Gentle waves splashed on the shores of the beach. The water was cold, yet oddly soothing to the touch; something Yukari desperately needed. Because right now she wasn't herself; she loathed herself for being so naive. She trusted people and that trust was betrayed by a single video of her father. Her father, the man she looked up to so much was responsible for all the suffering she had endured in the last ten years, and the one who hid it from her - Mitsuru Kirijo, her "friend."

"So, that means… my dad caused it all…?" she started. "The Dark Hour, Tartarus… The people who died in that incident… It was all his fault?"

None of them, especially Mitsuru could look her in the eye and tell her how sorry they all were. All Mitsuru could do was look away shamefully; hoping that talking with her was still an option.

Meanwhile, Yukari had tried her best to hold back her emotions; to not make a scene; to be more mature. But the more the silence continued, the more she kept slipping further and further into a blinding rage.

"Y-you okay?" Akihiko asked with uncertainty in his voice.

All it took was those two words to send her over the edge. How could anyone be okay with this?! Of course, I'm not okay! She yelled internally.

However, Yukari did not turn to Akihiko, instead, she looked behind her and stared down Mitsuru with an intense look in her eyes.

"So, that's why you kept this hidden from me?! Because you felt sorry for me?! Is that it?!" she yelled. "Do I look like an idiot to you?!"

"Takeba, no I…!" Mitsuru defended herself.

"I don't want your pity!" Yukari cut her off and ran out of the Kirijo mansion with tears trailing down her face.

The memory of it all was making her tense again; she wanted to scream, cry, maybe even disappear. She didn't know what to do anymore; would she go back and pretend as if nothing happened? What did the others think of her now? How could the others continue like this? So many questions that she couldn't answer for herself. Yet she couldn't help but wonder what Makoto would think about this.

No, what would HE know anyway… He doesn't know me... right…? she shook her head in denial.

Suddenly a pair of footsteps walked along the sand of the beach. "Makoto?" She said turning to meet the person. She was immediately disappointed to see it just be a random passerby. "Of course he wouldn't be here... But I would like it if he was..." She sighed and turned back towards the shore of the beach. However, what greeted her was a familiar figure with long blue hair. Sure enough, it was Makoto standing there just a few feet apart from her.

"O-oh! Makoto!" she said nervously. "You didn't hear any of that just now right?"

"Heard what?"

"It's nothing!" She yelped trying to push down the redness of her cheeks. "A-anyway what are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you after you ran out like that," he said with a look of sincerity.

"Oh right… I'm sorry to have worried you, but as you can see I'm fine…" that was an obvious lie; she wasn't "fine"; she was suffering on the inside trying to desperately stop herself from crying. Yet for uncaring as Makoto could be; his cool blue eyes held a deep look of concern. A look that pierced right through her, showing just how afraid and lonely she felt right now. Why oh why did he always know her so well? Even before the incident with Fuuka, he always knew what she was thinking and how to approach the subject, and she hated it. It wasn't because she disliked him, she liked having his company, but trust was not an easy thing for her right now, so when he spoke again all she could do was look away…

"Yukari… I know you're hurting and I want to help you, like how you helped me."

"I-it isn't the same, Makoto… You don't even know who I am and you think you can try to help me feel differently?!" she yelled at him, but felt an immediate regret it. She knew he was being sincere and all she was doing was pushing him away. "I'm sorry it's just… all of this… it's too much…"

Makoto didn't say anything else, he only inched closer, leaving just enough space for her to feel his knuckles brush against hers. It was his way of saying "go on. You can trust me." all the while being patient and waiting for her to continue. Normally, Yukari would have reacted to how close he had gotten, but something about his touch allowed her to relax for a brief moment. It was comforting to know how much she mattered to him as a close "friend." She took in a deep breath before speaking again.

"Do you remember what I told you at the hospital that day? How my dad died when I was little?" her voice broke little by little as she stifled her sobs. "Y-you understand now right…? He died in that incident.

"Yeah… I remember," he said in a saddened tone.

"Nobody knew the truth and people began to spread rumors. Because of that people were mean to me and my mom... We even had to move a few times…"

"I can only imagine how rough that must have been for you…"

"Yeah, it was. But even then I still loved him a lot and I believed that he could do nothing wrong…" she looked up towards the moon reminiscing the memory of her father. "I received a letter back in the spring, it was from him, written ten years ago. It cracked me up because it was pretty much all about me, and that only made me believe in him more."

"What did the card say?" he asked curiously.

"That doesn't matter because everything I thought about him was a lie... fighting with my persona to find out what happened… it was all for nothing…"

"It was all for nothing," Makoto frowned as those words repeated themselves in his head. He thought that she couldn't be more wrong. Because whatever her father ended up doing, he knew for certain that it wasn't the way she imagined it; it just couldn't be.

