We cleaned up after the tea, this time Mai came to me as Sakuta and Rio headed to the living room.

"We can write my letter now if that's okay with you."

We sat back down at the table, and she told me what to write down. Like Sakuta, it was short and simple, though her letter took up half the page. As I wrote, I could feel her staring at me.

"You must really care about Sakura, don't you?"

She said, waiting for me to finish up the letter. It was the first time any of them had brought that up.

"Sorry, it's just that you kinda remind of Sakuta, how hard he worked when we first meet."

A smile came across her face.

"Do you mind if I ask how you guys met?"

I asked, curious about the past between the three of them.

"It was because of the syndrome, at the time it was something that was affecting me. Sakuta managed to save me from myself, with help from Rio. We had some ups and downs, but everything was worth it."

She smiled warmly at the thought of their past.

"Sakuta really worked hard through all of it, just like how you're working hard now."

I could see why he did, looking at Mai. Beneath all the bantering and pinching, underneath the beauty that was Mai, was someone grateful for the special person in her life. If you saw them together in public, you might wonder how they even ended up together. But seeing them together, how they were, and learning a little of their history made it obvious that they were meant for each other.

"I'll go grab Rio for you."

Mai stood up, smiled at me once again.

"And if you need anything, feel free to ask. We all want to help, so there's no need to try and tackle things by yourself."

She headed towards the living room, and I was left with my thoughts. Before long, Rio was sitting down next to me, sparing my mind from wandering too much.

"Before the letter, there's something I want to say."

Rio finally spoke up, after we sat at the table for a few minutes in silence.

"I know things may seem a little discouraging, but we will find a way to make things right. All of our experiences in the past with the syndrome have taken time to work through, so don't take it to heart if it takes more time to solve."

Even now, it must have been obvious to her the worries I had inside. It was true, more so after what I had seen during the bath.

What if I did end up snapping from having to repeat this day so many times with no results?

Rio reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. We will help you get this figured out, I promise. You're not alone in this, even if we do end up forgetting in the morning and have to cover old ground again."

With that, she gave me one last smile, and moved her hand back from my shoulder.

"Now, shall we get this letter done?"

Of the three, hers was the longest, taking up a page and a half, filled with a lot of what I had told her and her own personal ideas and thoughts on the matter.

Finally finished, I placed the pen down and stretched. It was already late, by the time I finished the last letter it was night once again. We stood up from the table, all the letters finally finished.

Meeting Sakuta and Mai in the living room, we sat down and watched what was playing. Thankfully, they didn't have the news playing, sparing me from another reminder of why I was in this situation. Instead, they were watching a movie. It was one I hadn't seen before, though one of the actors in it seemed familiar.

"This is one of my latest films, Sakuta and I always watch them together since I have to be away while filming them."

Mai spoke up as we watched. It was a good film, even after missing the beginning portion. When it was over, we sat for a moment. Rio was the first to get up.

"I'll head home now, if no one needs me for anything else."

I stood up as well, and turned to her.

"Thank you again for everything. I guess I'll see you today."

I joked, and she smiled lightly at that.

"That's good, keep your head up. Mai-san, Azusagawa, I'll talk to you guys later. If anything happens, just let me know."

With that, and a few waves of goodbye, she left. With just the three of us now, it did feel slightly awkward being alone with a couple. Plus, after spending most of my day with Rio, I was just more comfortable being around her.

"Well, I’ll be sleeping with Kaede tonight. Sakuta can you please get the bed ready for Haruki?"

“Aww… why not with me outside like last time?”

“Stop sulking in front of our guest. Fine… but don’t try anything funny.”

“Then I’ll definitely try something lewd.”

“Baka!”

They both bantered. Kinda reminded me how Sakura and I used to do the same.

Sakuta cheered up a little and left the room, and then it was just me and Mai. She looked over to me.

"We'll be getting to bed soon, if you feel like watching anything else feel free. And there's drinks in the fridge if you get thirsty."

I shook my head.

"Thank you, but it's probably best if I get some sleep too. I'm a fan of reading over watching TV anyway, no offense."

"None taken, there are some books on the shelf if you wanted something to read."

Mai stood up, heading towards the couch in the living room. She stopped and turned around.

"Have a good night."

I returned her statement, and then I went into Sakuta’s bedroom.

Well, only for a moment. I barely had a chance to check the books they had when I saw Sakuta finishing up the bed.

"I hope this is enough, it doesn't get super cold in here so you won't freeze or anything."

I turned to see Sakuta carrying a somewhat thick blanket with two pillows on top.

"No that's perfect, thank you."

He set the blanket and pillows down on the couch outside the room and came back to me.

"Did you see anything you liked from the shelf? It's a bit of a mess, having three different people's choices of books."

I glanced back to the shelf lined with books. There was some that along the spine had titles like "Chewing the Scene: Acting 101" and "Channelling Your Muse". Those must have belonged to Mai.

Past the acting books, there was another section filled with books on singing techniques, and a binder with a tag that said "Sheet Music"

"Those belong to Mai's sister, Nodoka Toyohama, along with her friend Uzuki Hirokawa. They are part of an idol group “Sweet Bullet”, so they left some stuff to read and practice for whenever they come here sometimes."

Sakuta spoke up as I glanced over the books. Getting past that section, the rest of the books were a mix of best sellers you'd see at the front of a bookstore with some gems hidden among them. I had almost finished looking through them when one caught my eye.

"Hey, everything good?"

The sound of Sakuta's voice was closer now, and I jumped. Turning around, Sakuta was a few steps away, looking concerned.

"Yes, sorry. I just saw one of the books and it reminded me that there's something I need to do."

How was I to know that they'd have a copy of The Little Prince?

Sakuta nodded, satisfied that everything was okay.

"If you feel like reading, you can use the lamps next to bed. That way you don't have to get up to turn out the lights when you're done."

He turned and headed for the living room. Like Mai before him, he stopped before turning the corner.

With that, he gave a small wave and walked away, leaving me alone in the bedroom. I turned back towards the shelves holding books, and started to reach out for "The Little Prince." But before I made contact with it, I stopped.

It just didn't feel right to read it if it wasn't the copy that belonged to Sakura. Glancing through the books again, there was nothing else that caught my eye. Though I did note that there seemed to be a random spattering of panda related books throughout the collection.

Heading back to the bed, I laid down and thought through everything that happened so far. I was thankful that at least now I didn't have to worry about where I was sleeping at night, and I had people who could help me.

Even with all the bad, there was some good to balance things out.

"At least everyone is nice."

I thought to myself, laying in the now dark.

I could feel the pull to sleep creeping in, and so I shut my eyes and slowly felt as though weights were on my eyelids. The last thoughts in my head before falling asleep were of Sakura, wondering what she'd say if she could see me now.

Before long, even those thoughts were gone and I was fast asleep.