"Why didn't you just kill her?" the silk voice of Ayame wondered. Her heels clicked threateningly beneath her feet.

Kana crossed his arms over his chest, in-taking a large breath through his nose. It smelled disconcertingly heavily of disinfectant, a disgustingly sweet scent to his sensitive nose. While Ayame found this pleasant, he had been spending the course of an hour trying not to choke on it.

He slackened in his chair, changing his position once again for the mere purpose of boredom. Across from him, the only source of entertainment here, was the white, tidy bed of the clinic. Within the soft covers was a petite girl, perfectly tucked into comfort. Her face was content as she breathed her very soft breaths of slumber. Sometimes she gave the tiniest of snores. For just over an hour, he'd been watching this girl with his narrow, wild eyes. Now, his gaze – which had turned into much more of a glare over the past hour - ventured toward the other woman clad in a white coat and down-turned lips.

"I didn't need to," he remarked cheekily. "Ina said we're supposed to act normally, and I guess that means don't go off killing people." Ayame gave him a distasteful frown in reply.

Meanwhile, Kana's eyes flickered back to the girl. There was hair hanging in her face, and it had been tormenting him the entirety of the time he'd been staring at her, but he'd yet to fix it despite the ease of simply flicking it away. A smirk pushed itself up his lips.

"Plus, you have to admit, she's pretty cute."

"I wish I could believe you're jesting," Ayame sighed, stuffing her hands inside her pockets. "I can't fathom why you have such a great interest in humans."

"Huh. If you hate them so much, why do you run a clinic?"

"I'm the only one who can. Ina personally decided that for me. Any one of you others would been driven to insanity."

"If you mean a lot more people would die, that's probably true," he remarked lackadaisically.

The doctor glanced down at the slumbering girl. If only Kana would just leave, she thought, she could get back to her work. However, with him here, anything could be a trigger for him, and she wasn't allowed to let humans die within the territory of the Two Towns, especially Konohana.

What a bother, she thought bitterly, turning her head away from the two. Why couldn't he had just eaten her when he had the chance?

"I didn't want to eat her," he barked.

"You could have. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with this inconvenience," she snapped back.

Kana growled in response. He hated the way her countenance displayed her thoughts so prominently. There was never that feeling with her that he got with others; the feeling of wanting to know what they were thinking so badly. She just wasn't elusive and faced things as they were.

Goddess, why were demons such complex creatures? Humans were simple. That's what he liked about them. They didn't have to deal with the constant threat of others, the darkness, or the constant hunger to rip each other apart, limb from limb. As of late, however, Rutger and Ina had been doing fair jobs of keeping the towns at a passive state. It had been an entire month since the last mess.

"How long was it since you last ate?" Ayame wondered not exactly innocently. She was slowing egging him on to rid of this pest in her residence.

"This morning," he replied.

"That's not what I meant. Your other side."

He grimaced. At least the taste of disinfectant in his sinuses helped to ward the taste of them from his mind. "Don't be like that. Ina'd kill me."

"You would make quick work of her," she chimed, positioning her lips in what could have been a smile had she been someone else.

"No. There's something about this one," Kana snarled. "Just look at her..."

"All I see is a silver platter."

"I'm not going to, Ayame."

"Alright," she announced finally. "You've convinced me. I'm leaving."

The doctor wandered out of the room. That was it? She was just testing him so she could go off and do whatever she wished? He wished it hadn't been so logical to do so. No one was supposed to allow others to kill humans, and had he killed this girl, she would've been deemed an enabler, and they both wouldn't been punished.

There was something else to it, he thought, sniffing that sickeningly smell again. She probably just didn't want to have a mess to clean up... That was Ayame, one of the already passivated demons of Konohana. To this day, he still had no idea what type of demon Ayame was, and it wracked his mind to think about it. She was so strange.

In the bed, the girl stirred, the brown hair falling from her face. As much as that strand hanging between her eyes had bothered him, a part of him wished she hadn't moved, that it was still there. This disheveled yet cute look she had enraptured him unlike any human had before. Her shoulders turned, her head rolled to the side, and he found it impossible to look away. This was how he'd found himself stuck for an hour before he got used to her in that position. How long would it be that she was snuggled into the covers before she ultimately regained consciousness?

