It's been a couple of days since then, and things have mostly calmed down. Just to remind you, Meil and I had a passionate debate that got a bit too steamy by the end, but in the end I somehow managed to get him to take his pills and calm down. Waitress girl had apparently ran over to us after leaving Lem's dad to take care of Kevin in her absence, so she arrived right as the k-kiss happened. She then promptly beat the crap out of him with the whole entire furniture set and Meil finally started realizing what was real and what wasn't, leading to him ducking on the ground and begging my late father for forgiveness. Alright, all caught up?

Good, because right now we gotta get back to business! Namely, the first thing we had to check off our list was to pick up Meil from the station. We were worried his jail time would be increased because he literally bit off one of the guards' ears off, but thankfully with a bit of Lem's Control, the guards were happy to drop the charges. It also helped that the guard who got injured managed to get his ear stitched back in time, so they really just said it was water under the bridge. What a kind bunch, the Simpletonese.

"How does the outside world feel?" Waitress girl teased, "If you've been taking your pills regularly like you were advised to do, then I imagine you must be feeling quite ecstatic to see all these buildings again."

Right now, Meil, Waitress girl and I are walking out of the police station and going to the hospital so that Meil can properly apologize to Kevin. Well, today also happens to be the day Kevin is allowed to leave the hospital, so we're also planning on celebrating his recovery at the coffee shop as well. By the way, Waitress girl took a day off.

"I-I have..." He glanced over to me before his line of sight shot back into the opposite direction, "N-Nelly, about what I did back then..."

"At least look me in the eyes properly when you speak to me." I thought it fun to tease him a bit as well, "You know, if you don't look at someone in the eyes whilst you're talking, you come off as dishonest."

"Right." He cranked his head over to me, though I imagine it took quite a bit of willpower, "I am sorry for what I did. I know this apology is probably worthless to you, but I would just like you to know that I was not in the right headspace."

Hehee~, no problem at all~! Truth be told, I've been having quite the sweet dreams ever since that day. Just looking back at all the pressure and anxiety in the room, the dramatic and abrupt movements all leading up to that one single moment...! Gahh, I can't help but wriggle in excitement whenever I recall the sensation! I really just wanna thank him and ask if it's alright to do it again sometime, but right now probably isn't a good idea. He's just started acting normal, so I doubt he'd like me pestering him with requests right off the bat. I must endure, just for a little while longer.

"It's all good." I tried my best to hide the euphoric smile I had on as I spoke, "Though if you really wanna show me you're sorry, then make it up to me by never scaring us like that again."

"And don't forget to take your pills!" Waitress girl added onto my conditions, "Honestly, the little girl is being far too lenient. Had it been me, I would've filed for sexual abuse the moment it happened!"

"But we kissed before, did we not?" He tilted his head, "Back in the alleyway, when we were running from whoever it was that was following us the entire day, you specifically said...!"

"Dosta od tebe, ha-ha...!" Waitress girl promptly shut him up, "It was a scary situation, so I just panicked, okay!?"

"You two..." I stood between them, "Are you sure there's nothing going on between the two of you? Just what kind of relationship..."

"Friends." They both coldly replied at the same time, "Just friends."

"Huh, is that so." I still gave them a gaze of suspicion as we continued walking, "Okay..."

"But more importantly, Nelly." Meil smiled, "How have your studies been going?"

"Ah." I remembered I completely abused this whole situation to laze about the entire time, "T-They've been doing pretty good, r-right..."

"Want to review?" He whipped out a couple of exam sheets he hand wrote.

"Where'd you get those!?" I jumped, "We just left the station, there's no way you just wrote allat!"

"Well, of course I did not." He chuckled, "Even I am not that fast, though I do appreciate the compliment nonetheless. No, instead I wrote these last night ahead of time. I asked the guards for a pen and some sheets of paper, and they were all too quick to oblige."

"Right, they probably didn't want their ears chewed off." I joked.

"What now?" He stood horrified, fearing I was talking about someone other than him, "Have there been cases like that in the prison I was at? Scary..."

