Denji nudged open the bedroom door with his bare toes careful not to overturn the glass of orange juice and champagne, the mimosa, he had made for her to go with her gourmet breakfast in bed.

Getting up early had not been easy. The dogs had practically dragged him around in the park in the cool morning air. Both contributed the wake up call he desperately needed. After taking a shower, he had set to work making her that steak and eggs breakfast he had planned days ago.

Setting the tray on the bedside table, Denji took a moment to simply gaze her - the woman he loved. His fingers absentmindedly rubbed his chest not quite comfortable with the warm sensation that blossomed and grew there to spread throughout his entire body every time he stopped to really look at her.

Mari lay on her side clutching the pillow that had taken his place when he reluctantly slipped away from her earlier. She had whimpered and called out his name, reaching for him. With a kiss on her forehead and a pat on her back, he had quieted her like a child half way waking from a nightmare. Once he promised he would return, she gave him a sleepy smile and drifted back into deep slumber. It was her turn to wake up now.

Extending his hand toward the mass of frizzy, tangled curls on her head, Denji indulged in petting her the way she did him sometimes. Mari sighed and wiggled a little, pressing her head into his palm when he stroked over the top of her messy mane to avoid getting his fingers entangled and pulling her hair. Apparently she found the gesture comforting, a sign of affection, rather than demeaning - at least in her mostly asleep state anyway.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up," he whispered, sitting down on the bed with his back against the wall.

"Mmmm," she groaned, rolling onto her back which bared both of her breasts.

Denji resisted the desire to reach out for a feel. Instead, he unhooked the bracelet attached to his wrist to put it around hers as she stretched her arms upward toward him. He had put the collar necklace back on after his shower and had no choice but to put the bracelet on his own wrist to keep it out of the way while cooking.

"You hungry?" he asked, assisting her with sitting up by sliding an arm under her shoulders.

"Starving," she yawned, leaning forward while he piled the pillows behind her to lean on. "You're spoiling me."

"Good. That's completely my intention," he said, picking up the tray once she was situated.

"This smells amazing," she sighed, inhaled deeply when he placed the tray on her lap. "Oooh, it looks so yummy. You really didn't have to do this."

"I know. But that's the whole point of doing it. I didn't have to do it. I wanted to...to show you how much I care about you," he added, feeling his face warming with a blush.

Mari looked at him, waiting for his eyes to connect with hers. When they made eye contact, she smiled, then leaned forward to kiss him squarely on the lips.

"Thank you. I feel like I don't deserve any of this...or you," she murmured, turning her attention to the steak that took up most of the plate. "We're sharing this, right?"

"If that's what you want," he replied as she cut into the rare steak and blood flooded the plate. "I hope that's cooked okay."

"It's perfect," she said, cutting the slice of meat in half to take the first bite then offer the other piece to him.

Denji opened his mouth and waited for her to feed him the hunk of beef.

"Mmmm," she moaned as she chewed. "This is so good. Did you finish this off by putting the garlic butter on top?"

"I did," he replied after swallowing and opening his mouth for the next bite she held out to him.

"You really are a good cook, Denji," she complimented him, stabbing the fluffy scrambled eggs.

"I had two good teachers." He sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "I just wish I had listened more to my first one."

"Aki is a really good guy isn't he?" Mari asked, poking him in the ribs to get him to open his eyes then his mouth for the forkful of eggs.

"You say is like he's still around," Denji remarked before taking the food.

"Well, isn't he?" She ate another piece of the steak before sharing one with him. "I mean, you still have your memories of him. You also have the knowledge he gave you. You said it yourself he was the reason you were able to keep most of your humanity intact."

As usual, her insight was on point. What she did not know was that Aki had also taken care of him, and by extension Nayuta, long after his death by making him a beneficiary of his insurance policy. Aki had no illusions that his life as a Demon Hunter would not be a long one and had taken precautions. Denji never imagined he would be the person named as beneficiary of his will.

Mari put down the fork, staring at the ceiling. She was thinking again. Denji never knew whether to be happy or afraid when she lapsed into a bout of ruminating about whatever captivated her mind but it always, ALWAYS, made him apprehensive. He believed she thought way too much. A smile touched his lips when he remembered how Aki had accused him of never thinking enough.

"Ironically, I believe Power, despite...or maybe because of being a Fiend, had a big hand in keeping you grounded as well." She pierced the steak and began to saw at it aggressively with the knife though it was not necessary due to the tenderness of the meat. "I sure wish I could have met them. They sound so wonderful. They had to be. They're partly responsible for the person you've become after all. The rest was all you, my love."

You really think so?, Denji wanted to ask but a ball of emotion had clogged his throat.

"I bet Power would have been a hoot to go out with. She sounds like a party even completely sober," she giggled, extending a chunk of meat toward him.

"You would have loved Himeno then," he mumbled around the food. "I'm sure you two would have been the best of friends."

"I don't know. I think I would have been extremely jealous. She's the one who gave you your first kiss right?"

"Yeah," he replied, turning cherry red at the memory. "Right in front of uh, well, you know who before puking down my throat."

"Ew, sorry. Didn't mean to remind you of that at a time like this." She picked up the glass of mimosa to take a sip. "Mmmm, my God, everything is so good!"

Although he was revisited by the embarrassment of that moment, he no longer felt like vomiting all over again at the memory. He was actually able to look back with fondness and a little bit of amusement, seeing how stupid and ridiculous the entire scenario had been.

"You two would have gotten along. I'm sure of it. Besides, she had a crush on Aki. Hell, you might have one on him too if you had gotten the chance to meet him," he muttered, picking up the fork to steal a piece of the steak while she sipped on her drink.

