A/N: Hello again! I'm so surprised to see that the first chapter got two reviews, but I'm also really happy! I'll be responding to them now:

Evergone the Great: And as you wish, here's the next chapter!

Curiousflame: Aw, thanks! I'm glad that you enjoyed this even though you dislike OCs, I'm genuinely flattered, so I hope the following chapter won't be too boring, haha!

And that's it! Without further ado, onto the chapter!

[Jessica]

"Jessica-san, Micheal-san! Get up, I have something to ask of the both of you!"

Her eyes flew open. A hand flew out from under the covers, reaching for an alarm clock—

—that wasn't there? Jess stared blankly at the wooden wall before yesterday's events all came rushing back to her. 'Shit, that's right. We... got yeeted into another world? Huh. That sounds weirder when I'm actually thinking it.'

It seemed so obvious to her the day before. Foreign world, weird locals, and supernatural creatures all screamed "different dimension". But now that she had slept on it, it made her head hurt just thinking about it. She blamed Mike for dumping that crapload of questions on her in the first place.

'How did we get here?'

'Why are we in the Demon Slayer world?'

'Can we get back home?'

A hint of another headache pulsed, driving her fist into the thin futon the old man had given them. Stupid Micheal! That idiot was supposed to be the smarter one out of the duo, so why was he asking her questions?

All he had to take care of was the problem-solving, and she with the problem-punching. It was so simple, even she knew it.

Crawling out of the futon, she slipped back into yesterday's clothes (whoever dumped them here didn't bother bringing their stuff along, that asshole) and turned to Mike... who was still snoring away. She frowned, but it was momentary as the sight lit a single lightbulb in her head.

Her face split into a massive grin stretching from ear-to-ear.

Snickering, Jess dropped onto her stomach and army-crawled to her still snoozing friend. Her mouth next to his ear, she drew in a deep breath...

"GET UP, DUMBASS!"

"GYAH!"

Jess would forever treasure the image of Girly-Screamer Mike flailing helplessly under the covers, and right on cue, Old Man Tobe came bursting into the room. "What happened?!" he demanded, his axe raised in the air.

Jess grinned up at him, doing her best to look innocent while lying next to her screeching friend. "Nothing much. Just doing what you said," she said.

The screaming suddenly cut off at that moment. Mike stared up at the ceiling with eyes as wide as saucers, fingers clutching the flimsy futon like a lifeline.

"... Hmph. Stop fooling around and get out here. I need to talk to the both of you." Without another word, he turned and slammed the door shut behind him.

As his heavy footsteps faded into the distance, an odd wheezing sound came from below her. "What... the heck... was that for?" Mike wheezed.

"He asked me to wake you up. I woke you up." She gave him a cheeky grin. "What's wrong with that?"

His only response was to throw a fist, which she took without complaint.

"You two will be helping me with errands today."

Errands? Jess frowned at the word.

"Aw, don't be like that, Jess. He's already doing us a massive favour by letting us stay here for now, so the least we could do is help around a bit," Mike chided. She shot him a dirty look.

"It's not that! It's..." Jess trailed off, frustration getting the better of her. That wasn't the reason she was mad. It wasn't. But Mike's pointed look was telling her to shut it for now.

Old Man Tobe nodded in Mike's direction. "Thank you, Micheal-san. I hope this isn't asking too much of you. Normally, I am capable of carrying these tasks out myself, but—"

"No, no, we understand! It's better than sitting around doing nothing, anyway, so just let us know what we can do, Tobe-san!" Mike said, wearing a way-too-shiny smile. "Um, and you can just call us Micheal and Jessica. There's no need for the honorifics, ha ha."

She mouthed "Suck-up" at him.

He ignored her.

"If that's what you want. And thank you again," Old Man Tobe said. "Onto the errands..."

As it turned out, these "errands" actually turned out to be regular errands, for the most part: grocery shopping, cleaning up after themselves...

Then there were the weirder chores, and out of the lot was wood chopping. Jess barely paid attention to the intricate details — that was what Mike was for — but there was one point that was worthy of attention: the a—!

"No!" Old Man Tobe barked. "You're not allowed to handle my tools without my permission whatsoever! You can help with carrying the wood around, but I don't want to hear any complaints about my terms, do you understand?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Yes..."

Mike nudged her in the ribs and tried to shoot her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, it won't be so bad! At least you get to be in your element, ha ha."

"Yeah. As his pack mule. Why don't I just turn into an actual mule and save everyone's time?" she groused, shrugging off the sharper jab in her ribs. "Shove off, I'm not actually being serious."

A dubious look was sent her way, to which she rolled her eyes. Who did he think she was? God knew how many times he had pounded "The Excruciatingly Crucial Lesson" into her head: never show anyone their powers! Personally, she thought that was a stupid rule; what were people gonna do if they somehow found out? Try to hand them off to government officials? Hah! Good luck trying to find them in a flock of birds!

