Chapter Nine

Trade

"He's not for sale, Cat," came Frau's immediate reply as he stepped protectively in front of the brunet, shielding him from those mischievous violet eyes. With an arm wrapped around his aching abdomen, he did his best to gather his wandering mind to think of the reason why he was answering the door instead of Kat, but finding that it was growing difficult to keep his attention on a single thought, Frau finally asked the question: "What are you doing here?"

"Rather stupid question to ask, isn't it?" The blond raised a clawed hand to pinch the thin skin of his furred ear between two fingers.

"What happe-?"

"Assassinated," the blond teen interrupted skillfully, throwing the word simply and easily as if it belonged in everyday conversation. Finally lowering his hand, he crossed his arms across his chest, eyes straying away from the two asking entrance into his abode. "I was asked to take his place. But enough about me," he grinned, "I heard about your little skirmish in the Mushroom Forest. I am curious though" violet eyes caught onto blue "on how you got out."

"Let us in and I'll tell you," Frau reluctantly replied.

"Hardly seems like a fair trade; you still owe me from last time."

"H-Hakuren," Frau sighed as he watched the teen so very nonchalantly inspect his knife-like claws. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"A favor, whatever and whenever I so wish to redeem it," the humanoid cat grinned.

Frau gave a single forced exhale, his entire body shuddering before he dropped on one knee, unable to bear the burning pain throbbing in his wounds. His breathing turned heavy and forced, his vision spotting and blurring at the edges. Hatter shook his head, trying to regain some control but that only caused his mind to unbalance and hit him with a faint wave of nausea.

Finally coming out of his hiding place, Teito grabbed onto Frau's coat, shaking the man in a feeble attempt to gain his attention. The man's face was sickly pale; sweat causing his fair hair to paste itself along his forehead.

"I will take that as a yes. Help me get him inside," Hakuren rushed towards Frau, linking an arm over his shoulder and signaled Teito to do the same. With a forceful shove of his shoulder, the blond teen opened the metal door to his café and hurried his two patrons inside.

"There is someone here waiting for him," the teen hissed, baring his fangs once the door closed behind them, engulfing them in complete darkness.

Teito's eyes wandered around uselessly, trying to catch sight of soft noises that seemed to creep all around, like animals hiding within the cover of trees in a forest. He stumbled more often than not, Frau's bulk leaning on him heavily even if the man tried to force his weak legs to walk on their own.

Narrowing his eyes, Teito finally caught sight of a warm, soft glowing light emerging from the corridor's end. But instead of heading towards it, the arm draped across his shoulder tugged him towards the darkness. What he had assumed was nothing but wall held a dark corridor leading to a flight of stairs. Hakuren hissed at the staggering brunet at every step, and Teito certainly didn't take it lying down. He was blamed for not having proper night-vision, and Teito retaliated with the fact that he wasn't a stupid cat.

"W-will the both of you just shut-up!" Frau growled, annoyed with their banter. It was stupid, pointless and not even creative. Even with his wandering mind, the blond could tell as much.

Seeming to put aside their differences for this single cause, Teito and Hakuren continued their ascended to what Teito hoped to be a safe haven for the injured Hatter.

Their progress was tiresome, but once they reached that last step, Teito released a sigh of relief, his muscles shivering with exhaustion. A small hallway awaited them, but instead of going deeper into the building, the blond teen threw a kick at the door directly in front.

A few moments later, the humanoid cat was growling not to the man opening the door but to the man that could be seen lounging rather nonchalantly on a plush sofa from across the way.

"You had no right to enter my home!" Hakuren hissed, his pupils stretched into slits. "I do not care who you claim to be but no one enters my home unannounced!"

Stalking off into the room, Teito was left to struggle with Frau's dead weight alone but soon it eased. He directed his attention to the man helping him, raising eyebrows in surprise as the man gave him a lopsided smile.

"Castor-san?" He asked, surprise clear in his voice.

"It seems we've reunited at a much earlier time than I anticipated," the Hare admitted, looking a bit sheepish as he half-dragged Frau into the room with Teito following behind.

