"Y'know Ayako, you don't need to wear so much make-up." Houshou Takigawa said off-handedly to his colleague. This Woman he saw so often was a mystery to him, as much as he wanted to believe she was just a stuck-up, shallow, calloused woman; if working as an exorcist taught him anything, it was that nothing could be taken at face value.

"And what business is it of yours?" She said perhaps a tad roughly while slamming her compact shut. Her eyes squeezing shut. She whipped around, a hand on her hip, glaring at the renegade Monk with a familiar intensity. She knew he wasn't stupid enough to take what she did at face value. And that knowledge made her uncomfortable.

She remembered far to well what happened the last time she let a man get too close to her..

It's not that she thought Monk was anything like that man but, everything that bastard had ever said to her had left permanent scars. instilling fears that constantly pulled her down and whispered in her ear.

Somehow it even made her fear the concerned yet serene look in Takigawa's eyes. A light brown hue that crossed her mind far too often to be healthy.

She huffed indignantly, striding past him to the door. They and their other colleagues had just finished a case, perhaps the last one together. They were all going to just go home to their normal lives.

Everything would have been fine if he had just let her leave like normal.

"Ayako, wait." He grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

The way he freely said her first name- a right he never truly attained, yet flaunted. It's not like she got offended anymore, because he seemed to always say her name with care. He respected the intimacy that came with it. Perhaps saying he wanted to attain it from day one.

The thought pricked in her mind that she had never once called him by his first name.

"What is it, Takigawa?" She was calm. She could only be "normal" for so long.

"It's getting dark out. A lady shouldn't go home alone."

She cracked a small dark smile. "It's fine Takigawa. I'll just take the train home like I always do."

"You're going in the same direction as me. Come on, I'll drive you." His low, calming voice, something that helped her stay calm in the many horrifying situations they and their friends had always found themselves in; but of course she'd never admit it to him.

"It's not like it makes any difference to me." She said as indifferently as she could.

"Of course it does!" She could hear the grin in his voice. "You're saving money from the train fare! That makes at least a little difference." Suddenly his hand released her wrist, only for his long fingers to interlace with her own.

I definitely can't look at him now.

"C'mon Ayako!" He stood beside her, leaning down with a bright smile. "You need a little pick-me-up! Where do you want to go?"

"E-excuse me?!" Ayako sputtered. She couldn't suppress the blush anymore.

"You heard me." He strode forward. Gently urging her forward. She easily fell into step with him. Leaving the deserted office behind them. Ayako still found herself speechless. Monk was always doing things like this, but she found it difficult to accept it in her heart. A small voice in her head kept whispering.

"A slut like you doesn't deserve kindness"

"Hey, Ayako?" She realised that they had stopped, Monk's face inches from hers, his eyes filled to the brim with worry. "You okay? You don't look too good." She slapped away the hand that endeavored to check for a fever. It was too much of clichè.

"I'm fine." She grunted. Jerking him forward by their still connected hands. "I want Vietnamese food."

"Now there's the Ayako I'm used to!" He chucked. Taking only one long step to walk beside her. Their height difference putting Ayako's head level with his neck. Easy enough to avoid his eyes from here.

Neither of them decided to comment on how hard she was gripping Monk's hand. His thoughts dizzy with trying to deduce whether it was the oh-so-common anger, are some other emotion.

He was starting to believe the latter