AN: Sorry for the tardiness of updates lately, for both this story and the other one. I can't say I'll be able to put out more, but I will try to. I've been having some craziness issues. :P Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

OH. Wait! Before you read this, y'all need to check out Xiaooyu on deviantArt. Seriously. She's an amazing artist. Do it! Don't even read this sentence.

Chapter 3

"Sorry… Mikasa."

I blinked open my eyes to a world filled with darkness. There was a candle flame of light to my left, showing where one of the corners of the brick room was. The room was empty of all furniture with only the candle on the ground. As I looked around, I noticed that this realm was a prison, with great iron bars blocking whatever was outside from the room. A breeze alerted me to the presence of another, so I turned back to the candle flame. Beside it, facing me was a man with dark hair and deep blue-grey eyes.

I examined the man curiously. The hair at sides of his head was cropped but the top was long, so his bangs dangled in front of his thin furrowed brow. He was a man with sharp features, with a pointed nose and chin. His eyes were long; his irises were small yet ferocious. Muscles bulged in his cheek as he tightened his broad, square jaw. He wore only pants, displaying a heavily scarred but chiseled torso with rough skin. I knew what he was when I noticed the odd, dark shapes behind his shoulders.

They were the sharp, down-feathered bends of black wings.

"Aren't Tengu supposed to have big noses?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "Aren't kitsune supposed to have tails?"

My lip twitched at one side in a small, amused smile.

The Tengu were an avian-human hybrid type of yokai, and were sort of like the angels of the Buddhist religion. They, like angels, could be both good and evil. The good were often vigilant protectors of temples, villages and forests. They did not move often from their areas. The bad, however, moved about as they wished and were powerful foes. Those Tengu tried to mislead the pious into sinful actions and, sadly, were often successful in their endeavors. Above all, the Tengu were warriors. Each and every one of them was born with weapons in hand. Legends of their origins vary, and their existence a mystery to even Mikasa.

"What do you want?" I questioned, feeling a sudden alarm. "And how do you know my name?"

The orange light of the candle flame danced across the man's face as it flickered, a breeze passing through once more. I could feel the power like electricity in the air, tingling across her my as the wind passed over me. The Tengu don't often reveal their secrets, but there was a certain aura about him that glimmered with hope.

"I've been watching you for a while," the Tengu responded softly. "Your circumstances are… interesting."

I narrowed my eyes dangerously.

He met my gaze evenly. "My name is Levi."

February 11th

Mikasa took a slow, deep breath. She was surrounded in warmth, and a familiar scent that both calmed her and made her heart race. Raising her hand, she felt the soft leather of a jacket that wrapped around her shoulder. The kitsune had curled into herself, enjoying the feel of the blankets and sheets around her.

Her eyes snapped open.

Sitting up quickly, she threw the covers off of herself to reveal the cluttered room of a certain young painter. Her eyes widened in shock. She recognized this place from her many visits. Gaze darting back and forth, Mikasa took in all the colors of the room. She didn't know whether to be elated or deeply distressed. On one hand, she was finally able to see his world as part of his world. She examined the deep blue sheets of his blankets, the dark grey of his walls, and the vibrant orange of cedar furniture. She looked at his desk and smiled at its disarray. He had one of his sketchbooks open with an unfinished watercolor painting of what looked like a forest in autumn. There were tubes of paints littered about and she was amused when she saw the stains on the floor around.

Tightening her grasp on the coat, she bowed her head. In this world, she could talk to him for as long as they wanted. She would be able to interact with him, and he would be able to see her, touch her. Tingles flew up and down her spine. She had lived for centuries, but only the last five years had been painfully slow for her. Watching him just outside of her reach maddened her. Mikasa imagined being at his side in the flesh, as a human.

She would never be human, though.

And he would never be anything but human.

Mikasa closed her eyes as she wondered. Would it be foolish of her to shy from him, after being given such a chance? Was she being tested? She wished she was a kyuubi no kitsune, so that she could see across time and dimension, to the very ends of the universe and into the eyes of fate to understand.

A soft knock at the door alerted her to someone's presence. She knew instinctively it was him on the other side of that door. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Are you awake? I thought I heard a noise." Eren's voice questioned softly. He didn't dare open the door. "You can wear some of my clothes for now, if you want."

Clothes?

The kitsune looked down at her body. She had forgotten that humans often wear clothing, and that walking around stark naked wasn't acceptable. Mikasa wrinkled her nose in distaste. She'd never liked the idea of clothing. There was a certain pride she felt in her skin and, in her fox form, her fur. Why would she want to cover that?

