I always get this weird feeling in my gut around the same time every few days. It only happens when I'm at my part-time job at the bakery, and it only last for ten minutes or so, but it's often enough that it bugs me. When it happens, I usually head to the back to wait it out. However, my coworkers have noticed that I disappear, and they seem to think I'm missing out on something.

"Not today, you aren't," the Lead Baker, Mrs. Tendou, says, grabbing my arm. I've been working here for a few months now, and apparently that means my boss can man-handle me. She pushes me out of the back, onto the sales floor, where I stumble, colliding with someone.

"Ah, so sorry!" I squeak, bowing before looking up at the person I bumped into. My face goes bright red, probably as red as his hair, and I curse myself for being so awkward.

"It's quite all right," he replies smoothly, his voice soft. He's wearing a pink school uniform, and I rack my brain, trying to remember what school it belongs to. Starts with an M….

I realize I'm staring, and I blush even harder, taking a step back and almost knocking over a display. "Shoot," I whine under my breath as I steady it. Mrs. Tendou is nice and all, but if I send a dozen sweet buns to the floor, it's coming out of my paycheck; I'm sure of it.

"Are you new here?" I look up at the young man who is still standing there, a pleasant expression on his face. It doesn't quite touch his eyes. "I come here fairly often, but I don't think I've seen you around."

"Ah, well, I've been here for a few months, but I spend a lot of time in the back," I reply, brushing a bit of flour from my shirt sleeve.

"That might explain it," he says, smiling. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss-?"

"Asaki." I know in this culture, it's more common to call people by their last names, but Asaki is the name my mother gave me. It's infinitely more valuable to me than my father's surname.

"Miss Asaki." He's still smiling that odd smile, and I find myself having to fight not to get lost in his sad green eyes.

"You can just call me Asaki. Everyone else does."

"I'm Shuichi Minamino," he says, bowing a little. "However, Shuichi would suffice."

"Well, Shuichi," I offer, his name feeling strange on my tongue, "it's a pleasure to meet you." Skipping the formalities is such a forward way of doing things, but it doesn't bother me.

"Likewise." He gives me a genuine smile, and I feel my heart skip a beat. Damn. I don't talk to cute guys very well, and he's really pretty. He frowns, asking "Are you all right, Asaki? Your face is red."

"Fine, I'm fine," I assert, waving my hands in front of me like, I realize in hindsight, some kind of weirdo. "Anything I can help you with?"

Frowning softly, he says, "Well, perhaps a recommendation? I usually buy the same few things when I come here. Presents for my mother."

"Oh, well, um." I proceed to show him around a little, pointing out the freshest things or the more popular ones. He pauses at one item, looking at the little tag beneath it. They're kind of lumpy and studded with goopy chocolate chips, but I recognize them immediately.

"These cookies look strange," he says. Shots fired.

"Ah, you don't want those. I made them, but I'm not very good. Not only do they look bad, but they're pretty average tasting." I laugh weakly, shrugging. "Friday, the Lead Baker will make them, so you should wait until then." He keeps staring at them before looking up at me.

"You remind me of someone." His gaze is piercing as it falls on me, and I find myself frozen to the spot. "Have we met before?"

It takes me a second to respond, distracted as I am by how expressive his eyes are. They look...sad? "No way," I reply, waving a hand in front of my face dismissively. "There's no way I'd forget meeting someone like you." As soon as the words are out, I want to take them back. What the hell did I just say? That was so embarrassing! "I-I mean, you kind of stand out. Not in a bad way, just...your hair, a-and your bearing, and…." I stop talking, wishing I could have just stayed in the back.

Shuichi laughs, and I feel even worse than before. I hang my head as he says, "I'm sorry, I'm not really laughing at you. It's just, it's been a long time since someone was so candid with me."

"Yay, me," I mutter, sighing.

"Are you sure you're all right? You seem a bit nervous."

"I'm fine!" I snap, if only to mask the fact that I'm not. Once again, I regret my words. "S-sorry. I'm just...tired."

Now he's really giving me a strange look. "Asaki…."

"Hey, Asaki, quit flirting and get back to work!" I jump, turning to see Kana and Haruka, the other two part-timers waving at me, smirks on their faces.