"I doubt it," she sighed, pressing her shoulder against his.

Mari looked over at him, noticing for the first time how he was dressed. He was wearing her frilly pink apron, no shirt, and jeans. Her eyes lingered on the collar necklace before following the lead of rhinestones down to her wrist.

"You know, this was a gift from one of my customers. He asked me to wear every time he visited me at the club," she confessed.

"I hope he paid extra for that," Denji muttered irritably. He was not agitated with her but with the predicament she had been trapped in.

"Of course he did. Any time we were asked to indulge a fetish, the customer paid extra. Sato never let anyone get away with extras for free. I can't imagine what some of the girls went through."

"You never had to...had to - "

"No," she cut him off understanding he was hinting at having sex with the customer. "Since I worked in the club under direct supervision of Mr. Sato himself, I was actually forbidden to have have sex with customers." She issued a dry, sardonic laugh. "I was one of the lucky ones."

"One of the lucky ones," he repeated, taking the tray from her lap to set it on the table.

"I was chosen to work in the club. Club girls were treated differently, better...like royalty. There were many girls who were forced to work in the brothels or on the street. Those girls had to do a lot of terrible things." Gulping as if to swallow back emotions or bile or both, she cleared her throat. "And had a lot of terrible things done to them. A lot of them became food for Devils. God..." She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. "How could I not see what was going on? I'm so stupid."

"Hey." Denji put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. "You did what you had to do to survive." He tipped her chin upward with his forefinger so he could kiss her lips. "Let's not think about the past anymore. Let's think about the hear and now."

"I'm sorry I ruined your delicious breakfast," she apologized, resting her forehead against his neck.

"You didn't ruin anything. Sometimes the memories just sneak up on us at inopportune times. So with that being said, how about we finish eating? Nayuta texted earlier and said she would be home around noon. Should we grab lunch then go to a few furniture stores?"

"Sounds like a good plan," Mari replied, lifting her head. She smoothed her hand across the bib of the pink apron covering his chest. "I do like this getup. I find it quite sexy."

"Oh, ho ho, do ya now? Have a discovered a fetish of yours? I'd wear a maid's outfit for you if you want," he suggested, giving her another tender kiss on the mouth.

"Maid, huh?" She pushed her lips back to his. "Would you wear the thigh high white stockings and a garter belt?"

"If that's what you want, my mistress," he whispered, pulling her naked body over on top of him.

"Mmmm," she groaned, pressing her mouth to his, allowing her lips to vibrate against his as the kiss lingered.

Denji might have touched on something she didn't know existed within herself. The picture she formed of him in her head wearing a short black maid's dress complete with white ruffled apron was quite fetching indeed. Adding the stockings to the mental picture made her hot all over. The contrast of the white fabric against his peach toned complexion. The elastic pressing slightly into his muscular thighs. The lacey straps extending upward from the clips on the stockings to the belt around his waist. The line of hair from below his belly button down his dainty underwear playing peek a boo through the lace. A pair of silky white bikini underwear stretched tightly over his erection that threated to rip the delicate fabric.

"Oh, fuck me," Mari gasped, her fingers grasping his upper arms. When his teeth that had been gently nibbling her neck full on bit her, she winced away from him, crying out. "Ouch!"

"Oh, my God, I'm sorry," he apologized, placing a kiss on the reddened skin he had pinched between his teeth. At least he had not left teeth marks which would have made him feel like a total shit especially since it was right in the middle of the recently healed bite.

"Don't be," she sighed, pulling his mouth back down to her neck.

"Was that a request? You caught me off guard."

"I just let my imagination get carried away."

"Oh?" His head popped back up, and he smiled up her with a decidedly lecherous grin. "And what were you thinking about, mistress?" When she returned his salacious smile, he laughed heartily, bouncing her up and down on his chest. "Oh, dear God, I found it didn't I?"

"What?" She tried to sit up but he clamped his hands down on her butt cheeks to hold her tightly against him. She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter as he stared at her, his chest shaking under her while he attempted to restrain his laughter.

Denji raised his head, placing his lips beside her ear to whisper, "I found your fetish. I figured out what weird thing makes you hot."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she huffed, straining to push herself away from him. Practically doing a push up on his chest only served to press her hips harder against his making them both suddenly aware of his throbbing penis.

"You know what, I believe you," he said, lifting his hands from her behind. She could leave if she wanted to now.

"Huh?" Mari was too shocked to move away from him.

"I don't think you knew something like that was a turn on for you. So," he began, enclosing her shoulders with his arms to pull her close to kiss her. "Why don't we buy the outfit and see what happens?"

"O-oh, o-okay," she stammered, astonished by her own reaction.

"Until then," he murmured, rolling her over onto her back. He let her go and sat up before his body started to crush hers.

Kneeling between her legs, Denji reached under the apron to unbutton and unzip his jeans. Mari tugged at the ruffle against his arms while he awkwardly leaned over her in a one armed push up to shimmy out of his jeans.

"You're leaving this on?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows at him.

"Do you want me to take it off?" Kneeling between her knees again, he reached behind his back with one hand in preparation to pull the bow. "Are you sure?"

"Well...I don't know." Her face darkened to a shade of crimson while she toyed with the ruffles laying against his toned biceps.

"Come on...tell me what you really want," he urged her in a teasing manner, brushing his fingers across her belly which became concave when she inhaled a sharp breath. "Take it off or keep it on?"

Her forefinger traced the prominent vein that had popped up under his skin along the front of his left bicep. She shrugged and rolled her eyes, issuing a noisy exhale.

