Narratio, part 2

The dagger vanished a moment later, Jackal dropping the blond onto his feet and in the same movement shoving him off the dagger's hooked edge. Hakuba stumbled into Kaito's trajectory with a noise of muted agony, and Kaito barely managed to drop one dirk behind him and throw the other around Hakuba at Jackal before the blades created extra holes during the unavoidable collision.

Kaito was rewarded with what might have been a strangled grunt from Jackal, and then a clang—gate, door, manhole cover?—as he apparently fled before the triple dose of tranquilizer coated on the dirk could have more effect than merely inhibiting his flames. A small, detached part of Kaito's mind noted that Jackal seemed too fast to be even Naga but had no venom, and wouldn't that be ironic, an assassin born to the wrong Naga clan to have any natural poison...

The rest of him didn't give a damn about any of that, too busy trying to keep Hakuba's head from hitting concrete as they crumpled to the ground. "Hold on, I've got you, it's gonna be fine..."

Laying him out revealed that Hakuba's face had paled to nearly the same shade as his white shirt, except for the red stain already spreading through the cloth.

"Sorry—my fault—shouldn't've asked—" Kaito fumbled with his jacket to wrap around both wounds and then apply pressure with one hand while finding his phone with the other, trying to breathe through the vise around his chest and the deja vu pounding at his mind because it was happening again—

Two hands covered his, increasing the pressure against Hakuba's side but still failing to have much effect on the tide of red leaking through their collective fingers. Snagtooths always tore up more on the way out than the way in. "It's really my own fault... careless. Too sure it'd worked..."

The blond was breathing through his mouth, slow and shallow, and Kaito's gaze caught on the two fine points that had apparently elongated as a reflex to Hakuba's injury, seeking...

"You're a dhampire," he stated stupidly, trying to get his mind to unfreeze and start working again, the traitorously useless thing, and grasp the elusive seed of an idea that was trying to break through the haze of panic.

"Yes, well done, you," Hakuba snarked. "Just human enough to be utterly useless in a pinch."

"No, I mean... Fresh blood. You'd heal fast enough to stop bleeding out." He shifted, phone dropping forgotten as he tried to figure out the best vein to keep them both alive and conscious, only to stop short as small lines of fire blossomed in the hand under Hakuba's. "Ow!"

...Okay, Hakuba's neatly-kept fingernails were, in fact, strong and sharp enough that the blond going abruptly rigid had scored deeply enough to draw blood.

"Sorry," Hakuba ground out as if by reflex, but his hands remained curled, his eyes and nose flared as he stared with a hint of what in anyone else Kaito might have called horror, and his face had gone even paler at the suggestion. Or maybe that was blood loss, and that was why Kaito was even thinking about this, no ambulance would arrive in time at this rate of hemorrhage, so why wouldn't Hakuba just—

Before he could think twice, Kaito tore the hand free of Hakuba's grip and pulled him partially upright against Kaito's legs, then held the seeping cuts just above the dhampire's open mouth. "Take it!"

Rather than obey, Hakuba shuddered convulsively and turned his head away, eyes clamped shut.

—find a better partner, kid—

"No one else is dying on me, damn it!" There was definitely a hysterical edge creeping in there, but that didn't matter if Hakuba would just listen.

"Hurt you," Hakuba protested weakly, voice ragged with pain and a few other things Kaito didn't have time to identify.

Don't shake the injured idiot.

Kaito grabbed Hakuba by the jaw and forced his head back to face him, glaring upside-down into the eyes that flew open in response. "You'll hurt me more if you don't."

For several agonizing seconds, Hakuba merely looked bewildered by the concept. Then something clicked, or proximity and instinct finally overcame whatever weird mental hang-ups were getting in the way. His eyes closed again as he grabbed Kaito's bloody hand away from his jaw and jerked the wrist up to his mouth, a swipe of—wet—followed by a sharp sting that quickly eased to simple pressure.

Kaito hissed anyway as the fangs slid back out to let the blood pool freely, half in response to the initial pain and half at his brain pointing out that he was essentially getting drooled on, even if the saliva was a source of near-instant painkiller. It was impossible to tell if the second swipe of—yes, gngh, tongue—across the wound was a conscious response to Kaito's hiss, or merely an attempt to get the blood faster. At this point, it probably didn't matter. Kaito just let it all happen and hoped that as desperate gambits went, this would be enough.

