Naru moaned and whined as Noato picked her up and threw her back into bed. Her face conveyed her dissatisfaction at being put back into the room. Her lip jutted out and her eyebrows were angled down as she pouted. She was used to her brother, who always gave in when she pouted. He'd always give in to her just to make her smile again. She didn't want to admit it, but she missed her brother just a little bit. But she was having fun being with Noato, surprisingly.

The cold monitor shocked her as Noato put it in her mouth, and she really wanted to bite it. But she obeyed his strict but somewhat nicer tone and kept her teeth away from it. She didn't like the cold pack on her head, it made her head colder than the rest of her body, and she liked her body temperature to be proportionate throughout her whole body. She shivered once at the frosty touch of the pack, but settled down after a couple of seconds. She buried herself in the covers, silently pouting as Noato fixed the bed and tucked her in.

"It's boring being in bed all day." She replied to Noato, rubbing her nose. "I never had to stay in bed for more than a couple hours back at home with my Aniki." She said, recalling when she got mad at him for wanting her to stay in bed. He eventually gave in to her demands and she had gone outside, her face still burning. She peeked up at Noato, half of her face still buried beneath the covers. "And I wanted to see what you were doing." She mumbled, blowing a strand of hair away from her face. "I saw the magazine you were looking at. Is that really what people wear nowadays? Small, revealing clothing?" She asked, scooting out from under the covers. She looked at him with the curiosity of a cat. She had always loved to hear stories from her brother about their parents and about the gang activities. She had always fallen asleep halfway through however, because her brother had always come home late.

Twirling a stray piece of string from the covers, she waited for Noato's reply. She wondered if he was any good at telling stories. He seemed to always be alone, and didn't seem like he had anyone he could tell stories to. Then again, there are always those people with natural gifts.

Noato had fallen asleep with the magazine in his hands. He seemed to have his own habits and even in sleep he sat up straight the same way as if he was awake. he's glasses in the glare of the light shielded the fact that he's eyes was shut and there was a gentle silence in his breathing that you would have to have had a good look at the still male to even guess he was sleeping. It was this habit that had served him well at boring days in school where teachers often never notcied the sleeping Noato in class.

However it was a trick that had a very light off switch and at the sound of Aru sneezing her woke up and looked to her. Lying on the floor, rambo style as if she planned on scurrying back into the room apparently unnoticed. "What are you doing out of bed Naru-chan." He said with a stark note of iritation cause more from her wondering self then having been woken up.

noato removed his glasses placing them on the glass coffee table along with the magazine before rubbing at his eyes for a moment. Getting up from the sofa he walked to her and without asking her permission lifted her by the scruff of her clothes as if she was nothing more then lifting a kitten by its fur and carried her back into the room, dropping her on the bed he walked about the room picking up pillows that had traveled such a distance he could have thought she had been playing football with them in there. He re made the bed around Naru before making her lie down and covering her with the blankets. Dispite the way he did everything in a cold but serene sort of silence. The slowness in his movements made it seem almost kind and, dare I say it gentle. Without his glasses there wasn't such a strict harshness to his face and copper eyes seemed to catch the light and glow dimly.

He sat beside her on thebed. Fixing the cold pack back to her forehead and putting a the monitor in her mouth. "Don't bite it." was said in a quite tone but with Noato's obvious no nonsense way about it. Removing it he couldn't help but admit that she wouldn't be well by tomorrow. Which meant... she would have to stay home... to stay here... home? This was technically her home now. "You'll make your fever worse by walking about. So stop getting out of bed for sillyness... why were you out of bed for anyway." He suddenly asked realising that the ensuit toilet was within the room and in clear view with the door open. There was water and crackers on the bedside so she hadn't had any real reason to come from the bed. "Naru?" He questioned as he waited for an answer.

Naru had terrible habits when she slept. As soon as Noato walked out of the room, she tossed and turned in the bed, the covers wrapping around her like a web. The pillows were pushed off of the bed, except for one that she hugged to her chest so tightly it seemed like the contents would explode out of it at any second. Her hair had come undone from the ponytail it was in and was spread out everywhere. The cold pack that was on her head had fallen off and was now lost in the jungle of covers. She talked in her sleep most of the time, sometimes even yelled. She mumbled quietly, "I love Omurice..."