"Keep it on," she said breathily, her eyes meeting his. "There's something about that clash of softness...the pink, the ruffles...against his your masculinity...your muscles, your almost beast like tendencies as a half Devil that just really...really turns me on."

"Why do you think that's such an awful thing?" he asked, tracing her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. "Why is it so bad you've found something that makes you horny? That makes you want me for a reason you never expected?"

"I-I d-don't kn-know," she stuttered, avoiding looking directly at his face.

"And I thought I was naïve," he murmured, receiving a jab in the arm.

"Shut up, you big perv," she laughed. She shrieked when he jammed his fingers into her ribs, tickling her mercilessly.

"Takes one to know one," he retorted playfully, continuing to tickle torture her making her screech and howl with laughter.

"Denji, stop, stop, stop," she begged, tears leaking from her eyes.

At the appearance of tears, he knew it was time to stop because the border had been crossed from pleasure to pain and it was no longer funny. He peppered kisses all over her face, saving her lips for last. Her cheeks had lightened to the prettiest pink blush which he hoped was from delight and no longer from humiliation.

"We're learning about ourselves and each other. I know you'd never admit it but you're still as much of a kid as I am," he said, capturing her gaze so she was looking directly at his face.

"More of a clueless kid in some ways...many ways," she admitted, biting her lower lip.

"We're growing together. Isn't that what we're supposed to do in a relationship?"

She smiled, chuckling lightly.

"And there it is. Wise beyond your years. Yeah, that's exactly what we're supposed to do," she agreed, reaching up to run her hand through his hair. "I love you. You know that right?"

"Yeah, but tell me as much as you want. I'll never get tired of hearing it. I'll be sure to remind you often how much I love you so you won't forget. Now, are you going to let me make love to you and show you?" he asked, hovering over her.

Mari's eyes scanned his face, and she nodded. Opening her arms for him, she accepted him into them while he lowered himself inside of her. His lovemaking was long and slow. He was gentle and patient, bringing them both to brink several times but throttling the pleasure back down to make it last.

In the end, they came together, leaving her trembling in his arms with tears running down her face. Denji kissed them away while she lovingly massaged his head, his shoulders, his back. At least her tears were a result of the bliss they had enjoyed together, the joy of being so completely loved, bringing her closer to him than any other human on earth.

Denji took off the collar necklace and removed the bracelet from her wrist to return it to the jewelry box hidden in the back of the closet. Mari had told him she had pawned all of the real jewelry gifted to her by her boss and some of her regular customers in order to pay for rent and food after making her escape. Only the faux, costume jewelry remained. One day he would buy her a diamond ring; one as genuine as his love for her.

While Mari was in the shower, Denji went to the kitchen to reheat the food to eat it. When she joined him in the kitchen, she was wearing jeans and a pink t-shirt with an ice cream cone on it; three scoops, black, green, and white, each one with eyes and a mouth.

He chuckled at her. Her fashion sense never ceased to amaze him. Sometimes she looked like a model out of a fashion magazine. Other times she looked like an eight year old who had gotten dressed in the dark. He straightened the bow of the thin pink ribbon she had tied in her hair almost hidden among the curls she had barely tamed with lots of conditioning mousse.

"You could have joined me in the shower you know?" Mari said, opening her mouth for the piece of steak offered on the fork.

"I know, but I was hungry. I'm a man of many appetites," he said, shoveling eggs on top of a chunk of steak before skewering it on the fork.

"That you are," she sighed in agreement. She slapped his bare ass making him jump and almost choke on the food he had just put in his mouth. "You really should go get dressed though. Nayuta will be getting home any time now."

"It's noon already?" he asked, despite his mouth being full.

"Almost. It was quarter till when I checked before coming out here."

"Shit," he muttered, taking a few more bites before hurrying to the bedroom. "Do I have a shirt here?"

"In the closet!" she yelled back, finishing off the small bit of steak he had missed in his rush. "Are you seriously going to be ready to eat again in thirty minutes or so?"

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" he rejoined, speaking loudly since he was in another room.

"Silly me," she chastised herself. Of course he would be hungry again. "Can we look at one or two stores at least?"

"Fine. One or two." He walked out of her room pulling the red t-shirt over his head. It was her favorite color for him to wear. The color of love and passion. "I get to pick the restaurant."

"You have become quite the powerful negotiator," she remarked, washing the plate and champagne flute rather than leaving them for later.

"I had a great teacher," he murmured, capturing her in a backwards hug.

The doorbell rang signaling Nayuta had returned home right on time. Denji ran for the door as if the child had been away from him for months. Mari smiled upon hearing the laughter from both of them when he greeted her cheerfully.

"Hey, kiddo, how was it?"

"It was great! I've never had so much fun in my life. Look, look!" she exclaimed happily, showing him her fingernails. They were painted red with black spots. "Melanie painted them to look like ladybugs!"

"How cute!" Denji returned excitedly.

Mari's smile grew wider as she peeked around the corner. She knew he couldn't care less about fingernail polish but it was easy for him to be sincerely thrilled with everything concerning Nayuta. Although it seemed unfair a teenager had been saddled with raising a child, he was happy to do it, happy he would make a change in her life and keep her from growing up alone like he did. Also the Control Devil needed to be taught a better way to exist, to be controlled in a good way so that fearsome power could be used for the good this time.

"Hi, Big Sis!" Nayuta exclaimed, waving enthusiastically.

Denji moved aside so she could get past him to hug Mari. Without her high heels, Mari did not have to bend her knees much to be on the same level in order to hug Nayuta. He forgot sometimes how tiny his girlfriend really is because she always added four to five inches to her height with her shoes.

