I felt so woozy when i woke up; there was some indistinct sound coming from near by but all I could manage to focus on was the warmth emanating from something nearby. I felt comforted by the warmth - then my eyes snapped open. Warmth? Adrenaline shot through me as my brain analyzed a million different possibilities in a nano-second. Was i kidnapped? Had someone cut me? No, my instincts would have protected me even in sleep; whoever, or whatever this creature was, it meant me no harm - for now at least. Suddenly, the sounds became very clear to me: " Jin...Jin...wake up!" Misuzu.

"what do you want?" I snapped at her. Here i was, trying to get some sleep and she wakes me up. How irritating!

"Grouchy bastard,"she muttered under her breathe - making sure it was just loud enough for me to hear, "I have been looking for you all night! Answer your phone once in a while, !" Thwack!

"Itai!" I grasped my sore head in my hand, "what was that for, you insufferable cow?!"

"Kuh!" She raised her chin and sneered in over exaggerated offense, "Fine then! Have it YOUR way!"

"Fine! Maybe then I can finally get a moments peace!"

Misuzu grunted and stropped off, throwing over her shoulder: "Inran wants to see you! And don't be late this time! Or I will personally see to it that the only blood you ever see again, is your own!"

"Don't be late this time, or the only blood you will see is your own," I openly mocked her as she walked away, "I' d like to see you try!" I shouted after her.

Stupid Misuzu! 'Inran wants to see you, ebleh bleh bleh, bleh bleh bleh bleh, bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh!' I mimicked Misuzu's whiny voice in my head. "Stupid ," i muttered. 'What does that old bastard want' I wondered to myself and got up. I glanced over to the stone bench, yep, he was gone. And I'll probably never see him again. I felt sad at that and there was a painful twinge in my heart that i didn't fully understand, nor did i care to analyze it.

At Inran's place ~

                              "Ohayou gozaimasu, Inran-sama," I bowed respectfully (i.e. deeply) - albeit, begrudgingly - to the Lord of the city.

"Jin, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, Inran-sama!"

"Good," Uh oh, I know that tone, this will definitely be something I don't want to do. "I need you watch to someone for me, from now on you are to be his guardian. You must enter his high school and befriend him, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Great! I knew it! He wants me to babysit some bra- "The boy is my son Jin," -lovely person. "but under no circumstances should he find out, got it?!"

"Got it, sir."

"Good, Misuzu will be our link. From now on you will only talk to her about this, report to her at the end of every week. For now, she will explain everything else. You may leave now."

"Hai, Inran-sama, I will not fail you." Inran stared at me with an unspoken threat in his eyes, then ignored my presence entirely - which I took as my cue to leave.

Misuzu, who was standing out in the hall, told me to follow her. She led me out to a car - and a pretty nice one too; a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes - told me to get in then she got in the drivers side and started driving. The entire car journey was silent, uncomfortably so, and when she finally stopped the car she got out without a word and I followed her. She locked the car and went into a rather posh looking apartment block. Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore. I had to speak!

"What are we doing here Misuzu?" I asked her none too politely.

"This is where you will live from now on. Don't worry about the rent, it will be taken care of for you. Everything you need will be restocked for you on Monday's while you are at school. Everyone who needs in has a key - including me - so don't leave the door unlocked when you leave." She handed me a key and led me over to the elevators. She pressed the button and turned to face me, " Oh, and Jin. For God's sake, keep the place clean. We may be willing to do a lot for you but people will get pissy if you are messy." Whatever.

The elevator arrived and we stepped in, "Floor thirteen,"she told me and I pressed the button and leaned back on the cool metal rail. It was two in the afternoon and I was still awake, normally I would sleep during the day but now, now school will change that. I'll have to be awake during the whole day - which doesn't leave a lot of time for hunting. Ughh! This is going to be awful! And what's worst is that I get the feeling that this will be a long running job. I'll probably have to suffer through years of looking after Inran's brat!

Ding! "Doors opening"

We stepped out of the elevator and Misuzu led me straight down a hall to room  #449. I unlocked the door with the key that she had given me in the lobby and walked in to survey the room.

"Okay, here are your car keys," she said, handing me the keys for the Camaro we had come in,"Get some sleep and look around, I'll be back tomorrow morning to tell you everything else that you need to know. So, enjoy, and don't wreck the place."

She turned to head out the door,"Wait! Why tomorrow?" She sighed audibly and stopped in her tracks. She spun on the spot, "In case it had escaped your notice birdbrain, it's the weekend. I have things to do, things that if I don't get done I don't get to enjoy my weekend, so, ah...-bubye."

"But how will you get back without a car, moron?" She gave me a look that (if I was human) could have sent me six feet under. She gave me a tight, angry smile and said,"Like this," she clicked her fingers once and vanished. Witches! They're always so smarmy just because they can do a couple of things that we can't. Of course, Inran does use them as his slaves so, I guess you take superiority where you can get it. I closed the door and locked it, then went looking for the bedroom. I couldn't care less about the rest of the apartment at the moment, I'm too tired. 

 Once I found my bedroom I took my shoes off and collapsed onto the bed. Ahh...so soft. I could feel all my weight drop as my body relaxed and for once, I dozed off with a smile on my face.