After Seraphim left, Arc gave Mina a thorough scolding.

  "Making noise, trying to stand up—in that situation! Are you out of your mind?!"

  His shouting only fired Mina up in return.

  "Excuse me? This is my fault?"

  "You have no idea how dangerous those people are, Mina!"

  "Sorry for being so stupid! You're the idiot here!"

  "How am I the idiot?!"

  "Anyone who calls someone an idiot is the real idiot!"

  Arc was furious. But so was Mina.

  "You think I'm doing any of this because I want to?!"

  She kicked one of the charred pillars.

  "Then maybe you shouldn't have bothered saving me!"

  "Fine!"

  Mina decided she wasn't speaking to Arc for the foreseeable future. She fixed him with a glare.

  "Don't talk to me anymore!"

  "What?! ...Why are you the one who's angry?! How is this my fault?!"

  "I don't care."

  Arc clutched his head.

  "Fine. I won't help you anymore. Do whatever you want."

  That only made Mina angrier.

  "Excuse me? I never asked you to help me!"

  With that, Mina took off running, leaving Arc behind.

  "Hey! Where are you going, Mina!"

  She heard his voice, but she ignored it and kept running.

  She didn't want to speak to Arc for a while.

  Mina ran until she was gasping for breath.

  But where was she even supposed to go?

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  She'd stormed off in a fit of emotion, but her house had burned down. She had nowhere to be.

  "Now that I think about it... I've got nowhere to go."

  She'd never even visited her parents' hometown... and now that she knew her mother was a demon, there was no family home for her in this world at all.

  "And I can't go to a friend's house either."

  If some bizarre magical beast came after her, her friend's home would be destroyed. She couldn't put anyone in that kind of danger.

  "I don't have money for a hotel, either..."

  Mina rummaged through her pockets and found nothing but a few coins.

  "Maybe running out of the hideout was a bad idea..."

  But she couldn't very well go crawling back now.

  She thought of Arc's angry face, his infuriating words. The memory sent the blood rushing to her head again, and her nostrils flared.

  "I'm not going back, no matter what!"

  Mina resolved to sleep outside if she had to—anything to avoid returning to the hideout. For the time being, she ducked into a convenience store and bought a bottle of water. She'd barely taken a sip when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to find two police officers standing there.

  "Hey, kid... what are you doing out this late?"

  Fear gripped Mina, and she gave a quick bow.

  "M-my parents are right over there!"

  She blurted out the lie and bolted. She ran blindly, without thinking, and before she knew it she'd wandered into a back alley glowing with seedy neon signs.

  "Where am I...?"

  Something about this place felt dangerous, and she took a small step backward.

  Then a man in sunglasses appeared behind her and called out. Did she need a place to stay? Was she hungry? Mina was too frightened to listen—she turned and ran.

  She ran until she couldn't breathe. Tears streamed down her face as she ran.

  "Oh God, what do I do... I'm so scared..."

  Mina was overwhelmed with regret. She wanted to go back. Back to the hideout. She was still just a kid.

  At that moment, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her into a side alley.

  "Kyaaah!"

  She looked up to see three men with menacing eyes.

  "Hey there, little miss. Why don't you come with us? You look like you could use a hot meal and a place to sleep tonight."

  The man's voice was gentle enough, but to Mina, a stranger's kindness was nothing but terror.

  "Let go of me! I have somewhere to go!"

  But the man wouldn't release her.

  "Aw, don't be like that. Come on."

  Mina looked at his face. The leering grin of the middle-aged man was pure nightmare fuel.

  "I said no! Let me go!"

  She thrashed and struggled, but the man had an iron grip on her wrist. When she kept fighting, he slapped her hard across the cheek.

  "Don't get smart with a grown man!"

  Mina's vision blurred with tears.

  "Arc... please help me..."

  She'd been so stupid. She never should have left the hideout.

  Just as the thought crossed her mind, she felt the man's grip vanish. She looked up to find a tall, blond man standing over her, one arm draped protectively around her shoulders. He was so tall she had to crane her neck to see his face. He gazed down at her with striking blue eyes beneath double-lidded lashes.

  "Are you alright? Stay behind me."

  "Hey, pretty boy—don't go playing hero!"

  One of the men grabbed him by the collar while the other two flanked him on either side. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, all three men vanished from sight.

  "Huh?"

  Mina didn't understand what had happened at first, but a loud crash told the story—the three men had been hurled into a dumpster further down the alley.

  "Come on—let's go."

  "Oh—right!"

  He took Mina's hand gently and broke into a run through the back streets. Heart pounding, Mina followed close behind, her eyes fixed on his back.

  She was running hand in hand with him.

  And ever so slightly, she squeezed his hand back.