Judging from her internal clock and the amount of sunlight streaming through her eyes she could tell she’d only had a few hours of sleep, but what a restful sleep it was. She woke feeling more refreshed and relaxed than she’s ever had before. She was engulfed in this intoxicating warmth that had her sighing and snuggling closer taking deep breathes. Suddenly she realized she smelled Shiraga’s scent and jerked up, looking down at the sleeping demon as his hand slide off her back. She stared at him wide eyed, shocked even, as he peacefully slept on.
I slept here all night? With him?
Even as her heart raced, pounding in her ears she went back to her training, calmly and quietly sliding out of the bed doing her best not to disturb the demon. As she tipped-toed across the room a quick glance told her her things were not there and slowly raced for the door. It was a different door than the one she had exit out earlier but still she grabbed the handle, ignoring the protest of her sore hand and prayed it led her outside at least.
The hinges squeaked when she opened it and she froze. Not hearing a sound she chanced a glance over her shoulder and the demon still slept soundly. Keeping one eye on him she grabbed the handle with both hands and lifted the weight off the hinges, sliding around the door and shutting it before he could wake.
The door shut behind her she leaned against it and finally gave her heart a chance to calm down. Her mind raced for what to do next as she looked around and saw the stairs to her right. On feather like feet she raced down the stairs and out the door into the morning sun, feeling like a victim escaping from her capture, and as she recognize it was still the same town she raced to her motel, feeling more and more like she was running from herself.
Ignoring the strange thoughts in her head she quickly stumbled into her room. She cleaned the dried blood from the bathroom floor and gathered her meager things into her pack. Paying the front desk she followed her nose to the smell of grease and eggs, finding a small diner to order breakfast. The waitress quickly brought her steaming coffee and yelled at the cook for her order of eggs and bacon. With the coffee soothing her sore hand like a hot pack she pulled out her small laptop and booted it up, finding a Wi-Fi network and got to work. It was time to finish the mission.
“Well you don’t miss much do you?”
She coughed and sputtered on the sip she tried to take, the hot coffee spilling on her top and luckily not her laptop. Slamming the mug aside she grabbed a wade of paper napkins, cleaning up her shirt as best as she could while glaring at the red haired demon across from her. He sat easily in the chair leaning on his arm as he watched her fumble with an amused grin on his face. As she glared at him some more his amusement grew and her eyes scanned his attire noticing his demon jewel was gone and his long hair was now short. Disappointed she waded up the dirty napkins and threw them at him to which he simple batted away. She liked his long hair and wished she could run her fingers through it again. That thought made her paused as she reached for more coffee, shocked that she still wanted him, to be with him.
Wasn’t that just the effect of the potion he used to save me?
As she tried to reason with her emotions the waitress brought out her food with her pleasant waitress smile on but when she saw Shiraga sitting at the table she visibly beamed at him. With playful fun shinning in his eyes he easily flirted with the young girl as they conversed, ordering breakfast for himself.
Cocky bastard.
She hid her gritting teeth behind her coffee, feeling a rush of vile raise up in her throat. She only gritted her teeth some more when she realized she was feeling jealous. The waitress went back to work with a noticeable spring in her step, sliding a glance back at the demon whenever she could. He felt her looks and Fye swears she saw his ego boost tenfold with all the looks he was getting. Not only from their waitress but from every women in the little diner, even some gay men too.
The young girl brought his food as they sat in silence, Fye’s own breakfast fast becoming cold as she has yet to set her coffee back down. They flirted some more and the girl actually had the gull to causally put her hand on his shoulder putting the moves on him. He didn’t even brush it off, only smiled bigger at her, making the girl’s day.
Fye felt her own day ruined much like the cold eggs she now shoveled into her mouth. As she scoffed down her food Shiraga raised a brow watching her. He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to get into it and began to eat his own warm breakfast.
She set her utensils down with a clatter and glared at him, “Why are you following me?”
He thoughtfully chewed on the food, not even tasting it for it was only for appearance sake before he answered, “You lied to me. That annoying snake was the one who came after you.”
She watched him skeptical, “Yeah so? What’s that got to do with your ass?”
That amused grin played on his lips again. She wanted to punch him.
“What’s in your ass? Sour this morning?”
Slamming her laptop shut she shoved it in her pack, “Fuck you.”
As she dug out some bills for her food he poked a fork at her, “You already did.”
