"You what?!"

"Shut up a little, would you? Kiyoshi's asleep in the other room."

"Wha-- I mean, sorry, I'll... but Kimi, really, you went outta your way--"

"It wasn't outta my way, Hinata. The Dove was in my neighborhood. You know I'm part of the Watch."

"But, ya risked so much--"

"You have an axe to grind with this guy, don't ya, brat?"

Hinata's mouth instantly clamps shut, his cheeks flushing an irate pink. She's hit the nail right on the head, and Kimi knows him well enough that he doesn't really have to respond. So he ducks his head and slouches onto a stool by the island counter. Kimi, huffing a strand of red hair from her eyes, sits across from him, sliding her coffee closer to her.

She takes a sip while he struggles to compose himself, rubbing bitterly at his flaming cheeks.

"I assume you're this worked up because Rui's involved?" she says lightly, peering at him while she blows the steam from her mug, quick little breaths that Hinata tries to focus on, to distract him from the maddening swirl of thoughts churning in his head.

"'Course," he says, because she knows him. Lying wouldn't do him any good. "First time I saw that guy, I was freaked out. At first, it was only 'cause he was pissing off Rui-chan, but then, the way he looked at me..."

"You think he's onto you? About being a ghoul?"

"I think it's definitely possible..."

"Well, that's nothing surprising. You're obvious, Hinata."

"Huh?"

"The only time you're out in public, you're chugging down coffee. People never see you eat, and your excuse that you have a sensitive stomach comes across as complete and utter bull, just saying. You pick fights with investigators even when you're a puppy dog to everyone else. It's a tad suspicious, don't ya think?"

"It's not--" Hinata cuts himself off. Is it? Is he that obvious?

"I'm surprised Rui didn't think something was up with you," Kimi goes on, jumping over his interruption without a second thought. "She even said she didn't understand your change in attitude when it came to Nomura Shin."

"We're not here to talk about me," Hinata mutters, slapping his hands down on the counter to break into Kimi's train of thought. She shrugs, downing another mouthful of coffee and wrinkling her nose; she'd let Hinata make it, which she regrets now. His taste buds aren't as fine-tuned as hers, something she discovered years ago. "So let's get back to the main topic, 'kay?"

"Suits me fine," Kimi agrees, flicking Hinata an appraising glance. His attempt at steering the conversation away from his insecurities is amusing, to say the least. He's still a brat even though he's sporting such a grown-up body. Kimi rolls her eyes; just another reason not to judge a book by its cover. "You came to yell at me, so get on with it."

"I'm not here to yell..."

"Coulda fooled me. You stormed in here like a man on fire."

"I just... I don't understand it. How did you even scare Skinner off...? He wasn't much of a pushover last time we chatted..."

"He was already hurt from Nomura, not terribly, but it freaked him out, I think. Didn't look like a ghoul who dealt well with pain. So I just showed off a little, played the monster, and he ran off with his koukaku between his legs."

"That it?"

"You expecting some gore-filled tale of heroism, Hina? It's not my style, thought you knew that."

"I do, I... Skinner's a real monster, Kimi. He scares the shit outta me. And he's already killed two of Rui-chan's friends..."

"You said you weren't going to get involved with him, that you'd let the CCG handle it, didn't you?"

"But now Nomura-san--"

"It's not like you were expecting much of him," Kimi interjects, shutting Hinata down with a slit-eyed stare over the lip of her mug. "Let me guess - you were even hoping he wouldn't survive the attack?"

"No--"

"And you're pissed that Rui wanted to see him? You shouldn't mind it all that much. She's just that kinda girl, Hina, she likes taking care of people, or at least trying to."

There's silence for a moment. Hinata slides off his stool and pads over to the counter beside the fridge and rummages around in the cabinets above until he pulls down a mug of his own; it's actually his, a gift from Kimi after he'd managed to live in the complex for a month without running wild in the streets again. He frowns at it, then pushes aside the memories it dredges up and fills it with coffee from the pot before returning to sitting across from Kimi.

She doesn't pressure him to speak. She doesn't need to. Kimi's known him so long he's an open book to her. And he's conflicted. It reminds of her of when he first stumbled upon their community. He was more than a little crazed back then, high on fresh blood and the adrenaline of multiple brushes with the CCG, but he'd just lost Daichi - his best friend - and he felt disgusted with himself, with his lifestyle. He wanted to change, didn't know how.

