AN: This was supposed to be an epilogue, but turned out to be a third act. So, epilogue to come next time! Also, this is baby's first completed mulitchap work!

-0-

Seijuro twirled his pasta and cut the loose ends with a knife, then scooped up the bundle with his spoon, and ate it. The process took at least five seconds longer than strictly necessary, and the scraping sounds of cutlery were grating on Sena's nerves. Sena tapped his fingers on the restaurant table.

It had been a week since the exorcisms had taken place. Sena had bruised ribs from the fall along with a sprained ankle and other minor cuts and bruises. He'd had to stop working on the house altogether since anything that got him out of breath sent pulsing hot pain throughout his chest. Just thinking about the house annoyed Sena. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he missed his… supernatural friends. The house felt different without them, less welcoming.

"… fine?" Seijuro asked, Sena only able to catch the tail end of his question. Seijuro was cutting up a slice of garlic bread into bite size pieces.

"Sorry, can you repeat yourself?" This whole evening had been cut into different activities: people watching at the park, feeding birds, dinner; Sena enjoyed none of them. He just had wanted to go home and get in bed and sleep.

(Seijuro had come over the following day after the exorcisms to help Sena with his injuries. Seijuro revealed his love of cats over the lunch he'd packed them. They talked to hours.)

"I asked if you were feeling fine. You seem out of sorts." Seijuro spooned up another perfectly portioned out piece of pasta. Sena's eye twitched.

"Why… Why do you do that?"

"Pardon?"

"That. The cutting. Why? It's annoying." Sena leaned back against his chair, wincing as his ribs protested at the movement. Outside the window, the sun was setting, and Sena couldn't wait to leave.

(They went on a coffee date two days later, and it had ended in a kiss on Sena's front porch. His head had been spinning when he'd stepped inside.)

"It prevents me from over eating. I'm very careful about my diet." Seijuro placed his knife and fork against the rim of his plate quietly. He looked down at his food, frowning.

"I don't mean to be rude but… It's annoying. You're, um, too high strung." Sena pulled some bills out of his wallet and dropped them on the table. He stood up carefully. "I think this was a bad idea. Um… the dates I mean. You're… you're an adult that never outgrew his weird phase… What kind of job is- is paranormal investigator?"

"I…" Seijuro wiped his hands on a napkin, eyebrows knitted together. "You are not acting like yourself."

"I didn't… really have fun today, um…" Sena blinked. Seijuro looked confused, at a loss for words for the first time since Sena had met him. Sena himself snapped back into the moment like a rubber band. Why had he…? He was dizzy. "Ahh… sorry. What I said… I don't feel so good." Sena limped out of the restaurant, one last glance back showed the hurt look Seijuro had as his gaze followed Sena out to his car.

-1-

On the car ride home, Sena barraged himself. Why had he said those things? Seijuro was a little weird, sure. It took a special kind of person to work in the supernatural. But Seijuro was also sweet, honest. It wasn't like he was some fraud. He'd helped Sena. Sena felt the pangs of an immense headache as he stepped through his house. He tossed his keys into the dish tray, but they clattered to ground.

Sena stared at where his keys were on the ground. He remembered that Seijuro had put that table on the right side of the entrance when he'd been helping, and yet the table was now on the left.

-2-

Sena changed into his pajamas, closing the closet door to ignore the mess it held. He wet a rag and placed it on his forehead. Somehow, Sena's room had become a disaster despite him being pretty organized in general. (There was a reason why his parents asked him to take care of his grandparent's house after all.) He laid down, his head and chest and ankle throbbing. The dim twilight lighting was setting him on edge. He turned on his side, trying to get comfortable.

The open closet door greeted him.

"Oh, no," Sena mumbled, throwing the wet rag on the ground. He limped to the closet. "I thought I told you to leave Takeru! Answer me!" Sena slammed the door closed. He flipped open his phone. "You too Akaba! Wherever you are!" Sena limped into the bathroom and yelled into the bathtub's drain. "Are you in here, Kakei? Huh? I thought I told you guys to leave!"

This probably explained all his missing things and how his furniture seemed to be readjusted, and all the doors opening and the cold spots, and the weird groanings and creaking at night, and…

A knock from inside the walls. Sena jumped. His skin prickled with goosebumps.

A beat later, there was another knock, this time sounding from where the bathroom's door was. Around Sena, black particles swirled in the air like dust or sand. He turned around, following a scattering of black dust. It led to his closet. Sena stared at it in wait. Something knocked from the inside.

