Still don't own anything, it's purely fiction!

Finally moving out of hospital. Thanks for the nice feedback, to those who don't like it, all I can say is - don't like, don't read^^

"Feeling strange?" Kai's quiet words spoken from over by the door almost really startled Rei who had been deeply engrossed in… staring at the opposite side of the wall whilst sitting cross legged on the bed. He felt like he had done so for a long, long time.

"Ah, well, yes, kind of." He laughed a little and his gaze darted once around the room. His room, no, Rei's room. "I mean, I've been looking at all these things for hours now but…" He trailed of, not certain how to actually express what he was feeling inside. This was just so strange. Everything felt… so strange to him right now.

"They won't talk to you." The Russian concluded with a neutral voice that held no trace of accusation.

Rei looked up at him a little surprised but felt glad for the other's understanding. "No, they won't." He simply answered as they were sharing a look that would not truly have needed any words at all.

To his astonishment, Kai offered him something anyway. "Give it some time, Kon, you're dealing with a lot right now."

Rei hummed softly. "Hmhmm, I guess." He took a deep breath before releasing the air slowly. "It's funny, you know, I had imagined what this would be like, coming back here and…" Again he was lost for words. He didn't even know if the Russian truly wanted to hear this. After all everyone had been so damn excited at the idea that he would finally be able to go home again. Home. What a strange word. This was home, had to be. This apartment. This room. The bed and the wardrobe and the desk, the shelves with the books, those wallpapers.

One showing a very bizarre orange bird, the other a constellation of stars. Nothing seemed familiar, however. Why would someone care to hang up things like that? Had Rei liked birds? Burning ones obviously, and what was it with these stars? Why did nothing, not the tiniest object in this room, trigger anything inside him? He let his gaze dart from left to right again, just to make certain that he had not missed finding the one hint that would – his eyes came to a halt on the teddy bear sitting on his desk, next to a globe that was obviously cut out of wood. "Why did you keep that bear?" He asked, not entirely able to suppress the irritation in his voice.

The one with the heart saying, 'Get well soon, honey'. Kai had thrown away all of the flowers, which made sense, seeing that they would have withered by now but Rei was fairly certain that a few other things he had seen at the hospital were gone as well – not that he truly minded or cared and he was not even considering anymore to make that certain scene about the Russian getting rid of his things but… why that bear?

Kai had followed his gaze and simply shrugged whilst the expression on his face stayed pretty much the same. Closed up but not unfriendly. "It's from Tala." It appeared that the Russian thought that to be enough of an explanation. Maybe it would have been. For the old Rei. The one who would remember. After a moment of awkward silence Kai seemed to realize so too. He coughed a little. "He would not be happy about that." He added in the attempt of a better explanation but that actually left the Chinese even more confused.

Tala would not be happy about that? A couple of pictures were coming alive in his head then but they were not truly old memories but rather recent ones. The redhead on the photos. He had always looked a little wicked but not actually…"So, you're scared of him?" The words were out before the Chinese could stop himself and his eyebrows shot up in question. Was that what Kai was actually telling him here? That could not actually be the case, could it?

In an instant the Russian's eyes seemed to darken a little. "Not scared." He huffed as an immediate retort rather harshly before he looked as if he was inwardly reminding himself of something and then continued in a more… moderate tone. "He just has this way of becoming really annoying when you're stupid enough to give him reason to."

Ah… yes and Kai would not enjoy getting annoyed by anyone… it was kind of interesting, however. The Russian would not throw away a hideously ugly looking teddy bear out of fear that he could get harassed about it by a person who was hundreds and hundreds of miles away… Russia. Rei did not know a lot about the country. Just that is was cold there and snowy and what he had learned out of the few stupid remarks Tyson had made about polka and vodka…"The other's said you grew up together, right?"

The Russian made a few steps into the room and came to lean against his desk. His eyes looked almost black from over there on the bed now but had a special glow to them as Rei noticed. "Something like that." He answered eventually and it was somewhat obvious that if Kai had a choice he would rather change topic now – well, he did have a choice. "Did you happen to find your little safe yet?"

That question made Rei's ears prick up. His little what? Safe? He had a safe inside here? What an odd thing. He had thought safes were supposed to be kept at a bank and what would he have put in there? Money?

Obviously the face he made was enough of a requirement for Kai to answer his very own question. "It's hidden somewhere behind these books." The Russian nodded in the direction of one of the shelves. "You often said you were keeping your real treasures in there."

Real treasures? Like what? Gold? Diamonds? Certainly not that… so what could it be? The Chinese had to admit now he was feeling a little curious. His real treasures… what would the old Rei have considered a real treasure? "So, what's inside?"

The Russian shrugged. "I don't know. You never shared the code."

