“… Make a sound, and I’ll kill you...”

Either it was the sudden strike of surprise or of relief, she didn’t know, but the moment she heard that voice her body stopped its ruthless struggles.

The giant hand that roofed her mouth disappeared, as did the arm that swathed her waist. In an instant, the heavy weight above her was lifted, followed by a round of thundering laughter.

“Ahahahahaha!! Did you see the look on your face?! Hahahaaa!!”

“I wouldn’t know,” she replied with a slight frown, as she pushed herself up into a half sitting position, “… me being the one that was savagely attacked in the dark.”
She eyed the huge figure before her, her eyes making out nothing more than the dusky outline of its form.

“Think of it as a welcome gift, brat.”
The dark voice matched the figure’s shadowy appearance.

“How very original a gift, good sir. Must have taken you hours to contemplate its delineation. Can’t say I would have accepted it willingly, though…”

Accustomed to her silent replies, he was completely taken aback by the well-structured, strident retort that came flying out of her mouth. It took him a few seconds to think of what he should say in return to her comment, but after racking his brain, he realized that he couldn’t come up with anything better.

“You never used to talk this much.”
He growled, displeasure and frustration clearly shown through his voice.

“I never used to talk at all.”
She corrected, as she returned the flame to the candle, lighting up the pitch-black room.

Under the candlelight, crouched on his haunches, he looked almost like a wild animal. Tousled red mane framed an impermeably angular face. Penetrating eyes emitted a scrupulous glare from under raised brows. She studied him silently, noting that his appearance hadn’t changed at all.

Intimidating… fierce.…
…. and comforting.

It wasn’t as if he could not see in the dark, but he hadn’t really gotten a good look at her until the room was lit up. Besides those ever-clear eyes, her features had grown and matured to the point that he barely recognized her. Grown and matured in a way that he never imagined….

He did not realize that he had been staring intently at her until she asked half jokingly, “Is there something on my face?”

“Well, let’s see, there’s your mouth, nose, and abnormal eyes…” he snorted, surprised that he actually came up with a reply that didn’t make him sound too much like a speech-impaired idiot.

“Abnormal?” She blinked a couple of times. “Do you really think so? All the gentlemen who have courted me in the past have found them rather … exquisite.”

“That’s because they’re too nice to tell you the truth. And the truth is, they’re damned freaky,” he sneered. With or without a voice, she was still just a brat. An extremely beautiful brat, but still a brat. He never lost to anyone in anything, least of all a verbal sparring match with a human girl.

She giggled, obviously taking no offense to his comment. “I’ll keep that in mind. However, compared to your eyes, good sir, I find mine to be nothing short of the ordinary.”

“Last time I checked I was still a demon, wench.” He flashed her a malicious grin.

“True,” she agreed, flopping down into a very un-lady-like, cross-legged position in front of the proud demon. “So you see, it’s all relative. ‘Abnormal’ and ‘freaky’. When compared to others in the same prospect, you might find your opinion very likely to change as a result of the comparison.”

“… Dear God, what have they done to you…”

“It’s called education.” She gave him a bright smile in return for his incredulous glares. “… I had to practically beg my father to continue with it after we left the Enno Shrine. I simply refuse to be turned into a powder-covered cake, who sits on a cushion in a fancy room all day and sews.”

“And wouldn’t you just die if you couldn’t get into trouble at least three times a day.” His features finally softened as he let out a chuckle, and patted the girl on the head, as he hadn’t in nine years.

“What? Trouble? Me?? Neeever…!” She smiled while putting on a rather convincing look of wrongful accusation.

“Che, you haven’t grown a bit, brat,” he replied, and just to get back at her, he let his hand fall from her head to her chest. “Ha! The servents should use these as place mats! They’re completely and utterly fla— GAAH!!! WHATTHEHECK, GETITOFF!!”

So absorbed in his harassment of her was he, that he didn’t realize that the girl had dropped a rather big, lime-green serpent on top his head. Shaking his head vigorously, the green reptile came flying off and landed back into the lap of the giggling girl.

“Say hello to Midoriko. I found her yesterday when we retired by a charming, little lake. Fascinating creature, is she not?”

“… Just keep that fascinating creature away from me,” He grimaced as she carefully lifted the snake and allowed it to casually slither up the length of her arm. “You know I hate snakes.”

“What other reason did you think I had to keep her? You can consider her a gift in return for the one you bestowed upon me, you big bully.”

She giggled as he gave her half a growl.

“Actually, I have come prepared with a gift, my oh-so-temperate friend…… Here.”

From within one silken sleeve, she produced a necklace composed of beads of magatama and presented it to him.

“… Is the world gonna end tomorrow? You’re actually giving me something besides flowers???”

“Well, if it’s flowers you want, I can easily—”

“Oh, fer crying out loud!” He snatched the necklace from her tiny hands, pulled it over his head, and let it make its home around the base of his neckline. “Thing is, I doubt these good luck charms’ll do any good for me…”

“It’s the thought that counts… and no, that does not give you permission to attack me again.”

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

They’d been without each other’s company for so long that they’d almost forgotten how natural it felt.

….. Almost, that is.
Almost.