There was something overtly peaceful about churches, though that could be simply because the young woman who'd slipped inside had been raised inside this particular one. She was visibly out of place from the few other parishioners there that morning. She wasn't anywhere near the age of retirement, in fact, most people her age were probably in college. She wasn't a housewife and her hair wasn't long out of devotion to some line of scripture she'd probably forgotten if it existed. The other women in the church were used to the odd girl by now, and didn't bat an eyelash when she kneeled in front of the altar to pay her respects rather than one of the many empty pews. She did so more out of habit and respect for those who lived here rather than faith. Despite being raised, baptized, and confirmed in this very building, she did not share the same fervent devotion as the congregation. Then again, if the congregation had seen some of the things they did, they'd be a bit dubious of certain methods as well.

"Kaori?" The young woman smiled up at the mother superior, her blue eyes almost blending in with the colored sunlight that fell across her face. "You're back so soon?" Tsunade's face showed signs of worry despite herself.

"I had a work related incident," Kaori said sheepishly. "Normally I'd be fine, but I've been feeling a bit sluggish and better safe than sorry, you know. Is Father Chiriku in?" Tsunade looked more annoyed than worried now, and Kaori was grateful for it. It was a far more familiar expression.

"We give you work despite being an unlicensed exorcist because your gift is supposed to make the job safer for you!" Tsunade scolded, keeping her voice low. "It does not give you the excuse to go throwing yourself into work without taking the proper precautions." In her defense, should she have taken a purifying bath beforehand, yes. Did she have time to? No. Should she have called in a more experienced, and church sanctioned, exorcist to handle things? Probably. But the first thing she'd learned when she shadowed the middle aged priest was that church sanctioned exorcists were often deaf, and sometimes blind to, the spirits of the dead. Almost none of them could tell the difference between a lost child missing its mother and the devil himself if they screamed in their faces. For most of them the presence of the dead and demons were the same tingle in the back of their necks.

"I didn't know it was a near full fledged demon until it tried to eat me. Trust me, if I did I would have notified Father Chiriku instead of taking on the job. All I could see were a few fresh shades hanging around it to mask its presence," Kaori explained quietly. "I went to take care of those, not a demon."

"Why would a shade hang around a demon?" That made Kaori pause as Tsunade led her to the church office. Tsunade turned back to look at her, waiting patiently as Kaori stood there and recalled the other night.

"It must have been smart enough to threaten them. A full fledged shade wouldn't have been nearly as afraid of being caught by a demon. They've been wandering around long enough to know how to avoid a demon, but a fresh death is just confused enough to listen to one." She caught up to Tsunade. "Father's seen it before, though not enough to figure out if it's common or not. All of them were half shades so young they couldn't figure out how to talk to me."

Tsunade knocked on the door, waiting until a gentle voice said "Enter" before opening the door and ushering her in.

"She's gotten herself in a bind again, Father. I leaving her in your capable hands." Kaori made a face like a child who'd been tattled on, telling the bald priest everything he needed to know.

"So tell me about this one," he sighed, pulling out two bottles, one of holy water and the other of holy oil. Automatically she kneeled, closing her eyes and focusing on the sound of his voice.

"I promise you, I didn't know it was a demon this time. If I had I would have asked the church to take care of it." He raised a brow.

"A demon?" She nodded.

"It was fresh enough not to have decided on a name for itself, but smart enough to gather six entire half shades to shield itself." Chiriku frowned, rapidly mumbling several prayers and verses while he sprinkled her head with water and oil. Almost immediately, she felt her mind clearing up. First the dull buzzing sensation stopped, then eventually she felt a lightness on her neck. She sighed in relief.

"You're not the only one," Chiriku said solemnly as he finished, allowing her to stand. "We had a report of something similar. It's almost organized, which never happens." Kaori frowned, twisting her long, dark hair into a bun to keep it out of the way while the oil and water sat.

"I know you don't seriously think Armageddon's happening," she said incredulously.

"Of course not, despite what some of my colleagues think. Though, the fact that a woman is practicing exorcism wouldn't help their point of view either." Kaori smiled as she sat in one of the chairs across from Chiriku's. "Though they aren't wrong in saying they're organized. Most of them only appear for a while and then disappear. So far you're the only one who's encountered more than one and lived, let alone exorcised it."

"They're killing?"

"And publicly. They want someone's attention." She frowned.

"You sure this isn't another joke to him? Like that incident in the convent a few years ago?" Chiriku's frown grew on his face in a way that made it look like it had been etched in there by a sculptor.

"Maybe, but I don't feel comfortable sending you anything more than our mildest requests for now. If any of them are aggressive, I want you to immediately call me, am I clear?" Kaori nodded solemnly. "And you should visit more when you aren't in trouble or coming to confession. Tsunade- I mean Mother Superior worries about you." She smiled.

"Come on, when else do I give you anything to worry about. I eat all my vegetables, I say my prayers, I don't talk to strange men-"

"Well she did raise you. And to her it is more dangerous for you out there than in the convent." Kaori smiled, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"I understand. I'll make sure to visit more." He smiled, waving her off as she left.

A few parishioners smiled at her as she left and she smiled back, a spring in her step as she walked into the warm sunlight outside the doors of the church. In fact, she had a smile on her face the entire time she walked home. There was a clarity to her thoughts that she hadn't had in days. She'd have a nice nap, because she honestly hadn't slept since that last job, she'd probably make dinner, and then she'd wait for whatever spirit had decided to grace her home that evening. Evening was a light term for what time spirits preferred to show up. There was a reason why people referred to them as unholy hours of the night.

