I'm genuinely sorry for the late update. School has only officially ended me two days ago, after which I had club activities and camp, and I just came back from camp. I really appreciate the fact that so many people are still cheering me on for this story, and it's really, really heartening every time I read your reviews, which makes me all the more guilty for having such a late update. Anyways, enough with me dilly-dallying here and into the story! Last chapter guys ^^

"Feeling better?" Alice asked as she walked with me and the girls down the hallway.

I smiled back weakly and nodded my head. I was quite optimistic about the situation Dan's family was in now, especially after seeing how happy they were at the dinner yesterday. I'd told Aunt Rikka and my father to not tell Dan that I was behind it, and I was sure that they would have kept to their promise.

I decided to check on the Kusos again afterwards, especially since I didn't have a shift later and Dan did.

"I can't believe that you really did that for him!" Fabia squealed, locking arms with me and patting my arm.

I smiled shyly, giving my girls a hug. The girls all looked surprised, but returned the hug. All of a sudden, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing anymore.

"Runo..."

That only caused me to cry harder. The girls began to cry with me and we kinda obstructed part of the hallway, much to my embarassment.

"You'll be fine," Mira said confidently.

I nodded my head, hoping she was right.

Class with Dan wasn't so fun, especially because there hung a deadly silence between us and he refused to look at me even once. I didn't blame him, if I were angry at someone, I'd be just like him too.

As soon as classes ended, I went to Sweets N' Treats to get the Kusos a couple of desserts, before heading to their place. Mrs Kuso welcomed me happily, and to my surprise, even Mr Kuso was home.

"Hi there," I smiled.

"Runo!" Mrs Kuso gave me a hug while Mr Kuso smiled back at me.

"I brought some pudding for you."

To my surprise, I saw Mr Kuso's eyes glimmer. "Pudding? You shouldn't have!"

As Mr Kuso reached for the box, Mrs Kuso glared at her husband and slapped his hand. She turned around and smile sweetly at me, before guiding me to the sofa.

"Sorry, Runo dear, Shinjiro's always like that when it comes to pudding."

I was amused by what I had just witnessed, but felt relieved. "Mr Kuso, why're you home today?"

Mr Kuso was still staring at the box of pudding as he gulped. Mrs Kuso slapped his arm, causing him to yelp.

"What?"

"Runo's talking to you!"

I couldn't help but giggle at the married couple.

"Oh! Well, I decided to quit my job. I realised that I really do miss my family too much, and even if we do live a life of riches, it'd be pointless if we aren't together," Mr Kuso smiled at his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist. The two of them exchanged blissful glances, causing my heart to flutter.

"I'm glad for you," I smiled sincerely.

"And I'm thankful for you, Runo. You're truly an angel," Mrs Kuso patted my hands.

Dan had been sleeping throughout the entire day, I was certain because he had been sleeptalking. I knew then that he wouldn't have heard about the homework which we were required to do. I told Mrs Kuso about our homework, and requested that she told Dan that our teacher had called her to complain about his sleeping in class and told her to remind Dan of the homework for the last time before he would get detention. Mrs Kuso was confused as to why I had to do everything secretly, but to my relief, understood and agreed.

I sat in my room and fiddled with my pen as I thought about what else I could do for Dan. Come to think of it, Dan had done so many things for me and I felt indebted to him. I couldn't help but smile as I think of the multiple times he had saved me from sticky situations.

... I still wonder what could have brought about that sudden change in him.

I walked down the hallway listlessly as I yawned. I had barely slept a wink the previous night and insomnia was taking its toll on me.

"Oof!" I fell to the floor as I bumped into someone, dropping all my books to the ground. I rubbed my sore head.

"Sorry about that, are you okay?" A muscular guy looked down at me and helped me up. I smiled at him and shook my head, though accepting his offer. He bent down to help me pick up my books, and passed them all to me.

"I'm Eric, and you are...?" The boy had a mop of black hair and the most beautiful sapphire orbs I had ever seen.

"Runo," I said shyly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Beautiful name which befits the pretty lady, I see," Eric brought my hand up to his lips, causing me to turn a bright red. His gentlemanly behavior was attractive, that was for sure.

"Thanks..." I wasn't sure of what to say.

"Can I make it up to you with a meal after school? My treat. It was totally stupid of me to have bumped into you like this," Eric rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, which I found to be really adorable.

I nodded my head, before waving goodbye to him and walking away. Julie gasped and ran over to me, blinking non-stop.

"Who was that?!"

"Just a guy I met earlier. I bumped into him by accident. His name is Eric," I explained.

"I know that he's Eric, but I'm quite sure he isn't a familiar face in our school..." Julie rubbed her chin thoughtfully with a frown.

I laughed. "Julie, you know too many people. You probably just got a little confused."

Eric made a great friend, to my relief. He was funny, he was charming, and he was sweet. The two of us became really close friends in a
matter of weeks and went out frequently. Really, only as friends. I couldn't imagine seeing Eric more than just a friend, not when I was still heartbroken over Dan.

"... And then I told her, 'No, Mum, you must have forgotten again!'"

