"...sama. Kirihito-sama!"

The boy's heavily outlined eyes fluttered open. Bars of light were thrown onto his futon through the blinds. He vaguely wondered what time it was.

"Kirihito-sama." He turned to see one of his masked familiars kneeling respectfully beside him. Anticipating the coming question, the familiar informed him, "It is currently one in the afternoon."

Kirihito's eyes widened slightly. Human bodies were such a pain and he had never quite gotten used to how much sleep they needed... And he still felt horribly weak. He needed to get back to his old body soon. Food didn't seem to be enough, and to get more energy he would have to obtain it from other humans through physical contact, usually acts of affection… Such a bother.

"I'm leaving for town," Kirihito announced, suddenly standing up and walking to his wardrobe.

"But you must eat first, Kirihito-sama!" the familiar exclaimed worriedly. Glancing at the speaker briefly, Kirihito sighed.

"So troublesome," he murmured under his breath. A bit louder, he said, "I'll get something while I'm out."

"I shall accompany you," the loyal yokai stated. Kirihito breathed out in exasperation, even more annoyed with his situation than usual.

"No, you will stay here."

"Yes, Kirihito-sama, if you are certain."

"I am."

{{{/}}}

The quaint café was quiet, with only the occasional customer. Only a few tables rested on the worn wooden floor. The single, droopy-eyed employee gazed at the small television placed on the back wall, his eyes scanning a news headline.

Kirihito lazily fidgeted with the stirrer of his coffee. He was still feeling weak, but at least it was peaceful in this little hole-in-the wall. He wondered what he should do. Feeling like a zombie throughout his days would certainly hurt his search for his body. There's always that land god he could take energy from, but somehow he doubted that would be easy with the forever over-protective Tomoe.

"Stupid fox!" he suddenly shouted, banging his fist on the table and grinding his teeth. The employee glanced at him for a brief moment, before turning back to the television. Silence reigned once again.

The sun was already inching down in the sky, and Kirihito realized it must've been around four. He hadn't done anything, really. He had just blankly stared at nothing in particular, his thoughts and actions slow. It's Monday, huh, he thought. He felt as though, if he were to be like this for the rest of the week, his body would have issues functioning and start drifting out of consciousness. This had been happening far too often recently. Why was his body being so difficult to retrieve?

The door was shot opened with an unexpected boom. Kirihito's head shot up, surprised and somewhat disoriented. His eyes quickly locked onto the face of the cause of this sudden noise. She was a girl, not tall but certainly not short. Her black locks were tied up in a complicated bun atop her head, and her bangs framed her pale face. Her green eyes were filled with immeasurable energy and he could tell by the grin on her lips that she was definitely an obnoxious person.

As though to prove his suspicions, the girl ran up to the employee. "Hey, hey! I came to see ya, Yamamoto-san!"

"Ah, Tsukino-chan," the employee addressed her, turning his attention away from the television. Looking relieved at having someone to talk to, he ruffled her hair. An orange leaf fell out as her bun loosened slightly. "How're you doing these days?"

"Great! The autumn air is so crisp!" she shouted, spinning around the restaurant. She started to near Kirihito, and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Ah!" she suddenly cried as she started to lose her balance. Kirihito's eyes widened as she fell on his table, spilling the coffee all over him before losing her grip on the table and falling on him herself.

Kirihito glared at her as her cheeks brightened in embarrassment. "Apologies!" she shouted, quickly standing up and bowing. "Oh, I hope you weren't scalded !"she shouted, looking around for something to soak the coffee off of Kirihito.

"Don't worry about that, Tsukino-chan. This kid's been her for a couple hours now. His coffee's got to be room temperature by now. Ain't that right, son?" the employee asked.

"This is your idea of how to treat customers, is it?" Kirihito asked, grinning in annoyance. "If I knew that, I wouldn't have bothered staying here so long, or even coming here at all."

"Ah! Don't leave! It was all my fault, I'm so sorry!" The girl bowed repeatedly. Her gaze met his head-on, her sincere feelings evident in her apologetic eyes. Kirihito sighed, waving as he left the café

Kirihito stared at his feet, focusing much more on his balance than should've been necessary. He wondered where he should go to next. After all, he didn't know of many other places filled with such a peaceful quiet. And that girl shamelessly ruined it with such ease.

"Don't leave!" the girl cried out again after several moments. Kirihito turned around to find the figure running on the sidewalk, attempting to catch up to him. His eyes widened as he realized…

"Are you going to continue to follow me around until I agree to go back into that café?" he asked in exasperation.

She came to a halt and stopped next to him. "What do you think?"

