. In the end, he stood closely behind her, holding his breath worriedly. However, she was still not satisfied with that. Childishly, she pulled him in by the neck and placed his chin on her shoulder, using her free hand to make him intertwine his fingers with hers. Only then was she satisfied, shyly turning her head away to avoid letting him see her darkened cheeks.

"Then," she paused, composing herself to prohibit her voice from giving her true feelings away, "Your name."

The militant nodded and tried to focus on the task at hand, but she just...smelled so good. Her voice, her scent, her everything entranced him as if she was designed specifically to capture the hearts of mankind. He tried so hard to help her write his name, but all he wanted to do was hug her for the rest of time. Because of this, the progress was slow, the purple-haired male figuring it would be alright to make an excuse like that to prolong the amount of time he was able to spend that close to her.

When she had finished, holding the piece of paper up to look at it carefully, she smiled just a bit. She couldn't help it. The writing was shaky and amateur, but she had written his name. A name had much power in it. That much was about all she knew. But seeing it written down in front of her was somehow more addicting than saying it herself. O'tka. She liked it more than she should have.

"What does it mean?" she inquired, pointing to the separate characters.

"That's...embarassing. Do you...I mean, do you really want to know?"

"Yes. Because it's your name."

"Ah," the male stuttered, pale as could be except for the massive amount of coloring going over the bridge of his nose, "Afruan names are made up of emotions. We have a lot of words when it comes to a certain kind of happiness or sadness. Our parents give us our names a year after we're born based on how they felt."

"That's sweet."

"And...embarrassing. Basila's name is made up of the characters for the "pride of learnedness" and "adoration of kindness". And Nakhii's name means "amusement of energy", "awe of righteousness", and "anticipation for greatness". I actually share that middle character with her. And then this one's "love of man" and the last one is "pride of youth"."

"It suits you. Even as a kid, you were still righteous, huh?"

Hotaka chuckled with shame. Usually, another Afruan would know the meaning behind the name, so saying it out loud was another level of embarrassment. Still, he was glad that he got to explain it at least once to her. Now she knew something that had been with him since he was a baby. His heart began to flutter, the male wanting to teach her everything about his life. It was his earnest wish that she could know more about him than anyone, even his family.

Even as he left, the time getting too late for him to reasonably stay in her room, his mind wandered about the intimate knowledge she had about him. He laid on the couch, chuckling to himself out of sheer bliss. To think she cared so deeply for him that she would even start learning his language. Mindlessly, he began touching his hair, twirling it around his finger. He wished she would do the same.

Soon enough, he heard the door open, the purple-haired male peeking over the back of the sofa to see Shota had returned. He frowned. Hotaka had never been fond of the redhead. He was immoral and always wanted more than he had no matter what he had to do to get it. Regardless, he had to admit that the older male was the only one who knew how to help (Y/n), and the vial in his hands was probably more medicine for her. Hotaka wondered if it really was medicine, but every time he tried to snatch it to have it tested, Shota's "scientist" would go mad, trying to stab him.

"Would love to stay and chat with you, Ishikawa, but I'm needed. You can catch up with this one."

Shota moved away for an injured Kenko to be visible. Though it took him a moment, Hotaka taking his time to glare at the vial in the redhead's hands, he did eventually see the brunette. It's just that he wasn't the most important person on his mind. Regardless, when the militant saw the state his precious friend was in, he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a brief minute of silence where he assessed the amount of damage done to the academic, but, in the end, he went rushing to him, hugging him tightly.

"I'll be alright with some rest," the brunette sighed, darting his eyes away in guilt, "I just...had an argument with the chancellor."

"What? But he's - "

"Yeah, I know. He beat me pretty badly after I brought up your walkout. Um, speaking of which, I wanted to - "

"Wait, hold that thought!"

Kenko, patient as always, watched as the purple-haired male rushed out of the "living room". He came back with a few papers in his arms, an excited look on his face as he hugged them close to his chest. The brunette stood patiently as his friend sorted them out, wondering if the papers were evidence. It stood to reason that, as a proprietor of justice, Hotaka would want to show the wrongdoings of the school. However, that wasn't anywhere near the reality of the papers the male hoarded.

"Check this out! I told you that (Y/n) and I went out to study for the midterm, but - Well, just look! Everything she wrote was in defense of me! She listened! She listened!"

