A Life's Adjustment

It was more than just a little curiosity at Rin's condition that caused Akira to glance into the back seat frequently. He'd been in the hospital a few days since the amputation of his leg and he seemed far too…at peace with it for Akira's comfort. Motomi constantly had nudged Akira in the ribs, glaring at him and telling him not to cause trouble where there was none.

Motomi stopped the car in front of Akira's place, getting out and glaring at Akira for showing off, climbing promptly over the closed door of his jeep. "Need help?" Akira asked Rin, having pulled the seat forward.

Rin was the second sender of glares; the only time he had looked upset in recent days was when he was sick from pain medication and when he was getting frustrated with Akira's worries. He picked up the crutches and got out of the car by himself; and Akira was silently impressed at how quickly he had managed to pick it up after he had been so bad at using them just the day before.

"There's a lot of stairs," Akira pointed out, trying to sound casual about it.

"I lost my leg, not my sight." Rin huffed, making his way over to Motomi.

The older man took to the steps first, staying in front of Rin and climbing a bit at a time as he went along; Akira walked behind him just in case he took a tumble, and just so that Rin couldn't see the worry in his eyes. Honestly, it was beginning to bother Motomi.

When they got to the top and Motomi and Akira looked in the direction of his apartment; squinting, they saw something huddled on the ground in the distance, gloved fingers scratching lightly at the door persistently. Akira approached cautiously, his fingers gripping the hilt of his blade behind his back. As he got closer the thing looked over at him; though looked was perhaps inaccurate as the eyes were covered thoroughly.

Akira breathed a sigh of some relief; it could've been worse. "What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed. Naturally, he wasn't expecting an answer. He unlocked the door and before he could say or do anything the curled up human shuffled inside on all fours, in quite a rush.

Rin and Motomi got inside, both staring at Akira. "How did he find this place?" Rin asked.

Motomi pointed at a group of tags hanging from a desk lamp, "That's probably it."

Akira kept an eye on the human dog; it had crawled up to a heater in the corner of the room, ghosting his fingers lightly in the invisible hot area. "What's his name again?" Akira asked.

"Kau." Motomi replied, pulling a chair up for Rin to seat himself on.

Just as Motomi stepped closer he heard and felt a sticky substance beneath his foot, noting the dark red sticky stain on the floor. He glanced at Rin, "Are you bleeding?"

Rin shook his head a little.

Motomi grunted in realization, "It's coming from the mutt over there."

Akira glanced at the dog, finding him curled on the ground by the fire; now sound asleep, noticeable by his stomach and chest rising and falling heavily with a slight wheezing sound.

Motomi butted out his cigarette under a tap of running water, "Get the first aid kit."

The room had gone just about silent; Rin reclined back in his seat, trying to adjust and take in the new surroundings. He'd never seen the inside of Akira's apartment before, actually this was his first time in years outside of Toshima, and for a while all he had seen was the inside of the hospital, but he believed the simplicity of it suited him very much. He watched Motomi roll up his sleeves to just above his elbows, taking the first aid kit from Akira.

"Help me." Motomi mumbled to Akira, approaching Kau slowly.

Akira seemed visibly apprehensive, nonetheless he approached Kau also.

Rather than having fallen asleep the assumption was that Kau had fainted; he twitched occasionally as Motomi had rolled him over onto his back. Just above the waistband of his trousers, between his hip bone and one of the large piercings, was a rather deep laceration; something transparent and sharp poked out of it. "Glass?"

"Must have happened in Toshima," Motomi indicated for Akira to pin his hands down while he held a thick amount of cloth close to the wound, gripping the glass tightly between two fingers. He shared a quick glance with the man across from him, once he nodded firmly in understanding and braced himself Motomi pulled on the piece of glass, quickly replacing it with the cloth to catch the increased flow of blood.

The dog's mouth had opened widely; an obvious scream that wouldn't be able to be emitted no matter how powerful the emotions were that fuelled it.

"It's bleeding a lot more." Akira mumbled.

"You should've left it in and taken him to a hospital."

"Because nobody would ask questions about the state he's in." Motomi commented sarcastically, placing a thicker layer of cloth over the wound.

Akira took a short moment to look the man up and down; he was mottled with bruises and who knew what was under the clothes? His hair was wet, sticking to his face, and his expression was so worn out he began to wonder the boy's real age. "He looks like he's been outside a while."

"Not something Arbitro would do."

Rin jumped a little, "You think he ran away?"

"I think Kau is smarter than that."

"Or stupider than that."

"Well if he managed you've got to give him credit for that." Motomi had his hands full holding the cloth down, all material stained red all the way through. Much to his relief the bleeding had slowed down, just as he was beginning to kick himself for taking the glass out. He padded the wound up with bandages and he allowed Akira to let go of him, the dog curling in on himself.

