Today's chapter title is brought to you by the song "First Breath After a Coma" by Explosions in the Sky. C'est un bon chason. :3

The window is huge. It takes up the whole wall. He can see practically everything outside. He even has to shift his head to catch it all because his line of sight is too narrow. He wonders if every once in a while he should do something crazy if only for this view. Now only to get on the other side of the glass. Hatori said he'll ask Akito, but that doesn't mean anything. If only he could lay in the dirt and grass and leaves for a while, to feel their touch again. What he wants most in the world isn't that – his wish is much bigger and much better – but for now, he would love to be outside. Just for a while.

Haru is standing guard this morning, babysitting. Of course, "standing guard" is a loose term since he's really sitting in a wooden chair by the door, his ankle resting on his other knee, reading some book Kyo has never heard of. It's been so long since he last saw Haru. Did he grow? It looks like he grew. They would both have to stand up for Kyo to be sure. He still wears an excessive amount of accessories. Kyo never understood that. Don't they weigh him down? What, does he just want to stand out? Surely, his hair would take care of that.

"Are you staring at me?"

Kyo quickly looks back to the window. There's a moment of silence in which he still feels Haru's eyes in him. He steals a quick glance at the ox.

"You're staring at me now."

"I know."

Another moment of silence. A moment of awkward silence – on Kyo's side at least.

"Stop it." Another glance. Another pause.

"You need a haircut."

Kyo looks at him straight on now. "Excuse me?"

"It's too long. It's shaggy and unwashed and gross-looking. I stand by my prior statement."

Kyo's mouth drops a little in surprise and confusion. "You really want to talk about my hair?"

"No. I want to cut it. Weren't you listening?"

Kyo sighs and stares out the window. "Well, sorry all I have are some rusty scissors to chop it off with when it gets annoying."

Haru sits for a moment, thinking. He stands up, sets his book down, and pokes his head out the door just as a servant-girl passes in a rush. He stops her and asks something. She shakes her head, looking very apologetic as if his request was second only to something of much greater importance. Haru nods. The servant continues her brisk walk down the hall. He opens the door wide and leans against the frame, his arms crossed, waiting.

He stands there for a good fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. Kyo can't imagine what he's doing – or trying to do, rather. Surely this isn't about his hair. It is not that big of a deal. Although, a good washing would be really nice right about now. He only has running water three days a week in that room, and a scarce amount of it. He often has to choose between clean hair and body or a flushed toilet. Would he rather sacrifice his cleanliness or his nostrils? He often has to remind himself that he at least has a toilet. He doesn't know what he would do without one.

Haru glances up and down the hall. He stands up straighter suddenly and motions for whomever he saw to come closer. Kyo is beyond surprised when she comes into view.

It's Kisa.

Haru tells her something that merits her to glance at Kyo, her eyes wide. She seems nervous. Haru says something else. Whatever it is, it must convince her because she nods. Haru follows her inside the hospital room.

"I'll go get some scissors," he proclaims. "We can wash your hair in the bathtub in there." He gestures to the door of the restroom at the other end of the room. "And even if your bandages get wet, you're probably due for a change anyway. I'll be right back." And with that, he leaves.

Due for a change? "He makes it sound like I'm a baby with a crappy diaper," Kyo mutters, mostly to himself. He looks at Kisa. Her eyes are downcast, stuck to the floor like bean paste to a rice ball. "Hey, have you gotten taller?"

She looks up. "Um…"

"That's okay. I can tell you have."

This is awkward. This is so awkward. Why is she so uncomfortable? It's making Kyo uncomfortable. She always seemed timid around him, but this is ridiculous. When will Haru be back?

"Um…" Kyo looks up at the sound of her small voice. When his eyes meet hers, though, she glances away and shuts her mouth.

After a few moments, Kisa sucks in a breath and asks quickly, "Do you remember coming here?"

Kyo blinks. "You mean, like, to this room?"

Her lips are pursed in a hard line, but she separates them for a fraction of a second to let out a quick, quiet, "Yes."

"Not really. I guess I was pretty out of it 'cause all I remember is this dream I had."

"About onee-san?"

Her voice is as quiet as a breath, but he hears her nonetheless.

