Whenever Aoba wakes up, about a year and a half after Oval Tower fell, he always wakes up slowly. His eyes always blink sluggishly, and he always whines in protest at the disturbance which woke him up. Ren, in particular, thought this was cute, and never ceased to lull Aoba back to sleep before exiting the room in the early morning.

This time, however, Aoba didn't sleep again. It was too late; he was starting to think too much, as he always tended to do ever since his 'journey' ended. 'Wait… Why was Ren sleeping with us? How did I not notice?'

'Shouldn't your question be, why wouldn't he? He is our lover after all.'

Aoba groans in confusion and guilt. It was true; ever since Ren reappeared into his life, he had been neglecting him more than he would've liked. But that was just because he had other things on his mind… Namely, the figure sleeping next to him at the moment.

'Not to mention, Ren was a part of us once too. Sei is his brother too. He probably worries about him as much as you do.'

'Shut up…' Sometimes, Aoba really wished his other self would leave him alone. It couldn't be helped, though. Besides, Desire was right; that was probably the reason Ren had been sleeping with him and Sei. He was probably worried about the both of them. Ever since Sei had regained consciousness about two weeks ago, Aoba hadn't left him alone for a second. That didn't leave much time for Ren. 'I mean, he and I haven't even been intimate since…'

Aoba's face heats up. 'No, definitely not thinking about that while nii-san is right here. NO.'

'Hey. I remember that.'

'Be quiet!' Aoba groans aloud in mortification and buries his face into his sleeping brother's neck, clinging to him. Why did he have to think so much?

"Aoba… Are you okay?"

Or maybe his brother was awake. Sei's soft voice hits his ears, and Aoba feels tears welling up in his eyes. 'Goddammit… Why do I always have to be so emotional in the morning? I thought I was done crying about this…'

'It's just PMS.'

'This is not the time!' Desire's (unwanted) attempt at cheering Aoba up was useless. Within seconds, Aoba was sobbing his eyes out into his brother's neck.

"Aoba?! What is it?" Sei's voice, not as soft now that he was fully awake, just made Aoba sob more.

"N-Nii-san…" Aoba sniffled, practically unintelligible. "S-Sorry… I just…"

Sei pauses, and then sighs, resigning himself to simply holding Aoba and petting his hair. He had gotten used to Aoba's fits of sadness, and understood why they were happening. After all, Aoba had thought he was dead for a year. That he had killed his brother. And then, for six months, he had to stay at Sei's bedside and do nothing but hope that his brother would recover enough to simply open his eyes. Ren had talked to Sei about how depressed Aoba had been.

It takes about ten minutes for Aoba to start breathing normally, Sei holding him the whole time. Eventually, Aoba breathes deeply into Sei's neck and shakily laughs into it.

"Y-Your hair smells nice…"

Sei's angelic laughter fills the room and Aoba finds himself feeling not as sad anymore, even as Sei sighs once more and says, "You're such a baby sometimes, Aoba…"

Sei knows that in a few minutes, he will walk on his weak legs to the kitchen, where he will try (and fail) to make breakfast himself. Aoba will follow him like a baby chick the entire time, wanting to help, even when Sei ends up making overcooked eggs for the both of them while Aoba stands at his side clinging to his shirt. And whenever Tae-san insists that he should give Sei some space, he will say, "Sei can't do everything by himself yet! He needs my help!"

Even when both of them really know that Aoba is the one that needs Sei's help.