Raven's words still echoed in my head from earlier that day.

"It's the symbol for a Shinigami, Draneyeth Cain. He terrorized Toyama, killing all that stood in his way. He cursed his following descendants, making it so that every two hundred years, one belonging to his bloodline would be blessed with a curse."

"The next child born after his demise, two hundred years later, and every cyclical child after that, would suffer greatly. His two hundredth ancestor would be given immense power; but with immense power comes a price."

"If his successor doesn't create a child with another being before their twenty-first birthday, they lose the power that he gave them, and are trapped in a different, grotesque form; forever."

"Forever…?" I thought. "How long is 'forever'?"

I didn't want to think like this, but the thought just hit me.

"Do Cain's ancestors live forever…?"

As much as I hate being interrupted, I'm glad someone did. My thinking over Max wouldn't help him or me, so I was happy when a rock broke my window.

"…!?"

Ironic, isn't it?

Hurriedly I bolted out of my bed and grabbed the giant-ass rock that just shattered my window. I ran to the edge and readied my arm, preparing to launch it at the delinquent ruining Titan property. Though I stopped short when I saw someone else on the ground below.

"What are you doing?!" I whisper/yelled out my now-broke window.

"Okay," a familiar voice sincerely said, "I didn't mean to throw it that hard - I swear!"

I rolled my eyes at Max's explanation.

"I had to make sure it got to your room and not Robin's."

I sighed in annoyance. "Give me a minute," I said.

Walking back into my room, I slipped my boots onto my feet, grabbing my jacket off of the chair before diving back into trouble. Max is just lucky that all of the Titan's live on the same floor. Otherwise I'd have to fly past their room to reach the ground.

"Ow…!"

On my way out of the window, my arm caught on one of the shards sticking out of the boarding. I brushed off my arm and ducked my head, jumping from the window. I landed in front of my best friend/battle enemy and asked, a little frantically, "Again - and I quote - what are you doing here, idiot?"

Max opened his mouth to talk to me, but he struggled for his words. I couldn't tell what he was trying to say, but I noticed in between his constant fidgeting, his eyes kept falling to my arm.

Not noticing that I saw him, he covered his eyes and asked, "When did you cut yourself?"

Blinking out of confusion, it took me a while before I answered. "Um, just now… On the window that's now broken."

After giving a humorless chuckle, Max said "Sorry." He held up a finger and before I could question him, he got out a small knife out of his back pocket.

"What are you-?"

"Sorry," he said, tearing his sleeve. He put the knife back in his pocket and grabbed my arm. "The smell's distracting me."

Once more, I didn't get the chance to question him before he started wrapping the cloth over my bleeding bicep.

Once he was done, he scratched his nose and said, clearly proud of his work, "That's better."

At this point, I obviously wanted answers to a lot of questions, but knowing Max's personality, he'd be uncomfortable after the first one I ask him. So, I decided to ask the most important one.

"Why would you ruin your shirt, just to cover up a little scratch?"

I couldn't tell if he was going to smile, laugh, or blush - mainly because he couldn't decide himself what he was going to do.

Scratching his forehead, he apologized once more. "Sorry," he pointed to himself, "Heightened senses. And your… Scent…? It.. - It was bothering me."

I nodded slowly. "Still not sure on your reasoning, but ok. Now," I said, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, right, um."

"…"

"… Hm…" he stared blankly at the ground. "I don't. Recall…" He started squirming again and I could tell something was bothering him. But, once more, before I could ask, he explained himself. "I'm sorry - I can still smell you- Okay…!"

Now I was pretty convinced he was talking to himself rather than me.

"Ooh!" he said, snapping his fingers. "I need a place to stay!"

I blinked at him. I'm not exactly sure when, but my eyebrows knit together, too. Without answering Max, I turned my back to him and flew up, heading towards my room.

"Wait!" he cried out.

I entered through my window and was quickly followed by Max. "Listen," I started, my back to him, "My room isn't some inn that you can just stay in whenever you 'need a place to stay'."

"Sara," Max huffed, "Do you honestly think I'd stay here by choice? This place is the headquarters of the people who want me in jail." He sighed angrily, "I wouldn't be here if I had somewhere else to go."

I turned towards him and laughed. "What about your 'master'? I'm sure he'd let you live with him."

