Another successfully completed mission, the extermination of a demon that had exhausted the hunters enough to reduce the number of employees in the Public Safety Bureau. You and Aki had lost a few friends, and for that reason you walked in silence all the way to your room, where you lived together as roommates. Upon returning home, Aki collapsed on his bed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it immediately. Aki's shirt flew to the floor and you sat on the windowsill, taking out your cigarette.

"Why did you suggest I run away today?"

Aki spoke first, interrupting the silence in the room, but he didn't look up at you. There was a painful stabbing in your chest at the realization of how many mates both of you had lost today. Before the fight, you'd offered the devil hunter to run away with you, but you hadn't finished your sentence, but it hadn't left Hayakawa's mind for a moment. He couldn't abandon his target so easily, but then why was that offer so lodged in his mind?