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begins to walk towards him. Suddenly he falls onto his knees unable to move. He falls face down on the ground.

Lucas is lying there motionless and his eyes are closed. He is breathing normally and doesn't appear to be injured.

Noelle slowly rises to her feet and begins to limp towards Lucas's body. Her left eye is now swollen shut, and blood trickles down from her ear.

Lucas groans in pain when he feels Noelle grab his shoulder and pull him to his feet. She then slings his arm across her shoulders supporting most of his weight.

"Are you ready to leave?" Noelle asks quietly as she tries to make her way to her car. Lucas weakly nods and the two begin limping their way towards Noelle's car.

Noelle helps Lucas crawl through the front passenger seat and carefully pulls him to lay in the backseat. Once inside Noelle buckles Lucas in and begins driving away as fast as she can. A few tears escape from Noelle's eyes and stream down her face.

She drives in silence as Lucas's eyes slowly drift shut and his chest starts rising and falling steadily.

Noorle glances over at Lucas and smiles softly at the boy resting peacefully in the backseat. She wipes a lone tear away from her face as the car comes to a complete stop. She reaches under her seat and pulls out a duffle bag which contains clothes. Noelle quickly puts on the rest of Lucas's clothes and makes sure she has cleaned the wound from the bullet. The wound isn't severe but it does need stitches.

After she fixes Lucas's wounds she grabs a pair of scissors and cuts off several long strands of Lucas's curly blonde hair leaving the ends slightly shorter than usual. She ties the remaining pieces together as well as tying the ends of his hair.

Once finished she puts the duffle bag under the dash, takes a picture of Lucas's sleeping form, and places it into Lucas's bedside table. Then she climbs onto the driver's seat and sets off for home.

On the ride home Noelle thinks about what she could possibly say to get rid of Gouin's hatred and fear. She thought maybe if she told him that the school was going to win he would start believing and become less angry. Unfortunately, Noelle didn't think of that because she thought that Gouin was already happy and content with his life.

Gouin enters the house, tired, sweaty, and dripping wet. He closes the door behind him with his foot before dropping his things and making his way upstairs. He stops at the door to his bedroom and sighs tiredly. He removes his shoes and sets them neatly in a corner.

As he goes to change into his pyjamas Gouin hears a noise coming from his room. Gouin freezes and looks around confused. After a few moments Gouin decides to investigate. He opens the door and his eyes widen, the room is covered with posters. They are everywhere and cover every available inch of wall. Gouin smiles slightly as he recognizes the posters that are displayed prominently. There is a poster depicting Nozomi, Kou, Mitsuba and Kouyuu standing in their respective schools. Another poster depicts Nagisa and Rei, Makoto and Haru, and even Rin and Sousuke. Gouin walks around the room inspecting each poster thoroughly. He notices something different among the photos. There is another poster featuring Ryouko, Gouin smiles faintly remembering her. Then he notices that there are several posters with different people in them including Rei, Nozomi, Gouin, Gouin, Rin, Sousuke, Nagisa and Kou. He continues looking at each poster, trying to figure out who these people are.

When Gouin finds the poster of Sousuke, he is not surprised to see it. He knows Sousuke well, since they went to the same high school. But when he finds the person he expected to see there, he becomes quite shocked. He doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. It shows how little he had seen him recently. There Sousuke stands, smiling politely as he talks with Nozomi. Gouin approaches Sousuke and Nozomi notices his approach and tells Sousuke that she will meet him again later. Sousuke bids her farewell and watches Noelle disappear out of sight. Gouin stares at him wide eyed in surprise before finally speaking.

"Sousuke!" Gouin exclaims.

Sousuke jumps slightly in surprise as Gouin comes closer, "Ah, Gou-tan! You scared the crap out of me!"

Gouin rolls his eyes and says mockingly, "Please calm down Sousuke, I didn't mean to scare you."

"What's this about?" Sousuke asks. "Did something happen? Why are you here so early? And why have you been gone for so long? How long has it been?" Sousuke asks worriedly.

"Uh...a few months, three weeks, two days?" Gouin answers unsure of himself. "Um, I came to visit you actually."

"I haven't heard much about you lately," Sousuke says frowning slightly. "You seem...happy," He adds with a slight hint of suspicion.

Gouin laughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his head, "Well yeah, everyone misses me right? I should come visit more often," He grins and pats his friend on the back. "How are you doing anyway?"

"Fine, fine! I have been doing pretty well lately," Sousuke replies enthusiastically before asking, "So, do you have any plans tonight? Any ideas for dinner maybe?"