No one dies on me. Not ever again.

...Even if you walk away after this, instead.

Adrenaline still had Kaito's heart pumping fast, which helped speed the transfer as Hakuba lapped and swallowed and coaxed more from his bloodstream in a sort of three-point rhythm. Following it was easy enough, because there wasn't much else to focus on even if he hadn't been worrying so much about Hakuba bleeding out.

The pull was almost hypnotic, really. Kaito fought a yawn. The fatigue wasn't bad enough yet to be a concern, but he'd probably have low blood pressure for a while. Which meant having to find another way to pay Hakuba next week, and damn it, Jackal and his justice and his reward price had gotten away...

But even Jackal caught wouldn't have been worth the price of Hakuba. Dad would understand having to wait a little longer, until Kaito's next chance.

After what was probably no more than a minute or two but felt easily ten times longer, Hakuba's hand relaxed around the blood-soaked jacket, and the possessive grip around Kaito's arm released. Hakuba immediately sat up, shucking his trenchcoat and ripping a sleeve off his shirt in the time Kaito needed to wrap his good hand around the bite and cradle it against his chest, which neatly answered the question of whether Hakuba felt well enough to survive. The movement fluttered his torn shirt enough to reveal the pink of new skin, blessedly free of holes.

Hakuba proffered the sleeve without meeting Kaito's eyes. "You should wrap that until we can get some proper medical supplies—I suppose your backpack has a kit?"

"Yeah. Thanks. Do you mind...?" It was possible to wrap an arm wound by yourself. It was not easy, or pleasant.

"Oh. Yes, of course." A few deft movements wound the cotton a few times around Kaito's arm. Hakuba eyed the result critically, then added the other sleeve for good measure. "Are you all right? I tried to keep track, but it's—not easily comparable."

"Jus' tired, I think." Kaito tried to stand, but quickly discovered this was a bad idea and resettled to hug his knees, letting gravity do part of the pressure-work against the bandage. "Really tired. How about you?"

"I'm fine." Hakuba pulled his coat back on, fidgeting with the sleeves. "Better than fine, you could say; I might have taken more by accident than was strictly necessary, whereas you might take longer than normal to clot..."

Kaito shrugged. "I'm used to being a little bit low, and we're both alive. I'll call this a win." He gave Hakuba a crooked grin. "I guess we went with an extra pint rather than half the bounty after all."

Hakuba actually flinched. "You don't owe me anything for rescuing me from my own foolishness."

"You wouldn't have been in danger if I hadn't dragged you out here," Kaito argued.

"I chose to come of my own will. I gave Jackal-san the opening. The responsibility was mine."

"...It could just as easily have been me lying there."

Hakuba's response was barely audible, even for Kaito. "I know." He continued, louder and with an edge of formality taking over as he stood and bowed, "Thank you for saving my life, Kuroba-san. I'll try to repay your kindness in the future, starting with getting you home safely."

Maybe it was the low blood pressure, but the first response that came to Kaito's mind was, "After this? Call me Kuroba-kun."

Hakuba stared at him.

After several moments of silence, Kaito grumped, "Or don't. It just seems stupid to be that formal after surviving this together."

"...As you say." Hakuba gave him a searching, unreadable look, then extended a hand. "We can gather your things on the way to the train station, if you care to lean on me."

"Not my favorite mode of transport, but somehow I think I'll survive." Kaito started to grab for Hakuba's hand, then remembered their last piece of business in the alley. "Wait. Jackal's gun—it fell over there, by my dirk. Can you bring them?"

Hakuba raised an eyebrow. "We're not old enough to have the license to make even picking that up legal. You plan to keep it?"

"If we call the police, we'd have to explain all of this and might get booked for being associated with it anyway. If we leave it, anything might happen. If we take it, there's the chance that we might be able to trace it. So yes, I'm going to take it, and then put it somewhere safe and try to forget it exists." Kaito gave Hakuba a flat look, daring him to say anything. Hakuba looked discomfited, but in the end he simply sighed.

"You're right; I've seen police bureaucracy at work. If I ever hear about it again, though..." He snorted faintly. "Actually, there's nothing I can say or do that would match the massive amount of trouble you'd already be in at that point, so I won't try."

"Good. But you won't, so it's a moot point." Even the small, vengeful part of Kaito's mind knew that Snake dead from his own bullet in the near future would create far more problems than it solved. The gun would simply cease to exist, at least until Kaito was old enough for the license.