"But I don't understand," Teito began but stopped himself from continuing, attention caught on the distraught blond teen before him. Hakuren's blond ears were pressed defensively against his head, slim tail darting feverishly at every which way, slightly prickled. He seemed to be having difficulty keeping his hands from clenching, probably to preventing self-injury with those sharp claws.

The man on the couch gave a lazy sigh, bringing the pipe he was holding so delicately between two fingers up to his lips. After a long inhale, the smoke he released was a startling green, forming into a butterfly that momentarily caught the blond teen's attention before he seemed to realize that he was suppose to be furious at the intruder.

"I do very much apologize for that," the man smiled sweetly, "but I was needed, so I came."

"Who claimed that you were needed?" the blond hissed.

Raising a slim finger, Hakuren followed its direction to the blond man currently holding onto the tall russet as if he was the only thing keeping him alive.

With a growl in his throat, the blond cat turned his attention back, eyes narrowing upon seeing the man sitting up. The motion was so fluid and graceful that it made the delicate dance of a butterfly appear like the darting of an intoxicated fly. The man ran a pale hand through his oddly blue-tinted hair, and once he completed the task he placed it lazily over the headrest of the couch, his smile kind and gentle and not at all condescending. However, Teito bet the loose change in his pocket that the blond cat did not perceive it in that manner.

"If my presence is still unwanted," the Blue Caterpillar tilted his head off to one side, "then I suppose I must take my leave. But not all Kor contain the same poison, nor do people respond to them equally. I have his antidote, but it shall leave with me if you so wish it, Cheshire Cat."

"I'll fucking show you to-!" Frau growled before Hakuren could respond, pushing himself away from Castor and towards Labrador only to stumble to a knee. He quickly composed himself, and sluggishly advanced towards the Oracle. "-To keep shit from me! I'll force it out of your cold, dead hands!"

"Of course you can," Labrador smiled as a mother would to a whining child, almost saying that 'Yes, you can do anything if you believe'.

That only caused Frau's anger to double, and when he seemed ready to throw himself onto the thinly clothed man, a hand caught his arm, holding him back without much struggle.

"Hakuren-kun," Castor pushed his slipping glasses up along the bridge of his nose with his free hand, suppressing the sigh he wanted to release when sapphire eyes turned to glare at him. "I sincerely apologize on behalf of Labrador and myself. We would never intrude if it wasn't an emergency, and certainly you can see that Hatter requires this if he so wishes to go another day without a visit to the Clock Keeper."

Biting his lip, Hakuren unwavering glare was kept on the blue-haired Oracle, loathing the innocent smile he tried to portray. With a sigh, he reluctantly agreed. "But I believe this means you are indebt to me."

Teito raised an eyebrow at the conversation being exchange amongst the strangers, understanding none of it and faintly wondered if someone would explain to him what everything meant. However, with Frau staggering away, Castor was the only person Teito could ask. He turned to question March but found the man already directing a silent request to save his questions for later: a finger on lips. He pinched the fabric of Teito's coat and directed the teen away from the center of the room and onto the wall, a small distance away from the rest of the group. Teito could only imagine that another outburst (most likely from the cat's part) was going to resurface.

"That debt was paid," Labrador replied matter-of-factly, mild confusion clouding his eyes.

"When?" The teen snapped, unawares of the prowling Hatter at his side.

"Just now," Labrador raised his slim pipe as a gloved hand snatched it away from him. Frau collapsed at his side, leaning his weight onto the smaller male as he dragged a long, deep breath from the pipe.

Labrador smiled as he directed Frau's head onto his lap, running his fingers through matted blond hair. Frau seemed oblivious to the intimate touch and the rest of the world in a matter of seconds, eyes glazed and a smile of pure bliss stretching his lips. He hung his booted feet over the edge of the sofa, arm draped lazily across his chest whilst the other brought the pipe back up to his lips.

"Are you saying that-?"

"Yes, I am," the man interrupted Hakuren, already knowing what the teen would say. "In exchange for not throwing me out onto the street, Frau receives the medicine that you could not provide. Debt covered, I do believe," he smiled.

"Say," Labrador began again, interrupting Hakuren's thought that would soon turn into a voiced outburst, "would you be a dear and bring some sweets? I would greatly appreciate it."