Max started to glare at me. "Look, he's not my master, all right?"

I chuckled. "Hmph. Guess not - that's Cain's job, isn't it?"

At the name, Max's expression clouded over. "How do you know about him…?" he asked.

At the moment in time, I couldn't see the hints of fear, remorse, and irritation on his face, so I kept running my mouth.

"Doesn't matter. But what does matter is your age. Max - you're only eighteen."

He clenched his teeth and his eyebrows scrunched, matching his balled fists.

I kept going. "When were you going to tell me about your curse?" I looked at him and asked, "Next year?"

"…"

He stayed silent and I grew more annoyed. I said both snarkily and impatiently, "Maybe the year after that-"

"…!"

Before I knew what was happening, I was already flat on my back on my bed, with Max trapping me in between his hand and forearm.

"I wasn't going to tell you."

After I stopped being paralyzed, I saw the pained, yet furious, expression on his face. He gloomed at me whilst he leaned in closer. "Ever."

I could feel his wrist against the top of my head, as well as his left hand - which laid in between my arm and side. His knee was trapped by my legs, whilst his other rested next to my hip. I stared into his eyes, which were a darkened blue.

Scratching my memory, I remembered a time in the past when a kid at school knocked his books out of his hands in the hallway after his parents had passed. His eyes darkened immediately and the kid was shoved against the lockers in an instant. When I was breaking up the fight, his new, navy blue eyes were streaked with violet tints.

The same navy blue that stood before me now.

"He's pissed…" I thought to myself. Unconsciously, I gulped hard and tried to think positively about the situation.

"Max won't do anything," I thought. "… Would he…?"

I'm not sure when it happened, but Max's shoulders were bigger than mine - broader, I guess. He was a little twig ever since we were kids, so, when did he grow up?

"… And why did I miss it…?"

I heard a sigh come from above me and Max's body moved away from mine.

"Forget it," he huffed, getting up from the bed. Holding his forehead, he told me, "It's not like there aren't hotel awnings to sleep under." Max let out a little chuckle. "I mean, this is California we're talking about."

The image of Max sleeping outside, in Jump City, next to the hotel's flower pots, popped into my head - and I didn't like it. And to add to it, my pessimistic mind made it pour on Valen Avenue.

"Max," I started.

"It's fine," he said, lightly pushing my hand away. "You didn't cause any of this, Sara."

"…"

Giving one of his signature smirks, he called over his shoulder "See ya" as he started climbing out the window.

I bit my lip and sucked in my breath sharply. Simultaneously, a burst of wind pushed Max backwards, into my room again. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at me. "What?" he asked.

After fidgeting for a while, I asked, "Can you stay…?"

Since he gave me a skeptical look, I pushed it a little further. "Please…?"

He must've either read the concern, unease, or apprehension I was giving off, because the sigh which followed my question was a little more sincere.

"Fine," he said, giving up. "I'll stay."

Just before I could let out a relieved sigh and smile at him, he asked, stopping me short, "But why?" Shrugging as he walked towards me, he asked, "Why would you want me around…?"

After thinking, I decided to answer his question with one of my own.

"Well, why do you want me around…?" I asked.

Max was staring at me blankly, but I could tell I picked his brain about this; that he was taking it seriously.

After a moment passed, he told me, "Company…"

I slowly nodded and answered back, "Then, you're my company, too."

"Don't," Max warned, lowering his head.

Confused, I asked him, partly annoyed, "Don't what?"

"This," he motioned to me, "Being you."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse you?" I started, "And just what is so wrong with being me?"

Max scoffed, "Sara, you know about Cain." All he got as a reply from me was a blank, dumbfounded expression, so he sighed out of anger.

"You know what all of this means, don't you?" he asked. "I have to sleep with someone in order to keep my powers. And you tiptoeing around the subject like I'm some damn snowflake that you have to keep frozen is starting to piss me off!"

My face started wrinkling as he kept going.

"'Sarebbe nel vostro interesse se lei ti ama indietro'?" he said exaggeratedly. He huffed at me, clearly irritated I didn't speak his home language. He translated for me, "It'd be best if she loves you back."

My cheek twitched as I thought to myself, "Back…?"