"Hahh…" A coarse voice whispered from beyond the door frame. "So lively… So much energy… I think I'll stay here…"

Sena gripped his phone to his throbbing chest. He backed away slowly, edging towards the room's door, keeping an eye on the swirling black sand. The doorknob turned, and the closet door creaked open. It was dark, but Sena's straining eyes were able to make out movement. From the blackness, a dark hand reached out. Its twitching fingers ended in points.

Sena ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He could hear the trickling of that black sand as it spread its way closer to him. His head was pulsing in pain. He dialed Seijuro's number with trembling fingers.

"Hello?" Seijuro's voice sounded far away, but just at the sound, relief washed over Sena.

"Somethings in my house," Sena whispered fervently.

"I'll be there soon. Fifteen minutes."

"How are you so close?"

"I may have already been on the way." Seijuro sounded down right sheepish, and Sena might have blushed with pleasure if he hadn't been so scared.

"Thank you-"

Sena didn't get to finish his sentence as an avalanche of black dust burst past the door and flung him down the stairs.

-3-

Sena squirmed on the ground. His ribs were screaming in pain. All the air had been knocked out of him. His breath came in short, choppy breaths. When he opened his bleary eyes, black sand was trickling closer, and… something… was coming down the stairs.

Sena couldn't… describe it. It felt wrong, some amorphous thing, darker than black and blending in with the dark sand that seemed to pour from it. This wasn't like the other beings. Akaba, Takeru, and Kakei hadn't had this ominous aura. This thing… this thing was evil.

"Yes…" It hissed. "I think you will… serve me for a long time, indeed…"

Sena scrambled painfully to get up, grappling at the walls for leverage. A thin trickle of black dust snaked its way around Sena's ankle. It was a burning cold heat in a vice grip, so tight that Sena feared he would hear the snap of bone soon. He clawed at the wooden floor as the black sand dragged him across the ground and snapped him against the wall. Sena's head cracked on impact and ringing filled his ears. His vision swam. More black dust was curling its way towards his prone body; the black, formless entity now directly in front of him.

Sena pressed a hand against his cheek and found that the bandage had been torn off. His scrape had scabbed over. He scratched at his cheek. Sticky blood glossed his fingers. Sena closed his eyes and concentrated.

("It seems like you performed an inadvertent blood summoning.")

"I don't know if you can hear me, or if you even want to hear from me," Sena whispered, gritting his teeth. The trickle of black dust paused. "But I need you, any of you…! Please help me! It's going to kill me!" Sena rubbed at his injured cheek and then slathered the floor in front of him with blood.

The pipes in the kitchen screamed as water rushed forth, in the shape of a clawed hand, and pushed the black entity into a far wall.

Kakei stepped out from the kitchen, a small pool of water at his feet.

"The swim trunks…" Sena said as Kakei helped him sit up.

"I remembered," Kakei said, a nightmarish grin on his face. "I'm not sure how long I can hold him off. Go somewhere safe."

-4-

Sena limped his way to the kitchen, where Seijuro had stowed away other exorcist items "just in case." Like hell he'd let Kakei alone with that thing. Sena dialed Seijuro's number again. He wasn't going to leave Kakei fighting that thing by himself for long.

"Hey, um, uh, the thing. No idea… what it is, but it's dangerous. Can you…?" Sena winced as he heard a crash from the other room. He turned to face the entrance as Kakei came tumbling in, followed by the entity.

"Alm… st there," Seijuro said. His voice was laced with static, its pitch rising and falling. "Ten… min… tes."

"I d-don't know if we can last that long." Sena stared wide-eyed as the dark entity tore at Kakei. "Uh, I summoned Kakei, maybe others? I'm not too sure how it worked, but this thing is… it's evil… strong… I-I have those supplies you left. What… what can I do?"

The entity lashed out with dark sand javelins that sliced through Kakei's torrents of water. One of them pierced Kakei through the shoulder and slammed him onto the ground. Dark blue blood seeped from the wound. He stood up on shaky legs, just barely dodging another barrage.