"I'm not flirting!" I shout. "Mind your own business." Shuichi's still looking at me strangely, so I figure now's a good time to take my leave before I scare him away and he doesn't come back. "Sorry, Shuichi. I hope I was of assistance to you."

"Very much," he replies, smiling again.

"You have sad eyes," I tell him, before hurrying away into the kitchen. Maybe that was too frank of me, but it's true. Even when smiling, his eyes seem distant, like he's in a whole other world.

I shake my head, hoping to get all thoughts of Shuichi Minamino from my mind. By the time the day is over, I've all but forgotten him. As we're cleaning up, getting ready to close, Haruka comes up to me.

"Asaki, someone bought some of your weird cookies," she exclaims.

"Are you serious?" I don't mean to sound as surprised as she does, but no one has bought the cookies I've made in a few weeks. "Who?" I look over at Kana who's been minding the register most of the day.

"It was that guy you were talking to. The one with the red hair," Kana states, her voice slow and soft.

"Well, I'll be damned," I say. "I told him not to."

"Maybe he has a crush on you," Haruka purrs.

"Other way around," Kana whispers, and I feel my face flush.

"Drop dead," I tell her...but maybe she isn't wrong.

...

Sarayashiki Junior High isn't exactly the nicest school in the area, but it's definitely one of the cheapest. Living on my own isn't easy, and the piddly allowance my father gives me barely covers food, so the cheaper the better. All of this would be fine if it weren't for one thing.

"Anno, get back here!" I flinch at my last name, sighing. Ever since Yusuke Urameshi had his near death experience, he's been giving off this weird energy. To make matters worse, he's been chasing me after school. I don't know how the hell he can sense my demon energy all of a sudden, but it's irritating. Demons aren't exactly welcomed with open arms in Living World, but I'm not all demon either.

I stick my tongue out at him as I jump a fence, which only serves to make him run faster. We've been doing this for a week or so, and it's already getting old for me. Slipping around a corner and making sure no one is watching, I change into my human form, leaning against the wall and breathing hard. On a list of benefits for being a half-demon, of which there are very few, having an always ready disguise is near the top.

Urameshi barrels past me, sliding to a stop and turning to face me. "Hey, did you see a girl come this way? She has long dark-red hair in a braid, wearing our school uniform?"

I know this guy scares most of the other students in the area. Even those from other schools are afraid of him, but I sense largely good intentions from him, especially since he nearly died. That doesn't mean I want to get caught by him. Whatever reason he's chasing demon-me can't be good.

I shake my head, my wavy brown hair falling into my face a little. "Not through here."

"Sorry to bother you," he grunts, looking pissed. He runs on past me, heading the opposite direction I plan on going. Stretching my arms high over my head, I yawn before making my way over to the bakery. Seventh Leaven, it's called. Mrs. Tendou thinks she's clever.

Stepping inside, I jump out of the way of our delivery man, Kai Fujiwara who walks past without a word, arms full of boxes. He's never all that talkative, but I'm ninety percent sure he has a thing for Haruka. He's always looking at her when they're in the store together, and he offers to help her and no one else. It would be annoying if I needed his help. I'm physically stronger than he is anyhow.

"Welcome back, Asaki!" Haruka calls.

"Hey," I respond, sighing. I head to the back of the bakery, putting on an apron and taking my place beside Mrs. Tendou to help prep some buns. It smells heavenly in the kitchen, like sweets and fresh bread. Seventh Leaven sells half Japanese sweets and half Western ones, so there's a good variety of scents to come in contact with.

"I see you've returned," she says to me as I step up beside her.

"Why does everyone sound so surprised about this? Haruka always welcomes me like she's amazed I come in."

Mrs. Tendou laughs. "You're still pretty new, dear. After our last slew of bad part-timers, I can't blame her for being surprised." Sighing, I reach for some dough, but Mrs. Tendou blocks my hand. "I want you to work on those cookies of yours. If that young man comes back complaining about the quality of them, we may have to pull them from the floor altogether."

"I still don't know why you let me do this, anyway," I state, nonplussed.

" I think you have potential!" She laughs, passing me a bowl and a whisk. "Now, get to it."

Before long, I have the same, somewhat passable cookies. "Give it another try," Mrs. Tendou says, and this time she watches me. With a few tweaks, this next set at least looks a little more like cookies.

