Those of Us Alone

Chapter 77: Recollection of a Promise

Midori's POV

It had been a long day of trying to find a solution to dealing with Dante, to no avail, unfortunately. On my last sweep of the common room, I found Soo-won slightly dosing off on what used to be a dining table.

I gave a small, breathy laugh before going over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking it slightly, "C'mon, Soo-won, wake up." He jumped slightly, but stayed asleep. I sighed softly and shook him again, "King of Kouka - dosing at a table out in the open. . . Soo-won~" He began to stir and soon, awoke with a sharpness as he was still trying access where he was and if there was any danger.

He did calm himself down a little bit after looking over and recognizing the person who was shaking him awake, "Midori?" He brought his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them, stretching slightly from the position he was sleeping in, "What time is it?"

"Hmm," I roll my shoulders back, taking a seat across from his majesty, "Probably about midnight. We're the last ones who are not in bed yet."

"Ah, I'm not going to be able to sleep right away now," Soo-won laughed softly.

I rolled my eyes, though with a soft smile upon my face, "This coming from the man who was asleep at the table just moments ago."

He raised his hands in surrender, jokingly, "My nap refreshed me! To be fair, you don't look like you're falling asleep anytime soon either, Midori."

I laughed, shrugging and then leaning back in my chair, "Sleep doesn't come easy nowadays - not here in Awa anyway." A look of concern crossed Soo-won's face, but he said nothing as I stared off into the distance. It wasn't a lie - most of the sleep I ended up getting had to be due to exhaustion. 

"Memories?" Concern laced Soo-won's calming voice. 

Nodding, I gazed out the window a small frown crossing my face, "For whatever reason, happier memories are few and far between - either that or they're just harder for me to remember." And Hak's stupid comment has all but left me alone since he brought it up. I frowned deeper, sighing in annoyance at my lack of remembrance.

A soft chuckle left the blonde, causing me to catch his gaze as he spoke, "Trying to remember something?" I glanced away from him, guiltily - trying to decide whether I should tell the truth or not. 

Soo-won's POV

Of course I was concerned for Midori.

That was one reason I had been up waiting and then fell asleep. I had been waiting for Midori to retire to bed before I did, just incase she needed some kind of company.

The other reason for me being up . . . well, it had to do with Midori as well.

It was . . . odd to think of the strongest woman I'd ever known and see someone who was so uncertain about herself. It didn't take a genius to see that Midori was struggling with her identity. But . . . she never asked any of us for help. She kind of just . . . walked around until she remembered something.

So when she looked away from me when I asked if she was trying to remember something, I took a deep breath before offering, "You know . . . I might be able to help, Midori. If you'll let me."

She began to look back and forth, between me and the wall behind me, muttering, "It's embarrassing though."

"That's alright," I said with a soft smile. 

She had jumped when I spoke, "I . . . I didn't think you'd heard that."

Her hands were placed on the edge of her side of the table, and she was precariously leaning back in one of the wooden chairs - rocking on the back two legs. She began chewing on her bottom lip really debating on sharing her thoughts, before going red and muttering something.