"Can that thing kill him?" Sena whispered, unable to take his eyes off the battle. "Can Kakei die, oh my God–"

"Calm… wn," Seijuro's voice crackled through the phone, bringing Sena back into focus. "Not sure… the thing… grind the coal from… nder… sink…"

Sena rummaged under the sink as quickly as his injuries allowed until he found a mortar and pestle and a lump of coal in a drawstring bag. He started grinding the coal, shouldering his phone up to his ear. He kept a wary eye on Kakei. Every grunt and pained sound he made, only spurned Sena faster. Seijuro was instructing him what to add: sage, and rock salt, and one of his hairs. He followed along, but then the phone cut off.

Suddenly, every electronic appliance screamed to life. The microwave, the fire alarm, his phone. Sena dropped it in shock, and almost fumbled the mortar in his hands.

Then the phone reconnected, but it wasn't Seijuro's voice on the line.

"That little powder is useless," the voice hissed. It was the voice of the thing, barely audible over the din. "It won't be much longer… Your body guard… He's weak. You made him weak. But you'll make me strong, oh yes… You're quite young, quite lively, quite comely. I'll suck you dry, and when you start to give out, you'll bring me more treats."

Sena fought the quiver in his hands and picked up his phone.

"Sena? Sena!" It was his mother's voice. She sounded panicked. His thumb paused over the end call button. "Sena what's going on?"

"M-mom?"

"Sena, what are you doing? Darling why are you trying to resist?"

"You're not strong enough," his dad's voice chimed in, "you should just give in."

Sena gaped at the phone in his hand.

"Did you think it would work?" Seijuro's voice joined into the chorus. "Did you think I would try to help you after the way you acted?"

"I… I'm sorry I was… I don't know why…"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Sena's mother said. Her voice was cold and empty now. "You've been ungrateful. You deserve what's going to happen to you, don't you?"

"I… No, I…"

He heard the wet sounds of a body being thrown against the wall but could only stare at his phone. Kakei groaned in pain. It barely registered to Sena. His whole body felt slack. Maybe he did deserve this…

"Leave my nightowl alone."

The phone vibrated like it was about to explode. Dark particles streamed out from it like pressurized black steam. As suddenly as all the appliances had started blaring, they quieted in the same manner.

"Sena? Do you hear me?"

Sena blinked. He felt like he was coming out of a stupor. Like at the restaurant earlier today. He shook his head. Akaba was talking to him.

"… break its hold over you. I managed to cast him out as best as I can, but it'll be impossible to reconnect your call as long as it's still here."

"I think I know what to do from here. I don't know why I was acting so…"

"It doesn't matter. Try to finish up as quickly as possible. I have to leave you now."

"No!" But Akaba didn't answer.

"Fuu, did you miss me?"

Sena looked up to see Akaba's ghostly form. Sena thought that if things weren't so crazy, he might have actually started to tear up.

"You didn't really think I would leave at a time like this? I can only hold him off for a beat. I can already feel the summoning starting to weaken."

"Thank you," Sena said as Akaba left for the other room. He wouldn't let the time go to waste any longer. He'd caught just enough off Seijuro's words to know what do. He crushed the ashes of a burning incense stick into the mixture, then took the milled powder between his fingertips and blew it against the entrance of the kitchen.

He hobbled to the main entrance and sprinkled the powder at the door. He hadn't been able to take in a solid breath this whole time, and his vision spotted when he moved too fast. Sweat beaded at his temples and slicked his hands. His ankle throbbed. But he wouldn't let this chance slip away. Before he could go on to the next room, black sand shot out from around the corner and coiled around Sena's ankles. Another stream of black sand wrapped itself around Sena's entire body like a boa constrictor, making him drop the ceramic bowl. It shattered on impact. The sand felt different than before. It felt like cement, locking him into place. Every time he moved, the sand only tightened.

A stream of water flowed near Sena's feet. Kakei rose from it. He was bleeding heavily from his shoulder and chest. He had bruises covering his arms and legs.

"I'm going to try and get you out. Akaba's distracting it." Kakei used a lash of water to try and cut the bonds, but they remained firm. He wound a stream of water around the black sand, but the sand just absorbed the moisture and constricted Sena even further.

Sena gasped in pain.

"Sorry. It's stronger than me," Kakei admitted resentfully. "I'm getting weaker by the second. I can feel myself fading."

"It's… ahh, okay," Sena said through ground teeth. The reality was that he was hardly able to take in a breath. The edges of his vision were black. He closed his eyes to ignore it.

"Others are coming soon, but I… I have to go. I'm sorry."