It wasn't another five minutes. Slowly and steadily revealed sleepy amethyst eyes, gazing wearily at his figure. At first, she wasn't even sure where to focus on. All that registered was the orange hue of his sweat shirt, the black tattoos binding his arm, and the white surroundings which blinded her sight. Dazed, she murmured something incomprehensible and shoved her head beneath the covers.

Just those eyes were enough to startle him. Was it really possible to have that color of eyes?

"Holy cow," he breathed.

Suddenly, the eyes – only the eyes - reappeared in a hole between the sheets. Her brow was furrowed angrily. Or apprehensively. He really didn't pay enough attention to it.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice low.

Goddess, her voice screamed 'adorable' too. It was gruff from sleep and pitched rather low for a girl, but it was sleek and feminine in its own way.

I knew she'd be too cute to kill.

He smiled ominously at the gloated thought, and she erupted from the bed. The blankets flew to the floor, and a silver object flashed in her hand as she reached for the counter on the opposite side of the bed. She'd retrieved a scalpel, and shoved it dangerously in Kana's direction. She kept herself low.

"Uh... Does everyone do this when they wake up in a hospital?" he wondered carefully, prying down to the area behind her to see just how many weapons Ayame had left her.

"I don't know! Who are you? What do you want?"

"I was just waiting for you to wake up. I found you out cold in the forest."

"I-I was? Urh! Where am I?"

"You ever heard of the Two Towns?"

"No. I shouldn't be here. I have something I need to do!" She winced and pressed her palms against her forehead. "I can't remember what I was supposed to do! Why!"

"You have amnesia too?" he beamed.

"Shush! I do not!" She waved her hand furiously back and forth at him. "This is just temporary. I'm going to figure it out, and then I'll leave."

"And go where?" he urged on, amused.

"Somewhere. I am... What's my name?" she growled menacingly. "My name's Lillian! I think that's it... And I live... Somewhere with trees and the sky!"

Kana guffawed. The frustration of this girl was priceless. Here she was, waving around a scalpel, unable to remember more than her name.

"D-don't laugh at me!" she demanded. Eventually his laughter died down, and then she added for the third time: "Who even are you?"

"The name's Kana. I live here and stumbled upon you taking a nap against a log almost a mile out in the forest."

"I don't just take naps in the woods," Lillian pouted, jutting out her lip. He begged to differ, seeing as she hadn't withstood a single injury. She threw down the scalpel on the counter, jamming the blade from the handle, and pouted.

"Look, we'll go to the town hall and get this mess you're in sorted out, okay?"

"Fine. Don't try anything stupid though."

"Okay," he agreed. It was strange how she was. Any other human and the conversation would've gone silent long before it begun – she was just different. It was almost like she knew the people here were demons, hungry for human flesh... but there was no way.

Lillian grabbed the scalpel, replaced the blade, fetched the cover and crossed her arms over her tiny body defensively. The small knife she tucked under her arm.

Yes. It was exactly like she knew. That or she'd had a hell of a time in her world.

"What are you so worried about?"

"I don't know," she admitted, an angry blush rising to her face. "I just feel like I need to keep this with me. I'll bring it back later. Or maybe you can be my dog and bring it back for me."

My dog? Kana thought, stunned. Momentarily his feet had gone numb, locking themselves against the floor. It's got to be a coincidence.

He slapped himself lightly in the face before looking back at her and guiding her out of the clinic. Before departing, he had shouted to the back room, where Ayame kept herself locked up, but she gave no reply, and they continued on.

"So... you remember nothing?" he ventured as they walked through the leafy vale of Konohana. Lillian took little interest in the atmosphere, focused on the road ahead. Every time her lustrous eyes came up to meet him, his step faltered.

"What's with you?" she asked, too embarrassed to answer his question.

"Sorry, I've just never seen a person like you."

"Person like me?"

"That's not a bad thing. It's actually cool, but it's... uh, unnatural?"

Her eyes met the cobblestone and watched the pebbles go by. Into the collar of her sweatshirt she murmured, "You're pretty unnatural too."

Kana frowned. "Alright, you have impossible intuition."

She gave an incredulous look, her thumb then grazing the scalpel. "It's an observation."

"Well, good."

