For someone in his position waking up didn't mean opening his eyes and seeing the bright light shining in through. He was far more simple than that. Or far more complicated than that too.

Instead of opening his eyes he opened up some other senses; his sense of smell and his sense of taste. Instead of seeing the bright light shining through he felt it on his skin.

His body was sticky and warm, but it felt different to usual; his clothing didn't accumulate the heat in the same way it usually did. It felt softer to his skin also. Even though he felt warm his legs received a particular amount of heat; something strong had spread along them.

He found himself stretching his arms and legs, reaching out of the warm confines for some cooler air. By the smell in the air he noted that the tags were now missing but he wasn't alone. The person who had fed him and bathed him the night before was clearly absent but the sounds in the room pointed out to him that someone was still there.

Soft and quiet mewls resonated through the room; coming from above him to his right. He untangled himself from the warm bag and crawled quietly closer to the sound. If it was because of the thick air he wasn't sure but breathing became more difficult than he could remember. He got up onto his knees, resting his hands on the thick mattress.

They were vague little sounds he remembered from somewhere.

A time very far back…he remembered making those same sounds in a cold room but even if he tried hard enough to go back and trace the feelings he had at that time he had no idea what he'd find.

As he crawled up onto the bed, a little wary as he was never allowed to climb places unless Master said so, he felt around with bare finger tips and pulled back once they touched a warm body.

It was Rin; the affectionate person who had touched him so gently the night before. Contrary to how he was last night, today he seemed to be acting like he was all alone and paid no attention to him, even when he fell to lie down beside him.

There was a time when his Master made these same sounds. He had been surprised when he heard them; he had wondered what had caused his Master to feel so sad that he would break into tears.

He did not know this person here; he didn't know what to expect, or what to do.

He would have liked to think there was no way to handle it because if there was then he didn't know it.

He still remembered Master's ringed fingers hit him in the face with the punch he gave him when he had first cried. It hurt more than whatever it was he was crying about in the first place.

He petted the arm of the other lightly, even through the sudden hiccups, and used his other hand to feel his way around to get closer. If he could open his mouth and say something what could he say?

Maybe the reason he couldn't say anything was because a dog wasn't supposed to. Maybe Master thought he was most appropriate when he couldn't speak.

He crawled a little closer, pressing his cheek to the other's damp one, caressing his ear gently before licking his cheek quickly. The tears had a salty taste to them, they were warm and there were plenty of them dripping down all the way to his jawbone.

Rin stopped sobbing and laughed lightly instead, "What are you doing?" He wanted to answer; just to tell him that all he wanted to do was make him feel better for what he did for him the other day. He couldn't though; not without licking his cheek again lightly. Rin smiled a bit more and Kau felt his back being patted lightly.

Why had the roles been reversed so suddenly? How? What had he done?

He felt the form in front of him sit up on, patting his side, "You're so cute, Kau." He'd been called that a lot only very recently. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Master never called him cute and he was told to only listen to what Master said. Rin sat up completely but Kau weakly fell back to rest his head on a pillow, "I think you're still sick, Kau." He said softly, his cold hand touching his cheek.

He wasn't sure but was this what being sick felt like? It felt…stuffy.

But it didn't bother him enough to pay attention to it, but he didn't have the strength to do what he wanted either; he just wanted to pounce on the other and ask if he was really feeling better. But how could he express that with a stranger when he had no words? This person didn't understand him, never could. He grabbed onto a piece of material between his two fingers and tugged at it lightly for some attention.

Rin lay down next to him again, "My leg shouldn't hurt." He commented quietly, a defeated whisper. "Somehow it does anyway… They said it would hurt but…I don't understand it either…" He heard him lightly laugh, "I guess you won't understand exactly…"

Did it show on his face? He really didn't understand…

"They removed my leg but…maybe you understand the feeling…"

He hadn't really realized. It had been the other man that he held tightly onto the night before, but this one had been sitting the whole time so there was no reason to get too close.

He could vaguely remember adjusting to his new lifestyle; it was a difficult memory to handle, something that he had buried long ago. Never being allowed to question Master meant that having those thoughts to begin with were futile.

Kau smiled playfully. He was okay with it now so the other could be too eventually, right? He threw his arms around his neck and pressing his cheek to his.