With a snarl, the cat whipped around, claws at the ready, as he swiped at the air not to far from where Teito would be standing if Castor had not moved him. The brunet faintly wondered in the Hare knew of the danger he would have been in had he remained in that spot, but he was not given more time to think it over.

"Teito-kun, could you possibly go with him and make sure he doesn't poison my food?"

The teen turned to Labrador, pointed to himself, and once the Blue Caterpillar nodded in the affirmative, he shrugged simply and briskly followed after that blond tail that disappeared down the stairs.

With a hand to the wall, Teito walked towards the soft burning glow at the end of the hall. Noise finally began pooling around his feet: familiar but depressing. He could hear people mumbling, the faint clinking of glass, of chair legs scraping along hard ground.

He watched Hakuren's framed silhouette in the door as the blond pushed away the dark slab of wood. Not wanting to enter, what he was beginning to realize, a tavern alone, Teito raced the last few steps that separated them and reached out to grasp the teen's shirt. Instead, if the fur and the hiss coming from Hakuren were any indications, he had grasped (tightly) onto his slim blond tail. Angered violet eyes turned to him, an animalistic growl rumbling in the cat's throat.

Teito quickly released the tail, hands raised in the defensive. With one final look of distain, Hakuren marched forward, eyes kept forward with Teito following closely behind.

Circular tables littered the bottom floor of the old-fashioned tavern; gruff-looking men occupied those tables, some huddled close together, others obviously keeping to themselves. From the low ceiling that indicated a second floor, dull smoking yellow lanterns hung feebly, swinging with the vibrations of multiple footsteps above. Practically in the center of it all was a simple bar, displaying the different empty bottles of alcohol they probably had hidden elsewhere along shelves.

The brunet felt aware of multiple eyes watching him as he followed Hakuren to the bar, but whenever he discreetly turned to catch anyone in the act, the men clad in leather and patched cotton-shirts and jeans appeared to be preoccupied with their own woes than to bother with a teenage boy. Teito pulled his coat closer together, fighting the urge to brush fingers against the cravat obscuring the metal collar around his neck.

As Hakuren made his way around the bar's counter, Teito took one of the many empty seats stationed around it. His eyes glanced at the oddly shaped and colored bottles, uncertain of how to pronounce some of the names scribbled on their labels. Most of the lettering looked like random scribbles and dingbats.

"I'm not going to poison his food," the blond spoke as he fished around for four clean cups, placing them in a single row and proceeding to fill them at different levels with different kinds of liquid. Some smelt strong and clogged Teito's sinuses while others smelled like sour apples and intrigued his curiosity.

"Well," Teito replied, not knowing if he should, "Labrador asked so I assumed he had some business with Frau and wanted me out of the room."

"How do you know these people?" Hakuren questioned after a moment of scrutinizing the teen, acute amethyst eyes examining every detail. Not that he was about to indicate some of the oddities on the brunet, yet.

The question seemed harmless enough on its own, but as Teito ran the answer though his mind, he was reminded that he was an Outsider, one not welcomed in Wonderland. Frau might trust this place but Teito also remembered how surprised the man was to find the blond teen answering the door. So the logical part of his mind (or Mikhail, who knew) told him to be weary of all strangers from this point onward, especially cats. Cats wanted to take him to Verloren, the evil Clock Keeper.

It sounded oddly silly but judging by the violet glare across the bar counter, the probability of that happening seemed high and, quite frankly, terrifying.

"Sorry," Teito pursed his lips together. "What was the question again?"

Mindful of the drinks, sturdy claws reached across the counter and ripped through fabric before the humanoid cat was satisfied that he ruined Teito's outfit enough to haul the tiny body across the simple slab of wood and deposited him on the floor beside his feet. He squatted beside him, at level with emerald eyes before asking, in a harsh whisper: "Are you really his apprentice?"

"Whose?" Teito stupidly asked. He earned a swift scratch along his cheek for his efforts.

Before he could retaliate against it, a sharp nail pressed against his lip, threatening to push down further and create a small hole. Teito kept silent.

