“How’s your chicken?”

HaNa smiled, “It’s really good. Thanks for lunch. …but…aren’t you busy with things?”

YoungJae laughed as he stole some of HaNa’s chicken (earning him a whack on his hand with her chopsticks and a disapproving frown). “I would be, but I’m pretty much useless right now until the fox gets her head out of her .”

CHOMP.

“YAH! You little-”

“YoungJae! There are children around!” HaNa interrupted him before he could curse out loud at the fox that just bit his hand. He glared at Kira (who casually went back to eating her food) once she had let go and blew at his wounds with a pout. Despite wanting to hit the smirk right off of her smug face, he knew HaNa had some sort of strange attachment to the little ­ demon. HaNa took his injured hand and kissed it.

“Better?”

He smiled, nodding at HaNa, before returning to glaring at Kira.

“Does she REALLY have to be here?” whined YoungJae as HaNa had been the one that insisted that Kira join them on their lunch date.

“I thought she’d be lonely at home…besides, you need to learn to get along with her. I’m sure YongGuk-oppa would never kick you out…but if you don’t learn how to control your power, you might not be able to stay on the team,” she reasoned with a frown, concerned for YoungJae. He sighed. He already knew all that, but what was he supposed to do? He’s already trying everything to get along with the stubborn fox but nothing was working.

“What are your plans today?” HaNa asked, deciding a change of subject was probably for the best.

“Nothing for now. YongGuk said he was checking the perimeter by himself today,” YoungJae shrugged as he took a sip of his drink.

“What?” Kira perked up at his last statement. “Where is he? We’re going after him.”

“He said he was going by himself. I’m not going to go against orders,” YoungJae glared in disbelief at how impudent she could be.

“I don’t trust him. And you shouldn’t either,” scoffed Kira as she shoved the rest of the food in and began to leave before turning around and staring at YoungJae.

“What?”

“…aren’t you coming?”

“No.”

Kira glared, “I can’t leave the barrier if you don’t open it.”

“And you’re gonna run off when I let you through that barrier,” YoungJae countered. Kira rolled her eyes.

“Please, if I could leave, do you really think I would be bothering you at your lunch date?” she groaned in annoyance.

“…yes, because there’s food that you didn’t have to buy.”

“…you have a point. Still!” Kira huffed in irritation. “Look! Your revered leader has his dirty little secrets and I plan to reveal them if it’s the last thing I do.”

“What are you talking about?” YoungJae turned to the sulking demon, interest perked by her last statement. The fox merely flipped her tail up and down while staring at YoungJae in expectation. YoungJae turned to HaNa and bit his lip.

“Are you going to get in trouble with YongGuk-oppa again?” she questioned.

Silence.

HaNa sighed as she watched her boyfriend’s eyes look down while twirling his thumbs, “Just promise me you’ll stay out of trouble?”

“I love you, Angel!” YoungJae cheered, leaving a quick kiss on HaNa’s lips before bolting off. Kira gagged as YoungJae passed her. He smacked the back of her head, causing her to chase after him. HaNa chuckled as the two ran off. She hoped they would get along since they were partners whether they liked it or not.

~

“Hyung! You’re back wit-”

Chanyeol stopped abruptly in front of Suho and sniffed the terrified human in their leader’s arms. He looked back up in confusion at Suho. The older vampire shook his head. “No, Chanyeol, she’s not food.”

“She smells of wolves,” Kai commented with a grunt. Jae shook like a leaf and curled up further into Suho. She was absolutely petrified; it’s been such a long time since she had been alone, away from her pack. Jae had forgotten what being alone felt like. She hoped she would never have to feel so helpless again if she ever made it back to her pack aive.

“Oh, Hyung, M is back. They’re currently resting in the den. Do you want to go see them? Suho turned to D.O in shock. “I tended to them, half of them are extremely weak and they had no choice but to come back. They also said that the whole west side is packed with wolves.”

Suho sighed, “Alright, I scoped out the territory here. Seems like it belongs to a small pack of wolves so I think we should be able to expand a bit over them to see if there’s more food on that side.”

The poor leader is trying to wrack his brain for how he was going to feed 12 vampires. It was hard enough with 6, which is why they split in the first place. Jae sensed the tension in the room and nuzzled gently under Suho’s chin. He smiled down at her and patted her head.

