Katsuya, very elated to be on speaking terms with Honda, rode up the sidewalk to see him. He parked his bike on the fence and rung the doorbell. Katsuya waited patiently for his arrival.

Honda looked up from the newspaper in front of him, wondering if the sound he had just heard was real or just his tired imagination playing tricks on him. Sevikir meowed, and glanced from the door to him then back to the door in annoyance. "Heh, guess it wasn't my imagination then." He stood up and walked over, wondering who it could be. Without bothering to check outside, he unlocked the door and swung it open.

"Hi, Honda-kun!" The sight of Honda made Katsuya blush and smile like a giddly little schoolgirl. But wait--weren't the two just friends? Katsuya reminded himself throughout the day that Honda and he were only friends, they weren't getting together anytime soon, and Honda wasn't ready for a relationship...

Honda smiled when he saw his friend standing there. After the day he'd had, he was very glad to get to see someone who was so happy to see him. "Hey, didn't expect to see you so soon. Come in, come in." He waved the blond into the house. "So, how've you been?" He strode over to the couch and started moving stacks of papers from the seat to the floor, so that they could sit comfortably on the couch.

Katsuya followed Honda. "I'm okay right now, I guess. Er, well... Christmas is coming, and I don't think I'm earning enough money to buy presents, but I think--" Katsuya gasped. He saw a small needle, one much like the needles in Katsuya's sewing kit, on the coffee table. It became evident as to why he stopped his hobby altogether when beads of sweat formed on his face and he backed away screaming and in tears.

Honda jumped at the sudden sound, and the stack of papers in his hand fell to the floor in a disorganized mess. Eyes wide, he looked frantically from his friend to the coffee table and back as he tried to figure out what the problem was. Not seeing anything unusual aside from a shirt he had been attempting to mend a tear in earlier that day, he walked cautiously over and tried to gently turn Katsuya around to face the front door again. "What is it, buddy?" he asked in the calmest voice he could manage. "What's wrong? Please tell me."

Katsuya buried his head in Honda's shoulder and sobbed hysterically. In his mind, he debated on whether or not he should tell Honda of his fear of such a small, pointy object. It was such a silly fear, since sometimes, medical injections were needed for people to survive. On the other hand, he didn't want to be badly hurt by those vile devices, like Shadow did to Katsuya several days earlier.

Honda stiffened slightly at the unexpected contact, then forced himself to relax. Hesitantly bringing a hand up to stroke his friend's back, he tried to think what he could say to sound reassuring. "Shh, shh. It's okay." He brought his other hand up to Katsuya's cheek. "It's all fine." Cupping his chin, he turned his head so they could face each other. "It's gonna be okay, just tell me what's wrong." He tried not to let his own fear show on his face as he rubbed his friend's cheek again.

"I... it... it's..." Katsuya coughed, barely able to speak. He sniffled and let his tears flow for a few more minutes. Now trying to catch his breath, he asked, "Y...you won't laugh, will you...?"

Honda shook his head. "No, I promise." This whole situation was freaking him out much more than he wanted to admit.

Katsuya faced his friend and after several moments of silence, he finally admitted, "I'm afraid... of, of... needles." He gripped Honda's shirt and let out a few more sobs. "I know only little kids are afraid of those, but..."

"...Needles?" While that made sense considering how Shadow had attacked Katsuya, Honda wasn't sure what that had to do with him freaking out now, since everything had been fine until they'd gotten close to the coffee table... where he'd set down his shirt after giving up on trying to mend it. Oh, right, sewing needle. Honda put his arms around his friend's waist and pulled him closer. "It's okay, it's okay. It's completely understandable." Okay, so now he knew what the problem was. Still didn't tell him what to do next. "Do you want to sit down?"

Instinctively, Katsuya wrapped his arms around Honda's shoulders. He cried even more. A few moments passed, then Katsuya looked up into his friend's eyes and nodded.

"Right here, on the floor? Or I can clear off the coffee table if you'd rather sit on the couch." Honda had a feeling he knew which option Katsuya would prefer, but he thought it better to give his friend a choice. It was his fault for not bothering to clear the coffee table right away. If he had, then Katsuya wouldn't be like this now. He tried to think if there were any other potential blunders he could try to prevent.

"N-no, no... it's okay... I'll just sit right on the floor..." Katsuya felt so horrible for making his friend worry about him, and for screaming over such a tiny object. "I'm so sorry... I must be a pain to take care of..."

Honda shook his head and gently pulled the blond down to sit on the ground next to him. "No, like I said, it's understandable. I should have realized sooner that you'd want to avoid any sort of needles after what Shadow did. I'm the one who should be apologizing." He started absent-mindedly stroking Katsuya's cheek. "Do you wanna talk about it? I'm not sure if that would make it worse or better, guess it depends on what you feel comfortable doing."

"Okay..." Katsuya took a few deep breaths. "I'll... I'll try to relax." He hiccupped, and let a few tears fall. "I... liked sewing so much, and now I stopped... It's really weird since I loved making stuff with my sewing kit... I wanted to take home economics..."

Honda nodded. "And that's why fear like this is such a problem, when it starts getting in the way of being happy." He closed his eyes and pulled Katsuya slightly closer, leaning down to rest his cheek against the other boy's shoulder. "I guess the best way to get things back to normal is just to take small steps." He opened his eyes and glanced up. "Er, would you rather be discussing this with a shrink or something? I'd imagine the hospital sent someone by to help you get over the 'psychological damage' or whatever they wanna call it."

"Uh huh... I did talk to someone... But I didn't know I was afraid of needles until much later..." Katsuya held Honda tighter and began to shudder. "I bet they gave me shots when I they gave me the stitches... I... don't wanna think about that, but I am..." He pressed his head against his friend's.

Glad that his arms were above Katsuya's rather than pinned underneath, Honda brought a hand up to stroke his cheek again. "Don't think about the hospital at all if it's going to make you scared again. Think about something happy then. Like Sevikir, you had fun playing with him, right?"

Katsuya nodded. Sevikir made him happy. But, then again, he had claws... But, claws were a part of a kitten, and they weren't exactly needles. Just then, Katsuya felt a nudge at his hip. Could it be that very cat trying to cheer him up as well...?

Honda could see the kitten out of his peripheral vision. Dropping his hand from Katsuya's face to just about the kitten's eye level, he wiggled his fingers slightly to encourage Sevikir to wander closer to the offered hand. Lifting his head so he could see better, he used the hand to pick the living ball of fur up, while leaving his other arm around Katsuya. He gently set the kitten in his friend's lap and began stroking his fur. Hopefully Sevikir wouldn't feel the need to use his small claws to get a better footing.

Katsuya sat nervously, but tried not to startle the little kitten. Sevikir sat upright on Katsuya's thigh. Some tears fell from the blond's eyes and the black kitten shook his head rapidly when they landed on him. Katsuya stroked Sevikir, grateful that he had another friend who would comfort him.