The sweet nothing of deep sleep slipped away as Kougaiji felt himself stirring, like surfacing under cool water towards consciousness. In most of cases, he would have jerked up the moment he had some of his wits about him, but this time there was pain, and when he tried to pull up violently, he felt his body resisting so persistently he couldn't do much more than whimper silently and lay still until the sharpest pain subsided.

During those brief moments, he made observations the best he could. There was something warm under his head and on his head, a hand, gentle.

"Yaoine?" he whispered, throat dry and voice raspy.