CHAPTER THREE

A Day of Extremes

A/N: I have found my pace now, I think, and gotten a better feel for the characters. I have completely gone off plot with this story!

Saturday, 20th October - Day One.

I awoke as the sun rose outside the window. I could now see the room I had been assigned. One, plain wooden wardrobe stood at the far wall opposite the bed, dust covering the top of it. The widow was huge, but with no curtains to cover them, I felt a little exposed.

The bed was simple and musty, but soft and comfortable. A single bedside table sat next to the bed, with a lamp missing its shade.

'All the hard work and money I put into my apartment, just to watch it go up, quite literally, in smoke.' The memory saddened me as my stomach growled.

I headed down the stairs in the same clothes as yesterday, the floor cold on my bare feet.

"Good morning, Sarah," Magaru smiled. "I was just starting to make breakfast. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Morning, Meguru. How about you make the coffee, and I'll make breakfast?" I said and walked into the large kitchen area. "This is the most modern kitchen I have ever seen. Is that a double stove?" I opened the oven door and marveled at the space inside. "I could fit every item of food I own in here!" A picture of my father flashed in my mind.

"Sarah? You look a little sad. Did you not sleep well?" Meguru asked with kindness.

"I slept okay, I was just thinking how I don't actually own anything to fit in your oven anymore. All my photographs… the only one I had left of my family…" I couldn't handle the loss and broke down in tears. "It's like losing my parents all over again," I wept bitterly.

Meguru put a hand on my shoulder and whispered kind words in my ear.

Stuff like "there, there," and "it's going to be okay," were only hollow words that were said for the sake of it, but Meguru made them sound so sincere, so meaningful.

"Sit down over here, and I'll make the coffee," Meguru lead me over to the huge breakfast table and brought me a tissue.

"You're up early, Winters." Kakeru walked down the steps and sat at the table with a newspaper. "I guess you're still dressed like a hooker because you have no clothes, right?"

I nodded, not looking at him. "I have my credit card still, so at least that's something." I sighed, thinking of all I no longer had.

"Well, then, you shall have to go shopping right after breakfast. You can't very well turn up to work on Monday looking like that; people will think I unleashed something in you on our date," Kakeru smugly soothed his collar, and I shot a look of absolute shock in his direction.

"Oh my… I really hope not. What am I going to say when Lori asks how it went with you?" 'Everything is such a mess. I can't even tell my best friend any of this.' The thought made my heart ache again.

"You will tell her that I was an absolute gentleman, and that you are in love with me, of course!" Kakeru grinned, but I wasn't in the mood for jokes today.

"Please, Kakeru, don't. Just don't."

"Oh, have you been crying?" He shifted in his seat and looked away from my face. "Well… cheer up, or whatever."

"Thanks Kakeru," I said with a pathetic 'I'm OK' smile and got to work on the breakfast.

"Here, Sarah, let me help you," Meguru offered, as he reached down a bowl to mix the eggs in.

"Thank you, really, but I want to do this. I need the distraction, to be honest."

Meguru gave me a sympathetic head-tilt and smiled. "At least let me wash the dishes afterwards."


After drinking a delicious cup of coffee and draining the contents of the refrigerator to make everyone's breakfast, the other Demons made their appearance. Except for Shiki.

"Morning everyone. I thought since you are all letting me stay here, I would make you all an English breakfast. We have sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and… er… toast." My words caught at the painful reminder.

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells," Satoru sat down, eyeing his plate suspiciously.

"Winters, as it is the weekend and there is no work until Monday, how are you going to accomplish your task? You will have lost two days if you do nothing until Monday."

"Good question. I guess I should scour the internet, or go to the records library. Do you guys even have WiFi?"

"You are stupid, Winters. We are Demons, not Amish," Kakeru shook his head.

With the smell of fried bacon drifting under my nose, my stomach tightened in anticipation. "Where is Shiki? Should I get him up?" I started to rise from my chair, but Haruhito tapped my arm to sit back down.

