A/N: Hello, hello! I'm back with another chapter, and… Imma be honest, this is gonna be a relatively short one. Why? Well, it's for reasons that will be clear by the end of this chapter :D

Anyways, thank you to CuriousFlame for reviewing! It means a lot to see you enjoy this, so I hope this chapter won't be too bad, ahaha.

Now, onto the chapter!

[Mike]

It had been many hours since their fight, and Mike still couldn't push aside the lingering worry he was feeling.

In hindsight, he wasn't surprised that Jessica "Jumps off cliffs on a daily basis" Maxwell wanted them to dive headfirst into the unknown on their journey back home. What was surprising was the ease in which she gave up the fight. Surprising, and very troubling, too. Unfortunately, he couldn't push Jess for more information even if he wanted to. She was lying face-down on her futon, trying to sleep — or suffocate herself, it was hard to tell — and refusing any attempts to get her attention. All he could really do was leave her be for now...

Realising that the sensation squeezing his heart was guilt, Mike swiftly squashed it. 'I don't have anything to feel bad about,' he told himself firmly. 'My plan will be the one to get us out of this mess, she's just being her usual stubborn self about this. All we have to do is find someone who is knowledgeable about demons.'

By process of elimination, that meant the Pillars if the show was anything to go by. But... Well, if he was being honest with himself, he couldn't imagine that meeting going well in the slightest. The best-worst scenario possible would be if they never found the Pillars ever, and the worst-worst case was... What if they got mistaken for demons? Even worse, sun-immune demons?! Ugh, they'd probably get cut down so fast that their heads would spin. Literally.

... Still, the Pillars were the best chance they had of ever getting back home. Mike swallowed down his misgivings, forcing himself to take a few steady breaths. 'I'll have to hope that we have a little more luck than that, or Jess will never let me hear the end of it...'

He still had to think of the plan leading up to that meeting, though. Deciding that some fresh air would do him wonders, Mike left the room, finding Takahiro sitting at the table and eating some sort of Japanese dish: a rice bowl with several little dishes of ingredients, including miso soup that smelled heavenly. His stomach chose that moment to growl, catching the attention of the other man in the room. "Ah, good evening, Micheal. Could you go fetch your friend? It's about time for dinner for the both of you."

"Um. I don't think Jess wants to eat right now. I think she's pretty tired. From this afternoon. I think," he said stiffly, the prospect of talking to her now not yet appealing.

Takahiro raised a bushy eyebrow. "Oh? So that's all it takes to tucker her out, hm?"

"What do you mean?"

"She's quite a rambunctious woman, especially for her age. Any other lady her age would have settled down somewhat by now, but she keeps going and going and going like her life depends on it," Takahiro snorted, and gestured for him to take the other rice bowl on the table. Mike eased himself onto a free cushion, doing so. "In fact, I was quite surprised to see her keep up with me so easily. She hadn't needed a single break during our trek through the forest, and she even refused my help with carrying a single piece of wood! It was rather admirable, but I have to admit that I was getting worried that she might be pushing herself too hard. Is she usually like this?"

At that, Mike couldn't help but giggle a little. It looked like this was a question he could safely answer. "Usually? Try 'all the time'! That is to say, she's always been like this. She's in tons of sports clu— erm, physical activities, and she loves to wander in the nearby woods." And that wasn't even bringing up every single time she goes off to shapeshift, shifting through so many forms at such a speed that he was surprised she hadn't accidentally puked her own guts out at any point.

"Oho, is that so? Very unusual for a city folk, if I have to say so myself."

Another nervous giggle. "Oh, well… Good thing she was the one to follow you up the mountain then, hehe."

"Yes, I won't deny that. But what about yourself? Do you partake in the same activities as her?"

"Me? Oh, um, that's..."

Casual conversation eventually took over the table as Takahiro probed with questions about their lives, and Mike did his best to answer as honestly as possible while avoiding the... sensitive details. He didn't seem to notice, though; every answer Mike gave was met with a nod, and yet another question following that answer. It was almost like he enjoyed listening to Mike ramble on?

Well, that would make sense. Takahiro was living here by himself, wasn't he? That had to be a lonely situation to be in all the time...

"Can I ask you something, Tobe-san?" Mike blurted out.

He looked puzzled, but nodded for Mike to continue.

"Why... Why do you live alone? Won't it be better to live in a more populated place, like the village?"

An expressionless look crossed Takahiro's face, and his heart dropped. 'Oh no, did I accidentally say something bad? Dang it, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth...'

"... Are you worried about me?" Takahiro murmured, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Even though we met just yesterday?"

"Well, you bought us clothes when you barely know us, so..."

Takahiro actually chuckled aloud this time, and Mike ducked his head. "If you want to know, I felt that I had a... duty of a sort, to stay up in the mountainside."

