Kibishi's POV

  "Um, before that though, I got a question I wanna ask." I started off.

  Jir narrowed her eyes in disappointment. It seemed like Jir had a lot of things to say, but then she deeply sighed and lowered her shoulders in defeat.

  She took a deep breath and looked at me thoughtfully.

  "Very well. I shall allow you to ask one question." Jir gave me an honest smile.

  "Really?! Well, while I'm at it, can I—"

  "One. Question." Jir's smile disappeared and was repced by her cold gre, which was basically burning my forehead and melting my skull.

  Ah. There's Jir's cold side, again...

  I closed my eyes as I could feel my body tense up.

  Jir would've been a whole lot cuter if she at least smiled more. That, and there was still the fact that her soft side really could pull on your heart.

  Huh.

  It seemed like my mind had changed a bit since the talk with Yosei.

  It made you wonder how easy I could be if someone were nice enough. Well, if I knew them well enough, too.

  But there was always next time for those thought processes.

  "Um, I'll ask then." I slowly nodded.

  The nod was more for me to calm down and get to the point, but Jir also took it as my understanding of my pce. I'd take it, though, if it would calm her heart.

  "About what happened about a week ago, how do you feel around me?" I scratched behind my neck.

  "..." Jir stared at me.

  Maybe that wasn't a great question to ask. After all, after almost a week of being lifeless, it could mess with your mind, and you'd think that it was all your fault. Perhaps that was why I suggested this question in the first pce. I wanted to know where I stood with Jir and try to see if I could fix it.

  Jir slowly lowered her head.

  "... Is that the question you wanted to ask?" Jir whispered in a cold voice.

  That gave me chills all the way up my spine, but I couldn't back out. I had to face this...

  "Yeah. That's because... I wanted to hear your opinion on the matter."

  "Opinion? Is that what you'll call my thoughts of you being 'dead' for a whole week? Just... just an opinion?" Jir's shoulders moved up and down as I could hear heavy breathing.

  "U-um, Jir-"

  "You're horrible, Kib! How can you be so rexed when all of us were stressed about you?!"

  I flinched at that statement.

  "N-no! I wasn't trying to-!"

  "Damn it. I was trying to... man..." Jir covered her eyes as I could hear her crying softly.

  The sight of this made my heart ache. I knew this was a heavy topic, yet I didn't approach it as such. I should've been more careful and tried not to overstep my boundaries. And look at the result—a crying girl who was worried about her friend.

  "I told you, you idiot. I told you there were gonna be consequences for shutting down your nerves! But all you cared about was defeating the monster and not returning home alive. What kind of person are you? Do you genuinely not care about others around you and their feelings?!"

  "..." I lowered my head in shame.

  "Just because you're the supernatural of death doesn't mean you can treat your life as a joke..." Jir slowly lifted up her head with tears falling. "People care, Kib! No one in this team wants anyone to DIE!"

  "..." I closed my eyes in shame.

  I knew that. I knew that too well.

  I knew my pn would have consequences. I knew I would've caused pain for the others. But what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't let them die!

  I didn't have any choice!

  It was either that or death for all of us!

  Yet.

  Just because that was the case, didn't mean I should ignore my friends and their feelings....

  I slowly looked up as I could see Jir clenching her baggy shirt in anger. I didn't bme her either. I deserved that look, after all. The least I could do was set things right and be honest with her.

  "I'm sorry, Jir. I know you warned me about shutting down my nerves. I know that, yet I told you to do that twice for me anyway. I-... I just wanted to protect you all, that's all."

  I slowly put my hands in my jacket.

  "I-I just wanted to help out any way I could. My original idea wasn't any better, with the whole heart thing and telling you to stop it for the sake of winning that battle against the monster. Jir... I'm... I'm sorry. Really..." I scratched the side of my face as I stared into Jir's eyes.

  The tears wouldn't stop falling.

  The pain that I caused my friends was horrible. I didn't understand it either. No. I did. So...

  "And, I'm sorry if this sounds heartless, but... I think... I think it'll happen again. About me... being reckless and such...."

  This made Jir gasp in shock. It didn't take long before I could see anger in her eyes.

  "So that's it, huh? You're gonna throw your life away like you don't give a damn." Jir grabbed a pillow.

  "N-no! W-well, yes. Listen, what I'm saying-"

  Wham!

  The pillow smmed into my face and retracted. I saw Jir standing up on her bed with the pillow in her hand. "You're the worst! You're horrible! Stupid! An idiot! I can't BELIEVE I had faith in you that you'd change your ways and mindset!"

  I stood up in a panic.

  "Wait, Jir! Listen to me! I didn't mean it like that-!"

  Wham! Wham!

  I used my arms to protect my face as Jir kept smming the pillow at me.

  "You suck! Get out of my room! I don't want to see your selfish ass in here EVER again!" Jir sped up her movement as the pillow started to hit harder.

  "W-wait! I didn't word it right! Please-!"

  "GET OUT! NOW!" Jir lifted up her pillow and-

  Wham!

  Smmed the pillow on my face so hard that I ended up hitting my head on the chair to the floor.

  Gush!

  I felt my forehead bleeding as I slowly picked myself up off the floor. I heard Jir gasp at the sight of that. Jir threw the pillow on the floor and hurried my way.

  "K-Kib! I-I'm so sorry-"

  "Sorry..." I said in a crackly voice as I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.

  I closed my eyes in shame and held my head.