"Sheeks doesn't eat very often, he will be up by lunchtime, though, so leave him be. If you wake him, he won't be as cheerful as usual." Haruhito smiled brightly.

"Are you telling me that he was cheerful yesterday?" I looked sceptical.

"Sheeks was adorable yesterday! He even said you were a commando when you wore these clothes for your date with Kakeru!" Haruhito smiled innocently, but I stopped breathing.

"No! Don't say that!" I buried my head in my hands, my face hot with shame.

"You mean Shiki said she was going commando, not she is a commando, Haru." Satoru leaned in towards me, his breath tickled my arm. "Well, well, well. Someone may definitely need to be punished for being so naughty," Satoru winked at me, and I froze.

"Yeah…" I suddenly came to my senses "I mean no! Shut up!"

Satoru laughed hard. "I'm going to have a very enjoyable ten days with you."

"You really went commando just for me, Winters?" Kakeru leaned back in his chair and smiled, mockingly.

"I don't get it." Meguru spoke up. "What does commando mean?"

This time, all of us laughed, except of course for poor Meguru.

"You are so innocent, Meggy! One day, when you grow up a bit, I'll explain everything!" Haruhito smiled. "But I have to admit, I don't get it either. Sarah wasn't wearing camouflage gear, or carrying a gun. "

"One day, when you grow up a bit, I'll explain everything!," Satoru laughed as he mocked Haruhito. I must admit, even though I was dying of embarrassment, I joined in too.

"Too noisy," Came a quiet, sleepy voice, "too much noise."

"Good morning, Shiki." I stood up and couldn't help but smile at him. He looked pretty adorable with his hair all messed up and his white shirt askew.

"Whatever." Shiki sat in an empty chair at the table and rested his head on the table top.

"I don't think we have ever seen you up at this time before, Sheeks," Haruhito said. "It must be pretty new for you to have breakfast with us."

"Sausages," was all Shiki said.

"You like sausages, Shiki?" I watched with humour as Shiki nodded his head, still face down on the table. "Well, I made an English breakfast, so there is sausages. I'll give you extra, if you like."

Shiki looked up at me, still processing the information. "I'll eat, then sleep."

"You have been asleep for hours, Shiki. Why not enjoy the day?"

"Don't wanna."

"But, you can get out and do lots of things on a beautiful day like today." I tried my best to encourage some sort of enthusiasm from Shiki, but to no avail.

"Shiki is really tired after missions. His mind control really drains him. And Shiki doesn't go outside. He hates crowds." Meguru said, and placed a fresh cup of coffee in front of us all, Shiki included.

"Well, I am going to have to go out shopping today, and you're supposed to watch over me, right? How will I ever get new stuff if you sleep all day?"

"What a pain. Too much hassle." Shiki mumbled into his coffee.

"I don't really like shopping either, but I can't go around dressed like a hooker for ten days."

Shiki stared at me, his gaze drifting down from my face. "Knickers. You need to buy knickers."


After breakfast, Shiki disappeared back to his room and I helped Meguru wash the dishes and tidy up.

"Shiki sleeps a lot, huh?" I said, disappointingly to Meguru.

"Yeah, he's like a baby in some ways - eats and sleeps, nothing else." Meguru and I shared a giggle.

"I guess I understand. I'm pretty exhausted after researching family trees and chasing down leads, so mind controlling must take its toll. Pook Shiki."

"Chasing down leads? You sound like a detective!" Meguru said, a look of wonder on his face.

"Sure, I suppose I am. When we get death notifications of people who have passed away without making a will, we trace their estranged family, former spouses, long lost relatives, that sort of thing, then we pass on the deceased's inheritance."

"You really aren't like any other woman I've ever met before. Most girls wouldn't be looking for a career in that sort of field."