Hakuba quickly retrieved the weapons, safetied gun slipped into his trenchcoat while Kaito's dirk returned to its proper sheath. When finished, however, it was his turn to pause, and rather than offer his hand again he walked around Kaito and retrieved a hose attached to a water spigot further down the alley. Kaito very carefully did not smack himself in the head for forgetting about the significant pool of blood not six inches away from his feet, and instead scooted out of the way using his three good limbs.

"Right. Good idea—thanks for remembering."

"It seems the least I could do to clean up my own mess." Hakuba kept the water on until the ground was likely cleaner than it had been when they first entered the alley, letting the runoff flow into the street's storm catch at the alley entrance. He applied the same treatment to Kaito's jacket until the material was soaked, but not obviously bloody, then finally returned the hose to its place and approached Kaito once more. "If you're ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Kaito grabbed Hakuba's free hand and was quickly hauled upright—either the dhampire was a lot stronger than he let on in PE, or the recent feeding had some additional effect. Or both.

Hakuba got Kaito's good arm slung over his shoulders, and wrapped a steadying arm around Kaito's waist. His free hand carried the much-abused jacket. "All right?"

Kaito couldn't help but grin. "Home, James."

He was rewarded with a half-stifled bark of laughter. "Bloody hell, where did you pick that up?"

"The internet is a strange and interesting place."

Hakuba shook his head, but some of tension leeched from his shoulders, and a hint of a smile hovered on his lips. "You're crazy."

"And proud of it. Come on... there's still time to get home before my mom does, and I can find you a spare shirt."

"I don't think I'm your size." Hakuba seemed utterly bemused, wondering how the situation had gotten away from him.

"We have a costume closet." Kaito grinned again at Hakuba's expression, focusing on the good rather than bitter part of the memories. "Dad hunted rogue Hunters. He knew when a good disguise was important."

"I... see. If you insist... very well." Hakuba started them forward, taking one careful step at a time. "Though if you wish to create the appearance of an evening and morning's productive study, I'm afraid I left my textbooks at home. ...Nor do I have an appropriate visiting gift."

Kaito considered this. He had plenty of time, since they weren't traveling any faster now than when they had been following Snake. "Mom knows I was on a hunt, we'll just have to deal with the bloody clothes so she doesn't worry. As for a gift, I think we'll both be happy with me getting home."

"A person is not appropriate gift material." Hakuba actually sounded appalled at the idea. A good thing, considering the perspective of some plasmavores—though the fact that his mind went from 'Kaito safe' to Kaito himself was interesting.

"True, though 'well-being' is a little bit different from 'person'. Um..." Kaito cast about for an acceptable alternative to satisfy Hakuba's unrelenting sense of propriety. "When you go get our stuff from the store roof, you can buy something with chocolate in it on your way back out. Okay?"

"Certainly." Hakuba looked relieved at the prospect, and seemed content to walk in silence the rest of the way to the store, and then on to the train station through the slowly lightening pre-dawn. Kaito happily joined in, because the further they walked the more concentration he needed to stay in a straight line without stumbling. Thankfully, Hakuba was willing to match his speed and had the decency to not offer to carry him.

The station was still deserted when they finally made it back up the thrice-cursed hill, too early for even the morning commuters to have arrived yet. Kaito collapsed gratefully onto the nearest bench while Hakuba went in to buy their tickets for the return trip to Tokyo, Hakuba having won the argument of who was paying because Kaito was too exhausted to keep insisting that it was his responsibility.

On its own, the blood loss might not have been too bad, but it was ganging up with the post-crisis adrenaline dump, having been up for almost twenty hours in the past twenty-four, the numbness of his wrist fading, and currently having only a t-shirt to keep the morning chill off his arms.

...The last two, at least, he could do something about, because there were lovely things like blankets and painkillers in the handy backpack Hakuba had so kindly dumped on the bench beside him. An awkward one-handed rummage through the backpack liberated the first-aid kit—which, he vaguely realized, might have been good to bring along while Jackal-hunting even if it would have been useless for Hakuba, because having had it immediately for his arm would have saved a lot of pain from re-dressing in the very near future, especially since he refused to be licked again outside of another emergency feeding, which hopefully wouldn't be necessary again ever.