She maintained her good mood as she entered her home, kicking off her shoes.

"BOO!" She screamed, pressing herself against the door before she saw the blond shade. She narrowed her eyes at him before uselessly throwing her shoe at him. Unsurprisingly it sailed straight through his head. His stupid blond head full of stupid pretty hair. "You know, if I was alive that'd have been great aim."

"That's not funny Deidara!" She complained. Bad enough the shade used her like a hotel when he was sick and tired of doing whatever he did when he left, but did he have to scare her like that?

"It's your fault. You've been around us how long and you honestly think we'd go 'boo'?" She crinkled her nose as she emptied her pockets into the bowl near the door. "Also, you didn't leave me any food."

"You're grown, you can find your own food," she scolded, walking into her kitchen.

"Yeah, but after your cooking, who wants to go an eat whatever people leave for me? You know, they leave some weird shit nowadays- entrails, moldy cake, heads-"

"They just don't know you that well," Kaori interrupted, walking into the kitchen out of habit. "Besides, you tried to eat my entrails when you met me." Deidara grinned as he sat on her table while she took out some ingredients for breakfast. French toast- his favorite.

"Well, I figured they'd taste sweet, okay?" Kaori laughed, glancing over her shoulder at him. "So I'm guessing by the bun and the wet hair you had to go back to the church for another cleaning?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I told you to keep taking those purifying baths. You need to get their filth off of you." She smiled as she whipped together the custard.

"As opposed to your filth Deidara?" He sputtered. "And it's not filth, it's a trace of something being left behind. We all leave one."

"Yeah, but theirs does weird stuff to you." She soaked the bread before adding it to the pan.

"I mean, being a beacon to the dead isn't weird enough for you? Because it's weird enough for me."

Deidara reached over to jokingly shove her, careful of the difference in strength between the dead and the living. Touching her always made him feel guilty, but it always felt so great to do it. It was like an addiction. You touched her and then you wanted to cling to her. It was like her skin was an extension of her inner personality. The warm was comforting and at the same time, you felt like immediately like you were a better person just by touching it. Hell, just seeing her face made him feel better.

Hence why Deidara avoided touching her at all costs. He was far from a good person. Whatever he left on her was something that was supposed to be cleaned off. Even so, he felt the edges of his being turning to black smoke at the thought of the other shades that constantly touched her.

"So what'd you do this time?" he asked, trying to distract himself. His anger got him here in the first place, and it was the quickest way for him to devolve from the form he'd worked so hard to achieve.

"Exorcised a demon with no backup." He was stuck between slapping his forehead and slapping hers as she made their plates.

"Are you stupid or suicidal?" She crinkled her nose.

"I didn't know okay?" Kaori decided it was better not to tell her friend about the other things Father Chiriku had mentioned. The shade was overprotective enough as it was.

"Please don't get yourself killed when I leave this time?" Kaori frowned as she gave him his plate.

"You're leaving that quickly?" He nodded, tearing off a piece and stuffing it in his mouth.

"I got here a while ago, you just weren't home." She sighed, half out of worry. If he wasn't careful he'd get caught by and exorcist, and with their tendency to rip shades to pieces she was more likely to see what was left of him as a demon if she ever saw him again.

"You normally stay longer is all." Eating reminded her exactly how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten in nearly a day. She hadn't slept in longer.

"It's fine, I won't be gone that long this time." She smiled. "You gonna work tonight?"

"Nah, I'll probably stay here and help whoever comes through. You know."

"You should probably take a nap or something then. I don't know how you live on your hours. Most people would be the walking dead." She snickered at the joke.

"Well, I'm not most people now am I?" She looked down at their plates, realizing he was done and she was halfway through. "Wow you were hungry."

"I told you, I can't stand most of the shit people leave out for me, and I feel weird taking those sweet rice cakes out of people's shrines. I haven't had hot food in forever."

"If by forever you mean the last time you were here then yeah, forever." He smiled. "And on the bright side, with you leaving I don't have to deal with you doing that weird snuggling thing when I sleep. I'm still not used to you just laying there the entire time and not sleeping."

"Hey! I perform the important duty of warding you against evil! And anything dumb enough to try to touch you while your sleeping is at least smart enough to be afraid of me." She smiled. "I'll do the wards before I leave. That way even if you fall asleep tonight, it'll still be there. Just don't shower or anything." She crinkled her nose at the thought, but the least she could do was put the shade's mind at ease.

"That sounds gross, so I'm just gonna shower now." She yawned. "Can you put the dishes in the sink? I'll wash them tonight." She paused, remembering the usually violent reactions when spirits in general tried to touch things in her house, and immediately turned back to the table to do it herself.

She felt far better, but far sleepier, after washing. She did manage to change into a clean set of clothes despite it though. She was surprised to see Deidara patient for once while she laid down on the sofa, letting him write the memorized scripture on her forehead, neck, and stomach in a strange gray chalk that reminded her of the ashes priests marked people's head's with on Ash Wednesday. It gave her the chance to observe him when he didn't care he was being watched.

She never heard much about Deidara's life, but she was sure that he had to have been absolutely beautiful when he was alive. Or absolutely vain. Sunlight hit him well even when he was dead.

"There, now don't go washing or rubbing at it." She chuckled, too tired to laugh.

"Gotcha. Seeya Dei." She snuggled into her sofa for some much needed sleep.