That, she froze. She wanted to slap him, dunk her coffee on him she didn’t even care it was still hot, but that same annoying grin played on his face told her he was pushing her to do it, daring her. Well she wouldn’t give it to him.
With a ‘Hmph’ she grabbed the bills and only left enough for a tip and walked out, leaving him with the bill. With no real destination she aimlessly walked down the sidewalk as the town came awake around her. She groaned in annoyance when he appeared next to her, matching her stride. Biting her tongue she fought back snark remarks, wanting to be at least civilized about this. Taking a deep breath she realized she had no real reason to be mad. Feeling stupid she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, he still had that amused grin on his face.
“Why did you cut your hair?”
He chuckled, “This is but my human appearance. It’s too bothersome to walk around in my demon form all the time.”
“I thought demons hated human appearances.”
“Some may yes but,” a knowing grin splashed across his face as he winked at her, “I find it better to enjoy the local cuisine this way.”
She scuffed at him, taken aback. Trying to ignore the petty feelings in her heart she tried moving on, “So you live here then?”
“Yes.”
The simple answer stung at her heart. She grumbled and he watched her in interest.
“Did you not think demons could live here?”
This time she laughed at him, “No! I just didn’t peg you as small town demon, that’s all.”
He raised an eyebrow at that, “’Small town demon’?”
Laughing she waved her hand, “Yeah I can imagine you in this big mansion with a butler named Alfred but not fields and corns.”
Smirking he laughed, “You imagined me as Bruce Wayne?”
Stopping she stared at him wide-eyed, “Oh my God, you know Batman?”
He walked ahead of her smiling, “If one must blend, one must learn.”
She watched him as he walked, wondering at the feeling she felt. When he stopped and turned back to look at her as if saying ‘you coming?’ she felt her heart break. Oh she’s in something deep now, she knew. As she started walking again she thought, but I’m just gonna hold out on finding out what.
Ignoring her pounding heart she went to business, “Maybe you can help me then.”
“Oh?”
She hitched her pack higher up her shoulder, feeling her sore hand becoming more painful and said, “The family business is to deal with demon and you may guess, we take on requests from anyone who asks.”
They easily walked together, looking as if they were talking about the weather, not demons, “And someone from here sent such a request.”
She nodded her head, “Yes they said some demon was terrorizing their family for months and is begging for help.”
He turned to her, “And do you think such demon is me?”
Smiling she glanced at him, “No,” though at first she admitted she was worried it would be him and tried to stay away.
“How have you come to such conclusion?”
She waved her hand, “The demon’s only been terrorizing them the past few months. You’ve been here longer than that.”
“Hmm, sounds more like wishful thinking than sound evidence.”
Stopping she stood in front of him, staring directly into his eyes. He felt a little unnerved as she stared and forced himself to meet her gaze, feeling ridiculous.
After a breathe she said, “Because I can feel-I can tell when a demon is bad and you’re not. So, will you help me?”
His eyes narrowed as he studied her in turn. Suddenly he grabbed her chin, pulling her to him. Before she could push him away he locked his lips on her, stealing her breathe as he tilted her world. She felt herself falling and spinning in this darkness and warmth, surrounded by his smell. Suddenly her feet rocked on solid ground as she came back to earth when he broke the kiss. Smiling that smug look he said, “Yes.”
Panting she glared at him doing her best to look pissed when she only looked like a woman who was thoroughly kissed, “You can’t do shit like that.”
Crossing his arms he tapped his chin feeling amused, “Why not?”
“Because…well why the fuck would you?”
He shrugged his shoulder, “It interests me. And you owe me for the healing potion I used to save you. You yourself acknowledged your debt to me.”
She felt a stab at her heart, a bad one. It cut through her more than she wanted to admit but she forced the pain aside jabbing a finger at his chest, “Fine, but you can’t do shit like that, not when we’re working together now.”
For a moment he stared at her and she was reminded she’s dealing with a demon. For a shaky moment she thought he would do something to her but after reaching some decision he said, “Fine.”
“Good,” she turned from him to the abandoned house behind them, forcing herself to breath slow and simple. Waving hand to the building she said, “Meet the clients.”
He looked at the sad home, the sagging porch, the broken windows, the fading paint, “This house is abandoned. No family has lived here for years. Who sent your request?”
“They did,” she pushed the broken gate open leading him inside. Walking up the groaning steps she looked back to see him staring skeptical at her. “They’re the clients. Their ‘ghosts’.”
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