When I woke up, Yukio wasn't anywhere to be found, and I quick glance at the alarm clock told me why. He'd be home for lunch in an hour, so that was something at least. I noticed a small note on the counter when I went to the kitchen.

Nii-san,
     I couldn't bring myself to wake you up this morning, you seemed extremely exhausted. So, I wasn't able to give you your pain med, I left it here for you to take on your own. I'm trusting you, so don't be pulling anything...
     I'll be home around lunch, as always, I'll see you then.

Nii-chan

I felt a small smile cross my lips, why did I ever stop calling him that? Immediately, my smile fell, that's right. I shook my head and glanced down at the small tablet laying on the counter. I popped it into my mouth and swallowed it dry, not really caring about the bitter taste at the moment.

About half an hour later, Kuro came padding into the kitchen. He yawned and rubbed a paw to his eyes, "G'morn'n," I chuckled at his lazy greeting and replied with my own. "How long was I asleep, what time is it?"

"Ten past eleven, Yukio will be home in a few for lunch." He seemed surprised, "yeah, you slept a lot, sleepyhead."

He stuck his tongue out at me.

.oOo.

"I'm home!" Yukio called as he entered the kitchen.

I scoffed, "if you expect me to kiss you on the cheek like a fifties housewife, I'll personally kick you in the balls."

He laughed, "oh come on, you're short and frail, just like a cute girl. Plus, you cook and do the house chores, how could I not consider you my wife?" I swallowed hard at his comment, short and frail, Father Naito liked that about me, too.

I hide my discomfort with a smile, "fine, whatever, but keep your tie on, this isn't an old sit-com." He waved his hands, laughter echoing off the kitchen walls.

"What's on the menu?"

"Regular old bento boxes."

He chuckled, "you know, no ones going to be seeing these, you don't have to make them look cute." I shrugged, placing a rice panda on a plate.

"It's a distraction from the boredom around me."

He was silent as I brought the food to the table, "are you really that miserable here?"

I shrugged, "I wouldn't say I'm miserable, but there's definitely not much to keep me from going insane."

He hummed and chewed on his food, pondering. "When do you plan on going back to school?"

"I would've gone today if I could."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, tell me, could you have handled going to school today?" I was about to answer immediately, but he gave me a look.

I huffed and shoved rice into my mouth. I dearly needed to get out of this dorm, but honestly, I wouldn't have made it through the day. Even with pain killers, heaving myself up from a sitting position still caused me to go breathless. "Okay, maybe not today."

He chuckled, "well, how much longer do you think you need?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, but I don't think I'll make it to the end of the week cooped up here."

He thought for a moment, "well, on Thursday, I have errands I need to run, but if you want to do them, it'd take a lot off of my list."

"I'll do it," I said without hesitation and he laughed, covering his mouth.

"You don't even know what they are."

"That doesn't matter, as long as I can step foot outside, I'm in." He chuckled again and we continued to eat. "I'm glad that's all figured out, now I have something to look forward to."

"Pretty sad that you look forward to errands."

"I lead a fulfilling life, obviously."

"Tch."

.oOo.

All too soon, Yukio left for the rest of his classes, leaving me to myself. Kuro followed behind me as I swept the hallway for the tenth time. "Jeez, I'm going crazy, and I'm here all the time when you and Yukio are gone. That's saying something."

I scoffed, "it's just my presence."

"Don't say that," but he laughed anyway. "Why don't you draw something? Or read a book?"

"I don't have the concentration for that kind of stuff, to be honest." He nodded, familiar with my lack of attention span. "I wanna fight demons."

"You know you're in no condition to do that."

I sighed, "why not? You were with me last week when I did. Why is it any different now? Just because everyone knows, I'm expected to change my life, but I'm not prepared enough, and I'm not even sure if I want things to change."

"What do you mean?" His tails flicked behind him, his ears twitching, "do you honestly wish things were they way they used to be?"

"Yes."

"Riiiin! That's not right, things are better this way!" He huffed and sat down, shaking his head in disbelief.

"And who is the judge of that?" I sighed and leaned against the wall, "you only believe it's better because that's what you've been fooled into thinking."

"Fooled, how? And how is hiding in shame better than being safe?"

I slid my back down the wall, my tail thumping against the floor in aggravation. "I feel like I'm more miserable now than when I was younger," I muttered.

"What?!"

I flinched, "I'm serious."

"What? How? You're safe, now!" He stood back up and walked over to me, standing on his hind legs with his front paws pressed against my chest. His face was way too close and I averted my gaze. "Rin, I don't understand you."

"I don't either, Kuro. I don't know what I want anymore. I may not be tortured by him, but at least back then, once it was over, I didn't have to deal with it for a year. Now," I shook my head, "it's like a constant pain, and it's not even physical. I have no idea what's going on, but I hate it more than I hate being forced into submission."

