Snow. It was not an uncommon sight. He had seen it plenty of times before. It was both his best friend and his greatest admirer. In those silent nights when he stalked his next target, it gave him cover that went beyond any magic he could conjure. It came down heavily, obscuring vision as well as any fog. It made humans shiver and wrap themselves up, lowering their mobility and vision while still dulling their senses.

It was a beautiful white canvas where every kill he made would paint a picture. A painting made with sweat and blood. Well, it was too cold to sweat all that much. A figure of speech then, if you will. The blood part, well that was true. The graceful curves and elegant strokes of red upon the white snow. All made with precision yet without any intention. A cut meant to kill, using life as inspiration for the art it creates.

This year, it was no different. It still fell when everyone expected and would continue to do so until spring came much later. People would huddle together in their homes and Genji would continue to do his work. That was what he was used to in any case. The life of a demon was not so sophisticated. Unchanging and yet adaptive was what kept him alive. He did his job and stayed alive. The season, time of the year, and human traditions meant nothing to him.

At least, not until this year. In many ways, he was the same. A cold and calculating Oni, sly and merciless. But this year, he had mercy. More specifically, the witch that had summoned him. It had been almost a year now. She had summoned him during the new year, surprising the both of them.

What she had wanted was a bodyguard as the town she lived in found itself in a state of unrest. Sooner or later, she reasoned that the citizens would turn on her and blame her for some event or another. She was not publicly known as a witch of course, but people have accused others of witchcraft with much less evidence.

And so, she made a deal with him. Her soul was on the line, at least with the rate things were going. He was a professional assassin, with each contract worthy of at least a person's soul. Being tied down with a single person for this long, even if it meant he did not need to worry about his own life as much, was certainly strange and necessitated a second thought about the price for his service. At the very least, he deserved a bit more compensation than her soul.

Today, that compensation came in the form of a warm cup of hot chocolate. He was never a fan of sweet things but he could hardly refuse any longer. For the longest time, he ignored the cup left on the table, the cup that the young woman would inevitable sigh at and drank cold, hardly delectable in that state. Eventually, he spared her the pain, figuring that he may as well save her from her own foolishness. Being tasked with ensuring her well-being hardly counted for her happiness and health, but watching her doing the same thing every day and expecting a different result … Well, he wanted to spare her from thinking that she was insane, at the very least.

"Genji, could you get the kettle? I'm transcribing something at the moment, my apologies" came the sweet voice from the nearby room.

Magic hardly worked on him. There were a few that could still affect him and hurt him, all of which he had learned about and ensured that he would never be caught by. Charm was one of them, a powerful magic that most pushed aside. It was a power that could corrupt the thoughts and desires of any person in the world, turning them against their closest allies with false trust and emotions. Even a sea of fire could not compare to the power of charisma and seduction in the right hand.

Mercy's voice, it reminded him of that. Yet he knew she was not using magic. She was hardly ever using magic. If anything, she shouldn't even be considered a witch. Yes, she knew how to use magic and did so from time to time. But she did not use it as a witch would. The house did not clean itself and the fire sprung from natural logs. Clothes on the drying lines did not flee from sudden rain showers and water kettles do not pour themselves into glasses of cocoa powder.

She could do amazing things, he had seen it many times. She could concoct potions and enchant them with potent magic able to cure fatal diseases. She could patch up scar-bearing wounds and mask all signs of her magic with another layer of magic that made the wound seem to recover naturally with time. He had seen her bring small animals back to life, with little effort even.

Mercy was strange, in every sense of the word. Perhaps that was why she was so tolerable in this wooden cabin that he fixed slowly day by day to stop the annoying squeaks in the ceiling. Perhaps that was why he did not mind pouring the water from the kettle for her, into the matching cups that she had bought and constantly fixed with magic instead of purchasing new ones upon breaking. He hardly understood humans and he could not care to do so. But her …

He had told her his real name, though his demeanor and personality made it easy for her to assume that he used the alias of the famous Japanese novel character. The best deception is when there is no deception at all. Names were important, especially to witches and demons. To lose it would mean certain death, at least in the most docile of cases. There were worse things that could happen, though Genji was not interested in hearing them nor would he be willing to add to those stories. As such, he did not question her choice of alias.