"What do you mean by that?"

"My house sometimes serves as a temporary shelter for any passing travellers, and in my years of living here, not one demon has dared to approach the house itself. Not after I started lighting the wisteria incense," he explained. "Perhaps they thought that my ageing body was not worthy as a meal in their eyes? Whatever the case, I have no reason to leave this place."

"But... did the demons try to come after those travellers?" Mike pressed, his fingers tightening around the bowl.

"Not once. Of course, they've only ever stayed for one night. But that is not to say that they will come after you!" Takahiro quickly said after correctly interpreting Mike's gasp. He reached out with a calloused hand, giving his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Don't worry too much about that, alright? Just keep your head low and don't wander off into the night."

"R-right. I'll... keep that in mind." Asking him not to worry about being possibly eaten was a bit of a tall order, but Mike didn't point it out. Takahiro did live here for a good while now, so maybe what he was saying was true and the demons won't come.

A brief silence fell upon them as they returned to their meal. It was only broken when Takahiro cleared his throat, catching Mike's attention. "Speaking of earlier, there is something I wanted to ask of you myself."

"What is it?"

Takahiro's gaze turned stern. "What is your plan to return home?"

"Eh?"

"I know you two want to return home as soon as possible," he continued. "But what is your exact plan? Sometimes, it will help you to verbally lay it out, and I could perhaps help iron out any flaws it may have."

Oh. Plan. That was the whole reason he had come out, wasn't it? And he hadn't given it a single thought yet... Oops. Mike leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table as he laced his fingers tightly together. "My plan, it's..." He cleared his throat. "I... I was planning to keep to towns with, uh, dense populations. With many people, I mean. And then I was planning to find some demo— I mean, people like the one that protected you that time."

His chopsticks froze in the act of bringing fish to his mouth. Frowning, Takahiro set it back down. "Why would you go out of your way to look for them? Why not the police?"

"Because they won't know anything about the demons, the demon slayers would!" Mike said, looking up at him hopefully. Maybe if he pushed this hard enough, Takahiro would let slip something about them.

His frown only deepened further. "What makes you so certain that a demon was responsible for your situation?"

"I—" Mike stared in astonishment. Did he really have to explain this?! "Well, what else could've dragged us halfway across the world?"

"I can think of a few, actually. Human smugglers, for one," Takahiro said, raising an eyebrow. "There has been a few cases of which I've heard about— None that were local, thankfully, but it has happened before."

'A human smuggler can't make us jump dimensions!' he wanted to shout, but he couldn't just say that. Who the heck would believe a story like that?

"Or perhaps kidnappers who wanted to hold you for ransom?" Takahiro continued, then sighed. "I don't know everything about your situation, yes, but blaming a demon for your problem is quite a far leap, isn't it?"

His shoulders slumped. Despite knowing how much his theory made sense, Takahiro's tone certainly had a way of making him feel stupid. 'It's not, though...'

"Demons eat humans. I've nearly experienced it for myself, and others have surely encountered them a thousand times more than I have." Takahiro paused to take a sip of his soup, which only reminded Mike of his rapidly cooling dinner. He hastily shovelled in several bites. "The idea of a demon dragging two healthy, living human beings across the world just to abandon them on a mountainside is, and forgive me for the harsh wording, extremely absurd."

That gave Mike pause. "That's... That's a good point, actually," he mumbled through his food ("Don't talk while you're chewing," Takahiro admonished). If it really was a demon that did this to them, then why didn't it just take the chance to devour them while they were unconscious? They must've been a five-course meal served on a silver platter in its eyes! So why...?

Unless... it had lost them somehow? Someone else snatched them up?

Mike ended up being so lost in thought that he stayed silent for several long minutes. Takahiro's gaze softened. "You will find your way home soon," he said with such resolve that it made Mike look up in surprise. "You seem to be an honest lad. If you keep that up, I have a feeling that many more people will not hesitate to extend a helping hand to you. Just don't lose heart, okay?"

"... Yes, T-Tobe-san," Mike stammered, ducking his head. He didn't want Takahiro to see the red creeping onto his cheeks, nor the suspicious shimmer in his eyes. Takahiro — a complete stranger to him and vice versa — reminded him so much of his own dad that the distance between him and his family suddenly made his chest hurt. Mike discreetly reached up to scrub his eyes dry. "I, I..."

He heard a chuckle above him, and a calloused hand ruffled his hair briefly, albeit with obvious affection. It worsened the sting in his eyes. "Don't think much about it. How about some tea before bed?"

"I-I'd like that, sir. Do you mind if I help with the dishes, too?"

Takahiro nodded, getting up to his feet to make the aforementioned tea while Mike took the opportunity to swipe away any building tears. Once the tea cup entered his hands, Takahiro brought up an "interesting" topic. One that made him want to strangle Jessica.

