Boku No Toraburu

Slowly and steadily, figures kept on entering his room. Lala, Haruna, Ochaco, Tearju, Tatsumaki, Mikan, Ryōko and surprisingly, Otako also entered his room alongside them.

When Rito"s gaze fell on Lala, his heart almost leapt out as he controlled his urge to remove all the tubes attached to his body and hug her and never let go.

He and Lala had already confirmed their budding feelings for each other but Rito only understood Lala"s position in his heart after he lost control of his self. Gulping to moisten his dry throat, Rito waited as he avoided their cool gazes on his face.

Especially, Mikan. He hadn"t ever seen her that way, not even when he was hospitalized previously.

"You must be quite proud of yourself, right?"

Tatsumaki spoke coldly.

Seeing her cold expression, Rito couldn"t muster any feeling of annoyance anymore. Only warmth remained in his chest when he heard her speak up.

Maybe he was quite a disgrace of a brother and a friend and he had enough time to confirm that very fact. Selfish and willful.

After waking up, those were the two emotions that Rito described himself as. All his actions all this time has been for his own self. Never did he actually think about how he will be viewed by his loved ones.

No... maybe, he was also quite presumptuous of appointing all of them as his loved ones but he never denied his own self anymore.

He looked at Tatsumaki with an apologetic gaze and yet he knew that if he had a chance to do things differently, he wouldn"t hesitate wearing Asura"s Gauntlets once again.

"I"m sorry."

Mikan, who had been standing near Rito quietly immediately bit her lips as her hands moved.

Pah

Pain and sadness pa.s.sed through his warm cheeks as Mikan struck once again.

Pah

"You"re sorry! You"re sorry? Are you?! Huh?"

Pah

All stood shocked at Mikan"s outburst as her tears flowed unceasingly. Her eyes red and her heart crushed in pain and despair for her elder brother"s well being and yet when she came face to face with him, she couldn"t control herself anymore.

"Say you"re sorry once again! I dare you! Always s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around with my feelings!"

Pah

Pah

Rito"s left cheek was already glittering red and yet he only felt warmth and concern from his sister. Hearing her sobs and shouts that hammered down his heart, all his self-acceptance disappeared.

What selfishness? He didn"t want to be selfish if Mikan"s tears were the result.

He took everything back!

Who said he didn"t regret his actions? Now, at this very moment, he regretted every single of his actions deeply.

Slowly, his eyes turned red as tears trickled down his cheeks. His grit teeth refused to let any voice escape as he didn"t have the right to voice out his emotions and become selfish once again.

Maybe, he understood that he didn"t want to just protect someone who became an important part of his life. He wanted to treasure them, spoil them and always keep them happy. Maybe, that was the definition of "protecting" his loved ones?

"What? You feel bad? What about me?! Did you ever think of me?!"

Her palms clenched into tight fists, she started beating his legs and headb.u.t.ted his shoulders as her shouts didn"t escape the room due to a green barrier erected next to the door.

"Fine! That"s your way of doing things, right? Maybe I will get beaten to death and crawl back to you with my bodies filled with injuries and simply apologize. Maybe that"s more to your taste, right?"

Rito couldn"t keep his emotions in check as he immediately touched the back of her head and pulled her into a deep embrace. Just the thought of Mikan getting injured so brutally crushed his heart.

Kissing on top of her head again and again, Rito kept on whispering.

"I"m sorry, I"m really sorry! Please never say that again."

Meanwhile, Tearju plainly looked at Tatsumaki and pointed at the door to remove her barrier.

Nodding, Tatsumaki silently removed the barrier and walked out as the rest followed. They weren"t destined to vent out their feelings... not today.

"Let go! Let go! You Idiot! Stupid!"

As she shouted her hands wrapped around Rito"s neck tighter and tighter, her face buried into his chest as her tears ruined his hospital gown.

"No, no, no. I am not letting go! Never!"

Rito spoke as his tears fell on top of her head. He could barely speak without his voice cracking up and simply brought her even closer.

***

"Hmmm."

Mikan"s eyelids quivered as she felt her arms wrapped around something warm. The warmth comforted her as she hadn"t slept so well for a long time... maybe a week.

She simply stayed still as she didn"t even bother wiping her drool while her head softly snuggled against something firm.

Feeling her body wrapped by a pair of equally warm "blankets", she simply slept once again. From deep within her, a voice kept on echoing that she needed to sleep, to rest well.

With her eyes still closed, she drifted into a deep sleep once again.

***

Kissing her forehead, Rito spoke softly.

"Hey, it"s already morning, Mikan."

Rito sat up slightly as Mikan"s whole body rested on Rito"s as her sprout hairstyle tickled his chin. Rubbing her head with a soft smile, he tried waking her up. It"s already been the next day and they both needed to eat something. While he was fine because of the nutrient packet, Mikan needed to eat something.

Shaking her head, Mikan slowly opened her eyes as she finally bothered to wipe away the drool leaking through the corner of her mouth as she looked at the strange surrounding.

Whoosh

Smack

She immediately grabbed her head in pain as the top of her head smacked something hard while she tried to stand up quickly.

"Ow."

Rito rubbed his chin as he relished the pain. After all, he deserved it.

"Where are we? Wait, you?"

Pah

She immediately struck his cheek once again and slowly stood up with a calm expression.

"What was this one for?"

Rito smiled as he looked at Mikan.

With her expression indifferent, Mikan spoke a single sentence.

"Reflect before you speak to me again."

She immediately took off as Rito could see Tatsumaki sitting outside the door as Mikan opened the door.

*****

A/N: If some of you think that Mc is beta after reading this chapter, I would like to kindly say that this novel isn"t your cup of tea. No hard feelings but you should stop reading this novel.

Thank you for all the love and support.