"All right, Asaki. Go put them in their usual spot."

"I am sorry, Mrs. Tendou. I'll work harder." I take the cookies and arrange them on their display before heading back into the kitchen. Grabbing several boxes of cookies that had been baked that morning to refill the emptier-looking spots, I head back out front.

It isn't until I stumble in the exact same spot as yesterday that I remember the universe has a sense of humor. One arm catches me around the middle, and another catches the boxes that nearly fell, preventing anything from hitting the floor.

"Asaki! Are you all right?" I look up to find myself staring at none of than Shuichi Minamino.

"Yeah," I say, righting myself, face bright red from shame. "Sorry I keep bumping into you like this."

"Not at all," he replies easily. He hands me half the boxes, following me with the other half. I have him set them all down before I start opening them and taking out the goods.

"Thanks for your help," I say.

"It was no trouble. And how are you today?"

He's so darn polite it's jarring. "Fine."

"Same as yesterday, I see."

I freeze, wondering if my face isn't just going to be permanently red. "Y-yes. How about you?"

"Doing well. Those cookies you made were rather good."

"Ha. You don't have to worry about sparing my feelings. I already know they're nothing compared to what the Lead Baker can do."

"You shouldn't sell yourself short." I shake my head as he continues. "My mother and I really enjoyed them."

"Well, that makes two of you." I shrug. "I don't think they're half-bad either, but, like I said, you have to try them when someone else makes them." As I put another pan of baked goods out, I clap my hands together. "Meiou!" I look over at Shuichi who has a surprised expression on his face.

"Sorry," I say. "I was just trying to figure out why I recognize your uniform. It's Meiou High." A high school student. That means he's older than me. In human years at least.

"Right," he replies, smiling. "And yours is Sarayashiki Junior High."

"Yeah." He knows my school uniform too. Suddenly, picking the cheapest school near my place doesn't sound so good anymore. I self-consciously fiddle with the hem of my skirt.

"I know a boy who goes there. Yusuke Urameshi." I flinch, and Shuichi laughs. "I suppose you don't like him then?"

"It's not that," I say. "More...I don't really know him. He's just a kid in my grade with a reputation for violence. Everyone says he's nothing but trouble, but he doesn't really give off that feeling to me."

"Do you like him?" Which sounds an awful lot like his first question, but the look on his face tells me what he means.

"Nooooooo. He's not really my type. Besides, he has Keiko Yukimura. I think everyone's just waiting for them to graduate so they can get married."

"I see." Shuichi nods. "I definitely got the feeling he cared for her very much."

"So, you know Keiko too," I say, frowning. Why would a high school student from a different part of town know so much about a guy like Urameshi? "How do-"

"Asaki. I need you to mind the register for me." I jump at Kana's monotone right beside me.

"Y-yeah, sure." She nods at me before walking outside. I think she goes to meet her boyfriend on her lunch break, but I'm not really sure. "Sorry, Shuichi. I guess I ought to actually do some work."

He merely nods, and I grab the empty boxes, taking them with me to the register and putting them behind the counter. I have to force myself to focus on transactions instead of watching the redhead walk around the store. I wasn't a total idiot today, was I? This question rebounds in my skull until I almost can't take it anymore.

"Asaki?"

"Hm?" Looking up into green eyes, I jump, hitting my hand on the counter. "Shhhh-ooot," I hiss.

"That looks painful. Are you all right?" Second time today he's asked me that question.

"No sweat," I say, pushing a little bit of my healing energy into my hand to alleviate the redness and the pain. I hold my hand up, saying, "It sounded a lot worse than it was."

He nods, a small smile on his face, but there's something off about it. What is he thinking? "That's relieving." He hands me the little tray of baked goods he's picked out, and I shake my head.

"What would it take for me to convince you not to eat these?" I ask, gesturing to my cookies.

He frowns, considering, or at least pretending to. "Well, I suppose you could stop making them."

"Cheeky!" I laugh, and he grins, making my heart jump. That's one hell of a smile.

"Really, they're not that bad."

"They taste kind of like if you described a cookie to someone, but they'd never seen one or eaten one, and then you expected them to make one."

He shakes his head, still smiling. "That's hardly true."

