• The next morning, Derrick fixed up the basement of his gloomy townhouse so that he could train Shionna in the art of fighting demons. He'd been up since sunrise getting ready. He'd never trained anyone before, and he was contemplating who’s method he should use: Atsume's, which was one of only using violence and murder when peaceful means cannot be reached; or Ignacio's, which was slaughter all without care for them. After a short thought, he decided to use Atsume's method since he wasn't planning to harm Shionna in training.

    He took off his black t-shirt and looked around himself. He had noted the books he'd set out to teach her everything, moves and knowledge, she needed to know to hunt demons with him.

    Derrick's back was to the door of the room. He didn't hear Shionna open the door and peer in. She noticed the scars that covered his back. "Um, Derrick," Shionna gasped.

    Derrick spun swiftly on his heels and faced her. "Ready to begin training?" He asked.

    "Those scars. How did you get them?" She quietly asked. "Did a demon give them to you?"

    "Don't worry about them," he snapped, "I've gotta get you up-to-date with all the newer ways of demon fighting. First rule of demon hunting, according to your mother Atsume, is peace before violence. Always try to reason with a demon before harming them. Most demons will want to keep their lives a little longer, so they will give up easily," said Derrick.

    Shionna wasn't really listening to his lecture; she was more focused on the scars that had riddled his body. She speculated about what had caused them. A demon fight more likely, but maybe he got them from a fight with another human. I hope they don't hurt him when I hug him.

    "Since you're a demon, show me what you can do," he said.

    She focused her attention on a nearby book. (Coincidently, it was the book about extinct demon races Shionna had read and got angry about.) She willed the book to come to her, and it flew right to her hands.

    "Telekinesis, good. Anything else?"

    She grabbed a stick and set it on fire without thinking about it.

    "Fire powers, excellent." He added.

    She grabbed a large sofa and held it above her head.

    "Strength beyond human." Derrick said.

    "That's all the things you can see. I also have the heighten senses of a wolf," Shionna said, proudly.

    Derrick stood in awe for a moment, then, he realized that Shionna was not only the last of her kind but was also of royal blood. She was a princess of the fire wolf demons. "Do you know who your demon parents were?" Derrick asked.

    "No," she answered.

    "You're royalty," he said, "Your birth father was a demon lord, and a mighty powerful one at that."

    "You're serious? I'm a princess? Like in the stories?" She question while in shock.

    "Demon Royalty is different from Human Royalty. Human Royalty is several rulers in a time span of hundreds of years, while it is usually only one or two demons that rule over the same time span. Human royalty flaunt their royal status with money. Demons, however, flaunt their royalty with enemy demon blood." Derrick explained.

    "Ew!" Shionna whined in disgust.

    Derrick laughed at her expression of disgust. Once he stopped laughing, he turned back to her. "We'll break to eat lunch, but then I must teach you how to fight." He grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over his head.

    "Do those still hurt?" Shionna asked, concerned.

    Derrick stopped and looked at Shionna briefly. "Sometimes," he said. Turning his back to her again, he left and began to make lunch for himself.

    Stunned by his confession, Shionna raced after him. She found him in the kitchen making a sandwich for himself. She raced up to him and embraced him from the back. "I'm sorry my kind wounded you so severely," she said, sympathetically.

    Derrick leaned slightly into the embrace. For some strange reason, Derrick felt warm in Shionna's arms; he almost felt like a small child again. "Your kind didn't do it to me." Derrick admitted.

    "Humans do that to their own kind? And humans call demons barbaric." Shionna exclaimed. She forced herself to let him go. Soon, she, too, was making herself a sandwich.

    Derrick looked over at her as he finished making the sandwich every few moments. He took it to the table and began to eat it. He finished about half of it when he stopped and waited for her to come and sit down.

    She, without knowing it, followed his will and sat down at the table.

    Derrick looked over at her more frequently, but tried his hardest not to let her catch him peeking. Something about this demon was different from other demons he had faced. Shionna was kind, polite, sweet, and innocent like a human woman. Just by looking at her, he knew he was in love with her. Does she love me back? He wondered.

    Shionna, however, noticed his eyes staring at her. For the first time since her parents' deaths, she felt loved and wanted. Only Atsume and Luke had ever shown her love. She also knew that if it was ever discovered that he was helping her and working with her, he would lose his job and possibly his life. She didn't want to cause him any trouble or harm. She knew, since she looked in his blue eyes, that she was totally, truly, in love with him. She had only known him for a day, but she was lost to him.

    Once they were both done eating, they sat in silence for a moment only. Finally, Derrick stood and walked over to Shionna. He grabbed her shoulders, lifted her to her full height, and turned her to face him. He lowered his face down to hers.

    Shionna froze as his lips came closer and closer to her own.

    His hands reached for hers and pulled her closer to his body. He touched his lips ever so gently to hers. He understood that by allowing himself to express this love, Derrick was turning his back on everything: his reputation as a great demon hunter, his lifestyle of easy living, his fortune that he earned from all the years of service, all of his possessions that he had accumulated over all his life. For once in his life, none of that mattered to him.

    The kiss had came as a surprise to Shionna, but not a frightening thing. She welcomed it with open arms. Hers arms, now, twined around his neck, holding him close. She was truly in love with him.

    After the long moment of the innocent kiss, Derrick pushed back from Shionna and pulled his shirt over his head, reveling the scars. "You wanted to know how I got these," he sighed. "Touch them if you wanna."

    Shionna shook her head ferociously. "They look like they hurt. No thanks," she answered.

    He turned and faced her. "When I was twelve, Atsume quit her post as a demon hunter to raise you better herself. Since I still had some things to learn, I was reassigned to another well-known demon hunter named Ignacio Rivera. He started whipping me when I refused to harm an infant demon. The whippings got more and more frequent. Eventually, he would just do it when he wanted."

    "Oh my! I'm so sorry," she sympathetically said.

    "It's okay," he said, rubbing at one on his arm. "That is why I am training you in the same way that your mother trained me. I am not one to cause unwanted pain on anyone, especially you."

    Shionna blushed a deep red. "Thanks," she said shyly.

    "Shionna, I know I've only known you for a day, but I love you." Derrick admitted.

    "I love you, too," she replied.