... But even so. The thought of deliberately ignoring his instructions didn't sit well with her. For two reasons only: Mike would be disappointed, and Mike would most definitely get hurt trying to cover for her. It was for those reasons and those reasons only that Jess simply gritted her teeth and followed after Old Man Tobe, who was drumming his fingers against the axe's handle like he had been waiting a million years for her.

"Thank you, Jess," Mike said too happily. He started walking in the opposite direction with an errands list in his hands. "Just hang in there until I get back, alright? See you!"

Hang in there? Easier said than done.

Jess reluctantly waved him off, and jogged over to the old man before he could start nagging again. "Ready to go?" he asked.

She gave a half-hearted thumbs-up, and soon, they started their trek into the deep confines of the forest in search of good wood. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

As it turned out... it wasn't that hard. It was actually kinda nice, being able to stretch her legs and breathe in fresh forest air.

But guess what would've made it better? Getting to use her powers!

But nooooo, Scaredy-Cat Micheal just had to go "BuT whAt If tHEy SeE uS?!", and forbid the use of their powers in broad daylight. Why? Because it could give the old man the wrong impression that they were demons. That, and a heart attack. But how would that be her fault? If anything, it would be his fault for jumping to conclusions! Tch.

"I wouldn't have to do this undercover bullshit in the first place if we just struck out on our own and camped for the night," she muttered to herself. "Stupid, trusting Mike..."

"Is there something wrong?"

Jess grunted in reply, pausing to readjust the load on her back. "No."

"Are you certain?" For some reason, the old man didn't get the hint to leave her alone. "We can take a short break if you wish to. I know you're not used to this kind of labour, which is why I hadn't planned for us to go too far today."

"I'm. Fine." She jerked away from his outstretched hand, but that only sent her load tumbling to the ground with a loud clatter. "Oh for fuck's sake!"

"Language, young lady," Old Man Tobe admonished, setting down his axe. Larger, calloused hands joined hers to pick up the fallen wood.

She scowled at him. "I'm not your godda— I'm not your kid!"

"And do your parents let you talk like that?"

"Uh." Shit, he got her there. "No, but—"

"Then I expect you to at least maintain the level of politeness you do with your parents."

His tone and way of talking were exactly like Mike whenever he got peeved. Which was pretty often. Her shoulders slumped. "Fine..."

'This sucks,' she thought sulkily when she finally managed to gather up every single piece of wood. They soon continued their trek through the forest. 'Why are we even rooming with this old dude? Why can't we just travel by ourselves?'

Oh wait. She knew the answer to that question. Because Mike was too scared of the demons!

... On second thought, maybe she shouldn't blame him for that. People tend not to like being eaten by man-eating monsters.

Tch. That was the thing, wasn't it? All that was holding them back from independence was those stupid demons roaming around at night. If they weren't around, then they could've easily covered so much ground during the time they spent running these dumb errands! Maybe even be back home by now! All she needed to do was find a way to travel by night...

Wait.

Wait.

Jess bit her lip, weighing her options (which were about as heavy as the mini-mountain she was lugging around now, god how was it still growing). On one hand, if she asked Old Man Tobe this, it might piss Mike off. But on the other, she was about this close to punching herself to end the boredom.

Which one was more important? Mike's pain, or hers?

Mike, or her?

Mike? Her?

...

'Screw it. Sorry Mike, but I need to know this.' "Hey, old ma— Er, Tobe-san?"

"What is it?" he responded.

"Do... demons eat humans?"

Old Man Tobe threw a sharp glance at her, and she immediately glared back. "What makes you ask that?" he asked.

She wasn't the smartest, and she'd be happy to admit that, but even she could hear the edge in his voice. Unfortunately, though, that was the extent of her non-idiocy. "No reason. Just curious."

The old man continued staring at her suspiciously as she stared back with a blank look (always an effective method), before he broke it off with a snort. "There is a reason rumours refer to them as man-eating demons. They will always target living humans, and humans only. But I'm not entirely sure of the reason behind that," he added thoughtfully. "Perhaps humans are far more appealing to demons than animals are? The only way one can truly know is if they ask a demon, and as you know, that's not something anyone can do."

Old Man Tobe paused next to an unmarked tree, and turned fully to face her.

"That's not something anyone should be doing," he said sternly. "Do you hear me?"

Jess had to swallow down the more sarcastic comments she had wanted to say. "Doooon't worry, Mr Tobe-san. I, human Jessica, promise not to approach demons to ask whether they eat demons or not," she pledged with a mock salute.

