Hello to all the wonderful readers. I don't really have much to say except please review if you get the chance. Now I'll leave you to hopefully enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Eleven: Night Shift at the Factory

The night sky was dark in the absence of the moon and the cool wind chilled Mira's skin as she stood next to Kane. She stifled a yawn while the boy crept through the whole in the gate that he had made. He turned and waited for Mira to walk trough before hurrying across an empty stretch of grass next to a large building.

They were in an old factory that had been abandoned only a few months before after the company went bankrupt. It was still being cleared out though, so most of the machinery was still inside. It was big, with many warehouses surrounding the main building and a great empty space between the gate and the factory itself. An eerie atmosphere hung over the place due to the unused state of it. Boarded up windows and dusty machinery was all they found as they searched the place. Nevertheless, they knew there was something there.

There had been reports of something creeping around the place and sometimes wandering out and around the surrounding area to attack passersby. But even if they hadn't been told that, Mira could feel it. Kane could also feel a presence there and he had explained that it was because they were closer to demons than anyone else. They knew them too well and they could sense their presence as it was channeled through their own stronger and more intuitive aura. It was all a side effect of the powers they possessed.

"The fact that you can sense them means that you're starting to get stronger." He said as they walked through a warehouse.

"Looks like nothing's here." He sighed.

They had searched three warehouses already and had found nothing. Mira could tell Kane was getting frustrated.

"Do they always hide like this?" She asked.

"No, just when they know we're around and don't feel like fighting. Usually, it's only the weak ones that hide so it's a good thing."

"Ah, that means it'll be a quick job then, right?"

"Only if we find the damn thing." Kane grumbled.

Mira giggled at his bad mood.

"Should we check the main factory now?"

"Yeah, guess we should. It'll be troublesome if it's there though." He sighed.

Mira blinked confusedly as they made their way outside. The main building was a large metal two-story building. It looked rather imposing as it stood there with it's grimy windows and large double doors. Kane stopped before them and frowned when he found them locked too tightly.

"Come on, we're going in through the side."

Mira followed him to the side where there were some boarded up windows.

"When we get in stay close to me and be as quiet as you can. If you see anything just tap me or something."

"Okay." She said with a nod.

Kane turned back to the window they were standing in front of and summoned his swords to cut through the wood. It was easy enough and he pulled off the board to reveal a broken window. He cut the frame around it and removed that as well.

"I'll go in first."

With that, he climbed up with ease and landed on the other side with a dull 'thud'. He extended his hand to Mira who took it and climbed in after him with his help. It was dusty inside and it wasn't just the machinery and other surfaces, but also the air. It had a stale odor as well that made Mira scrunch up her nose in displeasure.

"Come on." Kane whispered.

They began to search the place, being careful to stay close to each other. By the time they were done with the first floor, they were starting to think that the demon wasn't in the building. Kane frowned as he looked around the place. It was hard to find anything in the dark, not to mention it was dangerous. He glanced at the girl next to him while she sat on an old crate. After walking around for close to two hours they had decided to take a break.

"Hey."

Mira looked up at Kane when he called her.

"This thing already knows we're here and it's pretty hard to find anything in the dark so I'm going to see if I can get some lights for us."

"But wasn't the power cut?"

"Yeah, but they should have their own emergency generator. If it still works then I should be able to turn at least some of the lights on. It's too dangerous right now, not knowing what's around us."

Mira could see he was right. It was hard to make out things and the demon was hiding from them so it was already aware of their presence. No point trying to be sneaky and keep the lights off anymore. Kane stood up from his place next to her and turned to look at the girl.

"Stay here, it should be safe since we've checked this place thoroughly. I'll be back soon so don't leave this place. If you see anything call me and put up your defense, understood."

"Yes sir." Mira said with a roll of her eyes.

Kane sighed and shook his head as he left. It didn't take long for his form to be swallowed by the darkness. Mira let out a sigh and leaned against the wall behind her. Now that she was alone, she had to admit that the place was kind of creepy.

'Just the type of place you'd expect something like a ghost or a demon to pop up.' She thought dully.

Meanwhile, Kane had made it to the metal stairs leading to the upper floor where he guessed the controls for the factory lay. He hoped he was right and the lights could be turned on from there. Just as he placed his foot on the first step, he thought he saw something move to his left. he turned and scanned his surroundings, already used to the dark, but couldn't see anything. After a moment's hesitation, he resumed his climb up.

The top floor had metal floors that made his every step reverberate through the factory. A metal wall with large glass windows was to his left while on his right, there was another wall with doors leading to offices and supply rooms. He checked through them on his way to the control room, but found nothing. Finally, he reached the end of the hall where the control room was located. He entered cautiously, making the door creak as it swung open.

