Whoa. It seems this chapter is a bit longer than expected XD Anyways, second chapter of the story! I hope you guys enjoy it, and I would love to hear how you guys like it so far! ^-^"


"Hey, are you, like, ok?

Mei felt an ache in her head, slowly coming conscious. She let out a soft moan as her head tilted to the side.

"Hey! Are you alright?" the voice repeated. Her eyes fluttered open, blinded by the sunlight. Her eyes took their time to adjust and she glanced up at the owner of the voice.

A young face stared down at her, his face slightly covered with his choppy dark brown hair. His hair came down to his jaws at was combed over to one side. He was crouched down near her and looked at her expectantly through his light hazel eyes.

"Can you, like, hear me?" he asked, raising his slightly thick eyebrows at her. Mei blinked a few times and nodded.

"U-uh…yeah… I can hear just fine.." Mei slowly sat up, feeling a wave of dizziness in her head. She flinched as he precariously placed his hand on her forehead. His hands were cold, making the Taiwanese shiver. "W-what are you doing?" she stuttered.

"Checking to see if you're truly ok. Never know when you're sick," he said in a monotone. "You know?"

"Uhm…ok," she said bluntly, staring at the stranger with a dumbfounded expression. "Who exactly are you….?" He gave her a small smirk and plopped down on the ground next to her.

"I was just about to ask the same thing to you! I'm Kaoru," he stated, his expression reverting back to a stoic expression. "What's your name, hm?" he stared at her, making Mei uncomfortable. She quickly glanced around, startled at the fact there was no bloodstains anywhere to be found on the ground. Panicking, she looked down at herself and found herself dressed in a long, flowing pink quipao, outlined with white fabric. She felt no weight on her back and found it to be bare of the white wings of hers.

"Uh, you alright there?" Kaoru asked, staring at her with a puzzled look. "You didn't lose your memory did you? Like, in those Korean drama, right? Do you know your own name?" he leaned in closer to her, making the girl squirm.

"W-what? N-no! I know who I am!" she squeaked, pushing her back a little bit to lengthen the distance between them. The young man only leaned in closer, one of his eyebrows raised.

"Oh? Then what is it?" he said, facing his ear closer to her.

She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She struggled with her words as she tried to remember herself. Her head started to throb violently and flinched away in pain. Then it all started to come back to her. "My name is Mei. Where did you come from?"

"Me? I came from the city!" he said in an obvious tone. "I mean, where else?" he shook his head, somewhat perturbed by the girl's ignorance. "Where did you come from? I haven't seen you around here at all."

"I- uh. I'm," she paused, thinking of what to say. Kaoru didn't seem like he was one of the evil entities, so he must be one of the humans, right? Mei swallowed, trying to find her excuse and make up her story now that she was among them. "I-I uh, got lost in the woods when I was trying to find a shortcut..to the city? I, uh, just moved here?" she stated with a questioning tone, unsure if that was convincing enough.

The brown-haired man raised his eyebrow, but did not press on. "I see. Well, luckily I found you before the wolves did," he said, making Mei confused whether that was a joke or not. He gave her a small smile and stood up, holding out his hand for her. "Here, I'll escort you back to the city. Don't want you getting lost again," he said with a grin. The Taiwanese nodded numbly and took his hand, using his aid to stand up.

"Um, thank you," she spoke softly and glanced around. She took a closer look at Kaoru, noting his long, burgundy colored outfit and oversized sleeves. He also wore some dark brown pair of trousers that stopped to where his shoes were. Mei glanced up and noticed he was staring at her again.

"W-what?" she said, getting a little annoyed at him. He shrugged and turned around to head to the city. Mei felt agitated as his lack of expression and hesitantly followed after him. 'Are all humans like this?' she thought exasperatedly, and stared after in his direction. This was going to be agonizing for her…

Kaoru kept going, not even glancing back to see if Mei was following. She caught up behind him and was walking along his side. The young man didn't even glance over at her, as if he had forgotten there was someone following him. "Hmph," was all she said and crossed her arms, matching his pace. He finally looked over at her with a puzzled look, his brown eyes reflecting in the sun.