Old Man Tobe simply shook his head, turning to chop the tree down, and Jess grinned widely. Maybe this little excursion wasn't going to be as boring as she thought it'd be.

That, and he'd just given her the perfect plan for getting to shapeshift in secret.

"What?"

"We sneak out at night as animals," Jess repeated.

They were back in Old Man Tobe's house, unwinding after doing a morning-and-a-half's worth of errands. She had ended up staggering back, worn down to the bone, but Mike had the audacity to appear through the door with all the energy he had from this morning, bags of groceries swinging from his sunburnt arms and his cheeks holding a tiny of rosy red.

Had she mentioned his audacity yet?

At least Mike also brought back some funky-smelling, but refreshing tea. He had graciously given her a cup, of which she accepted eagerly, but when she told him her plan, he looked like he was seriously reconsidering gifting the tea to her at all. She held the cup to her chest. Just in case.

"I... Jess," he breathed out. "You know that demons are out there prowling about. Demons that eat humans like us! Is this your weird way of telling me to eff off, or are you being serious?"

"I'm serious!" she insisted. Mike sat back heavily, staring at her like she had sprouted another head, and she was inwardly glad that the old man wasn't around at the moment (he'd gone to the village to sell the collected wood). "We just don't go walking around like humans. You get me?"

Breaking through the baffled expression he wore was a vaguely contemplative one. Was he starting to understand her? "You're saying that the demons won't bother us if we're animals?" Mike asked slowly.

She gave a vigorous nod. "Hell yeah! You're finally getting it!"

"I... I dunno, Jess," Mike muttered, scratching his head. "I can't really believe that wholesale, you know? It seems a little unbelievable that they ignore animals completely."

"But they don't. They only care about humans! That's their whole schtick!" she snapped. "And you fancy yourself an expert about Demon Slayer lore?"

His mouth fell open. "I-I never said that!" he said, tone offended now.

"You act like it." She crossed her arms. Why the hell was he acting so goddamn wishy-washy about this? It wasn't a difficult concept at all, if even she could get it. "'Sides, the old man said himself that demons don't eat animals. Case closed."

That got his attention. "Wait, he really said that?" he asked.

Jess nodded again, more eagerly.

"I... Tobe-san would know a little about demons, being a local here and all..."

She held her breath.

Then his gaze hardened. "But he's no demon slayer. It's too big of a risk, so it's still a no from me."

The sudden whiplash felt like she had rammed right into a brick wall, leaving her spluttering. "But...! Seriously? What are you gonna do if we run into a demon wrecking a town, huh? Sit there and twiddle your thumbs?" she asked, frustration colouring her tone as her hands gesticulated wildly.

Mike looked at her, then all of a sudden and for no reason at all, his face turned sad. "So that's the problem, Jess? You just want to hide with your animal form?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You don't need to say anymore. I get it, really. I'm scared, too! But this isn't the way to go about it." Mike kept babbling on and on about nonsensical crap and Jess was finding herself increasingly confused by it. And when she was confused by something, she also got sick of it. "I get that you're... better at using the animal forms than me, but that doesn't mean that it's wise to hide in it excessively, yeah? What if you lose yourself to the animal's instincts? Then you'll get yourself tangled in a demon's claws, and... well, that won't end well."

She mulled over his words, then... froze.

Scared?

Scared?

"Scared?" Her voice came out in a breathy sort of way, her brow twitching erratically as his explanation sunk in. "What the fuck. I did not say anything like that. Nothing."

"I know, but—"

"You think I'm scared? I think you're the scared one!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "You keep going on and on and on about hiding our powers, but that's just 'cause you're shit at controlling it! You're just taking the easy fucking way out and making up excuses for it! 'Want to blend in'? Fuck off with that!"

"... V-vulgarities won't make me change my mind, Jess," Mike said evenly. His body language suggested that he was much more composed than her, but she could barely see his fingers digging into the material of his pants. His gaze was practically drilling holes into her forehead. "Look, I suggested that we travel to the nearest town to look for a demon slayer because it's the most sensible option. It's low-risk, and even better, we don't have to use our powers senselessly!"

"It's not senseless!"

"Yes, it is!" he shot back. "I'm not an adrenaline junkie like you, okay? So stop playing around and let's just focus on getting back home."

He turned back to his tea. Jess stared at him incomprehensibly, mouth opening and closing as she tried to find her words. "Wha— I... Fine, then!" she snapped, face flushing redder by the second. "You don't want my help? Then good luck finding your way out of a completely different world by yourself!"

Jess threw herself back onto the cushion, deliberately keeping her back to that stupid jerk. Stupid, stupid... He didn't even consider trying out her own plan! Acted all high and mighty, but he couldn't bullshit her; he was just too scared to use his powers again, she just knew it.