She woke up with a jolt, sitting upright only to fall back down, her head spinning. She looked around at the unfamiliar place she was in, and she crawled out of bed quietly. She tip toed to the door and looked through the little crack. The light momentarily blinded her, but when her eyes adjusted, she saw Noato sitting on the couch. She opened the door and silently sneaked up on him and peeked over his shoulder. She looked at all of the fancy things in the magazine he was reading. There were clothes and machines that she had never even laid eyes on before. It all looked so alien to her, she didn't even know how to react. This is what normal people wear nowadays? She thought, tilting her head at a skimpy dress that was above the knee and strapless. She recoiled in disgust. Why would anyone want to wear that? Won't it slip down with no straps? And it's too short. You would probably be able to see your underwear just by walking up the stairs! She shook her head. She was somewhat glad she didn't grow up in luxury, or else she would have had to wear things like that. She continued looking down the page. Not everything was bad. Almost everything she liked were men's clothes though. She took note of some nice things. Camo colored cargo shorts, bright green and orange high top sneakers, a simple sky blue t-shirt, a warm-looking black sweatshirt. She thought those would be nice to wear. And very comfortable too. She valued comfort over looks, really. After all, she never had the luxury of being able to pick her own clothing. She always got the hand me downs from her brother and the other gang members. Sometimes fresh off their backs. She shivered as an unpleasant memory came to mind.

She thought it was about time to go back to the room, all the while remaining unseen. However, as she attempted to sneak back, her nose was tickled by a speck of dust, and she sneezed loudly. She blew her cover and laid on the floor, knowing there was no getting away without being seen anyway.

Noato had placed Naru within his room and had shut the door. allowing her to sleep in her clothes and her shoes placed beside the bed and a blanket thrown over her small body. She looked lost within the large superkingsized bed. It was extra long as Noato always seemed to find it hard to sleep in normal sized beds and his long body would hang off the edge of anything shorter then the one her had currently. Naru looked like quite the child in his man sized bed, though he rectified that observation not liking how it sounded and the act it made him feel somewhat embaressed for his foolish and rash decison to let her live here and so instead saw it as a Kitten in a human bed and the way the girl curled herself about the blankets made it seem a vey apt alteration. He allowed one last look at her, the glass of water on the beside table the cold pack stuck to her forhead and the feverish blush that cast across her sunkissed skin was the last thing he glanced over before shutting the door, not completely as a crack of light from the ajoining room cast over the bed.

If you walked out of Noato's oom the first thing you'd see was the large open planned living room, a white corner seat in the center of the room and a glass coffee table with luxery magiznes showing everything from the top hotels to the top place to get your suits dry cleaned. It was safe to know that Noato had a taste for the fine things in life and with the sucess of his resturaunt could afford them. He opened a bottle of red wine and poured himself some as he sat back and began to flick through his newest magazine which oddly seemed to feature around the new emerging heiress of the Kimiya family, a tycoon in the hotel industry. It featured everything the girl loved most from the best clubs to the best place to find one of a kind jewlery. What suddenly struck him was the list of her favorite clothes stores and Noato's mind instantly ran back to Naru's shoes. A pair of dusty trainers that had seen better days without holes in their soles. He frowned suddenly and made a mental note of the place deciding that certain things had to be rectified if he was truly going to teach Naru about the sort of life she could aspire to if she could just perfect her manners.

Noato spent some time looking through the magazine until finally at the end it came to a full interview of the girl and her plans for the future, a cross the page photo of her showed Kimiya-chan to be a lovely girl of class and an elegant sort of beauty. A fine example of a twenty first centuray young lady of culture and no doubt a good role modle of such.

Naru was finally able to sleep peacefully for once without any interruptions from her loud brother or his goofy subordinates. She was asleep for a long time, sleep she hadn't gotten the night before. She had a nice dream, with no memories from the past haunting her. Only sunlight, quiet creeks, and peaceful breezes. She almost didn't want to wake up. Despite there being plenty of sunlight in her dream, it was quite chilly. She felt goosebumps on her arms, and she shivered. She could feel the heat radiating off her skin, but it was cold. Her world suddenly turned dark, the crystal clear creeks turned to rapids of blood, and the peaceful breezes turned into hurricanes buffeting her, knocking her down onto the cold, hard ground. Her head was spinning, and it throbbed painfully.