"Hopefully he won't pick at it."

"When he wakes up we'll toss him in for a shower."

"What are we doing? Keeping him?"

Rin seemed shocked, "What do you want to do? Throw him out?"

Akira looked at Motomi, "You keep him."

"He came up to your door; it's you he wants." Motomi chuckled.

"But…"

"I'm going to buy cigarettes," Motomi quipped, interrupting purposely, "you need anything?" he asked, turning to Rin.

"No thanks." Rin grinned largely and playfully.

Akira dropped himself back on the bed; visibly a little wary of the form curled up on the floor in front of the heater.

"Don't you have a blanket or something?"

"You need one?"

"I mean for him."

"Right," Akira scrambled back off the bed and tried to remember where he kept extra blankets; even when he had told Rin that he could stay with him he hadn't thought things through. Time in Toshima had really played around with his head. He draped a skimpy blanket over Kau, and then proceeded to pile up all the blankets and pillows he had; it wasn't much, or nearly enough for the sudden guests.

"Are you sure it's okay if I stay here?"

"Yes."

"Thanks again, Akira."

"Thanks for what?" He sighed; Rin was unable to tell if he was frustrated with him, or by the mess of clothes he was clearing from the foot of the bed.

"For not breaking your promise."

Akira looked up promptly, locking eye contact and willing Rin not to look away, "I told you I wouldn't and I don't ever plan on going back on it."

Rin smiled cheerfully, wrapping his arms around his stomach as his chest filled with warmth.

Akira glanced over at Kau, watching him kick in his sleep, "You think he's alright?"

"Are you worried now?"

"Well I don't want him dying over there."

Rin smiled faintly; secretly, he knew that Akira really wasn't frustrated at the dog.

"He looks like he's been running around in circles; completely worn out."

"If he's been alone this whole time then that's probably it; how can you fend for yourself when you're crawling around, can't ask for freakin' directions and too blind to go anywhere even if you got them?"

"You think it's true what they say? That he can smell the tags?"

"Must be true if the old man agrees with it."

"Yeah,"

Motomi barged in soon enough, cigarette hanging from his lips. "How are things?" He dumped a bag on the kitchen counter and made his way over to Kau, pulling his face over to take a look at him before touching his forehead. "Akira, he's really warm."

"There are antipyretics in the bathroom cupboard if you want to try giving him one." Akira said.

Motomi stood with a groan, "Give it to him with dinner."

"Dinner?" Akira…couldn't say he was surprised; he was absent-minded. "What does he eat?"

"Knowing Arbitro; dog food." Rin sighed.

"You'll have to make him something," Motomi chuckled, throwing an arm around Akira's shoulders, "and probably feed it to him too."

"You'll do it!"

"I've got somewhere to be." Motomi let go of him, putting the cigarette back to his lips, "so it's up to you to feed him and bathe him and…walk him."

"Hey, didn't you say we'll toss him into the shower later?"

"Ahh but it's your door he crawled up to so doesn't that make him your responsibility?"

"How is that fair?"

Motomi continued to chuckle all the way to the door, "I'll pass by tomorrow."

Akira's eyes remained wide open.

Rin's loud cheerful laughter pulled him out of it, "The old man just loves screwing with you, ne, Akira?"

"To say the least." Akira dragged himself up to his fridge; everyday he wasn't sure what he himself would be eating that night, and feeding Rin and the dog was a whole new worry on its own. "What are we going to eat?"

"I'll eat anything! Anything is better than hospital food."

"I'll bet it is."

He began frying vegetables and chicken in a pan, leaving some noodles to boil close by. "Hey, Rin," he looked out from the small hallway the kitchen was in, looking over at Rin sitting back in the chair. "You're alright, aren't you?"

Rin grinned, nodding firmly.

"You're quiet…"

"I'm tired; that's all it is."

"You can get on the bed to rest if you want."

Rin smiled lightly, "If I went to sleep I don't think I'd wake up for a while."

Akira wouldn't blame him in the slightest if that would happen; he was sure that that would be the way he would feel too. A lot of Rin's strength and resolve had begun dissipating once his medication started making him sick; sleeping at night was impossible, rest during the daytime couldn't happen, and learning to walk again in this state was strenuous to do on no sleep. Yes, Akira could agree, he would definitely feel the same way after all that.

Akira went back to cooking, trying to get the meal prepared before Rin could doze off or have too much time to think by himself.

"Akira." Rin called him back after a few minutes. His eyes were on Kau who had sat up, teeth grit together tightly as he clutched at his wound and touched his face lightly. He had jumped slightly when Akira could be heard entering and Kau quickly crawled up to him, grabbing tightly onto the leg of his pants which he used to pull himself up as high as Akira's torso.

