A/N: Hello! I'm finally back with another chapter ^-^ I know it took me a long time to finish this one, but life has been complicated these past few months and I only managed to finish it and be satisfied with what I wrote around now.

Anyway, thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story! I'm really happy to know you're liking this story!

This chapter was betaread by lunarshores. Thank you once again :D Now, on to the chapter!

Important Words:

Miko - Shinto term. Name given to a shrine maiden or a supplementary priestess who was once likely seen as a shaman.

Haori - A hip or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, which adds formality to an outfit. Haori were originally worn only by men, until it became a fashion for women in the Meiji period.

Tsukimono - It's a mix of the term tsuki, which means 'possession', and mono, which means 'thing'. Although they are collectively known by the same name, different types of tsukimono use –tsuki as a suffix, such as kappa-tsuki, tengu-tsuki or kitsune-tsuki.

Ace looked at his human reflection on the river with a frown. A few droplets of water were sliding down his wet face to his chin, where they rested for a few seconds before falling randomly and disrupting the calm surface of the river. Ace turned his attention to the side, making sure to observe his surroundings with caution while he tried to catch any suspicious sound. However, besides the soft noise of the water, the forest around him was the same as always.

That's what frustrated Ace to no end. Nothing around him gave an explanation as to why he was feeling so restless, which only made him feel worse.

Dissatisfied, Ace passed a hand on his face and shook it above the river, getting rid of the last drops of water. He had been sleeping a while before, but he couldn't blame this feeling on his sleepiness anymore, since he was wide awake and his senses were working well. Getting up with a sigh, Ace decided it was better to head back and do his best at ignoring this feeling.

Ace looked one more time to the river before shaking his head, exasperated at himself. He stopped by a tree and made his Kitsune ears appear, trying to remember which way he had come from. A weird soft noise drew his attention, making him turn his head to the side. He felt a prickle on the back of his neck, and in the next second he threw himself to the right, hissing when he felt something sharp cut through the air by his left cheek.

Ace put one finger on the place, frowning at how he felt it stinging, before taking it away and noticing with surprise a bit of blood on it. His posture turned defensive, and he growled at the direction whatever had hurt him had come from, his tails and claws now mingling with his human features. He tried to look with the corner of his eye at what had cut him, and when he identified the object stuck on the tree, his breath caught on his throat.

A blessed dagger.

Ace narrowed his eyes and took a few steps away from it, apprehension starting to course through him. He could feel the awful vibe coming from that dagger even from afar, concentrated especially around the few kanji on the handle, just like the rumors he'd heard of blessed weapons had said. It was his first time seeing one, though, and it was just his luck that it belonged to someone who wasn't friendly.

He turned in the direction the dagger had come from only to see dozens of strange papers flying fast towards him. Ace raised his clawed hands and destroyed most, but when a few escaped and hit him, he had to jump to the side, already feeling the draining effect they had created. The others still coming didn't change directions and flew until they encountered a tree, then proceeded to fall uselessly to the ground.

Ace ripped the few papers from his body, noticing how they had the same kanji written on them. So it's an exorcist, huh. Figures, they never give up on chasing us. Although he mocked them on his mind, Ace couldn't help but keep tense when he noticed that the dagger was missing from the tree, not having seen when it had been taken out, before snorting. He might be facing a dangerous weapon for him, but while it was in the hands of a measly human, Ace could take care of it even after a bit drained.

Ace's ears twitched at a noise coming from his left, and he turned just in time to see a man clad in black and red run to him, dagger held by one hand. Ace smirked and didn't waste a second before lunging towards him, evading the first attack and readying his claws to strike.

The next few minutes were hazy on Ace's mind. He remembered he had the upper hand due to his speed, but the well-aimed hits and cuts from the exorcist got him by surprise. After a while with blurs of mixed red, black and green, Ace found himself lying on the ground, many scratches littering his arms and a stinging pain coming from another cut on his cheek and a deep one on his side.