It was as dirty as the rest of the place, with his steps leaving footprints in the dust, but other than that, it was empty. He looked over the controls in front of a large window overlooking the bottom floor, but found nothing of use. Kane took a quick glance through the glass in hopes of checking on his partner, but couldn't see the small girl in the darkness below. He frowned, getting a rather uncomfortable feeling and hurried to check the rest of the room.

After a few minutes, he found a door on the corner and pried it open to find a sort of supply closet that also held the power box that he was looking for. He opened it and carefully looked it over. After finding what he was looking for, he got to work, trying to fix it up so it could be useful. He worked carefully, not being fond of the idea of being electrocuted to death, at least not by an old wire. If he wanted to die that way he would just ask Shina to do the honors.

Downstairs, Mira had drawn her legs up to her chest, circling them with her arms. The night was chilly and even though she had a sweater the cold metal building was colder still, chilling her skin every moment she stayed there. She could hear Kane in the distance, his steps reaching her even though she knew he was quite a ways off from her. The sharp sound of his steps, the creaking of the doors and the sound of them shutting close cut through the dark building and all the way to where she was.

That was why she didn't mind when a dull 'clank' sounded from somewhere nearby or when a creaking sound, as if someone stepping on a loose floorboard, was heard from somewhere to her side.

"Damn thing, why won't you work..." Kane grumbled to himself.

So far, he had had no luck in repairing the electrical circuits to restore the power. Although, to be honest, he wasn't really sure if it would really work. The emergency generator could have been destroyed by the demon they were looking for. He had already seen a few scratches on some of the warehouses they checked, but the damn thing continued to evade them. At last, the power was back up and he stood up, satisfied with his work as he turned on the lights to the floor downstairs.

Just as the lights went on, he heard a loud crashing sound. He ran over to the window and saw a cloud of dust around the place where he had left Mira.

"Kane!"

As soon as he heard the girl's voice calling out to him he ran for the stairs at the end of the hall. Before he could even make it to the middle of the hallway, a demon appeared before him. It was tall, bigger than him, but thin, with long limbs and a dark grayish tone to it's skin. A crown of horns protruded from it's head and it's yellow eyes glowed with malice as it stared at him and opened its mouth, baring its pointed teeth.

'What the hell!? There was only supposed to be one demon!' Kane thought frantically.

He summoned his swords, ready to fight.

'Hold on Mira.'

The lights went on and Mira caught a glimpse of something moving from the corner of her eye. She turned and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the tall demon that stood there, about to bring its powerful claws down onto her. Quickly, she jumped away from the crate she was sitting on top of and fell to the ground. A cloud of dust rose into the air making her cough. She stood up and looked around for the demon, ready to put up her defense.

Some sort of movement caught her attention and she turned in time to jump away from another attack. She put up her defense, a dark shield appeared between her and the demon, making her feel more at ease. Unfortunately, it proved to be too little as the the demon began to beat on it. Mira could feel it beginning to give out and with one last powerful blow the demon brought it down. The shock from it breaking threw the girl back and she rolled away as the demon tried to hit her again.

She stood and began to run away, calling out for Kane as she moved. She could hear the beast following after her and quickened her pace. Unfortunately, its long limbs made it easy for it to catch up to the girl. Mira realized this and turned as she reached the end of a large piece of machinery, barely avoiding being hit.

"Kane!" She called out again, hurrying through the old metal pieces with the demon behind her.

She looked back for an instant and saw that it was too close and her legs were about to give out from all the running.

Kane had problems of his own as he began to fight the demon who merely blocked his attacks with ease, using the spikes protruding from its right arm. Kane scowled and slashed at it, making it jump back. He took the chance to run forward and deliver a low blow towards its legs. A shrill cry left the monster as it fell. Without wasting any time, Kane climbed on top of it and finished it off, sinking one of his swords into its throat. He jumped off, panting and took a step towards the end of the hallway, but stopped when some sort of shadows rose from the ground.

To his shock, two more demons appeared, identical to the one he had just defeated. He got ready to keep fighting, but scowled and glanced out the window at his side when he heard Mira call out to him again. Taking advantage of the boy's distraction, one of the demons charged, slashing at Kane who jumped back in time. The other demon attacked before he could get his footing back and he was thrown back into the control room.

Slowly, he stood up and glared at the monsters before him before charging again. It was hard to land any blows since they were two and their long reach kept Kane at bay. He turned and blocked a blow from one of the demons while the other charged at him. Kane jumped up into the air and landed behind the two demons. However, they were too quick and one of them knocked him back into the controls for the machinery below. He felt his back hit the buttons and heard the hum of the machines as they began to work. A shriek he recognized as that of his partner's was heard below.

