You sighed as you walked out of Black Dragon hangout. You had been there all afternoon and now it was already dark again. You figured you should probably check out how everyone was doing. You hadn't been there in a few days because you had been busy with work. The dojo had been pretty busy and there was a grading coming up so the younger more enthusiastic kids wanted more practise time to make sure they passed. You had agreed even though you didn't really want to but you had done it because you liked to see the eagerness in the kids eyes. It made you feel like you were doing something good for the kids. You opened your door and Ryuu flew over your shoulder and into the house. You smiled as you watched the dark figure disappear into the house. You stepped in and closed the door but instantly froze. Something was wrong. You had a bad feeling. Everything was how you left it this morning but something was wrong, that much you knew. You heard a small creek from above your head, that came from your bedroom. There was someone in your house. That's what the odd feeling was about. You didn't bother turning the light on and quietly made your way up the stairs. Ryuu followed you up, silently flapping his wings next to you. You walked across the landing and clenched your fists, ready to attack. Your bedroom door was open just a crack and an electronic blue light poured out from it onto the hallway floor. You gently edged the door open with your hand and made your way inside to find someone sitting on your bedroom floor on your computer. It was....

"Noiz! What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"Nothing much. Welcome back by the way." He said in a bored and uninterested tone.

"You broke into my house, messed up my room, went on my computer and you say your not doing much." You said your anger levels slowly rising by the second. Who does he think he is? He can't just come into someone's home like that.

"It's weird. I've never seen anything like you before. No matter where I look there's no information on you anywhere. It's like your some kind of ghost, just appearing with no past and a Rib group." Yeah, you thought, there was a reason for that. You were a shadow, when your Father died you disappeared and of course your Father made sure that there was no evidence that he or his family existed. If they found out that a legend was real...well it might cause trouble so he made himself disappear and you and your Mother too. You sighed and turned the light on as Ryuu came into the room from behind you.

"It's very rude to walk into someone's house uninvited like that." He said.

"You weren't home and I wanted to come in." Noiz replied like it was obvious. You glanced at Ryuu, this guy was rude and annoying yet strangely intriguing. You looked back at him as he continued to scroll through the complicated looking code at ridiculous speed. Why exactly was he so interested in you anyway? Did he really go to all the trouble of breaking into your house just to find out who you were, or did he have another motive? It was then you noticed that that bandages on his hand were covered in blood.

"You're bleeding." You stated with a slightly worried tone.

"I cut it on the way here."

"If you don't treat it, it'll get infected." You told him.

"Just leave it. It'll heal by itself." Silence fell in the room as you watched his continue to type with his bleeding hand. You sighed and walked towards the chest of drawers and opened the top one. It was full of medicine, plasters and bandages in case of emergencies. Noiz glanced at what you were doing, stopping typing for a little while and eyeing your every move. You pulled out the bandages and antibacterial wipes and walked back over to him, taking a seat beside him.

"Give me your hand." You ordered.

"Why?"

"Because you might not care about it but I can't leave you bleeding like that."

"Why not?" You sighed at his question. He was glaring at you with hate filled eyes.

"Because it's just not the right thing to do. Now stop being difficult and give me your hand."

"No."

"Alright you want me to be the bad guy then I will. I'm cleaning that wound wether you want me too or not. We can do it the easy way were you just give me your hand or I'll make sure you can't move and clean it was way."

"As if you could do something like that." He said with a small smirk. You gritted your teeth, this guy was really getting on your nerves but it was clear that he wasn't going to let you clean it willingly. You moved at lightening speed and jabbed several pressure points in his arm with two of your fingers. Noiz's arm went completely limp. He tried to move it but he couldn't. "Tch, what the hell have you done?"

"I pressed the pressure points in your arm with a certain amount of force to make them release making your arm go limp. It's called chi blocking, the feeling in your arm should come back in about half an hour." You told him as you picked up the limp arm and placed it on your lap. Noiz continued to glare at you while you unwrapped the bandages on his hand but he didn't do anything else, knowing that he was been beaten. You looked down at the cut, it was much deeper than you thought it would have been and you saw that he had many scars on his hand. Very gently you found yourself tracing the scars with a finger. "You don't feel pain do you?" You asked him. The way he wasn't bothered by the cut at all was a big give away and the way he didn't react when you used your chi blocking moves on him. He should have felt a little pain but he hadn't reacted to it at all.