"I don't think it was all for nothing. If anything I think it shows how much he loved you because he made that letter ten years in advance," he said. "Your dad wouldn't have done that if he didn't love you, Yukari."

"You're just trying to make me feel better… Why does reality have to be so harsh? I mean why did my dad die, but not Mitsuru's? You must think I'm horrible for even thinking that huh."

"Don't blame yourself… I felt the same way before, but you can't fault yourself for what happened. You were just a kid back then," he gave her a sad smile hoping that she would take his message to heart.

However, she looked away with an angry pout. "Hmph. Well, aren't you Mr. Perfect! Nothing ever fazes you!"

"You're wrong, I just choose to never show it. All this time I chose to burden everything by myself." he looked down with a look of regret on his face. "There's a reason why I always pushed you away when we first met. I didn't want to become so attached that I would care for someone again because if anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I could have prevented it as the leader of the group."

Those last few words finally showed her just how selfish she had been. She knew deep down that Makoto was right, and funnily enough, she was copying the way he used to be. It made her feel stupid for falling for such a thing, something she was always heavily against when it came to other's problems. Tears began to well up again as small sobs escaped her throat.

"I'm sorry you didn't deserve that… my heads one big mess right now," she paused trying to hold back the last of her sobs. "I just want to know what to do now… T-tell me what should I do?"

"I don't know what it is you should do, but sometimes it's okay to not know. I think as long as you keep on fighting with us, with me, we can get there, together."

"Huh...?" She looked at him teary-eyed. "You really are one of a kind you know that?"

"I'm only doing what I think is right, Yukari. I can't just sit there and do nothing; not after you changed me."

"Oh...! I don't know what you mean!" She blushed as her cheeks became filled with a light pink dust. She knew what he had meant, but something about the way he said it made her feel as if something else was there... Though she quickly dismissed it, thinking that it was all in her head.

"A-anyway, thanks for listening... I might have done something even more stupid if you hadn't shown up."

Makoto's arms suddenly reached out on and wrapped themselves around her; he closed his eyes and wore a warm smile as he took her into a gentle embrace.

"I don't think I would have let you anyways."

"Makoto..." she spoke his name softly.

It was comforting for her to know that their boundaries were more than mere talks. He held there tightly, making her feel special in a way that no person before him had. She liked it, was the best way she could put it in her head. She raised her own hands to wrap around him as well but quickly dropped them as she heard a voice call out to them.

"Hey! You guys out here?" The voice yelled from a distance.

"Junpei!" She said panicking as she tried to push Makoto away.

However, he was still awkwardly holding on to her; causing the pair to fall over one another. Makoto took the brunt of the hit as his entire back met with the ground, while Yukari barely managed to catch herself, landing on her knees as she propped herself up with her hands. She eventually made eye contact with him, which brought about a look of surprise to both of the teen's faces.

They awkwardly remained there staring into each other's eyes. Yukari's face becoming a deep red color full of embarrassment, since the position they were in was rather questionable. She quickly got off Makoto and stood up; desperately trying to avoid him as he began to pick himself up. Meanwhile, Junpei had arrived, just barely missing out on the teen's dilemma.

"Hey, I've looked all over for you guys! You've had us all worry-" he paused and took a moment to look at the pair awkwardly stand a few feet apart. "Yo did something happen between you two?"

"N-nothing! Nothing happened!" Yukari yelled immediately to her defense. "We should get going the dark hour might start anytime soon!"

"Yeah… right…" Junpei eyed them suspiciously.

"What?! Quit looking at us!" Yukari glared at him

"Us? So you two did DO something!"

"Ugh! Whatever I'm leaving!" Yukari stomped off angrily shoving past Junpei.

"Alright, yeesh Yuka-tan!" Junpei whined. "Hey, Makoto you'll spill the deets right…? Ya know the juicy bits?"

"Nope," Makoto said nonchalantly as he swiftly adjusted his earphones, and ignored Junpei's prying. His finger repeated click on his mp3 as he skipped song after song before finally landing on "Bonds."

"Yeah… That'll do."

He walked off with a content smile knowing that for once he had helped someone; that he managed to save Yukari from herself. Even if the fix was temporary, he will always be there ready to listen and help her if she needed it. It was odd as he never really felt this warm sensation in his heart. It was almost as if he helped her, not out of a need to be a good friend, but something else he couldn't quite put his head-on. Whatever it was he would eventually find out, or at least he hoped because she already held a special place in his heart that the others could just not match. And that only made him smile even wider.

"Someday, I'll figure it out for you and me, Yukari."

End Notes: There was an image attached to this chapter, but because I'm still learning how to use this site...well let's just say if you want the image it's on the Ao3 version of the story. DM for the link since I guess FF doesn't like it when I link Ao3