Once they were back at Soubi's apartment, Kio seemed t o return to normal. He was laughing, joking around, and he had one of those disgusting yogurt lollypops in his mouth. Soubi, for the life of him, could not figure out what Kio saw in them. He'd tried a few flavors, and found each one repulsive. But, then again, maybe it was just a Kio thing. Said blonde looked up over the table to see Kio looking down at his watch.

"So eager to get out of here, are you?"

"Huh?" He looked up, almost as if he didn't understand.

"If I'm keeping you up, you should go."

"Ah.. no, it's not that. I was just thinking."

"What about? …Or do I not want to know?" Kio grinned.

"You might like the answer."

"Doubt it."

"Ha ha…" He laughed again. "Sorry. It's just late, now… you know I don't like driving in the dark."

"I'm sorry. Ritsuka needed to get home quickly. My heart nearly stopped when he collapsed like that."

"It's okay… I was happy to be useful." That other Kio was starting to come out again, as he gripped the front of his shirt. But this time, Soubi wasn't going to just brush it off. He decided to bring it out, and confront Kio.

"Well, since you're here, you might as well spend the night!"

"Squee! Really?!" 3 He was excited, but Soubi wouldn't get his hopes up.

"You're sleeping on the couch."

"! Aww… So mean…"



"Deal with it."

"Okay, okay."

Kio yawned, then, and Soubi followed suit. Yawns were so evilly contagious.

"We should get ready for bed."

"Yeah. We have class in the morning, bright an early."

Doing as he normally would, Kio rose to his feet, abandoning his half-licked lolly and shamelessly started unbuttoning his shirt. Soubi turned his head, not caring, and trying to restrain himself from hitting his friend on the head. In fact, he was about to walk to his room to sleep, but as his friend slipped his shirt off his slender shoulders, the fighter could not help but notice two small, circular scars on Kio's back. But they were gone soon after as Kio slipped a white t-shirt over his torso. Feeling eyes on his back, he turned, to find Soubi staring at him quizzically.

"What?"

"I saw something…. Take your shirt off again."

"Ohh? You finally want to acknowledge me, huh? It's about time!"

"I'm being serious, Kio. Take off your shirt and turn around."

It was Soubi's dark tone that alerted Kio to something not quite right. But, it didn't take more than a minute for him to realize what Soubi was referring to. He'd been so careful up until then, and Soubi hadn't let on at all… he just wasn't ready for his cover to be blown. His hands had moved to the bottom of his shirt, almost unconsciously, but now he stopped them and turned towards the couch.

"I'm going to bed, Sou-chan. Night."