Sena felt something cold and wet on his cheek. He couldn't tell if it was a tear or a kiss.

-5-

The black sand tightened further around Sena, and then, it pulled. Sena couldn't help but cry out as he sunk into the floorboards. Akaba materialized next to him. He looked even more faded, and Sena could barely hear his voice.

Akaba gripped along the black sand. His fingers were cold as they went through Sena, but they found purchase on the sand bonds. Akaba pulled, but it only managed to slow down the speed at which Sena was being dragged under. He was already shoulder deep, and Akaba was fading fast.

Akaba gritted his teeth, he pried, he scratched, he even bit the sand, but it was no use. His red eyes were glassy. He looked desperate. "I wish I could have done more, my nightowl," Akaba said, and then winked out of existence.

The black entity emerged from where the sand had pooled in front of Sena. Its movements were slower now, less cocky. The thing shifted. Its amorphous head opened up to reveal a mouth; it shifted some more and opened its mouth to a set of yellow, dagger-like teeth, dripping with saliva.

"Ahh… now, I feast," it said. It launched itself at Sena's bare neck.

Sena flinched, but there was no pain. He snapped his eyes open.

Sena stared in shock as shadows struck through the entity. The entity reeled back, screeching in pain. The black sand's grip slackened, and Sena took in a deep painful breath. From the closet door under the stairs, Sena saw a pair of furious golden eyes.

-6-

Takeru launched more attacks to keep the entity busy. He sliced through the weakened sand, and pulled Sena up. He cradled Sena against his chest. Sena didn't even flinch at how cold Takeru was. He realized that Takeru was panting.

"Sorry, I'm late," Takeru said, out of breath. His wide narrow teeth were now all needle-like fangs. "I brought friends. Took forever finding them."

Out stepped Sena's grandparents.

"What…?"

"I'm going to keep the poltergeist busy while she explains things," Takeru pointed a thumb at Sena's grandmother. He laid Sena gently on the ground, brushed his fingertips across Sena's forehead.

"You're too weak… much too weak…" the entity mocked.

"Is that a guarantee?" Takeru winked at Sena before charging in.

"Ah, to be young and in love," Sena heard his grandmother say. "Do you remember that, Koji?"

"I remember it fondly," Sena's grandfather added, good-naturedly, "Though I doubt I was that reckless, Matsu."

Sena could hardly believe what he was seeing. His grandparent's kept changing age… or rather, they were every age at once. The elderly couple Sena most clearly remembered, Matsu in a Victorian era black dress and Koji in fishing clothes and slippers; changing to a pair of teenagers, Matsu pale faced and smeared in black eye-makeup while Koji wore jeans and a white t-shirt, hair slicked back; morphing to their middle-aged selves, she looked like some vampiric seductress and he in a plain suit; changing then to children, Matsu like a ghost child with her long dark hair and white dress and Koji – just an average kid, Pokémon shirt and skinned knees. Every stage was morphing from one form to another, and if Sena stared enough, he thought he could see every version at the same time, though it hurt his already muddled head.

"How are you doing, my boy?" Matsu asked, flitting to a different age, early twenties. "You ready for an exorcism?"

"He's pretty injured, dear. I don't think he can quite respond. That monster really did a number on him."

"Blasted thing," Matsu rolled up the sleeve of her black Lolita dress and spit to the side. "I'll teach it who's boss! This thing's no match for me. You know how long I've been reading up about this?"

"Yes, dear – oh? Something powerful is coming," Koji turned towards the front door. Sena managed to turn his head as the front door opened.

It was Seijuro, and Sena had never been happier in life. His suit was torn, his face smudged with dirt. Purple bruises mottled his jaw. The edges of his overcoat were even burned slightly. Seijuro's eyes danced around the room, processing everything in a split second.

"My apologies. The entity – the poltergeist, I believe it is – interfered."

"Oh," Matsu said in a tone Sena was highly suspicious of. "Are you the gentleman that has been keeping Sena safe?"

Seijuro's eyes darted towards Sena's prone form. "I've tried."

"Hmph. Some efforts. Well, make it up to me by helping seal this thing, or I'll never forgive you and make sure Sena falls in love with that young Takeru over there. He's a very charming fellow. Very capable. You know, Sena, are you sure…?"

"The… the thing," Sena murmured. Even in life and death situations, his grandmother was still too much.

"Dear," Koji said gently.

"Oh, yes." She rubbed her hands together. "Right then!"