Waitress girl and I exchanged uneasy glances before just choosing to not say any more and continue on with the conversation. Obviously, I had no way out of doing the test now, so I spent the rest of the way there walking and doing my test simultaneously, earning me the jeers and stares of surrounding scholars. Dammit Meil, even if you kissed me right here in the middle of the street I'd feel less embarrassed... Mnn, now I can't get that kiss out of my mind again. It's getting tougher to focus on all of this, and as a result...

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***

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"Only 47 points?" Meil finished checking my mock exam while we were in Kevin's hospital room, "How is that possible? You said you have studied a lot since the last time."

Ah, he looks so disappointed. If I were to come clean now, do you think he'd forgive me? I mean, he is kind of the reason why I fell behind on my studies, so I guess blaming him could work... No, I promised myself I would honestly and earnestly work to achieve my goals, and this isn't the way to go about it. If I am to succeed here, I must be mature first and foremost. No more making up excuses and blaming others, I did this to myself. Or maybe just a few excuses, ha-ha...

"I-I was focusing on walking while doing the test, so the calculations might be a bit off!" I pointed out, "Plus, I was just way too excited to see you finally back to normal, so I kind of lost my focus."

"That is not good, Nelly." He still shook his head disappointedly, "I can understand being worried about me, but as an up-and-coming scholar, you need to put 100% of your mind into the test before you. Do not waver because of external factors."

"As someone who fucked up major league, I'm surprised you still have the gall to lecture people." A bandaged up Kevin spooked him from behind, "Seriously, you just waltz into my hospital room after beating me up, say "Sorry" once and you think that's the end of that?"

"What more is there to be said?" Meil seemed a bit ticked off, "You threatened to kidnap Nelly, whom I promised to take care of, are my actions not considered admirable in that context?"

"I wonder if kissing the girl you swore to protect without her consent also falls under that "admirable" adjective..." Kevin glared back, making Meil jolt.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"I-I apologized for that too!" He defended himself, though rather poorly, "O-Or rather, how do you know about that? Who told you?!"

"Jelena did. Though Nelly was the one who ultimately stopped me from telling anyone else, so be sure to thank her." Kevin explained with a disgusted gaze, "You really did luck out with having the girls fawn over you. Ask anyone else and they'd for sure throw you back in jail, only this time for way longer."

"I know..." Meil quieted down, "I will make sure it does not happen again."

This made me kind of sad, and it seems Waitress girl noticed, so she hurried the entire conversation up so the awkward air that finally started to clear up doesn't come back. Kindly ushering everyone out of the room and helping Kevin check out at the front desk before rushing us to the coffee shop where everyone else was waiting, she made sure none of us started talking about anything we shouldn't have the entire time. Goes to show what a real waitress' skills are!

"See? I told you they'd be late." Librarian guy flashed the other guys a smug smile.

"There you are!" Green girl immediately got out of her seat to hug Kevin properly, "You're late, dummy. Welcome back."

"Heh, good to be back." Kevin lifted her off the ground slightly as he returned the hug and sat down, "Did you guys order anything?"

"Nah, we were waiting for you to show up, but it was getting annoying, really." Lem mocked, "Seriously, I would've been so pissed if you guys called me out here for nothing. Dad almost couldn't wait anymore and started to order without you."

"H-Hey now, don't go throwing your old man under the wagon like that!" Lem's dad bashfully scratched his cheek, "It was a unanimous decision to order our drinks if Meil and the others didn't show up soon. Right, Kiria?"

"Don't lump me in with you guys!" She shouted, wanting no part in this as everyone laughed together.

The mood was good. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and there didn't appear to be any bad blood between them. I was worried when I heard Kevin and Meil were gonna meet up again, but it seems no matter the small wall Kevin's built between them, he knows better than to not be understanding of Meil's situation. I guess, in the end, Meil really did find himself some great friends.

"U-Um, excuse me." Meil suddenly stood up, making everyone stop their joyous celebrations and look up at him seriously, "I would just like to say while everyone is here that I really am sorry."