The both of us burst into fits of laughter at another story that Eric had just told. Eric was full of jokes and surprises, and I didn't mind that one bit. In fact, I enjoyed being around him, seeing how he was an optimistic person.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I told my mum about you, and she wanted me to invite you over for dinner," Eric grinned.

I blinked for a few times. "We've only known each other for weeks though. Isn't it a little weird that I'm going over to your house then?"

Eric shook his head. "Nah, my mum's a really nice person. She likes me having my friends over."

I hesitated for a while, but decided that things should be alright, after all, Eric was a nice person. I got a consent from my parents and headed over to Eric's.

Eric and I walked down the streets, but I realised that Eric was acting a little strange when I caught him turning around a couple of times.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Eric shook his head and put his arm around my shoulder, which I presumed was an act to assure me. "I thought that someone was following us, but I guess I was just being paranoid."

I nodded my head in reply. Surely even if someone was following us, Eric would be able to protect us. Eric guided me along a darker route, insisting that we took a detour just in case.

After taking multiple detours, we finally reached Eric's place. To my surprise, the house was dim.

"My mum likes to save electricity. Come on, let's go in," Eric smiled, pulling open his door and leading me inside.

I cautiously entered the house and couldn't help but feel somewhat at unease. Not a single light was on and all the windows were locked. I saw Eric lock the door before joining me at the sofa.

"Aren't you going to turn on the lights?" I asked, thinking that Eric might have been muddleheaded.

That was when I had the shock of my life. Eric took of his shirt and his belt, and pushed me deeper into the comforter.

"Why should I? It was just spoil the entire mood for our session of making love."

I froze upon hearing Eric's words. Was I imagining things? Wasn't Eric a sweet and innocent boy?

"You seem like a virgin. Don't worry I'll go slow," Eric said slyly, sliding his finger from my cheek down to my chest. I felt myself being unable to catch my breath and before I could think of my next move, Eric had pushed me into a lying position on the sofa.

"But... Why are you doing this? Weren't we going to have dinner cooked by your mum? What's going on?" I panicked, blinking non-stop.

Eric laughed, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. "How naive... You seriously think that I'm a nice guy? I shan't hide the truth from you, but you see, Jenny told me to take extra good care of you."
My eyes widened in horror. "Jenny?"

"More like, she told me to ruin your life. I couldn't refuse an offer like this, taking the virginity of such a beautiful lady. And, the louder they scream, the better," Eric's eyes widened and he dived for my neck, his fingers fiddling with the button of my blouse as he did so. I let out a piercing scream and began to cry as I tried to push him off of me, only to no avail.

It was no good. Eric was too heavy for me, and he had a death grip on me. I felt my heart skip a beat as Eric's hands reached for my shorts and tried to fiddle with the zipper.

All of a sudden, I could only see myself crying in a corner, naked.

...

...

...

...

...

No... This couldn't be happening. I felt my world crumbling to pieces as more tears streamed down my cheeks and I continued to scream. I just wish I had a knife in my hand now just so I could stab myself in the heart and end all my sorrows. What did I ever do to deserve this? Did I ever owe Jenny anything in my past life? Why? Why couldn't I just die now?

I was awakened by a loud "thud", only to realise that I was still lying on the comforter with Eric on me. Eric froze and got up, only to smirk as he watched a figure walk in.

"Well, well, looks like I was right after all."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A masculine figure who was drenched in rain and sweat, whose fists were clenched so tight they look like they would just break, and whose chocolate orbs were burning with flames, flames of anger.

It was Dan.

"Come to join in the fun? But to bad, I'm not into threesomes. I like to have just one all to myself," Eric smiled slyly, trailing down his finger from my jawline to my chest.

Before his finger could even reach my chest, I gasped upon seeing Eric seemingly fly to the corner of the room. I had never, ever seen Dan so angry in my entire life. No... I had never seen anyone this angry in my entire life!

Dan walked towards me, catching me breathless as I feared what he could do to me. Instead, he took of his jacket and placed it over my shoulder, before walking over to Eric, who was wiping the blood off his mouth.

"Why you..."

Before Eric could make yet another remark, Dan had gave him yet another punch in the jaw, and another in the torso. Even though Eric tried to retaliate, Dan was too fast for him. Within minutes, Eric was bruised badly, unable to stand up straight and with an almost disfigured face. Trying one last time to return the punch, Eric was instead met with a kick right at where the Sun didn't shine, and I gasped as I watched Eric sank to the ground in defeat.

I blinked in horror at the sight I had just witnessed and gulped. I never wanted to get on the bad side of him and feared for Dan's future wife if he turned out to be an alcoholic.

Dan walked towards me, and I instead crouched tighter into a ball, squeezing my eyes tight. I heard Dan sigh, before patting my head and planting a kiss on it.

"It's alright now, Runo."

I felt tears well up in my eyes, and plummeted into Dan's embrace, crying.

I couldn't find the strength in myself to go to school the next day, not with the chaos that had happened previously. I could still feel Eric's cold fingers on my body, and remember his sly and evil look. Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine and make me curl deeper under my blanket.

"Runo, darling, your friends are here to see you," my mum smiled, opening the door for the girls and Dan to enter.

