Sorry it takes so long for updates these days... musical practice and all :P Well, hope you enjoy, and please, by all means, feel free to review! It makes me happy :B

I couldn't stop thinking about him. Even as I lay down to take my late morning nap, his face was running wildly through my mind. Kiku. I didn't even know him… but I wanted to. He had starred in every dream I had had since I met him, if only just to stand in the background and watch quietly as something else chaotic evolved from my mind. His expression was always the same; calm and collected, unfazed by anything said or done. Not even I could shake him out of his stupor. I wondered if he was like that in real life as I turned over restlessly in my bed, causing a few of my cats to grumble and spit as their rest was disturbed.

When I finally decided to get up again, it was about noon. I walked out to the kitchen, yawning, and glancing surreptitiously at my front door in curiosity. I had given him my address last night, but he had never shown up. Unless… maybe he had come while I was sleeping? That was more than possible, since over half my days were spent with me unconscious. Or… maybe he had just never come. He had seemed like a quiet, unsure type of guy, so it was possible that he had been too shy to come over. And there was always the slightly painful option of he didn't want to.

I tried to shake that from my mind as I grabbed some lunch and headed out for my walk. The day was a little grayer than usual, the sun hidden behind dark clouds that pressed down on everything. Not at all the bright, warm day I was hoping for. These were the times that I usually stayed tucked in bed, snuggled up with my kittens. But, as it was, I needed to leave my house and clear my mind, despite the fact the sky looked as if it would start leaking at any moment. Pulling on the closest thing I had to a raincoat, I left Jingle mewling at me anxiously.

I decided to head up to the park, just because it was nice and green there, which would have exactly the calming affect I needed right now. Tired, I put my hands in my pockets and meandered forward, staring at my feet as they moved slowly forward. Just as I started to get into deep thought, I heard a noise that had my head shooting upward. I was sure… I was sure I had just heard Sadiq. Well, so much for my relaxing park stroll. Out of natural curiosity, I decided to keep on moving, following the sound of his obnoxious laughter. Halfway there, I froze, the scene before me too much for possible comprehension.

"Oh, come on, Kiku," Sadiq was saying, pulling on the Japanese man's shirt sleeve. "You know you want to!"

Inconspicuously, I flung myself in the nearest bush.

He was shaking his head, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I… I would really prefer not to," he said politely, trying to get his clothing out of the Turkish man's fist lightly.

With a tongue click, Sadiq let him go, crossing his arms. "But egging is fun! I know exactly whose house we could do, too! In fact, he lives not far from here. Maybe we could do it while he's at work tonight!" He gave an evil laugh, low and deep. "Heracles will never see it coming!"

I looked to Kiku, trying to find some reaction in his expression to my name. Instead he kept the same discomforted face, not affected by it whatsoever. I tried not to feel the hurt that crept up from my heart and concentrated all my attention to the strange conversation instead.

"Vandalism is not a good idea, Sadiq. Besides… I don't think you should. I've been around his house before and it feels rather… unsafe, if you understand." He looked up at his masked counterpart worriedly. "I think Mr. Heracles might be in danger there."

Being, of course, the massive annoyance that he was, the Turk just shrugged and said, "Too bad for him." Then, out of nowhere, the smile fell from his face. "Wait, whoa… you've been over to Karpusi's house? When? Why? I didn't even know you KNEW him!"

I felt my own face flush as his began to burn red and he dropped his gaze to the ground, fidgeting with something in his hands. "Uh… I wasn't aware he was a waiter at the restaurant where you work. He was working last night and he… he served me. Also, I had a run in with him at the pet store."

"Yeah," growled Sadiq, "But that doesn't answer why you've been to his house."

With a tiny sigh that was barely audible from my hiding spot, Kiku told him, "While he was my waiter he gave me his address… and told me to come over."

I almost laughed at the astonished and devastated look on the other man's face. "B-b-but you NEVER come over to my house! And I invite you all the TIME! Damn that Greek asshole… What's he got that I don't?"

Kiku nervously held up his hands in a fail attempt to calm him down, his own face still ablaze with embarrassment. "H-he doesn't have something you don't…I… it was just curiosity."

Grinding his teeth in an effort to stay calm, fists clenched at his sides, he opened his mouth to say something else just as a miniature calico came out of thin air and started rubbing herself on me, purring frantically. Distracted momentarily, I stroked her, only to look up and find that whatever my enemy had said had been blocked out by the motorboat-like kitten. Dismayed, I tried hard to catch myself up on their words, but whatever he had said was detrimental to understanding, so I was completely lost. Kiku was saying something in response involving alcohol consumption… and… and… in frustration I looked back down at the cat, hoping her cute face would calm me, only to find that she had multiplied by about five.

Sitting there, staring up at me, were six tiny kittens, their round, yellow eyes aglow in the dark bush.

I raised an eyebrow and brushed a hand across all of them, smiling as they all started to mew and purr and rub themselves on me contentedly. They were so cute… Suddenly, I remembered the reason I was sitting here in a bush to begin with and shook my head, looking back out at the couple I had been spying on. Only to find empty space.

They were gone.

I grimaced down at the nearest kitty and picked it up, standing and brushing off the debris that had clung to my body. The rest of the clan hopped up on me and clung with their claws onto my clothes, one even making it to my head, as I began to trudge back home sadly.

"Eavesdropper!" yelled a voice directly behind me.

