[Tritium]

Seeing how the boy began to twist and turn in his bed, Akira wanted to close the door, an leave poor Aijou be. But, before he could do so, the boy suddenly woke up. He rubbed his tired eyes, and when he noticed Akira, he just stood there, for a few moments, staing at him. The youngster then pulled pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees, just like he did earlyer that morning.

He looked lost, confused, and sad. All that was missing were his badly torn clothes, and his dirty old blanket, but he was pretty much the same as he was just a few hours ago, even without them. His beautiful white hair was a mess, but it didn't matter. truth be told, no matter how he'd dress, or wear his hair, Aijou stille looked the same as when he had no shelter, no clothes and no food, being forced to sleep on the deserted streets, in that cold weather.

The boy must have endured great hardships, to end up being such a depressed and demoralised person. He was still quite young. Though Aijou never really told him how old he was, Akira figured he couldn't possibly be older than 18. Even he'd been known to make mistakes, but, judging by Aijou's physical appearance, that estimate sounded about right...

Aijou's lips moved, as the boy uttered a few sounds. Sadly, Akira couldn't understand what the boy was trying to tell him. Was he afraid of him? Did his presence startle him? Did the boy have any reason to believe the man had done something to him, while he was asleep? Akira had become obsessed with trying to make the boy feel safe, that maybe he went a little too far. His behaviour was most likely confusing the boy even further, if not freaking him out!

He just had to let it go for the time being. If he wanted Aijou to trust him, he had to let the boy reach that point on his own, without pushing him from behind. Besides, he had better things to do than just stand in the door way like a statue all day. He had to feed Aijou, find some clothes for him, and some shoes, and take him to the hospital, then to the priecinct.

But how could he tell him that, without having him panic, and try to run away? The boy barely trusted him, let alone anyone else. All those strangers asking him all sorts of questions would be enough to frighten him, and make him crawl back into his shell again. And then, all the effort he'd put into drawing the boy out will have been for nothing. He had to find a way to solve that problem. But first, he had to prepair Aijou...

"Um, I'm terribly sorry for barging in like that" the man appologised. "I just thought you'd like some late breakfast. I'll start making some more sandwiches, so you can come and have some, once you're up and ready." And with that, Akira slowly closed the door, heading back to the kitchen...