"What else did all of you do?" Mari asked, taking Nayuta's backpack that felt heavier than it did before she left.

"We ate pizza and popcorn and candy until I thought we were going to explode! We watched so many movies!" She walked into the living room, kicking off her shoes.

"Well, I guess we're not leaving for a while," Denji muttered to Mari when he came to stand beside her.

"She's probably tired. I'm sure they stayed up late," she replied to Denji. "What kind of movies did you watch?" she asked Nayuta, going to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water.

The child was unusually chatty, in the mood the talk and tell them everything. They should take advantage of this moment and let her talk as much as she wished since she usually stayed so quiet and reserved. The energy of her two friends, especially the extroverted Melanie, seemed to have rubbed off on her in a good way. She would need a drink of water for her dry throat to keep talking.

"We watched several cartoon movies. One about a monster who fell in love with a beautiful girl. Eventually the girl loved him back."

"Sound familiar?" Denji whispered, nudging her with his elbow.

"Honestly, I think I loved you from the moment I saw you in the hall that morning."

"Yeah," he agreed with a chuckle then he realized what she said, his head whipping toward her. "Hey, wait, what?"

"And then what happened?" Mari asked Nayuta, handing her the glass of water.

"She even saved him from getting killed by a jealous guy she had turned down. What a jerk!"

"You never told me it was love at first sight. Actually you said the opposite. That means you lied," he accused in a loud whisper.

Thankfully, Nayuta was continuing to expound on the plotlines of subsequent movies they had watched. Apparently she was hyped up on sugar and caffeine this morning. Or maybe it was just adrenaline from the pure joy of friends and time spent with them.

"I never lied. Unless I was lying to myself," she responded pensively. "I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself and definitely not you."

"There was a movie about a guy that was like Tarzan but he was an idiot. But a hot idiot," Nayuta sighed.

Mari elbowed Denji who was still a bit miffed about the whole love at first sight confession after she had insisted she did not believe in love at first sight.

"Kinda like her big brother, huh?" she joked.

"Oh, hee hee, ha ha, you got jokes, my love," he grumbled grouchily. He turned his attention to Nayuta, shaking his finger in her face. "I never want to hear you refer to a guy, any male, as hot, ever again. Do you hear me, young lady?"

"But I - " Nayuta began, only to be cut off by him shushing her.

"I said never refer to any man as hot," he repeated.

"At least not in his presence," Mari said conspiratorially to Nayuta behind her hand as if to hide her words. "We can talk about boys all you want at our own slumber party sometime."

"Okay," Nayuta whispered back in how own exaggerated whisper meant in no way for Denji not to hear.

"Now listen hear you two," Denji began only to be interrupted by Mari.

"I'm going to get my shoes on. Nayuta, grab your walking shoes. We have a lot of shopping to do," she announced, disappearing into her room.

"No one listens to me. I hate being outnumbered," Denji pouted, watching Nayuta dig through her backpack for her sneakers.

"Of course she listens to you," Mari said, hopping on one foot out of her room to put her other tennis shoe on.

He had never seen her in any kind of activewear apart from leggings. Poking out his bottom lip, he stubbornly kept his arms folded in front of his chest when she hugged him. Her breasts pressed into his forearms but he still refused to drop his arms or hug her back.

"And it does suck to be you and to be outnumbered," she teased him, kissing his lips without getting a kiss in return. "I'll make it up to you later."

"Uh huh."

"Ew," Nayuta muttered.

"Oooh, we're becoming more like a real family all the time," Mari said, hopping up and down in front of Denji.

Ah, his favorite happy dance. He had not seen that in a while. Giving up, he acquiesced to his overwhelming desire to hug her.

"It's a good thing you're cute," he whispered in her ear, hugging her so tightly she could not breathe for a few seconds. "I can't stay mad at you."

"Glad to hear that," she said, hugging him back. She nuzzled his nose, declaring, "I love you."

"I love you too," he chuckled.

"Don't we have a table to shop for? Isn't Mr. Kishibe coming over for dinner tomorrow?" Nayuta reminded them before they could get all mushy in front of her again.

"Let's go!" Denji announced, taking Mari and Nayuta by the hands to pull them toward the door.

"Where are we eating lunch?" the girl inquired while Mari locked the door.

"Ask your brother."

"Well," Denji hemmed and hawed while the child gazed up at him. "Why don't you decide?"

"Soft touch. You're beyond outnumbered. You're whipped," Mari accused.

"What does whipped mean?" Nayuta inquired, glancing at Denji then at Mari.

"That's all you," Denji said with a triumphant smile on his face. "What does whipped mean, Mari?"

"It means one who gives in easily to someone else. Like a guy who gives in easily to the requests of a woman he likes." She gave Denji a wink.

Of course there was a much more detailed explanation but what she said was sufficient enough to get the point across to a ten year old they would prefer to keep as innocent as possible for as long as possible.

"Dammit," he muttered.

She had not hesitated or floundered in embarrassment one bit. Sometimes he hated that she was so intelligent and quick witted to boot. Considering her whole life had become about words, the ability to talk her way out of a situation had been a life saver in the job that had been chosen for her. To keep a man's mind occupied so his hands would not roam had been a matter of necessity.

"Why didn't you go to university?" Denji asked Mari, a question that had never occurred to him before.

"My Dad had plans for me to marry his boss's son. For his own benefit of course to improve his standing in the company."

The way she talked it sounded like her father part of some criminal organization like the mob.