But just as she thought her world was falling apart, a ray of sunlight broke through the darkness, and warmth came around her. She reached out for the light, and her eyes opened. She looked up to see Noato's face. She looked around and saw that he was carrying her. Her head was spinning and it hurt, and she felt somewhat chilly. A... Fever? She thought. Noato's arms were comfortably warm around her, and she snuggled into the warmth, the fever making her sense of judgement hazy. "How can such a stingy man be so warm and comfortable..?" She mumbled under her breath, her eyes closing once more. She fell back asleep, the beating of Noato's heart like a lullaby.

Thoughts flew through her mind as she slept. What will Aniki say? I wonder if he'll be mad... Does this mean I have to sleep in a box in the living room? Well at least it'll be quiet so I might be able to do homework after school and work... And I'll be able to sleep well... And I'll be able to eat breakfast every morning! She smiled in her sleep at the thought of actually having food in the morning. Will I be able to live like a normal person...? Will I be able to experience a luxury such as that? Am I worthy of such a thing? She began to question her worthiness, wondering what she would do to repay Noato. He seemed to be a rather nice person despite his aloof attitude. She was taking a liking to him, just as a stray cat would favor a human who feeds them on the side of the street.

Noato would have been inhuman if he didn't slightly feel a little pleased at the fact Naru seemed to take the news as something more then what it was. Which was a lot by itself but for once Noato turned a blind eye to the fact she was rolling around the floor like the pet they had come to see her as and allowed her a mental moment of privacy as he turned away slightly and tried to not think on the fact that in all that jumping she now looked more scruffy then usual. "If that's alright with you then..."

But Naoto should have learned at least one thing from last night. And that was not to let you guard down around Naru. His body tensing instant at the strange feeling of being hugged by someone that he wasn't related too since he wouldn't stand other people touching him. But to his shock when he actually seemed to relax slightly at her heartfelt thank you's. "Yes well... its nothing." He said feeling a slight back crawl of feeling suddenly awkward again when the hugging continued. Looking up to the door he prayed no one walked in. Which was fine. But it did occur to him after that he could have simply moved away.

This having to be an after thought because he hadn't had time to understand anything that he was feeling when Naru suddenly slinked away and dropped to the floor. "What...?" This child was really confusing and if it made him think that perhaps making sure she didn't eat too much wouldn't be his only problem. he girl seemed to sleep so much he wondered what sort of hell it would be to try and wake her up for school. For now he just looked down at the sleeping Nyaruu-chan and shook his head with a lopsided smirk, whispering to himself, "I honestly don't know what I'm paying you for sometimes."

Everyone made their visit to Nyaruu before leaving.Patting the sleeping girl who had been left in the office. Gozo was the last to leave and followed Noato into the office. "Hmmm" The large male said quizzically, And Noato knew he would have to say something to that but just as he was about to open his mouth he noticed that Gozo wasn't giving him a sceptical look. "Mika-chan was right."
"About what." Noato asked walked towards him as he placed a hand over Naru head. Noato felt her cheek and could feel the warmness of it and shook his own. "It must be all those bumps to it."
"Is that all." Noato looked at Gozo and was starting to already feel the jumpyness of what he was doing. But it was in her best interest. It wasn't like she could put a place like that on a univeristy application. They wouldn't let her through the door. His place was definatly a better place for a growing, "You said she ran out in th rain yesterday. Sounds like it could have given her a bit of a fever. You should get her home before she gets the chills and lots of pepers to sweat it out."
Noato laughed having forgotten that he had told Gozo that much. Conviently leaving out the men that... Picking up Naru it was still hard to believ that someone who weighed less then a fat cat could have done something like that. It must be true what they say, children do look more harmless then they are.

Naru frowned and her body wilted as Noato started off the conversation with his usual stingy comment. She stared at the ground in front of her, waiting for him to scold her for coming back. His next comment surprised her, and she looked up in astonishment. I'm not... Fired? She thought in disbelief, her eyes wide. A smile crept along her face, and she couldn't hide her excitement. She leaped high in the air with a giggle of delight. She spun around and around until she fell onto the floor, her head spinning. She looked back at Noato who was showing her her contract. It had his address on it. "I'm going to stay at... Your house?" She asked, puzzled. Why is he going through so much trouble for me, even after he saw me for what I really am? She felt her eyes water up. She couldn't believe that this uptight man, who seemed to hate her so much, now was being so kind to her.

