Suzume couldn't help it. One moment, she finally allowed herself to be submerged into the fragile delusion that she was safe, that someone had come to help her, that fate was finally helping her.

Then fate decided to say 'Sike' and pull the rug out from under her feet again.

"OH GOD-!" Instantly, her hand scrambled into her obi and she took the knife out, pointing it towards the demon to make her threat clear.

"Stay back!" she tried to say with as much bravado as she could muster despite how badly her hands were trembling.

(Was fear really an excuse for being weak? Or was weakness and fear two separate things? Perhaps it was weakness that made way to fear.

It didn't matter. The fact remains that the sparrow was still feebly weak and naïve. She let her guard drop and now, the clawed beast planned to take advantage of that.)

He froze, his eyes zeroed in on the weapon pointed at him, small but sharp and intending to hurt him. Then his gaze drifted to the girl, body tensed, hands shaking, legs on the verge of buckling, eyes scared but hardened with survival, a trickle of cold sweat dripped down and neck moving slightly as she swallowed and tried to control her breathing.

The girl- the girl was afraid of him, she was looking at him like he was a monster he-he-he-

'Please.....' he wanted to plead. 'Don't look at me like that.'

(He wanted to cry and howl in pain because he didn't want that. He didn't want her to look at him like he was a monster, a cursed being she didn't want in her life..........

Was that what he was?)

Then his eyes narrowed at the knife she grasped and he felt the instinct within him flare.

'Threat threat threat, danger danger danger, hurt, pain, escape, fight, danger, danger, DaNGer.' It screamed at him.

He snarled, baring his fangs, a hiss seeping through and striking her. He felt his claws sharpen while he crouched on all fours like the animal he was deep inside, both his tail whipped around agitatedly on edge.

Suzume froze when she got the message.

'He's gonna attack. He's gonna kill me.' She thought. 'I'm so screwed.'

She waited for him to pounce; she waited for him to pin her down and bury his claws in her skin; she waited for him to sink his fangs in and rip her apart; she waited for the crushing despair that death brought with it; she waited-

Wait............she was waiting.....

She was still alive.

'What the...what's he waiting for?' she wondered. Earlier she saw how he was willing to pounce onto the demon and fight it, undaunted. But now, it just stayed there, baring its fangs and hissing at her menacingly but not making any hostile movement.

Was this some tactic to scare her? Was he waiting for her to let her guard down before he attacked?

Then she noticed something about his aura. Something ........something was off.

Something different.

Suzume narrowed her eyes and focused past the fog of fatigue and the curtain of dimness in her room. Then she saw it and she gasped.

Mingling along the black aura, wandering around like it was lost yet so scared and confused was a blood red aura seemingly filled to the brim with so much sadness, looking so lost and confused.

Another aura accompanied it. It was mixing and swirling amongst the black to form a dull radiance. A neutral grey that was so dull, so broken and so empty that it brought tears to Suzume's eyes.

The combination of the black, blood red and grey looked so broken. So full of grief and sadness, wandering aimlessly because they were so lost and confused in this harsh world called life.

Then she saw something else flicker amongst it all.

A thin trail of white.

The white was oh so thin and oh so delicate. One moment it was there then the next, it was lost amongst the dark dull colours.

But Suzume saw it and then it hit her.

Purity.

Humanity.

Sadness.

Confusion.

Lost.

Fear.

The demon.....the one who saved her....he.......

He was just scared and confused. He was like a lost animal that had been pulled away from a world he thought he knew, a world he was comfortable in, a world he might've loved, only to be abandoned in a new one.

She felt the knife lower slightly and she unknowingly took a step forward to further inspect the demon crashing in her room. He released another warning hiss but this time, it seemed more desperate and fearful even.

Suzume hurriedly lowered the knife more and put her other hand out, palm outwards first in a peaceful gesture.

Then she saw the two flat objects pressed down against his head and the two whip-like things swishing about.

