It was unusual to see Kai lingering in front of the request board for longer than a few minutes. When Erza saw that she wasn't at her usual place at the bar, she came up behind and peered over her shoulder to eye the multiple fliers in her hands. Kai sensed her and abruptly snapped them to her chest as she turned to face her with forced smile.

"Taking more jobs, Kai?" Erza asked.

"Yes, I have nothing else to do," Kai replied, stepping away from her to go talk to Mirajane.

"I never had a chance to properly thank you for taking care of the guild while we were gone," the red haired mage insisted on following her as she leaned on the bar while she waited. "I know that they must have been a handful, but I hope they didn't wear you down too much."

"Not at all," Kai said, giving Erza a small smile. "They all helped me out in their own way."

"Gray and Romeo are quite fond of your company," she continued. "And Lucy speaks very highly of you. I'll continue to rely on you to take care of them when I'm not around."

Kai laughed nervously as Erza gave her a hard slap on the shoulder before leaving her to her own devices. She watched the S-Class mage head off to check on her peers and waved Mirajane over to let her know which ones she was taking. The silver haired young woman expressed a touch of concern at taking on so many jobs at once, but Kai assured her that they were probably related.

"You sure you don't want to wait for Gray or Romeo to get back? They should be here soon and I'm sure they wouldn't mind going with you," Mirajane said.

"It's just around Magnolia, so it should be fine," Kai replied, folding the flier and tucking them into her jacket.

Mirajane wasn't entirely convinced, but she seemed to relent through Kai's reasoning. She smiled and bid her goodbye with a small wave as the light mage stuffed her hands in her pockets and left. She had a feeling that Gray wouldn't be happy that she was looking into this herself, but she couldn't wait. Young women were disappearing from within Magnolia and each of the victims bore a striking resemblance to her. The entire thing was obviously some kind of ploy to lure her out instead of coming straight for her. There was no other reason to target those who had no magic abilities.

Kai returned home and changed, shedding her layers and pulling on a modest, cream colored sundress with powder blue accents. She peered at herself in the mirror, finding it hard to recognize the reflection blinking back at her. Pulling a long ribbon from her wardrobe, she wound it around her head in place of a headband and tied a bow above her right ear. It was a style she'd worn often in her younger years.

Kai pursed her lips and did an experimental turn in front of mirror before stepping into a pair of heeled sandals. It had been years since she'd worn anything less than her layers and it felt exceedingly unnatural to be prancing around town looking like a girl. It took a lot of mental work to get into the mindset that this attire was completely normal to anyone else's eyes. Fiddling with her fringe, she fastened a leather cuff around her wrist to hide her guild mark and slipped back out.

It took her an entire block to lose the tension in her shoulders and the awkward nature of her step. When she was finally convinced that she didn't look like a dog wearing a dress, she proceeded with her investigation of the missing girls. Kai didn't have much to go on except that they were alone when they vanished and there was no specific time to when the kidnappings were limited to. Her best bet was to get an early start tomorrow and keep a sharp eye out for suspicious activity. For now, she decided to call it quits as she navigated her way through her usual shortcut home.

Kai was so distracted she didn't notice a figure descend from the rooftop until it was too late. She turned and caught a glance seconds before something struck her head.

She let out a colorful string of swears as pain exploded across her skull and she found herself sprawled on the floor. Kai clutched the base of her neck and climbed back onto her feet, but something came at her again. She narrowly dodged and stole another look at her attacker, wincing as her world spun.

"You must be the culprit behind the disappearances," Kai said. "Who's paying you for this?"

He didn't say anything and lunged at her again, but she deflected him with her light. She cursed when her back met someone behind her and she realized too late that there was more than one man at work here. Before she could do anything, a strong arm wrapped around her and pinned her arms to her sides. A hand clamped over her mouth and a searing pain shot through her entire body. Kai didn't know what kind of magic it was, but her vocal chords were paralyzed and her body wouldn't move. She couldn't do anything as she was thrown over his shoulder and taken elsewhere.

Kai was beginning to panic as they took her further and further away from home. She tried to remind herself that this was exactly what she planned for, but coming to terms with it was entirely different from how she imagined. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of a way to get out of her predicament when a searing heat shot through the air.

Her eyes shot open when she recognized the two figures sprinting through the dust, her heart swelled in relief. Gray's ice hammer descended upon them without mercy and Romeo took the opportunity to push the man into releasing Kai with his purple flames. Kai winced as she anticipated her face biting the ground, but Gray easily grabbed her before that became a reality.

As the two men retreated, the ice mage quickly called Romeo back before he could pursue them. Kai peered up at their faces as they hovered over her with worried lines etched into their brows.

"Kai, are you alright? What happened?" Gray asked.

Kai parted her lips to speak, but nothing came out. Her brows came together as she drew another breath and tried again.

"F…ine," she uttered before coughing violently.

She couldn't figure out why they both looked so horrified, but then something warm trickled down from the corner of her mouth. Kai grimaced and Gray quickly brushed it from her face as he looked up at Romeo.

"Go back first and tell them we're on our way," he said in a low tone.

Romeo nodded once and spared Kai one last worried glance before taking off. Kai frowned and looked up at Gray with silent questions, but he merely adjusted his hold on her.

"Gray…" She managed in a voice that was barely there.

"Don't talk, Kai," he replied quickly. "Don't do anything. I'm taking you back now."

