WARNING: If you're currently watching One Piece and have not seen the Water 7 arc yet, or are planning to watch the show, there is a tiny spoiler. It's nothing major in my opinion, but just a little heads up so you guys won't get mad at me. :3

P.S. This is future Pommy speaking. I fixed a typo with Juno's last name. I put Katsune instead of Kazuki (I have no clue why my stupid booty did dat) So if I accidentally did that to any other chapters, PLEASE tell me so I can fix it ASAP!

A Fanfiction Inspired By Blue Exorcist.

I do not own Grimm.

I do own my OC.

IX

I punched a tree.

...

Okay, I punched a hole into a tree.

I just have too many things piled on me all at once. First, my job. Second, my secret job in the Deep Web. And third, my dream about my partner.

I would have brushed aside the dream, but at this point I can't if I keep dreaming about it. Hell, sometimes I'm too scared to try to sleep again. I know it isn't a nightmare, but it makes me feel things that freak me out. It gave me that feeling when I was around him.

So that's why I went on a run to relieve some stress. Punching a hole into a tree gave me a sense of relief, but my agitation was still present.

Thankfully, my partners and I were off duty for that day unless there was an emergency. I should be home trying to get some much needed sleep, but as always, I couldn't. Oh insomnia, why do you hate me so?

I decided to take a break and sat in the grass on the edge of the path. I looked up at the bright sky, wondering if Luciel was still sleeping back home. Back in Halloween a couple of weeks ago, he and Monroe had scared some kids that had broken his window. Of course, being the nice man I was, I replaced the window for him to make up for not being able to spend Halloween with him.

I jumped when my phone started to ring. I pulled it out and slid my thumb over the screen before holding it up to my ear, "Kazuki."

"Hey, it's Nick!"

I blinked when I heard his voice have a happier tone than usual... Like a nervous happy. Weird. "Hey..."

There was a small, awkward silence, before Nick spoke up. "Well, uh, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay, I guess." I shrugged, even though I knew he couldn't see it, "Long night."

"Long night?" He repeated.

"I'm a hacker. I tend to hack things."

I bit my bottom lip when he chuckled deeply. Is my face getting warm, or is it just me? "Like what kind of things?"

"Bad hackers."

This time he laughed. "I'm not getting anything else out of you, am I?"

"Maybe." This was nice. Talking to him like this... Yeah, I'm a man of few words when it comes to regular human interaction, but I felt myself relax when we conversed. Nothing was forced, and we weren't talking about work like we usually did. It's a nice change.

"So what're you doing?"

"In the woods. Taking a break."

There was a pause. "Are you... Sitting by the path wearing a hoodie with a weird smiley face on the back of it?"

"...Are you stalking me?"

"Look up." He said before hanging up the phone.

I blinked and did as he said. Looking down the path where I came from, I stood up when I saw a familiar figure jogging towards me.

Nick grinned as he slowed to a stop in front of me, "Good morning."

"Ohayo. (Morning.)"

"Huh?"

"Japanese. Means morning."

The Grimm nods and began to walk with me down the path just like before. "So that's the language you spoke in Halloween? The last part?"

"Yeah. 'May you find peace in the after life.'" I translated.

"Did you have to learn it?" He asked curiously.

"I'm half-American and half-Japanese. I was born in Japan."

A smile climbed up onto his lips. "Is it nice there?"

I look up at him and took that moment to admire his eyes. 'Cause damn, they're just so fucking beautiful. I'm kind of jealous. I mean, I could wear contacts, but they irritate my eyes too much for me to wear constantly.

Quickly looking down at my moving feet, I replied, "Yeah."

"Any family there?"

I shook my head. With an unwavering stone mask I said, "Nuns who helped raise me. Parents died."

I didn't even have to look to see that he felt extremely guilty for bringing it up. "I'm sorry-"

"It's fine. Mother died while giving birth to me. Her friend adopted me as his son. He died from an accident. Biological father is overall someone I would not hesitate to kill if I could... At the moment."