Stunned, I spun around, causing one cat to fly. In my face was a stubbly chinned, smelly, ugly jerk, jabbing his pointer finger into one of my pecks. I tried not to flinch back as his breath made contact with my nose. I had to stay standing tall and straight, otherwise he'd find a way to use it against me. Our eyes met and held menacingly, both of us sizing the other up furiously. It took all I had not to break away from the stare off and find where Kiku was so that I could greet him. But no… I had to win this. It was for the sake of my relationship with Kiku and if I stopped now… I would lose. Forever.

"Karpusi…" he hissed. "I hear you gave my friend your address. Mind telling me what that was about?"

I lowered my eyelids in an attempt to seem unconcerned by his obvious threats. "Is he your boyfriend?" I asked slowly, actually puzzled.

This ticked him off for some unknown reason and he grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling closer to my face than before. "You better watch it. We aren't at work; there's no reason for me not to punch your face in right now."

"I'll take that as a no." I knew my tone would anger him further, but I couldn't help it.

"U-Uh…" I heard Kiku somewhere close beside us. "What… Sadiq… Mr. Heracles… Can we just sit down and talk?"

My heart throbbed at the worry in his voice and I gave up on the testosterone battle, glancing over at his handsome, very unnerved face. Seeing the terror that we were going to start punching the guts out of each other at any moment illustrated so clearly on his face, I clawed at Sadiq's hands on me until he let go with a pained yelp and went over to him. Giving him a smile, I made a point of sitting down slowly on the ground and patting the spot next to me, indicating he should sit there. With a short, sideways glance at Sadiq, he actually did, surprising me.

"How long were you sitting in the bush?" Kiku asked, looking me in the eye sternly.

I shrugged and fell back, looking up at the dark sky, exhausted, as the cats crawled onto my stomach and settled there. "I heard you'd been to my house."

He started fidgeting again, sheepishly.

"Also… you said I was in danger."

This time he turned back to me, his hair waving gently in the light breeze. "Your home is unsafe for you. Though you may not be able to see it… and I understand if you can't. I suggest you move."

Starting to feel my long lack of nap, I yawned before asking, "How? I mean, how do you know it's unsafe for me there? I've lived there since I was born. It was given to me by my mother before she passed away when I was sixteen…"

"The…" He hesitated before continuing. "The aura surrounding it is dark, worrisome. I was taught how to read auras as a little boy by my father. Often, if a home is surrounded by a demonic aura, something terrible had occurred there. And demons feed off negative energy like that. So I'm concerned that if you let it get any worse, you'll be swarmed… If they gather enough energy, they could actually hurt you."

I was alarmed by the undertones of panic in his voice. Just as I was about to ask something else, I was interrupted by a booming laugh on the other side of Kiku.

"Hahaha! You actually BELIEVE in that crap? Things like that don't exist!" Sadiq gave a few more chuckles before his laughter died out and he abruptly turned serious again, glancing down at the smaller man beside him, giving him a pointed look and asking, quietly, "Do they, Kiku?"

The Japanese man's eyes widened and he gave a wobbly smile. "N-no, of course they don't… Not at all. Just Japanese tales…" But, I could tell when he glanced back over at me in concern, that these weren't just made up legends.

Just then, the wind picked up and howled, blowing everything around roughly as the rain began to pour. The cats, who had been so comfortable just moments before, were now shrieking and hissing, making a break for some form of shelter from the freezing droplets. I pulled my jacket around myself tighter, watching as Sadiq helped Kiku up and pulled him away, not running, but moving pretty quickly. It would be difficult to catch up, and I didn't even know if he wanted me to come. It wasn't until he looked behind him and motioned with his hand for me to hurry up that I took off through the sheets of rain, doing something that was a fairly rare occurrence when it came to me.

Running.

I reached the two of them, panting and gasping, as we came up to a tiny house, ornate with things that spoke of Japanese heritage. Kiku pulled a key out of his sleeve, opened the door swiftly, and ushered us inside, where we collapsed in his entryway, attempting to catch our breath. Our hair dripped steadily, the water that had soaked us through now sliding off our bodies and onto the floor messily. Kiku was the first to recover, mentioning something about getting towels before standing and leaving me alone with the hated Turk.

"Did you see that?" he questioned seriously. "I ran, like, ten times faster than you!"

I glared over at him, annoyed. Before I could say anything, Kiku showed up with two towels, one for each of us, and ushered us into the kitchen after we dried ourselves off. He got busy making tea, studiously ignoring the glowering that was going on behind his back. I decided, since I was tired of Sadiq's stupidity, to re-strike up the conversation that had gone on earlier, before it had begun raining.

"So, what other sorts of "legends" do the Japanese have?" I asked as he placed a steaming mug in front of me.

He took a moment before he spoke, sipping at his own tea gently before saying, "There are many others, but they all are centered around one thing; demons and the powers they behold. Of course, these are just wise tales, like I said, and nothing to be afraid of." More quietly, he added, "Wouldn't want to give them more food to grow from."

Intrigued, I stared at him, urging him with my eyes to go on. But he sat silently, wistfully thinking in silence as the rain continued to patter against the side of the house. It wasn't until I got up to go put my cup in the sink that he spoke again, following me over and grabbing the bottom of my shirt. Shocked, I looked down to see a pair of pleading chocolate eyes looking down at the floor with intensity, blush heavily accenting his features.

"You have to leave."

I looked at him in surprise, then through a window at the raging storm pointedly.

"No… Heracles, I don't want you to die. Leave the town as soon as the storm ends, and I won't have to… to… just…" He took a deep breath and looked up, his blush faded and gone, leaving behind a stark, pale white. "Please… go."