"Oh, I almost thought you forgot." Lem reclined.

"Ignore him, Meil." Librarian guy gave him the okay to continue, "Say what you wanted to say."

"Thank you, Javi. I did apologize to everyone separately, but I think my actions really cannot be atoned for enough, so I am apologizing to everyone collectively this time." Meil awkwardly took an empty pillbox out of his pockets and put it on the table, "I have not been the most diligent in taking these pills before, leading to me often succumbing to thoughts of distrust and anxiety. I do not believe anyone but Nelly here knows this, but Nelly's father was killed exactly because an enemy disguised herself as our close ally."

"...Damn, way to ruin the mood." Kevin joked a bit before getting serious as well, "Well, Nelly told us her dad died, but sorry for not realizing sooner just how much you were suffering because of it."

"No, you could not have known." Meil shook his head, "Nelly's father was a great man, and even in his last moments he could not help but smile as he thought up his newborn son's name. Even as I and our mutual friend and ally Edward tried desperately to save him, even as we saw his very life leave his body, he...!"

"Whoa, calm down." Waitress girl had him sit down as our drinks arrived, "Take a deep breath or two and drink some coffee. You don't gotta rush the explanation."

"Basically..." Meil gulped before forcing himself to continue, "Over time it seems I have lost the ability to trust the people closest to me without even realizing it, and that troubled every single one of you. As you see by this empty pillbox, I have been taking these pills regularly ever since the other day, and for the most part I have been doing pretty well, safe from a few instances."

"Meil..." I went to comfort him, but stopped midway, "Right, uncle had a whole bunch of problems ever since dad died, so why should you be any different? And instead of me helping you get over it, I just focused on myself..."

"Hey, I was wondering ever since you gave me your name, missy, but..." Lem's dad went to ask a surprising question, "Perchance, is your mother's name Cecily or something like that?"

Huh? He knows my mom? Looking at him diagonally seated across the table with my eyes wide open, he cracked a tiny yet warm smile after he saw he got it right. I looked over at Lem, but even he seemed just as confused as I was. Meil didn't know what to make of this either, though he waited to hear Lem's dad out before anything. Obviously, the others were just as confused.

"Heh, knew it." He reclined all proud of himself, "Well missy, seems like this world's a mighty small one. Of course you wouldn't remember us, since you were only just a wee toddler, but we used to be neighbors back in Stringwood."

"Eh? We were?" Lem took turns glancing between me and his father, "Right, now that you mention it, the neighbors were a super big family! There was a redhead with a baby girl that looked just like Nelly."

"The resemblance really is uncanny." Lem's dad smiled at me, "Your dad, I knew him. He's the reason Lem and I managed to free ourselves of the bandit group and turn over a new leaf."

"Hey, aren't you skipping the fact that he burned our entire bandit camp down and subsequently made you lose that eye of yours?" Lem then shot back with a surprising fact of his own.

"Dad did!?" I jumped in my seat, "S-Sorry..."

"Phah! Your mom said the same thing when she found out!" Lem's dad guffawed, "Seriously, some family man he is, making his wife and daughter apologize for his actions. But no, seriously, it's just nice to hear that you're safe."

"Right, it's slowly coming back to me now." Lem added, "You and your mom suddenly headed down south or something like that, but I didn't really care too much at the time, so I quickly forgot about you."

"We left because mom took us to see dad again." I groaned.

"No, but it really is good that you guys left when you did." Lem's dad's expression started to stiffen, "Your old man just might've saved you without you even realizing."

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head.

Gulping, it seems the more he thought about it, the more grave his expression became. "R-Right, had you not left to see your father and instead stayed at Stringwood, you would eventually enroll in Graalridge elementary."

"Ah." I realized what he was alluding to.

"You would've been one of the victims of the Graalridge massacre that ultimately served as the catalyst for the war starting." He ominously said, sending chills down everyone's spines before smiling, "Well, ain't it weird how the world works sometimes?"

"I-I guess..." I struggled to find the correct words to answer him properly.