Three days passed.
Maybe I was expecting it, but nothing happened. No one was out to kill us, no one was sick, no one was hurt. For the first time in what felt like ages, we were safe.
For whatever reason, Haruka never left, and basically lived on our couch at this point. Sora had questioned why the heck she was still here plenty of times, but in the end, he never said she couldn't, and frankly, I  was glad to have a girlfriend around.
Sora always looked ridiculously annoyed when the two of us would hangout, having our "girl talks," and honestly, it cracked me up.
Life at the shrine was pleasant and safe, and I loved every moment of it.
There was one thing, though.
One thing I noticed.
Sora still couldn't hear my thoughts.
How could that be? I gave him the antidote...! So why...?
Sora never said anything about it. I knew he knew, he had to. But Sora never said a word. He didn't say that he couldn't hear it, and he never reacted to my thoughts anymore. I never thought I'd grow to miss having an audience in my head. At first, I didn't say anything. I wondered if maybe he'd tell me someday on his own.
When he didn't, I grew restless. Impatient, I decided one day that enough was enough, and when Sora came to bed, I was already looking at him resolutely.
As he walked into the room and caught sight of me he blinked, then gave a light chuckle.
"Something you want to discuss?"

"You wouldn't know, would you."

He fell silent, and I knew I had him where I wanted him. "... Why didn't you tell me?" I pressed, looking at him worriedly. "Did you think that sort of thing wasn't important...?"
Sora looked away, scratching the back of his head.
"It isn't like that...."

"Then what is it like?"

Sora paused, then crossed the room to sit beside me on the bed. ".... We overcame our biggest challenge yet. Just three days ago. The two of us could've died, and we narrowly made it out."
I narrowed my eyes. "What's your point."

"My point is, we needed time."

"Time?"

"Time to rest. It's been a long time since we'd been able to just sit at home and live. I don't know who poisoned me, and figuring it out may be impossible. I didn't want to jump right back into another problem."

I cut him off, getting in his face. "That doesn't matter! Something's wrong! Don't you care at all...?"
I laid my forehead against his shoulder. "I'm worried about you, you jerk..."
He paused for a moment, then I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me close. "....you make it really hard to argue when you say things like that, you know..."
I grinned a little to myself. It was good to know I had that kind of power...
I felt Sora let out a breath and he pulled back so he could look me in the face. "Can you just promise me something?"

"What?"

"No trading your vital insides this time."

I laughed a little. "I will if it's the only way."
Sora sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Ayano... You really are something.."
I grinned triumphantly.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"So, then?" I asked as Sora and I sat on the porch the next morning. He turned to me with one of his famous blank stares.
"So then what?"
I scowled at him. "When are we going to hunt down the mercenaries??"
Sora nonchalantly sipped his morning tea. "Mercenaries, huh? Technically they failed to kill me, so..."

"Sora, I'm serious!"

He sighed and set his tea down.
"... Two days."
I blinked. "... Two days for... What?"
He turned his sharp eyes to look at me, his expression serious. "Give me two days, and then we'll go."
My jaw dropped.
Two days?? Why couldn't we go now?? Sora was really trying my patience...
"Two days?? No way! Why??"
His lips curled up mischievously, and he laid his hand on my thigh, leaning closer to me.
"Is it too much to ask for just a little more time being normal...?"
I felt myself blushing, and I knew Sora could see it as his smirk widened and he came even closer, his free hand lifting to cup my reddened cheek.
"Your face is red, Ayano..." He taunted.
It was, and I knew it must've deepened with every move me made towards me, bringing his face closer to mine. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as Sora brought his face so close that I could feel his breath, and he dragged his lips just slightly over mine, sending chills rolling through me.
He's just toying with me....
I could only imagine what sort of look must've crossed my face as Sora, rather than kiss me, pulled away, even acting as if he hadn't done anything as he took another sip of his tea and stood up.
I tried to wipe the look off my face. How dare I make him think I wanted him this badly...
I was grimacing at him as he turned back to smirk at me.
"If you want to continue, give me those two days."
I growled and looked away, out at the yard with a scowl. "....right...."