"Y/n-chan? Wake up, sleepyhead!" My head jerked up from my comfortable position on the counter, the rag that I had been cleaning with limply hanging in my hand. I rubbed my face while my coworker, Picho, looked at me with a mixture of concern and pity. "What's wrong, baby? Sleepless night?" He gently stroked my cheek, stealing the towel from me with a grin.

I gave him a weak smile back, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, something like that." My night had been filled with restless tossing and turning, thoughts of the alleyway events keeping me up. This morning I had heard that Iron Chain was found in that alleyway with severe injuries, and that there was another hero that was attacked last night to about the same degree.

There wasn't any evidence on who committed the attack, but something told me that it was most likely him. And that made me uneasy for some reason; I really didn't want to think of him as a criminal, even if that's what he was. "I'm Garou, Garou the monster." That's what he had told me last night and from the glint in his fierce eyes, I didn't doubt him one bit.

Still, when I was with him, I never felt any malice directed toward me. Instead, I felt almost safe, which must mean that I'm insane considering how dangerous he is. "C'mon Y/n-chan, let me see some bright eyes and a big smile! It's time to open!" Picho nudged me out of my daydream for the second time, bouncing to the front where he unlocked the door.

The morning rush of the cafe helped to take my mind off of the whole situation, but by the afternoon I was already brooding again by the window. My hand swiped my rag against the shiny tabletop, repeatedly scrubbing the same area in slow circular motions. Picho watched me in dismay, opening his mouth to speak when the door jingled, the bells coming to life. "Sonic-chan!!!"

Picho threw himself at the lean young man, Sonic looking less than pleased. "Get off of me you crazy perv! I just came for some tea!" Sonic pushed Picho off of him while I giggled. "Good to see you again, Sonic. Did..." I stared at the ninja, my head slightly cocked. "Did you get a haircut?"

His hands flew to the back of his head, stroking his now short hair. "I don't wanna talk about it." He answered flatly, plopping into a seat with a huff. "Gotcha..."

"Oh, Sonic-chan!!!" Picho came running back from the kitchen, a tray balanced in his hands. "I brought you your tea just how you like it! It's hot and free, just like me tomorrow night!" He placed the tray before Sonic with a flirtatious wink. Sonic ignored him completely, turning to me instead. "So I don't have to pay for this?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll make sure that Picho covers it."

"Why me?!" Picho's mouth hung agape in dismay, his blue eyes wide. I smacked him lightly on the top of his head. "Because you offered!" He began to complain until Sonic took a sip, the barest hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Pretty good."

Picho's eyes lit up, sparkles practically flying out of them. "Ah, Sonic-chan, I'm so happy that you like it! I made it just for you and I'll gladly pay for it too! Only for my Sonic-chan though!" Picho skipped up to the register, placing some of his bills into it to pay for Sonic's tea. "So what brings you here?" I leaned against one of the chairs, my tray still clasped in my arms. He finished another sip, letting out a contented sigh before opening his eyes. "I needed to gather my thoughts. This tea helps me concentrate."

"Wait, you didn't come to see me, Sonic-chan?!" Picho bent down, peering over the table with sad eyes. Sonic glanced at him, his gaze stone cold. "No."

"Ouch, you're harsh, Sonic..." I winced a little, imagining poor Picho's pain. Sonic swirled the bits of tea leaves that had settled, sending them into a frenzy. "I'm not so much harsh as I am truthful." Picho groaned, collapsing onto the floor with a pathetic pout.

********************************************

I shut the cafe doors, relieved to finally be closing for the night. "Thanks for sticking it out this week, Y/n-chan. With Makoto-chan and Haruhi-chan out, we're gonna have our hands full." Picho grinned, his happy-go-lucky nature helping him to forget about the incident with Sonic this afternoon. I gave him a tired smile, tucking my key into my bag. "No worries, I mean we just do what we have to do, you know? Besides, I've been texting Haruhi-chan and it seems like she's almost all better. Hopefully she'll be back soon."