The brunette began scanning over the midterm, noting the massive zero written at the top. He admitted that it definitely made a large impression, especially since the (h/c) haired girl was so dedicated to her studies, always getting top marks. But it wasn't what he wanted to talk about with the militant. It only barely scratched the surface of what they needed to talk about, especially since there was a rippling effect that only continued to spread. They needed to capitalize on it to make progress, not be satisfied with one person's test results.

"Ah, it's...something," he chuckled nervously, "But, do you think we could talk about something else like - "

"No, you haven't looked long enough! Right here is where she argues against the immigration policy, and here is the part where she talks about Cikloge! Cikloge! Can you believe it?! She remembered everything I told her!"

"Um, well, it's impressive, but it would be better if more people could hear about stuff like Cikloge. I mean, you think it's wrong how only Athainian history is taught."

"Of course, but, just look at (Y/n)'s test! She knew all the answers the professor wanted her to answer, and she still wrote in defense of me!"

"You? You mean Afruan - "

"Yeah, yeah, of course. But, just think!"

Hotaka went on and on about the girl's midterm, and even showed the notes she had taken during their study date. He pointed out the things that made him giddy, especially when she became angry in his stead. Then he rambled on and on about how thoughtful she was to take everything to heart like she was suffering with them. However, Kenko could only stare at the numerous pages he had, including the girl's notebook. He had a bad feeling.

"Did you...steal these?" he questioned, hoping it wasn't true.

"Steal? I - No, I'm just keeping them safe for her. She can't go back to school for a while, so I thought - "

"Why not? Is she alright? Should I go see - "

"No! No, you don't need to see her!" Hotaka objected fervently, quick to block the brunette's way, "She's fine, I mean. Well, actually she's not fine, so she needs to stay here for a while. It's for her own good, so...it's alright, right? I mean, even if she's a little antsy to go outside, she'll be fine in a few days, so - "

The brunette tuned out the male's rambling for a moment, his eyes shaking at the militant in front of him. Hotaka was making excuses. And worse than that, there was an implication that the younger girl was there against her will. He might have expected that from Shota, but to see the purple-haired male enthusing over "protecting" her in such a way was terrifying. There was something wrong with him.

In his shock, Kenko's mouth hung agape, his broken nose dripping down another drop of blood. He didn't even realize it was there, but as soon as it made contact with the test, he found it torn out of his hands. Hotaka was quick to snatch it away from him, despairing over the ruined piece of sunshine he had found. And he was even more so when he discovered that, in his haste and in the brunette's surprise, the test was torn in half.

"No! I - No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. I didn't mean to!" the younger male panicked.

He took the other half from Kenko's hands, the brunette taking a step back out of fear for the cloudy look in his eyes. Hotaka then attempted to put the test back together as if just positioning it correctly could heal it. However, when he realized it would never work, he began to shake violently, rushing around the room for anything to fix it. He couldn't even find a stapler, the purple-haired male beginning to hyperventilate, especially when he tried to get the blood off of the page.

He rubbed and rubbed at it, his eyes dark and his mouth clenched, intensely focused on the task at hand. The male tried as hard as he could to get it off and restore it to its original state, but he neglected the consequences of friction. In rubbing the page, he had accidentally harmed the writing on the page, written in pencil. It rubbed off on his thumb, Hotaka staring at it with shock.

"No, I just wanted to help! Why is it...I - Fix it! Fix it, please!"

Kenko didn't know who the male was talking to. He was seemingly pleading for some higher being to rectify his mistake. And it only became more deranged the moment he started talking in his native language, rambling on and on to no one. He didn't even seem like he was talking to himself. Hotaka just clenched the paper with desperation, breathing in and out with existential fear.

"Hotaka! Calm down!" the brunette shouted, shaking his friend to snap him out of it.

"Don't touch it!"

Holding the test away from his friend, Hotaka gave a fearful look as if his only connection to the younger girl would be torn away. He was shaking and weeping yet still managing to keep his tears away from the precious sheet of paper. The male wouldn't even listen as his friend tried to calm him down. He just clutched the test with all of his might.

And from the corner of his eye, the brunette noted the younger girl standing there quietly. She gave a cold look to him, but her eyes turned soft when she gazed at Hotaka. She liked him. As her eyes once more returned to him, he quickly froze up at the look she gave him. It was sinister, and the smirk she had only heightened his concern. Then she went and mouthed "he's mine". That was when Kenko knew. She was the one he had to pitch to.