Tsume snorted. "Sure thing, love-nuts. Good luck unpacking." Not that it looked like he had much. With a final grin she hooked the handle and pulled it closed, stepping out into the hall. Her own room spilled faint light in a streak across the corridor. She walked through, leaving her door open enough to catch any scents drifting out of the stairwell, and settled on the corner of the futon.

"He get out of the cell?" Kuromaru asked sleepily.

"Yeah. Found the keys."

Her pup didn't look entirely pleased about that. Tsume thought for a moment, then tried to appease him by adding, "But you did great, catching that ninja. He could have been an intruder."

Kuromaru perked up. "That's right. He should know better than to prowl around downstairs at night."

She reached out, scratching his single ear. "Well, he'll think twice about it, now."

Happier, Kuromaru laid his muzzle down on his front paws and sighed. "He was a nice man yesterday. I suppose I still like him." He looked up again. "Do you like him?"

"He's a nice guy," she said warily, remembering their earlier conversation about whether she liked Hayate.

"Do you like him more than Ryouma or Yasuo or Hayate?"

Tsume eyed her familiar. "Kuromaru..."

His gaze flicked toward the window. "Just asking. That's all. I mean, if he's nice and you like him and you both smell good..."

There was a distraction--and maybe even an answer to the question that had been niggling at her. "What did he smell like? I can't get a thing under the smoke."

Kuromaru shrugged, an odd sort of ripple up his back and into his shoulders. "Like a human."

That figured. "Move over, fuzzball. I want some blankets."

Kuromaru yawned and rolled onto his back, legs akimbo. "Our pack is getting bigger."

Tsume buried her head in her pillow, one hand on Kuromaru's chest. "Sure is."

There was silence for a moment. Then Kuromaru spoke once more. "It's kinda nice."

Tsume smiled. "Sure is."