"Alright, well let me know if anything happens with her. You're going over to house tonight, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna help take care of her for a bit and see how she's holding up. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early though!" I began to run off, waving to Picho as my feet carried me down the street.

The darkness began to settle into a the thick blanket of night as I walked up to Haruhi's apartment. After punching in the code, I walked into the main building and climbed up the stairs until I got to her story. It only took me a couple of minutes to find her apartment number; as soon as I knocked on the door, there was the shuffle of footsteps and it flung open. "Y/n-chan! You came!"

Haruhi had her arms wide open, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Of course I came! I'm glad that you seem to be looking better." I entered her house while putting on my mask so that she didn't have to wear one. We walked into her living room, chatting about life. She wanted to watch a movie, which seemed like an appropriate activity for her recovery, so I quickly agreed.

As she chose which one she wanted, I made us both some tea to help soothe her throat. It started with the opening of the of the studio, both of us snuggling in some blankets. As the movie played, my companion became less and less talkative until her words were replaced with small, snuffly snores. Tucking the blankets in around her, I checked her pillow and turned off the television.

I found her spare key and took it to lock the door on my way out, quickly leaving her a note explaining what had happened. By the time I left her apartment, it was already midnight. To get to my house, I had to walk through the shopping district, which was jam packed because of it being a Friday night, despite the time. I weaved through people, glancing at items here and there, but never really stopping; the money I had in my wallet was very limited at the moment.

I turned down a less crowed street, almost to the more residential section of town, when I noticed a body laying limply on the sidewalk. The muscular figure had wild gray hair and the skin that was visible was deeply tanned. My throat tightened, everything telling me to just ignore him; there was more blood on his body as well as new wounds.

Still, despite my better judgement, I practically ran up to him, frantically checking around for heroes or police. As I got closer, there was no doubt; the person lying unconscious in the street was Garou. "Garou?" I gently shook his shoulders, calling his name with no reply. "Garou!" Even after saying his name louder, the only reaction that I got was a small growl, his face twitching for a moment, only to fall back lax. 

I glanced around again, but not many people were lingering around outside of the shopping area. Seeing no other option, I grabbed his arms and threw them over my shoulders. I nudged him up with my butt, desperately grabbing for his legs. Once he was on my back, I tried to take my first step. My body pitched forward and I was barely able to save us both from crashing onto the pavement. "Ugh, he's so damn heavy..."

"Hmm..." Garou's low voice hummed in my ear, his head lolling down so that it rested on my shoulder, leaning into the crook of my neck. His nose tapped against my skin, each shallow breath of his tickling my neck. Blush started to creep up my face, turning my cheeks and ears a rosy pink. Swallowing my embarrassment, I kept going, my muscles straining themselves to carry the buff male.

Finally, we made it back to my place and, after much struggling, I managed to input the code, open the door, get in the elevator, and unlock my own door. Kicking it open, I let my keys fall to the ground as I staggered toward the couch. With as much caution as I could, I set him down, collapsing to the floor right afterwards.

My breathing was ragged, my whole body exhausted from the workout. After pretending to be dead for about ten minutes, I got up, closed the door, grabbed my keys, and went into my room. Flinging off my clothes, I threw them into the laundry basket and went to take a nice hot shower.

Once I finished with my bedtime routine, the steam from my hot water had already cleared from the mirror. I walked back out to see Garou still passed out on the couch, blood from his hand soaking into his shirt. With a sigh, I grabbed his hand, and began my work.

Light shined from my palms as I encased his large hands as much as I could. All the injuries from around his body began to heal as I traced my fingertips over them. Despite the immense amount of blood, most everything was simply a surface wound. It looked bad, but was pretty simple to heal. If anything, he probably collapsed from exhaustion, so nothing was too hard to fix. The new bloodstains on my couch would be different story.