"For someone who's so sick you woke up so cheerful."

Rin laughed against his ear and gave him the happiest little feeling in his chest, and without restraint he found himself hugging the other tighter.

Rin grinned and pulled back slowly, "Let's get some breakfast."

Breakfast? He didn't eat breakfast. Nonetheless, Kau jumped off the bed and waited for the other to be able to do the same. There was a squeaky sound when he walked; he'd been using something else for support.

He followed him for a few steps and then sat down; cold air came out suddenly and he noted the scent of the open fridge that was predominantly empty.

"You want to share something, Kau? I'm not very hungry." Kau felt him smiling a bit but he didn't nod or anything, just waited patiently. "Damn medicine," he heard Rin curse frequently under his breath as he tossed little containers along the counter. "Come on," Rin brushed a finger lightly over the top of his head as he walked past. He'd led him over to the bag he'd slept on; it was covered in his scent, and the air still felt sticky to his skin.

Rin sat across from him and he jumped a bit when he felt Rin's hand take his, "If you're not careful you'll slip, you know?" He began rolling up both sleeves that had hung a bit too far down, wrapping themselves around his hands as he made his way along the floor.

Kau began to feel like a dog with flees; Master never would let him get such a thing but his wound was so itchy that he wanted to protest when Rin stopped him from touching the bandaging. "If you get it infected it'll be worse; if it itches it means it's healing so leave it alone."

He heard a small crunching sound, it was a little chilling, and then the other placed the tip of the spoon to his lips where he could taste some of the soft cream and open his mouth for it. Over the top was a faint granulated texture, very similar to the one from yesterday; this one seemed to be absorbed by the cream though, and he swallowed it effortlessly.

"It tastes good?" The other had a taste of it also, and then he heard the same crushing sound before he was given another scoop. He predicted that the sound was related to those strange-tasting granules in his food. They felt too soft to be rocks but he felt like the other was squashing rocks into his food.

The man gave him a few more scoops; these didn't have that rocky taste in them which made him feel better once he swallowed. Rin massaged his scalp lightly, "Wait here; I'll get another for you."

Kau sat, waiting patiently, and even if the other may have lost his leg, he left and came rather promptly, with the same clicking sounds of his support following him. This time he didn't seem to be taking any for himself; feeding Kau scoop after scoop of the creamy strawberry sweet substance, no rocks on the top.

Just as he cleaned the corner of his mouth Kau wiped the hair off his forehead, grinning cheerfully.

He was fed, he felt warm, he was sheltered, all that and if he didn't pay attention to the itchiness he got everything a simply dog would ever want and need.

He heard a clicking sound from the front door, and felt confident enough to go running through the new environment once he recognized the familiar scent from the night before. He gripped onto the material on his thighs and gathered it into his hands tightly until he could grab onto his jacket, pulling Akira down onto his knees on the ground with a loud groan.

"What the hell are you doing?" The voice didn't sound too threatening; otherwise Kau knew to scramble back off. Instead it was almost warm and inviting, albeit confused, so he simply shuffled up further and embraced him lightly. "Rin! What have you fed him? He's hyper!"

"A yoghurt; I had to give him his medicine with something."

Kau felt Akira patting his back lightly, willing him off; he obeyed and slid down, but sat back on the ground in the hallway quietly.

"Yes, well, let's cut back on the sugar, shall we?" He petted Kau, and said it in a tone that he must have assumed that he wouldn't understand. Kau didn't seem to mind very much; he was used to it by now.

"Where've you been anyway?"

"Shopping." He heard a large plastic bag being picked up off the floor, and then a second one, and then a third one. "For now we've got one bed to put up with but it doesn't mean we've got to share pillows and blankets all the time."

"You didn't have to buy so much."

"Well if Kau's going to stay then he's going to need something too."

"Winter's coming."

"That too." Akira's large hand soon returned to his face, "Go and lie down, Kau."

Lie down? Where? Couldn't he be more specific?

Then he remembered; Rin hadn't moved yet.

He scuttled over quickly, dropping himself onto the sleeping bag and placing his head in Rin's lap. It didn't feel strange that a leg was absent far above the knee, and when he didn't hear any groans or anything he was thankful that the position he'd thrown them into wasn't painful.

