Mika shifted and rolled over. It was bright, too bright. In a part of her subconscious, she felt herself beginning to wake, but resisted the feeling and shifted again. It was still too bright. She grabbed at the comforter to pull over her head, but as soon as she touched it, her eyes flew open. That wasn’t the fluffy comforter that she was used to; it was far denser, more like a quilt.

She sat up quickly. A bit too quickly, she decided, because her head spun and her vision went blurry for a moment. Mika put one hand to her throbbing head and took in her surroundings as they came into focus.

She was in a room a bit larger than the one at her uncle’s house. The sunlight was shining directly through a window on the wall located to her right. Also to the right of the bed was a small desk with a lamp and rolling office chair. A school bag was tossed carelessly into the seat of the chair.

Turning left wall she found two doors: the one closest to the head of the bed was a bit narrower than the other. Then there was a third door directly in front of her.

Where am I exactly? She wondered as she shifted into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. Looking down at herself, she found she was still in her school uniform. Last night Kaito and I were talking until really late and I must’ve fallen asleep while watching TV. Then, does that mean I’m still in his apartment? If that’s the case, then this is probably the second floor and one of these doors must lead to the stairs.

Mika got up slowly and cautiously opened the narrow door closest to her. What she found inside were clothes and a few plastic boxes. That’s the closet then, she thought, hurriedly closing it. The next door down led to the shower and sink. The third has to be the stairs!

Moving to the door in front of the bed, Mika opened it slowly and felt relief wash over as she saw the beginning of the darkly polished wooden staircase. She had already picked up a foot to go through the threshold when she paused. Kaito’s a demon… The knowledge washed over her anew as she repeated it to herself. I wonder if he keeps anything interesting in here.

Her eyes ventured back to the closet. There had been several plastic bins. But I shouldn’t go through someone else’s room, especially not a guy’s. Curiosity burned in her chest, but she forced it back down with a shake of her head. I can’t. It would be better to just ask him outright later.

Still, she hesitated to go down the stairs. Instead, she moved to the washroom to stare at her reflection in the mirror. Even she could tell she looked a bit tired, her eyes had faint purple-blue bags under them and her face was slightly on the pale side.

Mika splashed a little water on her face and worked at finger combing her hair. Meanwhile, her eyes traveled around the washroom slowly, hesitantly. She’d wanted to wash her face, but couldn’t get it out of her mind that she was in a guy’s bathroom, a guy’s bedroom. And I slept on his bed. Immediately colored filled her face as a blush jumped to her cheeks.

Luckily for her, the entire bedroom, including the washroom, was completely bare of anything that marked it as a guy’s room. It was almost too clean.

Mika waited for the color in her face to fade before she headed down the stairs. The first half of the staircase was straight, and then it took a sharp 180 degree turn to face the living room. Mika stopped here to glance around for Kaito. It didn’t take her but a moment to find the top of his head visible above the back of the couch.

She quietly descended the rest of the staircase and moved over to him. Mika had drawn a breath to call a morning greeting, but paused as she caught sight of his face. His eyes were closed and he had himself propped up against the arm and back of the couch. Mika crept slightly closer. His face was so serene that her breath hitched in her throat. There was no other way to say it, he really was quite handsome. Once again, she felt a small blush creep into her cheeks.

“Is it time to get up already..?” he muttered slowly, opening one eye to look at her face.

Startled by the sudden movement, Mika lurched backward. Unfortunately, she hit the corner of the coffee table as she moved, which further served to weaken her balance and increase her backward momentum. She braced herself for impact with the floor; however, the sensation she felt instead was her wrist being grabbed and pulled.

In a smooth movement, Kaito reversed her fall and pulled her toward him, though he grabbed her shoulder with his open hand to prevent her from falling completely against him. “I see it’s already an active morning.”

With her face now beet red, Mika pulled away from him and murmured an apology, though he immediately waved it off. “It’s fine. Anyway, did you sleep alright?”

Mika dipped her head once in a small nodded.

“I see. That’s good then.”

“Were… you asleep?” Mika finally managed to ask.

“I was before you woke up,” he stated.

“Ah! Gomenasai! Did I wake you up?” Mika bowed an apology. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be concerned about it. There’s not much you could’ve have done to prevent it. I’m quite a light sleeper.” He paused before continuing a bit more slowly. “I could hear your breathing change when you woke up, but I really didn’t want to get up yet so I sat here for a while in denial.” He laughed softly, but Mika cut him off.

“You could hear me breathing? From all the way down here with the door closed?!” she exclaimed.

“Mhm,” he mumbled in response.