The exorcist approached him as he talked about something, but Ace didn't care enough to listen. Or maybe he did, since he knew he felt rage fill him as the other's mouth moved, but he couldn't remember much from that time. For some reason, his head was spinning, and Ace could only curse the blasted dagger the man had.

It was then that he heard his name being yelled, and through the pain, he felt panic as he saw figures reach him and the exorcist. He wanted to tell them to go away, but his voice didn't seem to want to work. The exorcist turned away from him, giving Ace a blurry view of a big kanji written on the back of his clothes for a moment, before he moved and a new fight seemed to start.

Ace couldn't see much since the blurs were moving too fast, so he blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, wanting to understand what was happening. He knew he had to find a way to get up and help them, or at least warn about the blessed dagger, but his limbs weren't cooperating. Ace wondered idly if the weapon could have possibly been poisoned, but his weakness could have been because of the blood he could feel sipping from him and the damned strange papers.

It took him a few minutes to manage to sit up and clear his sight, and by then the noises of the fight had faded out. At first, he only saw broken tree trunks and branches, but then he spotted them.

Patches of grass stained in red.

Ace's eyes widened and he swallowed thickly, heart starting to beat quicker as an awful sense of dread grew inside him. He wanted to turn away, but his eyes were glued to the blood spread on the ground. There was too much for it to be from a simple, harmless wound, and as much as he tried, he couldn't discern who it was from.

Ace started feeling sick, and it was only then that he managed to look somewhere else. He took a deep breath and moved one hand to the cut on his side, remembering there was blood flowing through it. He leaned against the closest tree and struggled to get up, only turning back to the stains when he succeeded. He slowly followed the path they created, scrunching his nose at the smell, until he spotted something different and froze, a piercing cold feeling washing over him.

From the new angle, he could see them, clothes turning a darker shade in many spots as they lay in a puddle of blood. Arms were stretched in Ace's direction, almost as if trying to reach him, and faces twisted in an expression of pain, unseeing eyes seeming to stare right at Ace.

Ace shook his head in disbelief and tried to move back only to fail, his legs not cooperating and leaving him paralyzed and staring at the scene. He tried swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, tried ignoring the sudden wetness on his eyes and the trembling of his limbs, but as he took a shaky breath, and the sick smell of blood reached him in full force once again, he couldn't hold it in anymore.

The leaves shook as he roared his despair to the uncaring sky.

Ace woke up with a start and bolted upright, heart racing and gasping for air as one of his hands fisted the cloth around his chest in an automatic response. His blurred eyes looked around wildly as he panted, trying to make sense of where he was and what had happened through the haze of panic that had his senses prickling.

Remembrance came to Ace in the next second, and he scowled at the sky while lying down, rubbing his cheeks and eyes before covering them with his arms. "Fuck it. I didn't need that."

Ace took a few shaky breaths with closed eyes and concentrated on hearing the bustle of the city, trying to calm himself down with the now normal sounds to him. His furry ears twitched uncomfortably at the noise from nearby shops he was starting to hear over the heavy sound of his own breathing and still quick heartbeats; even annoying, he preferred to endure it now than to go to the calm forest. It'd only make him feel worse in the state he was in.

After a few minutes, Ace deemed he had his feelings and senses under enough control, so he sat up and opened his eyes. He noticed at once that besides his ears, his three tails had come out while he slept in his human form, as well as a bit of fur on his wrists and arms, but this didn't bother him. He couldn't bring himself to worry at the moment if someone had seen him, but given his place in the middle of a roof, he doubted there was any possibility.

Ace ran a hand through his hair before his lips curled down in distaste. It wasn't the first time he had had this damn nightmare, but given that it was mixed with his memories of that day, it still left a sour feeling behind. Even now, when he was awake, he could remember the details so vividly; the big quantity of blood staining the grass, the sickening smell that reached his nose, the unseeing eyes staring right at him-

Ace squeezed his eyes shut and suppressed a shudder, wishing the images on his mind would just go away. He was being stupid worrying about it so much, and he knew it very well. That wasn't real, it was just a stupid nightmare his uncertainty had created. There had been no bodies and definitely less blood splashed around. He shouldn't think about the possibilities of that fight until he confronted the exorcist.

