A/N: Chapter 20! Well, this is... yeah. I have nothing...

Disclaimer: I own nothing...

The leather straps tightened around her, digging into her skin and making her cry out. Needles pierced her skin, injecting unknown substances. She arched her back and pulled at her restraints. Tears streamed down her face and screams lurched out of her raw throat. This is a dream! It has to be! I escaped from this! A sharp searing pain ran down her abdomen, the blade of a scalpel cut through her skin. Agony spread through her being as she felt hands sink into her. Her pain filled voice echoed through the small room and her blood splattered across her skin.

She sat up with a start, sweat stuck to her skin and her brown eyes were wide with fear. Her breath came out in short, shallow gasps. She reached over, searching for comfort but the empty bed was like a slap to the face. Toboe had forgotten, Tsume had moved out four days prior. The apartment seemed bigger and less comforting. The rooms were filled with a deafening silence. Her home felt more alien as time progressed, it simply wasn't the same anymore.

Toboe sighed heavily and quietly got out of bed. She grabbed a hair tie and pulled her red lock into a small pony tail. She wiped her forehead with the back out her hand and made a move for the door but stopped short of touching the knob. She was confused. Where was she going? Hadn't she already decided that she wouldn't express her feelings? And what was she trying to do now? She was refraining herself from crawling to his room for comfort, because she was scared and lonely. Why does it seem like the more I push him away, the more I want to pull him back? She thought as her hand fell back to her side. Toboe backed away from the door and paced around her apartment. She ventured into the bathroom and glared at her reflection, there was dark circles under her eyes.

Despite how tired she was, there was no way she was going to fall back asleep. "Maybe I'll go out for a jog..." She mumbled to herself and without a second thought she was slipping on her boots and heading out the door. Not even caring that she was in a pair of shorts and a rather tattered tank top. She slipped out of the building and without really deciding her destination, she started jogging. The night time air was chilly and quiet, but not silent. Crickets chirped and bats flew over head. Her pace was steady and she kept her breathing under control. She hoped that this cleared her mind even a little.

Tsume stared at the wall of his bedroom. The sky was still dark, the moon hadn't even begun its descent into the horizon yet. A calloused hand reached up to rub his tired eyes. He paced around, not really sure why he was even awake. The last few days had been filled with almost zero sleep, the dark circles under his golden orbs were evidence of that. Tsume stopped and stared at his feet, then looked at the door he was standing in front of. "I can't, I have to wait. I can't push her into something she doesn't want to be in." He muttered to himself.

He continued to pace around his apartment, the walls were suffocating him. He ripped open the door and walked down the hallway towards her apartment but was surprised to find that the door was slightly ajar. He peeked in, but saw nothing, and the room was completely silent. If she had been asleep, he could at least have heard her breathing. But that soft noise was nowhere. Tsume shut the door with a confused look, and sniffed around for a moment. His nose was no where near as good as Hige's but, his sense of smell was still heightened.

It was rather fresh, and led him outside wear it moved into town. He followed it, he knew he probably shouldn't, but there was something about her scent that didn't settle well with him. It seemed like she was restless, like something was worrying her. When he found her, she was crouched on the ground emptying the contents of her stomach. A soft drizzle had started to rain down. Tsume watched her for a moment, seeing how she wiped her tears away and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Toboe stood up and glanced over her shoulder towards him. Her face was flushed and her eyes were puffy. Her eyes swam with emotions he couldn't understand but they were quickly shielded when her eyes hardened.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice a bit raspy.

"You weren't home, and I was worried." He answered. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay, then let me rephrase that." She said, "What do you want?"

"I want to know what's wrong." He took a few steps closer.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine." Her fingers gripped her arms tightly.

"That's a lie. A fairly obvious one at that." Tsume growled out.

"If I say I'm fine, I'm fine." She spat out, anger clearly evident in her voice. Tsume sighed heavily and his eyes narrowed, but he quickly gave up. There wasn't really a reason for him to be angry.

"Look, we should head back. We both have work in the morning." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Besides, it looks like you're sick and being out in the rain won't help you much." She just huffed and nodded, looking away from him. Toboe didn't really know why she was angry, maybe because he had caught her in a weak moment? Maybe because he had seen her crying? She wasn't quite sure about it. He had started to walk back and she hesitantly followed. Her anger slowly subsided, and half way back to the apartment, she felt terrible. There had been nothing to be mad about. He was worried and she had completely overreacted. But she certainly wasn't going to apologize, if it put distance between them, then it was fine... Right?

A/N: Sorry for this really short chapter. I've been really sick and have been dealing with some family problems. Thanks for reading though! Please review!