You squinted, trying your best to see through the fog and downpour. It offered virtually no help, so all you could do was return your attention to the monster in front of you.

It was tall, much taller than you. Yet still, the only time you'd see its form is when it cut through the fog with a large fist. So the flash of white fur lasted only for a moment before you heard the sparkle of ice, which meant another attack you had to spend all of your energy to dodge.

“Monsieur Neuvillette! Look out, I can't tell where the monster is aiming to hit!” You called. But other than that, the only thing you could do was keep your ears peeled. There was no visibility. None of your senses would help drag you out of this mess.

But if you would do anything, it would be coming out victorious.

“Thank you,” the voice came from some distance behind you. Neuvillette's voice was almost in sync with the large crash of ice and it sent a shiver down your spine.

Though perhaps, it was from the chilled air and not the thought of losing him to the monster. He was strong enough to survive this after all, was he not?

You questioned if you were only slowing him down. But in your foolish distracted mind, you nearly missed another slash from the monster.

One hit and you'd be instantly frozen. You wanted to curse the rain, but you couldn't find it in yourself to do so. The storm would rage on, as it was meant to. That was just the way of life.

The tip of your sword finally made contact with the monster after being tossed around aimlessly.

It screamed and it howled, begging for another chance. It hurt knowing this monster was not always this way. Lawachurls, just like the rest of their kind, used to be regular citizens of Khaenri’ah. You winced at the pain it was experiencing like it was your own.

You pulled your sword out.

“We did it. I'm still confused why a frostarm lawachurl would be in Fontaine, let alone bring a bundle of fog with it…” You turned to where you assumed Neuvillette was.

You were right in expecting him there, but what you didn't expect was him to be staring straight at you with a smile while the lawachurl—in its last few breaths of life—began to run straight at him from behind.

“Neuvillette!” You yelled, the rest of the sentence falling short as your brain was only occupied with the thought: save him.

Could you run fast enough, could you make it there? You were only a few steps away, but it felt like he was light-years far from you. Time slowed, but the lawachurl did not. Another step forward, another moment closer—

You pushed Neuvillette aside. He wore an expression of shock as he fell off balance, landing on the wet ground. The rain had already let up a few seconds ago, his stress getting lighter after the lawachurl was defeated and you weren't in danger anymore. But in the thick fog, he hadn't realized the monster still wasn't properly downed.

So when he blinked, trying to regain his senses after being knocked onto the ground, the sight he saw made him feel ill. There was not even a breath of time before the rain began to pour down harder.

Harder than it had ever been before. Not when he lost precious Melusines, not when he saw people lose themselves to the hands of justice, not when the people of Fontaine were doomed to fall.

The lawachurl was in the grass and the fog was nearly gone. But before him lay your body, claw marks covering your chest. It dawned on him exactly why he was on the ground.

You had tried to save his life. But now, you faced the consequences as a single tear streamed down your face.

“We were supposed to come out victorious, Neuvillette. We still did, didn't we? This was bound to happen…” You paused, “Right?”

He couldn't handle it.

“It wasn't, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, [Name].” He spoke, his voice low and shaky. “It was raining because of me. The fog– it wouldn't have been that bad if I hadn't been the reason for the storm. It was because I was scared you'd get hurt but here you are…” He mumbled. He didn't say it, but it was obvious he meant to say ‘because of me.’

“Don't look at me with such a sad face. I thought the Hydro Dragon doesn't cry,” sheepishly, you smiled. But you could no longer see after these words. It hurt too much to keep your eyes open.

A nap sounded nice.

“Maybe not the Hydro Dragon, but Neuvillette can cry. If not for the court, then perhaps for his beloved's injured state.”

“Who said I'm your beloved?” Somehow, you could still laugh. Albeit, it came out a lot weaker than you would've liked it to.

“I, Neuvillette, did. Please, don't fall asleep, [Name]. You mean too much to me,” even if he would be considered weak for having such feelings towards a mere human.

“I won't.”

You knew it was a lie. He knew it was a lie. Even as your eyes did close a minute later. Even as he picked you up into his arms, carrying you back to the Court of Fontaine bridal style. Even while it poured for days after, like a cursed storm. Even while Neuvillette, Iudex of Fontaine, beat himself up for such a ridiculous mistake.

He could only hope that you would wake up soon. If at all.

Staying cautious as to not drop my coffee cup, I took my steps quicker.

“Ayato!” I called out. But I hadn't considered the complications that would come with a moment alone beside him. Recently, each time we hung out together with just the two of us, my heart became more unsettled. I couldn't really describe it, but I had the strongest feeling it was due to… Love. Or maybe it was the early signs of a heart attack.

Somehow, the latter sounded better.

“How come you're up so early?” Ayato looked up from his camera and looked at me. I felt vulnerable.