Nick nods, shoving his hands in his pockets. "My parents died when I was a kid. Well, one of them. I just found out that my mom is still alive and is a Grimm."

"That's good." I couldn't help, but to feel envy. How I wished that the old geezer would rise from his grave and dope slap me for thinking he would die so easily.

"You said something about nuns?"

I nod. "I was raised in a church. When I was ten, the gee- my dad and I moved to America so I could get better education."

"Was he a?..."

"Exorcist? Yeah. He taught me."

After that, we sort of just walked in silence. Not the uncomfortable, please-kill-me, type of silence. The type of silence that you enjoy and is comfortable.

I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the wilderness, and the mint and vanilla that was walking with me. My breath fogged up as I exhaled. It must have gotten colder - how did I not notice? Oh yeah. My unnatural body tends to adjust to the temperatures around me...

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the Grimm had pulled his hood up and stuffed his hands into his pockets. I tilted my head when I almost miss him shiver at the cold. I was very tempted to take his hand into mine and share my warmth, but I immediately pushed the thought far back in my mind. No matter how nice that sounded, he would be weirded out. Especially since he had a girlfriend.

I almost scowled at the thought. God... His girlfriend. Juliette is a nice woman, she really is, but just the thought of her being so close to him makes me... Extremely pissed off. Huh.

I pull out my phone to check the time and cursed. "Damn, it's almost noon..."

"Really?" Nick says in surprise, "You have something to do?"

"I have to feed Luciel."

"Demons eat?"

I thought for a moment before shrugging. "Luciel is a Familiar - a tamed demon - so it depends on what they prefer."

He nods in understanding. "Well, we should head back. I need to grab lunch anyway."

Once again, my stupid fucking hand had to have a mind of it's own and grab a hold of his sleeve before he turned around back to the way we came. He looked down at me, this time with a questioning look instead of one of confusion. I guess he's starting to understand my whole sleevey-grabby thing. I hesitated, feeling my cheeks warm up. "W-Would you like to.. er... join? I-I m-mean... uh..." I looked down nervously. Jebus A. Crystal, I'm fucking up so bad. Worse than when CP9 decided to steal Robin from everyone. And for fuck's sake why am I so nervous?!

"You mean for lunch? At your place?" He gathered, speaking with what sounded like a hint of a smile. I nodded my head. "If it's okay with you. I mean, I don't want to intrude or anything."

"I-It's no problem, really..." I let go of him and pressed my forefingers together, refusing to return his gaze. "I-I would l-like to consider you as a... friend. Hank, Rosalee, a-and Juliette too." I stopped with the fiddling of my fingers and froze.

I jumped back and waved my hands wildly in denial with a burning face. I broke out in a sweat, "Wait, wait, no! T-That's way too selfish of me! I-I'm being silly!"

Nick genuinely seemed to be shocked by what I had said... or maybe it was because of how red my face is. Seriously, I bet I looked like a cherry. "Selfish? Juno, you're already our friend!" He said incredulously. "You're saying that as if you've never..." He stepped closer with furrowed brows. "Juno... You..."

"Dad, Luciel, and the nuns are family." I cut in before he can say anything else, "Monroe was my first friend. Ever."

Now he was really confused. "But how can you not?"

Frustration washed over me at the question. I forced a scowl down as I huffed out a sigh. "Isn't it obvious?" I ripped down my hood and pointed at my face. "Look at me, I'm a freak. Everyone is afraid of me, no matter what I do. Monroe, Hank, Juliette, and Rosalee - once she comes back - think I look scary. They don't even have to say it for me to know! And you!" I directed the pointing at him with the scowl that managed to escape my grasp, "Why can't you see that? Why aren't you scared?"

He stared at me for a long while, processing what I had all but burst to him. He shook his head slowly with a sigh, "You asked me..."

I nodded, downcast after my emotions had simmered down. "It's confusing. All my life, I've been seen as a monster... Stared at... Everywhere I go. And then I meet you and... nothing." I swallowed thickly, "It fucking terrifies me because... for the first time I..." I covered my eyes with my hand in fear that he would see my watery eyes. "I-I actually feel human..."