"Have you met many women? I mean, do you all have girlfriends? Are you even allowed to have girlfriends?" This isn't exactly the type of conversation I expected to have with a demon, but then again, I never really expected to be conversing with a demon in the first place.

"None of us have girlfriends. Kakeru prefers demon women, they aren't as shy as the girls in the Human Realm. Haru just likes to go on dates, but without the romance - he just likes to have a playmate really. Now Satoru is a complete danger to women." Meguru reached up and put the clean plates back in the cupboard. "He really is a bit of a playboy."

"Really? Satoru a bit of a playboy?" I laughed sarcastically.

"Hehe! Just please be careful of his advances. If he takes a shine to you, then I fear for your safety," Meguru smiled.

"What about you? Do you date?"

"No. Not at all. It is forbidden to fall for a human, so there is no way I could date anyone from the Human Realm. I'm not like Satoru, I can't use a woman for my own entertainment, so I would fall in love."

"You really are sweet, Meguru," I reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Stop it," Shiki's voice called from behind us.

"For god's sake! How the hell do you just sneak up on people like that?" I gasped, clutching my chest.

"You're too noisy, so you can't hear me." Shiki said as he plonked himself down on the couch.

"Sorry. Were we too loud for you to sleep?" Meguru asked.

"My tummy is too full." Shiki moaned as he rested his head on the arm of the couch.

"What about you Shiki? I was just asking Meguru if you all had girlfriends."

"No. Too much…"

"Hassle? Everything is a hassle to you. Stop saying it." I lightly scolded Shiki.

"What a…" Shiki started to say.

"And stop saying everything is a pain."

"Seems like Sarah understands you well already, Shiki!" Meguru laughed.

"Shut up."

"If you have a full stomach, why don't we go for a walk to burn it off?" I suggested, as I sat down next to Shiki.

"Don't wanna."

"Well, if you come out with me, you can pick what we have for dinner, and I'll cook it," I looked hopefully towards Shiki.

"'S'pose." Shiki stood and headed towards the door. "I liked the sausages."


Two hours and several bags later, Shiki turned from white to green.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down?" I asked a very ill-looking Shiki. "You really don't look good."

"Wanna go home." Shiki found a bench by some hedges and lay on it.

People walked past and looked at Shiki like he was a homeless drunk. Someone even threw a coin at him.

"You can't lay there, it's too uncomfortable." I sat down on the tiny gap left on the bench. "Here, lift your head," Shiki did as I asked and rested his head on my lap. "When they said you didn't like going out, they weren't kidding, were they?"

"Comfy."

"What?"

"This is comfy." Shiki said, as he rubbed his head on my leg, trying to snuggle deeper.

I reached my hand down and began to stroke Shiki's hair. It felt like silk against my fingertips. He flinched slightly, but then began to breathe more evenly and his muscles relaxed.

"Why do you not like going out?"

"It's too hot. I'm melting and I'm going to die."

"Pft!" I couldn't hide my amusement at his choice of words.

"And people stink."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" I knew Shiki was odd, but this was something else.

"People wear stinky stuff. They stink."

"You mean like perfume and cologne? I guess it can be overpowering at times." I had to admit, I didn't like walking past the perfume counter in department stores. I usually end up with a headache. Speaking of headaches…. "Hey, Shiki. Why did you headbut me last night? It really hurt."

Shiki sat up and looked at me. 'Those eyes...' He looked almost concerned. "You're weird."

He looked at me even more deeply, and I actually felt my heart rate increase a little. "Why didn't it work? You were supposed to be under my power."

Looking in his beautiful eyes, his face so close to mine..."Your power? Yes." I looked at the shape of his thin lips, and couldn't help but lick mine. "Definitely...under…" I have no idea why, but I leaned in closer to Shiki, just a little.

"You smell okay to me." Shiki said and placed his head back on my lap.

"Er… thanks, I think." What the hell was that? I almost kissed him!

"What's up? You're more weird now." Shiki said, his head still buried in my lap.