But he was trying to stop the dull ache now, so maybe if that worked out then the antiseptic wouldn't sting like needles and scalding water and pecks from a pissed-off dove. Wrestling the kit open revealed the coveted painkillers in their little plastic bottle, safe and sound and... with a childproof cap. That needed two good hands to open.

Clearly, the kami must hate him.

He slumped sideways against the backpack, too busy laughing at the irony to go after the blanket, because if he tried right now it would probably be damp and cold and not in the least useful for what he wanted it to do either, because someone had apparently decided that Kaito'd used up all of his karma making sure Hakuba didn't die, so why should anything else today go right?

The laughter apparently masked nearby footsteps, because an English "Oh, for God's sake," was all the warning Kaito had before the bottle disappeared from his hands, he was gently tipped back upright, and two small pills of happiness were pressed into his good palm as Hakuba's face appeared at eye-level with a look of genuine concern.

"Do you need water to keep those down?"

Hand curling closed, Kaito shrugged philosophically. "If the bottles haven't leaked out."

"Why would the-?" Hakuba broke off and dug through the backpack, removing a blanket and two half-full bottles with a relieved sigh. "No leaks. Here."

Kaito tossed back the pills and accepted a bottle warily, but no ethereally sadistic sense of humor got in the way of swallowing without incident, which he supposed he ought to be grateful for but it was probably just Hakuba's luck managing to cancel out his own. As Kaito took a second sip from the bottle, Hakuba shook out the blanket, rubbed the sides briskly against each other, and dropped it—not just not-damp but blissfully almost-warm from the friction—around Kaito's shoulders.

"And my apologies for not having realized earlier that you're freezing."

Kaito pulled the blanket as tightly closed as he could manage, trapping the warmth, and fought the urge to purr because purring was for non-Hunts, for home, not public spaces, even deserted ones. "'S okay. Thanks."

"Mmm." Hakuba retrieved the first-aid kit from where it had slid off Kaito's leg onto the bench and looked around. "We still have some time before the train, and none of the station employees are watching this area. It would be best to fix your arm before any more time passes, if you feel up to it."

"...Don't wanna." Kaito slipped his arm out from under the blanket, watching the shirt-sleeve bandage come undone a little with the movement. "Do it anyway."

"I'll be as quick as I can."

Hakuba was good to his word, and Kaito only hissed—hisses were fine, after all, purrs were just special—when the worst of the antiseptic flushed the punctured skin, though he immediately felt a little bit bad about it because he was pretty sure Hakuba stomped on a flinch at the sound, and he hadn't meant for the blond to feel guilty about something that was Kaito's idea in the first place. He couldn't really apologize for it, though, so he just watched Hakuba finish the cleaning and re-wrapping with excruciating care, and realized with a distant sort of interest that Hakuba actually knew what he was doing. Not only that, but Kaito'd never considered for a moment that Hakuba might not.

Huh.

Commuters started trickling into the station as Hakuba finished, but no one paid them much attention, probably because they weren't trying to be disruptive. Disruptive had its place, of course, but Kaito had left Yuki-chan and Irene-chan and the other doves back home rather than risk them as collateral damage from Jackal and it was hard to do anything with cards without two hands, and there weren't any pretty girls around to do flower-magic for.

Although since they were still waiting... Kaito gently flexed his arm against the tightness of the bandage, and nodded. "Thanks. Feels solid. Wanna play cards?"

Hakuba blinked at him. "...Are you certain you're entirely lucid enough for that? You're fighting shock."

Kaito grinned widely. "I could play cards with a concussion."

"I hope you'll understand when I say I'd prefer to never see you try."

Doubts aside, Hakuba relented when Kaito triumphantly retrieved one of his decks of cards from an outer backpack pocket and would have started a solitaire game if Hakuba refused to deal the hands for two-ten-jack.

"We play poker at home," Kaito explained as Hakuba dealt the cards (so slow!), "but I didn't bring chips and it wouldn't be fair to play that one if we're not at our best, what with near-death experiences and blood loss and everything. It wouldn't be as fun."

"Which is the important thing," Hakuba replied dryly as he set the deck down between them.

"Of course. Why else play, if not for money?"

"Indeed."

Kaito made a mental note to try a proper game of poker against Hakuba sometime, and then they played until the train pulled in. Hakuba had won once by then and the second game could have gone either way, but Kaito's eyelids were starting to droop and he couldn't find the energy to demand saving the game for later or even a rematch as Hakuba swiftly packed everything but Kaito's blanket away.

