Jimin sped through the playground. His heart was working overtime, beating in time with his pounding feet. The children made way for him, the glamour over him and the Vetis demon keeping them from seeing anything alarming. Judging from their surprised laughs and shouts, all they saw was a naughty dog running away from its owner. Jimin was grateful for that. He really didn't want to have to deal with hysterical, panicking children forming a mass stampede away from the hideous demon on top of his mission.

The demon sped away, heading for the far side of the playground, and Jimin gave chase, hoping to catch up to it before it could run away. The far side was ringed by stone steps leading up to a mossy wall, which Jimin really didn't want to see it disappear over.

Just then, a child caught his eye - it was a little girl, around 9 or 10, with adorable little curly bunches of hair tied up in pigtails, wearing a cute striped shirt under denim dungarees. Unlike the other children, she wasn't laughing or playing with her friends. It was the look of shock and fear in her eyes that caught him off guard, startling him and distracting him from his main purpose.

That was a mistake. Sensing Jimin's distraction and feeling that it had let him come too close for comfort, the Vetis demon suddenly changed tactics, wheeling around and charging straight at the distracted boy. The girl's scream alerted him just in time; he spun away from the attack, the demon's deadly jaws closing over where his arm had been just seconds ago.

However, his movement had sent him straight into the path of the demon's serpentine arms that immediately wound tightly around him. He gasped for breath, clutching in vain at the slippery, scaly arms that were slowly choking him and crushing his ribs. Stars exploded behind his eyes as the air whooshed out of his lungs.

"Jimin!" he heard someone shout. His head spun from the lack of oxygen - he couldn't tell exactly who it was.

He saw only bits and flashes of the situation: the girl standing stock still, frozen to the spot in terror; Moonbyul racing towards him; a bright flash of metal as she threw her chakram. One of Solar's Japanese throwing knives embedded in the demon's scaly gray leg; Hwasa grabbing the girl and pulling her to safety.

He gasped for breath, feeling his consciousness slipping away. Suddenly, the demon jerked back, growling loudly. The arms around him loosened and he fell to the ground, spluttering for breath as the world spun around him. He threw his head back drawing in a huge gulping breath and saw his boyfriend clinging to the demon's back, grimly holding on despite the monster's efforts to dislodge him. Clinging on with his legs wrapped tightly around the demon's torso, he repeatedly stabbed at the tough scaly hide protecting the demon's neck.

"Yoongi!" Solar yelled, and the mint-haired boy glanced up, meeting her eyes and nodding slightly before grabbing the demon's jaw and holding it still. He gritted his teeth as the demon thrashed about, barely able to hold on while keeping the head steady.

As soon as Yoongi had positioned the head, Yongsun drew her hand back and threw another of her knives with deadly accuracy. The demon howled in pain as the knife pierced its eye, sinking in to the hilt. It bucked in agony and Yoongi was thrown off, landing on all fours with a grunt. Before he could move, the demon fell on him, snapping blindly at him as he struggled to keep its jaws away from his throat.

Hwasa was still protecting the little girl from the worst of the battle but Moonbyul and Solar did their best to pull the thing off Yoongi. Solar's crystal knife sliced straight through its right arm making it howl loudly but its jaws still snapped at Yoongi, the mismatched sharp teeth narrowly missing his pale throat.

Jimin struggled up from where he had fallen. Clenching his jaw in determination, he sprang at the grappling pair. Uttering a loud yell, he yanked the lizard-like demon's head back savagely and passed his knife in front of its bared throat. He straddled its shoulders to gain leverage as he grabbed the blade of the knife with his other hand, ignoring Yoongi's shout of shock. With a grunt, he threw his body back. His full weight was now resting on the edge of the sharp blade cutting into the demon's neck. One hand on the handle and the other slick with blood as the steel dug into his palm, the weight of his body did what Yoongi's stabs and his strikes had been unable to do - the blade passed straight through the tough scaly hide and severed the demon's head from its shoulders.

Jimin rolled away from the spasming body as sticky greenish black ichor spewed from the severed neck. Twitching and shuddering, the corpse of the huge demon folded in on itself until there was nothing left but a small patch of steaming ichor gleaming on the ground. Panting, Yoongi sat up gingerly, the scars on his arms bleeding from where he'd held the creature away from his neck.