“I could say the same thing… But I'm going to assume that it's because of the sunrise. I'm here for that same reason, after all.” I smiled as I took a sip of the coffee.

“You're away from Kusuri, yet you still can't avoid making little latte art?” He questioned.

“I think it’ll be stuck with me forever. You don't want a sip?” I offered, handing the cup to him. He shook his head, “I already had some before coming out.”

I frowned. “So that's why the coffee machine felt warm. Don't tell me you didn't sleep all night, at a place as beautiful as this?”

“I think I'm a little desensitized to it, having seen this house more than a few times. That's what comes with having the money to buy things like this. Of course, I still have to come outside with my camera. Nature is something I can never be desensitized to.” Ayato sheepishly smiled. He felt it was a sensitive topic, but he spoke the truth. The next time I come here—but maybe I'm getting too far ahead of myself assuming there will be a next time—I'd also be much less amazed.

Ayato’s next words quickly broke me away from my thoughts. “Will you allow me to take photos of you here?”

I was frozen for a long moment. “I thought you didn't take photos with models.”

“I ask this because you wouldn't be a model… And I believe you're just like nature. Beautiful enough to be the center of all my photos.”

“Flirt with me like this and I'll run off, be careful.” I teased, but the desire to flee was high. It's not that I enjoyed it. It's that I enjoyed it too much. That feeling made me worry, it reminded me that I didn't really know what I was doing. So much of my life was focused on things I could trust and have comfort in. This, romance, was new and unfamiliar.

“Only if you keep them to yourself.”

“So that's a yes?” Ayato grinned.

“Like I said, only if-” but he cut me off almost immediately.

“I'm amused that you think I'd use them for anything. I want these photos so I can capture them in my heart.”

He acted so confident in his flirting, but when both of us were silent, I could hear his heart beating out of his chest.

“You should really get that checked out, you know?” I rolled my eyes after swallowing down the nervousness.

“I did. My doctor told me to wait for a response after I confessed to them.”

— karaoke chapters are my weakness, i fear. i had one in my kazuha/albedo smau too,, anyways isn't ayato so CUTE

It wasn't my fault that checking the weather didn't even come to mind in the slightest when I left the dorms. By the time I was already halfway to Ayato's house, the rain was pouring down, and the sky was almost entirely dark gray. So naturally, running towards the front door had me left drenched, soaked, and not with a single dry spot on my clothes. I shivered a little at the way my damp clothes clung to my skin like cats to someone handing them food.

The door finally cracked open, and I was instantly faced with the blue-haired man I so lovingly doted on. In my brain, of course. I wouldn't dare let him hear my true thoughts when it came to how attractive I thought he was.

"[Name], why are you drenched? Come inside, you're going to get sick," worry crossed his face immediately as he ushered me inside. "I was ready to say hi and hug you and welcome you inside, but I will absolutely not stand for this. Did your umbrella fly away in the wind?"

I paused for a moment as I took off my jacket and set it down. "Fly away in the- What? What are you talking about?" It sounded so silly I had to laugh. "I just didn't realize it was going to rain."

Ayato stared at me in silence, worry turning into a blend of that and confusion. "You surprise me every so often like this and I never know what to think. Why didn't you ask me to come outside with an umbrella?"

"I just didn't think it was going to be that bad, I thought I'd made it to the door in time," I mumbled.

"But you didn't. Let me grab a change of clothes for you and bring the laptop down here. Make some tea for yourself in the meantime, or else I'm not letting you go home later," he firmly demanded.

And just like that, he was gone, having disappeared up the stairs. I moved towards the cupboard of mugs, reaching for the cup that had many wildflowers scattered on the outside. Without really paying attention to it, I had chosen a mug that had become my regular cup at the house.

While the warm tea sat on the table, steeping, I heard Ayato coming back down the stairs.

"Here's some of my clothes so you can change into something that's not wet. I would've grabbed some of Ayaka or Thoma's, but I don’t exactly want to snoop around their rooms while they're not home... Oh, and the laptop, but we'll get to that later. I'll take your clothes and throw them in the laundry once you're done," Ayato walked me to the bathroom while handing me a pile of clothes. His clothes.

On the top of the stack was a tan knitted sweater and on the bottom a pair of black sweatpants. I wasn't sure how I felt about wearing his clothes. I'd borrowed jackets before, but it was nothing like this, and it made my heart beat a little faster. Even if it was something that realistically didn't mean that much. I let out a deep sigh as I changed, admitting the fact that even if it gave me butterflies, I couldn't stay in wet clothes either.

Ayato was already beside me the second I left the bathroom. "There's some pastries on the table, I ordered them from the Café about an hour ago. Enjoy them with your tea while I'm gone," he smiled with warmth, filling his entire face with emotions I didn't often see from him. "Thank you, it means a lot. Here's the clothes," I sheepishly smiled in return as I handed him the moist clothes I had just changed out of.