"So an arranged marriage?" he inquired to make sure he understood correctly.

"Yep. Can you believe such an archaic thing still happens in this day and time?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know much about it, but I think it still happens quite a bit here."

Mari thought about the fact Sato had unilaterally decided she would become his wife which suddenly made more sense now. Since there were no parents to negotiate with and she was his property as far as he was concerned anyway, he could just take what he wanted when he wanted.

"How does Yakisoba sound?" Denji asked to abruptly change the subject.

"I want curry rice," Nayuta piped up. "What about you, Mari?"

"Oh, anything is fine with me. I'm still full from breakfast. You two decide." She noted the furniture ahead on the right. "I'm going in there if anyone wants to go."

"I think we'll keep walking for a bit," Denji said, holding on to Nayuta's hand while they kept walking. "If we find a place to eat, I'll text you."

"Gotcha," she replied, turning to go inside the store.

The store had packed a lot of furniture into the building for any and every room of a house. Mari bypassed the sofas, chairs, coffee tables, and end tables to reach the dining tables and dish cabinets. What she was looking for was simple. A plain rectangular table with six chairs. Nothing fancy and definitely not too expensive.

As she weaved her way through the tables, she did not realize she was being watched by someone. The man quickly took the phone out of his pocket to make a call.

"Hey, boss," he greeted his superior who answered. "You're never going to believe who I am looking at right now."

"Come on, Kiyama, don't keep me in suspense, out with it," Hideki sighed in annoyance. "I don't have time for games."

"Heather is here," he replied.

"Where is here?"

"I'm at the furniture store visiting Naomi. We were in the back eating lunch and poof! Heather just came walking right in. I couldn't believe it," he said in a hushed voice, peeking his head around the corner to observe as his girlfriend interacted with the unsuspecting customer. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Hopefully she will buy something then we will have an address. We'll pick her up later. I'm busy right now. We just received a new shipment from the US. These girls are always the biggest pains in my ass but Sato loves them."

"Are you sure you don't want me to - "

"I said do nothing, you idiot," Hideki repeated, growing more irritable. "She's not a priority at this time."

"But I thought Mr. Sato said - "

"We don't want her to get away again. I said just be patient and maybe we can get an address. Obviously she's not leaving the country or she would be long gone."

"But what if she doesn't buy anything?"

"Apparently she lives in the area. We'll catch her sooner or later so we need to stay calm and be patient. We need to set a trap that little bitch can't wiggle out of this time. Do you understand me?"

"But boss - "

"Do you understand me?" he cut off his subordinate bordering on insubordination.

"Yes, sir. I understand." He closed his phone to cut off the call. Stepping further from his hiding place because he could no longer see the women, he risked getting seen himself.

Mari had a crawling sensation up her back; that creepy sense of being watched. Tuning out the woman's sales spiel, she glanced around the place. She did not see anyone else there, but she definitely felt their presence. The prices were right here but there something else definitely not right about this place.

"Hey, uhm, can I get back to you on this? I think this is the one I like but I need to discuss it with it with my boyfriend," Mari said, although Denji had told her to buy whatever she wanted and he would assist by paying half of the cost.

She really did like the table. It was a extremely light white pine, rectangular and blocky with a thick top and sturdy legs. There was a bench seat on one side and four straight backed padded chairs, all painted white. However, she had a distinct feeling something was wrong, and she wanted to run.

"Well, can I get your name and phone number at least?" the woman asked, taking a business card and pen out of the inside pocket of her blazer. "You can write it down on this."

"Uh, no, but I will take this," Mari said, snatching the card extended to her. "Thank you for your time. I apologize if I have inconvenienced you. I'm sorry," she apologized, bowing with the card clutched between the thumbs and forefingers of both of her hands and extended in front of her as if handing it back to the woman.

"Oh, it was no problem. It's part of my job after all. Please come back when you're ready," the woman urged her, following her toward the door.

Mari hoped her sudden panic had not made the woman suspicious of her or think she was just plain crazy. Unable to stem her urge to run from the anxiety building inside of her, she ran across the street to get as far away from the store possible. Pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, she dialed Denji.

"Hey, where are you?" she asked in a breathy rush of words.

"We found a family restaurant two blocks over. I was just about to text you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just jogging. I'll be there soon."

"Are you sure nothing is wrong? Why the hell are you running?"

How could she explain? It was like the weirdos at the coffee shop. She could tell something was off, but she was not sure exactly what. This time she was going to go with her gut and run away, quite literally, as fast as she could.

"There was something...sketchy about that place. Something strange. I'm not sure what. But I felt like I was being watched," she said, doing her best to explain rather than keeping quiet and something bad happening later like last time.

"Think it was another Fiend? A Devil?" Denji inquired, his voice tense and strained.

"No. I think it might be demons of a human kind. Shit," she muttered, finally making a connection in her head.

Of course that place was a front! Mari glanced at the business card she had scrunched up in her palm. Sakkaku Company. Sakkaku means illusion. A misleading appearance. Something that looks different than what it actually is. She had indeed found herself inside one of Sato's front companies; a business where he could import furniture, and women, from all over the world without raising any eyebrows. Actual furniture would be delivered in massive container boxes with a surprise inside the crates.

She knew this was a fact because she had been drugged hidden inside the individual crates of merchandise before being loaded onto a container ship. Before she had awakened, she and the other girls had been taken out and handcuffed to the walls inside a storage building at the docks.

It was a risky plan that worked disturbingly well to smuggle the women into the country. Customs did not have time to search every container coming into port and certainly not every box inside. Sato hedged his bets, tilting the gamble in his favor by bribing as many customs agents as he could so if anyone did find his human merchandise they either received a good pay day or a bullet in the head - the choice was theirs.