He felt more and more sleepy after he lay down like that, especially when the man he rested against began massaging his scalp. Was it the little rocks that did it?

There was a knock on the front door not too long after that. He felt a little excited but felt too weak to sit up to greet whoever was there.

"How is everything here?"

The man's deep voice was familiar. He'd heard it in Master's mansion before. This man tended to upset him. Heavy footsteps signified the ma's entrance into the bedroom and with a groan he knelt down not too far away. Kau felt his own muscles stiffening.

"We're fine."

"No thanks to you, old man." Akira chided.

The new man put a hand to Kau's face. Kau tried to pull his head away. The man smelt so much like cigarettes that he couldn't help the abrupt and singular cough that erupted from his throat suddenly.

"You even make him sick with the smell, old man." Rin laughed.

Kau squirmed away a bit as a large unfamiliar hand touched him.

"He's not going to hurt you, Kau." Rin tried to hold him lightly in place, hands on his forearms which Kau had been trying to hold to his stomach.

Akira released a low growl and Kau knew he was pushing his luck by being defensive. He began to try to relax, dropping his arms limp like a ragdoll and letting Rin hold onto him.

He felt the edges of his skin sticking to the bandage just as the older man's cold fingers pried off the material lightly. "Has he been scratching it?" He felt his face burning red; he had been and he still wanted to keep doing it.

"A little; earlier." The reply from behind him came.

"Don't let him pick at it."

"He can't help it if it hurts, old man." Rin defended him in a cold tone.

"If you see him scratching it tell him to stop and if you can give him something for the pain it'll help."

"You can't sort everything with a painkiller."

"I'm not saying it can; I'm saying it'll help."

"We'll give him a painkiller later then." Akira got in between the two's sudden bickering.

"What about you, Rin? Are you okay?"

"Of course, old man."

Kau wondered if the other could also sense that the man behind him was lying; there was a faint underlying crack of emotion in his defiant tone of voice.

"Your eyes are really red."

"It's part of my face, what can I do about that?"

"Were you feeling sick last night?"

"No." Rin snapped back.

"It looks like it might be the affect of your medicine. Akira, keep an eye on him, alright? If it's his medicine…"

"It's not the medicine, old man!"

"Don't work yourself up, Rin." Akira sighed.

Kau felt the body around him tensing up; Rin's hands on him were no longer gentle and caressing him but they grew stiff and turned into fists. He rolled over and began to climb up Rin's small body, embracing him tightly. Had Master known that he allowed this body to comfort someone else other than him he would be severely punished but he allowed the man to get upset or angry again it meant that he did not care about him.

He buried his face in his neck, breathing heavily and pressing his lips to it. He wanted to tell him not to listen to them, to just block them out and not let what they say bother him but he couldn't! Not in a way he could really understand, and not in a way he would show everyone.

"Looks like he's taken a liking to you."

"Yeah." Rin embraced him back lightly.

Kau smiled cheerfully; he knew when he had done something good.

"You know what symptoms you're supposed to look out for, Rin; so make sure that if you've got any you tell Akira immediately so he can take you to the hospital."

"I know, old man."

The old man sighed heavily, "I almost feel sorry for you, Akira." He commented. "You're really going to have your hands full; but give me a call if you need help."

Kau felt the feelings in his chest purely reflecting Rin's; his body language alone had suddenly helped to transfer all the blond's feelings into his body. He could feel that Rin just wanted to run away at this point; his fingers interlaced, his body tensed, his breath caught in throat and he held Kau to him as the only thing keeping him seated in his place.

Akira walked the older man to the door; they both eventually stepped out, closing the door behind them.

"I'll bet they're talking about me." Rin commented quietly against his neck.

Kau hung his head lower; it was true. They commented about Rin's health, about the red in his eyes, the dark circles beneath them and the feigned smile on his face.

"You can hear them, right? It's true?" He squeezed him tightly and Rin rubbed his back. "I've got to get used to it."

Kau wished he could tell him otherwise but he wasn't wrong; he would have to get used to having snide little remarks being made. People around the mansion always said these things about him, even if it meant a harsh reprimanding from Master.

"Why don't you try to sleep, Kau?"