-7-

Sena rested against Seijuro's lap while Matsu stood in between Koji and Takeru. Takeru had enclosed them in a shadowy circle, while he struck distracting blows at the poltergeist. Matsu held a necklace as she chanted into each bead. Koji was humming with a patient, strong energy. He clasped both hands together and closed his eyes.

The poltergeist in front of them had recouped its strength somewhat, and while it dodged every blow, it couldn't get any nearer. Every time its dust trails edged too close to Takeru's circle, the black shadows would lash out, incinerating the offending strike.

"Four more meals," it muttered, almost as if reassuring itself. It sounded scared, Sena thought. Worried. "The little thing brought me four morsels, yes… exactly as planned… Just kill the shadow walker, and the rest are defenseless."

"Gentleman that currently holds Sena's affections," Matsu said, "No, not you Takeru! You! Seijuro, do you know a sealing spell?" (If Sena had enough strength, he would have wanted to bury his face in his hands. The best he could do was turn red.)

"Yes, ma'am." Seijuro took out a copper flask with a cork stopper and placed them on the ground. One hand hovered over the flask while he chanted, while the other hand cradled Sena's face gently in place.

Matsu's beads glowed with a light so bright, Sena couldn't look directly at them. There was a soft breeze picking up strength, and it took Sena a moment to realize it was his grandfather's doing. His serene face was marred only by a slight crease in his eyebrow as he concentrated; his clothes started floating in the air.

On an invisible signal, Takeru struck at the poltergeist with intent, a black pillar of shadow striking abruptly. The poltergeist was caught off guard, and the pillar pierced it, slowing it down. A stream of black sand launched weakly at Takeru's neck, but Takeru snapped it in half using his fanged mouth. He looped a thick shadow coil around the trapped poltergeist and pulled it forward. The entity kept trying to melt away, but Sena realized that it was his grandfather keeping it in place.

'He's not controlling wind… he's shifting the gravity…'

The poltergeist was right in front of Sena's grandmother.

"You were a fool to think you could hurt my dear grandson," Matsu said. She placed the glowing necklace around the poltergeist's neck. It screeched in agony. It sounded raw and inhuman. Seijuro covered Sena's ears with his hands. "Foolish indeed."

Black lashes of sand attacked them again in desperation, but Takeru's barrier held. It kept trying to phase out, to escape, but the power was absolute, and it was helpless. The poltergeist moaned in pain one last time, a guttural, ugly sound, before it disintegrated. A black, amorphous cloud flowed out of the sand that it had controlled, leaving it golden colored once more.

"With this, I seal you," Seijuro commanded. The copper flask sucked in the dark cloud, and Seijuro added a handful of the powder Sena had milled, and pressed the cork stopper firmly in place.

Takeru collapsed on his back, exhausted. All his shadows snapped back to him quickly. His arms twitched. "That was one hell of a beast," he said between gasps. "I…"

Takeru caught Seijuro and Sena's compromising position. His teeth were losing their points as he settled into himself once more.

"I've been known to be a bit of a sore loser. Wish I had more time, but the summoning is running out. You know… I hate to see you go, but I love watching you leave."

Sena smiled despite himself. "A pervert to the end," Sena said. Takeru gave him a tired grin, before he turned into a shadow and retreated into the darkness.

-8-

Matsu crossed her arms. She looked like a petulant child. "I thought you were supposed to renovate my house, not tear it apart!"

She had a point. The stairs, walls, and flooring were splintered in several places. There was water damage that Kakei had inadvertently left. Not to mention all the sand that had stayed behind that poltergeist.

"Dear, please," Koji said. "Is that really how you want this to go?"

"No, Grandpa," Sena winced, from pain or guilt was hard to tell, "Grandma's right. I was supposed to take care of this house… I'm sorry… I…" Sena felt Seijuro wipe at his cheeks. "I've missed you both so much."

"Oh, honey," Matsu said. She kneeled next to Sena, took his hand in hers. It felt like a cool sea breeze. Koji kneeled, too, ruffling at Sena's hair. "Sena… I got to see my parents again after thirty years… and all my friends…"

"And the fish are always biting," Koji added. He was wearing his fishing hat, with the shrunken head tackle. "Don't mourn us anymore, my boy, there's no need."