"Not really. It's like I'm wearing two rubber suits most of the time." You looked up at him. He didn't seem to be as angry as he was before but he still clearly wasn't happy about the situation.

"You have CIP, don't you?" You asked quietly. (A/n by the way CIP is the actually name for what Noiz had, I looked it up. It means that his senses are really dull and that's why he can't feel pain.)

"I guess." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't feel pain either." You confessed suddenly making him look at you with a slightly surprised expression while you began to clean the blood from his wound. "It's not for the same reason. I used to feel pain. I felt it like any other kid would but you see...I was in a lot of pain most of the time when I was a kid. I guess at some point my body just became used to the feeling, it didn't bother me anymore, I became...numb and now I can't feel it at all. I know I'm hurt, if I'm stabbed I will feel uncomfortable and it will tingle a little but it doesn't hurt like it should do. A lot of people tell me that it's a good thing that I can't feel pain. They say it makes me a stronger fighter but I'm not sure it does. I don't know when to stop any more...because I don't hurt like I should. So I push myself past the point that I'm capable of going and sometimes that leads to bad things. I suppose though I'm lucky, I have felt pain, although it was a long time ago and it's hard for me to remember but I have felt it, you haven't. Not being able to feel pain...it's lonely, almost like your already dead...I can't imagine how you feel...after having to live your whole life like that. Most people don't understand that and I'm not saying that I do completely understand what you might have been through because of your condition, but I have an idea." You put the blood soaked cloth on the floor next to you and grabbed the fresh bandages and gently began to wrap them around his hand. "I've never met someone that doesn't feel pain like I do before. Perhaps I shouldn't say this but I'm glad I'm not the only one that can't feel it...it makes me feel...less lonely somehow." You smiled gently at him as you finished wrapping up his wound. Noiz was looking directly at you with his usual cold eyes and you looked straight back at him, neither one saying anything. It was then that he did something you didn't expect. He lurched forward and pressed his lips firmly on yours. You were shocked at first but soon you felt yourself melting into the kiss. What were you doing? You had known this guy less than a day and you were already kissing him? This wasn't you but despite the doubts in you mind you didn't stop. Not until Noiz pulled his lips from yours but his head remained where it was. With your forehead together you looked into each others eyes.

"I can help with the loneliness thing and in return you help with mine. You and I...we're alike."

"Yeah I guess we are. I promise to be your comfort when you need me."

"And I'll do the same." He said and then gently kissed you again. Then he pulled away for good, putting distance between the two of you again and returning to the computer screen like nothing had happened. You watched him scrolling through the code until you looked away, your cheeks a little flushed. That was un expected but you had welcomed it. "What's this?" Noiz asked you suddenly in a cold voice. You looked at the computer screen to see the image of a snake curled around a sword with the words 'venom strike' written underneath it. Your heart seemed to pause in it's tracks, it had been so long since you had seen that image.

"That's the symbol for the old Rib group Venom Strike." You told him trying to keep the panic you were feeling from revealing itself on your face.

"Never heard of them."

"You're not meant too. They were a group that disbanded about 6 years ago now, after their leader was killed in a street fight. They were pretty vicious. Hired hitman, they were skilled at what they did, charged ridiculous rates and manages to do it all right under the polices noses. They never left any evidence, just a body. The few people that are aware of them don't actually believe they were real. They were like a ghost team...kind of like Morphine just a lot more...secretive. After they disbanded the policemen that knew for certain of the team existence where forced to keep it quiet. It would have caused panic if people knew that they really were real and over the years everyone seemed to forget about 'the team in the shadows' as they were nicknamed."

"But you know about it and your not in with the police so what's your connection with them?"

"Who said I had one? I might just be well informed."

"This image came up while I was researching you. It took me a while and there's no explanation to what it is but the fact that it's here in front of me right now and you know so much about it tells me you have a connection with it."

"I guess you much smarter than you look." Noiz took notice of your sudden change in attitude after you saw the picture. Your eyes were cold now and your voice unforgiving. "Alright I'll admit I did have a connection with them but those ties were severed and burned so it doesn't matter." You stood up and walked away from him. That image bring back painfully memories. "I think you should leave now." You said quietly. Noiz sighed and stood up, turning his coil off as he went.

"Fine I'll leave but just remember what you promised me." Then he opened the window and jumped through it leaving you alone in your room.

"(Y/n) are you alright?" Ryuu asked noticing your shaking clenched fists.

"I'm fine." You told him and then left to room to head to the kitchen...