"She is human! You can't allow her to stay here!"

Through hear near-drunken haze, Juvia could hear a muffled multitude of voices through the tightly closed door, as if no one cared if the newcomer would be woken up. She tried to open her eyes, but regretted it immediately as dizziness almost blinded her, forcing her to press her head even further into the pillow. It felt like ages since she'd been warm, even though that old grandmother had attacked her only yesterday. She gasped as she struggled to move her stiff, aching bones. With shaky hands, she touched her shoulder and carefully examined the flesh. She swallowed the bile in her throat as she noticed how uneven her shoulder was. Juvia, thankfully, felt no pain as she lay there, feeling as if someone had detached her mind from her body.

"Look, I know you like humans, but what are the chances of her surviving? We're better off without her, Yomo should drop her off somewhere before she wakes up."

Juvia's pounding headache had returned, and she couldn't help but shut her eyes, praying that it would go away. With unsteady effort she attempted to concentrate on the voices that lurked behind the door.

"Touka, she is staying here, at least until she wakes up. We would be no different from the others if we left her there to die."

They spoke of her as a lost puppy, or even an enemy. Not knowing who she was, where she came from or what she felt, they let her stay in their home, even though she could harm them. A small smile formed on Juvia's lips as she felt warm tears fall down her pale cheeks. No, they could come in any minute, and she would not let strangers see her tears. She was too prideful to allow such a thing. She raised her shaky hand to wipe off her tears but her shoulder protested. It stung her when she tried to move it and she let out a soft whimper of pain.

Silence fell on the other side of the door; it seemed that Juvia's voice was loud enough for them to hear, and they did not waste a second. Footsteps replaced the angry voices and she could hear them hurrying closer and closer to the room she was in. The door creaked, letting more light into the dim-lighted room. Juvia could barely hear their light footsteps on the carpet, but the sound suddenly faded out of existence.

Cracking one eye open, peering around the room, just to see unfamiliar people studying her, and her stomach painfully tied up in knots.

"Are you okay?"

The girl's gaze fell on the skinny boy, gentle smile on his lips; he seemed honestly concerned about her. Yet she could not think of an answer to his question. Was she alright? Laying there, in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by unfamiliar people? Her thoughts were slow and hazy, and she stared dully at the strangers.

The mysterious boy's smile faded slowly as she withheld her reply, simply staring at him with those dead eyes, disoriented and drugged with pain killers.

"Where.. is Juvia?" A soft voice punctuated the silence, leaving the foreign faces without an answer. Juvia gazed at the strangers, attempting to find a recognizable face in that strange room.

She failed. "Anteiku." Juvia warily eyed the speaker, surprised to find an old man smiling comfortably at her. However, the victim's insecure and confused stare was more than enough to tell the staff of Anteiku that she had no idea where she was.

"Tokyo; 20th ward." The skinny boy offered Juvia a sympathetic smile; his eyepatch shocked her a little, but she focused on his words. Was there any city named Tokyo in her country? How did she end up there? Her piercing blue eyes questioned the boy silently, making him uncomfortably under her gaze.

"This is ridiculous." Turning her focus on the other person that uttered those words, she found that she was also unfamiliar to her, like everything else. Juvia turned to the one who had spoken: a short, irritated girl whose frown deepened under Juvia's questioning gawk. Then the girl, who looked like she had unresolved anger issues, turned her back to the wounded young woman in the bed. And then she left, exited the room without even taking a glance at her again. Okay, this was definitely not what Juvia ever expected to happen.

"What is your name, miss?" The old man spoke again, breaking the silence and drawing Juvia's attention to him again. He wanted to know her name, maybe that way he would figure out that she was from Magnolia, maybe that way any of them would find out how to return Juvia to her family.

"Juvia.. Juvia Lockser." The girl revealed, her voice shaky and hoarse, full of expectations that she couldn't hide well.

"Juvia, we shall let you rest a bit, you are wounded after all. I think that you will agree if I say that this is enough excitement for all of us, for now." Blunette on the bed still couldn't comprehend what was going on, how should she react on all of this, how should she speak to them..? She forced a meek smile on her lips, nodding to the old man's statement even though she knew that her pulsing headache will come back from that simple movement.

"Kaneki, let's go." They withdrew out of the room, leaving Juvia alone once more. Her head sank back in the pillow; her thoughts were half-formed and vague, impossible to understand, but they were still there, tormenting her slowly, not going away. Her eyes were closed as she begged for sleep to come.

Thanks so much to The Demon Prosecutor that inspired me for writing this chapter, I wouldn't have done it this nicely without you.

And thanks so much to CassandraPaige394 who pretty much beta-ed this chapter! It wouldn't be the same without you.

And thanks to all of the readers that favorited, followed and reviewed this story, it kept me motivated.