Author Note: Sorry for the late update. I was planning to abandon this story but after getting 4 message from people asking me to continue... I decided I will. Anyway, thanks for Vanell for beta-ing this chapter despite her busy scheduled. She is a life saver.

Chapter 4

The rattle sound that came from Kana's high heel making contact with the floor chimed in the receptionist's ears.

"I told you that you can't meet him now!" The woman ran after the brunette but couldn't catch up to her because Kana flung the door open before she could stop her. The obese man swiveled his chair around to see who intruded his office but ended up cringing in fear when he met her hardened gaze.

"You sent me away yesterday saying you can't see me so I came today like I promised." Kana pushed her fatigue away for the argument she will be leading from here onward. What happened last night was holding a greater weight on her mind like she expected so she couldn't sleep at all. Plus the uncalled-for-paranoia was the cherry on top of the poisonous cake. It created multiple nasty scenarios that revolved around her to the point she became scared enough to use a broom as her self-defense in case someone sneaked into her room to kill her. Yes, it was quite unneeded since she felt weak right now from the unnecessary worries she had.

Sanmoto glared at the receptionist who bowed her head down in shame. Useless woman, she couldn't even do her job right.He expected her visit nonetheless. Nue had already informed him of her arrival last night so he prepared himself to counterattack her with whatever nonsense she will sprout. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?" He offered her to sit but she refused it.

"I came here to discuss the murder of Hajime Taku which I believe you have heard off by now." He nodded his head to confirm her uncertainty.

In that few seconds of silence, Kana lost her calm demeanor and slammed her hand on his desk, startling him. "What are you doing then? Why aren't you taking any actions? I'm a witness and I saw Abe No Seimei kill Taku with my own two eyes! You should send him away immediately!" She shouted, irritated by his placidity.

"Why is he still living a carefree life? I saw him earlier this morning having a chat with someone like a normal human being! You should confiscate him right away till the police come to arrest him." Kana breathed in and out, trying to calm herself down from shouting any further.

"What are you talking about? You are making an innocent person sound like a criminal," he responded, decanting the rich red liquid into a glass.

Kana lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. What innocent person? Who? She sighed and placed the back of her hand on her forehead dramatically. "It's a shame you think like that."

Sanmoto didn't get a chance to react when she suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling his face closer to hers much to his dismay.

"Are you lying to me?" Kana sneered, stating the obvious. "He is not an innocent person! I saw him kill Taku with the rest of the hundred people that were present. How are you going to counter that? There is more than one witness!" It was hard to restrain herself from yelling at him.

Sanmoto prized her hands off him, not at all affected by her tantrum. "What about Taku? Wasn't he a murder too?" He then took a hold of the wine he poured to drink and listen more of her nonsense.

"What you mean?" She demanded him to tell her.

His annoying boisterous laugh filled the room. "You are defending Taku without even knowing he killed someone? How naive." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Taku killed someone?

"People who play Kogk have to end up with someone dying in order to get to a higher rank." He explained the rules of the game concisely. "Why do you think he is in rank B? Because he killed more than a hundred to reach that level." She stared at him in horror, not believing that all this time those ranks meant how dangerous killers they were.

Kana tried to choke the next words out for her sanity. "So... the ranks I'm assigned too are filled with murders?"

"Yes, from A to E." He smiled, showing off his pearly white teeth. She faltered knowing the very reason she came here for. "He deserved to die for killing others," he told her, breaking her will to fight even more like he intended to.

Her hung head concealed her shocked facial expression for a while before she regained her determination. "What are you saying? Last time I checked, a murder is still a murder," She firmly notified him, daring him to argue with her on that.

"If a murderer killed another murderer it doesn't change the fact they killed."Although her burning fire wavered a bit, it was still something she should fight for. After all, she was on justice side.

"Not only is he guilty, but also you!" Kana pointed an index finger at the direction of his face and took out her phone to call. "So if you will excuse me, I'll go call the police now..." She turned around to leave just to be held back.

