Moshi came into her vision once again, her gentle eyes sending some warmth towards her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Just tired.”

“Me too, to be honest. And I think others also share this sentiment. We all had a rough couple of days.”

Hiromi sent her a slight smile towards her. Maybe it was out of pure sarcasm or just because it felt nice to be around everyone again.

“It’s probably a high time for everyone to go to sleep for the night,” Maii chimed in, “we’ve been up for longer than usual tonight afterall.”

“I apologize,” the demon utters.

“Please don’t! It’s not a complaint!”

“Maii’s right, we all need some well-deserved rest,” Moshi declared.

A rest surely would be nice. Finally, in the space of their house, with the bits of some sense of safety, even if it’s false at this point.

Some slight commotion had risen as everyone began preparing for departure to their respective places. Maii waved them a goodbye with a bright smile on her face, before going out into the darkness of night. Shion bid farewell before going back into the bedroom.

Moshi slowly made her way into the same room, but she turned around to say the last words of that day.

“Hey, be careful, okay? We’ll be on high alert tonight so you can rest.”

“Just don’t forget to sleep yourselves.”

Moshi chuckled at that, “we won’t, don’t worry.”

With that, she disappeared into the corridor. Soon, a door could be hear opening and closing soon after. The only ones left in the kitchen were now Tamaki and Hiromi. The latter looked at the other, slightly confused on why she’s not going like everyone else.

“Tamaki,” she spoke softly, “are you not going to the attic?”

The said woman inhaled deeply, her gaze stuck to the ground. Mindlessly, she twitched with her fingers.

“Yeah, I am…”

“But?”

She gave out a tired laugh, “but, well… I don’t know. I’m scared.”

“Hey, it’s okay. They won’t attack us now. If they do, I’ll—”

Tamaki interrupted her, before she could finish her sentence, “About you, dummy. I’m scared about you. Well— I’m scared about everyone here, but, right now… I’m scared about you the most.”

Why?

“I’ll be okay, safe and sound, right on this couch,” she tapped the furniture under her, “do not worry.”

To drive this argument home, she sent the other a knowing gaze with a slight smile. Tamaki, couldn’t help but smile herself, but her expressions only hid away the sadness she was feeling. She slowly got up from her seat, as if to let this moment last as long as possible.

“Yell if you need anything, okay?”

Hiromi nodded in response, which let Tamaki finally departure to her room as well. With one final glance at the demon, she disappeared into the darkness of the attic.

Now, left alone in the room, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. This reunion went way better than what her mind had came up with. All that tension was now slowly leaving her, letting all that exhaustion take its place instead. It was time for her to let slumber take her away.

As she readied herself to sleep, a thought still managed to pop up in her tired mind.

What will they do about the hareans?

That was a worry for another day. Her conciousness was slowly drifting away, sending Hiromi into the land of dreamless sleep.

Even during this cloudy night, some of the stars’s light managed to break through them, adorning that dark sky.