He breathed deeply twice and opened his eyes again. I wonder if Nami also has dreams like this plaguing her. Ace thought bitterly before running his hand through his hair. I really need to stop this, or I'm going to drive myself crazy with all this waiting. Maybe I should go run on the forest to spend some of this leftover energy…

Satisfied with his idea, Ace got up and stretched, taking his time to take a few more deep breaths while he ignored how his anxiety returned. He was certain that there'd be no problem if he took the day to relax and didn't search for prey, so he wasn't worried about that; the rumors were going wild around the town, and they wouldn't disappear in just one day. Besides, he had so much energy left because of how frequently he was eating, that he had to stay in his human form all the time to try to spend it, so he missed his fox appearance. It'd be worth going to the forest, Ace concluded.

He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds, feeling his natural features disappearing whist fake human ones replaced them. He frowned in displeasure, hating the fact that he had to hide his true appearance, but took comfort in the fact that in a few minutes that'd change.

Ace went to the edge of the roof and nimbly jumped down, falling on the empty alleyway hidden from the sun and going to the busy street to his left. The humans walking around him didn't take notice of someone else joining them from a strange place, so Ace was left to his thoughts while he walked in the direction to the closest edge of the city.

The mid-morning sun felt comfortable on his skin and helped Ace get rid of what was left of sleep on him. He was still tired, but he wasn't planning on going back to sleep anytime soon, so this was good for him. He only hoped Nami wouldn't see him before he managed to run for a while. It wasn't like she didn't already know something was happening – Ace knew Nami for long enough to recognize her discreet pondering glances -, but he knew this wasn't something she needed to worry about. It'd be over soon, and until then he could deal with a few annoying nightmares.

Ace was taken out of his reverie when he bumped onto an old woman, making her drop the bag she had been carrying. A tired sigh left her lips before she glared at him, reminding Ace he was the one to blame in this situation.

"I'm deeply sorry for this, ma'am." He bowed before kneeling to start gathering the fallen objects and a wrapped fish to put inside the bad, but he didn't have enough time to finish before the old woman started ranting. Ace held in an exasperated snort – he'd known this was coming - and tuned her out after a few words, nodding and trying to make an apologetic face during the whole time.

It wasn't long before Ace was looking around the ground to make sure he had gotten everything before he got up and gave the bag to the woman with one more apology.

"You should be more careful next time! If I was holding something that could break, you'd have some serious problems, young man!" The old woman got her bag, annoyance written on her face though something else shined in her eyes. Ace's mind didn't have enough time to discover what it was before it was gone. "At least you had the decency to help me, though you look completely awful. What's with those clothes? You shouldn't go out of your home when you're not presentable!"

Ace's eyebrows rose in confusion before turning to a clear window close by, seeing the inside of a shop briefly before focusing on his transparent reflection. Tired eyes, tousled hair with a twig stuck in a knot and wrinkled clothes greeted him, making Ace frown. He didn't think he looked as bad as the old woman made it seem, but it was still good that he didn't intend to get any prey today since he was sure his appearance wouldn't help him in it.

Intrusive hands suddenly reached to his head and tangled themselves in his hair, fingers maneuvering through strands as they combed it and took the twig away. Wait, what? Ace's mind took a second to figure out the woman was trying to make him 'presentable' by herself. It was easy to see amusement in her eyes now, and Ace felt annoyance take over him. He tried to pry her away, only to make her move her attention to his hakamashita, doing her best to straighten it while avoiding Ace's hands trying to get her away.

The old woman finally took a step back, nodding in acceptance, and Ace had to shove down his desire to use his claws on her. Who did this human think she was to start doing that with him? What a weird woman.

