"Kuro~"

It was dark. And he wanted to keep it that way.

"Waky~ Waky~"

"If I keep my eyes closed long enough… Hopefully Black Cat will leave me alone… If I'm lucky…"

He really didn't want to deal with the 'I told you so's' right now. He just wanted to sleep and stop thinking about what's going on right now. If he's fortunate the cat demon might eventually leave him alone if he kept ignoring it.

Bonk

"Ouch! That hurts you know!" Kuro hissed, shooting up into sitting position, clutching his pained head with both hands, he was in human form. "so much for being left alone…"

"Nice of you to join the party!~" He gave the cat demon - who was innocently holding a large toy hammer behind it's back - a sideways glare as he nursed his throbbing head. "Come now Kuro we both know that you can't ignore this situation we're in. After all~ you know who is looking for you as we speak~"

"Mahiru...? Do you know where to find him?" Kuro turned fully towards the demon with a glint of hope in his crimson eyes. Black Cat frowned and shook its head sadly.

"Unfortunately the moment your contract item was taken from you the bond weakened" with a wave of its paw, some kind of blue and black striped candle appeared. The red flame flickered with fragility, like the smallest gust would snuff it out. "Multiple factors play a role in your current weakened state… being away from your Eve and losing the cat bell are one thing but there's another. Do you know what that is?~"

Kuro didn't look the cat doll in the eye, instead he watched the flame wearily, he knew Black Cat will start lecturing him, he knew what he did wrong, he knew. But that doesn't stop him from always rejecting blood, he spent two months without drinking any. The demon always tried to sway him into at least taking a little, but his stubborn self wouldn't be tempted. Now here he was, almost at the end of his rope, keeping his head down as he waited for Black Cat's verbal and mental abuse.

He didn't expect was a gentle weight on his shoulder.

"Honestly…" the demon murmured, resting its head on Kuro with its eyes closed. "You act like a three year old who refuses to eat their vegetables when I'm supposed to be the childish one here… Your becoming a pain. You know that?"

"So no lecture or mental torture?"

"Do you want me to~?" Black Cat chucked suggestively, making Kuro cringe.

"I rather not…" he answered almost immediately and sighed. His gaze went from the cat doll resting on his arm to the flickering candle that repressed what was left of his strength. In retrospect it made Kuro afraid. He felt cold fear settle in him at the thought that if he doesn't find his Eve soon he might end up in the same immobile and vulnerable state he was in before Mahiru found him. Only this time he might not be there to take him home. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of depressing thoughts. No he can't give in to this weakness when Mahiru, his siblings, and even Taka are depending on him. There has to be a way to make that flame flicker with vitality again, if only until he's reunited with his Eve.

"I can't just sit here and wait for something to happen…" he said quietly to the only one who can help him in this situation.

"There is a way" Black Cat gave a knowing smile and met his crimson eyes with it's own squiggled ones. "I can hear your willingness to do anything for those you care about. Correct?" it stated rather than asked.

Kuro didn't need to say anything his crimson eyes glowed with determination, something that the cat demon hasn't seen in such a long time. Black Cat fluidly jumped to its feet and motioned for Kuro to follow. He sighed and untangled himself from his sitting position.

"woohoo!" a man in his mid-twenties screeched loudly over the jets engine's, "gotta love me the solid ground! A moment longer and I would've gone stir crazy! Right Bethy?!" he faced an angry blue eyed, blond woman who had no qualms smacking her idiot partner in the face with a handheld laptop. He yelped and rolled around on the floor of the roof of a high building they landed on, cradling his chick magnet of a face.

"Imbecile! What in that thrill crazed mind of yours made you think it was a good idea to go behind my father's back and pull this stunt!" she raved. "I should use you as vampire feed when we get home!"

Annabeth Huntsman. Cold, cunning, and isn't afraid to destroy everything in her path to achieve her own agenda. She's next in line to become an executive of C3's American branch and hopefully the president of it in a short amount of time. Her long blonde hair is kept in a neat bun with her forelocks framing her face. She was wearing a zipped standard C3 jacket with high heeled boots.

"The hell Bethy! I thought you wanted to prove to your old man that you can handle tough missions, so what better way than taking on the most powerful of them all! a Servamp!" he grinned excitedly.

Her idiotic partner, well known as the clown of the organization, is none other than, if he wasn't such an expert weapons master he would be fired a long time ago, Chase Volter. Unlike Annabeth, he's more laid-back and doesn't always think things through. He too is wearing standard jacket, but his was open revealing his red T-shirt and blue jeans, along with black sneakers. He has spiky brown hair with green eyes.

"Because, shit for brains, the C3 here doesn't agree with the methods of the American branch and if they find out we came he to take custody of a vampire under their watch, a Servamp no less, it would be another bad mark on our credit!" she hissed, "ever since they changed executive last year they're less willing to negotiate with us, so if we get caught it might mean that we'll all get fired and replaced."

"Oh…" Chase blinked widely, "wait you said if we get caught?... So…?" he shivered at the grin she flashed him.

"I never said we're leaving. Like you, I don't trust that sketchy dealer as well so I believe this would be a matter of tactical intervention. Yes! If we succeed I would gain another asset for my rise to the top." her grin grew wider as she opened her handheld and started typing. Chase watched here wearily. "Two signatures with high concentration of Jin." Snapping it closed, she grabbed his arm and started to head for the roof exit.