It terrified Akira to look down at the state of the human like that; he had no idea what sort of expression the eyes behind the mask would have if he could actually see them.

He took his arm lightly, bringing him to let go of his clothing, "Sit down," he groaned out that order lightly, and was surprised how quickly he obeyed such simple words. He reached down to check his temperature, feeling the burning skin beneath his hand.

"He looks really flushed, Akira," Rin whispered.

"Yeah," He stood up straight and returned to the kitchen, "I'll give him the antipyretic with dinner." He took the dinner off the cooker and made three servings.

Rin leaned over, "Kau…" he called quietly, "Kau…" He smiled lightly as Kau came crawling over, resting his head against Rin's knee.

Akira put the tray of food on the bed; the best he could make a flat surface close to where they were.

Rin tilted his head to the side, seeing how nervous Akira was touching Kau, and the apprehension he must have felt to try to feed someone that actually looked as fragile as he was. "Want me to feed him, Akira?"

"You have dinner; I'll do it." Even while saying that Akira had no idea how he was going to feed Kau noodles, vegetables and chicken. Instead of using chopsticks he resorted to a fork and once he brought some of the food close to Kau's face he opened his mouth keenly once he smelt it. Once he got into it he found it pretty easy to feed him; Kau must have been starving so he was eager to eat which made things easier.

"It tastes really good." Rin complimented half way through. He looked up again from his food and found Akira looking around a bit, "What's wrong?"

"Wondering how I'm going to give him this." He held up the film of pills before tossing it back down on the tray. "I don't really trust him to swallow it with water."

"Well if he was with Arbitro he…"

"Rin!" Akira groaned loudly, his face twisted in distaste. "That's…disgusting."

Kau seemed pouty for a moment and with a glance from Rin Akira had deduced that the dog could understand their speech perfectly. Akira stood, and in the meantime Rin reached out to touch Kau, stopping once he tried to smell Rin's hands. Rin sensed Kau was fascinated by the smell; the blond knew he still had the stink of the hospital on his skin and in his clothes.

Akira returned, much to Kau's enthusiasm, with two spoons which helped him crush the pills over some of the food.

Kau felt the flaky substance on the back of his throat with the next bite of food and coughed heavily, having not expected it. At that moment Akira decided the pills probably would've sat better in a soup, but figured that would be a lesson for another time. He pressed the glass of water to his lips and was surprised by the eagerness at which Kau gripped his hands on both sides of the glass and gulped the cool liquid down.

Rin laughed, "He's so cute." Having come to the end of the glass, Kau turned to Rin after hearing him speak, and Rin reached out to push his hair away from his flushed face. He began to keep the dog busy for a bit while Akira ate his food before it turned ice cold. "You know you're going to have to give him a bath, right?"

Akira groaned loudly in between a bite of food, glaring at the other, "Don't remind me."

"You must be exhausted." Rin told Kau, affectionately touching the top of his head, massaging one of his temples.

Akira took things to clear up before turning to Rin, "You want to go shower first so you can go sleep?"

"I'll stay up a bit longer." He picked up his crutches and made his way over to Akira, "I'll do the dishes though."

"I'll get to them later."

"I really want to do them."

Akira through his hands up with defeat and indicated to Rin to just go ahead; in the meantime he tried to guide Kau to the bathroom without letting his swaying body bump into anything.

Akira began to wonder if the dog was capable of undressing himself but the more he wanted to get this over the more he decided it was best if he tackled everything himself. So kneeling down he began to remove the buckle that was firm and almost constricting around Kau's neck; once that was off it put the entire scar on display, as well as having loosened the rest of the outfit as the sleeves and gloves easily followed.

He switched on the hot water to fill the tub, hot steam beginning to rise as he turned back to Kau to remove the boots and trousers; how he was ever comfortable in this get up Akira was never sure.

He reached around to the back of his hair, searching with his finger tips for the clasp on the back of his mask. Kau seemed apprehensive, his chest rose and fell heavily and his breaths came out in wheezy gasps. Akira let go and pulled back a bit, suspecting that he was about to vomit.

Kau continued to breathe fast but after pressing his hands to where his eyes were under the mask he seemed to calm down slowly.

Akira reached over again, touching the clasps; and again, Kau reacted the same way. Akira sighed, "You don't like it when it's off," he said out loud, showing Kau he understood, "but I need to remove it; if you get sick no one will be able to help you."

Kau eventually let go and let Akira take the mask off and the sight almost made him wish he didn't. The boy's eye lids were sewn shut completely by thick black thread. The lids could flutter with some movement very vaguely as they did once the cold air touched the raw skin but that was about all they were capable of doing.

It felt awkward to Akira to be doing this but chewing on his lip a bit he pulled Kau up enough to get him into the bath of hot water. He set him down slowly, lightly but Kau seemed to be looking forward to the feeling and let himself land suddenly in the water with a sudden splash.

