Nobu was the first to arrive, as usual. He was always early for everything, always so eager. I'd welcomed him in, and he had Lily with him. He asked me how I'd been feeling, because he'd heard I'd been falling lately. He was so concerned. I told him it was a good day, because I'd been having days that could only be categorized as "good days" and "bad days". I was secretly worried about that, but it was currently a good day, and I didn't want to think about anything else. 

We had a live performance coming up. It was the last one before a scheduled vacation for Tetsu and I, to go to his parents' house for Thanksgiving and my birthday. I was so excited for this performance, because Shizue would be there. We'd play together, her viola and my violin for the first time. I wanted to hear what our sound was like that night. We were going to play "Erlkonig" by Schubert just the two of us, then Dvorak's "Serenade for Strings in E Major" as an arrangement I'd created for all of us to play at the live performance. I couldn't wait. I'd been practicing, and Tetsu had been there whenever he could, just to listen to me. He was always in awe when I played the violin. The best part was, Shizue had told me she'd picked up viola when she was away, because she missed me. The sweetness of that made my heart dance.

There'd been a knock on the door, and Tetsu was in my kitchen area trying to secretly take a sesame seed cookie without me noticing. I'd prepared these for dessert. He was so silly. He could eat anything he wanted. The kitchen area and the living room were adjoined, an open space, with the front door off to the side of the living room. I went to open it. Nobu was on the couch setting Lily up. 

As soon as I opened the door for him, Yami was staring behind me. I slowly looked at what he was looking at. And I saw it. He was staring at Tetsu. And they were staring silently at each other, frozen in place. 

Tetsu had a curious look on his face, almost surprised. But Yami... Yami's face was pure hatred. He scared me with that look, like he was about to throw a punch. Like, if I hadn't been between them... 

Yami turned on his heel then, and started walking down the street. I saw his fists were clenching tight and over and over, scaring me further. Nobu, having seen this from the couch, put Lily down quickly. 

"I have to uh, go walk my dog," he said awkwardly, and slid past me, which really confused me. Tetsu came up behind me and took my hand, closed the door for me. The air was too cold, and it was starting to be the season where that affected my asthma. He was always looking out for me. 

A long time passed, and no one else arrived. I wondered where they were. So, I called Masaki. It wasn't like him to be this late. He was usually the only one who had his head screwed on straight, so much more mature than the rest of us. But what I heard when he answered that phone call, and I know Tetsu heard it, too, because the yelling was too loud. I'd even term it as screaming.

"YOU DON'T GET TO HAVE A SAY! THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! SINCE WHEN DO YOU LOVE SANA? YOU DON'T GET TO LOVE SANA! SANA DOESN'T LOVE YOU LIKE THAT! YOU'RE BEING SUCH A JERK! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HAPPY NIGHT! SANA FINALLY FEELS FINE, AND YOU'RE JUST BEING-!" Nobu was screaming so hard. I'd never heard him do that before. It made me scared.

"YEAH, AND WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Yami, screaming back, with everything he had, it sounded like.

"WHAT ABOUT ME?! YOU THINK I'M NOT TAKING CARE OF HIM?! WHO CALLS HIM EVERY DAY? NOT YOU! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ALL THE TIME?!"

"I DON'T NEED TO LISTEN TO THIS! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING THAT I KNOW!"

"YEAH, YOU JUST GO AWAY, WALK AWAY, LEAVE HIM AGAIN LIKE-"

"NO, YAMI! DON'T!" That was Masaki's voice. Masaki had been with them. That's what I'd discovered from this call. He must have seen them, that was my only guess. The phone hung up then. 

I could only guess at what had happened next. None of them had come back to my apartment, and Shizue never showed up. The only thing I could think of is that one of them must have called her. Tetsu had gone to deliver Lily back to Nobu the next day, since Nobu lived so close to him. And when he'd returned, he'd been so quiet, and wouldn't tell me what happened. It was so unlike him. 

"Nobu." I heard him heavy breathing in frustration over the phone, clearly in his thoughts, as I had been in mine. Except... I swallowed. 

"Yes."

"Nobu... What really happened between you and Yami that night?"

He paused. I heard a hesitant noise from his throat. 

"Nobu..." I was starting to get tired. I'd have to hang up soon. I didn't want to. I could feel my hand getting floppy. 

"It's nothing. You sound tired."

I frowned. I wasn't going to get any answers. "I am tired."