That being said, there was … something about her calling him by his birth name that made her requests more tolerable. He had been insufferable at first, criticizing her living conditions, lack of motivation to use magic, her appearance despite being a witch, and everything in between as he found himself bored without anything to do. He had no peers here, no one to chat with or flirt with. In the demon world, he was popular enough to warrant his reference to that in the Tale of Genji. But here, he was stuck with her. Without any signs of danger ever approaching and without anything ever happening.

And yet, here he was. There were ways he could escape the contract. In fact, something told him that she would even allow him to leave if he really wanted to. Yet, he didn't. He began to find comfort in the house that he slowly fixed up, all without her permission and knowledge. He began to become accustomed to sitting in the house in his human form, simply watching the young witch go through her daily tasks and studies. He saw reason behind her limited usage of magic and even occasionally offered advice about certain magic qualities that she was experimenting with.

He even came to see the beauty in her simple outfit and hairstyle, both functional for her needs and yet still aesthetically pleasing. He had no need for humans, at least not in a sexual way. Some demons preferred it over other demons, reminiscent of their own time of being human. He had seen enough humans sacrificing their soul for a taste of pleasure that a demon can bring, a price that they seemed more than happy to pay over and over again if they could. Hell, some even became a demon for that reason alone.

As for Genji, he did not become a demon to just engage in carnal activities. Yes, he did. It was as wonderful as everyone said it would be. But he was not there for that reason. Neither did he crave the nostalgia of the taste of a human. Neither of his lives had meaning. Neither of his lives made him want to live in them, to make memories in them. As such, he did not care for either case in erotic manners, other than a past-time in the demon world.

As such, it was hard for him to comprehend what exactly was so compelling about her. He did not look at her with lust and he was long past being apprehensive and wary of her. He knew her, yet he did not. She was someone that was willing to share everything except her name with him, yet he knew nothing about who she really was.

After finishing his cup of hot chocolate, setting Mercy's cup next to where she was working, Genji washed the cup and returned by her side quietly, looking over her shoulder at the text she was writing. Some were letters to acquaintances, some were from the townspeople, and others were inquiries and books about some subject or another. He simply stood there in silence, letting her work. When he finally spoke, it startled her for more than one reason.

"Would it be a problem if I were to go for a walk?"

Mercy put her feather down, turning to face him with her lips slightly agape as she struggled for a moment to compose her thoughts. It was the first time he had initiated a conversation with her since their first meeting. Moreover, she did not know how long he had been there. Most importantly, he was asking to leave for some reason or another. A strange request with no explanation and no benefit for her.

"Of course. I'll be here awaiting your return" was her response with a sweet smile. With a nod, Genji left the house, the door shutting behind him and hiding her perplexed expression from him as he shifted into his demon shade, flitting between the shadows of the trees quickly through the forest. She was so strange, so trusting. So sweet and so kind. If she had not been a witch, she would have probably been a princess and a queen. If she had not been a witch, she would have never needed his protection. If she had just chosen to move to another town, she would never have a reason to meet him.

Yet there they were, two people alone in the forest mid-December. A witch and a demon, living a peaceful daily life that would make others fear for their lives. A demon with a million ways to kill a man and a witch with enough magic to bring ruins to a city or raise one from the ground. A fearsome force indeed should they decide to act. Yet there they were, happily enjoying their time alone in the forest. A quiet researcher and her watchful audience.

Before long, he had returned. Mercy looked him over and greeted him with a smile, looking down to see the small bag of groceries, with a major item being cocoa powder. She stood up to walk over, only to be stopped by his hand silently showing her shopping list and her gold pouch.

"You know, you ought to hide this better."

Mercy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a frown, "And you ought to know better than to take it."

Alas, she was not truly mad at him it would seem. She gave him a soft smile and took the bag from him, setting it on the table and going to organize the items he had brought home. He simply watched silently, opting to not interfere any further.

"Would you like another cup of hot chocolate, Genji?"

Only then did he reply with a small nod. He could hardly turn down an offer so sweet.