She fell straight onto him. Aoi caught her before she could completely collapse off the couch and positioned her so she was lying back in a seated position. The distinct sound of Ririko snarling in jealousy went unmentioned; clearly she was just showing her displeasure at the young lady landing on him. Any other time Ririko would have been on her feet and to the injured in seconds, but that just goes to show how serious teenagers took their crushes. But Aoi was worried something might be hurt worse than just a small bump on the head.

"What's going on?" Looking over his shoulder at the doorway, Aoi saw his son standing there perplexed at the strange woman that just fainted on his father. His son was his spitting image from when he was a child, from his honey brown hair to his amber eyes. In the back of his mind he always wondered if he would look like him when he was older, but that wasn't at the fore-front of Aoi's mind. So he just shook his head that he didn't know.

"Your daddy brought in this stray and was trying to get her to talk, but then you walked in a scared her Yukari-chan." Ririko was smiling one of her evil smiles at his son, chuckling slightly. Yukari snorted, even at 11 years old did he have such a stern domineer or was it just he looked stern?

"She's not a cat, Ririko-san. And dad had to have had a good reason for having her here." If there was one thing he could say about it his son, it was that Yukari always had a comeback when it came to Ririko. Yukari walked over to where Aoi was kneeling and peered at the lady. "So, what was the reason exactly?"

"I found her collapsed in the street this morning on my way out. She wasn't conscious until I had come back just before you two arrived. She said her name was Ageha, but then she fainted before I could get anything else." 'Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder why she gave us her first name.'

"And you don't call that a stray?" Aoi was really starting to get annoyed by Ririko and her jealousy issues. So instead of offering an answer he just looked rolled his eyes as looked at his son. A look that they had shared before that read as a 'get rid of her' and Yukari was quick to reply with a 'why me' look. Narrowing his eyes, Aoi gave him a stern look as if ordering his son to do as he was told. Sighing, Yukari rose from his place on the floor and spun to glare defiantly at Ririko.

"What's wrong with you? If you're not going to be of any help, then get your lazy butt out of here. We have enough to deal with, without your demands for attention!" Harsh as Aoi thought his son was being, it did the job because Ririko visibly wilted for her rebellious posture and walked into the kitchen. She came back a minute later with a freshly wet cloth and handed it to Yukari before she settled for standing behind the couch. Giving her a snort, Yukari turned back to the girl and put the cloth on her forehead then looked at his father. "What do you think happened to her?"

Aoi stared at the girl he had carried out of the road in wonderment. Nothing he could think of would have left her virtually unharmed, but still completely out cold like she was. Shaking his head, Aoi offered what he could, "I'm not sure how she ended up in the road. It doesn't look like she's been starved or hurt besides that bump on her head. The only thing I can think of is that she suffered some sort of trauma and wondered until she collapsed. We can only wait for her to wake up again and ask."

"Why did she faint like that in the first place?" Ririko muttered quietly, like one would if someone is sleeping nearby. "Did we do something wrong?"

"Once again, I can't answer that. But she was pretty overwhelmed before either of you showed up. She kept staring at me like she wanted to say something but couldn't." Rising for his seat, Aoi continued to stare down as the strange girl named Ageha. He left the room, picking up the phone from its cradle he began to dial the number for the police. This was beyond him; let the authorities deal with her. The ringing cut short abruptly by Ririko pressing the receiver on the cradle, Aoi gave her a confused look. "What are you doing?"

"Me? I'm stopping you from calling the police. What are you doing?" She answered casually.

"Calling the Police to come help her. What do you think we can do for her, she obviously experienced something traumatic or she wouldn't have ended up in the middle of the road." Aoi was staring at Ririko like she should be think the same thing, but it was obvious that she didn't.

Ririko gave him a hard look, staring him straight at in the eye for a while before sighing. "Listen Aoi-san, this girl is seriously lost, how do you think the police will handle this? They will come here, take her away, and then we can all go on with our lives. But I know you're not that kind of man that can just let the police take care of this. Let's just see what the girl has to say when she wakes up, that's all I ask."

"I thought you didn't like helping anything other than cats, well unless it helps you in return." Aoi continued to hold the phone prepared to dial. He couldn't understand how Ririko, who was usually very protective of women entering the shop that weren't getting married, would want to help this stranger. "Ririko, this isn't something we shouldn't get involved in."

"Then why did you pull her off the street this morning? Hmm" She gave him a look and continued, "See this through Aoi-san, that's the kind of person I'm sure you are and who you raise your son to be."

She left him after that. And reluctantly Aoi put back the phone leaving his hand on it like he was still contemplating calling, but knew that Ririko was right. He wasn't the kind of person to leave things unfinished and he had started something when he brought that girl in. What he started he didn't know, but he had an feeling it wasn't something that he was ready for. He jolted from his spot in the hall by his son.

He looked up at Aoi and Aoi knew that he had to do this to set an example for his son. That strict expression that hinted with an underlying loneliness stared back at him, probably reflecting the same hidden feelings, when Yukari spoke. "She's waking up."