He rolled his eyes and continued walking. She half-skipped happily next to him, not wavering in the slightest. After about five minutes he glanced over to find that she was still there. Noticing his gaze, she smiled joyfully up at him. She winked, leaning toward him as they walked. "So what do you say—"

"No," he cut her off, looking forward again. She wouldn't last much longer… would she?

About an hour later, it was obvious that she had no plans on giving in. "Quite the pushy saleswoman," he murmured. Then, he walked into a nearby clothing store.

"Oh, are you into this kind of clothing? If you want, I can buy you something to apologize for before… Oh! But I don't have my wallet… I can buy you a gift card and tell Yamamoto-san to give it to you next time! And then—"

Kirihito again cut her off. "You don't plan on following me in here, do you?" he asked, motioning toward the door to the men's bathroom before them.

"Ah, sorry!" she said, again bowing. He exhaled in exasperation before pushing the door open and entering a place free of that girl… and where he could attempt to summon more energy from some nonexistent part of himself.

He leaned against the sink, panting as he wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. Going like this, he really would only have a week before something bad happened. He turned around and coughed into the sink, a very slight taste of blood spreading across his tongue. He groaned.

The fall air had been chilly and dry, a mixture that was not helping his throat. He reached into his pocket and popped a throat lozenge into his mouth. He absentmindedly twirled it around in his mouth, leaning against the wall for a moment before sliding down onto the floor. He spread out his legs, staring at his feet. Really, what was he going to do?

He suddenly realized that he was still sitting on the floor of the men's bathroom and immediately stood up. Suddenly remembering the girl, he realized that she had to have left and, relieved to be freed of the burden, he left the restroom.

He walked down the aisles of clothing toward the exit, pulling the door open. "Have a nice day," a clerk said, voice monotone. Kirihito grunted in response as he stepped out into the now breezier air.

The best thing to do, he supposed, would be to go back to the shrine. There, his familiars would nurse his body… Not that it would do much. Anyway, he really did need to get out of the breeze. His throat was sore enough already.

He began walking in the direction of the shrine, looking across the horizon as the sunset began to appear. The colorful rays merged into the autumn leaves, creating quite the picturesque scenery. After all these years, however, Kirihito was hardly impressed by the sunset.

"Sir!" The call came from behind him. It's just your imagination, he thought to himself, quickening his pace. "Sir!" It was getting closer…

He almost lost his balance as something—or, more accurately, someone—tugged firmly on his arm. His gaze flickered to the palm gripping him. Annoyed, he began to detach her fingers from him.

"Human, are you still following me?!" he shouted, glaring at her. He saw her shiver slightly, but felt no guilt. The girl had to learn her place… "You need to learn to—"

Kirihito was interrupted by his own coughing fit. Her eyes widened, the worry plainly showing in them. He held out his palm to keep her silent for a moment as he cleared his throat. "Anyway, you need to learn to take a—"

"Are you sick?!" she asked, her voice filled with panic. She glanced around his face as though trying to find proof of this.

"I'm fine," he told her briefly. "As I was saying—"

"I need to take a hint, yeah, yeah," she said, waving him off. "But believe me, that coughing fit just now was more than enough of a hint for me to realize that you are not fine."

Kirihito was slightly surprised by her somewhat impolite response, and realized that she had probably stopped trying to sweet-talk him into going back to the café. Now, she was merely worried about his condition… And Kirihito was not pleased with this realization.

"A slight… cold," he said, deciding it would be best to give the girl at least some answer so she might leave him alone. She seemed to dwell on this response for a moment, before she bowed.

"My name is Tsukino Ayaka! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Kirihito was silent for a moment, uncomprehending. "Excuse me?"

She grinned up at him. "I realized I forgot to introduce myself before! May I ask what your name might be?"

He hesitated for a moment, and then sighed in defeat. "Kirihito Mori."

"Then, Kirihito-sama, it was a pleasure meeting you!" she shouted. Then, her expression changed slightly, as she added, "I'm certain we were meant to meet." Then, as though she had some urgent task to complete, she ran off toward where they had come from.

Kirihito attempted to decode her message. Perhaps she was just superstitious and believed that everyone she met, she met for a reason. Or perhaps she had the oh-so-human interest in soul mates and romance, though he hardly believed this meeting made her think him boyfriend material.

Then, it dawned on him.

The girl was overly kind. Certainly, she was also naïve. She was clumsy and careless. She was polite, but not entirely thoughtful. She seemed to run on emotions rather than rationality. She did seem the type to believe in soul mates and destined meetings. In which case…

She would be easy to use.

If he were to gain her trust, he could become this "soul mate" for her. Then, he could simply use her. Even if she was just an ordinary human, if he was careful not to kill her in doing so, then she could act as his regular supply of life energy. If he made her willing, then not only would she not complain, but no one around her could complain or be suspicious. After all, it isn't strange at all for a boy to show affection towards his girl, is it?