A pair of arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace so quickly that it caught me completely off guard. I've blurted some shit out to Monroe in the beginning, but my personal feelings to Nick? My partner? Wasn't I suppose to be a man of few words?

Honestly, I didn't know what to do. My whole body was frozen within his strong hold and my eyes were as wide as saucers. I haven't been hugged like this in... years. Hell, I haven't been hugged by a human being for years.

Compared to the ones I've received, this one was different. Like something was hidden within it that neither of us can specifically identify. But whatever it was, it was causing Nick to continue embracing me even with my lack of reaction. Holding me as if I were going to disappear right then and there.

For a brief second I was afraid that he would notice how my heart was beating harder than it normally should, but it was either that he ignored it or didn't notice, he didn't let go.

My arms that had hung limply at my sides hesitantly lifted up. It's been too long since someone has touched me like this. Too long since I let anyone touch me at all. My movements were unsure as I wrapped my arms around him. The moment I felt his hand stroke my hair in a - dare I say - loving way, I practically collapsed into his arms. My hands clenched the back of his jacket as I buried my face into his chest. "Why?..." I asked with a muffled, yet quiet, voice.

The Grimm's strokes faltered for a split second. He took a deep breath, "I don't know... It's just that the first time I saw you..." He trailed off as if he had suddenly gotten lost in thought.

"What?"

He snapped out of it, and instead of stroking my hair, he ran his fingers through it. I couldn't hold back the shiver that went through me at the feeling. I missed the feeling of my hair being touched and played with. "The first time I saw you, the thought of you being scary or a monster never crossed my mind. All I saw were your eyes, your hair... Everything. The first thing that I thought was that you were different and I liked it. I really liked it."

"B-But my eyes and hair are-"

"Nothing you, or what anyone else say will change my mind. I meant everything that I said."

"Baka... (Idiot...)" I lift my head up in order to look up at him. I was almost taken aback once I realized how close our faces were. For now, I ignored it in order to meet his gaze. "You don't know anything about me."

"Then let me get to know you."

He said it so surely and so sincerely that I kinda wanted to cry. I refused my eyes to water again and instead sighed. "You're not gonna give up, are you?" He shook his head with a little smirk. I sighed, "I won't blame you if you run away one day." Before he could even try to deny that from ever happening, I slipped out of his hold and walked down the path to where we came from. "Let's go."

It didn't take long to get to our respective vehicles. Before we had driven off, I gave Nick my address just in case he lost me on the road.

Of course, I was the first to park my motorcycle by the sidewalk and hop off. I casually leaned on it as I watched Nick park his car behind me. When he got out and locked the doors, I made my way to the decent sized church. It wasn't too big or too small, even with the huge clock on the top in front of it.

Instead of going through the front doors of the church, I walked around it until I got to the back where a tall wooden fence was concealing a large backyard. All around were various flowers, but enough room for Luciel to run around and play in. It even had a clear view of the sky.

At the back of the church was a simple cobblestone path leading from the gate of the wooden fence to a door. Instead of it having a lock, it had a keypad just like my office door. I quickly tapped in the passcode before pressing my thumb on the screen. A beep and click of the door unlocking was the queue for him to open the door, holding it open for his guest.

Nick looked at the keypad in fascination, "Fancy." He commented before stepping inside. He was rather surprised to see that the interior looked like a normal house.

"Take off your shoes, please." I told him as I kicked off my own on the mat we stood on.

Once he had copied my actions, I lead him through the simple hallway before we entered the main area of the house. It was nothing too fancy. The living room was connected with the kitchen, which had a bar counter. There were three doorways - without the doors - two on either side of the kitchen and one that lead from the kitchen to the dining room.

In the living room there was just a couch, a coffee table on top of a rug, and a flat screen TV on the wall with game consoles on the shelf that came with it. From the living room, there was a hallway leading to my bedroom and the basement.