Don't want to! Was the reply he could imagine himself snapping at that moment…had it actually been possible to snap. Even if he didn't want to, it was becoming painfully difficult to remain awake. Perhaps it was the little rocks. He felt himself falling into a darkness that was darker than the one he was constantly in; lulled to sleep by the gentle ministrations performed on his back through the light material.

"Don't you think you've grown a little too attached to him?"

"What do you mean?" Rin stood beside Akira in the kitchen, resting against the counters as he watched him cook.

"Don't get too attached to him."

"What are you saying?"

"You don't know what could happen to him."

Rin shoved him, "Assuming he's going to just die because he's like that; you're terrible."

"I didn't mean it like that, but anything can happen."

"I wonder if he's going to be okay here, Akira; he's really…stuck in one place."

"I don't have a mansion like Arbitro does but hopefully he'll be alright."

"Well I'd like to think we at least treat him better."

"I'm sure we do."

"I can't help but be curious about why he was running around on his own."

"Don't know, don't care; as long as he didn't end up on the evening news we're fine."

"That's a good point."

"So about earlier…"

Rin tensed a little but showed Akira he was listening clearly, "What happened earlier?"

Akira turned down the heat on the food, resting against the counter, "You got really defensive when the old man called you out on your red eyes."

"Ahh, that." Rin groaned. "I'm just fed up of everyone thinking these things! The second the nurses saw me acting differently then they think something's wrong and start asking all these questions. I want to leave that there."

Akira scoffed. "You're so stubborn."

"Stubborn?"

"Of course you're stubborn. You think after that whole confession in Toshima I'll believe you're really fine just because you say you are?"

"That's…"

"Not fair, right?" Akira interrupted. He put a hand on his head, playing with the light strands of hair, "If you tried being more honest maybe I'd be more inclined to believe you."

"I'm…"

"Honestly."

Rin opened his mouth to speak but fell short. Akira smiled and turned back to chopping things along the board. Kind Akira knew just when to look away from him. "My leg really hurt this morning…and through the night, and I couldn't get up much this morning."

Akira continued to nod his head, listening quietly as Rin went on for about fifteen minutes; describing the pain he had felt in detail, talking about how he was doing after and how taking care of Kau took his mind off it for a few minutes. Uncontrollably, while the blond was looking away, Akira extended his arms around his waist lightly and gently embraced him from behind.

"Akira…" He breathed out lightly.

"After all the things you've survived all on your own…don't think that this is something you won't be able to survive."

"It's…"

"But not leaning on anyone is the worst thing you can do, and you know that."

Rin pouted, then arched his neck to look back, "Don't think you can use the word 'lean' just because I'm missing a leg." He whispered it out, but there was a real essence of teasing, trying to hide his shame.

The two laughed over it and let the seriousness of the past half hour fade away slowly. In the meantime Rin made jokes about Akira's cooking and the way the soup and noodles were looking. "Can you cook better?" Akira constantly countered with, only to be met by quiet laughter which continued once Kau scuttled through the hallway and to the bathroom.

"Do you trust him to go to the bathroom alone?" Rin asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why not?"

"Well he's blind and his balance isn't all that good."

Akira's eyes widened a bit and he looked to the door, "I don't think I want to go in there and find out."

Soon enough he staggered back out of the bathroom and sat on the floor not far from them, waiting patiently with his head directed at them. "You think he knows to flush the toilet and wash his hands after?" Rin asked, to which he got a sudden and firm nod.

"Seems like Arbitro sent him to puppy lessons before he let him into the mansion; I'm sure he wouldn't go jumping on people and furniture there."

"Which is a good thing for you."

"Yeah; it's great that he's so good," Akira reached over to ruffle Kau's hair, "if not he may have been out of here long ago."

"That's so mean, Akira." Kau seemed to agree with him as he became pouty but Rin quickly sat down beside him and threw an arm over his shoulders. "He's still really warm."

"He does look flushed."

"I'm starting to wonder if this heat is just a part of him; it's really not going down."

"Motomi said it doesn't look like has an infection but maybe its his immune system in overdrive. It's not his sort of environment here."

"Can I feed him tonight?"

Akira looked back from pouring the soup into bowls, "You sure you want to? You should eat first."