"Fuck," she growled, balling up the card in her fist. Her heart beat in her ears just as hard as it did in her chest. She could barely hear Denji speaking over her pulse drumming inside her head.

"Are you okay? What's going on?"

"I'm fine. I'll explain later." She saw the name of the restaurant on the tent sign sitting on the sidewalk listing today's lunch specials. "I'm here."

Mari rushed into the restaurant, panting open mouthed. She was sure she looked wild and a bit crazy with her head swinging from side to side searching the crowded restaurant. They were in the very back corner. When she plopped down on the bench, Denji grabbed her and pulled her across the slick surface rubbed smooth by thousands of behind gliding across it over the years.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, waving over the server.

"Water and an iced tea," Mari ordered, panting open mouthed more from panic than actually being breathless due to running.

"You look terrified. What the hell hap - "

"I was in one of Sato's businesses. God, I'm so stupid. How could I not remember he owns several side businesses to hide his activities?" she muttered to herself. When the drinks arrived she picked up the glass of water to empty it so quickly the server took it back for a refill. "He could have nabbed me right there."

"But he didn't. Calm down," Denji cooed, hugging her to his side and rubbing her arm.

"If one of his goons had been there...but actually, I think one was there...watching me. Why didn't he grab me?"

"Good thing for him he didn't, I would have ripped off both his arms and beat him to death with them."

"But you weren't there and it would have been a while before you figured out what happened," she pointed out, taking a long drink of the tea. Wiping the back of her mouth with her hand, she tried to calm her breathing. "See, this is why I need to be trained to defend myself at least. I can keep myself from getting abducted again."

"Well, from I've seen, you can do a pretty good job of taking care of yourself."

The server reappeared with three plates of food and another glass of water. Mari glanced questioningly at Denji.

"I ordered yakisoba for you. There are plenty of side dishes coming too. If there's not anything you want to eat, you can order whatever," he said quickly.

"No this is fine." She smiled at him. "It's nice to know I have someone to take care of me."

"Yeah, of course." He cupped her cheek, gliding his thumb across her blushed cheek. "I want to take care of you. It's nice you're actually letting me for a change."

Mari sighed, staring down at her plate of food. She felt like she had began taken care of by a man all her life. In the past, receiving someone's care and attention always came with strings attached. There was always a price she really did not want to pay. She had been a princess in a gilded prison, held captive first by her father then by Sato.

Although the last year had been tough, she had known what it was like to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her life. The concept of ever being "kept" again, beholding to another man in her life, scared the hell out of her. Although she knew logically Denji was different, not like them at all, especially in the way that he loved her with no strings attached whatsoever, the past haunted her like a specter.

"Denji, be patient with me. I love you. But I'm not like you. I didn't just let go of my past and move on to my future. I still carry it with me. I don't want to, but I do. I'm sorry, but I - "

"Hey, don't worry about it. I don't understand, but we all handle things differently right? So why don't we just eat and enjoy the rest of our day together, hm?" he suggested, constricting his arm draped around her shoulders to give her a sideways hug.

Mari nodded, picking up her chopsticks as more dishes arrived at their table.

"I ordered a second dish of curry rice in case Mari wanted some," Nayuta said when a second plate was set down on the table.

"Oh, wow, look at all this food. I'm starving," she said, placing her hands together as if praying. "Thank you for the food. Let's eat!"

Denji glanced at her and smiled. He knew she was lying for Nayuta's sake. There was no doubt in his mind the last thing she wanted to do right now was eat. The color drained from her face as she looked around at all the food, but she forced herself to start eating anyway.

"We can just make do with the counter and the low table like we always do. Blood doesn't make a family any more than a table makes a family dinner, right?" Denji said, scooping rice into his mouth. "We can look for a table some other time, in another city."

"Good idea." She looked over at Nayuta who was busy scarfing down her curry rice. The child made it look so good she decided to try it for herself. It reminded her of a beef stew from home. Warm, hearty, salty, filling her belly and soothing her emotions. The addition of the rice with the potatoes in the curry made it even more comforting.

"Do we want to get ice cream?" Denji asked before they were even done eating. "We haven't been to the ice cream shoppe in a while?"

"I'm so full," Nayuta moaned, patting her distended, round belly. "Besides, I want to get home to take the doggies to the park."

"A walk sounds really good right now," Mari agreed. She had eaten a whole lot more than she thought she would.

"All right. Well, home and park it is, ladies."

"What about food for tomorrow?" Mari reminded him. "We should go to the grocery store first."

Denji shrugged.

"We can go to the market first thing in the morning," he suggested. They had not yet been to the fish market. "It will be fun to get into all of the chaos down at the pier don't you think? We can't get fish much fresher than right off the boat."

"That's true," she agreed. Fresh seafood would be a nice change of pace. "There's also a farmer's market in the park on weekend mornings. I've been wanting to go to that as well."

"Then that's what we'll do. Nayuta, do you want to go?" Denji asked, just in time to see her yawn like a lion roaring.

"No thanks. I think I'd rather stay home and sleep in. We stayed up really late last night. Is that okay?"

"Sure thing, kiddo. Besides, the dogs will be glad to be with you. I'm sure they've missed you."

The rambunctious canines had indeed missed their Nayuta. Of course when the pack saw her, there was much howling and barking and face licking. Mari was sure this would mean making another dessert for the grumpy old woman down the hall to avoid a complaint the complex manager.

