-Ace-
I stare at the girl sitting on the bed who looks about my age with long black hair with streaks of varying shades of brown. Her blue eyes dart quickly between me and Marco, frightened. "I'm not just a cat," she frowned.
"What's you're name, yoi?" Marco asked taking a small step forward.
"Tori," she shifted off my hat then returned it to me.
"Well Tori, I'm Marco and this is Ace, yoi," he introduced us.
"Nice to meet you," she smiled kindly. "Sorry I hid under your hat, Ace. I kinda didn't want to be caught."
"What did you do to make them so angry?" I asked placing my hat back on my head.
"I'm a Demon, or at least the child of one," she shrugged flinching slightly when someone knocked on the door.
-Tori-
My gaze jumped from the blonde and his shirtless companion to the door as whoever it was knocked again.
The black haired one shoved me onto my back throwing blankets over me before covering the lump I made with his body. He was unnaturally warm, almost like he had a fever.
"Can I help you, yoi?" Marco asked opening the door.
"Have you seen either a small black and brown cat, or a teenage girl with black hair and brown streaks?" one of the villagers asked, the one that always started the mobs that chased me.
"No I haven't, yoi," he closed the door turning back to me.
-Marco-
I stood and stared at Ace for a moment, pinning the girl to the bed, and blocking her body from view. "You can get off now, they're gone, yoi."
I shook my head at him as he climbed off the girl letting me get my first good look at her clothes. Her sleeves were several inches shorter than her wrists; the corset pulled over her shirt was stretched, squishing her chest; and her skirt, short and hugging her hips far too tightly to be comfortable.
"Why did you lie?" she asked settling back into a seated position, pulling her bare and muddied feet under her.
"You've done nothing wrong, I see no reason to let them have you and do whatever they want with you," Ace answered before promptly falling asleep beside her.
"He does that all the time, yoi," I waved off her unasked question, "It's late, perhaps you should be getting back to your parents. They're probably worried about you. Why don't you let us walk you home, yoi?"
I helped her to her feet. "No, you don't have to. I'll be fine. Besides, my parents probably aren't that worried."
She backed away hastily, nervousness creeping into her tone. "Nonsense, Pops would be ashamed of us if we left you out there alone," Ace cut back in, already awake.
"Well…if you insist," she relented with a sigh.
(Author's comment: thanks to Claridessa for beta reading this chapter and the last chapter. Sorry it took so long to get up, end of the year and all. Hope you enjoy and I will try to progressively make chapters longer.)