"Frau Hatter. Who else?" Hakuren hissed the obvious as he drew back his hand. He used a single claw to comb through his ponytail as he looked to the liquor hiding underneath the bar counter, contemplating an idea before he turned back to the brunet. "Why else would you have a hat?"

"Um, only Hatters are allowed to wear hats?" The idea that these people would follow such an impractical rule completely baffled Teito, and caused him to wonder if there was a clan of Sock People that held a monopoly of all the socks in Wonderland.

"Of course not, you twit," Hakuren rolled his eyes. "But that's an authentic Hatter hat – impossible to reproduce. And I mean impossible. Either Hatter made it for you, which is unlikely on so many levels, or you made it yourself meaning that Hatter has finally taken up an heir… You're not his bastard son that has been chained up in a cellar for all these years, are you?"

"What?"

"Shhhhhh!," the cat hissed, ignoring the offended look on Teito's face. "Then what are you to him, mrew?"

"Um," Teito held back a chuckle at the odd noise the blond cat made though no longer had to depend on his willpower to keep himself from doing such an act if Hakuren's sharp glare had anything to say about it.

"I to him?" Teito thought about the question. What could he really say without giving anything away? Then, just so simply he assumed it had been Mikhail's idea originally, Teito opened his mouth and the words just came out. "What are you willing to give up for that piece of information?"

Hakuren bit back a hiss, regained his composure quite easily and regarded the brunet again with those detail-dissecting eyes. A shadow of a smirk pulled at the corner of his pale lips elegantly.

"Care for a sandwich?"

Teito raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem like a fair trade." But his stomach begged to differ.

The blond pulled a plate from a neatly piled stack beside the liquor bottles, something Teito could have sworn were never there, and placed the plate into an odd-looking compact oven. He closed the little door, and easily pushed a button. The machine whirled for a moment before it gave a light ding. A moment later, Hakuren pulled out two elegantly cut sandwiches, piled high with meat, cheese, and the appropriate vegetables. He presented the tempting food to the younger teen but Teito wasn't biting the bait so easily.

"I'm not saying anything." Teito elaborated by figuratively zipping his lips.

Hakuren grinned lightly, exposing a sharp incisor. "Impossible to believe but I do give things away, free of charge, on occasions. Just take it. I won't charge you."

Hunger was making him light-headed, and with the prospect of food just within arms reach, instinct was beginning to voice its loud, and agonizingly annoying, opinion. With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, Teito took the plate and shoveled the simple meal into his mouth hungrily, not bothering to chew until he started choking. Hakuren presented him with a crystal clear liquid. Teito assumed it was water and guzzled it down greedily. It tasted like ice and diamonds, soothing and caressing his throat as it settled nicely in his stomach.

In the meantime, Hakuren set about preparing the sweets for his unwanted guests. Once the plates of desserts were finished, Teito finished his meal as well and fumbled with the plate at hand. The blond cat simply took it from his hands and smashed the thing onto the ground. It splintered and shattered and the tiny remaining pieces fought against each other to disappear down the gaps in the floorboards.

With a skill that no one should have (according to the teen accustomed to normalcy), Hakuren stacked trays precariously on one another and cradled the giant mess-waiting-to-happen with one arm before indicating to the teen with his free hand to move forward. Teito did as he was told though continued to steal glances behind him, asking every few moments if the blond needed assistance.

"I've more balance than you, I'm sure. I can handle it."

Teito frowned, certain that the stupid comment was referring to his stumbling up the stairs. How could that be his fault? He was carrying a very heavy man up stairs he couldn't very well see.

"So what should big bwother call you, hm?" Hakuren cooed, attempting at some sort of conversation with the boy to force the vicinity at large that the staring had to stop if they didn't want a tussle with the owner. "I can just as easily call you wonky, it suits you."

Teito made a noise. "My name is Teito, jerk. Teito Klein. And I'm probably just as old as you are."

"Highly doubt it, mrew" he replied but did not elaborate.

Teito raised an eyebrow. "And why not? You look just as old as me."

"I was one of the last few born before the Raggs War erupted and made birth impossible," he recited from some script he seemed to have memorized.