Kai couldn't speak any more if she wanted to, so she remained silent as he rose to his feet with her cradled in his arms. She vaguely noticed that his shirt was missing again and his cold shoulder felt nice against her skin. Kai let her head rest and absentmindedly listened to the drum of his heart within his chest as it led her into a deep sleep.

xx

"Kaito," Aya peered into the inky darkness with wide eyes. "Kaito? Are you there?"

When she was met with only silence, she squinted and pressed her face against the iron bars. There was someone on the bed, but Kaito usually woke when she called him. Aya stared hard and when she saw the figure showing signs of life, she tried again.

"Kaito? Are you ok?"

Aya received no reply and she shimmied out from her secret place with determination. Vincent was out for the entire day as he attended a seminar in the next town over, so popping in to visit Kaito should be fine. Stealing the spare key to the cellars from one of the staff, Aya never expected what she ultimately found down there. Her fingers brushed over the plaque inscribed with the number 15 shortly before she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

She peered over to the tiny cot and meekly stepped inside to wade through the dark. Aya sat herself on the edge of the bed and gently reached her hand out to touch his shoulder.

"Kaito? Are you not feeling well?" She asked softly. "Do you want me to get you some medicine?"

A cold, bony hand shot up and gripped her wrist, startling her enough to pull away. But the hand was unrelenting and she ended up pulling it over to reveal a ghastly, glowing blue skeleton in Kaito's bed. Her heart jumped and she let out a terrified scream as she panicked and tried to escape its grasp.

"Kai! Stop, it's a bad dream," a voice urged. "You're safe!"

Kai's eyes shot open and the scream she realized was coming from her own mouth quickly died when she gathered her wits. She snapped her mouth shut and blinked up at Romeo's concerned blue eyes. Her heart was still pounding and her body was still trembling in her waking nightmare. She blinked, realizing that there were tears hindering her vision as Gray burst into the infirmary.

She blinked again and wiped at her eyes as he joined Romeo at her bedside, interrogating him about what happened. Romeo only said that she had a nightmare and Kai looked over at them with a frown.

"I'm fine now," she insisted, eyeing them quietly before asking. "What happened?"

They traded glances before Romeo spoke.

"Something happened when Porlyusica tried to treat you," he murmured. "Kai, what are you?"

Kai's stomach dropped, realizing that her secret was out whether she liked it or not. She could lie, but she knew that they deserved more than both the lie and the face she'd been presenting them until now.

"I told you about the serum, didn't I?" Kai asked, a sad smile on her lips. "I told you about how I stole it."

"Serum?" Romeo asked.

"It was the fruit of his long years of labor," she replied. "He conducted unspeakable experiments in his lab for years and I never suspected anything. But Vincent was a man driven mad by the quest for power. The serum sought to grant a user a tremendous amount of power and Kaito was one of many who was sacrificed to attain such a thing."

"Kaito?"

"I gave him the name one rainy summer afternoon, then I took it back when he died," Kai whispered distantly. "I stole the serum and administered it into my system. It wasn't meant to be used on someone who already had magic power. I thought it would kill me and destroy the serum, but it didn't. It's a fickle thing, but I've learned to control it fairly well. I can amplify the magic power of others among other things..."

Kai lifted her hand and ran a finger over the skin of her inner arm, just above her guild mark. A faint blue glow trailed her touch until she rescinded her touch. She lifted her eyes to them and tilted her head slightly.

"How does it feel to look at a monster?" She asked, unable to bite back the disposed laugh already escaping from her lips.

There was a heavy silence before Gray asked Romeo to give them a moment alone. Kai watched as the younger boy quietly acquiesced and left the room. She looked down at her hands and at the opposite wall, anywhere except at Gray himself.

"What are you trying to pull, Kai?" He asked.

"It's true, Gray," she snapped. "Look at me! No one is meant to have this kind of power and I don't know just how many people died for this. It's unnatural, it's an abomination, I'm-"

Kai was cut off as Gray suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. She stared at him in shock, slowly becoming aware of the wetness on her cheeks. He brushed away her tears and her cheeks flushed despite the situation.

"You're not a monster, Kai," he stated. "I know you enough to know that you're stubborn and stupid, but not a monster."

Kai's eyes flooded with tears, no longer able to control herself as she always had.

"I was supposed to die. I never meant for this to happen, Gray," she cried, reaching up to swipe at her tears. "I don't know what to do, but I can't just let him have it. And I'm prepared to sacrifice myself if I have to protect it, but I'm scared."

Gray said nothing and instead pulled the smaller girl into his arms, holding her there despite her struggles. Eventually, she gave in and buried her face in the crook of his neck as she let her arms encircle his torso.

"We'll protect you," Gray insisted. "No matter what."

When Kai gathered herself again, she pulled away and wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks. Embarrassed, she rubbed her blush in hopes it would vanish as she finally lifted her eyes to meet his. Her mouth downturned into a frown as an awkward silence ensued and she rubbed her eyes instead, averting her gaze to the blanket.

"Does everyone know?" She asked quietly.

"Natsu found out and thought that they turned you into a girl," Gray explained with a smirk. "But other than us three, it's just Master Makarov and Porlyusica."

"Am I terrible for keeping this a secret?"

"I told you before, you need to let us help you, Kai," he murmured, letting the words sink in. "We want to help you, if you'd just give us a chance."

A/N: I'm having a hard time with this story. D: Sorry.
But Happy New Year!