She would wake up, carefully entangled in a mess of limbs and bodies. Their breaths mingled as they slept; slow, comforting, tired from events the night before.

She would gingerly detach herself, quite careful not to wake them. The two men, in turn, would snuggle with one another as if hardly missing her. Though, Nobuchika's brows would furrow together and Shinya would give a slight frown. They remained entirely in one another's embrace, nonetheless.

Akane would lightly and carefully tread off of the bed. She would gather their ties (shirts, pants, boxers) and would neatly order them for when they awoke. She would toss aside any waste from the previous night's activities and would open the curtains just so; soft fingers of sunlight seeping within the room. Then Akane would watch them sleep for a few, precious moments and would wonder how things came to be like this.

One would call a relationship between three people an open relationship. A relationship that allowed free deviation and wandering interests; hardly a leash to beckon them back to the side of their partner. Except, it wasn't. None of them would stray their interests to a fourth party. Three was enough, they had all decided silently to themselves. Truth be told: there was a balance. Shinya and Nobuchika would consort in frustration-they would yell at each other. Abusive words that heaved an overwhelming contrast in the way they were holding each other at current (as they did every night). Nobuchika would sob into Shinya's arms after yelling. Saying he was not a dog, saying he was just hurt. But the cycle repeated itself as they were all brought haltingly to their positions the next morning. Two Inspectors and their dog. Shinya would yell about never wanting to have been pushed out of Nobuchika's life. Cries of desperation and panic of an ever forming gorge between the two. They were so honest then; so pure, so hurt, so... broken. It was a word Akane tried to abstain from using. But the fact of the matter was: her two lovers were very broken people.

She could only relay the cycle through her head as she slipped on a fresh pair of stockings, no longer terribly soaked as the ones before it. Sometimes they would tear her stockings. Mostly Shinya. He was quite rough, quite forceful, yet the most gentle of them afterwards. Shinya was the one who had brought her into the unconventional relationship. He was the one who had coaxed her into it, the one who had assured her it wouldn't have been bad. Not that she regretted entering the relationship.

Then there was Nobuchika; she could only mull him over as she buttoned her blouse. Akane sighed; a smile still lit her features nonetheless. He was the most uncertain, the most insecure of them all. He would try to pound into her harder than Shinya. Though Akane quite felt that Shinya was the only one who could make her pierce the silence as she so did at night because of the possessive roughness. Though, Nobuchika did do things that only he could do. The way he kissed all over her slowly, sensually; making her breathing rise, making her acutely aware of only he and Shinya. She loved the feeling just as much as she loved the both of them.

Akane then rose to her feet. She watched them for a few more seconds. She wasn't entirely sure what she was to them in the relationship. She could only deduce that she was the medium. The calm one. The one that would gingerly touch their arms and indicate for them to lower their voices. She calmed them. Akane was akin to a sedative at that point. She could only think she was alright with that as she smoothened back each man's bangs and kissed their forehead.

They smiled in their sleep. She was happy, as well. She was happy with the odd nature of the relationship, she was happy with how they would hold each of her hands and how they would carry things for her. She was happy to watch movies with them under blankets and to see Shinya and Nobuchika fight over popcorn.

Yes, as she lowered her skirt and thought about her newly found life, she realized that these set of circumstances did not bother her at all.

A/N: I actually ended up writing this late at night and hardly considered posting it, honestly. But I soon found myself typing it up and it sat in a folder. Unsure what to do with this: I ended up posting it after all.