I sat up slowly and smiled weakly at them, while the girls came up to hug me. I presumed that they already knew what had happened from Dan, who was giving me a small smile.

"Oh, Runo, he didn't hurt you, did he?" Julie squealed as she started to check my body for any injuries.

"If he shows his face one more time, I'm gonna hurt him bad," Fabia said, cracking her knuckles.

"I'm with Fabia on this one," Mira said angrily.

"We're just glad you're fine now," Alice giggled lightly, and the girls gave me another hug.

I smiled happily at the girls, forgetting all the bad memories in an instant.

"But... how did you know where I was, Dan? And why did you come to save me?" I asked curiously.

"You see, all these were a plot of Jenny's! Since the beginning!" Julie hollered angrily. Mira patted her shoulder and chuckled.

"We found out that Jenny had recorded our conversation at lunch" Fabia explained, holding out a voice recorder.

"Thanks, girls. I can't believe how worried I'd been earlier about whether being with Dan was the right thing to do, especially after I kissed him on impulse."

"But at least things worked out fine between you two!"

"Whenever I think of how I kissed him on impulse back then, I feel really guilty and embarassed. After all, I wasn't sure that I had feelings for him back then. Gosh, I actually kissed him out of... well, pity!"

"I had been so worried about telling him the truth, but I think it's just fine to leave things be as they are now."

Fabia turned off the voice recorder and Dan sat beside me, putting an arm around my waist and patting my hands.

"And she showed me the voice clip, which was really misleading. I thought you were toying with my feelings then and was outraged, that's why I called you a liar. I'm really sorry about that," Dan said sheepishly, pulling me closer to him and resting his head on mine. I smiled happily.

"Afterwards, when you started to hang out with Eric, Julie got suspicious," Alice continued.

"And I thought she was overwhelmed by her knowledge of too many teenagers in Bayview," I confessed, looking up at Julie apologetically. Julie simply gave me a smug look and a victory sign.

"Turns out, Eric is a good friend of Jenny's, and apparently Jenny asked him to ruin your life," Fabia hissed unpleasantly, causing me to shudder.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I ruined his," Dan grinned, earning a laugh from me as I recalled how Dan had practically disfigured him and ensure that he couldn't make love anymore.

"Julie asked Dan to take care of you," Mira continued.

"When in truth, Dan was actually looking after you all this while," Julie smirked at Dan who turned beet red and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well... I couldn't stand the sight of you with another guy so..."

I smiled, kissing the brunette on the cheek. The other girls cooed happily at the sight, causing me to blush furiously.

"I think we should leave you two lovebirds to talk things out. We'll drop by in again later, Runo," Julie winked at me, pushing the other girls out of the room before closing the door.

I wrapped both my arms around Dan's muscular physique and sighed happily, before Dan pulled away and gently kissed me.

"Thanks, Dan, and I'm sorry for everything that had happened."

"Nah, I'm sorry for being such an idiot and listening to Jenny of all people. You know, the other girls were telling me how much you really loved me," Dan grinned, causing me to look down. "Might not be a lot compared to what I did for you..."

I glared back at the brunette who was smirking at me. "... But you know what, making my family whole again is the second best thing I could ever ask for."

"How'd you know it was me?" I gasped in surprise, and Dan laughed.

"Please, it was really obvious, after all, who else could book the whole restaurant on such short notice and know about my family's situation?"

I blushed, realising how foolish I was. "But even so, a rich person could have booked the place!"

"But Ms Rikka would have informed us way beforehand, especially if we had a shift that day," Dan argued with a laugh, patting my head. "Besides, Kid, you're supposed to ask me what's the best thing I could ever ask for."

I blinked, smiling shyly at him. "I think I know."

Dan chuckled. "You think? Then do you still think that you love me?"

I smiled up at the brunette, gazing into his chocolate orbs longingly. "I know for certain that I love you, Dan."

The two of us finally locked lips after what felt like an eternity, moving our lips in sync and intertwining our fingers as though fixing two puzzle pieces together.

And this time, I really meant what I said.

I do love Daniel Kuso.

And that concludes this story! This is actually a combination of two chapters, but I felt that it was really misleading if I split into two (the part where Runo "saw herself crying in a corner, naked" or something like that, and that you guys would probably kill me for leaving such a cruel cliffhanger, especially if I take AGES to update again.

And so, here's the happy ending. :D Hope you guys have enjoyed this story!

As for "Lost Hope", I was so excited about writing it, but as I progress, I get even more bored about it because most of my plotlines are aligned with that of Bakugan Battle Brawlers and I thought that as a reader, I might felt bored out by it, even if the storyline differs (like the reason why Vestroia is thrown into chaos), the Brawlers are of different ages, there being shunXalice unlike in the actual story and all... Yeah, so I'm not exactly sure if I want to continue it. But ultimately, the story will be read by you guys, so as to whether I will continue this story, the decision pretty much lies in your hands. I haven't gotten any new ideas for other Bakugan fanfic yet, so I'm not exactly sure if I'll continue.

Either way, I would like to thank all my readers and especially my reviewers for all the constant support over this period of time for this story. ^^