"I think he knows." Hizashi held her hand the first time they shared a moment relatively alone after the incident.
"There's nothing we can do if he does." She squeezed and he hung his head.
"I shouldn't have given in to the moment. Now there's more than just you in danger."
"It's just as much my weakness." Elly's ears flattened, free of the cloth she had worn as a guise. They had walked back to the river to the shelter he had built. Aizawa had promised them one more night of rest before they began the last leg of their journey.
"That place..." He shook his head, his blond hair shifting behind him. "Why did we go there? He spoke with an older human, but we were so involved with that disgusting... and, there he is."
They grew silent as the subject of their discussion walked out from behind the tree he had been finishing his business near. He looked down at their hands and they jumped but didn't let go. It was too late for that.
"Interesting," was all he said at first. The two demons watched their captor with apprehension as he brought his bag out and thrust a hand deep inside. Hizashi instinctively moved in front of her, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. "Ah. There."
Some extra wrapped food was tossed at Elly's feet. She stared down at it nervously. "Why..?"
"You two mated during the storm, didn't you."
The thunder demon's eyes narrowed. He held a hand up, placing it on her lips behind him. She bent and picked up the food instead. "What are you getting at, man?"
Aizawa tugged at his black hair, tucking some strands that had come free behind his ears. "You knew we were bringing her back."
"Yeah." He bit his lip, his bare, tattooed chest heaving as he prepared for the worst.
"You chose to impregnate her when you could have just had sex. Or simply refrained. <i>Why?</i>" For once the demon hunter sounded genuinly baffled. He bent to one side to blink at the bedraggled cat woman wearing his ripped, secondhand robe. "What is special about this one that none of the others had? We've captured succubi before, yet you never cared."
"Fuck." Hizashi turned to hold her when she gasped in shock. "I'd tell you if you could understand. But I doubt you can. You don't listen to me, to her, to any of us that reason with you. You're blinded by hate. I still feel things other than that."
"Love, Hizashi?" He scoffed. "Really? You've known her but two days. That's barely enough time to decide you're going to screw, let alone sire offspring."
"This is not what we need to be talking about." He kissed her briefly on the cheek before walking steadfastly up to their captor. "Listen to me, <i>please</i>, if just this once. There's no solid evidence she did anything wrong. You're not a stupid human. Just blind."
"Zashi..!"
"Great beginning argument," Aizawa said drily. "So, what am I missing?"
"There's no proof. No motive, unless you believe demons are evil for the sake of being evil. She had no reason to do what they accuse her of. And you saw yourself she refuses to use that specific skill."
He frowned. "Even so..."
"She wouldn't use it, Aizawa. If she supposedly did to steal, why wouldn't she to save herself from a fate worse than death? If she was gonna raise the damned dead, she would have used the against <i>you</i>."
"Go on."
"So you hurt her more than the others because, deep down, you don't believe she's guilty."
Elly's ears snapped up. "Wh - what?"
Aizawa bared his teeth at his familiar in an eerie grin. "You think so?"
"Why else would you keep pushing her so hard? You wanted her to act out, to show how evil she was. But she's not." He smiled lovingly at her. "She's strong, and she's beautiful. But she hasn't shown one fraction of the traits some of those others we brought in did."
Elly crept closer, flinching every time the human so much as blinked in her direction. Hizashi held his arms out to her and she sat in his lap. He took the food from her and unwrapped a generous slab of dried seafood.
"What did you ask the old man in that village?" Her mate handed her some squid and she nibbled at it, her eyes wide.
"I asked directions."
"You what."
"Directions to the village past the river."
"You knew the men would... that they don't see women a lot, and..." He slapped his forehead, his green eyes stunned. "You bastard."
"You did nothing there, either." The human sighed, rubbing at his temples. "I'm not sure what to think anymore."
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