When it happened, Emma was completely blindsided. She was literally just talking to Natasha before the girl shoved her into the corner store and blocked the door. She saw the look in her friend’s eye as the bullets entered her body and how she dropped to the ground seemingly lifeless. Quickly grabbing her phone and calling an ambulance, tears ran down Emma’s face. She hadn’t thought anyone would want to hurt her, much less murder her.

Neither did she expect Natasha to protect her like she did. While staring at her bloody hands after she tried to stop the bleeding on Natasha’s chest, Emma was in a daze. Through the cops and paramedics arriving, the ambulance ride and sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for her brother, Draken and Natasha’s brothers to arrive. When they finally arrive, Emma breaks down in Mikey’s arms all while apologizing to the Kawata boys. Explaining the situation and blaming herself, Emma looked an utter mess.

“Emma, we don’t blame you and don’t you dare blame yourself. We all know how our sister is. She’s a selfless feral little gremlin who will probably do this again just to protect the ones she loves.” Smiley said, trying to reassure Emma, his brother and himself as well. Suddenly, a doctor walked up to the group holding a clipboard and with a sullen expression on his face. The group immediately assumed the worst. “Are any of you related to the girl who was just brought in?” The Kawata boys spoke up quite quickly as the doctor then smiled softly. “She’s gonna be okie boys. But with the 4 bullets that had entered her body, she’s gonna have to stay for a few days before she can go home.”

After the doctor left, the group celebrated with cheers and smiles knowing Natasha was gonna live. It took only a day for the twins to be able to see their sister who made them a set of triplets. Angry had been pacing his room the night prior and didn’t get much sleep while Smiley had been punching his wall also not getting any sleep. All in the meantime, their mother packed Natasha a bag for her overnight stay at the hospital.

The twins had already felt like shit for not going with their sister in the first place because of an impromptu meeting with Toman but they felt even worse when they had to break the news to their mother that their sister, her daughter was fatally wounded but was blessed enough to be okie. When the family finally visited Natasha, she was already awake but still limited to the bed due to her injuries. As their mother left the room to find a doctor, the boys placed Natasha’s favorite plush snow leopard next to her in the bed.

“You know she’s not gonna regret doing this right? She’s gonna wake up and act like nothing freaking happened…” Angry said as he petted his sister's head. Smiley chuckled and nodded. “Hell yea. She’s a little feral animal. I bet she was smiling before she passed out. Acting like she was such tough shit…” Later that day, the twins were sleeping in chairs by Natasha’s bed when they felt a small soft hand playing in their heads full of curls. Upon waking, they were greeted by their smiling sister who was now fully awake.

“Hey cotton candy losers.” Instead of responding to the playful insult with more banter, the boys immediately embraced their triplet with tears threatening to spill. “You freaking dumbass! What the hell were you thinking huh?!” Angry immediately got on Natasha for her admittedly stupid yet brave decision. “I was thinking about how sad Mikey would be if he lost Emma yo. He already lost his older brother. Why not let him have a break from death and tragedy huh?” Looking at Natasha Smiley only shook his head.

“You really are something else. Also, you’re one to talk about hair. Yours looks like purple twizzlers.” Angry nodded as he played with one of Natasha’s braids. “At least mine is manageable.” The triplets then started to throw playful jabs at one another before their mother walked in. “Oh my baby!!” As the woman embraced her daughter, the boys took a step back. “Natasha, promise me you’ll never! Do this again! Ever!” The girl nodded after watching tears run down her mother’s face. After their mother left due to having to work, the triplets carried on like nothing happened.

The boys stealing all the good stuff from Natasha’s lunch and the three discussing their school lives. While sharing spoonfuls of water ice with each other, the Kawata triplets were interrupted by a group of the boy's friends entering the hospital room. Leading them however was Emma who burst into tears when she saw Natasha was awake. The blonde ran over and embraced the girl as her tears ran down her face, apologizing all the while. “Emma, relax! I’m fine! If I gotta be honest, that gave me quite the rush. It was crazy right?”

As Emma then started to scold Natasha about being so careless with her own life, Mikey, Draken, Takemichi and Chifuyu stood there watching it all go down. “I see she’s feeling better huh?” Mikey asked as he smiled. Smiley nodded before responding. “That feral little gremlin said she’d gladly do it again in a heartbeat. She cares about Emma and wants her safe.” Mikey felt his heart thump in his chest as he met the eyes of the girl who saved his sister’s life.

He knew Natasha from pictures and little offhanded stories about her supposed insanity, but he never formally met her, neither did he think she knew Emma nor did he expect the girl to just try and throw her life away to save Emma. He was impressed, perplexed and very aroused by it. Walking up to her, he offered his warmest smile before speaking. “Thank you so much Natasha. I mean it.”