But What Did You Do To My Heart? {ON HIATUS}

We Made This Land On Hope

Gundham's POV

Gundham, Sonia, Chiaki, and Hajime made their way to the dining hall, together but not. They'd run into each other and decided to have dinner together. When they got there, Nagito and Ibuki were already there. "Hiya! Ibuki made grilled cheeses for everyone! Ibuki kinda sucks at the whole cooking thing, but these are easy!" They all nodded and said their thanks before grabbing two each and sitting down.

Halfway through their meal, Mikan and Hiyoko arrived together, Mikan smiling slightly while Hiyoko told her a story. Everyone looked shocked, with the exception of Ibuki. "Hey, Hiyoko, since when did you and Mikan get along?" Hajime was the bold soul to ask. Hiyoko spun around from where she was grabbing food and said simply, "she's amazing." Everyone just shrugged and went back to eating.

The last to arrive, after everyone had finished, or almost finished eating, was Fuyuhiko. He had his head down, and was wiping something off his face. The group went silent when they heard a sniffle come from him. Mikan and Chiaki went to his side. "F-fuyuhiko, w-what happened? D-did you g-get hurt again?" They lead him to the table, and he sat down in a chair next to Gundham. He looked up at the taller ultimate, his face shiny with tears.

"Your boy needs you." Gundham scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Mortal short one, I do not understand." They all held their breath, waiting for him to blow up at the name, but he only let out a small sob. "K-kaz, he needs you. I can't help him. Believe me, I want to, but I can't." "Is the Shark mortal okay? Is he hurt?" Fuyuhiko shook his head. "No, but I just know he will need you." Sonia suddenly appeared from the corner of the his vision, holding a plate. She set it in front of Fuyuhiko. "Fuyuhiko, you're upset, but you must eat to salvage your strength for the later battles." He snorted. "Thanks princess, but no. I will take this, though." He picked up the greasy sandwich and found a plastic sandwich bag and put it in the bag. Then he looked to the rest of the group. "You all are too good to me. I'm nothing but an asshole you you all. Thank you." And he was gone.

They all watched him go, and then Chiaki started. "Go with him, Gundham. He said Souda needs you. Go." That was all he needed before he was out the door, his four devas poking out from his muffler.

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He followed Fuyuhiko out to Kazuichi's cottage and watched as he set the sandwich on his doorstep and put a note on top of it. He had half a mind to read it, but stopped himself. That was private information, it wasn't for him. Fuyuhiko saw him standing by the entrance to the line of cottages and walked up to him. "He hasn't answered me since this afternoon. Akane messed him up. Just keep an eye on him for me, please."

Gundham nodded. "Of course, Gangster mortal. I shall watch over him until he should perish, and then after." Fuyuhiko nodded before giving him a small side hug. "Thank you." And left to go into his own cottage. Gundham went to Kazuichi's cottage and hesitated in knocking. Did he really want to disturb the Shark mortal? What if he was sleeping? He decided to slide the sandwich closer to the door for easier access and with a final look, left the doorway.

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The next morning, they all met in the dining hall for breakfast. About halfway through, Kazuichi was still a no-show. They decided to give him more time and at lunch, when he didn't show up again, the others grew more worried. In the middle of their eating, Hiyoko sighed and slammed her chair back before stomping up to Fuyuhiko.

"Where is he?! Did you do something to him? Is that why you looked so sad and guilty yesterday? Are you trying to frame Gundham for his death or something!?" Everyone was shocked at her outbursts, and even more so that it was to defend Kazuichi. Fuyuhiko froze and dropped his fork back into his plate. He stood up and backed away. He looked almost scared. "No, n-no, I swear, I-I didn't kill anyone! Least of all Kazuichi! What benefit would I get out of that? I did just out myself as his killer yesterday if I had, so why would I have done that if I wanted to keep it quiet?" It was Hiyoko's turn to freeze. "I- y-yeah, you're right."

She threw herself down in front of Fuyuhiko's shoes. "P-please forgive me for yelling! I just-I don't want anyone else dead! I'm scared! And you were the first person to look guilty! I'm sorry!" She started wailing, but these were genuine tears. Her cry wasn't near as loud as her fake one, and she looked to be in pure and total despair. Fuyuhiko slowly slid down the wall he was against and quietly pulled her up to his chest.

"H-hey, hey, don't go all soft on us now. I already did, and we need at least one hard ass to keep everyone going." He pulled her into a hug and she sobbed into his shoulder as he himself started tearing up. "I-I'm so sorry for everything. I-it wasn't y-your decision to make Peko kill Mahiru. I didn't have anyone to blame when I was upset, so i targeted the first person I saw that could be guilty. Please...I'm so sorry Fuyuhiko."

He nodded, tucking his head into her neck. "It's okay, Hiyoko. You never had time to grieve. You didn't have anyone to talk to about it because the person who would listen was gone. I didn't talk about my own grief, and look where I am now." He snorted. "Hell, I should've died by now, but I'm still here somehow. If some sort of god actually exists, I think they left me alone this long so I could amend my broken ends with you all. Especially you, Hiyoko." He waved Gundham over. "Come here. We need a good old group hug right now. We all do." With that, Gundham and the rest of the group walked over and joined the hug. There wasn't a dry eye in sight, but it was okay.

Because they'd be okay. As soon as they got their Kazuichi back.

(So this chapter didn't go exactly how I planned, and it's more of a Fuyuhiko pov than Gundham for some parts, but I kinda just let my fingers work their magic and this is where we ended up. The characters are gonna seem a little ooc, so I'm sorry about that... Anyhoo, comments about what I can do better are greatly appreciated! 🤗)