Months had passed and you'd almost severed all ties with Juuzou. You didn't want to, you loved him with all your heart but you were tired. You were tired of being the only half of whatever relationship you had with him that tried to maintain it.
--
You'd requested to transfer squads and ended up in Hirako's squad. Being rather close friends with him, you had no problem integrating into the new group.

Juuzou, however, was emotionally affected, no matter how much he tried to deny it. His squad members noticed how depressed he'd become at times but they didn't realise that your transferral impacted him that bad until they found out that he couldn't be cheered up even with sweets. He'd lost his sweet tooth; and that was one thing no one in the CCG wanted to happen.

However, no amount of pleading could convince you to rejoin Suzuya's Squad. Hanbee invited you out for dinner and spent the entire night trying to get you to change your decision; though you could see where he was coming from, you decided to be selfish and declined.

Eventually, the pleadings all stopped and everything seemingly went back to normal. Even Juuzou slowly regained his eccentricity. That's when you were convinced that he really didn't need you in his life to function; and no matter how heartbroken you felt, you chose to accept it as a fact.

But one incident proved you wrong. One hundred percent wrong.
--
The Auction Raid was one of the few battles you'd taken part in that you found extremely terrifying. The stench of death polluted the air and blood coated your clothes.

Your quinque had been snapped into half, rendered useless as your assailant approached you menacingly.

You'd put up a tough fight but in the end, you ended up on the ground with a broken leg and an almost-fatal stab wound in your torso.

The main battle was happening elsewhere, so even if you shouted bloody murder no one would hear you. This was the end of you. And you were terrified, so horribly terrified.

The masked ghoul cackled as he closed the gap in between the two of you, he was licking his lips as he cracked his knuckles. "I love it when my victims looks so scared, it makes every bite taste so much sweeter... You were difficult to handle but that just makes my victory taste better than ever! And don't you worry about the pain," he chuckled, he knelt in front of you, his hand grabbed your chin roughly as he forced you to look at him in the eye. "I'm going to kill you nice and slow... You're going to experience pain like never before-"
--
Juuzou could feel it. He could feel your life draining away. He didn't know why or how, but he knew you were in danger.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he slashed though ghouls to clear his path towards you. The more he ran, the lesser ghouls he had to fight and the closer he could sense you.
--
Juuzou knew he'd made the worst mistake of his life the moment he said he didn't love you. He did you love. He loved you so much it hurt. But he didn't know how to say it; he was worried that telling you his true feelings would increase the expectations you had when it came to him showing his emotions. He was conditioned to not feel and you were the only one who made him feel.

He was confused.

Months ago, when he'd heard that you left his squad, he was heartbroken. He tried to speak to you but it looked like you were avoiding him on purpose. Eventually he gave up, knowing that no matter how sad he was, he still had to be responsible for his squad; he knew that he just had to move on.
--
"(Y/N)!" You heard a familiar voice scream as the ghoul let go of your jaw; his face had frozen as he collapsed in front of you.

"Juuzou?" You whispered, a flurry of emotions overwhelming you as you looked at your saviour. He'd saved you... Juuzou saved you. As relief began to run through your veins, tears streamed down your face and sobs forced themselves out of your throat. "I was... I was so scared!" You cried, mildly surprised by the intense emotions you were feeling.

Before you could do anything else, you felt a pair of warm arms wrap themselves around you. Knowing exactly who it was, you leaned closer into the embrace. You let your tears soak the fabric covering his shoulders and slowly placed your arms around his neck.

"I love you, (Y/N)... I love you I love you I love you l love you...... I love you...." Juuzou chanted, his voice breaking as tears of his own streamed down his face, "I've always loved you... I'll always love you..."