Keith quietly stared down at the case file in his lap as he rested in the hospital room with Kouki listening to music in the bed next to his. Two guards were stationed outside of the room for security reasons and Keith never felt more like a caged animal in his life as he had an internal conflict over whether or not he should try to get up and walk or not. He slid his hand down the rough surface of the folder slowly, thinking back to when he was passed out from blood loss. He had reached out for Lance in the same way he had reached out for Abby before she nearly killed herself because of him; he was seeking comfort in Lance...but why?

Keith tilted his head back onto the pillow and blew out a loud puff of air obnoxiously. "I hate sitting in here, it gives me too much time to think." He grumbled.

"You sound like an old man Mr. Kogane." Kouki stated from where he sat, quietly writing in his notebook. His brown eyes were fixated on his loopy cursive letters as he wrote a story in boredom like he normally did.

Keith turned his head over to the child in annoyance, "Just wait until you're my age; you'll want nothing more than to be with other people. And why are you even still here? You were cleared to leave." Keith was slightly confused by how the child chose to stay in the room rather than leave and breathe fresh air rather than the smell of hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol that gave Keith migraines.

Kouki slowly glanced up to Keith, taking an ear bud out to hear him better, "Well...I have nothing to go back to." Kouki stated in a quiet voice instantly making Keith's heart ache. Then the boy looked back at his notebook, "And anyways, it would be pretty lonely in here if you didn't have me wouldn't it?"

Keith smiled slightly as he slowly turned himself over onto his side, careful of the stitches on his stomach from being stabbed. He stared at the despondent boy across from him and took in a deep breath, "You know what, you remind me of my sister. You both have the blonde hair and smartass personality."

"That was a swear." Kouki glanced up and tapped his pencil down onto the paper, further proving Keith's point. "And you remind me of an older idiot brother." He stated simply.

"I was a champ at clue you know, not any idiot could win that game." Keith sounded defensive as he frowned deeply at the Asian child looking at him.

With a dumbfounded expression, Kouki cocked his head to the side and spoke bluntly, "Clue? Any idiot can win that game. Mr. McClain and I played it while you were sleeping and he won."

Keith felt as if his ego had been stabbed repeatedly as he listened to Kouki describe how the game went. Lance had guessed correctly each game within the first three minutes and managed to snag a nurses number in the process. This made Keith want to roll over and sulk in a corner for the rest of the day as he contemplated his life choices. "Well he probably just cheated." Keith mumbled as he turned over to face the ceiling quietly.

He wished that the boy would've just left it at that but instead he decided to start a new conversation with the detective sitting across from him. "So Mr. kogane, I have been thinking back to when I witnessed Pyxis break in. I can't remember much except for a certain action she did...it was peculiar in a way..." Kouki's voice trailed off as he touched his chin slowly, his eyes hard as he stared down at his notebook, "I'm not too sure what it was for but she did touch above her torso a lot, but I couldn't see where at however since I was hiding beneath my bed."

Keith's interest was grabbed by the odd words slithering out of Kouki's mouth like a snake, "thank you, it may not be a lot to you but it does help the investigation slightly. It means that Pyxis subconsciously touches something on her body as a habit whether it be an ear or a shoulder; it limits down the search slightly."

"Mr. Kogane, since I gave you a clue...can you tell me something?" Kouki's brown eyes slowly fixated on Keith from across the room, he seemed curious and frightened.

Keith slowly nodded for him to continue and he listened as the small boy spoke, "You were mumbling a lot in your sleep you know; but you said a single name several times before you woke up. It was Abigail, might I ask who Abigail is?"

Keith felt his face slowly fall as he heard the young boy speak about his sister, his memories of his nightmare resurfaced and he slowly looked back up to the water stained roof above him. "She was my sister. She was a smartass like you and she had a spunky attitude that made everyone around her fall in love with her instantly. She lives in a different state but that story is for another time," Keith closed his eyes slightly before he let out a small sigh, "for now I want to go to the roof to look at the stars outside if that's okay with you." Keith whispered half to himself, it was as if those stars were the only things that could secure his sanity.

Kouki looked at him in disappointment before he slowly slid out of bed; he was wearing casual clothing since there was no need for him to be dressed in the ugly hospital gowns anymore. "Sure, try to settle yourself in a wheelchair as I set up a distraction for the cops outside, be quick too." He slowly rolled the wheel chair Keith used to roll around the room whenever he wanted to get out of the bed before he rushed over to the door.