Once the dogs were leashed up and a semi organized, a matter of criss crossed leashes and dogs walking circles around them like usual, they somehow managed to make their way across the street and through the park to the dog run. As usual, there were many curious onlookers watching the fuzzy mayhem. Nayuta fielded questions and directed those who wanted to pet the dogs on the proper way to do it. These interactions were unexpectedly doing wonders for her social skills.

"You have nothing to worry about you know," Mari said as they sat at a picnic table under the nearby pavilion staying close to keep watch. "Nayuta is going to be just fine."

"Yeah, she's not the woman in my life I'm worried about," he returned, casting a sidelong glimpse at Mari without turning his head. "This is why I didn't argue with you about wanting to be trained. You're right. I can't always be there, beside you, protecting you...though I want to be."

"I don't enjoy feeling like some helpless little girl. I hate it. Feeling powerless. Useless. Unable to fight against those who want to hurt me or the people I love. Denji, didn't you ever feel that way? Like the world and everyone in it was against you, wanting to control you and hurt you?"

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and pushing his shoulders up around his ears as if to hide his face from her.

"I don't know. I guess I never really saw it that way once I had Pochita. He loved me and I loved him and nothing else mattered. I kinda feel that way now with you and Nayuta in my life. As long as I have you two, no one and nothing else matters. It was that way with Aki and Power until..." His voice tapered off into a hoarse whisper.

It still hurt, just as much if not more, when they died. Lately he had felt more emotional about everything than he had ever expected to feel. The emotions that had been hard for him to understand, that had eluded him for so long, now washed over in him tidal waves sometimes and on some days he feared he might drown.

"I'm sorry," Mari apologized for reasons unclear to both of them. "I hope I never give you a reason to feel so sad. I want to do everything I can to prevent that. You understand that right?"

"Yeah. I understand."

Mari surveyed the crowd and to her shock and horror found a face she recognized. Among the children at the fence stood the long legged Bomb Devil reaching over the chain link barrier to pet Cream Puff.

The dog's ears flicked back and flattened against her head as she hunkered down to avoid the outstretched hand. When Reze's hand continued to come closer, the dog's upper lip peeled back from her teeth. She started to slink away backwards while keeping an eye on that hand. The low, rumbling snarl could be heard all the way to their table.

Denji was on his feet and running toward the enclosure. He thought shouting might startle the already agitated dog and cause her to bite so he stayed quiet.

Thankfully, Nayuta noticed the dog's unusual reaction and placed herself between the woman and the dog.

"I'm sorry, she's never reacted to anyone like this," Nayuta said, noticing Denji running toward them. "Big Bro, I don't know what got into her."

"Big Bro?" Reze mumbled, her eyes moving to Denji.

"Yeah. I'm her brother. One of the many things you don't know about me now," he snapped opening the gate to go inside. "Back off. The dog doesn't like you."

"Is she the only one?" Reze asked.

"I'm not going to answer that," he said, turning his back to her. "Let's get the dogs ready to go home."

"You live close by? Where?" she inquired only to be ignored by the two people attaching the leads to the dogs.

Reze looked around, her eyes stopping on Mari who still sat at the picnic table. Their eyes met and neither one of them smiled. There was no reason to pretend and "make nice" here.

"Oh, I see," Reze muttered, backing away from the fence finally. "Do you live with her?"

"None of that is any of your damn business," Denji snarled as viciously as the dog. "I swear you are acting like some psycho stalker. Stay away from me." He followed her line of sight to Mari. "And her."

"But she's my teacher," Reze reminded him with a malevolent smile on her face. "How is that going to work, huh? Want me to quit school? Not gonna happen. I'm finally living my dream."

"Yeah. That makes two of us," he said, opening the gate and nearly hitting her with it but not by accident.

Reze followed him as he walked toward the path. Mari had already started toward the path after breaking eye contact with Reze and waited for them on the ribbon of concrete that wound its way through the park.

"Did you know you're girlfriend used to be a high priced call girl?" Reze asked, following on his heels.

Denji whirled around violently, almost coming nose to nose with her.

Reze barely stopped before bumping into him and backed away several steps when he glared at her so hotly she could almost feel the burn. But maybe that was just the blush forming on her cheeks from coming so close to him.

"Shut your mouth and back off. Don't say such things in front of a child," he ground through his teeth.

"So it's true?"

"What's a call girl, Big Brother?" Nayuta asked him.

"Nothing you need to know about," he answered her abruptly. "Go over to Mari." Turning his attention back to Reze, he snapped, "And no, it's not true. I don't know who you heard that from but you better check your sources. She's told me about her past. I know all about it so stop this right now. I'm done with you."

Denji pivoted on his foot to walk away. Reze grabbed his wrist.

"What if I'm not done with you?"

Immediately the four dogs whose leashes he held surrounded her, growling with their ears lying flat against their heads.

"Unless you want to get eaten alive, I suggest you let me go," he warned her, the growling like a low, unceasing thunder from a distant storm. "I'm sure it's a horrible way to go. And if you blow up my dogs up to save yourself, well, I can assure you I'll make it hurt even more when I kill you."

"What kind of Devil is this woman? I don't understand how she has you so blinded. It's like she's a witch or something who has you under her spell," Reze said, releasing his wrist.

"She's certainly no Devil. She could be a witch. And if she has me under her spell, then I hope she never breaks it. The only person I chose to be blinded to their lies and tricks was you, Reze," he said with a note of finality, turning to walk away. "Don't follow me. I don't want to have to kill you. There's too many people around here that could get hurt."

