He woke with a start, sweat coating his forehead despite the chill. His jaw hurt despite the special mouth guard Ms. Onderan had given him for grinding his teeth at night. Appearantly whatever he'd been dreaming of had his jaw clenched tight, the muscles still aching. Rubbing his face lightly he looked up for a moment, the clock on his wall indicating it was three in the morning, hours before he needed to be awake. With a sigh he slumped backwards, trying to come out of his stupor.

The form next to him stirred, the covers shifting slightly as Mika rolled over in her sleep. Immediately Kentan paused, whatever he had been worrying about seeming to melt away at the sight of the grey haired wolf. Along with his heart. The things she did to him…… He sighed. What had he done to deserve any of this? To deserve her?

He thought back to that night in the woods with Mr. Klein, to when he'd been at rock bottom. It was a memory he desperately wanted to forget, to never have even occured in the first place, but his guilt wouldn't let him forget it. He grimaced at the thought. Klein had every right to turn him in them and there, to fight back, to even have killed him. At the time Kentan had almost wished he had. The shame…….even now it was enough to make him squeeze his eyes shut. But instead of that……. He'd helped him. Shown compassion. Saved him in a way.

The previous day he'd even gotten news from home. The doctor Ms. Onderan had sent finally returned, and, while the diagnosis was by no means good, it wasn't a dour as he'd expected. They were taking her off the medicine he'd spent so much money time and stress on, and giving her actual care. The doctor said it was too early to tell, but they were tenatively optimistic. Kentan had almost made it out of the office before he started crying.

Ms. Onderan had given him the rest of the day off, and of course as soon as Mika got off her shift he went and told her. She'd insisted they go out to celebrate the good news, and of course now here they were. He sighed. He was having trouble accepting this, accepting that he was allowed to be happy. But…….he was learning. And she was why.

Across from him a strand of hair had fallen across Mika's face, tickling her nose. She wrinkled her face slightly, blinking awake at the slight irritation, eyes focusing after a moment.

"Kentan?" She mumbled, still groggy as she peered at him. "Is everything ok?" Even in her barely conscious state she recognized that look on him.

"Yeah," Kentan replied truthfully for what felt like the first time. "Everything's all right. Go back to sleep."

The wolf didn't need to be told twice, leaning up against his form and returning to her slumber within seconds. Kentan wrapped an arm around her and followed suit, her warmth and the rhythm of her breathing easing him back to sleep. This time he didn't wake until morning.