When we got home, she was waiting at the door.

Her face bowed, her hands incessantly wringing, her immense tail twitching nervously around her, her usually well-maintained and beautiful red hair now frizzled and disheveled. She would pause in her wringing to clutch an elbow or gnaw on a finger with her sharpened teeth before returning to her usual slumped posture. Her breathing was uneven, and her usually vibrant eyes were filled with sadness. Seeing a girl so full of life and passion reduced to this was truly heartbreaking.

"Aki, um, I..." My friend floundered on her words, amber eyes flitting once at Kimihito and me before rapidly looking downward again. "Can we... talk?"

"Of course," I replied with a nod.

Kimihito told us, "I'll leave you two to it," and then walked ahead. Right before he passed her, he hesitated and then gently squeezed her hand. She was momentarily taken aback by the sudden gesture, her breath catching in her throat even after he'd let go and headed inside.

The corner of my mouth quirked up a little.

"Where do you wanna talk?" I asked Miia.

"M-My room," she replied distractedly as if still gathering her thoughts.

"Sounds Gucci." At that, we went on our way.

I was probably the last person for her to apologize to, considering I hadn't spoken to her at all since it happened. As we passed the living room and I spied the rest of our housemates lounging there, I wondered what their responses were to her. I was positive no one here blamed Miia for what happened, but... I wasn't them. I gave up pretending I knew everything about them a long time ago.

My gaze remained fixated on the board of memories, particularly on the single picture of her on display. Miia's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape in surprise as a flush of embarrassment spread across her cheeks.

"... Juyo?" Miia's voice, so meek and quiet that I almost mistook it for someone else's, called to me just ahead. Her head was half-turned and mostly hidden by her tense shoulders so that all I could see was a puffy amber eye. "Why are you smiling?"

Huh, now that she mentioned it, my cheek muscles did seem to be straining a bit.

"I'm admiring your work," I replied, my grin falling into a small smile and shoving my hands in my pockets.

Miia didn't seem to have much to say since she looked away, her shoulders shuddered, and she began to slither onward. My smile faded, and I followed after.

The tension during the journey to her room was palpable. I had hoped that my earlier attempt at humor would have eased her anxieties, but instead, she seemed even more nervous. She had already apologized to many people, including the one she loved more than anyone else. Compared to him, I was just her friend, housemate, and occasional confidant.

We finally stepped into her room and were met with a chaotic sight. Luggage lay wide open on the floor, empty, with odd bits of clothing scattered about them like debris. The sheets on her bed were a mess, carelessly thrown and spread, while her pillow had been reduced to a soggy clump that was sadly propped up against a bedpost.

Miia stopped at the center of the room, wringing her hands and tail, fidgeting against the floor. Careful not to step on the many wrinkled clothes everywhere, I went to her bed and slowly sat down to face her directly. Our eyes made contact, and hers immediately began to water. As her lips trembled violently, I star-

"I'm sorry!" Miia screamed, forcing me back by the sudden outburst. She slammed her eyes shut and faced downward, her entire body shaking so that her tail began to whirl behind her. It slammed into a pearly-white dresser, sending splinters flying against the wall. "I came here to take a husband home for the village, a-a-a-a-and I was gonna kidnap the first man I could, and I'm awful and sick, and my Mama poisoned you all because of ME, and I'm SCUM, and I b-b-b-b-betrayed you!"

A frantic breath.

She screamed, her chest heaving with emotion, tears streaming down her flushed face. Her tail lashed out, sending her belongings scattered across the floor. "I let my Mama poison you!" she wailed, pounding her fists against her chest. "It hurts, and I don't know why, and I hate myself, and I don't know why!" she sobbed hysterically. "I've only known you for a few months, but I feel...I feel..." She finally looked up at me, and at that moment, my heart stopped.

"I feel like I've known you for years," Miia sobbed. Her eyes were glistening, honest, and vulnerable.

I was paralyzed. Entranced. Pressure began to build up behind my eyes, and my vision grew hazy.

"And now it's ruined!" Her tail thumped heavily against the floor. "Because I'm scum and empty, and I just let my Mama-!"

"Miia."

The pain in my chest, the guilt, the shame, the frustration, the anxiety, the hollow burning I'd long associated with dull rage all came surging back, intensifying with such power it was almost blinding. I felt an overwhelming urge to vomit as the emotions threatened to overwhelm me. I had never felt such agony, which hurt more than I imagined.

Miia looked at me and froze.