“D.O, would you mind tending to this poor girl’s wounds? I’m going to check with Kris.” As Suho placed Jae down on a spare chair, he was jerked back as the girl refused to let go of her hold around his neck. He heard a small whimper from her when he tried to move back again. “Hey…it’s okay. I’m not leaving you; I’m just going to check on my brothers and I’ll be back, okay? They won’t hurt you. I promise. You can trust me.”

He grabbed the hands that had a death grip on his neck and untangled her limbs from his neck. The fear and uncertainty in her eyes tugged at Suho for a bit, but he was worried for his brothers and needed to check on them. He kissed her forehead and patted her hair down.

“D.O, take care of her. The rest of you…don’t even talk to her let alone touch her.” Suho glared at the others before going back into the den to check on his brothers. “Kris.”

EXO-M’s leader turned to him and they exchanged greetings. They started catching up on their findings while apart. As they were talking, Luhan suddenly got up from his bed, wincing at the injuries on his back before walking out to where the EXO-K members were. Kris and Suho exchanged looks before following Luhan. His eyes were red as he looked over at Jae. Before anyone could ask him what was wrong, Luhan charged at Jae. Suho flew forward and intercepted Luhan before he could reach Jae, who jumped out of her chair and hissed at Luhan while snarling.

“You smell familiar! You were there when Kira brought me into Jihye!” Luhan demanded as his red eyes went back to normal. His voice sounded more desperate than anything else. “Is Kira okay? Please tell me!”

Jae cocked her head in confusion, slowly lowering her arched posture. Despite Luhan recognizing her, she didn’t remember the vampire at all so she merely just stared at him.

“I know she went back to the Stymphalian birds’ mountain afterwards…do you…is she still alive?” Luhan asked when the girl didn’t answer. His voice softened when he realized that was a possibility. He breathed a sigh of relief when Jae nodded her head. “Thank goodness…”

“She’s a familiar now.”

A suffocating silence fell over the room.

“What?” Suho asked in surprise. “Kira? The fox? As in the fox that managed to escape EVERYTHING during the War? That fox?”

Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Jae merely nodded her head slowly. She wasn’t sure about all the details that he was talking about, but she was sure Kira was a fox and she was, in fact, instructed to let Aron know that she was a familiar now.

“How is that possible? Kira is the master at breaking in and out of things…” Luhan mumbled in confusion to himself more than anyone else.

“Looks like the fox has finally been tamed.”

~

“YAH! GET BACK HERE AND STOP RUNNING OFF ON YOUR OWN!”

“Why don’t you hurry your slow up?!”

“Oh, so SORRY that I can’t jump from tree to tree like a ing squirrel!”

“You should be!”

YoungJae groaned in frustration as Kira huffed at him from a tree branch above him. “Do you even know how to find him?”

Kira stood up straight on the branch and surveyed her surroundings. “I could send my fox fire after him…”

“Would that work?” YoungJae wondered as Kira jumped down from the tree.

She sighed, “Yes, but it would also draw unnecessary attention. And I don’t-”

“You don’t wha-” Kira shushed him mid-sentence with her ears perked straight up, perpendicular to her eye level. Her pupils narrowed as she shifted into her full demon form and stood in front of YoungJae. The confused mage strained his ears in an attempt to try and hear what the fox was hearing (despite knowing her senses were MUCH more acute than his). Just as he began to hear something akin to a tornado coming their way, Kira shoved YoungJae roughly to the side as an unimaginable force ran straight into Kira. Had she not forcefully remove YoungJae from his spot, the mage would have gotten the full impact of the terrifying force. The force of the impact shot Kira’s body back a few feet, but the fox was quick on her toes and immediately prepared herself for another attack. As the dust cleared up, YoungJae could finally make out the shape of another demon (evident by the dog ears pinned back aggressively against his head).

“Kira! What is the meaning of this?!” Hoya growled as his eyes glowed gold.

“I’m making sure you don’t do anything stupid, Stupid,” she answered calmly, though her glare indicated that she was not as calm as her voice would suggest.

“Let me murder him,” demanded the werewolf.

“What did I just say, Hoya?” scoffed Kira.

“Why are you protecting him?! He enslaved you to be his familiar!”

“Are you TRYING to start a war?! What’s going to happen when you murder a mage, huh? You think the humans will let it go! Wake up, you !” Kira hissed in anger at Hoya’s one track mind. Once more, Hoya lunged at YoungJae. Kira intercepted him by throwing her body forward. However, she didn't escape that attack unscathed as Hoya’s claws tore through the skin on her shoulder. Her whimper of pain caused him to shoot back in surprise.