"I'll manage a little longer." He took Kau's food from Akira, different to their own as his had the crushed medication sprinkled along the top. Kau seemed to smell the food and understood the atmosphere, shuffling a little closer. "You're hungry, huh?" Rin chuckled and began to feed him promptly. "Seems like he likes it, Akira; I guess your cooking isn't all that bad for a dog."

"If it's good enough for a dog it's good enough for you and me, isn't it?"

"I'd hope so when the dog was originally human." Rin massaged his scalp lightly, putting the bowl on the ground behind him once he was finished. "Feeling better, Kau?" The dog in question gave a meek little nod and rested back against the wall, clutching his legs to his body and waiting to be ordered to do something else.

After dinner Rin went to monitor Kau in the bath; the dog did well on his own when he was given the chance, and his fever was no longer high enough to inhibit him from helping out where he could. In the meantime Akira changed the sheets on the bed more suitable to the recent cold weather; he had yet to do so since he had returned from Toshima and had little reason to do so until now. After that he put together a bed for Kau, bulking up on the blankets he gave him, and an extra cushion even though he knew that Kau would probably just curl up on himself and not care for it.

That night he felt that at the very least they were all a bit warmer, and in Kau's case, a bit more comfortable. In the night he would wake up and feel a little bad for him having to sleep on the floor like that, but he knew that even if he could fit Kau into the bed he knew he would just curl up on himself, or even possibly fall out if he dared leave him near the edge. He'll have to sort something out.

When he opened his eyes again, the room in pitch darkness due to the late hour, he rolled over to check on Rin; he seemed fine, cuddling a pillow close to himself and burying his face into it. He rolled onto the other side, squinting in the darkness for Kau.

He wasn't there.

He jumped up in bed but hurried out quick enough to hopefully not wake Rin. He looked around the room, checked the kitchen and the bathroom and found nothing and no one.

He ran out of the apartment, and found Kau sitting on the ground with his face pressed lightly against the metal bars of the railings. An instant sigh of relief left his lips. "Kau…" He crouched down and put a hand to his face, startling him, "What are you doing out here?" Intense heat radiated into his hand; the metal bars must've been a great contrast.

"Tamaaaaaa!"

A loud cold and shrilling voice filled the air. A very familiar shrilling voice.

Kau was neither cheerful nor scared at the sound, only a bit interested in the direction it came from. Below.

"Kau, get inside."

By the look on his face, he refused.

"Akira, what's happened?"

"There you are, Tama!"

Akira jerked Kau up into his arms and transferred him over to Rin's care, "Get him inside."

"But Akira…"

"Just stay inside, alright?" He ran down the stairs to confront Gunji before he could approach them, potentially waking up the whole block of apartments. "You're a long way away from Toshima."

"I've seen maps on the way here, kitty."

That may be so, but Akira wondered about Gunji's potential to actually read them. "What do you want?" He asked instead of his more tempting taunt.

"What did you do with Tama?"

"He's sick; he's inside."

Gunji pulled a sharp grin onto his features, "I'm here to take him."

"Why? So you can take him back to Arbitro?"

Gunji released his loud maniacal laughter and surprised Akira with the sudden outburst. "Hey, kitty-chan, don't tell Tama this but papa is under a rock somewhere in Toshima…"

Arbitro dead? That was almost too sweet of a thought but it was impossible to think that everything in Toshima wouldn't have happened without him anyway.

"So what are you going to do with him if not take him to Arbitro?"

"I convinced jijii to let him stay with us!"

Akira grit his teeth together and balled his hands into fists; he wasn't sure he could trust such rough animals with delicate Kau.

"No offense but I don't really trust you."

Gunji leaned in, still grinning; Akira began to wonder how anyone could get so happy they grin like that. "Do you think I'll hurt Tama?"

"If you keep waving those things around so casually you just might." Akira indicated to the thick sharp claws that had swung up not too far from him, just as Gunji put his hand to the back of his head to tug down his red hood.

"I'm not going to hurt Tama, kitty-chan!" Gunji shouted enthusiastically, throwing an arm over Akira's shoulders. What were they? Buddies now? Hadn't this crazy man tried to kill him before? "I like Tama! Tama's cute!"