"Rin, that's horrible," he pawed at me, but I avoided it, "are you okay?"

I pushed him away, "who knows, Kuro? It hasn't even been a week, maybe I'm just overthinking things." I forced a smile and looked at him convincingly, "if things get worse, I'll tell you."

He seemed somewhat satisfied by my answer, but he still gave me a few looks of concern every once in awhile.

.oOo.

I was cooking dinner when Yukio came home, I'd been scrolling through my music and set down my phone when he sluggishly walked into the kitchen. "How was cram?"

"It was great," I stopped short, hearing something off in his tone.

"Oh really? Anything happen?" I walked away from the stove and watched as he stripped off his jacket.

"Nope, it was just the usual." He was avoiding my eyes and I knew he was hiding something.

I sighed, "cut the crap, what happened?"

He looked up at me, surprise in his eyes, "what? I said nothing happened."

I stared at him a moment, a blush creeping onto my face, "sorry, you sounded weird for a moment."

"Nah, I'm just worn out, I had a lot of phone calls I needed to make."

"Ahh," I walked back over to the stove, mindful not to step on my sleeping companion. "Who'd you have to call?"

"Meh, just a few messages from city hall, it's all sorted out now." I hummed and started plating our food. I nudged Kuro gently with my foot and he stretched, a large yawn escaping his mouth. I tsked and set the plates on the table. "Thanks," Yukio stated, grabbing his chopsticks. "What'd you do all day, anything interesting?"

I scoffed, "no, unless you count going nuts as interesting." He rolled his eyes and started eating. I set Kuro's share on the floor and sat down, "I can't wait to get out of this house. Two days can't come any faster, haha."

He didn't seem to find my comment funny, however. "About that, I don't think you should do the errands, I can run them quicker anyway."

I set my chopsticks down, "what?! You don't just tease me with something like that then take it away! Why can't I do them?"

He sighed, propping his elbow on the counter and leaning his chin on his palm. "Like I said, I can run them quicker."

"What? They are just simple errands, and I have all day to waste, I'll be fine-"

"It's supposed to thunderstorm that day, I'd hate for you to be out in the rain like that." He played with his food and kept his eyes away from me.

"No, stop that, what the hell Yukio? I can take an umbrella with me, it's not that big of a deal. Why are you trying to keep me here?" Realization dawned on me, "oh my god, do the kids on campus know?!" I bit down on my lip and ran my hands through my hair, "oh god, what am I going to do?"

I heard his chair scrap against the floor, "no, no, no! That's not it!"

"Than what is it?!" My eyes flashed up to his and I noticed how lost he looked. I took a deep breathe and relaxed, "what are you hiding from me?"

Silence.

"It's not something you need to bother yourself with." He muttered and went back to eating, as if to dismiss the topic.

"Obviously it's something you're bothered by, so please tell me about it." I was just about ready to get down on my knees and beg, but finally, he cracked.

"Sam called me," oh no, did something happen? My eyes widened and I tensed, Yukio noticed this and jumped to calm me down, "no, it's not horrible. He just wanted to talk about Naito. Everyone's pretty upset that they let a monster into our home like that. And that no one was able to figure it out, before now."

"Oh, it's okay...." that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, why would he hide something like that?

"Yeah, Sam told me something though," he played with his chopsticks, not meeting my gaze. "He said he'd had his suspicions, but he put too much faith in Naito." I suddenly recalled the odd look Sam had given me when we were about to leave last Friday. Had he realized what happened, but kept quiet?

I shook my head, "it's not his fault, so many people didn't notice, that's because I hid it."

Yukio sighed, "I'm just upset because yet another person knew before I did." His eyes flickered to Kuro, "well, person and cat sidhe."

"You're fine, Yukio." I was getting tired of saying that phrase. "I was hiding it, stop beating yourself up over it."

"Yeah, yeah."

It was silent at the table for a moment, "that's still doesn't explain why you don't want me doing the errands on Thursday."

He sighed, "I wasn't lying when I said it was going to thunderstorm. It's heavy precipitation, as well, I wouldn't want you catching cold on top of everything you have now."

"Oh, well, I promise to bring an umbrella. Please can I go?" I gave him the best puppy dog eyes that I could, "pleeeease?"

"Fiiine," he huffed, "but be back before five in the afternoon, that's when it's supposed to get really rough." He pointed a chopstick at me and I flinched,
"I'm trusting you, I won't be home until after six like always, so promise me you'll be back before lightning strikes."

I rose a hand, "I, Okumura Rin, solemnly swear to be back in this dormitory before the storm turns for the worst." He huffed, but I spotted a small smile on his face.

.oOo.

It was weird, although he wasn't necessarily babying me, I certainly felt like he was paying more attention to me that night. And I became even more suspicious of his behavior when it carried throughout Wednesday as well... Oh well, it didn't hurt me none, and he didn't seem to have any ulterior motive, so I let it slide.