I could've sworn I was a dead man-or, teenager, or…whatever. My life flashed before my eyes, and I didn't even have time to comprehend it as I was thrown forward from the blast. My vision was completely filled with light, leaving me temporally blinded and my ears ringing. I collided with the ground, resounding in a loud 'thud'. My vision began to slowly fade back into focus and I was suddenly aware of the pounding headache, and the taste of copper in my mouth.

They freaking bombed me!

"Those BASTARDS!" I exclaimed. Ignoring the pain that was residing all throughout my body, I pushed myself to my feet. I didn't have time to wait for the world to stop spinning, or for my hearing to come back. I did, however, put a hand against a fallen beam to keep from falling back down.

Fallen beam?

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. What had previously been a somewhat nice apartment was now a disaster. Rubble and beams layed everywhere, small bits of light shining through the wreckage. I could hear the creaking of the ceiling that hadn't fallen yet as my hearing returned. They were still ringing, but at least I could hear.

"…shit." I cursed as debris fell from the ceiling. I needed to find what I was looking for before this whole building collapsed. I could hear chattering from somewhere outside of the wreckage and knew I had to hurry. I quickly scanned the once-upon-a-time-room, and spotted the set of stairs barely still intact. My gaze followed them up to what was a semi second floor, seeing holes in the floor where the ceiling had fallen. I sure had been damn lucky to survive that bomb. And I wasn't even injured-except for my bleeding ears, of course.

I heard it before I saw it. A few feet away, the ceiling cracked, and I put my arm over my face as it crashed onto the ground and sent drywall everywhere. A piece sliced into my arm and a bead of blood dripped to the floor. I pulled it out without even blinking and quickly looked up as I heard a scream. I slowly crept towards the newest hole in the ceiling, looking up. The wreckage had advanced from the third floor, where a few metal beams hung still attached. Hanging from one of the beams was…

A girl. I blinked. A young girl. She looked as if she was 9 at most.

"Someone help!" She screamed, her voice raked with fear. Rage instantly filled my chest, how dare they bomb a building with a child inside! Then I noticed. She wasn't human. Or, not completely human, at least. Her face seemed human, along with her body. The emotions radiating off of her couldn't be anything but human. Her eyes were pure blue, like the Caribbean, and her skin was a sea-green. She had long, dark blue hair that was almost mermaid like. It wasn't a midnight blue, but was still dark. Her ears looked like feathers and her tail was the same color as her hair.

"HELP!" She screamed again.

Looking up at her, I called, "Let go! I'll catch you!"

"Are you CRAZY?!" She screamed down at me.

"You're the one screaming for help!" I pointed out. "Look, we need to hurry up before this whole building collapses!"

"Too late for that, dummy!" She retorted.

I crossed my arms. "Fine. Stay here."

"Wait! Wait! Okay I'm sorry!" She quietly, squeaking as the bar she was clinging onto gave a jerk. "Please help me…." She whimpered, her punk attitude fading.

"It's alright." I smiled reassuringly, "You can trust me." I pulled the hood of my jacket down to reveal my pointy ears and fangs, and I waved my tail at her. "I'm half-demon too, see?"

Her eyes widened, and she gave a brave nod. "If this doesn't work I'll kill you!"

"Uh-huh." I said. "Come on, we don't have all day."

"Don't rush me!" She snapped, but then sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly she uncurled her fingers from the bar, and let go. I braced my legs against the ground and held out my arms to catch her. She let out a scream as she fell. She crashed into me, and her weight threw me to the ground. I let out a groan as she opened her eyes. She blinked once, and then started laughing. I smiled weakly and said, "Told you."

"Shuddup." She said, not missing a beat.

Uhhhh-hhuuuhhh. Now get off! We need to get outta here."

…..

It took us about fifteen minutes to dig a way out right before the exorcists burst in. I gave a chuckle as they cursed, and led the girl-I found out her name was Mizu-away from the wreckage. I took the alleyways so we weren't seen.

"So, what's your story?" I asked her as we walked.

Mizu just gave a shrug. "My dad was always the only one who was around. He was an alcoholic, and abusive. I had three other siblings, although I was the only one who had a demon mother. My mother…she was nice. Really nice." She smiled, as if remembering her mother. "It almost seemed as if it was the other way around, my father a demon and my mom the human. My mother ended up being killed by exorcists…after that my father packed up, took the other three and left, leaving me." Her eyes turned sad. "I've been living on my own since."

I frowned, feeling sympathy for the girl. I kept my gaze forward and asked, "Do you ever get lonely?"

She looked down at her dirty sneakers, "All the time."

I looked at her and gave a smile. "Well, what if I told you, you don't have to be alone anymore?" She looked up at me and stopped walking. I faced her and knelt down so our faces were level. "Why don't you stay with me?" I offered.

"S-seriously?" She asked. I nodded. She didn't even try to make some sparky comment, instead she threw her arms around me. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

I laughed, "It's no problem."

She pulled away, wiping her eyes. "What about you? Whats…whats your story?"

I sighed and stood up. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
"You…don't remember?" She asked, confused.

I shook my head. "Nada." Changing the subject, I held out my hand. "Come on, lets get going."

After a moment she nodded and took my hand and we walked silently.

My memories…those still remained a mystery. I was running out of clues and ideas of how to get them back. All I could do now was find this 'Yukio' person, but how do I do that? Where am I supposed to even find him? As I got lost in my thoughts I suddenly remembered the explosion. Something had flashed before my eyes. It was blurry, but it was there. A memory, maybe? I concentrated on it, but I couldn't make anything out. It was like waking up from a dream and trying to remember the details. I felt hope layered with frustration. It was a memory, but I couldn't make it out. I was so, so freaking close! If only I could…

The ground began to sake, ripping me from my trail of thoughts. I pulled Mizu closer and she clung to my arm.

A scream rang out through the air and my head whipped towards the direction it came from. I couldn't see anything through the walls, put I did see black smoke pillowing in the sky. The shaking came to a stop, and I spotted a whole in the alleyway wall. "Mizu, go hide in that hole. I'll be back soon."

"Don't get yourself killed, or I'll kill you." Mizu replied.

"I won't. Now go." I responded and she nodded and ran towards the wall. I pulled my hood up as I ran out of the alley, facing the burning building across the street. So much for a lunch break.