A tickle in the back of Teito's throat told him to refrain from opening his mouth to speak or otherwise. Though he walked in front of the blond, Teito could feel those attention-to-detail eyes waiting for him to screw up again. He cursed under his breath, realizing the finalization in the cat's voice when he spoke of being one of the last-born. Meaning: if Teito wasn't on that list, then he must have been born elsewhere. Meaning: he couldn't be a part of Wonderland. Meaning: he was an unwanted Outsider.

Contemplating the idea of running for it and easily throwing it aside, Teito calmly opened the door for Hakuren and followed behind the teen into the dark hallway, watching those trays stacked with food and sweets and drinks sway unsteadily.

"So what should I call you?" Teito attempted at his own light conversation. "I think Kitty suits you well, no?"

"Call me that and I skin you alive."

"How about Señor Whiskers? Or," Teito did his best imitation of a 'cute' tone, "Fluffy?"

"Does big bwother Haku have to teach wittle Teito some manners?" Hakuren finished with a hiss, stealing a glance over his shoulder to glare. Not that Teito could see it anyways.

They argued the rest of the way, only giving up once they reached the second floor landing. Hakuren had been forced to act the adult and give Teito the win with a comeback as lame as "Nuh uh! You're stupid!"

Hakuren shoved his way into the room, not at all surprised to see his guests practically in the same positions he had left them. He easily slipped the plates neatly onto a nearby table, not a single tartcrumble and sugarlog out of place or a single drop spilled from the drinks he made.

"Hatter, you owe me for the food your pet ate," Hakuren called over his shoulder as he took one cup by the brim and the largest plate of sweets in the other and walked them over to the Blue Caterpillar. Though there was plenty of room to sprawl elsewhere, the two men seemed to be having their own petty fight as to who gets the sofa. Frau, it seemed, was winning since he was stationed on the inside while Labrador was struggling just to stay on the couch.

"Put it on my tab," Frau returned, not bothering to even lift his head or really put much thought as to what the demand implied. Teito, the pet in question, was completely ignored and left to fume over his embarrassment by himself.

Grudgingly, Labrador slipped away from the couch and seated himself on the ground, thanking Hakuren for the meal courteously enough before picking out his favorite sweets amongst the crowd on his plate. He liked the ones that looked like little worms with chocolate dots for eyes.

Ignoring the passing of alcohol and snacks, Castor turned to Teito and pointed to a neat little table and chair set by the farthest window from the door and asked Teito to join him. With a simple nod, the teen followed the taller russet and they sat, attentions immediately trailing to the drab world outside.

"So how are you fairing, Teito-kun?" Castor asked warmly, causing Teito to sigh. Everyone he met so far just seemed to be on some level of hostile, but the man before him seemed like the complete opposite. It was relaxing, for one thing, but confusing as well.

"Not too well," he admitted but quickly added, "But I suppose things could be worse."

"Things could always be worse. Let's thank the Chief of Heaven they are not," he commented conversationally just as Hakuren made his way to their table. He presented the remaining two cups and a plate of small pastries. The wild rabbit took one for good measure, and Teito followed his example.

They crunched softly before an oozing warm jelly melted and softened the middle, forcing Teito to suppress the need to stuff a dozen in his mouth. Instead, he reached out for the drink, curious as to what it was but watched as it furthered from his grasp. Castor presented it to Hakuren, replying that Teito was too young be drinking anything alcoholic. The humanoid cat simply shrugged, took the glass back and was forced to hand deliver it to Frau who would not have his debt increased "'cause the brat can't handle a little liquor."

"How much longer do I have to travel with him?" Teito begged with his eyes to the (possibly only) sane person across from him.

Castor sighed, his odd rabbit ears falling to match his facial expression. But before he could speak, the Blue Caterpillar beat him to it, speaking around all the worms in his mouth. "You honestly don't want to know Teito-kun. It'll only make your future more bleak."

Teito raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it."

"He means that it's best not to think about it," Castor translated.

"Hey, can I ask a question?" Hakuren spoke after, turning his attention from the Oracle who was currently trying to break his record of fifty-seven choco-gwormmies fitting in his mouth to the Hare that really seemed uncomfortable just being in the room.

