I rubbed circles on his back until I was sure he'd stay asleep. I felt bad, though his waking at all thrilled me. I just wish I had gotten his name before he'd checked out again. As it was, as soon as his breath evened and dropped, I gently laid him back on the pillow and crawled out of bed. I pulled on a shirt that had been warming the floor and stepped lightly to the utility room to make some warm towels to stuff the blankets with.

He'd not said anything aloud, so I assumed that his brain closed out after the memory of whatever had given him those burns that had left him near death. I hoped he would not remember fighting those ex-humans as a half-corpse. Just thinking about seeing him then versus now had me feeling sick with worry. I scooted my favorite kitchen chair to my bedside and sat with a weary breath. I was still plenty sleepy, but a couple of hours under my belt would allow me to function.

Or so I thought. One of my treacherous eyes must have blinked too long because I fell back asleep. By the time I woke again it was to discover that my patient had found his pants and was sitting crisscross on my mattress. The sun was a syrupy ball giving way to the moon.

"Can you tell me what happened? How did you find me?" He'd wrapped a towel around his shoulders like he'd taken a bath.

"My name's Tsuchii." I gave him a smile which was not returned. "You should tell me your name, too."

If anything his face grew more solemn, "Nanami. I don't have time for this, curse user. Tell me what happened."

I shifted, "Curse user? Like that patchwork demon?" I felt like he'd insulted me, though I didn't know why. "I'm not what you said."

"No, If you're talking about a male with scars and blue hair, that was a cursed spirit." His eyes flicked down then quickly back up. "You may not know the terms, but you are. I can feel it in you, you know. You've made a pact or something with a 'demon' as you put it. But you've made no move to kill me, so I am willing to speak to you. Know this: I have no compunctions about killing women."

"Can we give this another try, Nanami? I am not cursed in any way. You're right, before last night I hadn't even heard either term. I've never met a person like you before, but I'm very curious about you." I folded my hands in my lap, "I make a living believing in the sanctity of life. So how about we forget the threats, okay? I saved your life, and I doubt very much a curse anything would do that."

His eyes narrowed, "I honestly didn't expect that. You're not a Jujutsu Sorcerer, but you have a well of cursed energy potential. I can feel it. Though you are like another Sorcerer I've met; I know that you've made a deal with a cursed spirit." He cocked his head, "You didn't even shift. You realize you're possessed."

"Are there people who don't know?" I threw up my hands, talking to him was like talking to a wall. "Though I don't think of it as possession. Stop accusing me of being cursed. I feel it in you, too. What's the difference between you and I?"

He looked surprised, "Who are you?"

"My name is Tsuchii Tori. We're in my apartment. You're alive and though I'd like to have a real conversation with you, you can leave any time." I fidgeted and hoped he wouldn't leave. I was bursting with curiosity, "I've allowed a…" I didn't want to use his words, but couldn't think of another way of putting it, "A spirit to live inside me." I tapped my heart, "Rio is good. He has never harmed me."

"Why would he? You're his vessel. You are nothing more than a meal."

"Let me talk to him. I can speak through you." Rio sounded almost as agitated as he had at the station.

"Rio, my friend, wants to speak to you. I've never done this before, but I want you to just listen to him. Please. I think he knows things I want to know and can answer your questions the way you want."

Rio felt like he agreed. It was rare that I felt Rio's emotional state. I clearly remembered feeling happy after eating his feather and sealing the pact. At other times he'd been fiercely proud, very scared, and keenly unhappy.

"Fine."

It was a strange feeling, almost like preparing to sleep as I felt Rio take the reins. Then I felt nothing at all.

"Just leave." Rio pointed at Nanami's shoes at the foot of the bed, "To our knowledge, only one person saw you before Tori demanded that we save your life. Go back to being a Jujutsu Sorcerer and forget we exist."