"N-nothing. Nothing's up. I was just thinking, that's all." Thinking about you…

After two minutes, of Skik being quiet - which was nothing unusual, really - I wondered if he had drifted off.

"Are you asleep?" I asked, still stroking his hair.

"Too noisy." Shiki rubbed his head against my leg again.

"Hehe. You're just like a cat!" I laughed.

Shiki say up, his face scowling. "Am not."

"You are! You don't like crowds, you like to nap a lot, you're cute, and you like to rub your head against me," I laughed, but it only made Shiki angry. And embarrassed.

"Shut up! I'm not any of those things." With that, Shiki looked right passed me. "Look," he pointed.

"The convenience store?" I followed his index finger. "You want to go in there?"

"Yeah, it's new." Shiki marched off like a man on a mission.

"What does it matter, they all sell the same stuff. Shiki!" He entered the store before I had even crossed the road.

After looking down several aisles, I found Shiki rattling a box of Crackle Jacks.

"Not heavy enough," Shiki mumbled to himself.

"What are you doing? You think they haven't filled the box up to the top?" I caught several people looking in our direction as Shiki continued to shake the boxes.

"No. It's not heavy enough for Captain Z."

"Okay… Who is Captain Z?"

"What?" Shiki dropped the boxes on the floor and glared at me, like I was a visitor from another planet. "Are you stupid? Captain Z is the hero of the Mega Corps series."

"So, there is a captain called Z and he's a hero?"

Shiki almost grinned. I almost collapsed. "Yeah, I want the prize," Shiki went back to shaking boxes.

"So you like to collect the figures out of Crackle Jacks?"

"Yeah." There it was again: the almost smile.

"Do prizes make you happy, Shiki?" He nodded and went back to rummaging through the shelf. "Any prize, or just Mega Corps ones?" He really is a strange ranger.

"Any. I don't care," with that, Shiki stood up sharply, like he had been prodded up the backside with a red-hot poker. "Got it, let's go."

"So you think you have the Captain Z figure in that box?" I asked as we left the store.

"No question. It is in here."

"Well, I hope you're right. Can we go get something to eat now?" My stomach growled in appreciation of the suggestion.

"I don't want any, but you eat."


As soon as we got back to the Demon House, Shiki went up to his room and Meguru helped me put the shopping away.

"Did you get some new clothes?" Meguru asked, as he picked up a bag from a clothing store.

"Well, I didn't get everything because Shiki threw a tantrum, but I got most of what I needed."

"So, aside from his tantrum, did everything go alright with him?" Meguru placed a cup of tea on the breakfast table and invited me to sit.

"He certainly is an odd character, isn't he? What's his deal?"

"His deal? Well, I guess Shiki has always been the same. He has always been reclusive and blunt. I don't know really. Shiki is just Shiki."

"Winters. Why are you still dressed like a hooker?" Kakeru stormed into the dining area.

I abruptly choked on my tea. "I have only just got back from shopping. I was just resting my feet with Meguru before I changed."

"Well, I want to talk to you." Kakeru proceeded to drag me along to his bedroom.

Kakeru's room was immaculate. Not a thing out of place. The sheets on his bed had not one crease on them. A bookcase adorned one entire wall, each book in perfect order.

"What do you think you are doing?" Kakeru yelled. "I saw you two today, looking like you were some loved-up couple."

"Couple? I don't understand." I was completely baffled by his behaviour. I knew he could be an ass at times, but I had a feeling he was about to take it to a different level.

"Laying on a bench stroking his head is one thing, but then to kiss him? I will toast you on the spot if you do anything like this again," Kakeru opened his bedroom door, indicating to me that the conversation was over.

"Oh no you don't." I slammed the door shut. "Don't think you can drag me into your room and make accusations like that. I never kissed Shiki." I looked into Kakeru's face, and my anger left me. He looked so startled, I thought I may laugh.

"I saw you. I saw Shiki looking at you and then you moved in. You did kiss him."