'Damn it! If I don't get to Mira soon...'

Kane made up his mind as he watched the two demons approach him. One of them raised it's fist to strike and as soon as he brought it down, Kane jumped out of the way. It hit the glass, cracking it slightly while Kane slipped behind the other demon and kicked it in the back as hard as he could. It hit the other demon, sending it against the window. He could see the crack get wider and ran forward, jumping against the demon and pushing it through the window along with him.

Mira crawled into a space between some machines and sank as far back as she could. The monster reached in with its clawed hand and she could feel the tips scratching her leg.

"Concentrate, concentrate..." She repeated quietly.

She could feel the dark energy gathering in her hands and directed it towards the demon, blasting it back. She stayed there for a while, waiting to see if it was still alive. Slowly, she crawled out and looked around. A sigh of relief left her as she realized it wasn't there. Mira looked up to see Kane fighting with some demons. She couldn't really see much from that distance, but she could tell there was more than one. A noise from behind her caught her attention and she turned to see two more demons like the one from before. Immediately, she took off running.

The demons split up and she could see them running on both sides of her. Before her was a dead end and the demons were growing closer. One of them jumped through the machinery and behind her, sending metal flying around them. The second appeared before her, stopping her in her tracks. She panicked as she stood between the two and prepared some more energy in her hand.

One of them charged at her and she sent a blast at it, destroying it instantly, but the other moved quickly and hit her on her stomach with it's long arm. The girl was sent back, slamming down on a conveyor belt. She stood up quickly as the demon jumped up onto the machine. Just as she was going to jump, the machine began to move, sending her back down to the ground. She shrieked as the monster's clawed hand slammed down around her neck. Her small hands wrapped around its arm, trying to pry it off to no avail. The demon's other hand rose before her head and she could see its claws grow as it got ready to kill her.

Kane felt the glass shards rain down on him as he landed on top of the demon. He flinched, but wasn't injured badly thanks to the demon's body taking most of the damage. Without wasting any time, he stood and ran to where he had heard Mira. Just as he turned a corner, he saw her on the ground, with a demon holding her by the throat, ready to strike the finishing blow. Without thinking, he bent to the ground and set a hand upon the floor. A great spike of earth rose through the factory floor, impaling the monster just as its arm was brought down upon Mira. He hurried to the girl and helped her up, moving the body away from her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah...I'm okay." She said between coughs.

Kane sighed in relief and helped her up. He turned at the sound of loud steps heading their way. By the sound of it, there was more than one. He glanced at the girl behind him and made up his mind. His hand wrapped around her wrist as he pulled her towards the exit. They ran as fast as they could and Kane broke down a side door, pulling Mira outside and to the darkness of the night. They kept running until Kane could no longer hear the demons behind them. He pulled Mira to the side of a warehouse where they would hide. Mira slid down the wall and sat on the ground, panting from having had to run so much.

"What...happened...? I thought...there was only one...demon." She struggled to say.

"There was." Kane muttered quietly.

He peeked around the corner and sighed when he saw that they were safe for the time being. It was one thing to fight the demons on his own, but to fight that many while protecting Mira was too dangerous.

"What are we going to do?" He heard the girl ask softly behind him.

"I don't know. We might have to call for help." Just thinking about asking Kaito for help made him frown.

Still, he wasn't going to endanger his partner's life for his pride.

"I didn't know all demons looked the same." Mira muttered, rubbing her neck.

"They don't." Kane answered without thinking.

It took him a moment to realize what he had just said. He turned to Mira who looked at him questioningly.

"I've got it." He said triumphantly.

The girl watched as he dug into his pant's pocket and pulled out his cell phone...only to find it completely destroyed. His eye twitched as Mira tried not to laugh.

"Guess it couldn't survive the rough landing." He muttered with a sigh.

"Tell me you have your phone."

Mira searched her pocket and pulled out the phone Kane had given her. The boy took it from her and searched for Schattenreich's number. It was a moment before anyone picked up.

"Moriko."

"Kane-baka! Are you done with the mission already?" She asked enthusiastically.

"No, just listen, I need your help."

"Don't you always?"

"Moriko." He warned.

"Fine, what is it?"

"Is it possible for demons to split up or make copies of themselves?" He asked, getting to the point.

"Hmm,why do you want to know?"

"Oh, well Mira and I were just having a debate over it and we thought you could settle it." He said sarcastically.

"Why do you think?"

"Okay, geez, no need to be mean."

"Just hurry up!"