By the time that I was finished, everything was repaired, but I still had to clean the areas and wrap them with bandages because the skin was still weak. I performed first aid with little thought, easily wiping the spots clean and tying the white cloth around them. My eyes were trying to close, but I forced them open until the last spot was done.

"There... All done..." I meant to get up to go back to my bed, but my legs were still not happy about carrying Garou all the way here. My eyelids fell before I could try again and so I rested my head against the couch and went to sleep sitting on the floor.

Garou's Point of View

I woke up in a strange place, something soft under my back and something warm on my right shoulder. My arm was wrapped around that warm something, which was concerning more than my setting. I glanced over to see the girl from the other night fast asleep with her head nestled on my shoulder and my arm draped over her neck.

At first, I was stunned; I hadn't been in close contact with a person like this in a long time, possibly never if my memory wasn't failing me. Much less ever with a female around my age. Her hair was loosely tied back, a couple strands falling out to frame her peaceful face. My foggy mind was beginning to clear up, all of last nights events returning to my memory. The fights, my victories, and then a sudden feeling of weakness.

More details flooded in, the night becoming clearer with time. With a sigh, I rubbed my left hand against my face, my whole body feeling slightly sore. A groan escaped my mouth a lot louder than I meant and Y/n mumbled something, only to snuggle into me more. The action was almost endearing, but I was still too confused to lose myself in the moment.

Before I could ponder the situation anymore, the phone on the table began to vibrate, buzzing on the hard surface. I snatched it up instantly without moving my right shoulder in order to let Y/n sleep. I flicked the pink phone open, the charms dangling while I picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Wait, who is this?" The voice on the other end seemed impatient and annoyed, the call going silent as I tried to think of what to say. "Umm... This is Y/n's phone..."

"Well can you get her?!" The voice shouted back, part of me wanting to crush the fragile thing in my grip and forget about him, but I restrained myself. I took one look at the girl, sleeping so cutely on me, and I knew that I couldn't mess it up. Even if I didn't really know how to feel about the situation, it didn't mean that I disliked it in the least. "Yeah, sorry, I can't get her right now. I can leave a message if you want."

There was a bell tinkling in the background, followed by a loud sigh. "Look, never mind. Just tell Y/n that she has the weekend off." I was about to respond when there was a sudden scramble and a lot of random noises. "Hey, hey, you still there?!" A new voice was on, this one much more peppy and feminine.

"Yeah, I'm still here." At my answer, there was more scuffle sounds as the girl addressed someone in the background. "See, Picho! I told you this was a dude!" The sound was muffled; she had probably covered the speaker with her hand in an attempt to keep me from hearing that bit. "Okay, sorry about that! Anyways, can I get your name?"

I hesitated for a second, but I assumed that it would be fine. "It's Garou."

"And you said that you're with Y/n right now?!" I opened my mouth to respond, but I felt someone weakly grab at my shirt. Y/n gazed up at me with half lidded eyes and a sleepy pout that made my heart pound uncontrollably. "Hey... Who are you talking to? Go back to sleep, it's still too early." Her head slumped back down, this time making sure that I was cradling her by holding my hand gingerly.

"Oh my god... That was Y/n just now! Are you two sleeping together?!" The girls voice was strained as she tried to keep from screaming. I glanced down at Y/n, already fast asleep with a dreamy smile on her face. "Yeah, we are."

There was a brief pause followed by two muffled screams. After about a minute of that, the girl came back. "Alright! Thanks so much, I'll let you get back to bed now. Sorry for bothering you two!" Then the line went dead, making me only more confused. Still, the idea of going back to sleep wasn't such a bad one considering how tired I was, even after last nights rest. Seeing Y/n on the floor, I carefully grabbed her and pulled her up onto the couch next to me. Wrapping my arm around her, I made sure that she was comfortably resting on my shoulder still, and let myself fall back asleep, oddly giddy.