"Hyung!" Jimin gasped, falling to his knees beside Yoongi. "Are you alright?"  His hands fluttered anxiously over the wounds, not daring to touch them. Yoongi ignored his question, instead grabbing his boyfriend by the neck and pulling him in to crush his lips against the other's. Jimin's eyes widened slightly in shock but he didn't protest, relaxing in Yoongi's arms and winding his own arms lightly around his neck. Yongsun and Moonbyul exchanged amused looks before discreetly turning away and heading over to where Hwasa was comforting the teary eyed little girl.

"What was that for?" Jimin asked, chuckling slightly as they pulled apart. Yoongi just sighed and buried his head in Jimin's neck.

"You scared me," he muttered into his shoulder, hands falling to Jimin's waist in a feather-light grip.

"I scared you? Hyung, you're the one that was almost bitten in half!" Jimin laughed incredulously.

"You were suffocating," Yoongi protested. "And that stunt with the knife! Just what were you thinking?" he complained, grabbing Jimin's wounded hand and staring in dismay at the deep cut there. Tutting, he grabbed his stele to carefully trace an iratze on the smaller boy's palm. Both Shadowhunters watched in satisfaction as the rune glowed burning red, the wound visibly receding and sizzling slightly as the ragged edges of the cut fluttered closed and brand new skin stretched itself over the raw pink scar.

Jimin took the stele from Yoongi and traced another iratze on his pale shoulder, planting a kiss on the completed rune as the scars on his arms slowly faded.

"Get a room!" a kid hooted, his friends all bursting into laughter as they surrounded the couple, reminding them that they were, in fact, in the middle of an elementary school playground. "Green hair and brown hair sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G--"

"Little brats," Yoongi sighed, standing and holding out a hand to help Jimin up. Blushing slightly in embarrassment, Jimin accepted his helping hand, brushing himself off self-consciously.

"Come on," Solar called from where she was standing with the others, Hwasa holding the little girl by the hand. "Let's head somewhere more private."

"With the kid?" Yoongi asked, raising an eyebrow as they joined the group. The girl shrank a little into Hwasa's side, intimidated by the minty haired boy's cold demeanor.

"Yes," Moonbyul sighed. "Turns out the kid has the Sight. We'll need to look more into things, so the kid comes with."

"Her name," Hwasa cut in, "is Seyeon." She frowned at her friend. "Seyeon has the Sight. She says she's always been able to see weird monsters and that her parents told her it was normal."

"Normal?" Jimin asked incredulously. "What, does the whole family have the Sight?"

"It would seem so," Yongsun sighed. "I don't even know. Maybe they're one of those old Shadowhunter families that gave up Shadowhunting ages ago, like the Lovelaces. In any case, we'll need to talk to the Clave."

"But what about the school?" Jimin asked. "We can't just take her without saying anything, that's practically kidnapping!" Seyeon giggled at that, peeking out from where she stood behind Hwasa's legs.

"Oh, right," Yongsun realized; since none of them had gone to mundane schools as children, she'd forgotten that schools needed compulsory attending and that you couldn't just take a kid out of school whenever you wanted to. She knelt to meet the girl's eyes. "Alright then, Seyeon - you'll stay here, at school, okay? We'll be back in a day or so to talk about what happened today." Seyeon nodded. "Will you be alright on your own?" Solar continued, slightly worried that the girl might have been traumatized by the experience. However, Seyeon nodded again, and there was a surprising hint of steel in her gaze that reassured her more than anything else could. "Good girl," Yongsun smiled, patting her on the head before straightening back up.

"All right guys, time to head back home," she declared, stretching her arms over her head. "Goodbye, Seyeon," she added, and the child nodded before running back to her friends, waving goodbye as she went. 

-------------------------

"What is a Kappa, anyway?" Jungkook asked as the pair made their way to the river. It was a nice day and there were a lot of people around. The light breeze that ruffled their hair cooled the warm air. It was a perfect autumn afternoon.

The place they were heading to was a large square right on the banks of the river, a stone pool, knee deep with tiny jets of water spouting up from little round holes in the ground. Children ran around among the mini fountains, laughing and shrieking as they were soaked by the random sprays of cold water.

"You ever heard of those old Japanese myths about water imps?" Taehyung asked, swinging his arms comfortably as he strode along.

"No," Jungkook frowned. "Water imps, huh?"

