"Sorry, no. I was trying to see if there was any sign of him waking up. I think I can get it, trust me."

At this point, we could only have faith in him. I cursed myself for not thinking harder earlier, convinced that this would be an easy in and out. All three of us whispered a prayer, hoping it would be enough to protect him.

It was silent for a few moments, then we heard Sakuta once again.

"I checked the edge of the pillow, I think I felt it. But there's a small part of the box that’s underneath his head. If you're positive about needing this, I'll go for it."

I could feel the pressure of the decision. One mistake could cause a lot of problems, but the risk would have to be taken.

"Go for it."

Those three words left my mouth, hanging in the air around me. I prayed again, wishing Sakuta any and all luck that I could muster up.

From the receiver, I could hear a sharp intake of air from Sakuta.

"Azusagawa… if it's too much you can still abort."

Rio sounded more concerned for him at that moment than I ever heard before. Still, there was no response. I knew he wouldn't risk making any more noise than necessary, but the silence was deafening.

As I was about to tell him to just forget it and quickly try and find another option, we heard his voice once again.

"I really hope I get compensated for this, this really was nerve-racking."

The three of us outside the house gave a small cheer. Sakuta then whispered.

“Sweet dreams Haruki…”

I got lost for a second there.

“What?”

"Nothing. I meant the other one. Alright I'm heading back down now, which stair was I need to avoid again?"

I quickly reminded him, elated that this was actually going well. It wasn't until I saw the front door open that I allowed myself to relax. We ended the call, and the four of us regrouped down the street from the house.

Mai was shaking, her worry over Sakuta breaking through her normally calm exterior. Sakuta was sweating, finally giving up and sitting down against the wall. Rio didn't say anything, merely placing a hand on his shoulder before joining Sakuta against the wall.

"So what was the big worry about? You had us thinking you had been caught?"

Mai stood next to Sakuta, running her hands through his hair to give him a small scalp massage. Finally catching his breath, Sakuta looked up.

"I almost was, or at least I thought I was about to be. He had started turning over in his sleep, right as I started to try and grab the box. Thankfully he ended up rolling in the other direction, so the box was even easier to grab."

He took the small satchel from his shoulders and handed it over to me.

"Do you wanna check to make sure? I'd hate to get back only to find out it was the wrong one."

I grabbed the bag from him, tentatively pulling the zipper open. Inside, sat two items. I gingerly pulled out the first item, afraid that if I was too hasty it would somehow ruin the item. The box was a little worn down, having been snuck into my bag quickly since Kyoko caught me and Sakura hugging after my visit to the hospital one time.

I recalled the last cards flipped from the deck, the Queen and 10 number cards seared into my memory. That’s the time when I asked her,

“What does living meant from her point of view?”

I can never forget the answer she revealed to me that day.

Then, the 6 and 7 number cards were below those two cards on the top, when Sakura asked me that unforgettable question during our overnight trip.

I closed my eyes, and I could hear her voice.

"If I told you that I was really scared to die, what would you do?"

I was scared to say anything, unable to open myself up that quickly.

"Ask me that again after this is over, I swear I’ll have an answer this time."

I placed the box back into the bag, and pulled out the second item. Just as Sakuta had said, they did have the same book at their apartment. But the copy of “The Little Prince” I held in my hands was the only one I could consider reading. I tapped the book against my forehead lightly, saying a small thank you to Sakura for the book, as well as her sneaky way of giving me the cards.

I put the book back into the bag, zipping it up before putting it around my shoulder. The three of them looked to me, waiting to hear whether the trip was a success or not. I felt tears forming in my eyes as I smiled.

"We did it guys."

Mai pulled Sakuta to his feet, hugging him tightly. I couldn't hear the words they said to one another, but those words weren't for me anyway. Rio came over to me, grinning.

"Well I wish I could say the hard part is over, but we both know that's not the case."

I nodded, as much as this was a good thing, there was still more work to do.

"However, this was arguably the riskiest part of the plan, aside from the acupuncture itself. You did a good job guiding him."

I started to say how it wasn't a big deal, but Sakuta came over and patted me on the back.

"I knew it would turn out alright, I had faith in you guys."

I gave back Mai’s work phone and her ear piece that I borrowed. Even though the situation had felt like it had taken hours, it had still taken them close to an hour since they had first arrived outside the house.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am exhausted. Shall we head back then?"

Sakuta replied.

“Fine. I’ll drive then. You guys take some rest.”

We trudged along, tired but elated that the plan went off without a hitch. Yet for some reason, I still felt uneasy about the whole situation.

I had tried to place where the feeling was coming from, but there was nothing I could figure out to be the cause. I simply chalked it up to the events of the night still tugging on my nerves. Rio pulled up alongside me as we got inside the car.

"I know it's a bit late, but there's something you'll need to do once we get back to Fujisawa."