They boarded without major incident, but the entrance steps were too narrow for two people and Kaito spent the last of his energy reserves maintaining his pride and clumping up the steps alone. As soon as he dropped into his seat by the window there might as well have been graffiti on the glass telling him that enough was enough and it was time for sleep now or the rest of his body just might mutiny against his mind and that would not be a pleasant experience, so don't push it.

He chuffed softly and curled up in his blanket, head dropping against the side of the headrest. "Wake me when we get there."

He didn't hear if Hakuba replied.

He didn't even dream, beneath the veil of exhaustion, and only awoke to a still-groggy level of coherence when Hakuba shook his shoulder. He shuffled along in response to prompting, managed to not break his neck on a few stairs, and couldn't coherently protest Hakuba hailing a taxi. When he tried, Hakuba pointed out that Kaito would have to do less walking with a taxi, and Kaito couldn't think of any sufficient reason to object. Surrendering to the inevitable, he allowed himself to be herded into the car, mumbled his home address to the Elfin driver, and spent the rest of the trip in another dozing stupor.

"Is this normal?" He yawned at Hakuba when they had finally reached the front door and he had only to figure out which backpack pocket he'd put his housekeys in. "I feel like I haven't slept for a week."

Hakuba raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"

Kaito squinted his eyes, thinking. "Okay, maybe it's been a few days since I got a full six hours."

"You know, most sentients our age consider a full night's sleep to be at least eight. So no, you have multiple factors compounding your exhaustion. Normal would be..." Hakuba cleared his throat, abruptly awkward. "I presume normal would be how you feel after drawing blood."

Kaito nodded, then gave a quiet "Ha!" as he finally found the key and got the door open. "Good to know."

"Why?" Hakuba asked, sounding startled.

"Just in case anything like this happens again, I'll know what to expect. I like being prepared." He stepped inside and beckoned. "Come on in, then... I'm home!" he called to the empty house, with a softer "Welcome home," immediately after, because he always did whenever mom wasn't home, and a guest wasn't reason enough to break that.

Hakuba quickly retrieved the chocolates he'd bought and followed Kaito inside, shutting the front door behind them and then taking a deep breath, as if recalling a script. "Thank you for your hospitality; this is only a trifling thing, but please accept it..."

...It even sounded like he was reading from some internal script. Kaito wondered if Hakuba had ever actually had cause to visit someone in the last four years, then abruptly realized that the blond was still holding the chocolates out and his expression was starting to waver from 'polite visitor' to 'worried neophyte.'

Kaito smiled tiredly. "Thanks, it's perfect. Bring it over to the couch and we can share it for breakfast."

"Breakfast?" But Hakuba did follow, setting down the chocolates and then shedding the backpack in a movement that made his coat flutter and reminded Kaito of what the coat was hiding.

"Chocolate is food for any meal, and I don't think I'm up to standing much in the kitchen right now. We can finish the stuff I bought earlier if you want protein. But before you sit down, I need your shirt. The clothes and the incinerator are both in the basement, and I don't want to make the trip twice."

Hakuba hesitated, then shrugged. He unbuttoned the shirt and tore a few more seams to be able to take it off without needing to remove his coat in the process, and re-buttoned the coat closed before he held out the bloody rag. "You have an incinerator?"

"It goes with the job. Here." Kaito took the shirt and pressed the TV remote into Hakuba's hand before moving to dig out his jacket. "Find something that looks interesting and I'll be right back."

Of course, usually an incinerator in the basement didn't have its main access via a hidden ladder from what was currently Kaito's room, and a back entrance down an equally camouflaged (if much more mundane) flight of stairs from the master bedroom. In deference to his still slightly wobbly legs, Kaito took the stairs to the room that housed two generations worth of hunting and stage magic equipment.

"Hey, Dad," he murmured as he stepped inside. "I'm back. I didn't get him, but you probably knew that already..."

The room didn't answer, but he kept talking as he set the clothes to burn and went looking for a shirt and pants—the black material hid it from sight, but Hakuba'd probably been sitting on dried blood this whole time—that would fit.

"Do you remember Hakuba-kun? I told you about him before. Well, he came with me today—and he probably saved my life. And then I saved his, I guess. But... he didn't die. That's something, right?"