That means he probably heard me opening the doors and turn on the water in the bathroom as well. It’s a good thing I didn’t get let curiosity get the better of me.

Kaito headed over to the kitchen to make tea for the morning, leaving Mika to mutter in astonishment. It only took a couple of minutes before he had settled himself at the Japanese table with a cup for the both of them.

“What time did you get to sleep?” Mika asked quietly.

Kaito thought for a moment. “It was about an hour after I carried you to the bed… So around four I guess.”

Carried me? Mika hadn’t thought much about how she had actually gotten on the bed. She found herself suddenly quite interested in her tea and didn’t look back up.

Kaito cast her sideways at her, but didn’t remark on her change of behavior. The silence lasted until they were both finished with their cups. “Well, I suppose you are ready to go home?”

Mika drew a breath to give an affirmative reply when she paused. “Will I be able to ask you questions again?” He’d said last night that it was her one chance to ask, but there were still a lot of things she wanted to know about him and demons in general.

“Sure, as long as it’s in a quiet place. You already know the 'big secret' so I don’t really see any reason to withhold information at this point.”

Smiling, Mika stood. “Okay, then yes, I’m ready to go home.”

Kaito accompanied her as they headed toward her house. Though she knew around about where they were, she wasn’t confident that she’d be able to get back to her neighborhood without getting lost. Therefore, she was grateful for Kaito’s guidance. This also meant that she could immerse herself in her thoughts while they walked.

He said I could still ask after today, but I might not get many chances. In that case, I can see if he’ll answer a few more. There’s no one around so it should be fine… But what to ask first... Mika contemplated for a moment and then decided on a question.

“How did you know Hattori was working with that guy specifically and not just with some other… uh, normal gang?”

Before answering, Kaito swept his eyes over their surroundings to confirm that no one was on the streets. Still, his answer was in a soft voice. “I could smell its scent on Hattori the moment they started working together.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Hmm, around two weeks ago.”

“But you couldn’t find the exact location of the guy?”

“Yeah.”

“The rest of the gang won’t come after me again right?”

“They shouldn’t remember you, so I can’t imagine them coming after you again. Hattori may remember how you are since he’s known you for longer, but hopefully he has enough sense to keep his distance. If not, I’ll pummel him again.”

Mika couldn’t help but laugh. “You say it so casually. Let’s see… I also had another question, though it was unrelated to the other one.”

“Shoot,” Kaito encouraged with a wave of his hand.

“How old are you?” In every legend that she'd read, be in Japanese or Western, supernatural beings always seemed to live longer than humans. Even though Kaito looked his age, she couldn't help but be curious if the stories were true.

“If we’re talking actual years it’s honestly hard to say. If I had to guess, somewhere between three hundred and three hundred and fifty. It’s a pain to keep track of though so –” Kaito stopped as he realized Mika was no longer at his side. She’d stopped several strides behind him and was staring with widened eyes and a slack jaw.

“That old?!”

“Shh,” he hushed her sharply. “Keep your voice low if you plan to ask me these types of things on the street.” After a bit of encouraging, Mika continued walking and Kaito spoke again. “Maturity wise though, you can say I’m about the age of a sixteen year-old.”

“So that would be something like twenty actual years for every human year? I can’t imagine dealing with a toddler for half a century.”

Kaito gave a soft laugh. “Well, it’s a little more complicated. Childhood passes by pretty fast actually. By the end of the first year, we can usually walk and say a couple of words, so that’s comparable to a human. After about five years, maturity starts to slow down, so someone who’s a century old might be comparable to a ten-year old child.”

“Then how old would your parents be?”

“Hmm. Six or Seven centuries? It really is difficult to say. It’s too many years to count. We’re here.”

The next question died in Mika’s throat as she looked up and saw the familiar house. She was glad to be home, but disappointed that her questioning time had come to a close so soon. There was still so much more she wanted to know. Swallowing her curiosity for the moment, she turned to Kaito and sunk into a low bow. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.”

“You don’t have to be so formal,” he said. “I’m just glad that it all worked out.”

“Me too. I guess I’ll see you on Monday at school?”

“Yep.”

The both turned their separate ways, when Kaito’s voice called her back. “Mika, not a word of this to anyone. You promise?”

His serious eyes bored straight into her own and she gave a small nod. Noticing how weak it was, she bobbed her head a bit more strongly. “I promise. I won’t breathe a word of it to anyone.”

Satisfied with her response, Kaito turned and headed back down the street. Mika couldn’t help but watch him until he disappeared around the corner. Mentally shaking herself, she opened the door and entered the quiet house.