Nanami chuckled dryly, "Spirit, I could leave, but Miss Tsuchii promised me a talk. I still have questions. If you don't wish to be excised while living in her body…" His face closed down and Rio could feel his intent, "I'd answer them."

Rio narrowed his eyes, "Fine. First off, I am a spirit creature, but I am not a cursed spirit. I am a Tengu. My people used to help yours hundreds of years before your great-grandfather left the old country."

"My great-grandfather?" Kento's fingers strayed to the bridge of his nose before flattening on his leg, "How could you know that? Wait. Not important. Tengu? As in the long-nosed tricksters?"

Rio rubbed hands over Tori's thighs, "Yes." He frowned at Nanami, "What the hell is Tori thinking? Honestly. No pants, Tori?" Rio crossed his arms protectively over his chest, "Close your eyes. I'm going to get dressed. Tori just doesn't understand what effect she has on men."

Kento obediently snapped his eyes closed but interjected, "I saw it all this morning."

"Not all. Or else your eyes would have been on mine instead of on her chest." Rio opened drawers, and found a bralette, feeling his cheeks heat. He'd really never tried to watch her dress, though looking at the bra gave him the general knowledge of how it went on. He pulled off the shirt, and took a lingering look at the body.

Tori was perfect in miniature. High tear-drop breasts that graced a toned torso and just enough flare to her hips to make her fears of looking like a male completely ridiculous. Rio shook his head and hurriedly slipped into the undergarment. He pulled the tee back on then searched for jeans.

"I didn't see all her front, true. What is the tattoo on her hip?"

Rio nearly growled, "Never mind."

"She seems pretty free with her skin."

"She was scared. Afraid for you. Show her some respect." He plopped back down in the kitchen chair, "You can open your eyes and ask your questions."

Kento considered, "I don't remember much past meeting…," he breathed out and back in, a technique Rio knew well. A warrior calming himself. "I met up with a volcano curse. I thought I could handle it but the earlier battles left me bleeding, my defenses breached. Is that how you found me?"

Rio considered. He knew how Tori had reacted to seeing this guy fight those corpses. He decided to hedge the truth, "I was trying to get Tori out of there. As we ran we found another cursed spirit. That patchwork guy. He was standing over you. I'm sure he would have killed you, but that other Sorcerer you mentioned? He found patchwork first. I don't know how that fight turned out. Tori saw you and she would not leave you like that."

"Why?"

Rio blinked, was he that far gone? He'd met sorcerers that he'd refused to form a pact with because they'd lost their humanity. "Tori is a healer. Not like in my time, but she wants to help. I made a pact with her to heal. Tori doesn't need a reason to save a life."

"Well. I'll thank her when she gets back, or can she hear me now?"

"We've never had to practice this, so she's resting. I will release control to her when you are ready to either leave or treat her better. She knows nothing of your life. I've known Jujutsu Sorcerers before. That life isn't for her. You leave nothing but pain and suffering in your wake."

Kento sat forward, "This is fascinating. You're saying you've made pacts with sorcerers before? Willingly?"

"Our tribe is dedicated to keeping our territory curse free. Long ago, many sorcerers came to the," Rio made finger quotes, "'good spirits' for help. A little under two hundred years ago they made a decision to stop even though some still did for bigger threats. In my opinion, you should have never stopped."

"I agree with you about pain and suffering, I've seen enough to last a lifetime." Kento leaned forward, "But not so much about making pacts with your kind."

Rio sat back and shook his head, "As you say. Both Tori and I are not acceptable to you. She knows nothing and I make you uncomfortable. You have my word that I will not wreak destruction on the city. If that's all, you can go."

"Is she aware of the conditions of your pact?"

"Of course; you know how pacts work, right?" Rio smirked at Nanami's dark glare. "It's even been fulfilled. I did not understand how your world works, so she and I technically fulfilled the contract about ten years ago." Rio's cheeks heated, his biggest mistake, and he knew that Tori could kick him out anytime. "Are you done?"

"Why do you stay? Go back to your mountain and leave her be."