Akira wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or scold him, but once Kau seemed content sitting in the water, his head tilted up in his direction, there was no way that he could scold him. "Wait there, okay? I'll be back in two minutes!"

He left to get some clean clothes, having kicked the other outfit into a corner. Rin looked over at him quickly; he had moved to sit by the window in the meantime, "Is everything alright?"

"I think he's enjoying the idea of a bath."

"I'm sure he'll feel better."

Akira approached Rin in his rush, putting a hand to his back, "You're alright?"

"I'm fine, Akira." Rin feigned another smile and nodded his head, determined to keep the lying going up until the very end.

Even if he didn't quite believe it Akira nodded back and walked away with the bundle of clothing and the first aid kit. In the bathroom he found Kau curled up on his side, holding the fluffy bandaging on his side together against his skin. If the bath water hadn't turned red yet Akira felt like there was no need to rush him back out of the bath.

Akira pulled him to sit up right; noting the light wince on his face. He wanted to apologize but left it alone, taking him by the shoulder and turning him around a little. It was clearly awkward to sit on his side in the bath, having to press one leg against the side and the other leg tucked under him, but he was clearly no stranger to the discomfort as he didn't seem to complain at all. Akira's fingers touched his face lightly; he wasn't bothering with a washcloth at the time, wiping at any grime on his face. Across his cheeks, over the bridge of his nose, across his forehead, under his neck; everywhere, while considerably avoiding his tender eyelids. He tilted Kau's head back, scooping some water up into his hand and pouring it over his face.

Akira poured some shampoo onto his hand and began scrubbing lightly at his hair, going through the messy hair in an attempt to untangle it, massaging his scalp lightly and having felt the bumps and tender spots. He poured warm water over his head and Kau began to smile widely, feeling comfortable for a bit.

He spread a towel across the ground and patted the side of the bath, "Get out." Kau scurried out of the bath and let himself sit on the towel, resting his back against the bath. He passed Kau some underwear and trousers but Kau simply fumbled with them; leaving Akira to pull them on for him also, despite the itchy red burning into his cheeks. He pulled him to lie down, pealing the paper off the adhesive of the clean and dry bandaging and applying it carefully.

He tossed a clean t-shirt at him, causing Kau to jump. "Put that on and then you can go to sleep." He noted the state of the other, his exhaustion was beginning to be far too much for him to control. Again, Kau began to fidget with it and Akira was forced to help him once more, and after not considering even trusting him to walk out of the room without banging into something, he effortlessly picked him up into his arms; much to Kau's immediate shock.

"Is he okay?"

Akira placed him down lightly on the bed, sighing as he also began to grow tired. "Yeah, he's very tired."

"He's still burning a fever."

Akira ignored Rin's worries momentarily, "You can go clean yourself up; don't stay awake much longer."

Rin nodded a bit but he still felt like he really wasn't being listened to as much anymore. He left for the bathroom, hoping desperately that by some sort of miracle Akira would be asleep by the time he came out.

Akira draped a sleeping bag onto the floor; he felt a little nostalgic as he stared at it. Keisuke was the last person to have used it when he crashed on his floor one night.

Shaking the memories, the sweet kind and painful memories, out of his head, he turned back to Kau to pluck him off his bed, tuck him into the bag, despite the lean form curling into a ball immediately, and placing a blanket over him near the heater.

Changing for bed simply became a more difficult task to do; he was constantly stepping over Kau, or any other things that he had moved around in trying to make room for the guests. It only bothered him because it seemed like he was making Kau wake up every time; his hearing was too accurate.

"Which side of the bed?" He asked offhandedly when Rin returned.

"Can I take the edge?"

"Sure." Rin rested tiredly against his crutches, sitting down at the foot of the bed. "Did you take your medicine yet?"

"Not yet."

Rin's responses were coming out promptly but they sounded so drained to Akira's ears. With Motomi having glared at him every single time he had begun to feel that something might be wrong with him, and with the sudden responsibility he had been given in the past few hours, Akira hadn't had enough time to focus on Rin. "You're alright, Rin?"

The blond smiled again, though his eyes may have shown something else if they weren't covered with long strands of hair, "You don't need to keep asking; I'm just tired."

Even if it was just something as simple as that, Akira was still unnerved when he saw him like this.

A/N: So it was supposed to be a oneshot but...it'll be a two shot...at least a two shot. There's at least...six pages to go!

For this I had a lot of inspiration in total, although I had the idea from beforehand; the inspiration was of Star (a dog that someone cruelly abused here) and my job as a nurse's assistant. I really felt myself tapping into my experience as the latter to write this.

Well I hope you enjoyed it up until this point. A little itty-bitty review to let me know what you think would be great!