"No time to waste!"

"Bethy wait! Don't tell me your planning to?!" Chase asked cautiously, seeing the glint of ambition in her eyes.

"If the executive here can do it, so can I," Annabeth replied evenly, giving a 'do not continue this conversation' glare as she dragged him off. His heart jumped pleasantly.

"Baby you get me excited when you're a woman on a mission, it's like I'm falling in love all over again."

A blush dusted her cheeks as she narrowed her eyes.

"You're still dead when this is all over," she deadpanned.

"Why are you suddenly being so helpful?..." he eyed the demon skeptically, "usually you would start prancing around, annoy me to no end, and be of no help at all…"

The demon chuckled at that, not denying it. "I could say the same for you~! I've never seen Sleepy Ash of Sloth be this motivated since…" the stitched up mouth tugged down in thought, the unruly tail scratching its head, "never~ my how time changes us all, or should I say influence from a certain someone."

"Can't deal…" Kuro groaned, "is it really possible for me to regain some power without having to drink blood?... What's the catch?"

In honesty it was too good to be true that there is still energy left in him, it's worth a try though. Kuro fell into step with the demon and followed it through the domain of his own mind. Knowing Black Cat something irritating is bound to happen. The demon remained quiet as it skipped besides him for a while.

A bright blue path lined with candles with strawberries acting as flames appeared before them. Jumping slightly, Kuro looked around. He didn't notice the change in surroundings.

At the end of the path was a pedestal with a slice of blue glowing cake

"Beyond this path is an alternative source of energy~ don't ask how I got it…" Black Cat jumped on to Kuro's shoulder, it's voice shifting to a more serious one, "the effects will last for one hour or less depending on how you use it, I'm uncertain about the side effects but… They might not be pleasant."

"How much power are we talking about?" Kuro was already walking to the pedestal, a small amount of apprehension simmered within him as he closed in to the only option he had left. Kuro could hear the demon hum besides his ear.

"Enough and much more~"

Kuro gave the cake a hard look.

Hesitance thrown out the window long ago, taking the utensil besides it he took a piece and brought it near his lips.

"There is no turning back from this…"

For a moment the Servamp regarded it's warning.

"If it means returning to Mahiru," Kuro said evenly as he bit the overpoweringly sweet cake and swallowed.

That's all it took for Kuro to fade from the mindscape.

Leaving Black Cat alone on the pedestal with the barely eaten cake, all alone. Stretching out its paws the stripped candle returned to them, it's red flame started to grow in light. Sighing the demon placed the candle onto the leftover cake, watching it flicker and change with an unreadable expression.

"Be safe… Sleepy Ash… Kuro…"

With one last flicker the light turned black.

Taka flinched and whimpered in her sleep, trying to get away from the monster in her head. With a gasp she was startled back into consciousness. She took a look around, to her surprise it was dark and warm. Strange she didn't remember the sun being anywhere near setting when they fell asleep. Where was Kuro?

She heard a growl, and the darkness around her moved.

The kitten went rigid, she wasn't in a box anymore. Timorously she brushed her paw against the black walls, feeling that it's fur and warm. Taka squeaked when it moved, revealing that they were large forelegs. Another growl, shakenly she looked up and tried really hard not to whimper in fear, the roof was hairy, but there was a large muzzle with huge, sharp white teeth that can take her whole at any moment.

Gulping, Taka slowly backed away. She doesn't know to where as long as she's away from those gleaming teeth of the creature surrounding her. Carefully she backed away, shuffling one paw after another.

Crackle

Wincing Taka glanced behind to the crippled remnants of the newspaper blanket under her hind leg. The growling grew stronger as the black creature raised its head to look at her through the unruly mane.

The eyes of a predator.

If anything Taka was shaking harder when this blood red eyes met hers, they were terrifying like looking death in the face.

"How much longer Bethy, my feet are killin me?"

"We've only been walking for fifteen minutes. Now shut up and let me concentrate." Not once did Annabeth look at him as she stayed transfixed on the blinking dot on the screen, with furrowed brows. The device in her hands can track down the concentration of Jin in the area. There's one nearby, but where?

"tch, damn. Sleepy Ash should be around here somewhere, it's already been six hours so it must be very weak at this point. Why isn't this working? "

Suddenly Chase stopped leaving her to walk a couple of paces further from him. His eyes narrowed to the alley he was facing.

"Chase?" she tried to look into the alley, only to be thrown against the wall, out of the alleys view. "Hey wha-" he placed his hand over her mouth and placed a finger between his lips. Slowly, he removed his hand and covertly looked from the corner of the wall, into the alley, with focused piercing eyes.

"Bethy, what's the targets animal form again?" the weapons master whispered.

"A small, black cat with an abnormal tail. Do you see it?" Annabeth whispered back.

"Because that's no cat." He grinned like a child who got a new toy as he reached for his coat pocket.

"the hunt has gotten more interesting."

The plot thickens! What would happen to a Servamp without contract item and their Eve, and will they find Kuro in time? Next chapter will elaborate further on who the man is and tell you why C3's American branch wants Kuro. next time things really heat up as every action has a consequence. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review and follow!

Preview

Chapter 3: Limitations

"Looks like I have to break you before you go to your new owner"

"If we don't find Nii-san soon then there's a possibility that he will be lost forever"

"Kuro we're coming! Just hang on a big longer."