"It's a pity I can't do anything about your eyes. You should sleep more." She added, making Ace huff. With the impending arrival of the exorcist, his mind hadn't been leaving him alone for long enough, which coupled with all the energy he now had, prevented him from sleeping well. It was a wonder he had managed to nap for a bit on that roof, so 'sleeping more' wasn't going to happen.

The old woman looked him over one more time before repeating what she said before once again and going away as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. Ace sent a glare at her back and at anyone close by who he spotted chuckling at the scene. With another huff and wanting nothing more than to reach the forest and morph into his Kitsune form, Ace started walking again.

"What, already going away? You seemed to be having so much fun…"

Ace stopped at the familiar voice and, suppressing a frustrated groan, turned to his left, spotting with easy the speaker sitting on a bench. With an amused grin on his face, Marco supported what seemed to be a small piece of wood on his lap and waved at him, a clear invitation for Ace to come closer.

Of course it couldn't be someone I could ignore. He sighed inside his mind. It'd do him no good to keep going and possibly get Marco annoyed at him – he wasn't about to throw away his effort in seducing Marco in these last few days just because he wasn't in a good mood -, so he had no other choice but to stay.

"Why don't you try having someone suddenly start 'fixing' you then? I'm sure you'll love it." Ace rolled his eyes, but started walking towards Marco nonetheless.

He saw with mild surprise that the bench was located at the end of the small park of the city, not having noticed before that he had been walking by it. From what Ace could see, Marco's position gave him perfect view of where Ace had been stopped by the old woman a few minutes ago, so it was no wonder he had seen what happened.

"Don't be like that, yoi. I'm sure she only meant good by that." Marco added with a chuckle, and Ace couldn't help a small smile from appearing at his face at the attractive sound.

"If you say so."

Marco sent Ace another amused smile before patting the space on the bench beside him. Ace hesitated for only a moment before giving in and going to sit there, turning to look curiously at the piece of wood Marco picked up again. There was almost no bark anymore, which coupled with its strange format and irregular parts made Ace realize it was being carved.

"You carve wood?" The question escaped Ace before he could stop it.

Marco made an affirmative noise and turned the wood around his hand, a strange look passing by his face and going away before Ace could identify it. "I need money to live and keep traveling, so selling crafted wood is my best option considering I never stay too long anywhere. It's not much, but I receive a sum good enough to keep going."

"You're good at it," Ace commented while analyzing the barely visible details that were starting to appear. Seems like a crouched animal…

"Thanks." A content smile grew on Marco's face just before he turned back to Ace.

Ace couldn't help but return the smile, albeit with less enthusiasm, when he spotted the sincerity floating in those blue eyes. Marco was a curious person. Sometimes it was easy to identify what he was feeling, but during other times it was nearly impossible, which considering Ace's experience in reading human's expressions was frustrating and interesting at the same time. Every time Ace saw Marco, he couldn't help but think again of how he had made a good choice in choosing him. It was just a pity Marco would end up dead not much longer from then; he was a fun company, Ace had to admit.

Ace almost frowned outwardly when he realized the path his thoughts were taking. What was with him and almost feeling sympathy for a human?

"And what about you?"

"Huh?" Ace looked at him in confusion, noting belatedly that Marco had been speaking something that he hadn't heard.

Marco only raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem bothered by his distraction. "I was asking what you do, since you said you're also a traveler."

"Oh." Ace cursed himself in his mind. He couldn't afford to not pay attention and risk losing part of the progress he had made so far by getting Marco upset with him. Especially considering they were playing a game, Ace had to make sure he showed he was still interested unless he wanted all his efforts to be in vain.

And yet, even at the remembrance of their game, Ace couldn't bring himself to play his part now.

Fiddling with the tip of his sleeve, Ace answered the first thing that came to his mind. "I fish."

"Fish, yoi?" Marco's surprised tone almost made Ace cringe. Okay, so maybe he should have thought of a better answer.