She stood up from the ground and went over behind Noato's desk and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you so much, Noato!" She exclaimed. "I won't eat you out of house and home, I promise! I'll work hard from now on! I'll try to stay out of trouble too..." Her throat closed up and she started to cry. She was so happy that she would be able to stay the the restaurant. It had become a place very special to her. It had kept her away from the hostile environment at home, and it kept her out of bad situations. She could forget about her past whenever she was there, and she didn't have to worry about anything else. It was her sanctuary.

She sniffled and calmed down after a while, and she rubbed her puffy red eyes. Silence took over the room once again, but the air wasn't as tense and before. Now it felt warmer and soft. She felt her eyelids become heavy, and soon she fell backward onto the floor and went into hibernation. She curled up like a kitten and slept, her mind and body exhausted from stress and tension. Once again, "Nyaruu-chan" had fallen asleep on the floor.

Noato should have said something the moment she had finished. Or at least the moment Gozo left to carry on with his work. Even something when the silence was temporarily broken by Naru coughing, giving him the heads up to begin. But he hadn't decided. He was still tying to decide how he was going to say this. How he was going to approach the subject.

The silence streached out for what would have been a comical amount of time if it hadn't been for how awkward it made them both feel. Noato behind his desk preteneding he was reading the same sheet of paper for what had to be twenty minuets. Then finally he put it down on his desk and said in a tone that surprised even him, "Well first you could say thank you." It almost sounded hurt. A strangled attempt to get something out so that the rest would follow a lot easier but once he had spoken it seemed to have the opposite effect and cause his mouth to seize up again and not know quite how to continue besides to just get to the point. "Yesterday..." He stopped and re throught staring at Naru as he tried to make this sound a lot more reasonable then he thought it did. It was quite mad really but he didn't know what else he could do. "I didn't make myself clear yesterday. I... I planned on being out of the office and was just informing you that I wasn't going to... be... here. Though its good your here cause now I can offically... write your contract."

Noato technically had never hired Naru. She really was a pet of Zen Circle since their had been no documents that stated her working there. That's how he was going to help her. By making it official, "I was writing it up earlier and realised that I hadn't your address so I went to my sister and asked her. It seems the school aren't even aware of where you live. Which is a problem. You see I can't hire you without an address and so... I took it upon myself to give you one." Noato held the paper out for Naru to see. "I am not made of money so I only had one address at my disposal." On the sheet of paper under Naru's name was Noato's address and it made the man even more unsure at what he was doing but it worked out. It was closer to her school, it would mean she would have a place where she could do her homework and they could continue their lessons without him having to worry about yesterday repeatiing itself since he would be able to keep an eye on her. Yes it seemed like it would be the best option for her. "It would of course mean you having to stay there for a while. Until all the paper work has finished. But your small. I'm sure you won't take up too much space even if you might eat me out of house and home"

The world was spinning around Naru as she began to awaken after, yet again, getting hit in the face with that darned swinging door. She sat up quickly, only sway sideways as she tried to regain her sense of balance. A tempting smell lingered near her, and she saw Gozo holding a plate of food. Am I... Dreaming? She thought to herself, accepting the food happily. She saw Noato next to her as well. Eat. Then talk. Sounded like a good plan to her. The thanked Gozo for the food and gulped it down hungrily. She chugged the glass of juice and exhaled noisily. She patted her stomach in content and looked up at Noato, expecting him to scold her for coming back when he clearly told her that she had been cut loose. She herself didn't understand why she had come back. Maybe I was hungry...? She shook her head. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She was already there. Might as well try to enjoy it.

She felt her forehead, which was now warm and swollen. She adjusted her bangs to cover it, hoping her brother wouldn't notice. She stared at Noato, waiting for him to speak, wondering what he would say. She shuffled her feet nervously and scratched the back of her head. She felt uncomfortable in the silence, just like the day before, when they were on their way home from that terrible event. She cleared her throat, trying to break the silence, but it was even more awkward after she had done that. She looked around for something stupid to say, but her words wouldn't flow freely from her throat. She was at a wall. For the first time, she couldn't speak no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't even mutter a sound.