This is part of the same continuity as One Night, but a bit later and from Spirit's PoV. There's really not enough out there about pre-series Stein, but I'm hoping to see this change, even if I have to write it all myself.

I can't really think of much else to be said here, except please enjoy and review!

Another Night
By Ryo Hoshi
1. Rainy Night

Spirit wasn't used to living on his own. It was almost enough for him to continue his late father's search for his mother, never mind that the woman had not bothered contacting her abandoned husband and child for almost long enough to be declared legally dead. He remembered her as being nice and loving, but…he'd stumbled across the woman's old diaries while cleaning out his father's old clothes…

Still, he was not used to being the one to have to go grocery shopping. Spirit looked around the little kitchenette—his father had never been much for cooking—before deciding to go ahead and spend the money needed to eat at a restaurant that night. School had been going well, even if he hadn't found his meister yet and couldn't take missions, and he'd not become a total mess yet.

The clouds had finally burst when he was done eating. Spirit opened his umbrella and, after looking around a bit, decided to go ahead and walk past the park outside of the old train-turned-bus station. The streets were empty at that time of night, and he could use it; he was getting too old to be without a meister.

It hadn't helped that he no longer had his father's earnings to help pay the bills. True, he owned outright the place he lived—he'd have had to move to the school's rooms otherwise—but his father had simply not left Spirit enough money to keep the utility bills paid indefinitely. He'd have to sell it soon and live at Shibusen, or find a meister so he would be getting the stipend granted any student who took extracurricular missions.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the white lump on one of the grassy areas. It took a few seconds for him to realize that it was a white-haired boy, wearing strange white clothes with a patchwork rabbit at his feet. Spirit frowned slightly when he noticed that the boy was shivering—if the boy was a local, shouldn't he be inside and warm?

Spirit couldn't really just walk on past the kid. It was a winter storm, and they were predicting unusual cold that night, too. While sleeping out in the park certainly wouldn't be a bad idea in the summer…

He headed over to the kid, holding his umbrella so it'd protect both of them somewhat from the rain. The kid's head lifted, pale eyes looking into his.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?"

Green eyes blinked at him, apparently not quite understanding.

"You'll get cold and sick, if you stay out in the rain." He looked the younger boy over, noticing that the boy already looked sick. He reached out and touched the pale boy's forehead. "…You've got a fever."

"…I do?" the boy said, vaguely.

Spirit moved the umbrella to cover both of them somewhat. "Yes. Come on, I've got a spare bed, you can sleep there." The scythe'd feel guilty if he found out the boy's illness got worse because he stayed out all night in the rain, and…he was a scythe. He didn't really need to worry, right? He could defend himself.

The boy seemed to think a little before nodding, silently accepting the offer of a warm, dry place to sleep.

I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, but no promises.