Behind her, Mike was muttering to himself in between sips of tea. Words like "blood art" and "corps" reached her ears, but she quickly clamped down on any curiosity that nibbled at the edge of her conscience.

Just then, the front door opened, and Old Man Tobe stepped into view. "My house hasn't been burnt down while I was away? Good job, you two," he chuckled. Hanging from his hand was a bag, which he set down in front of them. Mike's arm shot out to grab hers before she could even make a move to see what was inside.

"Jess, don't—"

"Fuck off—!"

"What did I say about language, Jessica?" After glaring at her for a moment longer, he dropped it. "And that's supposed to be for you."

"O-oh. Erm, thank you then, Tobe-san." Embarrassed, Mike retracted his hand at the same time Jess yanked away hers.

"Don't thank me when you haven't even seen what's inside. Go on," the old man urged.

Jess didn't need any more encouragement. Hands diving into the cotton shopping bag, they clutched onto a bunch of soft fabrics and withdrew, revealing... clothing? In fact, they looked a lot like the ones they'd seen being worn at the village yesterday.

Mike was the first to catch on. "Is that for us, Tobe-san?" he asked, taking one of the clothing articles. At the same time, Jess held up her own. Both were mostly identical, except for the size: the one she was holding was slimmer than the other. They looked pretty cool, though! It helped that they were a pretty shade of sky blue.

"Yes. Since you don't have anything other than the clothing on your backs, I hope that having spare clothing would aid you on your journey back home," Old Man Tobe said, looking very heartened by their positive reactions. He took a seat next to them. "I won't lie and say that it won't be a difficult journey back home, but it is good to at least take the first step forward, don't you agree?"

Mike, who had been measuring the clothes he got against his body, wasted no time flashing Old Man Tobe a dazzling smile. "That's right! Thank you so much, sir, we won't forget this!" The speed his head rocketed at when he sank into a deep bow damn near took it off altogether. "If there's any way we can repay you, please let us know!"

His offer was waved off like nothing. "Don't worry about that. Just focus on finding a way back to your home and families," he said, the gentle tone already dissipating into the air to make wah for his usual gruffness.

The tiny smile on her face was wiped off, and she glanced down at the clothes in her hands. So they were meant to help blend in with the people here? These looked brand new, too... Did the old man buy these with his own money? Money he could've used to help himself and the house (because Jesus Christ)? He didn't have to...

Suddenly, the spiffy new clothing didn't seem cool now.

The other two were still talking. "You really didn't have to, Tobe-san," Mike said, sounding very much like he was holding back from gushing.

"Yeah, you really didn't have to," Jess muttered bitterly.

Neither heard her, thankfully.

"Again, don't worry about it. If anything, this will benefit us all; I can't stand to think of someone wearing the same thing everyday and living in my house." Old Man Tobe waved him off. "Go and try them on. If they don't fit, I will bring them back down to the seamstress for replacement."

Of course, that prompted Mike to start spouting more promises of repayment. Jess didn't bother; not for something that she hadn't asked for. She simply turned and ducked back into their borrowed room, diving back onto the futon as thought and plans ran wild in her head...

Several minutes passed by before the door squeaked open and closed behind her. "Jess, can I see the one you got? I think it might fit me better," Mike said as he sat next to her. She tossed it over without a word. "Hey, careful! Tobe-san probably spent a lot on these..."

Her fingers tightened around the futon's flimsy material.

"Oh, this does fit me better. What the heck? This is supposed to be yours, right? Um, never mind. Clothes are clothes, after all..." Jess got so lost in the ensuing rambling that she barely realised it coming to an end a minute later, and she rolled onto her back to see Mike in Mother Hen Mode over her. "Jess? Are you feeling alright?"

"Mm."

"Are you still mad about just now?"

Silence.

"Jess..."

"Leave me alone!" she snapped. "Keep it to yourself. I don't want to hear it."

A pause, then she heard a sigh. "Alright, alright, calm down. I won't talk if you don't want me to, just... Don't do anything stupid, okay? I don't want to make Tobe-san worry more than he already is."

She could've sworn she heard a tooth crack, with how hard she was gritting her teeth together.

Mike didn't even notice. He was too busy admiring his new clothing to even notice the hypocrisy of his own words. He "didn't want to worry Tobe-san", and yet he insisted on staying with said Tobe-san when they could've easily struck out on their own? Yeah, right. He probably didn't want her to leave so that she couldn't prove him wrong and make him look stupid. 'Well, fine then!'

Her glare grew determined.

'If he's too chicken to do it, then I'll test my theory for the both of us!'

A/N: And that's it! The length of this chapter is, unfortunately, half of that of the previous chapter and I'm sorry about that. The story's going a bit slow at the moment, but hopefully you all still enjoyed yourselves reading this! Until next time, stay safe!