Tama's hand was resting on his shoulder when he woke up. He breathed a sigh of relief, noticing the dizziness and nausea had subsided, and turned over to look to her. He gently smiled at the sight of her leaning against the tree trunk, her head was still up right, but her eyes were closed.

He carefully sat up, trying his best to not disturb her. He froze when she stirred, the hand that had been on his shoulder coming up to rub her eyes before opening them. The indigo blue met the steel grey and she greeted him, "Bya-sama, are you feeling better?"

"Yes," he agreed, however his eyes went skyward and noted the dark clouds and the greying sky. By the look of the clouds a heavy rain fall was about to begin. He looked to her and stated, "we should find shelter and ride out the storm. If I'm estimating this right won't be able to see our own hand in front of our face."

She nodded a little and blinked while an image of a small house flashed in her mind along with an image of a woman with light blonde almost white hair and indigo blue eyes smiling at her. The woman wore a light blue kimono with a medium blue haori over it. A man with jet black hair was busy shoveling something in one of the stables.

"Tama?"

Byakuya's voice broke through to her, she blinked, shaking her head slightly. His brow furrowed in concern, she looked dazed.

"Byakuya, I-" her breath became uneven as she seemed to struggle with focusing in on the world around her. It was as if she were lost in her own mind. He gently gripped her shoulders with his hands, lightly squeezing them to provide a present sensation, an attempt to ground her back into reality while he gently pressed, "Tama-kun, what's wrong?"

"I think I lived in this district," Tama revealed. He blinked at those words, but also at the tears that gleamed in her eyes. He'd seen her take injuries, he'd seen her terrified, he'd seen her frustrated but these weren't tears of fear, frustration, or physical pain. They were different.

"I can recall a-a small house, there was livestock. A man and a woman—maybe my parents," she continued.

"We can look into finding that house when the storm passes, but for now we need to find shelter," he suggested. A loud crack of thunder sounded overhead.

She nodded, grasping his hand as she headed off towards a mountain formation. They kept moving, with him unsure of where they were going until he spotted it, a little opening into the mountain side, a cave. Well, it definitely wasn't going to be luxurious but it would keep them out of the storm. The two entered the cave as the first few drops of rain fell down around them. As he'd thought those first few drops left them both with saturated clothes, that in itself was bad enough. However, add in that the dampness of her kimono caused it to cling to every single curve of her body and his hakama now did the same to him, he suddenly had an intense urge to keep away from her, but he was also cold while she didn't seem to be. At least that's how it seemed until he noticed a very slight shiver from her. He loudly sighed in defeat as he sat next to her, opening his arm to her without looking at her.

He had expected her to cuddle into him without question, but she had one thing troubling her mind which she clearly voiced, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he answered.

She began to gently press him for an answer, "Byakuya-"

"I can't stand the thought of you being cold," he interrupted her. He scowled before admitting, "I also can't completely control how my body behaves in some situations. I can control what I do about it, if anything—just—try not to let it bother you if something happens, alright? I can't control every stupid physical reaction but I can control my actions."

"I know that," she soothed him as she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his torso, while he did the same with her, keeping one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. It was awkward, but sharing their body heat lessened the effects of the damp clothes combined with the cool breeze that blew in.

They stayed like that for almost an hour before he lamented, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm aware that some things are awkward at our ages—and that's a little amplified by your past. I've tried to not treat you like you're made of glass but—I'd be lying if I tried to claim that I never worry about giving you the wrong impression. I worry about somehow giving the impression I'd do something uncivilized if the chance presented itself."

Tama smiled and nuzzled into his neck, her hot breath landing on his cooled flesh as she reminded him, "you've had many chances to do something, Byakuya, but you never have. I feel like I can trust you, and I'm not saying that to put more pressure on you. You ease my mind. Even if something did happen, I have no doubt you'd consider me in every aspect."

Byakuya relaxed, closing his eyes and was suddenly grateful they'd been caught in the torrential downpour of rain. The dampness already on his face hid the few tears of happiness that snuck out of his eyes and travelled down his face while he told her, "I'm glad I can ease your fear."

Tama blinked at the sight of extra moisture appearing on his cheeks but decided to keep it to herself. She smiled as she cuddled into him, his embrace on her tightening just a little.

"Byakuya?"

He gave a slight hum in acknowledgement, before she asked, "your grandfather is coming home soon—so I guess we'll have to stop sneaking into each other's rooms."

He shrugged a little as he countered, "why would we have to do that?"

"He won't find it appropriate, truthfully it kind of isn't but we only sleep. We don't even kiss each other," she replied.

"Exactly, nor would we ever need to," he agreed, he glanced to her and challenged, "so tell me how sharing a sleeping area is inappropriate?"

"We're not family," she offered.

"Biologically, no, however I should tell you that I did hear what my father told you earlier. While I don't know if I could ever say that I view you as a sister, you are someone very important to me," he answered. She did her best to hug him while he returned the affectionate gesture. Outside a violent storm raged on while inside the cave the two teenagers tiptoed the line between friendship and more.

AN: Traditionally in Japan, children and sometimes teenagers sleep in the same room as their parents or grandparents as well as their siblings. This is why Tama mentions them not being related, and while Byakuya acknowledges that, it doesn't bother him.