"Yeah, they're a type of Yokai," Taehyung explained. "The Japanese actually weren't too far off. They got most of the details right - they are water demons. Mischievous little devils," he snorted. "Kappas like to lure people into the body of water they live in, grabbing them once they get close enough and drowning them. They're pretty strong in water, so we'll be needing to take care to stay dry." Jungkook nodded. "They like human children best, but rumor says they love cucumbers even more. We're not entirely sure about that, but just in case -" Taehyung lifted the shopping bag he'd brought along into the air, shaking it slightly. "Cucumbers," he announced proudly.

"What does it look like?" Jungkook asked curiously.

"Scaly. Mostly green, sometimes yellow or blue. Protective carapace, smells like fish. Beak. Webbed hands and feet. Roughly the size and shape of a human child," Taehyung listed, counting the elements on his fingers. "That's about it, really." He shrugged.

"Woah," Jungkook laughed, impressed. "How did you manage to remember all that? I thought you never paid attention in class."

Taehyung shoved him lightly, pouting. "I do! It's just that there're so many other interesting things to concentrate on that I forget to listen sometimes. I still listen to what Hobi hyung and Moonbyul noona say, though."

He broke off, clutching at Jungkook's arm excitedly and pointing before him. "Kookie! Look! There it is!"

Indeed, there in front of them was the plaza and behind it, the river. The two immediately headed to the water bank, stopping on the steps leading down into the water. Jungkook peered down into the slightly murky water, not seeing anything except some reeds and pebbles on the floor of the river.

"Where?" he asked, confused. Taehyung tutted and grabbed his arm, guiding it until he was pointing at a dark patch of water just under the surface of the river. As if it had sensed them looking at it, the patch rippled and disappeared, the Kappa diving deeper and moving away.

"Alright," said Jungkook. "How do we get it to come close enough to kill, though?"

Taehyung grinned and Jungkook's face fell. "Oh, no," he groaned, already feeling a headache coming on. That glint in Taehyung's eyes promised nothing pleasant was in store for him.

"This is so stupid," Jungkook groaned. He was sitting on the lowest stone step of the plaza, his feet dangling in the water of the Han river. He held the cucumber in his hand.

"You're doing great, Kookie," Taehyung called from where he was standing on a crop of stone a little farther away, waiting with his bow held ready. He giggled at Jungkook's frustrated glare.

Jungkook sighed and turned away, halfheartedly biting into the cucumber. He winced slightly at the raw taste.

"Oh, what a delicious cucumber," he droned loudly, rolling his eyes. "Mmmm."

Far underneath the surface, the Kappa's ears perked up, its nostrils flaring. Its round, bugging eyes slowly rolled up to scrutinize the waters above. There. It could see a pair of legs dangling in the water, kicking light-heartedly. That was where the smell of cucumber was coming from.

Grinning to itself, it kicked its webbed feet, slowly rising until it was right underneath the boy with the cucumber. Little boy and cucumber - two of its favorite things, it thought to itself as it stretched out its webbed hands.

Up on the surface, Jungkook sighed as he took another reluctant bite of his cucumber.

"Hey, Tae?" he called, twisting around to look behind him. "I don't think this is worki-"

Taehyung's loud cry cut him off as the older boy spotted a dark shape surge up from the depths of the river.

Before either of them could react, before Taehyung could shoot, slimy webbed fingers wrapped tightly around Jungkook's bare ankles and yanked hard, pulling him down into the murky water. Jungkook let out a surprised cry that turned into a gurgle as his head disappeared below the surface of the water. Taehyung cursed loudly, scrambling down from his place to get a better aim on the Kappa.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he saw the two figures thrashing around just below the surface. The way the two were intertwined made it impossible for him to shoot - he was too afraid of hitting Jungkook by mistake.

Throwing away his bow, he grabbed a dagger and ran towards the water, tossing aside his shoes as he went.

Meanwhile, the Kappa was finding the boy to be a harder catch than usual. The boy, unlike his expectations, was a fighter. He wouldn't give up, battling the Kappa tooth and claw, resisting him every inch of the way.

The Kappa hissed as the boy suddenly let go of its arms, where he had been clawing just a few seconds ago. A sudden sting in its torso made the demon look down, confused, at the glint of silver reflecting off the blade of the knife embedded in its chest. That's strange, it thought hazily, I could have sworn that wasn't there a second ago.

