Hajime sighed. He was worried for his friend, who still hadn't given him a straight answer. But he wasn't about to wake Handlebars up to get one. He lay down in his familiar bed, an unfamiliar guest beside him, and stared at the ceiling for a while before finally falling asleep. Once he did, however, he found waiting for him a scene that he had no wish to relive.

Hajime swore under his breath. Of course, his targets had to have such noisy floorboards. He crept down the long hallway past the childrens' rooms, one of which he knew was empty. The eldest son, one year older than himself, was long gone. The other son was just barely nine, and posed no threat.

Slipping into his targets' bedroom, more silent than the grave they were about to face, Hajime soundlessly drew his chosen weapon, a thin black-handled athamé without hand guard. This he slowly pressed against the man's neck. The man opened his eyes and the look of panic to which Hajime was so accustomed spread across his face.

"Make any attempt to alert anyone," whispered the a.ssa.ssin with a confident smile, "and I will kill your nine-year-old son." Hajime could feel the man tense under his blade. "I was sent here to kill you," he continued, "and your wife. The child was not a part of my orders... but if I explain that I was forced to kill him, no one will challenge me."

The man frowned and nodded slightly. He swallowed, forcing the blade to break his skin. Blood trickled down to the back of his neck as he barely managed to whisper, "How did you... How did you find this place?"

Hajime smiled a devilish smile and leaned over his target, causing his wife to stir slightly in her sleep. "Do you see these eyes?" he purred, knowing well how they shone in the moonlight. Red-Eyes Hajime Senbon, the vicious poison needle killer, leaned down to the poor man's ear and hissed,

"These eyes see EVERYTHING."

There was a flash of red, and Hajime fancied he felt the heat of a house fire in his sleep, before...

...he awoke with a start. Taking deep breaths, Hajime blinked up at the ceiling. ...It was very early in the morning, and the sun had just risen. He glanced at his sleeping friend. Then, Hajime rolled over with a sigh and stared hard at the wall. He didn't think he would be going back to sleep.

Handlebars, used to waking up as soon as the sun began to rise, rolled over and wrapped his arm around Hajime. "Mmn..." He breathed in deeply, then opened his eyes. As soon as he realized that the thing lying next to him wasn't soft or made of fabric and stuffing, he withdrew his arm. "Sorry, Haju..." he said groggily. "I was having a dream about sleeping in my old bed with... some kinda giant teddy bear..."

He rolled over again, accidentally pulling the blankets off of Hajime. "That thing was creepy..."

((Handle is an awful sleeping buddy.))

Hajime was lifted straight out of his depressed mood by Handlebars. Laughing silently, he murmured, "That's all right, Handle..." He leaned over and pulled a blanket out of the kid's grip. "...I wasn't asleep anyway." Hajime considered getting up to make breakfast.

 ((Short... :D))

Handlebars wasn't a morning person, to say the least. Just because he had to get up with the sun didn't mean he had to like it.

He rolled over once more and sneezed. "Haju... What're we gonna do today?" he asked, his eyes tightly shut. Handlebars opened an eye and reached out to poke Hajime in the side. "Did you have a bad dream last night? You kept moving around and stuff..."

Handlebars was more concerned about Hajime than he was about himself. "I'm okay... My head hurts, that's all. Um..." he trailed off, looking down at the blanket. He didn't want to sound rude, but he was genuinely curious. "What did you dream about?" he asked, staring at Hajime.

((Shawt post. Something needs to happen. xD))

Hajime swallowed, and his heart beat a little faster. "Nothing..." He rolled out of bed and stood. "Nothing impor--" He couldn't make himself finish his sentence, because of what it meant. The last thing that event had been was unimportant.

"...That is..." he said, knowing that he was losing credibility with every pa.ssing moment, "...nothing that you would want to hear about." That much was true, at least. Hajime highly doubted Handlebars would want to hear exactly how his parents had died.

"Do you like eggs?" he asked, trying once again to change the subject.

((;c There. Something happened. They're getting eggs.))

 ((Eggs. xD))

Handlebars nodded, slightly hurt that his friend wouldn't tell him anything else about the dream. "Haju," he said, sitting up. "Do you think that we could visit Mrs. Matthews later? She probably thinks I'm dead or in jail or something." The teen stretched and slid out of bed. "Y'know..." he began, staring out the window. "It's not as bad as everyone thinks. The worst part about it is being alone at night, but..." He shrugged. "I guess some people would rather be alone. ...I thought I was one of those people."

Handlebars turned and gently brushed past Hajime. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

((Notice how Handle asks a question, then doesn't give anyone time to respond? x3))

Hajime stood in silence for a long moment. "...Huh," he finally said, and shook his head. Well, isn't that something? Hajime threw the blankets over the bed in a hasty attempt to make it appear tidy. He wasn't sure why. The only ones who would see it were himself and Handlebars.

Stepping around the bed, he picked up the clothes he'd given to Handlebars the previous day and something occurred to him. Reaching into the pocket of the kid's jeans, Hajime pulled out his mp3 player. Simply out of curiosity, Hajime opened up the tiny system's song menu as he picked up his own pants.

...It was entirely blank. Hajime blinked down at the player. ...Whatever, he thought, and set the system on his dresser. What was one more oddity in his life? He picked up the empty ceramic mug and started down the hallway, dropping the clothing outside the bathroom door on his way past and putting the mug in the kitchen sink.

Hajime dug a pan out of a cupboard and took a carton of eggs from his refrigerator. He stifled a yawn and began to cook breakfast.