"Uh," the young painter was standing awkwardly on the other side of the door. She could hear him shifting from foot to foot, turning around to leave and then turning back to the door. "The dresser beside my desk, you take whatever you want from that. When you're ready to come out let me know what you want for breakfast. I'll make it, if we've got the stuff."

A smile touched the woman's lips.

She was reminded of why she was so fond of the boy.

"Okay," Eren finished and walked back to the living room.

Armin had long since come to join him on the couch and the two started watching the best movie of all time.

Zoolander.

"What is this? A center for ants?! How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read-" Derek looked up at Mugatu with a pained expression "-if they can't even fit inside the building?!"

"That's the best moment in movie history," Eren said as he plopped down beside his blond friend.

"Derek, this is just a small…"

"I don't wanna hear your excuses! The building has to be at least… three times bigger than this!"

The boys chuckled. Stupid though Zoolander was, it was still a hilarious film.

Armin had decided to join the outside world about two hours earlier, looking bleary-eyed but unable to sleep. Despite the blond's tendency to enjoy profound, intelligent movies over comedies, he held a special sort of love for anything Ben Stiller. He'd been the one to suggest re-watching Zoolander, in light of recently hearing that a sequel may or may not be coming out. The wait for it made the boys angry. Twelve years to even consider making another Zoolander; and Owen Wilson wasn't even confirmed as Hansel yet.

Eren shared a close friendship with Armin. They'd known each other for years, and had stuck up for one another in their own ways. When Armin was being bullied for his ethical disputes, Eren would jump in to fight off his attackers. When Eren was twisted in self-doubt and irritation, Armin would jump in and straighten him out. For the longest time, they were each other's only friend. Then high school happened, and people walked in and out of their lives on a regular basis. Only one person stayed with them; Annie. That is except for Eren, who had the woman from his dreams to keep his loneliness at bay.

With a face, Eren realized that even Horseface had become an important person to him. Though their relationship was by no means a friendly one, the two carried a profound rivalry. Neither liked when the other was bad-mouthed or disrespected, except of course by them. It was a complicated relationship, but it drove Eren to try harder.

"So what're you going to do?" Armin asked after a moment, his eyes glued to the television. "I mean, when she wakes up. She's going to think you're a creep."

Eren shrugged. "I don't care. If she wants to be that way, then it's fine."

Armin gave him a skeptical look. "You're really okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the brunette gave his friend a sarcasm-imbued glare. Much like Annie, the blond philosopher had a habit of worrying over his love life. "It's not li-"

Just as Eren was about to rant at Armin, the door to their apartment flew open. Whirling around, the two boys stared wide-eyed at a very wet and thoroughly pissed off Annie. She stood in the door way for a moment, her shoulders heaving as she clutched the frame. Cold blue eyes opening, Annie fixed the boys with a ferocious stare that sent shivers down both of their spines. Eren swallowed nervously, while Armin tentatively made his way to her.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

The women seemed to relax ever so slightly with each step Armin took towards her, the tension in her jaw loosening. Taking a deep breath, the woman sighed, "I need a drink."

The Tengu opened his blue eyes slowly as pain shot through his chest. He woke in the traditional kimono of the Tengu; their colors had long since faded. The yokai sat in the midst of an abandoned temple ground, the land razed and salted. Long ago, the Tengu had been entrusted with this sacred home for revered spirits. But, he failed in his duty to protect the land. The gods abandoned him in disgust of his weakness and, left with no purpose, the Tengu fell into slumber for hundreds of years. They stripped him of his name and, over the years of sleeping as a statue, the Tengu had long since forgotten its sound. In his dreams, he would listen to the children that frequented his resting place despite the warnings of their parents. One such child gave him the name "Levi", and visited every Friday night to speak with him for the past three years.

As Levi's consciousness returned, the stone that he encased himself with broke away. He stood up from the brick platform that had become his pedestal, and stepped down to the grey, dead ground. Even after all this time the salt remained, leeching the life from anything that dared attempt to grow. No matter how long he waited, the land would not return to its prior beauty.

With a sigh, Levi turned his face up towards the sunny sky. The light did not hurt his eyes when he stared directly into it. The sun invigorated him, filled him with life, and that was how he managed to survive the hundreds of years of sleep. He stretched his wings as the light shone upon him, allowing the sun to warm him through to his ancient bones. The Tengu stood there for hours, breathing in the energy above him. Opening his eyes with a start, he realized he'd waited until the sun had set to begin his journey.

As he turned back to his brick platform, a searing jolt of agony pounded through his gut once more.

Levi could feel the veil crumbling away. As a guardian, Levi was part of the veil itself. He could feel disturbances in the world through what happened to the veil, and he felt only days ago when a part of it shattered. Like a vacuum, the world beyond pulled the yokai through the veil and into the human world. A feeling of dread weighed down his heart.