"Nuhff," Labrador protested around his fifty-two – make that forty-nine – half-chewed choco-gwormmies.

"Well, I'm going to ask it anyway," the cat replied, idiotically wasting time and giving the Blue Caterpillar the opportunity to swallow his sweets.

"Castor had a question for you, actually," Labrador smiled after he released a soft sigh of satisfaction. He patted his belly and mentally bid his choco-gwormmies a safe journey.

"I did not," Castor narrowed his sights on Labrador who was still rubbing his belly as if he was with child.

"Well, you wanted to," Labrador politely challenged.

"He's right, you did," Frau added his two cents, which certainly weren't asked for or wanted but he threw them in, just because he could.

"It doesn't matter," Castor sighed, wondering what the best plan of action would be to direct the conversation away from the same topic they discussed when the boys had left the room. "Besides, I have nothing of value to exchange for information."

The Hare had hoped this would end the discussion – the Cheshire Cat was infamously known for never engaging in a trade without some sort of collateral. But his wishes were shattered when Labrador opened his mouth and replied: "I will place one favor in exchange for Castor's much needed information. Should be more than enough."

"I'm actually curious myself," Frau finally sat up, no longer appearing the picture of near-death. His skin had colored considerably, and the torn clothing that could be seen beneath his opened leather jacket no longer poorly hid vicious wounds. His eyes held brighter shine, and, dare any one think it, the bear-of-a-man seemed rather perky.

"Then why don't you give something up instead, Hatter? Hakuren looks far too pleased," Castor directed the attention of the room to the thrilled cat: eyes sparkling with mischievous want as his tail twitched with no real sense of direction.

"What? No!" The two blonds replied at the same time, each for their own reasons.

"What would be a fair trade for information?" Teito innocently asked the room at large, not really expecting an answer but received one from the person that sold it like commodities.

"It depends on the impact the information will have on the receiver and, on rare cases, the community at large," Hakuren explained as he leaned against the table he had previously used to set his patrons' food. "For example: a man has asked information about the whereabouts of his wife. If it turns out the wife is merely spending too much time admiring the latest clothing in the shop windows, the information sells cheaply. But if she had been found sleeping with his brother, the information would sell higher."

"Wouldn't this hypothetical man just know it's something bad if the information is being sold at a higher price and have no need to buy it at all?" Teito questioned, wondering if they could have really overlooked such an obvious flaw to their pricing.

"Well, yes, he could know. But the information doesn't necessarily have to be bad to sold at a high rate," the cat tapped his thin lips with his sharp claws. "She could have very well spent all her earnings to lavish him with gifts. Wouldn't you want to spend the money to know for certain?"

"And the moral of the story is," Frau interrupted, shrugging his shoulders gracefully, "you never settle down. I never have to deal with such stupid problems," he smirked.

"Yes, but I wager that those women you leave abandoned in the Everlasting Forest hunt down Hakuren for information on your whereabouts," Labrador smiled as if he didn't already know he was correct.

"Actually," Hakuren dropped a fist into his open palm, the thought just appearing now as the conversation strayed, "After the sixth girl, I raised the price. You're turning into a very expensive man, Hatter. The last woman that hired me gave me half of her belongings and years twenty-six through thirty-nine. Did she ever find you?"

Frau shrugged his shoulders, "Probably got lost in the forest or something."

"Poor girl," Hakuren shook his head. "Oh well, my information was good. I can't be blamed for her incompetence."

"I can't believe this is how you conduct business!" Teito voiced his disgust, uncertain if those 'years' Hakuren had mentioned actually meant slave labor but it was appalling none-the-less.

"Okay, honestly, does the kid live under a rock or something?" Hakuren turned his sights to the older blond who simply grinned that disarming and charming grin of his.

"He's from the Colonies."

"Oh," the blond cat observed Teito once more with a critical eye before nodding, "that makes a lot more sense than my original idea."

Before Teito could dispute, Labrador sighed dramatically and made a show of rearranging the furniture by his feet. He pushed away the small coffee table and the two reclining chairs facing it. After stealing one of the violet pillows Frau was leaning against, he dropped the object onto the ground, and moved it an inch to the right with his foot. Once satisfied with his preparations, he took a seat on one of the recliners. Tucking his legs under him, he smiled contently to the rest of the room who had watched the entire spectacle with different levels of confusion.