((Handle wouldn't mind if Haji asked him about the mp3 player. x3 He wouldn't care if Haji went through his stuff.))

Handlebars walked out of the bathroom, drying his hands on his shirt. Not knowing what else to do, he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge. "Do you... need any help?" he asked hestitantly. "I can't really cook or anything, but... is there anything else I can do?"

He felt pretty useless. So far, Hajime had done everything for him. Handlebars wanted to return the favor somehow. "Uh... I could sing for you or something," he said, laughing.

Hajime laughed and flipped an egg with the fork he was using to cook them. "Sure," he said happily, "Pick a song!" Pressing the fork into the cooking egg, he added, "Oh, you left your mp3 player in your pocket yesterday. It's sitting on the dresser now." He turned slightly and grinned. "Is there a reason it was blank?"

((;c All is in the cards.))

Handlebars laughed again and said, "Yeah, there is, actually... My brother gave it to me years ago. It's, uh... It's blank to anyone else who's holding it. Don't ask me why. I still haven't figured it out. It works perfectly fine for me, though. I'll show you later." He smiled at Hajime. "Pick a song? Alright... Ah, I know."

Handlebars opened his mouth and began to sing. 

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better... Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better."

He paused and grinned at Hajime.

"Hey Jude, don't be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better..."

Hajime turned the stovetop off, turned, and leaned on the counter. The eggs were done, anyway. He couldn't help returning Handlebars' grin and joining him for the next line in his accented baritone,

"And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders."

He wondered how obvious it was that he loved this song.

((Aww. c8 ...Now we're gonna have like, ten posts of just song lyrics. xD))

((xDD This is so freakin' cute.))

Handlebars, trying to contain his excitment, continued to sing.

"For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool... by making his world a little colder."

It was rare that somebody would join him when he sang. He wasn't sure why, and had often wondered if he was bad at it. Mrs. Matthews had quickly scared away any doubts he had when she smacked the boy with a soup ladle and told him to never question his singing skills again. Still, he wasn't too sure of himself.

"Na na na na na... na na na na... Hey Jude, don't let me down. You have found her, now go and get her."

((x3 Sitting in the kitchen. The glorious smell of eggs in the air. Singin' Beatles songs.))

Hajime refrained from laughing at the sight of Handlebars' face. It was as if he'd never sung with someone else before. But as often as he sang, Hajime would be amazed if that were true. What a funny kid.

"Remember to let her into your heart... Then you can start to make it better."

Recalling the eggs, Hajime got two plates out of a drawer and divided the eggs between them. He set the plates on his kitchen table and took a breath.

"So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin. You're waiting for someone to perform with..."

((Interesting line, when you think about it. xD))

((xDD Very interesting line.))

"And don't you know that it's just you," Handlebars continued. "Hey Jude, you'll do. The movement you need is on your shoulder..."

Handlebars pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and plopped down in it. "Na na na na na, na na na na, yeah... Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her under your skin, then you begin to make it better, better, better, better, better, better, ohhh!"

Handlebars couldn't remember a time when he had been happier.

Handlebars nodded, then remembered his manners. "Yes, please."

He also took a bite of his eggs, and looked up at Hajime. "Thanks," he said, blushing. "My mom always joked about me coming out of the womb singing instead of crying." He made a face and shook his head. "I really hope she was just joking." Handlebars took another bite of his breakfast.

"How long have you been here?" he asked. "You know, in Solfege."

Hajime shrugged, setting a gla.ss of juice down in front of his guest. "Since running away," he said simply. "Three years ago." He sat down across from Handlebars and picked up his fork. "It might sound strange..." He took a bite of his eggs and washed it down with orange juice. "...but before this place, I hadn't lived more than a week in the same location since I was... well, younger than you. Probably fifteen or sixteen."

Hajime's eyes were fixed on his plate. He looked up past Handlebars and out the window. "I picked this city because of its size and unorthodox population. It was really a strategic decision. It seemed... easy to get lost here." I'm so talkative today, he thought. I wonder why. He looked back at the kid with a shrug and a smile. "It isn't easy."

"What about you?" Hajime asked, taking another drink of his juice. "What are you doing here?"

Handlebars, who had felt perfectly fine since he got up, now had the urge to throw up. And he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Well," he began. "After my parents were..." He trailed off. In any other situation, he would have simply said 'killed' or 'murdered'. But because he was so close to the ex-a.ssa.ssin, the person who had murdered his parents, Handlebars couldn't bring himself to say them. "After they were... gone," he started again. "I just... ran. I didn't know where I was running to. I was too young. Eventually, I ended up here in Solfege City. It was... overwhelming at first. A boy used to living in the country, suddenly ending up in this huge, confusing city..." he picked up the gla.ss of juice and took a long drink. Swallowing, he continued. "I wandered around for a while until I found the soup kitchen... I remember that day. It was snowing." He looked down at his plate, then smiled awkwardly up at Hajime. "Mrs. Matthews took care of me for a while. I never could stay in one place, though. So I kept running away. Finally, she agreed to let me do as I pleased, as long as I came by for meals when I needed them. She, uh... Well, she was sort of like a grandmother to me. Tried to teach me how to be a gentleman." He blushed slightly. "I dunno if it worked or not," he said, laughing.

"Uh... Haju, can you excuse me?" Handlebars suddenly asked, pushing away from the table. "I'll be right back." He stood and walked to the bathroom.

((:c His tummy hurts. So he's gonna go throw up stuff. -so subtle-))