"No I never. Shiki was trying to see if his mind control worked, I did lean in, but I never kissed him. I would never!" OK, so that last part was a bit of a lie. I probably would if I got caught up in his beautiful eyes like that again.

"Judging by your behaviour so far, I really wouldn't put it past you to seduce him." Kakeru stepped back, getting the message I wasn't the type of woman he can bully.

"My behaviour? This I have to hear." I folded my arms and watched with delight as Kakeru's cheeks flamed.

"Our date. What were your intentions?"

"My intentions? You sound like a woman. But if you must know, my intentions were to get to know you better." It seems funny to me now that I went on a date with him last night. Romance one night, death threats the next. Funny how life goes.

"How much better? Shiki said you didn't wear anything under that skirt." Kakeru pointed at my outfit and blushed even more.

"I…" I hadn't really thought about it. I just forgot. "You picked me up too early. I had only been home fifteen minutes before you knocked on my door." But was that really why? There was no doubting I felt attracted to Kakeru, but did I subconsciously not wear knickers because I wanted him?

"Ouch!" Kakeru flicked my forehead. "What was that for?"

"Stop spacing out, Winters. You look like an idiot. I am only going to tell you this once: Do not get involved with a demon." Kakeru grimaced, and opened the door once more.


Dinner was finally ready. I called to the guys to come and sit down.

"Wow, Sarah, you really went all out." Haruhito said as he tucked a napkin into his collar. "I hope there's desert!" He grinned like a big kid, and I couldn't help but find him endearing.

"It certainly makes a change for me not to cook," Meguru said and took a seat beside Satoru.

"But where's Shiki?" I asked, not seeing him around. "Is he still sleeping?"

"No." Shiki announced and sat at the table.

"Would you please stop scaring me like that! You're going to kill me one of these days!" My heart pounded in my chest. He is one stealthy demon.

"Idiot. Kakeru is the one to kill you. I just make people forget." Shiki sat and looked at his plate, completely stone-faced.

Kakeru kills me? Of course, in ten days, Kakeru will drain my life force and I'll be reincarnated. The thought knocked the wind out of me and my tears welled up.

"Stupid face," Shiki commented.

"What?" I asked, trying to hold back the fear of impending death.

"Your face looks stupid when you space out," Shiki said, completely nonchalantly and started eating.

"I think that was a bit harsh, Sheeks, I don't really think Sarah wants reminding of her fate," Haruhito said, his face looking almost as sad as mine must have.

Shiki looked up at me, and I couldn't be sure, but I think I saw a hint of regret. "Whatever." Then again, I could be mistaken.

"Well, this all looks very nice, but you aren't dressed as interestingly." Satoru smirked and waved his fork at my jeans and sweater. "Unless, that is, you have nothing on underneath," The biggest grin I'm sure Satoru is capable of, spread across his face like butter on hot toast.

"Will you just drop it! So what if I didn't have knickers on for my date? Kakeru was too impatient for me to get dressed fully," I sat down and sulked.

Haruhito almost choked on his potato. "No...what! Is that what commando really means?!" He swilled his mouth out with water and Meguru did the same.

"Let's just enjoy dinner, shall we. Oh, my!" Meguru blushed brightly and nervously pushed his food around the plate.

"You're both children." Shiki scoffed. "It's only a human. It's not like it's attractive," Shiki continued to shovel food into his mouth.

"Excuse me! What the hell do you mean by that?" I slammed down my cutlery and glared at Shiki. "Do you have any filter between your brain and your mouth?"

"No." Shiki quickly replied.

"Why are you so mean to me? I thought we had a nice day together," I couldn't hide the hurt in my voice any longer.

"A nice day? I was waiting to throw you under a bus, but you're too careful near roads. You're like a child." Shiki didn't even blink.

With that, I left the table and went to my room and pushed my pillow to my face, the hurt of Shiki's comments flowed from my eyes.