Shiho woke up on the couch. She'd cried for a good half an hour on the floor, hanging to Shuichi, and when her legs were getting numb he had helped her onto the couch where she'd cried and hung to him some more. Now she regretted it. It was foolish to hope that he didn't remember much since it only happened a few hours ago at most, but Shiho was so embarrassed that she couldn't think of a way to save some face with him. She'd blame the hanging part on a temporary weakness. Shuichi was in the kitchen, she could see him easily from the couch without moving much. His movements were careful and controlled, it was his nature to be undetectable. The boiling pot over the stove hummed a comforting rhythm. If she closed her eyes she could pretend that the last few years had just been a bad dream, that she was just a girl and this was just another Sunday at home with her family. Aaah, she sighed softly, I miss having a simple life. She looked at Shuichi going through the cabinets, did he miss his life too? He said he had a family he could never see… Shiho wondered what Shuichi would be like in a family setting. She tried to imagine his sharp eyes soften up, his tight lips relaxing and popping open. He would be handsome, Shiho realized. She couldn't really blame Akemi for being infatuated with him in the first place. He probably only looked at her with gentle eyes… and his soft lips – Shiho felt a slight pressure on her bottom lip and realized it was her fingertips. She immediately moved them away. What am I doing? On the other side of the kitchen Shuichi raised the teapot to fill two cups. Shiho sat up in shock and busied herself with the blanket that had tangled around her legs. God, she hoped she hadn't been ogling. How foolish of her to believe he didn't notice when she woke up? He was a top-notch soldier! Shuichi walked to the couch with the cups in his hands, he held out one to her and Shiho took it without saying a word.

"I made tea," he explained when she hesitated before drinking, then sat down next to her, "Do you feel a little better?"

Her lips parted meaning to answer but the embarrassment from all the previous hugging returned at once and Shiho tried to delay the moment she'd face him by taking a sip. Then she remembered what they'd said about talking to each other and felt suddenly stupid. She remembered her fingers on her lips. She put down the cup on the table, then picked it up again just for the sake of holding onto something. And finally she nodded, "Yeah."

Shuichi let out a sigh of relief, "Good, good," he murmured.

It felt striking to Shiho, how this was the first time their conversation wasn't turning into a fight. The feeling was almost unnatural. That's right, she reminded herself, Talking to Shuichi can be therapeutic, it doesn't always have to be painful. "Shuichi -" the name he wanted her to call him brought sparks to her mouth, "- can I tell you that I miss my sister? I really miss her. Our parents passed away when we were still little and she was the only thing that helped me deal with the pain of losing them. Now she's gone too and I – I feel consumed by this need of revenge, I -" The cup she was holding was taken away by Shuichi. He put it on the table. Shiho felt both his hands on her face, they were nudging her to look him in the eyes. She immediately blushed, and knowing he could see it made her blush even more because she could do nothing about it.

Shuichi's gaze dropped for a second, "I promise you that you will have your justice, I'll make sure of it myself," his eyes snapped back up, connected with hers, "I don't intend to just let Gin go -" Shuichi paused to take deep breath.

Shiho's hands went over his, still lingering on her cheekbones, and she confirmed that his hands were indeed hot like she felt them. She removed them gently. "You still have a fever." Shiho helped him up before he could protest and walked him to his bedroom, "I can't believe you had a relapse." She had to get him out of her sight or her lips wouldn't stop tingling with the reminiscences of her ambiguous touch.

Shuichi dropped on his bed back-first, "It's been stressful recently."

Shiho stared at him, was he teasing her or did he really mean what he just said? That she had stressed him out to the point of making him fall sick? She shook her head, "Anyway," her hand rummaged into his nightstand, "No smoking while you're recovering this time." She waved the pack of cigarettes in front of him, she was going to throw those stupid things away as soon as she was out of his room. Was there any logic in wanting to protect her and dooming himself to lung cancer at the same time? Shuichi's eyes followed the pack with a certain longing.

"I only smoke when -" He stopped midsentence, unsure what to say next. Probably because he didn't want her to know, but…

"- I know," Shiho finished for him, sitting on the edge of the bed and feeling like and intruder in his room, "I dream of her too, sometimes."

Shuichi pulled at the hem of her shirt, "Give them back, please." He was being way kinder than he'd ever been to her, but Shiho only scrunched the package harder in her hands.

"Quit a bad habit once in a while," she retorted while getting up and heading for the door, "My sister didn't even like the smell of smoke."

Shiho left him there to sleep the fever off, the cigarettes on the other hand went out the window. Literally, she opened the window of her room and tossed the thing out.