Arriving back at the headquarters at 4:00 am made it seem like they were the only people in the world. At any other time, they would have been greeted, stopped, pushed in the direction of the infirmary, checked over, fussed over. Finders and helpers and science officers with drills would have rushed to their sides, demanding details, pressing for information. It would have been a flurry of activity, of attention; but right now, they were alone.

Dying candles mounted on the wall cast a dull, fading glow along the hallway. The feeble light threw the shadows of the bricks on the wall into grotesque, disfigured shapes, lurking just beyond the candles' reach. They reminded the red-haired boy of the enemies they had overcome just a few hours earlier, deformed entities that had lunged at them relentlessly, controlled by an unseen, grinning foe. The akuma had been destroyed, of course; crushed by a hammer, sliced by a blade, burned in a seal and attacked by illusion. It had been a relatively simple fight, but not without its injuries.

At 4:00 am, nobody was around to bat an eyelid at them as they trailed down the corridor. The soft haze from the candles added pale, warm highlights to their hair as they walked beside each other, the minor cuts to their skin hidden in shadow. At 4:00 am, it didn't matter that Rabi's arm had slipped to Kanda's waist, and Kanda was leaning on the other boy for support, his hair loose from its binding and trailing against his shoulder.

There was a wound to the Japanese boy's chest again, and it would need treatment in the morning. They would get it looked at tomorrow; Kanda would probably go on his own, if he went at all. He had never been one to pay much attention to his own pain, far too used to his excelled healing rate, despite frets and worries and complaints from others. Kanda Yuu, with that strange marking by his shoulder, needed no-one.

Rabi's hand was pressed against the injury and Kanda's was clasped over that as they went on down the softly blinking hallway, hands linked over his chest, blood drying on his coat.

Between them, there was an unspoken communication, a feeling of mutual respect. It didn't need announcing; it could be seen in the faint, knowing smile Rabi had as he glanced at the boy leaning against him. Kanda's usual look of distaste was weakened at this hour, softened into an expression of tired acceptance. Silence followed them to the room they'd been heading for, a room with a single, mysterious lotus flower on a table, and they paused at the door.

Kanda's other hand reached for the handle, but froze momentarily as a voice broke the quiet in two.

"Yuu."

Rabi was looking at him with that look of concern again, his fingers lightly grasping the dirtied material where it lay across Kanda's chest, his right arm still around his waist.

The dark-haired boy's response lay in his face, in the way he stared back at the other exorcist without a word, waiting for him to continue.

"Will you let me help you?"

There was another stretch of silence before Kanda opened the door with a click that echoed in the hallway.

"Do what you like."

At this hour, there was no-one around to see the two enter the same room, the door closing behind them. At 4:00 am, they were the only people in the world.