"Even so…"

"If I have to fight you for him…"

"I like him, but not enough to fight you for him here." Even if it was a dump, he liked where he lived, and he didn't want to have to move, or die for that matter. "He's happy where he is now…"

"He can be just as happy with me too!"

"You can come up and see him if you promise to put those things down."

"I don't need to promise anything, kitty-chan." Before Akira could say or do anything else he ran up the stairs and entered the apartment.

Akira followed him in and was surprised that the big man actually made an attempt at being quiet as he approached the two figures on the ground in the bedroom.

"Hey, Tama," Gunji lowered his voice to an almost appropriate level, kneeling down and reaching out to touch Kau gently, claws on the floor. "Have they been taking care of you?" Kau pressed his hot cheek into Gunji's cooler hand but without a choice he otherwise remained still and quiet. "He's all red in the face!" Gunji snapped over his shoulder.

"I told you; he was sick when he got here. We've been taking care of him."

"Is it true, Tama?"

Kau buried his face into Rin's leg, releasing a soft mewling sound of discomfort.

"We feed him, we bathe him, we give him some medicine every few hours; we're taking good care of him."

Akira was constantly given Gunji's back but the killer continued to pet Kau very lightly and massage his scalp and Kau didn't seem bothered. Rin seemed shocked though.

"Sleep, Tama, sleep." He recited softly. He then stood; back to the height of the killer he really was. He turned around and by the blond hair in his face Akira was unable to calculate his expression. Almost blindly he thus walked out of the apartment.

Once Gunji spun around Akira found the tight hands on the collar of his t-shirt and his back pressed firmly against the wall with sharp blades just inches from his neck. "Don't you dare hurt him."

"I told you...we wouldn't."

Just when it was getting hard to breathe, or even to speak without his throat touching the pointed edges, Gunji let go of him and pulled away completely.

By looking at his slumped form Akira dared to think that maybe...Gunji was upset.

"If you really want to take him I'm not going to stop you; it looks like you really care about him."

"Tama is comfortable here."

"He is but..."

"I'll come and see him." Gunji said, determined but a little shaky.

Akira tilted his head with thought; he really didn't want to have blades put to his throat every visit.

"If you..." Gunji snapped his head at him just as Akira spoke. "If you don't gather too much attention, or try to kill us, you can come and see him whenever..."

He wasn't all that comfortable with it but he could learn to live with it at least. He had been so determined to leave everything back in Toshima just where it was that it was only tonight that he realized the extent of the impossibility of that. He figured that he might as well make friends rather than enemies in case things for worse. Besides, outside Toshima Gunji almost looked...decent.

"I'll come back to see him soon." Gunji said firmly.

The man didn't seem like he wanted to be spoken to in that moment so Akira just let him go quietly.

When he returned to the bedroom he helped Rin get Kau off him, tucking him back in under the sheets.

"It's like a different person!" Rin exclaimed to him and Akira was inclined to agree with him.

"Get back into bed."

"I don't think I can sleep after that."

"Try." Akira all but snatched the crutches from Rin, leaving him no choice but to fall or get into bed.

"Hey, Akira," just when he thought he had fallen asleep Rin spoke up again, "he really looked like he missed him. What happened?"

"Seems like Arbitro..." The gesture Akira made said it just in case Kau was listening. "So they got out of Toshima and Kau ran off or something."

"You think he was looking for Arbitro?"

"It doesn't matter what I think; he's not going to find him so we've got to take care of him."

"Maybe he'll want to go with Gunji once he feels better..."

"Will you be okay with that?"

"After everything he's been through Kau deserves to be happy too, right?"

"Of course."

Would you really do that, Rin? Give up your own happiness again for someone else's?

Rin glanced over, staring at Akira with his usual wide-eyed expression, "What?"

Akira sighed softly, and leaned in; placing a light kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Rin burned red promptly, glancing at the ceiling, "What the hell was that for?"

"There's just…something unbelievably attractive about the way you think."

Rin huffed a bit, still flustered with embarrassment. "Go to sleep." He rolled over quickly, giving Akira his back and burying his hot face in a pillow.

At this point, even Rin believed it was difficult to keep all of Toshima behind.

A/N: Ahhh! It's over! Finally~ Haha! I really enjoyed writing it but… I'm happy it's done.

So if you read this far, please leave a review! I'd really appreciate it!