Kaito pulled out a plaid button-up business shirt and made a face. No. Just... no. "He's got issues—but who doesn't? It's no wonder he treats everyone like business associates, he doesn't seem to have any experience with friends. Though maybe that's just in Japan... I don't know. Must be a hell of a story."

He sighed. "I don't know if I'll take him hunting again. One near death experience is enough for anyone, right? But I might invite him over to cram for real, because no one should be that awkward. Seriously, Dad, did you see him? Maybe with a little practice, he'll do okay when he meets someone worth really getting to know. Or at least someone who isn't on the fast track to die young."

A wince, imagining Touichi's frown. "I didn't mean to say that. I don't plan on it, you know that, I just... I have to get Jackal. And I don't want to hurt anyone I don't have to in case something goes... wrong. Wronger."

Kaito quickly grabbed a white polo shirt and some black slacks that looked the right size and retreated before the silence of the room could get overwhelming. Sometimes it felt like someone really was there, listening, just beyond audibility... but there couldn't be. Documented ghosts were almost as rare as documented basilisks, for Lupin's sake, and Dad... wouldn't have had the time to make a ghost-oath of unfinished business. Not with an explosion like that.

Back in the living room, Kaito found Hakuba sitting gingerly on the couch, watching an episode of The Muppet Show. Well, theoretically; his head had turned to face the doorway before Kaito got there, the same sort of alert expectation he showed at his office. Kaito didn't feel much like grinning at the moment, but did anyway. "Nice choice."

"Ah... Thank you. It seemed like something you would find amusing." Hakuba stood and gestured at Kaito's hands. "Is there somewhere I might...?"

Kaito directed Hakuba to the bathroom to change, then plopped onto the couch and absently opened the chocolates while trying to work out whether Hakuba's comment had meant he'd watched the Muppets before or not.

Two chocolate truffles and a dance number later the question remained unresolved, so Kaito asked as soon as Hakuba reappeared. To his surprise, something unreadable flickered in Hakuba's eyes before the blond answered quietly,

"Yes, years ago. I haven't had the chance in a long time, though."

Kaito hid a frown and waved him over. "Well then, come sit. Watch. You can go home in a few hours and tell your dad you lost track of time."

"But I don't." Hakuba resumed his seat on the couch anyway, neatly-folded clothes on his lap.

"Don't what?"

"Lose track of time. Not outside a margin of error of approximately two and a half minutes."

"...That must be useful."

"It has its moments. But you see why that excuse is untenable."

And Hakuba... apparently wanted an excuse more than he wanted to leave. Even though he had new clothes and Kaito home safe, he was still waiting half-hopefully for Kaito to come up with a better reason. Somehow Kaito wasn't surprised that Hakuba possessed little to no experience stretching, wrangling or otherwise playing with the truth.

Kaito smiled. "You were making such good progress, you didn't want to interrupt it. And you're coming back next weekend to study some more, this time with actual textbooks."

Hakuba blinked. "I am?"

Kaito carefully did not snicker. "If you want. It wouldn't hurt to actually study a bit for finals."

And maybe they could sneak in that poker game. Near-disasters aside, Hakuba was interesting. Maybe tomorrow Kaito'd worry about Hakuba caring about what happened to him, but for now he still wanted more to poke at what made the blond tick. (If anyone claimed he felt somewhat responsible for the socially awkward dhampire who'd bled for him and he'd bled for in return, Kaito would deny it to his dying breath. Denial didn't always make things not true, of course. But he was going to stop listening to the voice of exhaustion now because that voice tended to bring up things he didn't like thinking about.)

"When you put it that way..." Hakuba gave a tentative smile. "I could use all the study time I can get. Perhaps Friday?"

Kaito grinned back. "Deal."

Hakuba needed practice dealing with people. And possibly—Kaito didn't have enough information yet to be sure—with living. Well, Kaito was feeling ambitious. He could up Hakuba's normal quotient between hunts and school without going so far as necessarily being friends, which would just be asking for trouble, and Dad would have been proud of him for being magnanimous like that.

He curled up in his blanket, satisfied, and let his eyes slip closed again. Maybe he should try to stay awake until Mom got home, but...

The last thing he heard was a soft, "Pleasant dreams, Kuroba... kun."

It may be worth noting that Mythverse is, and will remain, genfic, and will follow canon pairing conventions when relevant. Please review!

Ocianne

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