"See? That's why I call you unnatural. Just the way you reacted to that. You were relieved."

"Was I really?"

She didn't respond, and walked along slightly behind him, making certain her steps were not in time with his.

"Hey, lighten up," he wished. She'd been so content when she was asleep, and now she tucked her head into her chest, glaring around timidly. "We'll figure things out, Lil'."

"Lil'?" she gnarled. "Don't call me that! I'm not that small."

That was better—her face lit up, and the edge in her voice became bright.

"Oh, yeah? Look at you, you're a mouse."

"Not true."

"I'd bet Rahi's bigger than you, and he's a little kid."

"Whatever. Size doesn't matter. I can do anything anyone else could do."

"Reach the top shelf?"

"Hey!" She bared her teeth a shot a punch at him. It scuffed his shoulder.

"I think I just felt something," he stated mockingly. It was hard to keep the smile off his face.

"You're impossible!" she grumbled, shaking her fists out in front of her in frustration. She was blushing angrily, and the red never really absconded her. It was always there on her cheeks, and her brow was fixed in position. This expression was much more bearable than the previous though; it had been lost and morose before, longing for something to rescue her.

As Kana peered back at her, he wondered, why do I want to help her so bad? He'd known her for five minutes, and yet he already wanted to wrap her up and fix everything for her. She was a complete unknown, in this area for no reason he could comprehend. The Two Towns were placed 2 miles apart from each other, and each had woods stretching at least 25 miles in every direction. How did she get here? Why? Would Ina kill her because it was out of season for tourists? No... She'd vowed to the Harvest Goddess she wouldn't, and would regulate her town regardless of season.

"K-Kana?"

Her voice quivered, her glance reaching further than it had before. He glanced back at her.

"Huh?"

"People are staring at me."

"Yeah, it's out of tourist season, so every time they see someone, they freak. It's normal. Don't let them get to you."

"M...m'kay," she mumbled.

Kana could feel the eyes on him too. They came as they cross the road before Mako's orchard. Mako outright stared from beneath the boughs, offering only his glare as they passed. And further on, he knew Nori awaited in her garden as she usually did, already eyeing them through the greenery.

"Kana," she called as they passed. She was clad in pink, oriental clothes he still could not recall the name of. She'd told him again and again, but this time he just wasn't going to ask.

"Nori," he smirked. "Lillian, you okay with a quick detour?"

"Uh... Alright," she concurred hesitantly, following him down the side path with lead to the woman's garden. The lady sat in the midst of crops and flowers alike, a pleasant expression written on her face. She didn't give off the same aura Kana did, Lillian noticed.

"Hello. Who are you? A visitor?"

"This is Lil'. I picked her up in the woods-"

"You're kidding me," Lillian fumed. "Lillian. That's my name."

"Ah," Nori accepted, nodding sagaciously. "It's sweet. Delicate. I like it."

Lillian found herself delighted with Nori's attitude. She was expressive, but not overly so. There was also something compelling about her, which Lillian liked, and she conversed easily, despite her lack of memories. Kana quickly grew bored though, a little disappointed Nori had stolen Lillian's attention away from him.

Actually, it was more than a little it bothered him.

"Hey, we should get to the town hall," he suggested.

"Yes, but we only just-"

"It'll close if we take too long!"

"Well, just a-"

Unexpectedly Kana scooped her off her feet, holding her with her arms pressed up against her chest. Nori found this no surprise and clicked her tongue mockingly.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing!" Lillian complained, struggling. Kana kept his grip securely fastened.

"See ya', Nori," he called. He wasn't lying about the town hall – Ina did close it up for her nightly ritual things.

Nori gave a wave goodbye, unamused with him for interrupting their conversation. He always had been a bother to her, but she'd just managed it, occasionally calling him over to talk for the sake of "bonding". Ina supported the idea, but Nori didn't see why it was so important to have relationships between demons. Demons either wanted to kill each other, or stay as far from each other as physically possible. For her and Kana it was the latter of the two. At least on one end, that was.

"W-what's the big idea? Put me down!" Lillian screamed, kicking him in the shins repeatedly. It was amusing how she thought it might affect him.

"But you're so easy to carry. Plus, I don't like the way she looks at you."