"Go back to bed, then, okay? It's too early. I can talk to you later."

"Will you tell me what happened later?"

He let out a sigh, "Sana..." Almost a scold, but there was concern there. 

"Bye bye." 

"Are you okay?" So full of concern.

"Bye bye..." My hand slipped, and my phone fell onto my chest. I picked it up again and hung up the call. Then I let my phone drop to the carpeted floor. 

Some time later, Tetsu found me sleeping peacefully on the couch. He woke me up, worried about me. He knelt down next to my face, staring at me, checking me over. His large, gorgeous eyes were searching me. The warmth of his love gave me a fuzzy feeling inside. He took my blood glucose level, and found it to be low. He brought me a piece of fruit, and I nibbled on that. 

"Why are you in the living room?" Such a gentle, caring voice. "When I didn't find you in bed with me, I was so scared. I'm glad I found you in here, and Cocoa Bean is protecting you." He gave Cocoa Bean a scratch behind the ear, and she sniffed his hand cutely. 

"I wanted to make breakfast for you."

His face was one of quiet surprise, but there was a small sadness there. I wanted to make it go away. My love. The last thing I wanted to do was make him sad. But, quickly, the look was replaced with his familiar smile. 

"Are you hungry? Do you want more than fruit? I can see what we have in the refrigerator. If not, I can order us something." His hand was slowly making comforting grabbing motions on my shirt, probably not even noticing he was doing this. 

"I'm not really hungry." I was just tired. My whole body.

A gentle look of concern overcame his face. That sadness, that he probably wasn't even aware he was showing, was in his eyes. It made me want to cry. 

"But you hardly ate anything yesterday, my darling." His lower lip was poking out a little bit. It made the feeling of wanting to cry worsen. I'd do anything for him when he did that. 

"Oh." 

"Do you remember what you ate yesterday?"

I was too tired to remember. I honestly couldn't. The days at the hospital kind of blended together. "No."

"No?" Said in a bit of a gasp of sadness, like he couldn't believe it. "Darling..." 

I didn't know what to say. His lips pressed together, and then popped out again. His eyes squeezed shut, and then opened again. 

"Darling," he sighed, his eyebrow creased. "What do you want to eat? Anything you want, I'll get it. Just tell me what you want."

I couldn't think of a single thing. The only thing I could think to say came out of my mouth.

"I'm tired."

"Darling, I know you're tired. I know. But you have to eat something. You're probably tired because of your low blood sugar. You need to eat."

Oh. He was right. He was following my symptoms. Always taking care of me. It filled my heart with gladness. I tried to think of anything that seemed appetizing, but nothing seemed good. I didn't want anything. I just wanted to close my eyes. So, I did.

"No, no, no. Darling. No, no. Open your eyes. You have to eat. Look at me. Tell me what you want to eat. Please."

I saw the ceiling, the white color with all the glitter all over it. Then the darkness behind my eyelids. 

"No, no, no, darling. No, no, no." So gentle, but so desperate. He was shaking my hand now, trying to shake me awake. I felt Cocoa Bean jump off of me, as he was shaking me. Then under his breath, "I'm too late. I'm too late." Scolding himself. 

"Te-chan?" His mom's voice, full of concern, too. 

"Mom! Mom, do we have anything to eat? Something with carbs? Mom, I need Sana to eat right now!"

"Yes, I have some oatmeal. But it will take a few minutes to make." She was trying to stay calm, I could hear that in her voice. Trying to stay calm for her son. 

"Please make it! Sana, Sana-a, open your eyes. I don't want to have to pinch you. I don't want to."

"Sit him up, maybe that will work for a few minutes."

I felt his strong hands on me, wrapping around me. Felt my world move. My eyes opened, and I saw his mom standing there in the doorway, wearing a traditional apron and an every day kimono in a tan color. 

I heard Tetsu's throat make a noise, and he was hugging me on the couch, hugging me to him, as we sat together. I put my head on his shoulder. Wanted to close my eyes, so comfortable. 

"No, no, no, don't close your eyes. Talk to me. Talk to me about, uh, Cetus, the constellation? You like that story. I want to hear it again. Please tell me about Cetus, Sana-chan." The desperation in his voice was overwhelming. 

"Ah, Cetus the whale?"

"Yes. The whale in the sky."

"Okay."

Dreamily, my eyes closed, and I began telling him a story. About a whale created by the god Poseidon, named Cetus.