A/N: Damn, I forgot I even had this account. I really left people hanging, huh? It's been long damn time since I've updated. It's probably bad that I decided to write this chapter in the middle of NaNoWriMo. Even worse that I decided to do it when I'm up to my neck in college classes. Ohhhh well. If my writing style seems different, I hope that's because it has improved. Also the differences between this story and firefox369's will be vast and numerous from this point out.

-BCIY-

The hours since Shade and I had separated had seemed to stretch into years. Once I had descended from the forest into the city in the valley, I tried to avoid being seen as best as I could. I scoped out the suburban landscape quickly and decided it would be best to steer clear of the houses and go straight into the heart of the city.

The buildings there stretched high into the sky and perhaps there would be a landlord willing to rent to a 'kid'. It pissed me off that people still didn't see me as an adult, even if they knew me and knew what I could do. I was sure once I got some cash that I could get anything I needed. It would be easy enough to break into any one of the businesses that lined the busy street. My eyes caught elaborate signs for cafes and one-stop shops, tailors, anything else I could ever think of or dream of. Cars zoomed past and most people passed me without a second glance. The sidewalks were as busy as the roads that crisscrossed the city.

All the sights and sounds and smells – oh gosh my mouth was watering from all the delicious smells that reached my sensitive nose – sort of overwhelmed me, and I forgot to look where I was going. I sensed a millisecond too late that I was too close to a body when I bumped into someone. I caught myself to keep from falling, but the person stumbled and fell backwards.

My eyes took in every detail of the person in the moments it took her to realize she had fallen. It was a woman, a few years older than I, dressed in a strange looking robe. It was rather restrictive, which is probably why she fell. Her short black hair was styled in a bowl cut that looked rather silly to me. The familiar silhouette of a gun was revealed to me as the robe-thing scrunched up and pressed against her thigh.

She groaned and I snapped out of my observation. "Sorry." I muttered, keeping the brim of my hat over my face to hide my too easily remembered violet eyes. I held out a hand and she took it, hoisting herself up. She smiled at me.

It was the most radiant smile I'd ever seen. I found myself aching to do things for her, to make her smile like that all the time. I shook off the odd desire and moved to keep walking.

"Hey, it's okay. Maybe it was fate that we bump into each other." She laughed, a light, twinkling sound, and I felt the same urge as before with her smile. She peered at me and I panicked. Did she recognize me? Was she one of Wilgar's thugs? "Say, shouldn't you be in school? You seem a little young and a little nervous to be wandering around the streets at this time of day." Her smile didn't falter. I felt my mouth forming words before I could even think.

"My family just moved here. I was going to the store to buy milk and bread for the house. I haven't enrolled in school yet." I'd never been in school, but I was pretty sure that's how it went. I'd probably had a similar cover story before. Sure, it was to avoid detection and suspicion as I went to erase someone rather than running away from my previous employer, but it worked the same. The woman nodded sagely and gripped my hand. Her palm was calloused. She probably worked with her hands a lot. From the outline of the gun I saw, I assumed she had similar work to mine.

"Well, welcome to the city! My name is Saya." I smiled, making sure my mouth was shut so she didn't see my elongated canines, and shook her hand.

"I'm Kagome." Oh shit, what a dummy! Why did I use my real name? As I looked her in the face I found that I couldn't lie to her. She gazed deeply at me and seemed to have the same soul-searching, penetrative look as Train did.

"You have very pretty eyes, Kagome!" My eyes widened and I ducked my head. I was doing everything wrong in this encounter. "Oh, sorry! Was that weird? Sometimes I say weird things because I just say what comes to mind!" She blabbered on and I found that it wasn't as annoying as when other people did it.

"Uh, no. I just…" I wracked my brain, which seemed to be getting slower the longer I talked to this woman. "I have a thing." Eloquent. "About my eyes. I'm sensitive." She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's not the weirdest thing I've seen in this city!" I looked down at our hands, which were still held in a handshake. She followed my gaze and then jerked her hand away, giggling nervously. "Sorry. Oh hey!" She peered at me again and once again I panicked. "You look hungry. Do you wanna grab something at a café? I feel bad for bumping into you and getting you all dirty on your first day here. As a citizen I wanna make a good impression on newcomers!" She flashed a smile at me and I found myself nodding without my permission.