"WAIT!" He spilled the wine he was playing with because he abruptly stood up. A smirk made its way on her face before she turned around to face him, looking very serious. She wanted to gain classified information so she had to fool him by that act and it worked. The thoracic surgeon was not a stupid woman. She noticed how dire the circumstances she was in were when she found her phone was out of service last night. Who would witness a scene that came straight out of a horror movie and keep quiet about it? Many but not her.

"What's wrong?" She simulated a confused look.

"Why go that far when they are not humans!" he exclaimed.

She remembered the fact they were not humans but youkai. Whether it was true or not, she was not sure. "Explain why we have strange creatures in this hospital and for what purpose," she inquired, the chance of gaining something was now open.

"It's the government." Government?Her eyes narrowed a bit. What in the world could they want?

"They agreed to this for a reason I can't tell you." He managed to catch his composure just in time before he spilled too much. "I would suggest not to ask if you don't want to disappear suddenly," he warned her out of kindness that emitted nothing but evil.

She should have left it at that since she did gain something out of this but no, she did not. "Do you know who you are threatening? I'm Kana Ienaga, Tokyo's best thoracic surgeon." The brunette raised her head high to display her arrogance. "People love me! They would even bow down to my feet if I asked them too, so what do you think would happen if I suddenly disappeared? Hmm?" She smirked, catching him fidgeting.

"It would be chaos. The police would get involved and if they didn't do anything because of the government then who do you think would get involved instead?" She tapped her lips while looking upward as if wondering what the answer could be. "Thepublic would get involved instead and whose secret do you think would be exposed then?"

He gritted his teeth, hating the smugness her face exuded. "I'll be going now." She pivoted her heel and left without saying another word.

Once she was out of earshot, she punched the wall next to her in frustration. Because she was in the enemy base she could not do anything reckless. She had to play the game they were playing unwillingly.

I have spent way too much time with Saori to learn those arguing skills.A bittersweet smile crossed her face before it soon fell off. I need to get out of here...

"Kana-san?" She checked out who called her and it turned out to be none other than Yanagida. "Sorry to bother you but you have a special patient waiting for you in rank C."

She nodded in response, pushing the special at the back of her head. He handed her a cup of coffee with a smile on his face as she took it gladly. Both of them walked together to her specific rank in silence before she broke it.

"Did you know about it?" She faced him, not noticing that she was walking with her arm crossed.

"Know about what?" He looked at her confused but she believed he knew what she was talking about. The rumors should have spread to everyone in this building by now.

"That all of the patients are... youkai," the last part was said in a whisper.

"Yes, I knew," he replied.

Kana guessed she was the only one left in the dark this whole time. "I feel betrayed," she muttered bitterly.

"I hope you understand that some people don't view these patients as humans." She raised an eyebrow at this, questioning the questionable.

Why would they treat demons like humans when they indeed were not humans? She did not fully comprehend the meaning behind his words so he decided to elaborate more.

"I mean I have noticed that some would treat them lower than animals. Sometimes even abusing them because they were different than the others... because they were youkai." There was sadness in his eyes as if he experienced those himself.

"So you thought I was the same?" His face reacted in a way that expressed he wanted to defend himself but she chuckled at his behavior.

"It's not like I didn't understand what you are trying to say. Actually, I do. We all have secrets we wouldn't share with a complete stranger." Although she thought of herself trustable like anyone would think of themselves, she personally wouldn't tell someone a secret of hers either especially when she only met them for a few days.

"You do?" her only response was a nod and he seemed to think hard about it.

They both eventually reached rank C and she was greeted with a sight that made her recall her previous conversation with Yanagida. Guilt, fear, and impassive pair of eyes of her patients occupied her mind. She tried addressed them like the usual but all she got was the cold shoulder again. It felt like she was back to square one.

"Dr. Kana." She looked at the old man that saved her the other day and smiled. The brunette did not get the chance to thank him yesterday because of her outburst and she once again did not get to say it after she observed his pained expression.

"Rihyon-san? Are you okay?" She looked worriedly at him and started suspecting an illness.