Rio turned his head so Nanami wouldn't see the shame he knew was in his eyes. "I've thought about it. I believe my king will forgive my trespass now. But I can't. I love her. I didn't want to, precisely, it happened and I can't not." He directed his gaze back, "But you can go. I'm only jealous of Tori's well-being. If you agree that your people are harming themselves and others-," Rio held up a hand. "Don't bother denying it. Even if you hadn't already admitted it, I know the truth. Tori is special, one in a billion or better. She knows nothing of your world, and she shouldn't. Let her help the humans. Let her be at peace."

Kento sat back, wiping a hand wearily over his eyes, "She healed me, brought me here, and that's it." He nodded, "Fine. You can disappear. As soon as I can wash these and get a shower, I'll leave."

"Thank you, Nanami. I'm going to transfer control back to Tori. Just..," Rio took a deep breath, "Don't tell her what I said. I don't want her to know how I feel. I want her to like or dislike me on her own."

Nanami gifted Rio with a surprised look, "We're not friends, but I won't say anything."

The change was dramatic. I felt like I'd been yanked up out of the most comfortable bed I'd ever slept in. I blinked at the half-dressed Nanami, "That was wild. Alright. So, I'm pretty pissed that I didn't get to be in on the conversation."

"You didn't miss much. But your friend knows more than you. You really should have a nice long talk with him about the spirit world."

I nodded, "I will." I appraised him again and wrinkled my nose, "I can wash your clothes before you go, if you like. I'm sorry for causing you trouble." I couldn't help but smile, "Though to be fair, you caused it."

He chuckled then, a bare sound, "That's fair. If I can shower and if you have clothes I can wear while we wait? And maybe food? I'm famished."

"God, me too." I stood, "What the hell? Did Rio dress me? Sometimes I think he thinks he's my mother." I blushed at Nanami's flushed nose. Oh my actual god, I'm going to die. Had I been tragically underdressed? Or maybe he was a lolicon. "Uh, sorry if I freaked you out. I know we don't know each other."

"He was right to be worried." He tipped his head slightly, averting his eyes away, "Why were you naked?"

I actually had a good, sound, medically proven reason for that. I also had no good reason at all to keep tempting him with my body as I had. I know how to dress myself and to treat a strange man. What if he was in a relationship or even married? I felt a blush erupt, filling my face with pink.

"I did it because you were badly burned and a couple of months ago I saw a woman who had been burned at the hospital." I could feel my fingers rolling the hem of my shirt, but I couldn't still them. "She was writhing though her burns had healed after months of intensive care. I asked her doctor - they will sometimes answer questions or lecture us lowly EMTs - and he told me that every once in a while the mind is so traumatized from pain inflicted on the body that it, in her case, remembers the heat."

I yanked my fingers down; instead I hugged myself, "You were healed and I brought you here. At first, I was so tired that I contemplated just writing you a note and throwing my summer quilt on you. Then I watched you shiver. You looked like you were in pain. Your face showed anguish even in your sleep. Although I could have stayed up all day changing hot water bottles…" I shrugged helplessly, " I only have one. From my wilderness emergency training back when I was a kid we learned that if a person has hypothermia that another body is better at keeping that person's body heat regulated." I gave him a tiny smile, "And skin to skin works best. I learned that later."

"My name is Kento. Nanami Kento."

"Kento," I said, "It's nice to finally meet you. I want to say I'm sorry. For being naked. Well, mostly naked. I hope you're not married or anything. But nothing happened. So it's okay. Right?" I was babbling now, and I caught myself from continuing as he smiled up at me.

"I'm not, and nothing happened. I'm sorry for being such a pain. It's one of my best qualities."

AN/ I forgot to let you know, but honestly, you probably could see that I drop honorifics except where it denotes status (sensei, sama). Don't worry, Kento is not a lolicon. LOL

For my beta, as always, a big thank you. Mosevic kicks ass. seriously.