The thumping of little feet and meows were heard from said hallway. We both look over just in time to see the demonic cat charge out straight towards me. I barely managed to catch him and keep from stumbling back when he decided to pounce on me. He purred as he nuzzled my face, "I missed you!"

"Missed you too." I scratched behind his ear and turned to the Grimm, "You remember Nick?"

Luciel lifts his head at the familiar name and looks at the man. Nick, having figured out that he can understand us, gave a small, awkward wave.

The two-tailed cat squirmed out of my hold and dropped down onto the floor. He trotted over to the man and sniffed at what he can reach, which were his legs. Nick silently watched, briefly looking up to raise an eyebrow at me.

After finishing his inspection, he nuzzled his legs as he walked around and between them. I nod in approval, "He likes you." I answered his silent question shortly before tossing my jacket on the arm rest of the couch and heading to the kitchen.

I grabbed my apron from where it hung by the fridge and slipped it on, tying the strings on the back. I quickly tied my hair into a messy bun with my usual long bangs hanging on the sides of my face.

I turned to exit the kitchen in order to go and ask Nick a question, but I stopped short when my eyes landed on him sitting on the bar stool, watching me as he leaned against his propped up hand. "...What would you like to eat?" I ask after a long moment.

He smiled at me, "Anything's fine. Whatever you prefer."

I thought for a moment before I went over to the fridge. "How about Jajangmyeon? Basically a Korean dish of noodles with black bean sauce." I heard him voice out that he was okay with it and went straight to work. I pulled out pork belly, daikon, and zucchini out of the fridge. The potatoes and onions I got from the pantry before washing my hands.

I heated up a wok and a pot with water in it as I diced up the pork belly before tossing it into the hot wok. As it cooked, occasionally moving it around, I chopped up all of the vegetables. Once the pork was cooked, I poured out the excess fat from the pan before I tossed in the daikon and stir fried it.

After that, I tossed in the rest of the vegetables for a little longer. I quickly grabbed vegetable oil and the black bean paste and proceeded to add the ingredients in before stirring it with a wooden spoon. I poured in the water before placing the lid on it and washing my hands. I added the Jajangmyeon noodles into the boiling water - they don't take long to cook.

"That smells amazing." I hear Nick say, "You're really good at cooking."

I blushed and quickly looked away from the bright smile he was sending me, "Y-You don't even know if you'll like it."

"I know I will!"

Instead of trying to make him think otherwise, I prepared the starch water. I sighed when I felt a certain furball rubbing against my legs, whining. "It'll be finished in a few minutes, be patient." I chided, dropping a small bit of the chopped raw pork belly I saved for him to keep his whining at bay.

As he ate the meat happily, I uncovered the wok and poured in some of the starch water before stirring. It thickened quickly. I alternated from regular water and starch water to get the right consistency, before finally turning off the stove and putting the lid back on.

I take out three ceramic bowls - one of them being smaller than the other two - and tongs to place the noodles into them. After that, I spooned on the black bean sauce. I thinly chopped up some zucchini to top each of them with before grabbing two pairs of chopsticks. I brought both bowls over to the bar counter, along with the utensils, and then went over to Luciel to give him his bowl and refill his bowl of silver vine sake. Yes, the damned cat can eat noodles, he's a Demon for Pete's sake.

I took off my apron and hung it back up before I went to the fridge, "What would you like to drink?"

"Water's fine." I nod and filled up two glasses of water and brought them back over to the bar counter.

I sat down on the bar stool in front of Nick. I briefly closed my eyes as I clapped my hands together, "Itadakimasu. (Thank you for the meal.)" I picked up my chopsticks and used them to mix the bean sauce with the noodles.

I enjoyed my meal, not bothering to look up to see Nick's reaction. Well, that was until he had confirmed that he liked it - no, loved it. Despite my cheeks burning a bright red, I was delighted to see his pleased expression as he ate.

So cuuute :3 Juno's past is slowly unraveling... Poor babu ;-; I wasn't sure how to end this chapter, so sorry if it's a little abrupt.

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Love ya, babes.