Teito shook his head, dispelling the oddness that was the Blue Caterpillar, and set his glare on the blond teen. "And what's that suppose to mean?"

"Is this level of speech too difficult for your wittle mind to comprehend?"

"Fuck off!" Teito stood, slamming his hands onto the table as he continued his steady glare on the pompous yellow cat, "I don't know who you think I am-."

"You're no one, point and final," Hakuren hissed, crossing the small length of the room in simple strides and stop just inches away from the smaller male. "If these damn rags have anything to say about it," he hooked a claw in the tattered remains of Teito's shirt collar.

"You're the one that ruined my coat, Fluffy," Teito shoved the taller teen away.

Too quickly for the only human in the room to follow, sharp nails ripped open the remnants of his white shirt and traced nasty red lines across his chest. Teito hissed along with the cat. He placed a hand over the burning on his chest, wincing as it stung on contact. With his free hand fisted and ready to attack, the teen was forced to stop and rethink his need for a violent outburst.

Hakuren was hunched low, aiming upward as if prepared to attack Teito's throat. His ears were pressed against his head, twitching with every little noise in the room. But those violet eyes were not glaring directly at the brunet, instead to the hand on his chest.

Fearing that the tie had been ripped and his collar exposed, Teito took his time to look down on himself and the smear of blood across his lightly tanned skin. The tie was still in place but beneath the color of red was black. Something Teito could not recall ever being there. He pushed the blood away with his hand and was more than surprised to find an odd mark there. It was black and shaped like a strange blooming flower with a faint brown outline as if it was burned into his flesh.

"Marked," Hakuren whispered far too quietly to be heard correctly. There was rustling about, people shifting uncomfortably or preparing to take action. "He's Marked and you brought him here!"

The Cheshire Cat hissed, baring fangs towards Hatter who was carefully rising from his seat on the couch. The man held up his hands and took a cautious step forward, startling the blond teen beyond reason. The boy jumped, tail pricking and pupils stretched into fine diamonds.

"Look, whatever this is we can fix it," Frau spoke soothingly as best he could but his words simply did not reach the apprehensive teen.

"He'll have my head! If He finds out I'm housing a fugitive-." Hakuren paused, eyes narrowing onto the fugitive in question.

With a growl in his throat, the cat threw himself forward and onto the smaller male. Pinning Teito between himself and the table, he prepared to rip off the red cravat but a hand clamped down on his wrist to prevent the action, Castor's startled tone telling him to cease his actions.

It, however, was a second too late.

The remains of Teito's cravat hung loosely in Hakuren's clawed hand, slipping between his fingers and falling elegantly onto the floor. The two teens stared at one another in disbelief for what seemed like centuries before Hakuren composed himself and swatted away Hatter's hat from atop the boy's brown hair.

Stealing his hand back from Castor, the blond teen backed away slowly, fear contorting his features. "Y-you're…you're human," he laughed wryly, his lips pulling up into a worried sort of grin. "I was right. Y-you're an Outsider… and C-Collared and…Marked?"

The cat swayed precariously, and before anyone could reach out and steady him, he crumpled to the floor, his head crashing to the ground beside the violet pillow. The room remained silent, eyes kept on the fainted teen. Once the silence grew too uncomfortable for the room, someone finally broke it.

"Oh," Labrador voiced his surprise, "I guess it was to the left that I should have moved the pillow."

The Hare and the Outsider glared at the Oracle for the comment, the Hatter simply bit back a chuckle.

x-o-x

"So what do we do with him?"

Teito was the one who asked seeing that no one was bothering with it. He honestly believed that it was only worrying him that his secret was exposed.

"He's too important to ditch in the forest somewhere," Frau observed, "Someone'll realize he's gone before we get a chance to properly dispose of him."

"How can you speak so crudely of someone who's right in front of you," Castor scolded.

"He's passed out!" Frau defended himself, indicating to the cat currently lying on the couch.