"Why did you call me here, Levi?" the black-haired kitsune named Mikasa questioned, her stormy eyes fixed on him. He fascinated himself with the power that churned within the dark grey orbs.

Upon feeling her presence slip through the veil, Levi latched onto her spirit in his unconscious state. It was easy for him, as she was the most powerful creature that had slipped through that tear...so far. This kitsune was young, he realized, as he looked into her soul through her eyes. As a yokai, he could see through the illusion form of any other yokai and gaze upon their true figure. She was only three-tailed, though that was quite the feat for her age. For kitsune, the path of the trickster was one of great allure – but she had avoided it, and her vigilance rewarded with two additional tails.

"I felt the veil break," he explained, not caring to go into detail of his true concern. "And I felt you slip through, but you have not yet returned."

"I cannot," she defended. He knew.

Levi nodded. "You cannot. But you can feel the veil weakening, can you not?"

The kitsune narrowed her eyes at him curiously. The fox's downfall was their intrigue with knowledge, but she seemed particularly reserved even so. The Tengu, ever wise about the distribution of knowledge, felt that he could trust this young woman to his task.

"Other Tengu must stay to their sacred grounds," the Tengu stated. "But I have long since been freed of such restrictions. I will travel to the break in the veil, where you are. In the mean time, you must protect this world and watch what comes through."

"I've already decided to do this, whether or not you'll come," she responded, her voice hard with conviction.

The Tengu smiled. "Good."

Levi stared at the ground before his platform. He found that he felt bad for leaving the boy who would come for him every friday to keep him company. At least, he thought to himself, the boy might be able to find a new way to spend his time. Coming to talk to a fallen Tengu was not the best choice for a boy.

Spreading his great, jet black wings, the Tengu beat them down with a mighty grunt. Dust kicked up as he thrust himself skyward, his powerful wings carrying him higher and higher.

Written in the dirt before his resting place were the words, "Thank you."

Upon Annie's arrival, Armin prepared her a nutritious breakfast composed of cereal and several shots of vodka. The three of them sat on the couch in the living room, though none of them bother with watching the end of Zoolander. Eren couldn't help but stare at the purple flower of blood blossoming just beneath the girl's eye. He frowned deeply at this. If there was something he could not stand, it was violence against women.

The boys knew immediately who had given her the painful flower.

"What happened?" Armin asked her softly.

After downing another shot, Annie breathed a sigh. They must've felt smooth at this point. She said, "Visited my dad. He woke up."

"Your family's livers," Eren commented with a shake of his head.

He flushed when Armin glared at him.

Annie wasn't bothered by the comment, though. She simply shrugged and told them, "He's got gangrene in his toes. I want to be able to get him some medical attention, but I don't know how."

"We'll find a way," Armin comforted, ever the hopeful one.

"It might be too late by the time he even agrees to it," the woman sighed. "I'm going to go back tonight after he K.O.s again. Maybe I'll be able to drug him with a horse tranq or something."

Eren would've had a problem with the mention of drugging people, but in regards to Annie's father, he was understanding. Do a terrible thing to save a life, or don't do anything and possibly let someone die? The choice was obvious to him. But, then, he'd never been the most ethical of people. Not even close.

Armin made a face at this. "You shouldn't drug your father just to get him to the hospital. If he doesn't want to go, he shouldn't be forced to."

"And let him die?" Annie countered, anger flashing in her eyes.

The blond opened his mouth to defend himself but the woman jumped to her feet. She slammed the vodka bottle down onto the table with a reverberating bang that made Eren's heart leap into his throat. Spinning on her heel, she stormed out of the living room, throwing over her shoulder, "I'm going to take a shower."

Armin sighed, dipping his head and resting his face in his palms.

"It'll be okay," Eren told him, awkwardly patting his shoulder. "There there."

Neither of them said anything, preferring to sit in silence as they listened to a door open and close. They heard Annie's pace come to a halt.

Looking over their shoulders, the boys simultaneously gasped when they saw the strange woman standing at Eren's open door. The brunette swallowed as he took in her appearance. She wore a white blouse that hugged her torso and complimented the curve of her waist, and simple blue women's jeans. With pockets. They weren't as tight as most women's clothing, leaving some of the shape of her legs to Eren's imagination. Her hair was a black water fall that cascaded just to her shoulders. She had clear, almost supernaturally aware eyes, which she fixed on Annie.

Pausing, Eren raised an eyebrow at her. Where had she even gotten those clothes? He was fairly sure he didn't have women's clothes in his room.

After a moment, the blond woman's perplexed voice demanded, "Who the fuck are you? And where the fuck did you find girl jeans with pockets?"