  "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please... please don't hate me..." I said softly. I tried not to cry anymore, but the tears kept falling. "I'm sorry for being a horrible person. I'm sorry for not changing my ways. But please... please don't hate me, Jir..." I whispered as I could feel more tears falling down my face.

  "..." Jir remained silent.

  I opened my eyes as I could see my blood and tears falling on Jir's floor. Great. Now I was making a mess in Jir's room. How could it get any worse?

  I heard a deep sigh and then felt warmth on top of my forehead. I looked and saw Jir blushing. Not from excitement or happiness, but it seemed from embarrassment and shame. I could see one hand glowing on top of my forehead, and another had summoned a small green towel.

  Jir exhaled and cursed softly to herself.

  "...Damn it. I didn't want to harm you. I just wanted to understand how I felt about the whole thing...." Jir wrapped the towel around my head in a neat and tight bow. "And seeing you crying makes it worse. Now I'm the horrible person for showing my emotions..."

  Jir slowly moved her hand from my forehead to my cheek.

  She frowned and rubbed my cheeks.

  "If you keep looking at me like that, my heart will be shattered. I've had enough of that for one lifetime..." Jir stopped rubbing my cheek and helped me up and onto her bed.

  "U-um, I'm sorry. F-for the mess I made..." I apologized to Jir.

  Jir sighed and helped me sit down on her bed.

  "It's fine. It was an accident." Jir slowly rolled the chair closer and sat down on it. "But I haven't forgiven you yet. You've got a lot of nerve to say those things in front of my face and pretend that it'll all be fine and dandy. This isn't a manga, Kibishi. This is real life. And you WILL die and be gone forever if you're not careful with yourself..."

  "R-right. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." I could feel my body trembling as I was getting scolded by Jir.

  Jir scratched the side of her face.

  "Well... let's just call it even and be done with it. Rest here for a bit while I get Mato in here to check on you."

  Jir snapped her fingers, and her phone appeared in thin air. She unlocked it and started dialing the number. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble..."

  Jir stopped midway as I continued.

  "I'm sorry for... causing you and the team more stress than help. I know you're mad at my way of thinking and actions. But... I can't fix that. I wish I could. But I can't...."

  That was right.

  I couldn't change the way I did things. I knew it would be annoying, but that was just who I was as a person. There was nothing that could be done about that...

  "I tried. Believe me, I really did. While growing up, I tried my best, Jir. But I can't change this mindset of mine. I'll always be like this for the rest of my life. I can't just flip a switch and uncreate what created this person I am today."

  Jir lowered her phone as she stared at me in awe.

  "That's what I was trying to tell you. I can't do anything about this mindset. The least I can do is tell you ahead of time so you can see where I'm coming from, despite not agreeing with it. That's... that's all I was trying to do today." I pced my hands together. "And... I also don't want you to hate me, Jir. I know we haven't been friends for long, and you might find me annoying or frustrating. But please, can we at least talk things out?"

  Drop!

  Jir dropped her phone. I looked and saw the amount of shock and fear in her eyes.

  "S-so, you're saying that... you didn't mean to..." Jir slowly held her head. "What the hell is wrong with me? I didn't TRY to listen to your side of the story and was quick to react."

  Jir slowly clutched her baggy shirt once more.

  "Kib, I'm so sorry for hitting you. What I did was not okay. I should've just listened instead of letting my emotions get to me." Jir sighed deeply and looked away. "See, this is why I closed my emotions a long time ago..."

  "Jir..." I whispered.

  Jir realized what she said and wanted to react differently. But she realized that it was pointless and scratched the back of her neck once more.

  "Geez! Now I've done it..." Jir whispered with a hint of blush.

  "..." I blinked at Jir.

  Jir blushed some more and clumsily picked up her phone. "At any rate, let's get Mato in here and-"

  "Jir..." I called out her name.

  "Hmm?" Jir looked up at me.

  I chuckled and smiled at her. "You're not a cold person after all. You're a kind soul..."

  "..." Jir blinked.

  Then, her whole face turned bright red. I could hear her groan in embarrassment and then she narrowed her eyes at me. "I-it's not like I wanted to be cold or anything! I just, u-um, turned out... that way..."

  Jir turned her head away from me.

  I giggled once more. This made Jir pick up the pillow and gently hit me with it this time.

  "S-shut up! Geez! I'm calling The Founder by mistake!" Jir went back to her phone and continued to press on her screen. Jir looked up at me and then back at the phone after shaking her head. Probably trying to focus and not look at my injury.

  "It still hurts, but I'll wait for Mato. I don't bme you, Jir. Promise..." I reassured Jir.

  Jir paused and then looked at me with concern. She looked back at the phone with conflict. "I would've used what I did to get back at you for being so rude earlier. Yet, you decided to be kind to me instead. You're such a weird guy, Kib."

  Jir hovered over the call button.

  She scoffed and then smiled brightly.

  "... I like that. You were genuine when you said that you wanted us to stay friends despite my fws. Thank you. Really...."

  With that statement, Jir pushed the icon and pced the phone to her ear.

  Seeing Jir like this gave my heart an exciting feeling.

  Sure, she injured me, but I deserved it for not being clear anyway. Others might not forgive Jir's actions, but I did. I was sure Jir couldn't properly express herself just like me. Maybe that was why I was willing to forgive her so easily.

  Yeah.

  I was gd we somehow managed to talk things out.