That was the last thought it would ever have, as the runes traced on the handle of the knife glowed red. With a loud howl that echoed through the water, the demon writhed in agony, clawing in vain at the blade. As the water around the Kappa started roiling, the demon starting to spasm as it folded it on itself, Jungkook shot up like a bullet, gasping in a huge breath as soon as his head broke the surface.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung, who had been just about to dive in to his rescue, saw him and waded out, clutching at the shivering boy and helping him out of the river.

"The Kappa?" he asked anxiously as soon as he was sure Jungkook was unharmed. The boy gave a weak grin in response.

"Dead," he said proudly. "I lost the cucumber, though." He looked sadly at his empty hands. Taehyung let out a relieved bark of laughter, collapsing in a long-limbed heap beside the younger.

"Guess when I told Jin hyung you could probably handle it on your own, I wasn't wrong," Taehyung giggled. Jungkook joined in, still slightly out of breath.

"Ah, what a shame, though," Taehyung suddenly exclaimed, leaning back to lie on his back.

"What is?" asked Jungkook, bemused.

"I could have saved you," Taehyung grinned, turning his head slightly to look up at him. "Then, I would have been your Prince Charming."

Jungkook snorted. "What am I, a disney princess?" he snickered. "And I'm a Shadowhunter, Tae. I don't need saving." He winked cheekily down at the older boy. "Still, I wouldn't mind if it was you doing the saving," he grinned.

Taehyung squealed and slapped his back, laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. "OMG, Kookie! Wha- what was that incredibly cheesy line," he gasped out in between squeaks of laughter.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, completely straight faced. "What?" he asked innocently. "I just told the truth. When God made you, he must have been showing off." Taehyung squealed even louder, writhing in second-hand embarassment.

"Stop!!" he begged, but Jungkook was relentless.

"Was your dad an alien? Because I've never seen anyone as good-looking as you on earth." Even Jungkook was grinning now, while Taehyung's face was bright red, both from laughing too hard and from embarassment. "Where do you hide your wings?" he continued, thoroughly enjoying Taehyung's mortified squirming. "Oh! Was that an earthquake? Or did you just rock my world?" He sang the last three words, striking an extravagant pose before collapsing in laughter beside his hyung. They lay there for ages, just laughing, as the sun set before them. Whenever one managed to stop laughing for long enough, the other would inevitably end up making them fall back into helpless giggles.

"Joking aside, though," said Jungkook, sitting up finally, long after they were both exhausted from laughing too much. "You really are beautiful, hyung." Taehyung's breath caught at the fond look in the other's eyes and he felt the heat creep up his neck, flushing his face.

"Thanks," he murmured, smiling softly at Jungkook, who smiled back. They stayed like that in peaceful silence until Taehyung's phone rang - it was Seokjin, who'd been worrying that something had gone wrong since the two were taking longer than expected.

"Don't worry hyung!" Taehyung chirped as they hurriedly got ready to go home. "We handled it, no problem."

"Actually, I handled it," put in Jungkook, leaning in to talk into the phone.

"Really?" Seokjin's proud voice floated out of the phone's speakers. "Good job, Kookie! I'm so proud of you!"

Taehyung pouted. "Hey!! What about me?"

"What about you?"

"I'm your brother! You never say stuff like that to me!"

Seokjin laughed his squeaky laugh. "Of course," he chuckled. "You're my brother, why would I say nice stuff to you?" he teased, making Taehyung pout and whine.

"Anyways, come home safely," he said finally. "It's late."

"Yes, mom," both boys chorused, rolling their eyes.

"Yah!" Seokjin yelled, but Taehyung had already hung up. "Aish, those brats," he grumbled to Namjoon as he put away his phone. Namjoon just smiled indulgently, wrapping his arms around Seokjin in a back hug to comfort him. "Still, ever since I became Head of Institute, I've been feeling more and more like they really are my kids," he mused, slightly disgruntled. "Ugh. I'm too young and handsome to be a parent to all those little troublemakers," he scowled, but Namjoon could tell he was just joking. He knew Seokjin loved the others to bits and wanted to take care of them as best he could, as the oldest among them all. He smiled again, resting his chin on Jin's shoulder. "Our kids, then," he laughed softly. Seokjin blushed at that, but felt his heart warm at the thought that he wasn't alone in anything he did.