"Sure, that would be great. Thank you." She took me by the hand and started dragging me in a direction.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest.

-TRAIN-

It was a waste of my time to try and search the woods for the girl. There were plenty of people doing that already, and if the girl was smart she would have melted into the city crowd already, or at least would soon. From what I had seen in that bag she carried, she didn't have any food, just clothes and money. That kind of stuff wouldn't do you any good in the wild.

I took a motorcycle to the road, planning on searching the city from top to bottom if I had to. The girl was smart, but she was just a kid. I bet the moment she hit the big city she thought she was Scott-free. Sure it would be difficult to scope her out in a large crowd, but if I leaked her description I was sure to get information. A girl with violet eyes, sharp canine teeth, and a wolf following her around was sure to raise a few eyebrows and turn a few heads.

As I rode, I pressed harder at the thought of her smug little childish face, speeding well past the limit. My mouth twisted into a snarl. I couldn't believe she had beaten me so thoroughly. I was lucky that she didn't take my Hades when she knocked me out. On that note I was lucky she hadn't killed me. She could have, had many opportunities to. I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't. She obviously had no love for me or any of the other numbers, and killing me would have twisted Wilgar's panties into a bunch.

I slowed down as I came to the main road and there started to be a little more traffic feeding into the direction I was going. She was a few years younger than me, I could tell by just looking at her. Still, her eyes had an age I couldn't quantify, and if what she said about her seniority was true, she had been killing people even longer than I had.

It was a hard habit to break. If I didn't find her right away I'd just follow the trail of bodies that was bound to crop up. I slowed to a stop as I met a red light at the beginning of the city.

I would find her sooner or later, one way or another.

And then I would have my answers.

-KAGOME-

Watching Saya eat was an enjoyable experience, although a strange one. She had dragged me into a place called 'Cafe Cait Sith'. It was a small establishment, cozy, with very few people inside. That might have been the time of day, though, because from the wear and tear of the furniture and the menus it seemed like the place had to be busy sometimes.

We sat at a table, although most of the other patrons were nursing drinks at the bar. The owner herself had come to serve us. She seemed to be the only one who worked there.

"Hey Annette!" Saya greeted with enthusiasm. "This is Kagome. She and her family just moved here." The owner, an older woman, looked at me skeptically, sizing me up. I stared right back at her, meeting her gaze with a cool one of my own. After a long moment she snorted.

"Where'd you pick this stray up?" I bristled and repressed the urge to bare my fangs at her. Who was she calling a stray? Saya pouted at her.

"I told you, she just moved here with her family! She's not a stray!" Annette rolled her eyes and looked at me pointedly.

"Who's your family consist of, then?" I narrowed my eyes at her. She was more perceptive than she looked, being an old lady and all.

"Just me and my dad."

"What's your dad's name?" Saya's pout deepened.

"What's with the third degree, Annette? She's just a kid." Annette scrutinized me for a moment before turning to Saya.

"I don't want her taking advantage of your hospitality, Saya. She looks and smells like a stray to me. You be careful." She walked away, taking our menus with her. I furrowed my brow.

"I'm not here to take advantage. You invited me here." Saya sighed and put her chin on her hand, resting her elbow on the table top.

"Don't worry about Annette, Kagome. She's not very trusting of new people. She says you never know where they could have come from." I felt a knot develop in my stomach. Was it wrong to keep my past from Saya? I had to, though, to be safe. My eyes were drawn to the table top, avoiding looking at my gracious host.

"She took the menus. We didn't even order." I blurted, not having noticed it before. Saya giggled.

"Oh, she'll bring you something you'll like. She only has menus to give us a semblance of free will." I rolled my eyes. I didn't know whether to like or hate this Annette person. I blinked. It didn't really matter. I probably wouldn't be in this café again. Certainly not with Saya. I found myself wondering how I had gotten dragged in here. I should be looking for a place to stay and lay low, not fraternizing. I toyed with the thought of leaving now, but decided not to.