"I'm fine," he assured her kindly before addressing another issue. "I wanted to tell you to take care of my grandson."

He has a grandson?

For the first time since she came here, Kana realized the unfamiliar faces of lots of people. The people who stood out the most were a woman that looked so beautiful and elegant by just sitting on a chair. An unhappy looking man with red piercing eyes, he seemed to be scolding some people for some reason. And a man so gigantic that made everyone look like dwarfs all of a sudden.

"What in the world is going on?" She looked around more and watched the multiple types of demons of all different kinds and shape in awe. They made her more aware that they indeed were demons especially that one eyed man with a beard.

"Kana-san, over here." Yanagida beckoned her over and she slowly followed him backwards, too intrigued by what she was seeing. After she got inside she paused because of what she saw.

What is this guy doing here?

She wasn't looking forward to their meeting. That sadist tried to kill her for god's sake! She wanted to whistle and pretend she didn't see him but in the end she couldn't escape knowing that he was her special patient.

"What is a rank A patient doing here?" She didn't have any responsibility into taking care of him so she was a bit perplexed on why she had to be his doctor.

"He chose you specifically."

She choked on her own coffee, spilling some on her coat and coughed her way through. "Why?" Never in her life was she as confused on anything as to what HE would want from her. Revenge? Hopefully that was not the case.

The blond man shrugged, also not knowing. "I'll ask someone to give you his medicine."

The brunette nodded dumbly before many logical questions that needed to be answered as soon as possible pop out on her head. Since when did patients like them had authority? Furthermore, what medicine? Didn't the fact that they weren't patients already be revealed?

She sighed, placing her cup aside and then crossed her arms and glared at him. He was smirking innocently at her, giving her nothing but bad omen.

"What do you want from me?" She processed in wariness toward him.

"I want you to be my bride," he answered.

Her eyes widen slightly, that was the biggest shock she had in this entire day. "Are you kidding me?"

He shook his head. "I'm serious," his cold, ruby eyes sent chills down her spine. Was someone playing a prank on her?

"I'm engaged," she quickly spread her hands to him to make him see her silver ring. Thank goodness she has someone to save her out of this situation.

For some reason he didn't seem fazed by it.

This man is good at making people nervous.

Because the next thing she did was starting talking about her future husband to prize him off of her. "He is a kind, loving, and most importantly understanding finance I could ask for. We dated each other for about two years and we are getting married in about 4 months after I leave this place." The brunette purposely stressed the word marriage, taking sneaky glance at him to see how he would react.

For some reason, the nervousness only a lair would feel was exactly what she felt right now. The only difference was she was telling the truth and not lying.

There was a creepy smile on his face as if that was what he wanted to hear.

"I'll make you mine then." He was right behind her, whispering those words near her ear. She ducked down and crawled her way out after letting out a shriek of surprise at his sudden appearance.

"Don't do that again." He raised a taunting eyebrow that conveyed that she shouldn't order him around. "...please?" her helplessly reply made him satisfied enough to make his way to his seat.

"In case you weren't informed, all my doctors' procedure resulted in tying me to my seat because I'm dangerous." She stood up and cautiously tried to push the button to tie him while eyeing the amused predator in case he made any unanticipated movement.

He was obedient and did not do anything to her instead of watching her strangely as if she was the demon here. The sense of relief she felt knowing he could not do anything to her blessed her body. She felt much safer than she hoped.

"What is taking them so long?" she muttered, unnerved by the wait.

The silence was there for a minute when he broke it. "From where did you learn to throw something like that?"

"Huh?" It took her a minute to realize that he meant her high heel. "Curious?" she teased, loving every moment of control she has.

"Yes, the accuracy was abnormal." And crazy.

A look of reminiscing overtook her face. "I used to be in the baseball team in high school. I guess my skills aren't so rusty." She smiled at the memory of the happy days she lived. Everything now was plain fear, exhaustion and bundle of work. Having fun was not part of life anymore.

"Baseball...? What's that?" he said baseball as if it was a foreign word.

The thoracic surgeon gaped, not believing that someone did not know what baseball was.