Cat ears and two cat tails.

She blinked.

'Cat ears and two tails?!' she thought, baffled. Then again, compared to the hideous demon with grey skin and plain red orbs as eyes........this was a much preferred change in looks.

'What cat has two tails?' she asked herself. She's heard of it before, a.....yokai, right? One told in Japanese folklore to give children a good scare.

'A nekomata.' She remembered. Her grandmother had once told her storied about the two-tailed cats.

'So he's a....cat demon? Does he just look like a cat or does he act like one too?' if the hissing was anything to go by.....she's gonna guess the latter was pretty spot on.

She stared at him and his slitted eyes glared back. But under the ferocity he put up as a front to scare her away, she felt her heart pang when she saw the hurt and confusion underneath it.

'He needs help.' She realized. 'He needs someone to help....he.... he needs a friend.' The thought of her, a human befriending a demon sounded so absurd. Yet.......

"A true friend is someone who can see the true you, even when you smile, even when you cry, even when you shout in anger and most importantly, even when you push them away."

Her mother's words gently reminded her. Suzume's heart panged and longed for her mother to actually be there, her comforting aura glowing gently beside her while her warm yet strong arms supported her.

(The sparrow observed the mangy stray cat from her perch. The stray cat hissed and snarled, making it clear it wanted to be left alone.

But under all the sharp ferocity, past the razor-sharp claws and bared fangs, under its slitted eyes of primal survival, the sparrow could see something else.

She saw the storm brewing beyond it all. She saw the hurricanes of emotions constantly moving, the gales howling to drown out thoughts and the downpour washing away hope.

Instantly, the sparrow knew what she had to do. Perhaps she could not fly but maybe........

Maybe she could help another broken one walk once more.)

Another hiss, this one louder and even more desperate with the undertone of a growl snapped Suzume out of her stupor. She realized that she was pushing it now. Time was running short and the demon's slitted eyes were wider now, growls were more guttural and feral, the pupils widening like moons in the ocean of blood red and the claws gripping the futon, the sharpness easily ripping through the fabric.

'Wait, if he's like a cat then maybe......' a plan began to formulate as she recalled those happier days where her mother took her out to the streets to feed the strays. At first it was frustrating because they kept running away from her but then her mother taught her how to approach them, how to reason with them and show that you meant no harm, that you were here to help them.

'Kami-sama, please give me courage. God I hope this works.' She thought. This could cost her an arm or a leg....literally.

Then again, what was life without taking a few risks?

Suzume tucked the knife away in the back of her obi and put both hands out, fingers spread and palms clear for him to see she held no weapon to harm him. Then she crouched down and tried to make herself as small as possible.

"Sssssh, it's ok." She told it gently. "I'm not gonna hurt you." She added. She was proud she managed not to stutter despite how nervous she was.

"I don't wanna hurt you." She repeated sincerely.

The tails stopped swishing so agitatedly and his hunched up shoulders slumped down, tension going away. He looked at her with those slitted blood red eyes except now the slits weren't as prominent, Suzume noted.

Slowly the two cat ears atop his head perked back up and turned around to the direction of her voice.

Suzume slowly inched forward like a crab.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, ok? It's ok, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you." She continued to coo as she slowly inched closer and closer.

He observed her curiously. She looked smaller now to appear less threatening and she even got rid of the knife to show she had nothing to hurt him with. She moved slowly towards him and her words were slow and sincere. Her eyes no longer looked at him with fear and he felt his being warm at that.

Then she saw something else in her brown yellow eyes. It glowed gently like the embers of a fire.

He saw compassion.

He saw kindness.

He saw it directed at him.

Did she..........did she care? Did she want to help a monster like him? Why? Why did she care? Why did he selfishly want her to keep caring for him?

Slowly, her hand inched closer and closer until it was hovering only a few centimetres away from him. He stared at the palm of her hand, the palm hovering inches away from him, wanting to reach out to him.