"There was never a need, truth be told." Matsu plucked the shrunken head tackle from her husband's hat. She rubbed the forehead, and Koji kissed its cheek. They placed it next to the copper flask. "For good luck. You'll always have a bit of us with you now."

"And we'll be keeping an eye on this place to limit unwanted visitors," Koji added.

The last thing Sena heard of them, was their loving bickering as they faded away.

"I do hope that Seijuro will take care of him."

"Darling, give the young man more credit. He's very powerful. That sealing technique…"

"Yes it was good. But if he's so powerful, how did my dear grandson get injured! Now that Takeru on the other hand!"

"You can't just cherry pick all those suitors. Obviously he'll find his own!"

"Well, like father like son like grandson."

And then Seijuro and Sena were left alone.

-9-

As was starting to become a concerning routine, Seijuro drove Sena to the emergency room. Seijuro's car was badly dented and all the windows were shattered. Seijuro offered no more explanation other than the entity had interfered.

Sena lay in the back seat, propped up against the inside of the door while Seijuro avoided potholes. From time to time, Seijuro's concerned eyes would fill the rearview mirror. It was nearing midnight, and they had a long trip ahead of them. But that was a good thing, Sena decided as he rolled the shrunken head between his hands. He needed to say some things.

"Um… Seijuro…"

"Save your energy. We can talk later."

"No, I need to apologize… you know, at dinner…" Sena's headache made itself present again in stabbing pulses.

"It was the poltergeist."

"It made me act… I'm not… I really had… I mean, I like you."

"I know," Seijuro said. Sena almost fell out of the seat. Seijuro's cheeks were uplifted. He was smiling. "I believe your grandparent's house sits on a supernatural node. It acts almost like a gate. I presume the combined force of your… previous roommates was able to keep the poltergeist from trespassing, but with the sudden vacuum of supernatural occupants, it was able to come in and affect you. Poltergeists live off of negative energy, and they're known to cause it to continue feeding."

"It made me say s-such awful things. Like with the diet thing? I admire your body – er, I mean! How careful you are with your body, um." Seijuro was smiling again. "I… I am still suffering from a concussion," Sena tried to defend himself. "And blood deprivation to my brain."

"You should rest," Seijuro said again, serious. "I'm surprised you're still coherent after what it did to you. You've also expended a decent amount of energy summoning five supernatural beings. Your summoning method was… rough, but it performed the job."

"I didn't know if it'd work… they all went away so quickly, not like the first time."

"Summoning pacts are like that. The more intense the summoning, the more power you give to the beings you summon, but the quicker the summoning expires. Do you recall what powers Kakei, Akaba, and Takeru had when you first met them?"

"They weren't anything like tonight."

"Exactly. Now rest. We can talk more about tonight later, after you've seen medical professionals."

Sena blinked. He was exhausted but not sleepy. Too much adrenaline, too many racing questions, too many aches, and he'd never been able to fall asleep on long car rides anyway. He was glad to have seen Akaba and Kakei and Takeru again. He'd missed them. There was probably a way to communicate with them again, at least to tell them thank you, and that he wasn't dead. Although Takeru probably already told the other two that they'd won. He'd ask Seijuro about that later.

Sena's grandmother's words echoed in his mind. Like father like son like grandson. Sena didn't have to be a genius to know what that meant. Sena's mother hadn't been as occult obsessed as his grandmother, but she was still a bit… odder than the average person, and Sena's father loved her dearly. Sena's eyes trailed back to Seijuro, Paranormal Investigator. Maybe it ran in the family. Sena figured, that while he still had a concussion as an excuse, he'd try to get away with saying bold things.

"Um, Seijuro? How's business in the city?"

"Abundant. A more concentrated population draws with it a higher concentration of the supernatural."

"Oh… And… around Enma University?"

If Seijuro was surprised, he didn't show it. His cheeks lifted up again. "There's plenty of work in that area. I'll be frequenting it often, in fact."

"Mm, is that so? Maybe, um… maybe… you should find a place to live there, then."

Seijuro's eyes filled the rearview mirror again. "You have a concussion," he accused. There was no heat to his words, though. He sounded… smitten.

"Yes, but… I'd suggest the same thing without one."

"Rest up," Seijuro said after a beat. He turned on the radio. It was a love song. He drummed his thumb against the steering wheel with the beat. He was still smiling.

Sena was excellent at reading in between the lines. He leaned back against the car door, satisfied for now, and watched the scenery fly past under the veil of the moon.