Kimi'd stuck up for him then. She saw the spark inside of them, the innocence he so wanted to reclaim. Satoshi hadn't been happy about it, nor a few other key members of their community, but Kimi took him under her wing anyway. She felt it'd be such a shame if this kid ended up on the mantle of some Dove's fireplace, his kagune stuffed into a quinque and made to kill others of his kind - even if he wasn't overly fond of most of them.

Now it's five years later and Hinata's grown, moved out on his own, carved out his own little niche in a place far away from the comfort of his former home. But he's still the same old kid, running scared and desperately trying to cling to the things he holds dear. He's still got that nasty temper of his, even if he tucks it away and buries it under layers of cheeky smiles and innuendoes. He's still the kid with blood on his hands and tears in his eyes, a plea on his lips and a death wish in the back of his mind.

He's like the rest of them, a reformed ghoul.

"You hate him," she says, and Hinata jerks but doesn't raise his head to look at her head-on. "You hate him because you don't want Rui to like him, right? Because you're paranoid that she'll realize it's easier to be with him than you. She won't have to worry about being discovered, about getting tossed in jail. She could get married, have kids, have a life with him - with anyone who isn't you."

"Stop."

"So you hate him, Hina. You're jealous. And even though Rui hasn't done anything to indicate she likes him, you're all afraid thinking they'll fall for each. There's gotta be some psychobabble term for that... Maybe Misaki'll know, she studies psychology, doesn't she?"

"I don't... Stop, Kimi."

Kimi doesn't stop.

"You don't like people, other humans, getting close to her. You're that afraid that she'll take one look at them and see you as a monster again?"

"Kimi!"

Hinata's shaking now, his teeth clamped tightly together to ward off their fretful chattering; his tongue presses against the roof of his mouth, thick and useless with its inability to deny a word that's left Kimi's lips. He's been aware of his own feelings, all this time, but he's smothered them, unwilling to admit he's such an awful person for practically wishing for Shin's death. He's desperate, it's his only excuse for his current mindset; losing Rui now would deal such a heavy blow to him that he's sure the last five years of effort would be swept aside in an instant, and he'd return to being the killer, the monster, the madman he'd been after losing both his father and his best friend.

"She's special, Kimi..." He nearly chokes on the words, because what right does he even have to think that, let alone speak it aloud? "She..."

"...I know, Hina."

Her hand folds around his, injection some much needed warmth into his frigid, shivering skin. He looks up from his chilling mug, finds her brown eyes - so different from his own, so much less frantic and hollow. She quirks her mouth into a dry smile.

"You're a fool in love, ya know that?"

That - that coaxes a smile from Hinata.

"It's funny," he says, wrapping his free hand around his coffee, "she doesn't even know how long I've been wantin' to talk with her. She thinks we met for the first time when we bumped into each other as she was gettin' on the elevator. Rui-chan's too cute, honestly."

Kimi rolls her eyes, withdrawing her hand as she goes to drop her mug into the sink. She'll get to it later, once Hinata's calmed down and left. Or she'll let Kiyoshi handle the dishes when he wakes up; he enjoys the few chores she leaves to him, probably out of some misguided need to give back to her for taking him in. She'd tell him off for it if she didn't enjoy the help around the apartment.

"She's gonna be the end of you," Kimi tells him when he meets her gaze again. She reclines against the counter, elbows propped up one either side of her, and there's a fond smile on her face to counteract any sting that might have been present in her words. "Or vice versa. You're both too soft for this world, Hina."

"So what?" he mumbles stubbornly, swirling around the dregs of his coffee in the bottom of the mug, unable to help smiling to himself a little as he remembers his first outing with Rui at the cafe. "As long as I can keep her safe... that's all that matters to me."

"Which is why you're a naive idiot."

"Hey!"

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, did I, brat?"

"..."

"By the way, it's a very bad thing. Just FYI."

"Kimi!"

He ignores her laughter, recalling what they'd originally been talking about and trying to cycle back around to that - just to get away from anything involving Rui.

"What if Nomura-san puts out a notice for you, Kimi?"

She seems to consider this for a moment, puffing out her fair cheeks in thought, before she shrugs, waving a hand flippantly even as Hinata gapes at her, incredulous. He can't believe she can be so... so blase about this.

"Don't look like that, brat," she says, mock-sternly. "Your face screams constipation right now."

Hinata shuts his mouth, sinking down into his seat.

"And anyway, you weren't there. Nomura... I doubt he'll say anything about me. The man was mortified that he was helped by a ghoul." She smiles, a touch more sadistic than she was before. "It's a pride thing. I'd say I'm in the clear so long as he's the only Dove that wanders into our lovely little trash heap."