I stare up at my ceiling, Kuroka  was sleeping next to me. The time currently reads 5 am. We went on for hours until she fell asleep. Me on the other hand, haven't slept a minute.

"I need some fresh air"

I get up and pour myself a glass of water and gulp it down. I walk out the room to my closet, taking out my sword and quietly head out the door onto the balcony. I set Erebus next to me as I look up at the moon.

"I see you had a good time on your first time"

"It was great"

"... You weren't happy were you?"

"Is it that obvious"

"Considering our emotions are one, I can pretty much tell how you feel"

"I want to be happy... but I can't"

"That's an effect from trading for my powers, sacrificing certain feelings"

"No"

"It's regarding Koneko isn't it?"

"Yea, I don't want Kuroka finding out about this but... the entire time I was doing it, my mind was picturing me doing with Koneko not Kuroka"

"I think it's best if you start moving on from her Y/n, Kuroka wants to make you happy and from the looks of it, you guys have really hit it off, the chemistry between the two of you has been great"

"I know and I really love her for sticking with me, she's been the only one not to betray my trust, but I can't help it, even if I can't show it anymore, I still love Koneko"

"I don't know if you'll ever be able to show those emotions anymore"

"I dont know about that, even if I wasn't thinking about doing it with Kuroka, I sensed that I felt love back there"

"What the curse did was not remove those feelings from you, what it did is remove those feelings from being expressed"

"Really?"

"Ever wonder why you couldn't walk up to Koneko and hug her like you wanted too when you saw her? In your mind that's all you wanted to do, but your body impeded you from going along, instead, it reminded you of the torture you went through when you saw those two kissing"

"I did kind of felt it's restrictions"

"Those effects will be present forever Y/n, I'm afraid you won't ever be able to show anybody that you love them like you used to, not Kuroka nor Koneko"

I look down at my gauntlet.

"Well I guess it's not that bad either"

"Why is that?"

"It feels like Kuroka understands my emotions without me having to show them"

"What will you do about Koneko?"

"I'll try to be happy with Kuroka, she's been through alot and all I want to do is make her happy"

"By accepting her feelings even though they aren't mutual?"

"I don't know about not being mutual... but they can grow"

"Y/n, this isn't the best way to handle what you've gone through, you-"

"What's up with calling me Y/n all of a sudden? What happened to Young Master"

"I see us basically being as equal now"

"I was kind of getting tired of the alfred treatment"

I turn back to the door as I think of what to do next.

"I really am gonna try"

"To love Kuroka or forget Koneko?"

"Both"

I stay quiet for a second before opening up my mouth.

"Have any of them even bothered to come and check on me?"

"From the looks of things, I'd say they think you are dead"

"Dead?"

"Well you did get shot multiple times, including one to the head, and disappeared into thin air, I'd be no surprise if they thought you were dead"

"..."

"Are you going to let them know you're alive?"

"..."

"I'll take it as a no"

"I think it's best if we keep it this way, we'll keep Kuoh safe from the outside"

"What do you mean?"

"Well do all the dirty work they can't bother to clean up, anything that seems to be worthy of keeping an eye on"

"That way we can stop it before it turns into a big problem"

"Exactly"

"I understand, will it just be the 2 of us?"

"We have Caster and Danzo on our side, I'll ask Kuroka if she wants to join us when she wakes up"

"What if she refuses?"

"What is there to do? I'll accept her wishes and we'll move on, I will let her know to keep our status a secret"

"Very well, do you want to visit your kitten maid and fox?"

"No, nobody can know we are alive, at least not yet"

"People will eventually figure out you're alive with your face showing and the sword"

"We'll have to silence them up then, we can wear a mask or something when we go out, plus, you're forgetting I have you and another sword"

"What of the Juggernaut Overdrive? There will be enemies in which that armor will be required to defeat"

"I'll have to figure that out later, that armor releases a powerful aura that any devil can pick up... is there a way we can conceal it's presence"

"I would say using the Presence Concealment seal but I'm afraid our armor is too powerful for such a spell to possibly attempt to cover up"

If Presense Concealment won't work, I don't really have many options on how to not alert everyone I'm alive.

"I guess I won't be able to use it then"

"There are powerful enemies out there, we can't abandon that transformation, it'll be needed in those crucial battles"

"I can always try and control Body Enhancement EX"

"I doubt Body Enhancement EX will be able to take on some of the higher ups"

"It's the only option I got left, my body feels great after having alot of my life energy restored"

"I can tell, your body moves alot smoother now than it was before"

"That magic she does, Senjutsu I believe, seems to be really powerful in the healing department"

"It is, I'm not too sure but i believe only those that are not devils, fallen angels or angels can use that technique"

"But Kuroka is a devil isn't she"

"She is but she was a nekomata before that, be aware what I stated isn't 100 percent, it is simply my guess"

I felt a cool breeze hit me as the weather started to get colder.

"It's nice"

"The weather?"

"Yea, but also the fact we get an entire apartment building to ourselves"

I grab Erebus and head back inside to find a still sleeping Kuroka in bed. The clock still read 6 am as I set him down, leaning on a wall and head towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I was going to prepare some pancakes with bacon and scrambled egg while pouring two cups of orange juice ready on the table. The alarm clock started ringing, waking up Kuroka as she hit the snooze button. She stretched like a cat as she let out a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she looked up towards me.

"Breakfast?"

"Yep"

"What is it?"

"Have a look"

"Oooohh, I want"

When had drool coming down her mouth as i chuckle a bit. I set two plates on the table as I head over to her direction. I pick her up bridal style and set her down in a chair, pushing it in as I sit opposite side of her.

"What's the special occasion?"

"None, just testing out my cooking skills before I start my recovery process"

"Thanks for the food then"

We began eating our breakfast I made as we smiled and talked for a bit, nothing to important.

"Hey, thanks for letting me stay over"

"I should be thanking you, you healed me up when I was dying and kept me warm when I was cold"

"I also massaged you and made sure you had your daily exercise too"

"And helped me maintain my muscles acvite yea yea"

I try reaching for a piece of bacon but realize I was already out.

"Open up"

I look up to see Kuroka with a piece of bacon, trying to feed me. I obey and open my mouth as she puts the bacon in and close my mouth.

"Thanks"

"No problem"

After we finish up, Kuroka tells me she has to go do some things as I stay back and wash the dishes.

"She's a great girl Y/n"

"I know"

"What are we going to do?"

"Set up a strong barrier around the area, add a strong Presence Concealment as well"

"Are you going to start training"

"Yup, haven't had any physical activity... other than last night, since you fought in my body a couple of days ago"

"Understood, I'll set up the barrier then"

"Thanks"

While Erebus set up the barrier, I finish washing the dishes and change into my workout clothes.

Finally, I can start working out again, this time, I'll need to focus less on just physical but my mental state, I need to be able to maintain these spells longer if I'm going to be taking on such powerful opponents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/n-
A short chapter, the last chapters will be rather short since I don't want to start any events that will happen in Vol 2 just yet. It'll be slow as I said before but just bare with it please. As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, criticism is welcomed. But other than that, I hope you all have a wonderful day/night and as always, I hope ye enjoy :)