"What?" he said, which made Mei even madder. "Did I do something wrong?" his voice was void of any emotions. The Taiwanese girl simply shook her head and spoke no words. With a shrug, Kaoru continued to lead the way until he stopped at the border of the forest and the city. The girl was falling behind and tried to run to catch up to him, not seeing his stop. Vehicles whirred past as she neared closer, realizing that she couldn't slow down. The man held out his arm and halted Mei to an abrupt stop. She was bounced back and fell down to the ground with a plop. "Careful. There are cars, you know," he said with a glare at her.

"O-oh. Uh, I knew that," she said with a soft laugh, hoping it didn't make her seem like an idiot. Despite her embarrassment, she still gazed in wonder at the automobiles. So this is what it was like to look at it from close up. Her mouth was open a bit as she continued to stare at the passing cars in awe.

The brown haired man stared at the girl with a peculiar glance. "What? Never seen a car before?" he asked. Mei closed her mouth and shook her head. She was about to say something when Kaoru waved his hand to silence her. "No need to explain. Do you remember where you lived?"

Mei bit her lips, trying to think of what to do now. She would have to lie again, but she didn't know her way around the city at all. What was she going to do? Kaoru saw her hesitance and crouched down beside her, poking her in the cheek. "You're really not from around here, are you?" he asked her, giving her an accusing glare. The Taiwanese let out her breath and shook her head, feeling ashamed.

"No… I really don't…" she hid her face behind her hands and shook her head. He patted her on the back and motioned her to stand up. Reluctantly, Mei did just that and stood up. Kaoru held out his hand for her, resulting in a puzzled glance from the brown-haired girl. He flicked his head to get his hair out from his view.

"Well? Are you going to let me lead across the street or not?" he stated plainly, still waiting for her. The girl gave him a baffled look, but he still held out his hand. "I'm not going to let a girl like you get hit by a car. Especially when she doesn't pay attention," he said with a teasing grin. Mei's face flushed instantly, shaking her head feverishly.

"I can handle myself!" she argued, glaring darts at him now. Kaoru chuckled and raised his hand, reminding her that he was waiting. Mei puffed out her cheeks, but took his hand, taken aback by how soft it was. His smile grew wider, but the smirk did not disappear from his face as he led her across the street. A car whizzed past behind them when they were nearly close to the other side, making the Taiwanese girl walker closer behind him. He let out a little chuckle and stepped onto the other side.

"Careful, now. There's a ledge up from here the street onto the sidewalk," he said as he let go of her hand. He was punched in the arm by the girl, who was now mad at his little teasing. "Relax! I was only kidding!" he rubbed his arm, and glanced up at Mei. All she did in response was mutter 'idiot' before walking past him and into the dispersing crowd of people. "Hey wait up!" he yelled, running after her, occasionally apologizing to the people he bumped into.

The brown-haired girl continued to walk, ignoring his shouts from behind. 'Humans are so rude. Hmph.' She felt a tug behind her as Kaoru grabbed her arm.

"Wait up! I was only kidding!" he said loudly, emphasizing it. She yanked her arm away from him, trying to continue walking. He kept holding her back though, no matter how hard she tried to get away. "Listen! It was only a joke, ok? I apologize if I was being mean to you," he said sincerely. She finally turns around to face him, her cheeks puffed out.

"Hey, listen to me, ok? It's near lunch time, so why don't both go and get something to eat? I'll pay for it also," he said with a smile.

"Lunch?" she inquired. "And why should I go with you? I'm… not really that hungry-," the Taiwanese started before she heard a loud growl coming from below. She glanced sheepishly down at her stomach, a bit agitated that it would choose now of all times to make an appearance. Yet despite her protests, she was fairly famished.

"See? You are!" Kaoru retorted with a soft laugh. "Come on. My treat," he held out his hands for her. Mei sighed and hesitantly took up his offer and placed her own hands in his.