Another night with Natsuo had taught Sho two things.

One: It was criminal to be as adorable as Natsuo when he blushed and stuttered his way through any sort of coherent sentence.

Two: Sho really did let his guard down too often.

Sho had decided that it would be his nightly ritual to see Natsuo home. Natsuo objected, like he had before, but Sho was good at needling people (with smiles and childish logic) into agreeing with him, and eventually Natsuo had bobbed his head and given his consent.

So there they were, leisurely strolling up to Natsuo's house, chatting (one-sidedly) - and Sho just stopped, nearly lurching head-over-heels onto the asphalt from the kickback of his abrupt halt. The scent of ghoul invaded his nostrils, making his nose twitch; his eyes zeroed in on the pair of man standing before the door to the house, singling out the ghoul in a heartbeat.

Tall, well-muscled, dressed in outlandish yet complimentary clothes, the ghoul was unfairly attractive, his pink locks perfectly tousled to give him that pretty-faced playboy look. The intoxicating aroma of perfume and cologne alike clung to his skin, probably as a means of covering up his own natural scent, though why he felt the need to, Sho wasn't sure. Humans couldn't pick out the minute differences in each other's odors, it was doubtful they'd notice whatever it was that separated from ghouls.

His identity as a ghoul, though, that was all that mattered to Sho in that moment.

He'd started to grab Natsuo, conjuring up an excuse he could use to get the man away from his house for a while, but he'd stopped short when he noticed the man with the ghoul.

Whoa... am I seeing double Nat-chans?

The man beside the ghoul looked like a carbon-copy of Natsuo, perhaps a few years older but nearly identical nonetheless. He wore a wrinkled suit, the jacket of which he left unbuttoned, and Sho swore he was staring at the future version of Natsuo.

It was... trippy, to say the least, but not unpleasant.

The man (possibly Natsuo's beloved big bro?), unaware they had an audience, glowered at the ghoul.

"Touch me, and I'll rip out your throat with my teeth."

That said, he rummaged through his pocket, muttering to himself about keys, keys, keys.

The ghoul chuckled in response.

"You're welcome to try," he replied, gaze sliding back to where Natsuo and Sho stood, stunned into silence. His eyes brightened with a dawning realization as he snapped his fingers. "Lemme guess, you're this guy's brother?"

Without warning, Natsuo broke off from Sho's side and hurried for his supposed brother.

"Aniki?" he questioned. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fucking--" The blue-haired man stopped short, startled. Sho could see the fear slowly washing over him, the self-loathing; the way he held himself shifted, his shoulders hunched and his head bowed slightly, as if to minimize his intimidation factor.

The ghoul, clearly amused, turned his attention to Sho.

"And you're the little brother's friend, I take it?"

"Um..."

Sho didn't know quite how to respond; he was still stuck on the fact that Natsuo's brother was being led home by a ghoul. And that they looked so much alike. That was just... weird to him, since he and his siblings could pass for perfect strangers. Then there was the unbridled animosity he'd felt rolling off the man--that kind of rage was hard to come by, in Sho's experience. It had dissolved the moment he'd laid eyes on Natsuo, but still...

"Just kill me now," Sho heard him mumble, in what was obviously meant to be a whisper so low no one would pick up on it. Sho internally winced, feeling a twinge of guilt for his unconscious eavesdropping.

"That can be arranged," the ghoul replied, equally as quiet; though he eyed Sho knowingly, and Sho winced again.

Natsuo hadn't stopped staring. Nevermind that it was rude, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off his brother. His face was open and pallid with shock and distress, to the point where Sho wanted to bundle him up in his arms and hold him until all this went away. But that wasn't going to work here.

"Aniki... you're..." Natsuo began, trailing off.

"Fine," his brother mumbled, smoothing his hair away from his face, "I'm fine, Natsuo. I swear. This is just..."

His shame was palpable in the still evening air.

"I'm drunk, yeah. It's a problem, and I'll try not to let it happen again. Let's just... get inside for now, and I'll explain in the morning, okay?"