Annette brought us back some drinks, milk for Saya and tea for me. She left again for the kitchen without a word. I sat in my chair, not knowing what to say.

"Sooooo…" Saya drawled, taking a sip of her milk and eyeing me. "You said you moved here with your dad?" I nodded. She smiled. "I don't mean to be nosy." I shrugged.

"It's fine." I thought of Shade, roaming the woods alone, and frowned. "He and I have been through a lot together. It's been just him and me for a long time." Saya nodded slowly, looking at me with soft eyes. It made me rather uncomfortable.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your mom?" She murmured, her voice soft and soothing to my ears. I shrugged again.

"Dunno. Didn't know her that well." I left it at that and Saya seemed content to let me drop it. I didn't want to start thinking about Wilgar and about…the people that came before him. "So. What do you do?" I asked, trying to shift the focus off of me and on to her. She smiled and I noticed her hand unconsciously patting where I had seen her gun.

"I'm a sweeper." I raised my eyebrows. I had heard of sweepers before. They were sort of like free-lance erasers, but they didn't always kill their targets. It seemed rather reckless to me. I wondered if a regular girl my age would know what they were, so I wouldn't blow my cover.

"I see." I left it at that. Saya pouted and lifted her glass, swirling the milk around.

"You don't approve?" She asked, looking at me from under her eyelashes. My heart fluttered again and I wondered what was wrong with me. I shook my head.

"I don't care. You do what you do to survive." She looked at me as though she were searching for something. She seemed satisfied with what she found. We sat in a silence that was much less awkward than the previous one and then I blinked, a sudden idea popping into my head. "Say, do you know where I could get a job?" It was a risk, asking her, but I had no idea where to start. I didn't want to rely on stealing all my money. That would bring too much attention and leave too much of a trail. Saya chewed on her lip in contemplation.

"Hmmm…" She looked around and pursed her lips. Her eyebrow popped up. "I don't really know. The only jobs I know are available are sweeping jobs, and that's probably not what you're looking for." I wanted to tell her that I was more than capable of taking on any job a sweeper could, but held back. Telling her any more about the truth of who I was would lead to my capture, I was sure.

Annette reappeared with little sandwiches cut into triangles and some delicious looking pastries. I realized I was starving and wanted to dig in right away.

"Oh, hey! I have the perfect idea!" Saya blurted, and I looked up from the food, still trying not to drool from the smell. "Annette, you need an assistant, right? Why not hire Kagome?"

"That would be just about the worst idea you've ever come up with." Annette said this with a straight face and I had to hand it to her. She was the biggest bitch I've ever met. Saya's face fell and I felt like punching something. "She's obviously a minor. I wouldn't want her hanging around here when some of the hardcore sweepers came around. Some of those guys are creeps. Maybe when she grows up a little. Besides, shouldn't she be in school?"

"Oh yeah! Why did you ask about jobs anyway? Won't you be busy in school?" I rolled my eyes, my stomach rumbling.

"I just want to be able to help my dad with the bills. I've been mooching off him my whole life and I figured it's time to repay him." I eyed the tiny sandwiches that were tempting me with their luscious smell and their delicate structure. Annette snorted. I wondered if that was the only kind of laughter she could produce.

"That's his job. You let him worry about bills. You need to experience childhood. Kids nowadays are trying to grow up too fast…" She muttered, walking away. I growled and clenched my fists. I hated being called a kid. There had to be a way that I could make myself looked older. Saya took one of the sandwiches and started tearing into it. I took that as a cue that I could eat as well and stuffed two of them in my mouth, one right after the other, chewed for a second and then swallowed them near whole. I repeated the process a few more times before I realized Saya was staring at me in amusement.

"I skipped breakfast." I explained, swallowing the last bite. She giggled.

The door opened to the café and we both turned and looked.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach when I saw a familiar black trench coat and spiky brown hair-do.