"The code?" Oh… a code. Damn. Why a stupid code? Well, sure, why keep things in a safe that you could not lock but… why not get a safe with a key? With a key he at least would have had a chance to get it open, sure he would have needed to find said key then but that would have been way easier than… a damn code.

"Yeah, it's a seven-digit code." The Russian explained nonchalantly and Rei's heart slid down into his stomach.

SEVEN-DIGIT code? Why not two or three but seven? He was supposed to remember a seven-digit code without any sort of hint, whatsoever? It could not even be his birthday or something. No, seven-digits that was - plain impossible! And Kai had to know so and he… he was having his fun with him here, was he not? That sneaky…! "Are you telling me that to be an ass, Hiwatari?"

Kai leaned his head to the side a little and for the first time since he came into his room, his expression altered a little. One side of his mouth quirked upwards a little. "No, Kon, I'm telling you because I'm trying to be helpful in getting you settled in, as I was reminded to do by finger twitch guy and loudmouth, loudmouth's older brother, your coffee buddy who doesn't even know yet that you have no love for the black brew anymore and –"

Rei rolled his eyes a little. "Alright, alright, I get it." Yes, his 'friends' had hassled the Russian about that, especially within these last days before his release even Rei had noticed so but… it's not as if he had asked them to! Quite the opposite. He had felt rather embarrassed at the whole ruckus everyone had made and it certainly was not in his interest to make Kai feel cross. "I know they annoyed you a little but it's not as if I ordered them to, you know. It's not as if I could control their…"

He was fishing for the right word, Kai decided to be helpful here, as well. "Insanity."

"Insanity." Rei agreed with a nod, eagerly accepting the Russian's help since for once it seemed to be a fitting moment for that. "So why let it out on me?" He tried to make his voice sound a little pitiful but truth be told he was not especially good at that and he doubted that even if he was, the Russian would feel only a grain of sympathy towards him.

"You see the problem is, you are the only one here." Kai was liking this, Rei could tell, he was liking this way too much!

His golden eyes narrowed a little. "Ever heard of an invention called telephone, Hiwatari?"

The Russian showed him clearly that he was not impressed by that idea. "I'm not a fan of phones, Kon, I prefer to see my opponent's reaction in a face to face talk."

Ah, yeah, the Russian would, wouldn't he? Rei pulled an especially wild face, just for Kai, who got the message and enjoyed it anyhow. "Recover some more of that obnoxiousness, you'll need it." The Russian advised whilst striding towards the exit of the room.

"Is that a threat?" Rei asked, unable to suppress the amusement in his voice.

The Russian halted in the door and turned his head to send the other man one of his special looks that was adorned by a half smirk that left no room for many interpretations. "A friendly warning."

The Chinese snorted and laughed out a little, shaking his head. Despite everything, he was grateful that Kai was here with him. "Good night, Hiwatari."

Rei was not certain if it was the light or his own imagination but for a tiny second the other man's face had looked almost wistful but then a little smile was back in his eyes. "Good night, Kon."

.

.

It could have been many hours or maybe just minutes. Rei couldn't tell but what he knew was that he would not be able to fall asleep. There was unrest inside of him, an unexplainable itching and a strange inner conflict. Maybe it was this room, maybe it was just him, but something felt wrong. He shoved it on the fact that he had been so used to sleeping in the hospital bed. This bed felt unfamiliar and though it was a lot more comfortable, he was unable to find any position that would allow him to truly settle down. In the end he gave up.

He reached for his crutches and slowly moved off the bed again. His arms were shaking and he felt his body becoming warm at the effort it took, yet he managed to stand. Yes, he could stand and he could walk. Slowly, clumsily, like a child making his first steps maybe, but to him it still felt like a miracle. Each and every step was a little wonder. He would never have believed that he could get to this point in such a short amount of time, but here he was. He had survived an accident that should have cost his life and after a long coma he had woken up again not nearly as broken as it had to be expected. And now he walked. It was still hard to really get his mind around all of that. So much had happened, so much had changed and would still change… again he took in the room as he carefully made his way to the door. Maybe in a few weeks he would… feel something. For now it was just a room. It did not offer any security or warmth and it was too… silent.

He made for the living room and sat down on the couch. Dark blue with white pillows. It looked invitingly, he had thought so many hours ago already, when Kai had showed him around for the very first time – to him it felt like it at least. Rei turned on the TV with the remote control that had been lying next to him on a little table but soon lost interest in finding an actual program. There were too many. Over a hundred channels in different languages. That could really make his head hurt. He just wanted to hear some sound. In his room, in Rei's room, it had been too quiet.

