"Well, if we can continue being best friends after this, that... That will be enough for me."

She took her leave without waiting for a response and you hesitantly returned to your seat.

"So... How'd it go?" You asked.

"She... apologized, since she didn't want her feelings to confuse me or jeopardize my relationship with you."

"Mm- I mean, that was nice of her, but an apology wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said for you to talk it out," you shrugged. "I guess it makes sense, though. It went a lot smoother than Childe's confession, at least..."

"Wait, what?"

"What?"

"He confessed to you?!" Gorou whispered, his ears perking up in alarm. "When?!"

"Like, right after that party," you answered. "I didn't mean to tell you that, now I need to apologize to him... There's so much apologizing going on recently."

"I feel like you're experiencing more of that than me..."

"Probably," you said. "Anyway... We're almost done with the play. Can you believe it? Like, seriously?"

"It's a little hard to believe, yeah," he chuckled.

"God, I feel like it's cursed me," you groaned. "Ever since the play started, my life went to shit and it took a complete backseat."

"Does that mean you... regret joining it?" He hesitantly queried, his ears beginning to flatten.

You snickered and leaned over, "Well, the play brought me you, so no. I don't regret it."

He let out a breath he'd been holding and you giggled, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek. His face flared up in a matter of seconds and his ears spiked upward. You could see his tail trying to wag, but he was pressing it up against the back of the seat to restrict its movement.

"I just hope I can focus enough to remember all my lines when we actually perform," you smiled. "With everything going on, it's been hard to make time."

"Well, maybe that means I'll finally beat your performance."

"I- You do not mean that-" You gasped.

"I definitely do."

"Pfft, it would take me dying for you to beat me! And even then, my corpse would deliver the lines like an eloquent Shakespearean poet!"

"Yeah, sure, until flies start crowding around you!"

"Whatever!"

━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━

You laid in bed, hugging your dog plush to your chest as you rolled around in your blankets, trying to sleep. Against your wishes, though, a certain something was keeping you awake.

"I know I need to get better and stop making other people's lives miserable if I want to improve mine, so... I'm just trying."

Ever since you had that interaction with Kunikuzushi, the topic rarely left the front of your mind. It had only been a day, but it felt like you were taking an unbelievable amount of time to come up with a decision.

You shifted underneath the covers and tightened your grip on the plush, opening your eyes to slits as they adjusted to the darkness. You thought back to every word he said, and grabbed your phone from your nightstand.

You went to your gallery, to your album that contained a miniscule amount of pictures including Kunikuzushi. There were only three, with one of them being a picture of him and you. You stared at them as the cogs of your mind spun, choosing what to do.

"Kunikuzushi..." You muttered softly. "Huh."