Mari nervously chewed her lip while Denji walked toward them. His face was drawn; the muscles tense and set as if he had been carved out of stone. Glaring straight ahead, she wondered if he was aware of their presence at all when he walked right past her and Nayuta. Without a word, they fell into step behind him with their furry charges in tow, or rather the dogs were pulling them in their effort to keep up with the fast walking Denji so Mari and Nayuta had to jog to keep up.

There was no need to ask if he was all right because he obviously was not okay at all. This had been one hell of a day; a really bad day.

While taking a shower, Mari pondered quitting her job to search for another one. It would probably be best for all of them. Reze was becoming a problem, not just for her but for Denji as well. Perhaps the girl might let up if she was not a constant presence at school. Hopefully out of sight would mean out of mind like the old saying goes and Reze would not even think about her anymore. Or would she double her efforts to win Denji back and make things worse for him. There was no clear or easy answer to the Reze question.

Once everyone gathered back in Mari's apartment including Meowy, popcorn was popped and soda's were poured. Nayuta picked the movie. She picked a comedy/murder mystery movie based on a board game. It was old but suitable for an entire family. Neither Denji nor Mari cared what they watched just as long as it was a distraction.

"We have to talk about this some time but later," Denji whispered in Mari's ear as she settled back against his chest.

"I agree. I think we're both a bit too tense to discuss that little encounter in the park right now," she confirmed, passing the bowl of popcorn back to him. She moved Meowy up to the shelf created by her breasts so Nayuta could settle her head against her belly. "I want both of you to stay here tonight." The cat meowed as if to remind her of his presence. "Okay all three of you."

The movie did it's job of entertaining them, taking their mind of the day's events and even giving them a chuckle or two to offset the stress. When it was over, Denji announced an early bedtime shooing Nayuta off to brush her teeth.

"I think I'm going to find another job," Mari said while squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"That might be for the best. I don't want you around Reze on a daily basis anymore. Maybe Nayuta's school has an opening," he suggested, bending beside her over the sink to brush his teeth.

"Maybe," she mumbled around her toothbrush.

Their conversation was put on hold until they spit out the toothpaste and rinsed out their mouths.

"What about your training with Hirofumi?" Denji asked, handing her the towel after drying off his mouth.

"We'll work something out. It's not like we could have trained at the school anyway. That would have gotten me fired for sure, and I have no doubt rumors would have started to fly that I was involved with him in some sexual way. Reze would have loved that." Mari sighed, hanging up the towel after using it. "She really scares me. Like William Congreve penned in his play the Mourning Bride, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

"What's that entire quote?" Denji asked with curiosity.

"How do you know that's a paraphrase?" she inquired, smiling up at him proudly for calling her on misquoting.

"Because," he began sliding his arms around her waist to pull her close. "I know you. So what is it?"

"Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd. Nor Hell a Fury like a woman scorn'd," she quoted employing a British accent. "That's the exact phrasing from the play."

"Nice. And I adore that accent. It's sounds like a more posh version of your country bumpkin accent."

"Well, thanks...I think," she laughed, sliding her hands across his chest then along the tops of his shoulders. "At least you like my country bumpkin accent."

"What about the other problem? Your past employer."

"I'm going to have to be more careful where I shop. Perhaps we should stay away from that downtown area entirely. Shop in another city just to be extra safe like you said," she said remembering his suggestion from earlier.

"Probably," he sighed, pulling her into his chest and kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Where are you guys?" Nayuta called from the living room.

The child stood in the middle of the living room holding Meowy in one arm, his paws raised over his head in the air, and a bedraggled and well loved teddy bear clutched to her chest with the other arm. One of the black plastic eyes of the stuffed brown bear hung on by a mere thread.

"Oh, poor Mr. Bear needs to see a doctor," Mari said, walking over to inspect the damage. "I have a sewing kit. Shall we perform surgery tomorrow to help this patient in dire need, Nurse Nayuta?"

"Sure, Doctor Mari," she giggled. "What if his eye falls off in the middle of the night and we can't find it?"

"Hmmm," Mari hummed thoughtfully, glancing around.

Since they were on the medical thing, she went to get the first aid kit. She wrapped gauze around Mr. Bear's head to secure his eye in case that single strand of thread doing it's best to hold on broke. At least the eye would trapped by the gauze and easy to find.

"There. The patient is stabilized until the surgery can be performed," Mari declared, eliciting another giggle from the child.

It was such a wonderful sound to hear made even more special and delightful considering the source. She placed the first aid on the counter to return it to its normal place in the morning. Extending her hand to Nayuta, she led her to the bedroom.

While everyone had been getting their showers and changed, she had taken the time to replace the bed linens using her best and softest and Egyptian cotton sheets. One of the few indulgences she had allowed herself on her tight budget. They were a light powder blue color softening the harshness of the all black room.

Nayuta was placed in the middle of the bed between Mari and Denji. Meowy claimed a spot on Mari's pillow rather than her breasts since she cuddled up close to Nayuta who scooted right up against Denji. In turn, his long arms extended across Nayuta's little body to grasp onto Mari's to hold them both.

"Good night, Big Bro and Big Sis," Nayuta yawned, resting her cheek on Denji's chest and nestling her head under his chin.

"Good night, Nayuta and Mari," he said next hugging them both at once.

"Good night. And I love you both. Very much," Mari added to complete the ritual.

In perfect unified harmony, Denji and Nayuta rejoined, "We love you too."

Mari giggled. Joy warmed her from the inside out. She seriously wondered if she had ever been this happy in her life. She didn't think so. These two had come to mean everything to her.

*Author's Note: "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd." in the 1697 play The Mourning Bride (Act III Scene 2) by William Congreve.