While I was deep in my own thought, Max's annoyed/aggravated sigh brought me back to my senses. He had been walking towards me before I heard him so when I finally looked up at him-

"…!"

His hands were already trapping me in his grasp, with his lips pressed against mine - hard. It wasn't a sweet kiss which tingled as you were doing it, but a rough, aggressive kiss that I didn't think anyone liked.

By the time I processed what he was doing, my eyes were already wide as I felt a slimy unit enter my mouth by force.

As wide as they were, my eyes popped out of my head and I shoved Max's shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelped. Touching his lip, he looked at his hand afterwards and saw a red line of blood on his fingertip. "You bit me!" he accused.

"I had to!" I protested, "What were you going to do if I didn't?!"

"I don't know," Max started, "But I sure as hell wouldn't of bit you!"

I shook my head and asked, "Why would you do that?"

Max looked up at me from what he was doing; licking his lip so it would stop bleeding.

"Because," he said, lowly, "If I hadn't, you wouldn't have got what I was trying to say."

I gave a dry chuckle and said, "Well, I still don't get it - so could you explain it using your words instead of acting it out?"

Max rose his eyebrows at me and thought to himself, "I knew she was slow, but not this slow…"

I stared at him and asked, my arms folded a while ago, "Well?"

Snapping his attention back to me, Max waved his hand dismissively, shrugging it off. "Forget it, it's not important."

As he started heading to my window again, fragments of his previous words echoed in my head.

"Do you honestly think I'd stay here by choice? I wouldn't be here if I had somewhere else to go."

"Forget it. It's not like there aren't awnings to sleep under."

"I have to sleep with someone in order to keep my powers. You tiptoeing around the subject like I'm some damn snowflake is starting to piss me off!"

The last remark caught me and I clicked my tongue. "Tch!"

Apparently, I caught his attention, because he stopped short of climbing out of the window to look back at me. "What…?" he asked, a little curiously.

As if by instinct, my hand readied - and fired - a fireball at him, nailing him square on his spine. He quickly sucked in his breath and held his back, falling to the floor in my room. I walked towards him, angrily, and he looked up at me with his peach colored eyes - which could only have meant he was trying to cool his burning back.

"What'd you do that for!?" he asked, partially angry that I hit him and partially out of pure curiosity at my strange behavior.

His expression changed when he looked at my face and saw it had darkened over.

"She's pissed…" he thought. "… But, why?"

I growled to him, "Snowflake or rabbit…?"

"What?" he asked, clearly confused at my wording.

I yelled at him, "Are you a snowflake or a fucking rabbit- because I can't tell the difference anymore!?"

Max shook his head at me and asked, out of shock, "What are you talking about-?"

"One minute you're some fragile scared kid I can't help but feel sorry for and the next you're attacking me like I'm the last donut in the box! So what are you - a snowflake or a rabbit!?

My eyes were filled with so much fury, I probably couldn't see that Max wasn't doing this out of spite, ill will, or curiously experimenting on his childhood friend.

I didn't even notice his voice shake as he said, quietly, whilst hanging his head, "Rabbit…"

At his response, I was boiling over and knew it wouldn't be long until I needed some form of release. I hung my head, disappointed at him, and growled, "Get out."

A knock echoed on my door just as the two of us were having an intense staring contest. Max lost when his gaze fell to the metallic frame.

From the other side, I could hear Cyborg's voice. "Sara?" he asked. "Are you ok? We could hear you yelling from the den."

Still glaring at Max, I tilted my head slightly and yelled back, "Yeah, I'm fine." Giving my full attention back to him, I said, "Just trying to take care of a pest."

Max avoided my stare and turned his head to the side, dropping his hurt gaze to the floor.

After hearing my explanation (lie), Cyborg answered back "Ok, I'll tell the others" and the sound of his footsteps faded down the hallway.

Taking the hint I didn't want him in my room any longer, Max got up from his spot on the floor and headed for my window. With my back turned to him, I told Max - who had his foot on the windowsill, "Don't come back here anymore."

I added something after my sentence, which in time I learned I would deeply regret.

"Fusion Melt."

Since Max's back was to me as he left, I couldn't see the pained expression on his face.

An expression I caused.


Not once did he look back after he left, and not once did he carelessly show up uninvited, asking me to crash in my room, again.