She gasps. "Oh, I – no – I'm sorry, I – "

Both of their eyes are wide when Haru walks in with a pair of scissors and a bottle of shampoo.

o.O.o.O.o

"Seriously, dude, that is gross," Haru says from above Kyo's head. "We're going to end up using the whole bottle."

The three of them are in the bathroom now, Kyo bent forward over the side of the tub, the crown of his head in the water. While his top half is a mummified mass of white bandages, a few bloodstains showing through, his bottom half is still covered with the maroon kimono that they gave him when he grew out of his other clothes, the upper-part hanging at his sides, secured by a wide, dark cloth belt.

"Well, sometimes, I would rather have that room smell nice than be squeaky clean. Trust me, I bathe when I can." Kyo's voice is muffled by the thick plastic of the tub. His head bobs as Kisa grinds the soapy shampoo into his orange hair. After he discovered the searing pain that rips through his arms and sides when he raises his arms too high, he and Haru employed Kisa's shampooing skills. While she wonders why Haru was hesitant to so do himself, she says nothing and just scrubs. She doesn't really mind much.

A little while later, Kyo is sitting in the same wooden chair that Haru was in earlier, moved into the middle of the bathroom floor. He waits cross-legged and as motionless as possible with a towel draped around his shoulders, Haru and the mirror to his left, the tub on his right, and Kisa clipping behind him.

"Are you sure about this?" Kyo asks.

"I told you," Haru assures him, "Kisa is our resident beautician. She started with Hiro, and now none of us will trust our hair to anyone else."

"If you say so," Kyo concedes. He watches from the corner of his eye as bits and pieces of bright, freshly-washed orange float down to the tile, like the tiny feathers of an exotic bird. The only sound is the snip, snip of the scissors behind his head.

A few moments later, Haru breaks the silence. "Did you know you and Yuki have the same blood type?"

Kyo's face wrinkles in confusion. "Are you sure? 'Cause that would disprove the belief that blood type determines personality. We are nothing alike."

"I don't know about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a good thing, though," Haru continues, ignoring the comment, "because Hatori was able to give you a transfusion."

"What?!" Kyo whips his head around, and Kisa lets out a short squeal – followed by a sigh a relief.

"Don't do that," she breathes as she places her hands on either side of his head and turns it back to face the front. He complies, but his expression remains intact.

"You mean to tell me that Yuki gave me a transfusion? That damn rat's blood is running through my veins? I've been tainted by his DNA?!"

"Yes."

"You are too calm about this!"

"He was pretty cool about it, too. Surprisingly willing."

There's a pause. Snip, snip.

"Really?"

"Yep. It was beautiful."

"Oh, shut up."

"Please stop moving your head," Kisa interjects quietly.

"Really, though," Haru continues. "It was pretty intense. I think most of us were in shock more than anything for a while. Except Kisa. She seemed to get it – what was happening, I mean."

"You were there?" Kyo asks her, surprised.

"Yes," she says quietly. Snip.

"She was good, too. Kept you awake."

"I was awake?" If he wasn't knocked out, then that meant he wasn't dreaming. There's no way that dream was real, as much as he burned for it to be true. Was he hallucinating?

"You were in and out. But your eyes were open for the most part, and you were talking."

Kyo's eyes go wide. His jaw clenches. And he gulps. His voice is low and monotone as he asks, "What did I say?"

Haru cocks his head to the side, pauses, and answers, "Babbling, mostly," but his voice insinuates a deeper meaning.

A moment passes, and Kyo remembers something.

"About onee-san?"

His heart sinks. He remembers something else, this time from his dream.

"Will you try to stay awake? I want you to stay with me right now, Kyo-kun. I need you to stay with me."

And Haru: "She was good, too. Kept you awake."

"Oh, God," he groans. "I was hallucinating."

"Yep."

"You know, Haru, you aren't very sympathetic."

"Sorry."

"Who all was there?" he asks miserably.

"Me, Kisa, Hiro, Momiji, Yuki, and Hatori, obviously."

"Ugh," Kyo groans, his shoulders sagging.

"Kyo," Kisa pleads.

"Sorry," he mutters and tries again to be as still as possible.