"Yeah! You know, people eat a lot of fish, so I try to go to cities with lakes and rivers where I can get some and sell to any merchant interested. My friend helps me too, though she prefers to deal more with the selling part and, yeah." Ace rubbed his neck with a small grin as he realized he was starting to rant. As much as he disliked admitting it, he was still feeling restless; his nerves were too on edge.

"I see." Marco chuckled, and Ace's smile turned sheepish. It was clear Marco had noticed his babbling.

Ace opened his mouth to continue the conversation somehow – since he was stuck there for a while, he might as well turn the time productive -, when a loud meow sounded from close and startled him. Looking down he was met with one pair of big brown eyes staring at him from in front of his legs with two others almost hidden under the bench doing the same. The black fur with grey patches on the face accompanying the eyes was what made a memory from days ago come to the front of his mind.

"Wait. Are you the mother cat from the alley?" Ace asked, with his brow furrowed, the bigger cat. The simple meow he received as an answer wasn't a surprise.

"She is," Ace could hear the amusement in Marco's voice without having to look at his face. When he turned to him, he found Marco petting a third kitten that was now resting on his lap and purring satisfied. Just like when Ace first saw Marco, he seemed to get along well with the cats.

"Heh, didn't expect to see them again." One of the other two kittens came out of its hidden place and nudged his leg. Ace bent down enough to rest his hand on its head before passing his fingers through its fur and close to its ear. The soft purr in answer made Ace smile.

"They were sleeping under this bench when I arrived. Must have woken up with our voices." Marco added, and Ace saw him follow the mother cat's movement to the next tree, where she lied down and seemed to go to sleep again.

Hmm, seems like she trusts us with her kittens.

"You get along well with them." Ace commented absentmindedly.

Marco chuckled. "Well, they've kept me company ever since I arrived at this city, so I got used to having them around."

"So you guys go out a lot together?" Ace grinned cheekily at him.

"Oh, all the time," Marco rolled his eyes. "We're best friends, yoi."

Ace laughed lightly as an image of Marco going around the city with four cats following him entered his mind. "You must have a lot of fun."

"They don't talk a lot, so I can say I have many moments of peace and quiet." As if on cue, the kitten on his lap meowed and pawed at his sleeve, trying to get his attention back. "Well, maybe not many."

Ace shook his head, but couldn't control the smile on his face from growing at the interaction between Marco and the animals. It was quite cute, in a way.

Then a sudden thought entered his mind. Could the still in progress carved wood be a cat? When he tried asking Marco, he only received a smile in answer.

"And talking about carving wood," Marco started and rescued the unfinished cat from under the kitten. He put it in one of his hakama's pockets and retrieved what seemed to be an intact piece of wood a bit bigger than the other one. "I want to ask you a favor."

"A favor?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I'd like for you to pose for me."

Whatever Ace had been expecting Marco to ask, it wasn't that. "What?"

"No, you aren't hearing things, yoi." His reaction seemed to amuse Marco. "I want to carve a person next, but some details are complicated to replicate without looking at them. If I have someone pose for me, it's easier."

Ace hummed in understanding before shrugging. "Well, why not? Sure, I can do it." He raised an eyebrow and waved one finger in Marco's direction. "You better not mess with my figure."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to do your pretty face justice." Marco smirked.

"Very well." Ace tried to keep a serious face, but after a few seconds he started laughing, Marco accompanying him. Then a sudden realization came to Ace, and he stopped slowly.

During the whole conversation, he couldn't say he had been flirting, and yet, it was a pleasurable one. Heck, he had even laughed! It was strange, if he stopped to think about it. He wasn't feeling as bad as before, his restlessness seeming to give up on pestering him for a while, and though he couldn't say he was completely fine, he was… lighter, in a way.

Ace wanted to snort at the mere thought of prey helping in making him relax through something else that not sex.