"What are you talking about? I don't like the way you've been looking at me, but I dealt with you anyway!" she cried, turning her body back and forth trying to escape.

"Fine," he acquiesced, dropping her. She fumbled, but ultimately got back on her feet and shot him an annoyed glare with her hands on her hips.

"What don't you like about the way I look at you?"

"U-Uh," she murmured anxiously, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Well, it's just annoying, I guess."

He gave a quick laugh. She really didn't mind a thing about it, huh?

She regained her composure. "Hey, but what was wrong with Nori's?"

"Ah. She was giving you her 'I secretly want to kill you in your sleep' signature look."

"I think I'm rightfully doubting you."

"You'd be...surprised..." he said, picking up on something in the forest. An animal was racing through the brush, but he wasn't sure why it piqued his attention. It sounded like a boar, but it was far too quick and coming far too close. His step hesitated to listen.

"Kana? We going?"

His mind made the connection, and he grabbed Lillian by the arm, positioning her behind him. Noticing his change of dynamic, she placed a hand on his back and held some of the fabric between her fingers.

"You sure make it over the mountain quick," Kana commented.

"Actually, my pace was quite leisure. I've been interested since late last night," he clarified darkly, out of view and under the shade of the trees. "Have you claimed her for yourself?"

"Sure," Kana agreed. "She's mine. And I won't let anyone touch her."

"Well, she's still here, so then you plan on keeping her?" Cam's laugh resounded through the trees. "You dogs are strange."

Lillian quivered, her fingers locking around the fabric of Kana's hoodie. The very sound of his voice sent a cold shiver down her spine and left every hair on her body risen. As dangerous as it probably was, a terrifying voice in her head told her this was the safest place to be, behind Kana.

Cam stepped out into the light and cover of the trees. His eyes were sunken, and his hair hung ragged around his face. The green of his eyes glistened hungrily.

"Still haven't learned to control yourself?" Kana laughed nervously.

"Still haven't learned not to play with food?" he hoarsely growled back, determinedly stepping forward.

"Trust me, this one's not food. For anyone."

"F-Food?" Lillian breathed, stepping entirely behind Kana. She broke the sight line between them. This man looked bestial, ready to tear something, someone apart. With the way he hungrily gazed over her, she doubted he directed his attention at Kana. Her body stiffened.

"Actually I think you're right..." Cam said, his voice thick and sugary. Lust circumvented his tongue. Then a split second later, both him and Lillian had vanished. Kana yelped in surprise.

The experience made Lillian's head spin. She was immediately nauseous. Cam's hands on her waist were the only thing keeping her upright as she stared at the ground 10 meters away, pulsing beneath the tunnel vision of her spinning head.

"So what made you want to affiliate with a mutt like that?" whispered the tainted voice of Cam in her ear. "I wonder what you taste like..."

His tongue rolled across her neck, teeth just touching the surface.

"Cam! I 'll kill -"

Lillian took a breath and retorted violently. She elbowed him with as much force as she could muster, and luckily that was enough to cause him to lose his balance, however, the effect was mutual. She too lost her balance and plummeted.

Kana expertly captured her into his arms. Almost immediately after, Cam fell from the branches and landed with an uncomfortable crack.

"Kana," Lillian breathed into his chest. "I..."

"This is ENOUGH, Cam," the enraged voice of a woman thundered. "Do you want to die?"

He writhed onto his back on the ground and huffed in reply, groaning in pain.

"I'm tired of your games. You are hereby banished from Konohana. One more step in this town, and I will rip your heart out. You tell no one what happened here. Go," she commanded bitterly. He slowly scraped himself up off the ground, his bones snapping back into place, and then retreated into the darkness. He looked back though, looked at Lillian with her face buried into Kana's chest and licked his lips before leaving.

Lillian was shaking hard. Hyperventilating, pale, confused. She shook her head in disbelief, her mouth hanging open, and pushed herself out of Kana's arms. He let her go, but then came back to her, lifting her limp body as she fainted on the spot.

"That bastard," he gnarled. "He's just in it for the fun. Otherwise he would've gotten her."

The woman nodded, looking over Lillian's unconscious body. "Agreed."

A/N: I wrote this a long time ago, so I apologize for some of the quality. Checking to see if it's worth continuing. Comments?