The tall man quietly entered Mesume's room, trying not to wake her. Much to his frustration, his clothes were completely ruined. His gang had had a run in with a couple doves, and he was now blood soaked. Home was an awful long walk from where he was, so he had decided just to go to where S rate Flower Crown was being held captive. He yawned; it was 2:12 in the morning. He quietly crept around in the dark room, trying not to run into anything. He didn't want to turn the lights on; that would wake Mesume up.

"Hey," a sleepy voice suddenly said.

The man almost jumped out of his skin, and he whirled around.

"Calm down," a familiar voice said playfully.

"Hanakurai," he said, catching his breath.

"I'm sorry," she giggled. "Did I scare you?"

"You startled me," he said, running his hands through his hair. "Not scared me. What are you doing awake at this time of night?"

"You bumbling around woke me up," she said. "And a better question is what are you doing here at this time of night?"

"My apartment is far," he said. "So I just came here."

Mesume sniffed the air. "Did you bring me food?"

"Nope," the man said, taking off his ruined blazer.

"Then what smells like blood?"

"Me."

"Are you okay?" Mesume asked, a little more concern in her voice than she would've liked.

"I'm fine," he said, flicking the lights on so he could see. "The doves, not so much."

"That's a lot of blood I smell on you."

"Yeah," the man chuckled. "I'm a wreck."

"Then take a shower," Mesume said, turning her head towards the man. Her eyes were still swollen shut.

The man glanced at the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom and blushed. "But, you're here."

"It's not like I can see you," Mesume pointed out.

"O-okay," he stuttered.

Blushing, he walked into the bathroom. He unbuttoned his shirt and pants, and then let his clothes drop to the floor. He pulled off his boxers and then looked at his shirt. He would need clothes after the shower; and his blazer had protected his shirt from most of the blood. He picked up his shirt and laid it out on the counter and then started the water. When the water was warm he stepped in. The water ran down his body, washing away the sweat and blood from the day's work. He scrubbed at his face, making sure to get everything off. The ghoul washed his hair, and when he was done cleaning himself, let the hot water beat down on his sore body for a few minutes.

He climbed out of the shower and wrapped himself in a towel. Lacking a brush, he ran his fingers through his hair in a desperate attempt to comb it. Since he had no clean clothes, he was forced to put his boxers and button up shirt back on. He bit his lip and walked back into the bedroom.

"Hey there," Mesume said upon hearing his footsteps. "Feel better now?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Mesume yawned. "I'm tired."

"I am too," the man said, running his hands through his drying hair.

"Where are you gonna sleep?"

"Um," the man said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Probably in the wooden chair in the corner."

Mesume sighed. "Don't be stupid. Just sleep in the bed."

A red hot blush spread over the man's face and he bit his lip. "B—but you're sleeping there."

"It's a big bed," Mesume said irritably. "Meaning it fits two."

"B—but—."

"But what? It's only awkward if you make it awkward. We're going to sleep, not fucking."

The man swallowed hard at her words, and then turned off the lights. Heart pounding, he climbed into bed next to Mesume. It was silent for a few minutes, and the male ghoul thought she had fallen asleep.

"When my eyes start working," Mesume said softly all of the sudden. "I won't ever see you again, will I?"

The man sighed. "Yeah."

Silence.

"Why?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Mesume stuttered.

The man was shocked. Mesume never stuttered. Every single thing the female ghoul said had purpose, and she would fight to defend her words. Stuttering was the exact opposite.

That was the end of the conversation for the night. Mesume was soon asleep, and she rolled over, pressing herself against the man. He blushed and bit his lip once again, and a warmth traveled down through his body.

No, he told himself. You're just supposed to nurse her back to health, that's your job. Thinking she's hot is one thing. But you can't catch feelings. What the hell are you doing?

Mesume muttered something in her sleep and she craned her neck, lips resting on the man's neck. A shiver went down his spine.

"Hanakurai, if you're doing this on purpose, I swear."

No response. It took awhile, but sleep and the man finally found one another.