Keith nodded as he sat up, gritting his teeth as his wound screamed in pain. It was always like this, he would be struggling to pull himself out of bed as his muscles and abdomen wound would cry for mercy that would never be given to them until he had settled into the chair and relaxed as he waited for the tiny sarcastic walnut of a twelve year old to push him around and tell him stories he wanted to write when he got older like the one about the violinist and his childhood friend who had fallen into a depression and her only saving grace was the music that he played for her in her hospital bed. It hit home for Keith whenever Kouki would tell the story to him in an enthusiastic voice, unknowingly reminding Keith of how badly he had screwed up his life.

He settled himself down into the chair quietly and wheeled himself over to the red blanket Allura had knitted for him after he saved her life. She hasn't been injured badly by the killer but she did however, get the star engraved into her wrist. The correlation between the victims remained intact as she and Shiro talked to him during an interview in the hospital interview; she was pregnant with twins and she was only a few weeks along. Keith felt as if it were his duty to provide the couple as much support as they needed so he decided to have Antonio book the two traumatized adults a hotel room in the next city over for precaution.

Lance however, wasn't as lucky as the couple. He was forced to move into the hospital room across from Keith and Kouki's so that the guards could keep an eye on him too. Surprisingly, the hospital staff cleared a room solely for the sinister duo named Lucifurr and Leonardo DaFuzzy so that Lance wouldn't worry about his pets too much and get sick from the stress. He was giving Keith the cold shoulder ever since he had been hugged by the shorter man when he had awoken from his short lived coma. He only visited to talk to Kouki about his cats or to give the boy sugary snacks and drinks before returning to his room like a recluse.

Keith sighed as he listened to Kouki put on an overdramatic show outside for the guards. "Officer Louis and Charlie, Mr. Kogane isn't leaving the bathroom and he won't respond to me! Please get the doctors, I'm scared for his safety!"

"Again? He probably fell asleep on the floor from exhaustion but we'll get the janitor to open the door for us..." A despondent sigh sounded before footsteps exiting the deserted hallway sounded, along with the clack of a locking door.

Keith wished that the child had gone with a different lie instead of the one he was overplaying each time Keith wanted to sneak out of his room and onto the roof. He slowly wheeled himself over to the hallway door and managed to pull it open to see Kouki standing there with a triumphant smile plastered onto his face as if he had done the greatest thing in the world.

Keith narrowed his eyes on the kid as he wheeled himself to his side slowly. "Why are you so happy? That was the same lie you told the last guards."

"That's not why I'm smiling Mr. Kogane. I'm smiling because I swiped their key cards from their belts so they can't get into the hallway again." Slowly he pulled two key cards from his back pocket and chuckled devilishly, "Now they won't be catching us anytime soon."

"When the hell did you learn how to pickpocket?" Keith asked breathlessly, he was beyond astonished.

Kouki shrugged as he tossed the cards onto Keith's lap and began to push his chair towards the locked elevator that could only be accessed with the use of the green key cards now in their possession. "I like watching YouTube."

Keith couldn't help but smile to himself slightly as he was pushed into the unlocked elevator slowly as it opened from the key swipe he had to do. "So Kouki, can you tell me the story again? The one with the violinist and his friend."

"Sure thing Mr-"

"Just call me Keith."

"Mr. Kogane." Kouki responded with a rebellious tone as he locked the wheelchair in place and pressed the sixth floor button. As the elevator jerked upwards, Kouki began to talk quietly. "As a child, a boy loved a girl he knew would never return the love he felt for her so he treated her as if they were family for the longest time until one night she moved far away from him and left him with the shattered pieces of his heart."

The elevator door slowly opened and Kouki began to push Keith to the doors that would lead outside. "Years went by and he felt like if he could play music, perhaps it would reach her wherever she might be; across the ocean or in the city over the dark horizon. He became famous and she watched him from a hospital room full of guilt, her watery eyes tracking the way he moved on TV as she tried to block out the sounds of her heart monitor and breathing machine. She knew the song he had written was for her because deep within her small, barely beating heart, she felt his love blossoming in her chest as she watched him with admiration.

She had disappeared all those years ago to pursue a career that never came to her, she got cancer along the way and had been stuck in a hospital bed for the last two years as she struggled to smile and laughed for her family. However, she didn't have to put on an act while she cried tears of guilt and regret as the melody was heard through the TV. She loved him even if she knew they would never meet again but she had managed to feel his song in her last moments of life."