She pulled out a highlighter from her pocket and handed it over to me.

"There's a reason I made two copies of that sheet, I didn't want to risk losing it and having to dig up the information all over again"

I took the highlighter from her, but then thought of something.

"Would it still work even if you printed the paper?"

She shrugged.

"It's a 50/50 chance, granted. But remember, the letters you wrote out came from my notebook paper. So if I'm right, it won't matter as long as you're the one that does the marking on the paper."

She had a valid point, and I felt a little silly for not realizing it.

"Don't worry about it, I know you have a lot on your mind. You did a great job tonight, and your idea to get two items was even better than I could have hoped."

At this point I began to wonder if she was psychic. But she never gave a hint whether that was the case, so I let the thought go.

Our slow victory march finally took us to the apartment. I expected Rio to say her goodbyes before reaching the apartment, but she came up in the elevator with us.

"Do you think your sister would mind if I used her room for the night? Since I don’t have to walk early in the morning from my home again to explain me things."

Sakuta nodded.

"It's not as if you'll really be sleeping there, so I'm sure it'll be okay."

Sakuta and Mai headed towards the couch and immediately fell asleep, while Rio and I went to the kitchen where she had left her notebooks. Quickly opening the top one back open to where the drawings were, she pulled them out and handed both of them to me.

"It's a quick job, like I said you just need to copy the same places that I highlighted."

Then she too headed towards Kaede’s room for the night, and I was alone. The copying took only a moment, but I took the time to study the areas she had highlighted.

Taking the copy I had marked up, I headed towards Sakuta’s bedroom. I placed the bag down, and took out the two items from it and placed them with my other belongings. The last thing I needed was to wake up only to find the items were gone because they weren't in the right bag.

For some reason, I didn’t have any sleep in my eyes. I don’t know why but I got up and went outside the apartment to get some fresh air only to find Sakuta standing there as well. He looked at me.

“Oh! You’re still awake? Any problems?”

“No… I just couldn’t get asleep. Maybe the rush of adrenaline is still kicking in from the recent events.”

Sakuta laughed.

“Haha! Same here.”

Then he looked into the night sky. Air breezing over us. I then apologised to him.

“Sorry if your sleep got ruined because of me.”

Sakuta looked at me and smirked.

“Come on! I’m used to this. Before the exams, I always used to pull all nighters. And during Mai-san’s syndrome, I did this not to forget her. Eventually I did forget about her but my love for her brought my memories back and save her”

“And I guess I’ll still remember you and all the interesting events that happened today if I don’t sleep. I don’t wanna forget them.”

I was curious.

“How are you so sure?”

“When I was solving her case, Futaba once gave me an explanation about Schrodinger’s Cat Theory related to our observation to perceive things. One can’t be cognizant of another person in their sleep.”

I replied.

“So if you would’ve slept, then…”

“I would’ve forgotten about you and the existence of today’s events… just like in the same way how people were forgetting about Mai-san and her existence back in the day”

“I see.”

Sakuta breath some fresh air.

“Since we’re awake, lets have some chat about how you got to know Sakura.”

My eyes lit up and we started having a long discussion about it. Though I left out the important details that I promised her to keep them a secret between us.

Sakuta giggled.

“Man… looks like this girl have a deep knowledge of wisdom underneath even if she acts carefree in front of everyone. Also, you really remind me of my old days during Junior High. We’re really similar huh?”

I shrugged.

“At least you’re better at forming relationships with others than me. I never even had friends since my childhood before Sakura entered into my life.”

“But you accepted Sakura as a friend… heck even someone very close to you as well to go this far for her. At least that’s a good start. And who knows? One day, Kyoko will become a friend of yours just like how Sakura wanted.”

I nodded and smiled at him.

I was so grateful to finally share my inner thoughts openly to someone other than her, having finally gotten over one of the biggest hurdles in my life.

Just like the day before, I reintroduced myself to Mai and Rio when the morning came. At least Sakuta helped me this time. Rio told us to meet at the lab later on.

Sakuta was waiting by the front door for me, and we once again headed out for day. I wasn't leaving anything to chance today, so we had left much earlier than the past day.

Unfortunately, the elevator was being held on a different floor, so we decided to take the stairs down.

I was so caught up in the moment to make the plans with him for today that by the time I realized we were being ambushed, it was too late.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting here for you?"

I felt my blood freeze as I heard the sound of her voice. I turned slowly, hoping it was all just something I imagined.

That hope was quickly dashed away.

"Wait, aren’t you the girl from yesterday evening? Which means you’re Sakura’s bestie right?"

Sakuta spoke up first, an unamused dead expression at her.

"Well, I'm more of a friend of a friend, wouldn't you say?"

I looked Kyoko in the face when she looked at me. Her eyes were bloodshot, it looked as though she had barely slept.