They were found a week later.

"Over there!"

"The demon!"

They were caught unprepared, separated. Doma had gone out to hunt, leaving Sakura in the room of the inn they had rented, and the slayers had shown up out of absolutely nowhere. Neither she nor Doma had expected them to make a move smack in the middle of the city, and they were now paying for their carelessness.

Doma is strong, he can handle himself. But there's a lot of them!

A tad worried, she peered outside the window. Doma appeared as aloof as usual, a fake smile hanging to his lips as he observed the dozen or so of slayers now surrounding him. The nightly street was entirely empty saved for them, and she was wondering how exactly all of the commotion hadn't already drawn out some curious onlookers.

Though, none of them are attacking, and Doma isn't the type to make the first move—he loves playing with his food too much. Why aren't they attacking? What are they—

The door of the room suddenly slid open—loudly. Startled out of her thoughts, she looked away from the window and froze upon seeing the dark blue aura of a slayer.

She could feel his panic mingling with killing intent.

"I found you, demon!" he spat, raising his sword.

"I'm not a demon," she assured, doing her best to keep her cool.

"You won't fool me!"

All pretense of calm went out the window when he suddenly pounced at her. She practically threw herself to the side, unable to run, and his sword grazed her shoulder, cutting through the kimono and drawing blood. She let out a pained yelp, trying to crawl away, and (not for the first time), she cursed her useless legs.

If only I could get up… Run away…

"Stop acting like a defenseless lady already!" She cried out as his boot suddenly slammed down onto her back, pinning her against the floor. "We know your true colors, demon!"

"I'm- I'm not… a demon…" she gritted out.

She froze upon feeling his blade just against her neck. "Liar. If you truly were human, you wouldn't be traveling with a demon, would you?"

She didn't have much of a choice. As much as she hated using her powers in such a fashion, she needed to kill him if she wanted to survive and honor her deal with Doma. So, clenching her fist, she then projected the most dreadful feeling she could muster. The sudden onslaught of absolutely terror made him stumble back, his eyes going wide as a single thought started running through his head: I'm going to die.

Just as she was about to make his heart stop, though, another wave of killing intent washed over the entire room—this time, though, it was directed toward the slayer.

"Doma…" she murmured, relieved.

She attempted to get up, but her wounded shoulder throbbed, making her fall back down with a groan. Upon noticing the red now tainting her kimono and seeping into the wood of the floor, Doma's eyes flashed dangerously, and he snapped his attention to the cowering slayer.

"I was unaware that slayers now attacked defenseless civilians," he growled, all semblance of pleasantness having disappeared. Then, his face twisted into a murderous scowl. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on her, how dare you spill her blood, how dare you hurt what is mine!?"

The trembling slayer didn't have the time to answer—his head was already flying off his shoulders, blood splattering against the wall. A heavy silence fell upon the room as Sakura could only gawk, dumbstruck. It was the first time she felt Doma so genuinely angry.

No, not angry—enraged.

"Doma…?"

As if breaking a spall, Doma snapped out of his daze and instantly returned to his usual self. He still appeared somewhat angry as he crouched beside her to take a better look at her injury, but she knew it wasn't directed at her and, frankly, she felt safer now that he was back by her side.

"I should have known they'd try something so underhanded," he muttered, his fingers grazing over her wound. She flinched slightly, and he sighed. "What was a waste…"

"Are you- are you okay?" she asked as he helped her sit up.

He blinked a few times, surprised, before chuckling. "You ought to worry more about yourself, Little Blossom. As you should know, I can take care of myself. Now, up you go~."

He picked her up effortlessly, and she couldn't help but sigh in relief. Really, there was no safer place to be than in the arms of an emotionless, psychopathic, bloodthirsty demon.