Instead of only sitting and snacking while I waited, I decided to scroll through the file that was sitting open on Ayato's laptop after noticing it was my photobook. He wouldn't mind me taking an early peek, right? But still, I was shocked looking at the amount of work he'd done. Of course, I was there to sort out the photos with him and to make design choices, but seeing it all laid out was mesmerizing.

"I see you got ahead of yourself. I can't believe I lost my chance to explain it all to you," Ayato frowned as he returned. "How did you manage all of this? We're about to hit the next step, aren't we?" I furrowed my eyebrows in shocked amazement.

"That's the smart [Name] I know. We're nearly ready for the first printout draft. I called you over here for the final pieces of the photobook making puzzle."

"Which would be?"

"Acknowledgments and the like. Everything that I left empty for your wonderful expertise."

"You want me to write an acknowledgments page?" Ayato's eyes were staring straight back at me as I spoke, but for some reason, he often looked slightly behind me. As if he was avoiding my direct gaze. My hands fell down to the sleeves of my sweater, his sweater, playing with a loose string down at my wrist.

"And a page about you. How else would you spread your name and charm?" The corners of his mouth turned up into a smile, exactly like before. "Of course, I'm expecting you to mention me somewhere."

"You act like that's just a joke, but you know it was already a given. Let me get to typing, then." I paused for a second. "But there's a rule. You only get to see what I wrote after we print out the first draft."

"I want to ask why, but I know it's likely I won't get an answer, at least not until we're printing and putting it together. I'll keep my questions to myself." Ayato laughed in response to my rule. I wasn't sure myself where the idea came from, but it felt right, so I was going to do it. He showed me the pages where I needed to fill in certain things or write descriptions, which ended up working us until the afternoon. The sun was shining through the windows, no longer giving off the pitter patter sound from the rain a few hours ago. My cup of tea was long empty, as was the plate of pastries and the cup Ayato got for himself shortly after we started to work on the photobook.

But it was not only that. The acknowledgments page was filled in, too.

>>>

"That's it. That's the last part we needed, isn't it?" The satisfaction and excitement quickly took root in my heart. "Seeing as I just checked it off, yes. Let me set it up to print, and we can put it together afterward. Unfortunately, right now, it'll be more like a spiral booklet than anything."

I let Ayato take over the laptop for a while as he clicked away at the screen, linking it to his printer in the living room and formatting it. It wasn't too long before he pressed the big print button, and I nearly felt my heart shoot up into the sky. That was it. It was final, the first draft, but final nonetheless, and soon enough, I could release it to the world. "Thank you so much, Yato!" I hopped up from the chair I was stagnant in for hours before now. Both of us were up, ready to head to the printer. But before we could make it two steps forward, and before I even realized what I was doing, my arms were wrapped tightly around Ayato's torso.

I was squeezing him with a secure hug, and that's apparently what my body found to be the best way to say thank you. "You're welcome, even though you have all the skill here... However, what is..." He trailed off as I looked away from him. My hands wouldn't move. The rest of my body felt frozen, too.

Suddenly, the awkward situation turned into melting as Ayato returned the hug, his arms around me like a soft blanket. "I'm sorry." I spoke up. I didn't know exactly why I was apologizing, but in the moment, it felt right.

"Don't be... This is comforting." Ayato’s voice was nearly a whisper, but with our proximity, I heard it clear as day. "But it must be so awkward, with the way our relationship is and... Well, things aren't as casual as they were before..." I felt my words drifting away from me the more I spoke. Just a minute ago, we were chatting like normal and finishing the photobook, but now it felt like I had been in Ayato’s embrace for hours, and I wasn't fully sure how we got here.

"This doesn't change anything. I'm still patiently waiting for your response, but thank you for letting me relish in this moment. Even if it was an accident."

There was a pang in my heart that I couldn't fully explain. All I knew was that I didn't really want this to be an accident, nor did I want it to end.

>>>

The photobook was nearly forgotten as every single page had already been sitting, losing its heat by the second. On the top of the stack was a page that read "acknowledgments." Underneath it, a paragraph.

'I want to give my greatest thanks to Kamisato Ayato. He is the only reason I'm taking this step forward, and the only reason this photobook is manifesting into reality. Without Ayato, I would probably still be sitting in classroom after classroom, questioning whether the path I'm taking is even the right one for me. Now, I can truly believe it when I say it is. This is what I'm meant to do, and Ayato is the reason why.'

— no way act 2 is over... NO WAYY... i was so giggling and kicking my feet writing this chapter and i was constantly reminded just how much i love ayato WJSHJEJE i feel like i should have more to say, but surprisingly i don't. final act, here we go!!