But nothing could compare to the intensity of the emotion I hadn't anticipated. It was powerful, which could only have come from caring deeply. I had intended to do my usual routine, being non-committal and accepting of her as she was, disregarding her worries and acknowledging her good qualities with a smile, some encouraging words, and a light-hearted joke that would bring a small smile to her face. But I couldn't anymore. It would have been insincere and disrespectful.

I didn't know what to say. Tears of emotion streamed down my face, my hands trembling as I wiped them away. I closed my eyes, and all I could see was her, Suu, Zoe, Mero, Kuroko, and all the others. Every single one of them was looking at me; some with love, some with pride, some with neutrality, but each of them was special and close to my heart.

I realize that now.

"Miia..." I croaked, my throat suddenly dry. "It's not your fault."

She whimpered, biting her lip as if to hold something back as the tears fell anew. I stood up.

"B-B-But it is!" Miia protested. "She's my-!"

"N-No," I cut her off, my voice trembling. My hands were balled into fists. I wanted to scream. "It's not. It's your mother's. And..." Oh god.

"It's my fault."

Those three words fought their way out of my mouth. My voice wavered and trembled, yet still, they came through. And then, they kept coming.

"I knew y-y-you all before I came here." I never thought it would be her that would be the next to hear this. "Where I, I, I came from, you were all chara... characters in a manga series that I read." It was supposed to be Zoe. "I could only keep up with you all because I knew everything that would happen beforehand." But after seeing Miia so genuinely distraught over my well-being, keeping this façade up would've been too much. "I lied, and acted, and, and manipulated just to make sure things went my way around here, and, and..." I couldn't let her feel the guilt that was truly mine. "I'm the scum, here! I knew your mom would poison us, and I fucking couldn't stop it!"

I couldn't believe my own words. They were true, but...

"A-Aki, you're not making any sense," Miia murmured. Her tail had settled down, finally. But the anxiety was still there, along with confusion. "What're you saying?"

"I don't know anymore," I said, frustration evident as I pressed a palm to my forehead. I hadn't expected to find myself in this situation. "But...you have to know, as does everyone else. I'm tired of this, and I can't think of any way to prove it to you besides these inadequate words." I took a deep, shuddering breath.

My head hung low; I took a hesitant step forward. "I swear on my life that I'm telling the truth. I wouldn't dream of lying to you after what you just said. No matter what you call me, I don't care anymore." I paused for a brief moment. "Miia, you're my friend, and I won't let your mom's choices define that. But, maybe my decisions will."

As I was about to pass her and hide in my room, a hand caught mine.

"M-Mama said you recognized the poison back there," Miia spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. "I didn't get what she meant, but maybe I do now."

Her grip tightened.

"Maybe it's true," she continued, her voice trembling as her breath hitched. We were still facing away from each other. "Maybe you did lie and manipulate. Maybe you had known us all long before. Maybe that's all true. But even if that's the case, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Of course it does." How couldn't it?

"Because... you're my Romance Master." Her hand softened its hold on mine, and she entwined her fingers in mine. "You helped me so much. You stayed up late with me looking at silly videos. You took a picture of me when you couldn't find any. You listened to me whine about my worthlessness." She hiccupped, and I noticed her tail slowly sliding around my feet. "None of those moments were lies to me. Even if you say they were to you, they were real to me! So I don't care if you knew me before you met me! That's just silly and stupid!"

Passion and warmth were packed into every word. They washed over me, filling me with a gentle heat that miraculously calmed my pounding heart.

A gentle pull from her hand, and I was facing her. The girl before me was unrecognizable from the one I'd met what felt like ages ago. Though tears still streamed down her cheeks, she smiled softly, her expression filled with mesmerizing beauty. "You said I was your friend, right?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle. "Well, I'm yours, and you're mine, okay? So don't you try and say you've been hurting me all this time when I thought I hurt you. Okay?" A light, impossible, hysterical giggle escaped from her lips. "It hurts, y'know?"

Before I knew it, my arms were wrapped tightly around her, and she did the same. I felt like I'd collapsed on her, and somehow I was sure she was feeling the same.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed into her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Miia echoed my words, crying and dampening my shirt.

We stayed like that for an indefinite amount of time, both of us sobbing and clinging to one another. Most of what was said was unintelligible, muffled by sobs. Something had broken within us, something that could never be fully repaired. What would come to replace it was a mystery, and we were filled with both hope and fear.

But if I could take solace in one thing, it would be something genuine.

To be continued...