Home. So this was home. The place he had spent the last years of his life. He had slept here, and cooked in that kitchen over there and sat on this very couch watching TV… what kind of movies had he liked? Documentaries? Action or Romance? He made a face. Sure not that sappy stuff. Tyson and Max had come to watch a movie with him that one afternoon. They had thought it to be a good idea to entertain him whilst they were waiting for the doctor to bring the new results about his condition… it had been a nice idea, just… Max had won a card game against Tyson or something and therefore secured himself the right on deciding on the movie. He had brought his favorite, and, to Rei, it had been awful and he was still being nice here. Tyson had not looked excited, as well, and had described the movie to be a 'stupid chick flick'. Suspiciously enough he had known the whole plot and could recite most of the conversations also. Secretly, and of that Rei was convinced, the cap-wearer had enjoyed that movie a bit too often already!

"Can't sleep?" A quiet and familiar voice invaded his thoughts and brought him back to the here and now. Had the TV been too loud? He had not meant to cause any discomfort for Kai. It was not his fault that he was unable to put his mind to rest. "Well, yes, I mean, no, it's just that– "

The Russian stood before him in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, so what he saw when he turned his head to make eye contact was a lot of creamy skin, a lot more skin than he had ever seen on anyone else but himself and his own skin was a little darker, even though it was obvious he had lost some color in the months of his - anyway, what he saw was a lot of skin and he was not even quite sure himself why that fact irritated him enough to forget his very own sentence – it just did. And he was not fast enough to recover from his… he guessed what he did was staring, at least according to Kai's reaction.

"You want me to put on a shirt, Kon?" The question was asked in the driest of tones possible and the implication sent an awkward heat into the Chinese's cheeks. It wasn't like that! He had just… just not expected that! Was it normal for people to run around half naked in… well, yes, this was Kai's apartment too and they were both guys so… it probably was normal and the Russian would not think anything doing it, but… he had just not expected that, okay? That wasn't a damn crime, gee!

He turned his head away and scoffed a little, trying to get over this awkward moment of – he just wanted to get over it! "No need."

"Good." Kai simply answered and then Rei felt the cushion of the couch dip in as the Russian settled down next to him. "What are you watching then?"

Rei blinked and tried to… get his thoughts back on track. "I'm not sure, I was just zapping around and somehow got stuck on this, I guess."

"That's a black and white movie."

And here he was again. Kai Hiwatari. King of stating the obvious! "It is." Rei simply replied. He could play that part too.

The Russian made a noise that sounded like a little grunt. "Can we watch something else then?"

Well, yes, sure. It was not as if Rei was totally keen on seeing this movie. It was as he had said, he had just somehow gotten stuck there, not paying attention anymore when his thoughts had taken on a path of their own. He did not really care for black and white movies… at least he didn't think so. He hardly had had the chance to even begin to understand what the movie was actually about. "Here you go." He said and held out the remote control to his right, so that Kai could take it off him and decide on a program more to his own liking. He didn't really care; he had just turned on the TV for the sounds.

To his surprise it took quite a moment until the Russian reacted. Long enough for the woman on the screen in the antique looking dress to walk over to a wooden sideboard where she filled her glass with a colorless whine. Well, not truly colorless, it was dark grey.

Then he felt how the remote was taken out of his hand but that was not what... he froze. No, he had to have imagined... no. That couldn't be, could it? But it had almost… it had almost felt as if… as if the Russian's thumb had stroked over the back of his hand there for a moment. But that would be… Rei tried to glance at Kai's profile unobtrusively but there was no sign that… well, what kind of expression should someone wear who… and he was just… he was being silly! Had to be and he should just… take a breath and... it was nothing. Kai had simply taken the remote from him and therefore their fingers had brushed together. Just that he had felt the touch at a place where… no way. Why would the Russian do something like that? Why would… damn, Kai had just said something. It sounded like a question but he had no idea… he certainly would not have… no just, be normal!

"Erm, what?"

The Russian drew a single eyebrow at him. Rei couldn't help it, he still found that damn fascinating. He had even tried it out a couple of times in front of a mirror but he had failed at doing it – and quite pitifully so! Damn, this Russian! "Spacing out again, are we? I asked if you're okay with this." His head made a little movement in the direction of the TV.

Rei felt like an idiot but that was okay, he was rather used to it by now. He followed the Russian's gaze and oh well, yeah, why not? He couldn't tell what it was about, looking at it only for a moment or two anyway. Some people and they were at a bar or something? Well, what could happen at a bar? Many things obviously. Now the focus was on a blond woman, she was looking at her watch, impatiently waiting for someone… Rei felt a tiny bit apprehensive suddenly. "That's not a chick flick, right?"

Kai gave him a look that seemed to be a mix between 'are you freaking kidding me and do you want me to throw you out of the window?'. The Chinese felt satisfied enough with that for the moment. "Sure, let's watch it."