Before I can say anything else, there's a tap on my shoulder. I look over to see Kana standing there, looking sleepy. "I can take over."

"Oh, yeah," I say, not really wanting to go. "Let me finish up, okay?" She stares at me for a long moment before nodding slowly. "Thanks, Kana." Looking back at Shuichi, I say, "Sorry."

"Not at all." I ring him up and bid him goodbye. Once he's gone, I step to one side, exhaling hugely.

"You've got it bad," Kana says. She doesn't give me time to ask what I have, immediately helping the next customer in line. With a shrug, I grab the empty boxes, taking them to the back where I stack them to use later.

Haruka, Kana, Fujiwara, and I all end our shifts at the same time tonight, so when the store closes, we say goodbye to Mrs. Tendou and make our way out into the night. Summer is on its way, so it's pleasantly warm out. Pretty soon, cicadas will be the constant soundtrack of the day and night. It makes me wonder if they actually sleep.

"That guy is so cute!" Haruka shouts, breaking me from my cicada musings.

"Who's cute?" I ask, only mildly interested.

"That redhead. You know, the one you've been flirting with."

"I'm not flirting!" I snap, shaking my head. Fujiwara looks a little angry, furthering my guess about his feelings for Haruka.

"And I'm a world-class baker," she retorts, laughing. "What's his name?"

"Shuichi Minamino," I mumble, not meeting her eyes.

"Minamino, huh?"

"I heard her call him Shuichi," Kana says.

"Ooh! Does he call you Asaki?" Haruka asks, bumping into me.

"Everyone calls me Asaki," I reply.

"Are you sure you haven't met him before? Calling him by his first name after only two days is pretty quick for you. You still call Kai by his last name."

"Positive." I'd put some thought into that after Shuichi asked me, and I came to the same answer. If I'd seen him before yesterday, I would have remembered. "Besides, Fujiwara still calls me Anno, despite my asking him not to."

The guy in question merely shrugs, looking at the sky. He's a high-schooler, fifteen or so, but he goes to a different school than Shuichi. Kana and Haruka both go to Kazanegafuchi Junior High, Sarayashiki's rival school. If someone from either school saw us walking together, we'd probably get harassed. Not that I'm worried. I could beat any normal human any day.

"He still calls all of us by our last names," Kana says. "He doesn't count."

"Well said!" Haruka practically cheers. We reach the road where I part from everyone else, and I wave goodbye to everyone, not necessarily glad to be heading home, but happy for a little peace and quiet. I really enjoy spending time with those guys, but sometimes, I just need to be alone.

The sun set not that long ago, so the sky isn't fully dark, but it's close. Haruka and Kana used to offer to walk me to my place, but I assured them it was okay. The darkness never scared me.

I decide to take a shortcut through the park today, hoping to get home so I can study, when a scream reaches my ears. Immediately, I'm on alert, changing into demon form as an uncomfortable shudder races through me. Looking around, I see the source of the scream: a human is lying on the ground, a weak demon looming over him.

Before I came to Living World, I might not have batted an eye. Before I wrote off my father and left everything I'd ever known behind, I would have let nature take its course. However, I've learned a lot since I came here….

Moving forward, the weak demon doesn't notice me until I'm right in front of him. He looks up from the human who's fatally wounded, blood seeping from a slash across his chest. The demon clicks its long claws, and they glint red in the moonlight.

"Hey, finder's keepers," it hisses at me.

"I just ate," I reply. "And while I respect that some demons need to eat humans, you really ought to pick your victims better." The demon snarls at me, and I sigh. "Look, I'm giving you two choices: either you walk away now with your life, or you continue to try and eat this human, in which case, you'll be dead before you get any closer."

The demon snarls at me, and I hold up one hand. Slowly, a ball of fire materializes, growing steadily brighter. I can smell his fear. He takes a step back, and I think, for a second, he's going to retreat. Instead, he launches himself toward me. He barely makes it off the ground before I chuck the fire at him, incinerating him in an instant. All that's left is ash and the smell of burnt flesh.

I sneer at the ash before leaning over the human. Placing my hands just over the gash, I close the wound, feeling my energy seep out of me. When it's sealed properly, I move his body away from the demon's remains to somewhere he'll be found. With that, I head off into the night, suddenly itching for something to punch. If only more people chose to run.