Keith stared at his hands as Kouki pushed open the door to the roof and shivered as he pushed the detective outside into the cold air. The stars weren't visible above as it snowed lightly around them; it hadn't been what Keith had expected but he was thankful to be able to just breathe in fresh air even if it were the polluted city air that cars contaminated. "Thank you Kouki." Keith breathed out slowly as he tilted his head up to stare at the cloudy night sky above. "It's not stars but at least it's something over than the water stained ceiling..."

"I guess you're right in a way sir." Kouki sighed as he leaned against Keith's chair silently. "Also, I never answered your question when you woke up. Your eyes remind me of safety. When I look at them I know that as long as you're around me Mr. Kogane, I'm not alone." Kouki sounded soft spoken as he told Keith his honest answer.

Keith slowly blinked as he held back a deep sigh, at least the child didn't say they were beautiful like everyone else. Lance's answer however was the weirdest one he had ever received but he knew it probably wasn't what he had meant. "So Kouki, may I ask you a hypothetical question since you seem like an intellectual young child?"

"Anything for you, Mr. Kogane." Kouki responded almost immediately without missing a beat.

Keith took in a deep breath to fill his lungs before he let out the air and watched it rise into the air like smoke. "What if someone caused their family member to nearly kill themselves in order to hide from the world because of the persons mistake?"

"It depends on what their mistake was..." Kouki answered cautiously.

"Let's say they became corrupted, they got bribery money from a wealthy man that paid for so many life experiences that most people would spend years trying to pay for only if the person worked for the man." Keith continued, his voice becoming more and more softer with each passing second.

"Well I wouldn't judge them until I knew the entire story Mr. Kogane. If I were to judge you for something I knew so little about then I would be no better than people who are so power hungry that they condemn innocent people only because they want to." Kouki stated bluntly. "Think of it this way, if I were to hate you for something and I didn't listen to the full story and I happened to be a judge; I would be condemning an innocent man to death. So before I could judge you, I would have to hear the real story but I have a feeling that you're not sharing it any time soon."

"No, I'm not going to...I just wanted an opinion from someone intelligent like you Kouki. Don't tell anyone about what I say." He responded quietly.

"Not like-"

"What the hell are you two doing out here on the roof!" Lance's voice sounded as the staircase door slammed open and a man with penguin Pajama's stepped out into the bitter cold with fuzzy sucks and brown hair that was an absolute mess. His blue eyes were wild with mixed emotions as he glared at Keith and Kouki as he began to close the gap between them, Keith's chest becoming heavy with dread the closer he got.

"Because we wanted to, idiot." Kouki stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes in annoyance; he clearly had enough of Lance from how much the man tried to spend time with him.

"Don't you dare call me an idiot, Kouki. I demand that you two both go back to your rooms since you're not properly dressed for the cold weather outside!" Lance shouted as he grabbed the handles of Keith's wheelchair and began pushing it towards the elevator much to the purple eyed mans disappointment.

"Like you're one to talk Mr. McClain, you're in your pajamas." Kouki tried to stop him by tugging on his penguin pajama set that looked oddly adorable on the lanky man causing Keith to short circuit in a mixture of unknown feelings, his heart skipping a beat and his cheeks turning a light shade of pink as he tried to cover it with his hand.

"Kouki, how dare you speak to your father like that!" Lance sounded offended as he let out an over dramatic gasp like one of those white girls on TV.

"Oh you're not my father, stop saying you are!" Kouki exclaimed as he swiped the card into the elevator key slot to open the doors.

Lance managed to push the quiet Keith into the room before they began to go back to the first floor. "Whatever kiddo, my pajamas are cute anyways. They're totally in style you know."

Keith couldn't keep silent anymore as he looked up to meet the eyes of Lance and accidentally mumbled, "They're very cute actually."

"Uhg, please tell me your gayness isn't contagious." Kouki made a fake puking noise in the corner of the elevator as Keith mentally face palmed and Lance simply flicked a piece of his brown hair behind his ear.

He seemed to be blushing very lightly as he pointed his nose into the air and placed a hand on his hip. "Hear that Kouki? I'm cute so shut your mouth."

"I said the penguin pajama set is cute not you..." Keith grumbled as he tried to cover up the fact that he had royally screwed up by just opening his mouth earlier.

"On we know what you meant Keith." Kouki rolled his eyes.

Keith sighed as the doors opened to show two beyond angry cops, three nurses, a janitor and a very red faced Natasha and disappointed Irene at her side.