Ryo opened the door and was mauled by a clump of cloth. He looked down and saw Johan's head poking out of Jim's jacket. He smiled brightly and squirmed away.

Jim scratched the back of his head. "Heh, sorry. He's been trying to find something to do. The best I've got is he's trying to find a shirt for me."

Johan was running away when Ryo finally got up. "You sure you didn't let anybody in?"

"Johan was sleeping upstairs on the table. He finds it comfortable, don't ask me why. He locked himself in the room and managed to barricade the windows." Jim watched Johan vanish into the living room. He closed the door behind Ryo. "I came home to find him sleeping on the sofa. How he managed that is beyond me. But I didn't have to look twice to know something was wrong, since he looked like a patch of blue hair growing off a brown blanket."

Ryo sighed. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know."

"SHIRTS!"

The duo was suddenly swamped with a whole bunch of cloth.

Johan smiled and held the basket still on his head. He ran over and held it out to Jim. "See? Johan found shirts for Jim!"

Jim sighed and gently took the basket. "But he's wearing on my patients."

Ryo had a good look at Johan then. Johan looked three! How was that possible?! "He learned to talk at three?"

"FOUR!" Johan puffed his cheeks out and held up four fingers. "Johan is four."

"Four...." Ryo mumbled, correcting himself. He watched Johan run off with the now full basket. "Can you change him out of your shirt, please?" Ryo held out the bag with the cloths in it. He heard something thud nearby and the duo poked around the corner.

Johan was blinking as a red mark appeared on his forehead. He rubbed his eyes and sat there, silently crying. He wasn't as loud as Sho used to be and Ryo could just ear him hiccup just a bit. Without really thinking, he scooped up Johan and held him. He started to walk slowly, patting Johan's back, cooing softly in his ear. Johan finally stopped crying, but had fallen asleep on Ryo's shoulder.

Jim was still standing there with the bag before he looked down at Johan. "How do we fix this one?"

"How should I know?" Ryo asked. "Is there somewhere I can lie him down?"

"Upstairs," Jim said, gesturing to a hallway.

Ryo wasn't used to this large space. The living room was bigger than his kitchen and stairwell. He followed Jim to where the stairs were and found that there was an open door to the coat closet and a back door to a small backyard. He quickly followed Jim up the stairs to the loft and into a bedroom that looked like it had seen far worse. "What--?"

"This was where he was sleeping. I haven't really cleaned up too much. It's fine, though, Ryo. You can put him on the bed over there." Jim cleared off the other bed that was still cluttered with stuff. He smiled then.

"Jim?"

"Yes?" Jim was continuing his cleaning of the bed, ignoring the fact that he had just knocked his hat into the mess.

Ryo put Johan down. "Why do you love him anyways?"

Jim stopped moving. He stood up, holding a dark brown, leather book that had no description on the spine, but Jim knew exactly what it was. "Why? Well, I met him recently, but he became such a sweet person. I took a liking to him. He took a shine to me, you know? But I was content until he Frenched me on the sofa downstairs."

Ryo was about to say something when he felt something touch the back of his foot. It was pulling his pant leg....

Pulling?

Ryo looked down....

"Whoa!" Ryo jumped back from the bed as he watched the crocodile poke her head out. "You have a--!"

"Shirley! don't scare people!" Jim said, running over and grabbing her snout to pull her out. He picked her up and set her down in the hallway. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Ryo gawked at him. "Do you realize you have a very wild animal in your house?"

"Yes, I realize she's considered a wild animal. For me, that's my sister." Jim suddenly stopped. "That would be too confusing to explain, trust me. She won't bite, but she gets protective of kids." Jim was still holding the book. "Here, you should look at this. Johan showed me once before and it's hard to let it go."

Ryo looked at the book and a slip of blue fell out. He noticed it was somewhat crumpled and picked it up. It had Jim's name on it. "Hey." Jim turned around. "Here, you should probably read this."

Jim smiled. "Okay. Is it something from you?"

"No, from the book."

Jim just laughed. "Ah, okay, okay." He sat on the bed beside Johan and opened the folded piece of paper.

Jim, this is Johan.
Then again, you probably figured that much out.
All the same, I wanted to tell you something. Even if I do end up with Ryo again, I want you to know that you've got my heart.
It hurts to admit as much, but, meh, whatever.
I love you, don't forget that, okay? Even if I do forget, I want you to stay by my side, always. I want you to be with me always. I'll be with you, too. Always.
Is that okay? Or does that sound cheesy? I think it does. Ah, well, I hope to hear that you love me, too.

Jim stared at it and noticed the page was torn just below that, and there was more to it. Ryo suddenly touched his shoulder. "Look." He pointed.

Johan was stirring and sat up, rubbing his eye. There was a deck box beside him now that had come out of nowhere. He smiled sleepily at them and crawled over to snuggle up between them, the blanket burying most of his head. He was a perfect little ball facing Ryo. He made a little groan, but stayed down.

Jim reached out and took the deck box. When he opened it, he was greeted by the sight of a set of cards that were unfamiliar to him. "Johan had a deck before his new cards." Jim showed Ryo.

Ryo remembered them. "Yes, his ArchAngel Deck. There's a card in there based off his sister, Alice." He pulled it out. "The Ice Guardian." He sighed and touched Johan's face. "Poor thing is probably...." His voice trailed off. He touched farther down Johan's face, to his neck. "He's got a fever! A bad fever!"

Jim jumped and grabbed the nearest comforter. He wrapped Johan up and Ryo held him in his lap. "Well, what else could we do? I'm not exactly close to any drug stores, you know."

Ryo sighed and rummaged in his duffel bag and pulled out the medicine he'd bought before. He gently woke Johan. "You can sleep, but I need you to take some medicine first. It might taste bitter, but please take it."

Johan gave a weak nod and wriggled his hand free to help Ryo guide it to his mouth. He took the liquid and coughed. He covered his mouth and kept coughing for a bit before he settled down and curled up again. He was beautiful and sweet, everything he always showed in his eyes. Jim and Ryo looked at him and then at each other. It had to be one or the other, they both couldn't have him....

A/N: updated.... until tomorrow, people! (this chapter and story are going to be dedicated to Dark Mage Girl Xion, since she's reviewed this story so much =^-^=)