Nekotonezumi - 7

Elly was struggling to process her situation. She was angry at being caught, then furious at the suffering his bound spell caused her. She knew it was nothing next to what the humans in the village would do to her, and that caused her stress but was tolerable. What was worse was this human male screaming at her one moment, forcing painful memories out of her as if it was his right, then treating her to a gift - something no human had ever done for her before. 

She hated him. 

She feared him. 

She wasn't sure what was wrong with him.

After they had gotten her a change in clothing, they stayed in an inn for a few days. They needed to pose as a human couple for this as she couldn't leave his side for more than a few feet. Hizashi had an easier method of hiding: he dematerialized, sinking into a bottle stored on the demon hunter's belt. He could be called out at any time but this meant she had no one to talk to but her captor.

"Relax, cat," he sighed in irritation as she placed her back up on a wall, "I'm not going to harm you."

"Why?" She fussed a little at her hairpiece, designed to hide her ears. "That's all you've been doing to me. Why should I trust you?" 

"Fair enough," he muttered, scratching his chest. "Look. We're a few days off from the place I promised to drop you off."

"Great." Her eyes went flat, devoid of emotion. "I'm sure you'll be glad to finish the job."

"Damn it." He shook his head, strands of dark hair tickling his neck as it came free of the loose bun it was in. "Listen to me. We came here because I wanted to see something. You were accused of desecrating several rich people's graves. But why would you have done that? Why just them?"

"Because I didn't."

"There's a couple of jewelry shops in this town. I propose we visit a few of them today."

"Mya?"

"I have an idea." Aizawa stared off into the distance. "It disturbs me, but if it's true I shall need some time to think." 

He sat there for some time, meditating on the matter at hand. After a quarter of an hour it had grown dark and the inn folk were hanging cheerfully glowing lanterns outside. Elly flinched slightly as he stood up. He held a hand out to her, his expression neutral.

"What?" 

"Let's go eat."

"Oh. Okay." She breathed in deeply and took his hand. It was warm, rough, but gentle as his fingers closed about hers. When she didn't move fast enough he impatiently pulled her to his side, causing them to bump against one another. This close to him she could smell the smoky scent of his clothing and the mellow, sweet scent of whatever soap he had used to wash and shave with. He blinked lazily down at her, an amused look on his face.

"Stay close to me, cat."

It might have been nice to have a choice, but she was more frightened at this new emotion she might be feeling towards the dark-haired human. She thought that maybe, if she had her own will, she might just have done that on her own.