He slowly leaned forward.......

And her warm hand pressed against his cold pale skin.

Suzume inhaled sharply, waiting for a reaction, ready to pull her hand away at the sign of any fangs rearing to chomp it off.

But nothing happened.

Slowly, she caressed his face with one hand, her hand feeling so warm against his cold and fair- it actually seemed to be worrying pale to her, like porcelain- skin.

She brought another hand up and soon, both her hands were gently cupping his face, caressing it warmly the same way her mother would do for her.

He closed his eyes in content as the warmth from her hands spread through him, embracing him with a feeling he never knew he missed, he never knew he yearned for.

Love.

He leaned into her touch, not wanting it to leave him alone, not wanting it to abandon him and leave the void in his heart empty and cold again.

(The melody of laughter once again tinkled like background noise in his mind as he felt delicate fingers filled with warm and a belying strength caress him, embracing him like he was one to be treasured.)

He purred.

Suzume froze.

She slowly began to gently card her fingers through the hair and sure enough, the soft, deep, content, throaty rumble of a purr was elicited from her new....friend?

"Did you just....purr?" she asked.

As if in response, he purred again.

She tilted her head sideways slightly, intrigued. "Can you....understand me?" she asked.

He too tilted his head, mirroring hers, his slitted eyes blinking innocently.

Suzume found it adorable and very endearing.

"Huh........so you really are like a cat- oh!" she jolted slightly as he leaned in to her touch and rubbed his face against her palm like.....

Like a cat.

Suzume's face softened and she offered him a sympathetic smile.

"You're not a monster." She told him as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You're just scared. Lost. You just need someone .......someone to show that they care."

It made sense now. Goodness knows how hard it must be, how crushing it is to live a life where you're something inhumane, something twisted when sometimes, somewhere deep down, you're still human- A human that's been robbed of their humanity and love.

"I'm here for you." She found herself saying. "It's ok."

(The sparrow gently brushed her feathers against the matted fur of the stray cat as it chirped a melody to soothe the howls of grief, loss, confusion and pain in the cat's sharp ears.

She spread her wings over him like a protective blanket and gave it a peck on its soft muzzle.

"I am here for you." She reassured him.)

'You're not a monster.' He repeated her words in his head. He.....he wasn't?

He looked into her eyes and saw no deceit. All he saw were eyes glowing with compassion and kindness and sparking with determination.

She doesn't think he's a monster.

He wants to deny it, at the same time he felt like crying and selfishly believing that she was right.

Then he jolted as her rear slumped down on the tatami mats. A long relieved yet exhausted breath exhaled through her throat.

"Oh god, I need a break." She groaned to herself. Then her back hit the ground and her eyes closed, her breath evening until he could barely tell if she was breathing.

He blinked and stared down at her prone figure. One moment she was up then she suddenly just.....dropped. He slowly reached a clawed finger out.......

And poked her.

Nothing.

She just kept lying there, eyes closed and her expression peaceful without a care in the world.

He frowned, confused. Why was she lying down and not moving like that? Was she....was she.....

Horror crushed him as it dawned.

Was she dead?!

Instantly, he grabbed her shoulders- he made sure he was careful not to accidentally sink his sharp claws into her- and shook her vigorously, chirps and whines and meows and even yowls tearing through his throat as he pleaded for her to wake up.

With a snort and a gasp of shock, she woke up with a jolt and sat up, ramrod straight.

"Wha-what? What is it?" she asked, words slurring blearily as her head whipped back and forth like a bird.

He sighed in relief and rubbed his head against her.

"Huh? Oh, it's you." Suzume said and patted his head, eliciting another contented purr. "Goodnight." She said then slumped back down onto the tatami mats.

God, she was so exhausted she couldn't even muster the strength to drag herself to a proper futon to sleep.

She didn't even notice the slight discomfort or the slight coldness prickling her skin as she simply laid there as she finally fell into a much needed blissful, peaceful slumber.