"Just erase his memory," Castor sighed as he reseated himself and guzzled down the drink the teen had previously brought him.

"He can actually be of some use to you, Frau," Labrador spoke from his spot on the recliner. "He's a professional Information Merchant with a Neutral Pass. I'm sure his price will be risky but his usefulness should outweigh it."

"What's a Neutral Pass?" Teito turned to the room once he finished placing a damp towel on Hakuren's forehead.

"It means he can go wherever he wants to without violating the treaty," Frau responded helpfully.

"There's places you can't go to?" Teito continued to question.

Noticing Frau struggling with a reply, Castor interjected. "In your world, Teito-kun, I believe you need a passport to travel between countries, yes?" Teito nodded. "Well, in Wonderland, our passports, a Neutral Pass, cannot be given to just anyone. Very, very selected few receive one. I have one, Hakuren as well, and Frau," he gestured to the two blonds. "I have one because I claimed my independency from Wonderland's two kings long ago. I'm not certain how Hakuren came about one. And Frau because of his family, the Hatters."

"The Barsburg War?" Teito was reminded of something Mikhail said. "The two kings you're talking about are the ones that fought in the Barsburg War?"

"Yeah." It was Frau again. "The Red King and the White King. They signed a treaty some time back. The two sides are not allowed in each other's territories or be killed on sight for violation of it. How'd you know about the war?"

Teito helpfully shrugged his shoulders. "I know people."

"I know more people than you, however," Hakuren mumbled, startling the brunet beside him. Grudgingly, the cat sat up, placing a hand over the towel to keep it in place. "You people speak so loudly," he commented as he swung his legs to hang them over the couch so he could rest his back and throbbing head against the backrest.

"So what do you say, Cheshire?" Labrador smiled though was mildly disappointed it went unnoticed, instead he continued, "Will you help young Teito-kun in his quest?"

"To find the seven ghosts? Ha," he laughed dryly. "I'm not even sure they're real."

"Just because you know nothing of them, does not mean they don't exist," Labrador smiled once Hakuren looked from underneath his little white towel. "Consider the Doppelgangers."

"You can see those," Hakuren challenged before turning away. "Besides, I can't just leave."

"Why not?" Frau asked as he sat on the vacant couch seat.

"Do you live under a rock?" Cheshire looked from under the towel to the sapphire eyes watching him. "Don't you remember what this town used to look like? I know you used to be a regular here at the Café, Hatter."

"Koi Fields."

The room turned to the lone figure huddled in a corner by the windows overlooking the streets of Incarceration. Castor gave a faint sigh as he set his glass back on the table, reflexively playing with the moisture clinging to the outside of the cup.

"I don't recall you setting foot within Incarceration besides today, March Hare," Hakuren leaned forward and took in the wild rabbit with a critical eye.

Very calmly, the Hare reached into his coat and pulled out a wooden-handle pistol. The item appeared simple enough except for the intricate pattern of thorns and roses carved into the weapon's tarnished silver barrel.

Taking it by the barrel, Castor threw the antique towards the seated Cat. Frau was the one to catch it, inspecting it before turning to the Hare. "You sure about this?" he asked, knowing that two other people in the room understood the vague question but only one understood the seriousness of the trinket.

"You can't tell me," Castor turned to stare at the world outside. "Labrador knows nothing about it. Someone needs to tell me."

Hakuren stole the pistol away from Hatter and inspected it himself with Teito looking over his shoulder. The brunet questioned the item. The blond gave a simple shrug. "I've never seen anything like this," he admitted to Teito before turning to Castor, "What is this?"

"The Hausen Heirloom," Labrador was the one who replied, attentively brushing slim fingers across his lips, "Also known as the Rosen Cross: the item responsible for the near extinction of an entire race except for one lone survivor."

"What race?" Teito was almost too afraid to ask but found the courage to do so somewhere.

"A species of water people," Labrador refrained from elaborating, already knowing that one little mind had fit the puzzle together.

"…Razette?"

Castor smiled his smile, the one that put flustered spirit maers and raging twin-tailed wolfen at peace. Though now it seemed too forced and faked to soothe.

"…Yes, Razette."

A/N: I swear, these characters write themselves :)