“What are you doing?!”

“Are you even listening to me anymore?! I’m saving you and other demons that live in this forest from being massacred!”

So far from being reasoned with, Hoya pinned Kira to a tree by her neck with a death grip. She didn’t even bother struggling against his grip. Instead she grabbed his hand with both her hands and adjusted herself so gravity wasn’t pulling all of her dangling weight by her head.

“Are you betraying me?!” he growled as his fingers dug into her neck. His eyes were borderline red at that point.

“DO YOU WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HUNDREDS OF DEATHS?!”

Silence. All that could be heard was the panting off the two wound-up demons as they began a glaring contest. YoungJae had an inkling that Kira wasn’t just talking about a foreboding but something close to a recollection. Finally, Hoya let go of Kira, causing her to collapse onto the floor. With an overshadowing stare, he stepped back with a snarl of disgust.

“Traitor.”

With that last resentful comment, he bolted away (though not before standing in front of Kira for a few extra moments). While most people would be angry at his outburst, Kira only felt sad, especially from the pained look in Hoya’s eyes as he left her. An uncomfortable silence fell the mage and familiar pair. With a cough, Kira pulled herself up and rubbed her bruised neck.

“Come on. We need to find YongGuk,” Kira mumbled.

“Wait…”

Kira stopped though she didn’t bother turning around.

“…let’s just…go home. We’ll have HimChan-hyung heal your wounds,” YoungJae suggested.

“They’re minor. I’m fine.”

“But-”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better because you pity me, stop or I’ll burn your face off. Besides…” she scoffed bitterly. “I’m used to being left behind.”

~

“You shouldn’t go that way.”

“This way, this way!”

“Are you going to listen to me or the dog?”

YongGuk sighed as he rubbed his forehead. He regretted taking Tigger with him on this adventure of his. Not that he didn’t love the dog but he was WAY too excited for his own good. And he was already dealing with a snarky demon that wanted nothing more to go back onto the other side of the Wall away from danger. He had “threatened” Su to help him find a certain fae for him in exchange for his silence. The Stymphalian bird had flared in anger at his proposal, calling him all sorts of names from liar to jerk to you ing liar face. He didn’t even know where the demon had learned such colorful words but they all just spewed up, surprising YongGuk to say the least. After convincing her that he just wanted this one favor, would provide protection, and really had no interest in revealing her secret, they made their trek past the barrier.

“I don’t understand why you have me looking for her when you have a dog,” Su mumbled in irritation as she flew over a bush in her way.

“As you can tell, he isn’t the focused when there’s so many smells everywhere…” YongGuk mumbled as he decided to pull Tigger towards him. “Besides, I figured as a demon, you would know the turf better.”

Su hummed noncommittally and continued her trek towards the fae territory. Of course she knew where the faes lived. EVERYONE knew where the faes lived. No one is, however, stupid enough to actually go TOWARDS their territory.

Except apparently this moron.

She sighed. Being in demon territory was now such a foreign feeling for her. She feared for her safety as such as low level demon, easy picking for any predators. As the mage she walked with looked the other direction, she took the chance to glower at him. What did this mage want to do with a fae? Was he going to catch one as a familiar? Clearly he was asking for a death wish. Of course, that would be best for her since that would be one less person that would know her secret. Granted…without the mage, she wouldn’t know how to get back onto the other side of the Wall.

The struggles were real.

She had no idea how powerful this mage was, but as they closed in on the fae territory, Su’s heart began to race. Her natural instincts were to fly away (so her wings came out on her own accord, surprising YongGuk).

Especially when a beam of light began charging at her.

The Stymphalian bird took flight defensively as YongGuk moved forward and threw up a barrier.

The barrier was broken easily and the beam of light hit YongGuk directly.

Su was sure that the mage was done for.

…until she heard giggling.

“YongGuk!”

“J-Jieun?”

She suddenly gasped and smacked him before whisper-yelling, “What are you doing here?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Come on, we need to get out of here!”

Before he could argue, the fae led him away. Su was so shocked that she didn’t even realize YongGuk had grabbed her to make sure she wasn’t stranded by herself. Tigger barked happily after the group.

“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

“…YongGuk, why do you have a runt bird?”

“Bird, bird, bird!”

YongGuk groaned.

=====================================================================

BE PROUD OF ME. I UPDATED.

……

/goes back into her corner of sadness/

~Kira :3

Studying forever.