"You don't know what it is?" There was someone in this world who didn't know what baseball is? And they live in this planet? Sounded impossible.

"I... lived my entire life here," he glanced down at his hand with a unreadable expression. "So I don't know."

It started to make sense to her why he did not know it. The only "fun" these guys knew about was murder which was not normal. She began to pity him instead of resenting him.

"It's hard to explain but it's a sport. Do you know what that is?"

He nodded. "I have read books about it." Kindergarten books.

"Well, I was a pitcher. A player who throws the ball to the opposing batter..."

"You don't seem to be the type who is interested in sports from what I deduced."

"True but... I had a friend who used to play soccer, it's another sport game and he got in an accident..." she paused, tears welling in her eyes but she pushed them back. It was an incident she could not forget.

"That caused him to lose the ability to anything physically exhausting but that idiot took interest in baseball." Kana rolled her eyes, not believing that he had to pick another bothersome sport in that condition. But what could she do when he didn't listen to his doctor? "He was so pitiful at that time. Seeing him struggle to play broke my heart... so I've decided to help him."

"Hmm, you two must be close friends."

"We ar-"A door opened interrupting their conversation.

"I bought you the medicine." The random stranger gave her a stringy and left afterwards.

She inspected the odd color of the supposed medicine. It was a bright pink color. Albeit she was specialized in drugs, she did not know what that was in her hand.

"Geez, it's probably another poison." She clicked her tongue in disappointment. Trust was no longer something she can give around here easily.

"It's the things that make sure to put us in great pain till we collapse or die." He told her like it was the most natural thing.

Her mouth became shaped like an "O", and she shook her head in disapproval. "I'm going to throw it right away. I warned them before but they still commit this obnoxious act?"

Rikuo was flustered by her words. He did not think the rumors were true. "But we are demons!" he argued.

"Demons or not, it doesn't matter. No one deserves to go through such pain," she countered, not noticing that held the needle at her direction.

She intrigued him for more than one reason. He needed a bride as soon as possible and she was the perfect candidate he could ask for.

"Should I throw it in the trash or somewhere else?" Kana wondered out loud. The moment she took a step ahead, her body froze, dizziness took over her and her vision was hazed. She could not move a single muscle even if she wanted too. Then everything went black and she fell forward, the needle pointed at herself.

The plunger was pressed upward the moment it touched the ground because of the weight that crashed upon it. He groaned in pain, wrapping his arms around her body tightly. He did not like how he had to save her by being stabbed in a pathetic way but if she had taken that shot she would have died and he couldn't afford that. He endured the next excruciating minutes in silence until his stiff face relaxed.

He stared at her face and wondered why she did not like him like the rest of the women in here. It made her more perfect than he wished for. Challenge is what all the men in this building liked and he was no different. Rikuo stood up and scooped her up with him. He was getting bad vibes of what would unfold. He saw that worker throw a senbon at her direction when she wasn't looking. No one could trust the workers here without knowing they were up to no good.

Outside of the room was chaos. Many people were rushing over to see what's going on. Rikuo could even hear a familiar voice shouting and ordering people around. He managed to catch someone after he set her down on a table to rest.

"What going on?" He gestured with his head toward the crowded circle.

"I-I heard the s-supreme commander c-collasped," the unknown man stuttered.

Rikuo let go of him and rushed toward the group of people, parting them out of his way.

"Zen!" he exclaimed when he saw the doctor he knew since childhood. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know but he seemed unwell," he replied and asked someone to escort him to a room so he can make a body check.

All of a sudden everything went dark and a projected screen appeared in front of them. Almost everyone glared at what they saw.

"Do you like my gift?" a man with long, blond hair said, seemingly bored.

In an instant everyone knew that he was the one who did this. "What did you do to him?" Rikuo inquired.

"I didn't do anything to him. It's his fault for he neglected his sickness." There was a small smile that told them he knew about it. "But if you don't do anything about it he will... die."

This chapter was longer than this but I ended up dividing them into two because I felt like would never update if I didn't do it now. And I'm sorry for disappointing anyone...