Sho took that as a chance to scamper up to Natsuo's side. He cast a worried look between the three of them, lingering a tad too long on the ghoul, before he tugged at Natsuo's sleeve.

"Um, I'll see you in class, Nat-chan! Get some sleep, 'kay?"

Natsuo watched as the ghoul assisted his brother in fitting the key into the lock and opening the door before looking back at Sho, his expression utterly lost.

"Uh, thanks," he mumbled in response. "I'll make sure. See you in class, Sho-kun."

Sho smiled, meekly (which was very much unlike him) as Natsuo and his brother entered the house, with Natsuo stepping forward to support his brother's shoulder. The strong scent of alcohol lingered on the doorstep, and Sho tried not to let it bother him.

He looked uncertainly at the other ghoul once the door was closed and he thought he heard the brothers ascending the stairs.

"Don't hurt Nat-chan or his brother," he said as fiercely as he could, though he was tragically aware how little impact his words would have on another ghoul.

The ghoul put his hands, palm up, in the air in an innocent gesture.

"Who, me?" he asked. "Don't worry, kid, I don't have any such plans. Actually, I'm hoping to wipe my hands of this family now that this is finished."

Following that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and started to move around Sho. After a second's thought, however, he paused.

"Don't suppose you'd be able to guess why?"

"No..." Sho answered warily, turning slightly so that he was facing the other ghoul.

In all honesty, he'd thought the way the ghoul acted with Natsuo's brother was strange - he seemed interested in him, whatever that meant. So to hear him say that he wanted nothing more to do with the family was unexpected, to say the least.

"That guy," the ghoul began, gesturing at the door with his thumb. "Yoshio, the kid's older brother, is a dove."

That's... why am I not surprised?

Sho's newfound friendship with Natsuo had seemed a little too good to be true, so this was just the reason behind that feeling.

A Dove... he wasn't sure he could work around that. It was a huge step up from a simple brother complex.

"...Then why you'd bother with him?" Sho suddenly asked, taking a step forward after the other ghoul. "With Yoshio-san? Whatever you two were doing, I doubt you were the only one who could have helped him, ghoul-san..."

"Hm... why, huh?" the ghoul mused, cocking his head back thoughtfully. "Well, he was at a bar owned by a buddy of mine, for one. If he'd caused trouble there, well, attention on that place wouldn't be good. That, and the guy was interesting up until the whole investigator thing. Figured I might as well play it out until the end. Plus, imagine a drunk dove getting attacked on his way home? What sort of attention would that bring this place?"

"...So you cared about him a little, then, right?" Sho pressed, reaching for something he couldn't quite name. His night with Natsuo had changed something for him - and maybe he was trying to convince himself he wasn't going crazy for wanting to continue their relationship, despite the project tying them together, and his brother being a ghoul investigator. "I mean... you noticed he didn't have a briefcase, right?"

The ghoul nodded.

"I did, which made the idea of him walking home even more uncomfortable," Koji announced. "A defenseless, drunk, dove. Worst possible scenario there is, I think. As for caring for him... eh, I wouldn't go that far. He's interesting, sure..."

He trailed off, appearing to musing over the concept.

"Not my type of emotion," he announced.

"If you say so," Sho sighed.

Now this was unusual - him feeling almost depressed.

He was pretty sure whatever he was feeling, there wasn't much precedent for it. Which wasn't a good thing. But, he supposed he could leave it for tomorrow.

"Thanks for the information, ghoul-san," he said, starting in the direction of his own home, "I guess I won't see you again."

"It's Koji," the ghoul called back as he started walking again. "Not Ghoul-san. I work at the Host club on Fifth. And, you never know, kid, how things'll turn out."

Sho turned slightly, cast another glance back at the ghoul to see him walking away, hands shoved carelessly into his pockets. Not a whiff of anxiety on him. Sho envied him then, he really did. And then he pushed the thought aside and started for home, promising himself he'd sort things out tomorrow.