He opened his mouth, though to say what he wasn't sure, when a strong wind passed by them, blowing Ace's hair into his face and almost taking Marco's piece of wood as the other kitten jumped on his lap with a loud meow. It lasted for a few seconds before turning into a breeze, the ruffling of the leaves of the trees nearby the only sound between them for a while.

"What was that, yoi? A storm is coming or what?" Marco put the wood inside his pocket before passing his hands softly on the kittens' head. He looked to the sky and frowned, his dropped eyes narrowing a bit more.

Ace also looked up, noticing the dark clouds moving and getting lowly in front of the already covered sun. Uneasiness grew inside of him; there was something wrong. "Yeah, seems like one. It's going to get dark and rain very soon."

"I think I can sneak them in with me today." Marco commented and Ace noticed he seemed absent minded. "You should go to wherever you're staying too."

"Yeah…" Ace looked at the sky one more time before glancing at the swinging leaves. His eyes widened, and he stiffened. "I'll be going then. I'll see you another day, and I promise to pose then. Bye!" He flashed Marco one of his common flirting grins, although a bit tense, and barely saw the confused frown he received in answer. He waved goodbye and ran down the street in the direction of the forest without another word.

Ace almost bumped into many humans in his hurry, but he didn't stop like he'd normally do. Storms usually came with strong winds, so there was nothing wrong with that, but he knew they didn't just disappear and turn into breezes. Ace only knew one creature who could make that happen and was in that city, and with the building storm coming and the wind picking up naturally, that had been the only warning he could get that wouldn't be mistaken with the wind from now. He didn't have time to waste.

I wonder what Nami wants. She never uses her wind like this unless it's a serious matter that can't wait. Trying not to think if it could mean the exorcist somehow was too close or anything of the sorts, Ace concentrated on running as fast as he could, growling occasionally when his hair was thrown into his face every few seconds and blocked his view.

In a few more minutes, he passed the outskirts of the city and entered the forest, immediately sniffing and trusting his sense of smell would help him find Nami quicker. He was about to change into his Kitsune form, anxiety coursing through him, when his arm was grabbed by someone and pulled, barely stopping him in time.

"I'm here, you idiot." Nami's familiar voice came as a relief for Ace. He breathed deeply before focusing on her tense posture, noticing how she had her natural ears and two tails out. "You were starting to follow the trail I left earlier today."

"So, what is it?" Ace followed Nami's lead and let some of his Kitsune features appear as his earlier relief changed to worry. There was no doubt something serious was happening.

Nami pressed her lips in a thin line and made a gesture with her head for Ace to follow her. They didn't talk while walking, but before Ace could ask again, she stopped and turned to him.

"I was going to search for a safe place to stay during the storm when I found that." Nami said while looking to her left.

He followed the direction and saw, to his surprise, a young woman sitting against a tree. Her status as a miko was clear by her traditional white haori and red hakama and Ace wondered if she was from the temple that was on the other side of the forest. Her black hair was wet even though it still wasn't raining, and she had her eyes closed, a peaceful expression on her face while she sat cross-legged. Her most strange feature, however, were the thin lines creating scale patterns close to her eyes and going down the sides of her cheeks.

"Tsukimono?" Ace turned to Nami with a frown. "By what?"

"I have no idea, but there's no doubt she's possessed." She nodded before her hands clenched and she turned worried eyes to Ace. "Now look at what she's holding."

Ace approached the woman slowly before crouching in front of her, uneasiness coursing through him once again. Both her hands rested on her lap, but only one was closed tightly around what seemed to be some sort of red cloth. From what he could see, its side was strangely cut, possibly having been ripped from a bigger piece.

Ace glanced at Nami, but at her expectant look, he turned his attention back to the cloth. That was when the soft breeze surrounding them got a bit stronger and a faint smell reached Ace's nose.

He closed his eyes in concentration, for he knew it was familiar. When his mind finally connected it to its origin, Ace's eyes snapped open and widened, a piercing cold feeling washing over him. There was no way he could mistake it.

"That's from Luffy!"