"Your friend, Jessica. She's quite an animal lover, isn't she? It was rather surprising, she didn't seem like the type."

Mike paused mid-sip, fingers tightening at the mention of "Jessica". He stared at the rippled reflection on the surface of the liquid, doing his best to maintain an outwardly calm facade as he started freaking out internally. The loudest thought amongst them all was 'What the heck did Jess say?!'.

"... Y-yeah, I think she has a pet, or, or something," he said calmly. The cup shook in his hands as he raised it to his lips. "How do you know about that?"

"She asked if demons consumed animals like they do with humans," Takahiro said casually, and Mike suddenly found it very much unsafe to continue drinking. "It was rather out of nowhere, but I guess she might have been looking for a topic to talk about."

Mike nodded quickly.

"A very odd girl..." That part, Takahiro seemed to be talking more to himself than anything else. "So physically strong for someone her age, yet she can act that soft..."

"Y-yeah, she's always been like that!" Mike hastily piped up. He had to steer the conversation in the opposite direction at all costs! "Jess always likes to act tough, like taking up tons of sports stuff, tossing me around when she's mad, stuff like that. Like..."

He was about to bring up their earlier fight as an example when his heart gave a guilty jerk. He forgot, she hadn't lashed out at him like she normally did. She ignored it and... that was it. That was all she did, and weirdly enough, it worried him. He wanted to go and check on her, but... would she even want him around now? Maybe what she wanted was him to keep away for now. Yeah, that made the most sense.

... He still felt bad, though.

"Tobe-san? Do you think we can do the dishes together?" Mike asked hesitantly. A second too late, he added, "Please."

Takahiro seemed surprised by the sudden question, but then he gave a gentle smile. "Of course. Come, let's get started before it gets too late, okay?"

"Yes, Tobe-san!"

It took a little less than half an hour before everything was cleared. Time went by much faster than he had anticipated, but it served as a distraction from current events just fine, if not more. Now his head was clearer than ever, and he felt more confident he could talk her into accepting his viewpoint. Mike bade Takahiro a good night before entering his own room.

"Hey, Jess?" This wasn't something he was looking forward to doing, but he couldn't put it off forever. "I need to talk to you about something, so maybe we could start by... Jess?"

Jess wasn't on the futon. All that was there was the clothes that he had exchanged with her, still slightly rumpled from her lying on them. But she wasn't there anymore.

His mouth fell open, but Mike managed to catch himself before a shout of panic could be released. "Sh-she could be hiding somewhere sulking," he quickly rationalised to himself, and his search began. His very, extremely frantic search.

He flipped up the futon. Nothing.

He smacked his face against the floorboards trying to peer through the cracks in-between. Nothing.

He crouched low to peer under the cabinet. Nothing.

He searched and scanned and dug through every square inch of the room, but not even a cockroach could be found. Then, more out of desperation than anything else, he began whisper-shouting her name. "Jess! C'mon, enough with the practical jokes, alright? This isn't funny anymore." Pause. "Please come out!"

"Is everything alright?" a voice suddenly boomed outside of the door. Micheal scrambled back to his feet, accidentally bashing his head against the cabinet bottom.

"Y-yes sir!" Then he remembered his lie, and lowered his voice. "Um, I'm looking for something. Just, uh, don't want to wake Jess up."

"Is that so? Very well, have a good night, Micheal-san."

His footsteps receded into the other room, and Mike sighed with relief. It didn't last, though. 'Crap, where the heck did Jess go? She couldn't have snuck past us, could she?'

Multiple scenarios, one worse than the last, raced through his head as he frantically tried to work out what happened... until a faint breeze hit his face. Looking up, he spotted the source: an open window.

... Wait.

She didn't. She didn't, she didn't—

That idiot went out to shapeshift?!

The realisation made Mike freeze up. She was going to get eaten, either by a demon or a predator, and he didn't know which one was worse! That stupid, stupid idiot was throwing herself into danger, and for what? A moment of excitement?!

Mike sucked in a deep breath through his teeth, pressing the heels of his palm against his eyes out of sheer frustration.

As much as he wanted to speculate, every minute wasted on that was another minute Jess was not here. No, that wasn't important now. He had to think of his next course of action… But that only presented a new dilemma.

Should he leave to look for her?

Or should he stay so that Takahiro wouldn't discover their secret?

A/N: Next chapter, Jess does something maybe stupid?

I hope you enjoyed this chappie! Or at the very least, I hope it's not too boring! Currently, one of my fingers hurts like hell, so typing all of this is a pain but I try.

Until next time, everyone, and let me know how it's going so far! Going too fast? Too slow? You want to see canon characters soon? Leave a review and let me know what you think :)