Kane leaned against the wall with a frown, waiting for Moriko to give him the information he needed.

"Ah, I got!"

"You found the files?"

"No, but lucky for you Yuu-kun and I fought one of those demons a while back."

"So, how do I beat it?"

"You just have to kill the original. If you keep killing the copies they'll just increase in number."

That was something that could have been useful before.

"Those type usually hide far from the enemy, but you have to be careful because they can sense when you're around."

"Alright, I got it, thanks. I'll call back when we're done here."

"Good luck!"

Kane hung up and sighed.

"What did she say?"

He turned to look at his partner who awaited his answer anxiously.

"Well, seems we've been fighting copies so far. If we kill the real one they should all disappear, but we still have to find out where it's hiding."

He paused to think of where they could look. That's when he remembered the old storage room they had neglected to check. It was on the other side of the property, but it was small and secluded enough to house a hiding demon. Not to mention, it was far from the main buildings where they had been looking, a perfect place for it to wait and hide while it's copies attacked.

"Come on, I think I know where it is."

With that, the two made their way to the storage room. It was a small building between two transport rooms and Kane could sense something inside.

"Just stay close." He muttered to Mira as they approached.

Just as they were about to enter the building, the door was knocked down and Kane had to push Mira to the ground to avoid being hit. They stood up quickly and saw the demon come out.

"Well, looks like you found it now go get it." Mira said to Kane.

"Haha, this is your job too so get ready."

Kane summoned his swords while Mira gathered some dark energy in her hand, waiting for the demon to attack. She didn't have to wait long as it swung its fist down, narrowly missing Kane who dodged to the side and spun, slashing its arm in the process. It let out a loud shriek of pain and Mira heard footsteps behind them. More demons began to gather and Mira manged to blast some away while Kane fought the original.

He jumped over the demon and kicked it, knocking it down before placing his hand on the ground. The earth around the monster rose and then crashed down upon it, crushing it. In an instant, the copies were gone.

"See, told you it would be easy once we found it." Kane said, dismissing his weapons.

"Yeah right, I almost became demon chow and you say it was easy." Mira muttered with a glare.

Kane just smirked.

"It's not my fault you're so slow, if you had run a bit faster you wouldn't have gotten caught."

"You jerk!'

The boy laughed at the girl's reaction to his comment.

"Let me use your phone."

Mira handed it to him with a glower that went ignored.

"Moriko, we're done here. We just need you to clean up a bit, most of the damage is in the main factory and a storage room."

He paused for a moment while Moriko spoke.

"Alright then, bye."

He hung up and handed the phone back to Mira.

"Well, guess we should head back now." He sighed.

"I'm not walking back." Mira deadpanned.

Kane felt his eye twitch.

"You really are lazy and out of shape...fine, call Yasuo. Tell him to be useful and pick us up."

Mira grinned and called her cousin who immediately attacked her with questions. After assuring him that she was fine and all her limbs were still in place he agreed to pick them up. While she talked, Kane looked his partner over, searching for any injuries. He could see the claw marks around her neck and a few scratches on her legs and arms, but nothing too bad. She hung up and looked at him with a smile.

"Ysuo-nii is on his way."

"Alright then, let's head to the entrance."

She nodded and they began to make their way across the property. Mira was only too glad when they arrived at the gate and slipped out through the same hole they had used to enter. They walked to where the main gate was and sat on the sidewalk to wait.

"Great, it's past two already and we have school tomorrow." She sighed, looking at the time on her phone.

"We can always skip school." Kane said hopefully.

"No, stop being lazy."

"You say this like I don't do anything. Must I remind you I just killed a few demons."

"So school should be easy right?"

Kane just sighed and gave up.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Mira blinked in surprise and turned to him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired."

The boy nodded and turned when he saw some lights approaching them. Yasuo parked close by and Mira was only too glad to climb inside the car.

"So, how did it go?" The redhead asked as he drove away.

"Alright, I guess." Mira commented.

"How descriptive." The man muttered.

"Leave me alone, I'm sleepy."

"You'll get to sleep in a bit." Yasuo said with a chuckle.

They dropped Kane off at his home since it was late and he looked tired enough to fall asleep on his way.

"Thanks old man." He said as he opened the car door.

Yasuo sent a small glare his way at the 'old man' comment.

"Make sure to take care of those cuts and scratches." He told Mira before climbing out.

She nodded and smiled at him.

"You too, and you better go to school tomorrow."

Kane waved his hand dismissively as he walked away and the other two left. It had been a long night, and he knew it wouldn't be the last.

End Chapter Eleven

Hope you guys like the story so far and please review if you get the chance.